February 17th, 2011 
AstroNerdBoy xxxHOLiC (xxxHOLiC Rou) Manga Chapter 213
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Watanuki discusses the dream he had with the butterfly and Yuuko-san with Doumeki. It is the first time Watanuki has dreamed of Yuuko-san and he’ll have to use all of his abilities in order to see the complete dream.
Again, Watanuki returns to the dream and captures the butterfly there but it easily escapes. That means that what he is viewing is the dream of someone more powerful than himself. The butterfly flutters off to where Yuuko-san is waiting. Yuuko-san says nothing and Watanuki can’t move even as this dream world falls apart. Yuuki-san produces a bird cage with a bird in it. After she sets the bird free, Watanuki begins to understand considering how much time has passed.
In the real world, Watanuki is talking with DOUMEKI Shizuka’s grandson, who looks like Shizuka. Watanuki explains the dream was a final message from Yuuko-san and that even though it has been over one hundred years since he inherited the store and that he is no longer bound to the store, Watanuki will continue to maintain the store and wait. Doumeki’s grandson asks if Watanuki wants to forget about Yuuko-san so that he can move on. Watanuki does not so Doumeki’s grandson goes off to get them some drinks. Looking at the egg left him from his grandfather, Doumeki’s grandson decides it isn’t time to use this since Watanuki forgetting about Yuuko-san would be too painful.
Thoughts/Review:
For crying out loud, CLAMP. I know the ladies were well known for not being able to complete a manga properly these days but I have to say that for me, this ending elevates you to the “notorious” status.
Basically, as I see it, CLAMP simply got tired of xxxHOLiC and since it is more interesting starting something new (Gate 7), lets dump xxxHOLiC. So, let’s look at this final chapter.
Did I expect for Yuuko-san to ever return? Not really but then CLAMP could have brought her back. So seeing that Watanuki had accepted that he’d never see the real Yuuko-san again was not a surprise. If I had to guess, I’d say that when CLAMP created xxxHOLiC/Tsubasa, they hadn’t planned for Yuuko-san to actually be dead but trapped in a time lock (or some such nonsense). Having decided she was dead and allowing her to go ahead and complete that process, CLAMP had to stay on their theme from Tsubasa‘s end that once dead, always dead. However, I had hoped that what might happen is that Watanuki might be able to communicate with Yuuko-san but oh well.
So then CLAMP makes time leap ahead again. This time leaping forward one hundred years. Sadly, I know nothing of the Yume Juuya story beyond it is a published work of ten dreams supposedly had by the author NATSUME Sōseki (oddly enough, his name is given Japanese style all over on the web). So I don’t know how much CLAMP pulled from those works when they began introducing the dreamscape stuff into xxxHOLiC.
That aside, jumping forward that much in time and having Doumeki’s grandson be there at Watanuki’s side is just such a cop out in my opinion to allow CLAMP to just end the manga. Forget about Doumeki, Himawari, Kohane, Moro, Maru, Mokona, Zashiki-Warashi, etc. Nothing matters and xxxHOLiC has been reduced to nothing because of CLAMP’s not knowing where they were going or what they were doing with the series.
This brings me to the egg and the final cop out. Everyone kept expecting it to be used and it never was. So, CLAMP just punts by reaching for something they felt was plausible — have the egg be something that causes Watanuki to forget about Yuuko-san. *rolls eyes* Whatever.
So, a very disappointing chapter and a disappointing end to the manga without even a look at the characters fans have come to know and love. Nope, this is just a “flush the toilet as fast as possible” chapter so that CLAMP can go onto something they haven’t painted themselves into a corner over.
I will write a review (and rant) of the entire xxxHOLiC series down the road a bit. I plan to keep buying the manga from Del Rey because there are still some gems that I want to have on my bookshelf. At this point, I want to reread the manga from scratch before writing that piece though because I’d like to analyze where I think CLAMP failed and where I think CLAMP should have gone to make xxxHOLiC a success.
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Yume Juuya is a story about a man who has 10 dreams each set in different time periods. the last dream being 100 years in the future.
I have seen someone speculate on a forum that these times skips are nothing but a dream that watanuki is having. Maybe this was a message from Yuuko to try and have Watanuki give up on her.
My thoughts for the endings and the future of TsubaHoli *SPOILERS*
Watanuki is now willing to move about away from the shop, and may either join the cast of Tsubasa, or join the cast of CCS. Either way, this is a good thing as its progression from his stagnent storyline. Maru, Moro and the black Mokona are not at the shop, meaning that they too can move about, or their lives have come to an end. Either way, however you look at it, the story of the magical shop is over. All that matters is that an egg that Dōmeki’s family tree is in possesion of, is ready to erase Watanuki’s memory at some point, or do something else to him. Time is of no importance to the Tsubasa gang. The next time they visit the shop might be when Watanuki decides to join in their adventure. Who knows… for now.
The important points in Tsubasa are that the circle of repeating time that Sakura and Syaoran have been living through has ended. They are both named Tsubasa, and the souls of clone/young Sakura and clone/young Syaoran exist within themselves as feathers. Tsubasa (male) NEEDS to travel through different worlds because if he settles in one world, time and space will become distored. Watanuki did need to stay in the shop for the same reason, but he now has so much power that this doesnt matter any more. Even if he moves on from Yukos death, the part of him that will want to revive her will manifest itself as Fay Wong Reed, probably.
It is hinted that the bodies of clone/young Syaoran and clone/young Sakura could exist somewhere in one of the worlds. Both (male and female) Tsubasa’s will most probably choose to give the clones souls (feathers) back to their respective bodies, if they find them. The main perpose of the team traveling through different worlds is now to find a world where the clones can exist with both Tusbasa’s. Im really hoping that the real Sakura and the real Syaoran from CCS will not turn out to be the missing clone bodys. Hopefully these characters will stay as seperate beings from other worlds (like so many of the other characters from the 1st half of the Tsubasa series that kept turning up).
But if the series has really come to an end, then im going to say that both Tsubasas are just trying to keep hope alive that the clone bodies exist somewhere, but deep down they know they dont exist.
If Watanuki can grow powerful enough to leave the shop without distorting time and space, so true can Tusbasa (male) grow powerful enough to reside in Clow country without distorting time and space as well. All in all, everyone is happy. Oh, and Watanuki would fall in love with Zashiki-Warashi :p
As for the egg, that would be used to seperate Watanuki from his disire to bring back Yuko, which would steadily get worse over the years. As soon as the egg would be used, Fai Wong Reed would come into existance, but we know his story. As for Clow Reed and Yuko, not enough information has been provided to get a proper gist of their lives.
To be honest, Im fustrated that as a CCS spin off, Clamp never bothered exploring Clow Reeds life, and we ended up with a complex story that twists time and space ridiculously, without the help from the CCS gang. >.<
Clow Reed’s life: Yuuko dies, Clow’s desire to see her alive traps her soul into the shop and the desire itself manifest as WFR. Clow punishes himself by splitting his powers into magical cards and 3 individuals, 2 go to CCS, the other becomes Clown’s country king.
Considering this is the first CLAMP title i read, this has to be the worst ending in a manga ever (more so than Psyren) and being relatively new to Holic only followed it once it was roughly chapter 180ish im very disappointed in this series when it neared the end. I hate them for ruining such a great title.
I’d like to think that just like in Wish, another work by CLAMP, Watanuki will eventually meet Yuuko’s reincarnation… Probably he will be so stubbornly fixated in the idea of staying in the shop that he will not recognize her, so Doumeki’s descendant (I’m not saying grandson since I don’t know if that would be in the current time period) will have to wipe his memory for good :p
That would certainly be a good conclusion 🙂
that was exactly what i was hopping for!!!! mmm that really should had worked… he could even ask kohaku to ask god when is it going to happen XDDD lol.. no, really, who knows… clamp girls are just as crazy.. what they did with the CSS spin off was a lot to take… (without counting the rest of the spin offs which were totally crazy) so the idea is not that out of context hahaha
Well, with xxxHOLiC getting brought back to life, Yuuko-san may well come back, granting Watanuki’s wish.
Will have to join the rants here.
This is, by far, the worst ending to a manga I’ve read. I really liked xxxHolic up until Cage started, in which it started to drop the ball; but this was just “we gotta end this somehow”.
I agree with you on the fact that the ending was a dud. I thought the same thing with Tsubasa. I was hoping for something more but… Oh CLAMP…
Though it was interesting to find out he was talking to Doumeki Shizuka’s grandson (or was it great grandson?).
I, myself, just started reading Gate 7 from CLAMP (doing a blog about that one) and I’m hoping that it won’t turn out like xxxholic and Tsubasa. It’s kinda interesting so far.
Yume Juuya is a story about a man who has 10 dreams each set in different time periods. the last dream being 100 years in the future.
Have you read these? I’m pretty sure they are in English.
I have seen someone speculate on a forum that these times skips are nothing but a dream that watanuki is having. Maybe this was a message from Yuuko to try and have Watanuki give up on her.
That’s an interesting idea. I don’t think that was CLAMP’s plan at the start though.
@Lan — Interesting read there. Clearly you’ve given this a great deal of thought based on Tsubasa, which turned me off so much by the end that I can’t read any of it ever again. ^_^;
Oh, and Watanuki would fall in love with Zashiki-Warashi :p
That would be sweet. ^_^
To be honest, Im fustrated that as a CCS spin off, Clamp never bothered exploring Clow Reeds life, and we ended up with a complex story that twists time and space ridiculously, without the help from the CCS gang. >.<
I agree. I started reading Tsubasa because of the CCS connection and then xxxHOLiC because of the crossover. Heck, xxxHOLiC at the start had Yuuko-san make cryptic remarks about her and Clow doing this and that but as I reread xxxHOLiC, I am feeling that CLAMP really had no plan on that angle and thus the mess that is Tsubasa.
Considering this is the first CLAMP title i read, this has to be the worst ending in a manga ever (more so than Psyren) and being relatively new to Holic only followed it once it was roughly chapter 180ish im very disappointed in this series when it neared the end. I hate them for ruining such a great title.
Read Chobits. That one is done pretty well IMO and things make sense at the end (though there is one small messed up piece to the ending). My memory of CCS, which I’ve only read once a long time ago, is that it had a decent ending (with a weird twist that made sense though in a weird sort of way).
So, CLAMP can do an ending, but they’ve also had manga titles they’ve not bothered to complete and other titles like this with weak endings.
I’d like to think that just like in Wish, another work by CLAMP, Watanuki will eventually meet Yuuko’s reincarnation…
I haven’t read Wish but one of the possibilities I did entertain for xxxHOLiC was (1) Watanuki somehow becoming Clow and/or (2) Yuuko-san might show up in a new form. However, after seeing the OAD, I wasn’t sure I liked the reincarnate aspect of Yuuko-san and so I pushed that aside.
I really liked xxxHolic up until Cage started, in which it started to drop the ball; but this was just “we gotta end this somehow”.
By “Cage,” I’m assuming you mean xxxHOLiC: Rou, correct?
Though it was interesting to find out he was talking to Doumeki Shizuka’s grandson (or was it great grandson?).
I think it was “grandson” but maybe I’m remembering wrong.
I, myself, just started reading Gate 7 from CLAMP (doing a blog about that one) and I’m hoping that it won’t turn out like xxxholic and Tsubasa. It’s kinda interesting so far.
Heh! I just read the one-shot Gate 7 chapter tonight. I’ll try to cobble something together on that in the next week. ^_^
You can be sure that i will NEVER read/watch a new CLAMP title EVER again, unless its related to CCS, or has a decent ending. Otherwise, no.
After reading this last chapter, i don’t know why but i get the feeling that the leap of more than 100 years happened after chapter 210 (when Watanuki promised Doumeki that he would make a Heigushi for his family).
Also another point to be noted is that after 210, Watanuki or Mokona never said Doumeki’s name out loud in those 2 chapters.
As for the content of the final chapter, i do agree that the way in which the story of XXXHolic came to an end was something i didn’t expect to happen (especially the part regarding the egg), but there is still a chance that when the final volume for XXXHolic gets out, it might have some additional parts in it like i heard it was in the case of Tsubasa.
Also there is a chance that the next/future Clamp title might continue the storyline of XXXHolic & Tsubasa even more.
Wait…that was the last chapter? SON OF A B…..
Well, that was disappointing. I gave up on reading this manga a long time ago, but still checked on recent chapters to see if Watanuki and Yuko were reunited at all. This was just disappointing.
Heck, the entire series was disappointing for anyone shipping anyone in the series. Whatsherface, his first crush, ended up marrying some random nobody character, Yuko dies, and there’s no hint about what happens with Zashiki-Warashi. This is just piss-poor.
I kinda liked it, ok it can be sudden and ‘cut’ off from the story, but it leaves us with a sense of mystery and unexplicated thing, that are the back of the plot from my point of reading 🙂
Yeesh. That sucks. I really like xxxHolic, so seeing a cop-out ending like this is a huge bummer. Of course, rushed or sloppy endings are fairly common in anime & manga, and that’s not counting some of the less-than-good Gecko Endings you find in some anime based on manga. Even many of the best titles can have strong beginning and middle acts but fall apart right at the end.
I wonder why exactly CLAMP decided to just up and end xxxHolic anyway. Oh well. It’s not like they can’t revisit it in the future. And at least it got an ending. I’m still waiting for CLAMP to go back and finish some of their older series like X/1999 and Legal Drug, which have been on hiatus for years.
You can be sure that i will NEVER read/watch a new CLAMP title EVER again, unless its related to CCS, or has a decent ending. Otherwise, no.
I’ll be reading for you then. ^_~
After reading this last chapter, i don’t know why but i get the feeling that the leap of more than 100 years happened after chapter 210 (when Watanuki promised Doumeki that he would make a Heigushi for his family).
You may well be right. I was always difficult at best to keep up with all the bloody leaps forward in time. *_*
…there is still a chance that when the final volume for XXXHolic gets out, it might have some additional parts in it like i heard it was in the case of Tsubasa.
Maybe.
Also there is a chance that the next/future Clamp title might continue the storyline of XXXHolic & Tsubasa even more.
The new Gate 7 would be the strongest candidate there.
Heck, the entire series was disappointing for anyone shipping anyone in the series. Whatsherface, his first crush, ended up marrying some random nobody character, Yuko dies, and there’s no hint about what happens with Zashiki-Warashi. This is just piss-poor.
Yep, I agree.
I kinda liked it, ok it can be sudden and ‘cut’ off from the story, but it leaves us with a sense of mystery and unexplicated thing, that are the back of the plot from my point of reading 🙂
I think they are unexplained because CLAMP didn’t have an explanation. *lol*
I wonder why exactly CLAMP decided to just up and end xxxHolic anyway.
The common belief is when Gate 7 became their new monthly serial. So now they are doing Kobato and Gate 7, both of which are monthly titles.
I’ll be reading for you then. ^_~
Exactly. I will read your Gate 7 blog entries hoping to find that the series will really be about Clow and Yuko, with Watanuki and the Tsubasa crew turning up at a later date. Yeah, Right…
Wow. So that’s how it ended. I have to wait until the English graphic novel comes out to have a revised opinion BUT (seeing how this didn’t affect my stance that Tsubasa’s ending was confusing as hell) you know I’m really getting disappointed at CLAMP. Much like Rumiko Takahashi, time has not been kind to them but where Takahashi’s stuff seems rather generic these days (still fun reads) CLAMP just seems to be half-assing their endings to stuff. At least stuff like Tokyo Babylon, RG Veda, CCS, Chobits had decent endings. I almost don’t want CLAMP to end X or Legal Drug (and have they reached a conclusion to Kobato?) because I feel it will take all the elements that had such epic build-up and be one big copout. While I’m not completely divorcing myself from CLAMP I’m going to invest into their future works with a grain of salt that everything will not just end is a mis-mash of BS.
Exactly. I will read your Gate 7 blog entries hoping to find that the series will really be about Clow and Yuko, with Watanuki and the Tsubasa crew turning up at a later date. Yeah, Right…
*lol* I briefly had a thought of doing something fun for April 1st but then I never do April Fool’s stuff.
…you know I’m really getting disappointed at CLAMP. Much like Rumiko Takahashi, time has not been kind to them …
Well, none of them have reached Charles Schultz levels. Peanuts was pretty sad to see before Mr. Schultz died. ^_^;;;
While I’m not completely divorcing myself from CLAMP I’m going to invest into their future works with a grain of salt that everything will not just end is a mis-mash of BS.
Ditto.
i really like most of the comments here XD.. they are really interesting and give a different perspective of Clamp and their works… i’ve been thinking for a while that the Clamp group have really good ideas, AWESOME art, and are very funny; however they have so many ideas that they want to convey that in the end they just turned out messed up… i’ve read almost all CLAMP’s works, and that’s my opinion XD…
btw…i read some years ago X/1999 and got really mad because it was one of the best series i’ve read and it will never end :(… and tokyo babylon is quite good.. but there it’s the thing about the ending T_T TRC’s final is not that bad… there are some twists that really confused me and got me stuck for some minutes.. I really think they should continue the story of the vampire twins and the hunter brothers XDDD and maybe show more stuff about TRC (like they did at the end with xxxholic)… but u know.. about xxxholic.. i really think its a very sad ending for watanuki… to live on (almost) eternally.. all the people u love to die, waiting for yuuko who might never come again…
I really thought clamp would actually come up with one of the following:
a) yuuko is reborn and watanuki meets her again
b) watanuki is actually Clow Reed XDDD (after what they did with shaoran been the son of his own clone everything might be possible haha)
and the other idea, which i kind of liked, that i found in here is that watanuki ends up as Fei Wang Reed
(well this are some thoughts XD… but in the end…Clamp know and i feel they have the last laugh 🙁 )
We’ll see what CLAMP has in store for us when xxxHOLiC comes back.
(yOAO)y it’s been years!! and im still waiting
Soon. ^_~
As I see it, the ending was good.. But not great. I think the egg is something to use for Watanuki to move on, be it needs his acceptance or something of like permission. Doumeki’s lineage was given a quest, to look after Watanuki. Or perhaps it’s in the genes that they will love Watanuki the moment they see him? LoL.
~Rein
We’ll see if any of this plays a part in xxxHOLiC Rei.
It was the worst ending, they even took away watanuki’s memory, I’m so hurt with this ending, they should continue somehow, I really miss Yuuko san T_T
Yuuko-san is back in the new manga.
You, mean… The new title is xxxholic Rou? I little bit confusing bcz the beginning chapters are similar into the previous chapter. But in the same time, its different… As if it is alternate word.
It has been a while, but my memory is that xxxHOLiC moved from one magazine to another. When this happens, it is often given a new name, even though it is continuing the story from before. (UQ Holder did this.) At the time, I used xxxHOLiC (Rou) to denote that this was a continuation of the old xxxHOLiC series, but that it also had a new name in Japan.
2018 and welcome CCS Clear card arc!! Hopefully, there are answers from TRC and Holic series in the new work. Even both stories are complicated, I still stand for the girls but please, give all characters a happy ending, CLAMP. They deserve it 🙁
You remind me that I’ve still to watch the Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc anime AND I’m way behind on the manga. 😅