NANA is the story of two young women, both named Nana, who meet on the train to Tokyo, and, through a series of coincidences, end up becoming roommates in an old seventh-floor walkup. In many ways that apartment, number 707 (“Nana” in Japanese means “seven” by the way), is nearly as important a character as the two Nanas themselves.

Written and drawn by Ai Yazawa (author of Paradise Kiss, among others), NANA contains some of the most authentic human beings I have so far encountered in manga. Yazawa’s characters are rich and complex, each just a little bit (or more than a little bit) broken as most of us humans are, and because of this, their relationships with each other and their choices, both good and bad, feel so real, they could come straight out of the reader’s own life. It would be so easy for a story like this, which focuses mainly on relationships, to fall into soap opera-like melodrama, but the intensely real characters save it from doing so, time and time again. This is especially surprising in a manga where a good portion of the characters are rock stars.

The Nanas
“Nana’s handshake was surprisingly warm… and it made my heart warm too.”

When I began reading NANA, it seemed at first that the story was going to be mainly a chronicle of the two protagonists’ relationships with men, but by the end of the third volume, it had become very clear that it is, above all, a story about their relationship with each other. It is that relationship that drives everything in this story, and it is the one we, as readers, care most about. In the simplest terms, NANA is a love story.

Nana Komatsu follows her college boyfriend to Tokyo, where he has finally been accepted into art school. With no real ambition of her own, she stumbles through various entry-level jobs, finding joy only in her relationships and in the excitement of her roommate’s musical career. She is talkative, clinging, often selfish, cheerful, and warm. She is nicknamed “Hachi” by Nana Osaki, for her puppy-like devotion and need for care and attention. As the series progresses, however, it becomes clear that despite the fact that Hachi often feels helpless, and seeks out those who will take care of her (sometimes to her own peril), she has an endless capacity for love, and a natural gift for taking care of others. Though she is outwardly needy, her warmth and exuberance frequently give the other characters strength.

“You probably don’t remember, but I was really serious about building a gorgeous house with a big garden… So that you, whose boyfriends always make you cry, could come back as often as you wanted, and smile.”

Nana Osaki comes to Tokyo to pursue a professional singing career, having left behind her hometown band following the exodus of her guitarist boyfriend. She is fierce, ambitious, tough, charismatic, reticent, and loyal. Abandoned by her mother as a child, Nana resists being cared for by others, and does not trust easily. Over time, however, we are made aware that she is probably one of the most fragile characters in the series, and is surprisingly dependent on Hachi. She has a quick temper, and tends to hold grudges. She is very competitive, and relentless in her drive to prove herself and to become a better singer. Prickly and complicated, she cares deeply for the people in her life, and somehow manages to be both self-deceptive and self-aware at the same time.

“You were a stray cat, strutting… so free and full of pride. But I could see your open wound.”

The Supporting Players
“If you knew what I was really like, you’d be disappointed.”

NANA has many supporting characters who come in and out over the course of the series. I’m going to focus here on those who play the most prominent roles throughout, and who most greatly impact the lives of Nana and Hachi. The bulk of the plot of NANA revolves around two bands, Nana Osaki’s band, BLAST (short for Black Stones), and the band her boyfriend, Ren, left home to join, Trapnest. Most of these characters are members of those bands.

	Junko Saotome (Jun) As Hachi’s best friend from school, Jun provides a “big sister” figure for Hachi, though she tends to fall into a lecture just when Hachi is feeling her worst. A prominent figure in the first few volumes of the series, Jun moves into a sporadic supporting role later on, but she and her boyfriend, Kyosuke, remain a steadying influence throughout, as an example of the kind of balanced romantic relationship that most of the other characters lack and perhaps wish for. She tends to be Hachi’s harshest critic in many ways, despite her affection for her.
	Ren Honjo BLAST’s former bassist and Nana’s lover, Ren moved to Tokyo to join the band Trapnest as they were turning pro. He is talented, passionate, possessive, and as the series progresses, battles a dependence on drugs. Raised in an orphanage along with Yasu, he found joy as a child playing guitar in an old, abandoned warehouse. Ren tends to crave a quiet family life, very much at odds with his chosen career. He lacks Nana’s ambition, but is easily pulled along by the ambitions of others.
	Yasushi Takagi (Yasu) As Jun watches over Hachi, Yasu watches over Nana, and to an extent, everyone. As BLAST’s drummer, he is responsible for keeping the band together onstage, and he seems to take on this role in life as well. He is quiet, steady, and devoted, especially to Ren and Nana. He shaves his head bare, and wears sunglasses most of the time, even indoors. I find his devotion to Nana incredibly moving, and he is a surprisingly gentle and warm man for someone who keeps so much of himself hidden from the world.
	Nobuo Terashima (Nobu) The son of wealthy hotel owners, Nobu leaves that life to pursue his musical dreams. In a lot of ways, Nobu is the male version of Hachi. He is loud and exuberant, tends to talk too much when he’s had a few drinks, and loves readily and without restraint. He is BLAST’s guitarist and becomes the main songwriter after Ren leaves the band. It is incredibly difficult not to love Nobu, because he is possibly the most sincere, guileless character in the series. While he shares Hachi’s sense of whimsy and warm, unguarded, demeanor, he lacks her excessive neediness, which keeps him from falling into the same kind of traps Hachi sets for herself. Nobu is, plainly speaking, a gem.
	Shinichi Okazaki (Shin) BLAST’s bassist, replacing Ren, Shin is one of the most complex characters in the series, though at fifteen, he is considerably younger than any of the other characters. Raised in an loveless environment, he leaves his family and makes most of his living off of older women who pay him for sex. He is smart and insightful, serving as an unlikely confidante and sometimes roommate to Nobu, and regularly trounces everyone else at mahjong. He views Hachi as a mother figure, and loves her for being kind to him without expecting anything in return.
	Takumi Ichinose The leader of Trapnest, and the band’s bassist and musical arranger, Takumi is a brilliant businessman and maintains powerful control over his band. He is extremely driven, often ruthless, occasionally tender, controlling, and possessive, and he evaluates every situation in terms of how it will affect the band. He’s incredibly complex, and though I tend to view him negatively, nothing is ever that simple in NANA, and I can’t deny he is a very compelling character. Takumi is shrewd and perceptive, and though he’s not without feeling, it is difficult for others to be sure of his motivations.
	Reira Serizawa (Layla) Reira is the lead singer for Trapnest. I’m romanizing her name as “Reira” because Viz does, but she was actually named after the Eric Clapton song, “Layla.” Reira is a beautiful songstress, though one might think of her as being in a cage like a songbird, reminiscent of Johanna in Sweeney Todd, only without the lecherous judge looming over. She is, in many ways, controlled by Takumi, both by his will, and by her own feelings for him. She is lonely and fragile, though she sometimes plays the bad girl to cover it up. She has a long history with Takumi, Ren, and Yasu, and her feelings about singing and about herself are frustratingly tangled up with her feelings for each of them.

The Relationships
“Please. Make up an excuse… even if it’s a lie, I’d believe anything.”

Relationships are the focus of NANA, and it is the authenticity of them that is this manga’s greatest draw. The worlds of the two bands portrayed in the story are endlessly interwoven, and necessarily tight-knit due to the realities of the music business. As with most groups of people bound together like this, everything tends to be pretty incestuous, and there is a great deal of emotional drama at the center of it all. This is one of those aspects of the story which could so easily cause it to deteriorate into melodrama, but this never happens. Everyone has been brought together both by the pieces of them that are most broken, and the dreams they cling to in order to battle demons of the past. These people love each other, hurt each other, heal each other, and through all of it they are bound together by a shaky combination of fate, obligation, and free will.

“‘Trapnest’ means a motherly nest that comes with a trap. Once you’re in there, you can never get out. It’s a typical name that a guy who’s afraid of strong women would think up.”

The relationships are wonderfully nuanced, and each of them is so compelling, it is admirable that Yazawa is able to maintain so many of them over the course of the story. The relationships shift over time, often dramatically, but there is never a sense that these shifts are simply for manipulating the plot into one direction or another. Everything feels extremely real and natural throughout. I’ve had conversations with people about “’shipping” in NANA, and something I’ve heard several times is that people can’t choose one or two favorite relationships, because they are all so interesting. It’s difficult for me to talk about them in any specific detail here, because with this kind of story, everything is a spoiler, but what they say makes a lot of sense. Each relationship in this series is mesmerizing, even when it is making you scream and throw your book on the floor.

The Music
“The music had no words, so Nana made up lyrics on the spot and just sang. It was like she put a crazy spell on me. That haunting voice took over my whole body.”

This may seem like a pretty strange heading to see in a write-up of a manga series, but the music in NANA is one of its most compelling features. Because the story revolves around the careers of two bands, each at very different points in their careers, the Japanese music industry plays a huge part in the over-arching plotline. More importantly, however, we are swept up in the characters’ love for music, and their creative processes, as well as their ambitions and insecurities over the music they create.

This manga is steeped in music, and it never seems to matter that we can’t know exactly what it sounds like. We still feel it with all our hearts and souls, just as the characters do. It’s truly impressive how Yazawa manages this in an unavoidably silent medium. Perhaps even more impressive, is that I was personally disappointed by the music in the anime series of NANA, not because there was anything wrong with it, but because what my imagination had created, based on Yazawa’s writing, was more powerful than anything they could create in the studio.

The Manga

NANA is ongoing in Japan, with 20 volumes released so far, and is licensed by Viz in the US. The Viz editions are pretty far behind the Japanese (12 volumes released in English so far), though they are on a bi-monthly release schedule, which is faster than most of the manga I read. Though I’ve complained in the past about Viz’s cheesy-looking volumes, complete with Barbie-doll pink Shojo Beat branding which I think cheapens the series (and don’t even get me started on the horrifying back-cover write-ups), the advantage to this is that the volumes are, in fact, cheap. A volume of NANA retails for $8.99, which is two or three dollars less than what I pay per volume for most of my favorite manga series. Some content was edited for the English editions, though I’m not certain of the extent. I do know that pages detailing how BLAST got their name (from Yasu’s cigarettes, Blackstone), were removed, which I have to admit was really confusing for me when I first read the series, because without those pages, it is not made very clear that “BLAST” is short for “Black Stones” so when, several volumes in, they started printing “Black Stones” on everything, I had no idea why. Overall, though, the Viz editions are very smooth reading, and whatever is lacking in presentation is more than made up for by Yazawa’s stylish art inside.

This series is incredibly addictive, and very difficult to put down. I’d advise readers, however, to resist scanlations. The wait between printed volumes is only a little longer than the wait between scanlated chapters and the difference in quality is substantial. This advice will be more difficult to follow once the English volumes have caught up with the Japanese releases, which must inevitably slow down Viz’s schedule, but please, I urge anyone who enjoys this series to purchase the official licensed volumes when they are available. I promise you will not regret it. Volume 13 is set for release on November 4th.

For thoughtful reviews of individual volumes, I recommend reviews by Johanna Draper Carlson at Comics Worth Reading, and Michelle Smith at Soliloquy in Blue.

The Bottom Line

NANA is an incredibly compelling and emotionally engaging read, and each volume will leave you begging for more. The characters are wonderfully complex and their relationships are unusually realistic. The series is plotty, suspenseful, often sad, and surprisingly uplifting. These are characters you live with, and take into your heart. I love NANA like I’ve loved just a handful of manga series. It is the kind of series that makes me want to proclaim my joy to the world. Or perhaps just to write a post like this. :)

It is a treat to read a manga with two such richly-written female protagonists, and though I’d recommend this series really to anyone, I consider it a must-read for any female comics fan.

I’m certainly not the only person who has tried to generate interest in Banana Fish. Shaenon Garrity made it part of her awesome Overlooked Manga Festival (one of my very favorites of that series so far), and to my mind, no further persuasion should be needed. Still, I find Banana Fish is a tough sell with friends. There’s no way to effectively preview the series, as there are no scanlations available and it is difficult to find on the shelves of brick and mortar bookstores (ditto with libraries). Anyone who wants to jump into this series pretty much has to commit to buying at least one book they may not end up liking, and I’ve found just a few who are willing to risk that. I’m going to try here to build on the case that Shaenon Garrity has already made for this series, with hope that even just one more person might choose to take that risk.

One of the things I love best about this series is that despite the fact that it is not a boys’ love manga, it has everything I’ve ever searched for in one. Honestly. It has a complex plot (featuring street gangs, organized crime, government conspiracy, hit men, etc.) that builds up slowly and effectively over 19 volumes, providing that kind of incredible suspense and excitement that can only be accomplished with a long, well-paced story. It is mentally and emotionally engaging, and despite the fact that it is, as I said, not a boys’ love manga, the relationship between the two main male characters is one of the most romantic I’ve encountered in manga so far. That was something I was really not prepared for, despite the fact that Shaenon Garrity described the progression of their relationship as “gradual, subtle and unusually touching.” Somehow I just didn’t see it coming.

It was volume seven that changed everything for me. I wrote about it in my fannish journal at the time, and I’ll reprint some of what I said here:

I thought I knew what this manga was, and suddenly I don’t anymore. Like. It was this great, stylized, old-American-cop-show-with-S.E. Hinton-gang-melodrama-on-the-side thing, and it was really enjoyable like that. And now suddenly it is also really funny in totally unexpected places. And kind of tender. In a non-melodramatic way. And if I thought I couldn’t love Eiji more, I was wrong. He makes a joke about gourds. Which for some reason is the funniest thing I’ve ever read. Shaenon Garrity said in her Overlooked Manga Festival write-up that BF starts off slow but “pays off huge in the later volumes.” She was talking about the plot, but I think it applies all around. I had no idea.

Quick notes: Ash Lynx is a teenage gang leader in 1980’s New York (as imagined by a 1980’s Japanese mangaka). He’s a pretty boy (this is brought up constantly), and won his turf through many hellish years as the boy toy of mob leader Papa Dino Golzine, who he has since broken ties with. Papa Dino put a lot of money into developing a drug called “Banana Fish” that drives people to murderous fits until they eventually kill themselves. Ash knows about this. He is in deep shit, but since he’s feared by almost everyone, he’s getting by. Eiji Okumura is a former Japanese athlete, who, after suffering injury, has come to the states as a photographer’s assistant on assignment to research American gangs. He’s very innocent and young-looking for his age (19). He’s gotten swept up into all this madness, and has been on the run with Ash, who is inexplicably driven to protect him.

What I’m going to do right now is try, through one section of volume seven, give you an idea of the utter adorableness of Eiji, and the equally adorable way his friendship with Ash has evolved.

I die. I die from Eiji suddenly making jokes in English, and teasing a guy who everyone else in the freakin’ city is deathly afraid of. It is just the dearest thing ever, and has changed the whole tone of this for me. I mean, I knew they were going to get close, and I’ve seen a few panels from later on in the manga. But this sweet, unforced humor has just killed me dead.

I think that’s what I’m really trying to get across here. Sure, this story is about street gangs, organized crime, blah blah blah, but what it is really about is this relationship between Ash and Eiji, and how it changes them both throughout the course of the series. If you love BL manga, or if you don’t love BL manga but wish you did (as I’ve lamented before), I can’t recommend this series enough. I finished volume 19 (and the post-series one-shot, Garden of Light) months ago, and it still sticks with me, the story of these two, haunting the back of my mind in some way all the time.

I said back when I was begging for BL recommendations, “My husband once asked me, ‘Is Banana Fish yaoi?’ and my immediate response was, ‘I wish’. . . What I meant was that I wish I’d ever read a boys’ love manga as interesting and well-plotted as Banana Fish.” I’ll take that a step further. I wish I’d read more manga in general as interesting and well-plotted as Banana Fish, and I read a lot of manga. The current editions from Viz are utilitarian and (according to a friend of mine who has the first seven volumes from Viz’s original flipped edition) censored , but despite the fact that there is something truly ridiculous about the leader of a NYC gang repeatedly saying things like, “When the fudge hits the fan,” none of this really matters once things get going. I’ve rarely found a series that has engaged me so deeply, so fast.

Yes, it’s melodramatic and weirdly dated (set in the 80’s, it manages to feel like it is actually set in the 50’s half the time). Yes, the author’s idea of NYC street gangs is kind of hilarious. I could even suggest that, for a manga that is very obviously telling a love story between two men, it is surprisingly homophobic at times. But above all that, the love story itself shines with warmth and uncommon beauty.

Banana Fish has carved a permanent place for itself in my consciousness, and so I offer the same to you.

Let your wishes be granted.

First of all, this post is specifically about the manga. The anime is nice enough in its way, but it can’t even begin to compare to the manga, and I think it is better to watch it if you’ve already read the manga, so that you can fill in the blanks with your own mind.

The Premise

xxxHolic (pronounced “‘holic,” the “xxx” is a variable) is about a high school boy named Watanuki Kimihiro, who has the ability to see spirits, and to whom spirits are irresistibly attracted, which unfortunately brings him into contact with many things that wish to harm and/or eat him, none of which other people can see. At the beginning of the story, he stumbles into the shop of Ichihara Yuuko, a witch who grants wishes for an equivalent price. Watanuki’s wish is to no longer be plagued by spirits, which Yuuko can grant, but in order to pay for it, Watanuki must indenture himself to her as part-time help in the shop, cooking, cleaning, and whatever else Yuuko deems necessary. His wish will only be granted after the price has been paid.

In the beginning, the story seems to be about Yuuko’s shop, and the various people who come in to have wishes granted, most of which do not turn out well, as most of them have desires or addictions that are not beneficial to them (hence the title, “xxxHolic” ). As the story progresses, however, it becomes apparent that Watanuki is not Yuuko’s servant, but in fact, her apprentice, and that he has a much greater role in the world than simply helping to grant people’s wishes.

xxxHolic is one of those stories that appears to be one thing at first, and then at a certain point you think, “Ah ha! This is what it is really about!” Then several volumes later you think, “AH HA! No, THIS is what it’s really about!” I have had a couple of these moments already, and I expect to have more before the series is completed. Watanuki’s growth as a character is extremely compelling, particularly as it relates to his relationship with his schoolmate and “rival,” Doumeki Shizuka, and Yuuko’s world is endlessly dangerous and fascinating. In recent volumes, it has become clear that Watanuki has some kind of world-saving, epic battle to wage, though we do not yet know what that really means.

This series crosses over with Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, and while it is not essential to read Tsubasa in order to understand the events in xxxHolic, I found that by the time I reached volume 9 or so, I really wanted to know the whole story, and I ended up racing through that series in the matter of a couple of days. Now I keep up with both, though my focus is definitely on xxxHolic.

The Players

	Watanuki Kimihiro sees spirits, and is tormented by them daily. He lost both his parents at an early age, and lives alone in an apartment building run by managers who looked out for him when he was a young orphan. He has a great love of cooking (and a special gift for it as well), and though he complains constantly about the work he must do for Yuuko, he does it diligently and extremely well. He has a lot of compassion for the people whose wishes Yuuko grants, though he is not often able to help them. Also, he flails. He flails a lot.
	Ichihara Yuuko, also known in Tsubasa as the “Witch of Dimensions” runs a shop that grants wishes. She dresses lavishly, drinks heavily, and seems to get a lot of enjoyment out of tormenting Watanuki, though this is supposedly to prepare him for the difficult road ahead. Despite all this, she seems to truly care for him, and for this world she endeavors to protect. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Yuuko, and I expect there are things still to be revealed about her before the end of the series.
	Doumeki Shizuka is Watanuki’s classmate and “rival,” though this rivalry exists only in Watanuki’s mind. He is the strong, silent type, a good student, popular with the girls, and an accomplished archer. He has the natural ability to repel and exorcise spirits, and for this reason, Watanuki frequently requires his help, or at least his presence, much to Watanuki’s horror. He speaks very little, though he has a sarcastic wit, and stands loyally by Watanuki, though he has no obvious reason to do so.
	Kunogi Himawari is Watanuki’s special crush, and a very sweet and kind girl, though Yuuko constantly insists that she is not Watanuki’s angel of fortune. She spends much of her time with Watanuki and Doumeki, though she often seems to be otherwise engaged when Watanuki wants to spend time with her alone. She frequently remarks that “Watanuki and Doumeki are such good friends!” which is always protested by Watanuki. I can’t tell you much more about her without giving away a pretty big spoiler, so I will refrain.

This doesn’t even begin to cover all the non-human characters in this series. Oh, they are all so wonderfully detailed and idiosyncratic! I love them all! Mokona! *heart* The kudakitsune! The foxes who run the oden stand! Oh! The Zashiki-warashi! Maru and Moro! Oh, my heart, they are all wonderful.

The Philosophy

One thing I personally find very compelling about xxxHolic is that it so often addresses issues of morality, but from an obviously non-Christian point of view, which is so refreshing for me. The universe is steeped in Shinto beliefs, and we are spared from western ideas about “good” and “evil” in favor of the study of action and reaction, and how our choices affect us (and others) over time. The concept driving the series is “hitsuzen,” a Japanese word for which there is no direct English translation, but which has been sometimes translated as “inevitability” or (less accurately) “fate.” The Del Ray translation of the manga defines “hitsuzen” as “A naturally foreordained event. A state in which other outcomes are impossible. A result which can only be obtained by a single causality, and other causalities would necessarily create different results.” When reading the manga, one comes to the conclusion that it is all our choices and the choices of others that create hitsuzen. Every choice we make, even the most insignificant, casual choice, sets certain things into motion, and when combined with the choices others have made, creates an inevitable outcome.

Yuuko frequently states “There is no coincidence, only hitsuzen.” It is hitsuzen that brings customers to her shop (including Watanuki), and the wishes made throughout the series contribute to (and are part of) hitsuzen as well.

The Relationships

Another of the compelling aspects of xxxHolic, is the relationships between the main characters, or more specifically, the relationships between Watanuki and each of the other main characters, and how they change over the course of the series. I’ve joked in the past that xxxHolic is almost a harem manga (though much of the harem is not female, or even human), but really that cheapens the deep caring between these characters and Watanuki. The relationships I’m most interested in are between Watanuki and Yuuko, Himawari, and Doumeki. It is impossible to know, even as far into the story as we now are, exactly what everyone’s reasons are for caring about Watanuki as they do, but we can guess at some of it.

Yuuko’s relationship with Watanuki is complex and fascinating. She is his mentor, almost a parental figure at times, and certainly she cares for Watanuki as a parent might, but she’s also an employer, a relentlessly teasing older sister, a drunken college buddy, an unabashed temptress, and a con artist. She puts him in danger constantly, and yet is so protective of him, that she consistently hides from him the truth about what is coming. She even protects him from his own decisions, as much as she can, which is not something we see her do for anyone else. Watanuki appears to be mostly oblivious to her acts of caring, as is his wont, though by the end of volume 12, it is clear that he cares at least as much for her.

Himawari is the only character Watanuki exhibits outward affection for, at least of the main three, and though this is often played off as a pathetic crush, I think the importance of these two to each other can’t be ignored. There is much I can’t say here for fear of spoiling people in an unthinkable way, but I can point out that though Himawari generally ignores Watanuki’s obvious attempts to woo her, she consistently seeks him out at school and, along with Doumeki, keeps him from being an incredibly lonely person. Also, Watanuki’s crush is very refreshing, as he shows her constant respect and genuine admiration, never once treating her as a sex object.

Doumeki, oh Doumeki. I have left him for last, because this is my favorite relationship of all. It’s no secret that I’m a bit of a ’shipper here, but it’s hard not to be, the way CLAMP has written this relationship. Because of Watanuki’s predicament (being constantly pursued by harmful spirits), and Doumeki’s natural abilities (to repel and exorcise harmful spirits), Doumeki is a necessary fixture in Watanuki’s life, which Watanuki gripes about to no end. What’s interesting about this is that despite constant complaining and abuse from Watanuki, Doumeki does not leave. He makes sarcastic remarks (and increasingly impossible food demands), but his devotion to his role as Watanuki’s protector never wavers, not even for a second. As the manga continues, the “deep connection” between these two becomes more and more intense, to the point where they are connected even in physical ways, and it’s not hard to see how ’shippers like me are born, when Yuuko spends a good nine volumes trying to get Watanuki to figure out that Doumeki (unlike Himawari) is his perfect partner. However you want to interpret that. This relationship is complex and nuanced and we’re constantly finding out more about it, even as it changes. In many ways, this relationship is the heart of xxxHolic for me, and I know I’m not alone in feeling that way.

The Art

Not everyone is a fan of CLAMP’s style of art, but I personally think it is beautiful. There is so much atmosphere in every moment and the color pages and covers are just incredibly beautiful, in my opinion. I love the long lines, the striking use of black, the curls of smoke snaking their way through the frame. xxxHolic looks like no other comic I’ve seen, including others by CLAMP, and its smoky, heady, otherworldly quality is unmatched. I personally find it intoxicating.

The Books

I do read scanlations of new chapters as they are released but, and I can’t possibly stress this enough, please get your hands on the Del Rey books. Seriously. This is not about copyright (as worthy as that cause may be). This is about artistry. I understand that the lure of scanlations is great, but when it comes to pure reading experience, William Flanagan, who does the translations for Del Rey, really has the ability to make the English language soar. His detailed notes at the end of each volume allow the manga to remain true to its setting with no Americanization, and when I read a volume of xxxHolic I feel always that it has been put together with great attention and care. There are 12 volumes released so far in English and I have read them all over and over again, that is how satisfying and rich they are. Volume 13 is scheduled for release in March of 2009 and I am counting the days until I can rush out and buy it at the nearest bookstore.

Warning: THIS MANGA MAKES YOU HUNGRY. Watanuki is someone who believes that all problems can be fixed with food.

The Bottom Line

xxxHolic is thoughtful, funny, mysterious, and insanely beautiful. It has compelling characters in complex, moving relationships. It has 163 chapters and more coming, presented with obvious care by its North American publisher. I wish I could tell you everything that is wonderful about it but I can’t do that without giving everything away. There are only a few special series that have made as strong an impression on me as xxxHolic or have inspired in me such an obnoxious need to proselytize. This has to mean something.

JOIN ME. :)