xxxHOLiC Manga Chapter 202

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Jorô-Gumo is bored and and asks Watanuki to play the shamisen. He says he’ll have to get it, but to his surprise, the instrument is already in the room.

Later in the dreaming, Watanuki and Haruka chat about Jorô-Gumo’s visit and the amount of good liquor Watanuki opened due to her, Mokona, and even Kuda-Kitsune. Watanuki mentions Jorô-Gumo’s remark about not needing glasses any more. Watanuki discusses his fear of forgetting Yuuko-san and his understanding of Ame-Warashi telling him his existence is impossible.

Haruka has words of comfort for Watanuki, reminding him that the reason Watanuki stopped time was for Yuuko-san and that he’s gotten stronger to help those around him. To that end, he’s gotten better at granting wishes.

Haruka tells Watanuki to play the shamisen for him despite Watanuki’s protests of only knowing two songs. Haruka states that the instrument likes Watanuki and won’t be played by anyone else. Regarding the instruments movements within the store, Haruka says that cats are whimsical creatures.

So, Watanuki plays a song the shamisen taught him and Haruka sings the words.

Thoughts/Review: First, how come CLAMP doesn’t have Watanuki use the name Mugetsu for the Kuda-Kitsune? It just dawned on me with this chapter that the pipe fox hasn’t been addressed properly and I don’t know if that means something or not.

There’s really not a lot to say here, but I’ll think of something.

Jorô-Gumo got the punt after a couple of pages but based on other things that have happened of late, I suspect we’ll see her again.

Having the shamisen be able to move on its own is a bit of a surprise but I like the idea of it still being a cat in how it does things.

Haruka and Watanuki having a talk hopefully has some significance down the road because it didn’t do a whole lot for me. I suppose it could be used to bring new readers up to speed on Watanuki’s situation without having to go back and read a bunch of old manga chapters or tankoubon. Haruka’s song I figure has some additional meaning, whether to Yuuko-san or to Himawari-chan who’s soon to visit, I could not say.

Beyond that, not a whole lot to say as this chapter seemed to be a breather chapter before diving into something new. We’ll see what CLAMP does next.