Original link: https://blog.henix.info/blog/on-xxxholic/
This is probably the second time I have finished watching xxxholic ‘s animations and manga. After reading it, there are mixed flavors, and there is a feeling of overwhelming. It is not too much to describe it as “I don’t know the taste of meat for three days”.
xxxholic was talking about a consistent CLAMP theme: love, or affection, doesn’t make sense. In other words, the main idea is to show all kinds of emotions.
Although xxxholic is related to Tsubasa Chronicle, I think the analysis of xxxholic should return to the plot that only xxxholic has and is the most important to xxxholic itself. So I will ignore the part of the story about April 1st’s life that is connected with Tsubasa Chronicle. I think that part of the plot can only be said to be a background setting, and it has nothing to do with the theme of xxxholic.
xxxholic contains two parts of the plot: one is a fable that satirizes the reality and alerts the world, that is, the plot in which all kinds of customers come to the store and Ms. Yuko realizes their wishes. The other part is the so-called “main line” plot, which is the story of April Yi’s growth and how his relationship with the people around him develops.
The main purpose of the first part is to tell readers not to be self-centered or “we humans”-centered, but to look at problems from the standpoint of various things. In the story of the spider, Ms. Yuko said something to the effect that, for you, it is just a spider web, but for the spider, it is his “home” that has been destroyed. The spiders here can be understood as non-human beings who are not of my race, or as people who hold different values and positions from themselves.
As for the main line, these people who are relatively close to April 1st also correspond to several clues of the main line. The bright line is April 1st with Domeki, Kohane, Zashiki Doji, Little Fox and other non-human beings, the dark line is April 1st with Xiaokui, and a darker “background” line is April 1st with Miss Yuko .
The relationship between April 1st and Xiaokui is especially ups and downs. Since I watched it for the second time, I already knew Xiaokui’s life experience. When watching the previous part, I would carefully observe the screen and lines. Only then did I finally understand many plots that I didn’t understand before, and I realized how many foreshadowings the author had buried. For example, Xiaokui basically didn’t go home alone with April 1st, and would drag Domeki with him every time. I thought it was because Xiaokui only regarded April 1st as an ordinary friend. Another example is that Xiao Kui never makes things by herself, she always buys them from the store, and even heats them up as her mother, in fact, it is because Xiao Kui knows her own physique. When I read it for the first time, I felt that the description of the character Xiaokui was very dull. When I read it for the second time, I found that the description of Xiaokui was all hidden in the daily details. understanding.
How much foreshadowing is ahead, and how shocking the moment the truth finally comes out. After hearing the truth from Xiaokui on April 1st, I said, I don’t want to make you cry—I think this is the climax of the whole comic. In the whole manga, the relationship between April Yi and Xiaokui may be the closest to the usual sense of “love”: to love is a decision, or decision, which has nothing to do with other things. Watching their love story makes me feel like watching “The Sorrows of Young Werther”.
I think the relationship between April 1st and Domeki is more like a family relationship.
Domeki and Kohane, only the animation clearly shows that they are together, but the animation also has the participation of CLAMP teacher, which can be considered to be their meaning. I think they admired each other and got together, not for April 1st as some netizens said. It’s just that their story is another story, and the author thinks it’s not the point, so this part is omitted.
Generally speaking, I think xxxholic is very literary, and it is difficult to find similar works in the entire Japanese animation industry.
PS The first draft of this article was drafted in January 2022. I just read that session
This article is transferred from: https://blog.henix.info/blog/on-xxxholic/
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