xxxHOLiC Manga Chapter 192

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Watanuki and the blind woman conclude their discussions on the cat having been made into a shamisen where Watanuki determines that the instrument wanted to be with the one it loved most as a shamisen, not as a cat. As such, the woman’s playing of the instrument is so beautiful. The woman deduces a similarity in the two of them and as payment, offers the shamisen. Watanuki says that is too much so the woman takes a large piece of the shattered bachi and offers it as payment since it is precious to her as well seeing as how the shamisen will no longer be played by any other bachi. Watanuki accepts.

Sometime later, Watanuki and Mokona are on the engawa in front of the shop enjoying some adult beverages (for which Mokona is happy) when Mokona mentions the new item in the treasure room and asks if it is balanced. Watanuki feels it is and Mokona reminds Watanuki about the consequences of taking too much or too little in price for granting a wish, something Yuuko-san reminding him of when she was alive. Watanuki says that he’s learning from his one eye and the power he has to better determine whether the price paid is balanced.

Mokona remarks that Watanuki grants wishes even if the price paid is too little, meaning he’ll take injury to himself as a result and that’s why his friends worry about him. Watanuki assures Mokona that this time everything was fine but Mokona reminds Watanuki that he has nearly died. Watanuki reminds Mokona that he cannot die because of his vow to grant Yuuko-san’s wish which causes him to remain in the shop until he can meet her again.

Mokona and Watanuki speak of Syaoran and company as well as White Mokona where Black Mokona reveals the group has gone to Piffle World again and Kurogane has been given an upgraded arm.

Watanuki gets up and offers to make some special snacks which excites Mokona a great deal. Watanuki tells Mokona not to tell Doumeki when he comes by and Mokona promises so as to have a monopoly on the snacks. As Watanuki walks away, Mokona observes the pipe he was smoking and reflects on how that though Watanuki is alone, he is not the only one.

Thoughts/Review: Well, this didn’t quite go as I thought it might, but it did discuss the aspects of Watanuki and the price of wishes. As I read Mokona’s and Watanuki’s conversation on the subject of wish granting and making sure the payment is balanced or Watanuki will suffer hurt, I thought about the story in volume 6 where Watanuki meets the woman in a kimono. Yuuko-san and Mokona were “making gods” (whatever that meant) and out of the shop but she warned him just the same about continuing to see that woman. It never occurred to me when reading that story why Watanuki was being killed by seeing the woman. I think I just assumed that because she was a spirit, she was somehow draining his life force.

Now, I think I understand what was happening back then. The ghost woman was lonely and had a wish to not be lonely. Watanuki was granting that wish but since the woman was not paying for the wish to be granted, the price was being taken from Watanuki personally in the form of his health. Since the woman would never be able to pay a price for her wish to be granted, Doumeki “slew” her by sending her to the next realm (for lack of a better term). With her gone, no more price was demanded of Watanuki and he got better.

So I imagine that things like this have been happening since Watanuki took over the shop. If he takes too little in price or too much in price, it comes out of his hide somehow and though he may not be able to die, I’m pretty sure that if the balance is too far one way or the other, Watanuki may well wish he were dead. That would explain the others being so worried about him because they’ve surely seen the impact of Watanuki’s not taking a correct price in payment.

Speaking of Watanuki’s friends, we’ve seen Doumeki and Kohane-chan. Mokona, Moro, and Maru live with Watanuki so we’ve seen them but we haven’t seen Himawari-chan yet and I hope we do soon. I’d also love to see Ame Warashi and especially Zashiki Warashi. Maybe we will get to soon.

Now that Tsubasa is over, CLAMP appears to be setting the groundwork for an eventual return of those characters in xxxHOLiC at a future point in time. Tsubasa ended with the comment that Syaoran’s group would likely return to Yuuko-san’s shop frequently and this chapter tosses some information about Kurogane getting a new arm and Syaoran scolding Watanuki should they come by for a visit. To me, this strongly suggests that CLAMP will have the Tsubasa folks over for a story. That could be interesting but knowing CLAMP, they might decide to get all weird. *lol*

With the conclusion of the shamisen story, I am interested to see where CLAMP will take the xxxHOLiC manga. I don’t think that Doumeki’s egg story thread has been resolved and certainly there’s the issue of whether Yuuko-san will return. Since I don’t see any other unresolved plot threads, I do wonder how far xxxHOLiC can go without Yuuko-san and without Watanuki being able to leave the shop.