Comments on: Why you should read xxxHolic

By: The Manga Critic » Blog Archive » Friday Procrastination Aides, 1/22/10

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:13:34 +0000

[...] to Noah Berlatsky et al. for allowing me to play ball! If you’re looking for additional, in-depth discussion of xxxHOLiC, be sure to visit Manga Bookshelf, where Melinda Beasi explains why you should read the series. [...]

By: Elysia

Elysia — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:42:13 +0000

Hear, hear :-)

By: Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources » Tokidoki Daylight - xxxHolic, Volume 13

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:58:32 +0000

[...] an introduction to the world of xxxHolic, check out my post, Why You Should Read xxxHolic at There it is, Plain as Daylight. Comments [...]

By: there it is, plain as daylight. » Hi. My name is Deanna and I’m a mangaholic.

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:43:42 +0000

[...] was getting into when I picked up that first volume of xxxHolic last April. I had read Melinda’s beautiful persuasion post after all. I had no idea that, like Watanuki, the reason I had entered Yuuko’s shop was because I [...]

By: there it is, plain as daylight. » Morality in manga and anime

there it is, plain as daylight. » Morality in manga and anime — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:07:20 +0000

[...] it’s true, in my big xxxHolic post, one of the things I said I particularly enjoyed was a lack of focus on western concepts of good [...]

By: Melinda

Melinda — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:20:26 +0000

I'm kind of glad that you haven't read Banana Fish, because I love introducing it to people. :) Actually, the crossover audience was boys and men who would normally read shonen manga! Banana Fish was a shojo title that a lot of guys also read, because it is all about street gangs and organized crime. Lots of guns and action. I've seen it classified as yaoi by some, but it really is not. Shaenon Garrity did a great write-up on it for her Overlooked Manga Festival, if you want to check that out. Oh, I'm so glad you found Suki! I will have to look for it as well. :)

By: Oliver

Oliver — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:01:24 +0000

Thanks for your recommendations. I do like that you didn’t pick outright Yaoi titles, because I’m actually quite pissed at the genre. My reasons are that: even though I own many Yaoi titles, I don’t find myself enjoying them and re-reading them as I do non-Yaoi manga. But Banana Fish looks like a good one because Viz mentions that it gained a huge crossover audience (meaning Shojo and BL lovers, I guess).

I guess gayness in manga is losing its appeal to me, since it used to be so exciting, but now it’s overused in my collection (no longer special).

And funny thing, I picked up Vols. 1 & 2 of Suki at my comic shop just down the street. It’s the only out-of-print CLAMP title that they had, so my luck was high. When I go to many comic shops and bookstores, sometimes they’ll have a random volume of an out-of-print CLAMP title, and I think it’s important to snatch it up so you don’t spend lots on shipping for online orders. By the way, if you can find it, Suki is a wonderful read.

By: Melinda

Melinda — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:44:37 +0000

Hee, it feels funny to be asked for recommendations, because I always assume that everyone else has read a lot more manga than I have. I’m kind of assuming that about you, too, though maybe we’ve at least read different things? I know you like BL, so I can go with that…. hmmm… if you’ve never read Banana Fish (which you probably have), I’d recommend it highly. It’s not technically BL, but the two main characters are very obviously in love. Black Cat has an obviously gay character, though his love is unrequited and he’s pretty much, uh, evil. So I don’t know how you feel about that. Hmmm, I don’t know, tell me more about what you like, and I will try to do better! :)

No, I don’t have any of those older CLAMP volumes, but I’m seeing that there are some Amazon sellers who appear to have Suki, and some even claim to be new!

By: Oliver

Oliver — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:58:17 +0000

Great! I can’t wait to read it. I think I’ll be getting a fresh new copy of xxxHolic later, though. Have you collected the out-of-print CLAMP volumes from Tokyopop? I would love to find volumes of Suki somewhere. Scanlations just don’t do it for me. Would you have any recommendations of non-CLAMP work? I would love to know! Happy reading!!

By: Melinda

Melinda — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:18:09 +0000

Ugh, sorry you’re stuck with a smoky copy of xxxHolic! I do think my friend is writing up some recommendations of earlier CLAMP work that she will link here when it is ready, so perhaps you do not have to wait until I’ve become richer! :D