xxxHOLiC Manga Chapter 194

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Watanuki plays the shamisen by hand (without a bachi) when Usagi arrives with his Moon Rabbit Kiseru Shop cart. Usagi compliments Watanuki on his playing and remarks on Watanuki being able to charm the ladies, something Watanuki plays down. Usagi gets down to business, having come to clean and repair Watanuki’s kiseru. Usagi marvels at the beauty of the pipe. As Usagi gets ready to do what is needed, he and Watanuki continue to talk where he cautions Watanuki about entering the Dream World too often, lest he should be trapped there.

Watanuki observes Usagi’s equipment, a tank with special fish that consume tobacco residue, clean the metal end of his kiseru. Usagi replaces the wooden stem with a new one and Watanuki chooses red. After replacing the mouthpiece, Watanuki takes a smoke and is pleased with the results. For payment, Watanuki has his usual Zunda-mochi ready but since Usagi changed out the stem, Watanuki feels he should pay more. So, Usagi makes a request that Watanuki simply say, “You may enter” even though the rabbit is already inside. Seeing no harm in this simple request, Watanuki grants it. This causes Jorô-Gumo to appear and thank Watanuki for the invitation.

Thoughts/Review:

I recently reread all fourteen volumes of xxxHOLiC released by Del Rey (as of this posting) with the mindset of seeing if there were any story threads or the like that CLAMP might pick up and carry forward. Obviously, there is the issue of whether or not Yuuko-san can return. There are characters we’ve not seen yet since the skip forward in time, such as Himawari-chan, Ame-Warashi, or Zashiki-Warashi. However, characters are fun to see but other than seeing what the status of Watanuki’s relationship with Himawari-chan or Zashiki-Warashi is, there were no outstanding plot threads there.

After reading everything in the Del Rey releases and taking into consideration everything I’ve read to date, the only thing that remotely looked like a genuine plot thread to be picked up came from volume 8 and the Jorô-Gumo, queen of the spiders. That’s because after Watanuki rescued Zashiki-Warashi from her and she consumed Watanuki’s left eye, she told him she’d see him again. Volume 8 was quite some time ago, eh?

Regardless, in my speculations for the previous chapter, I had considered mentioning that maybe Jorô-Gumo might return since that was the best I could find for stories to pick up. With her we might get to see Zashiki-Warashi. However, I discounted this notion as maybe looking a bit too hard for something that might not be there.

Imagine my surprise when at the end of 194, who should show up but Jorô-Gumo, having tricked Watanuki into inviting her in. I tell ya, I nearly squealed about this. *lol*

Jorô-Gumo’s plans to see Watanuki must have been long in the making. I wonder why the Usagi (rabbit) is working with her since it was his request for Watanuki to vocally invite him in that caused Jorô-Gumo to appear on the premise. The wards around the shop likely kept her out and without an invitation, she would not be able to enter. Now that she’s inside, there’s not much that Watanuki can do to get her out if CLAMP follows the traditions. I think of Pete Abram’s Sluggy Freelance and how vampires in his stories always have to obtain permission before entering a place not their own. Once they have that permission, it seems to never go away. I kinda suspect that will be the case here unless Watanuki can force her out somehow. Maybe we will get a visit from Ame-Warashi and Zashiki-Warashi. Also, having Kuda-Kitsune (the pipe fox) show up now would help even the odds.

Considering what Usagi (which means “rabbit,” but I’ve chosen to use that as the name of the supernatural rabbit) told Watanuki, I wonder if Jorô-Gumo wants him as a mate. Hey, it is very possible and considering how rare Watanuki is considered, he might be a prime candidate. Then again, she may just wish to consume him and take the shop.

So a seemingly “ordinary” chapter that takes a nice sharp turn at the end. I can’t wait to see how this one turns out. ^_^