No more, no less.

As I’ve said for my past two reviews in this series, xxxHolic: Fourth Collection is pretty much the standard for most anime DVDs in appearances. It has a picture of Watanuki and Himawari on the front, and within an illustration spread of Yuko, Watanuki, Mokona, and Doumeki. The DVD menu is also fairly simple, with side images and basic menu options. To save myself from the threat of redundancy, it should be noted that the high points of xxxHolic aren’t in the physical appearances of the casing or menus, but the anime itself. Its sleek art style and excellent soundtrack make xxxHolic a breed apart in today’s anime, and give it its own unique look and feel.

Less is not more.

It’s getting old, but xxxHolic:Fourth Collection has little to offer viewers in terms of extras. The image gallery is a slideshow of dull screen captures from each episode on the disc. There are also textless versions of the opening and ending songs. You’ve already watched these four times a piece by now, so even though it’s standard practice to offer them, it’s a bit repeatative. Trailers seem to make up the bulk of the Extras feature, featuring such trailers as Case Closed, DBZ, and more. Really, even the trailers become more of the same after awhile, with one or two changes to the line-up.

The end result…

I can’t say enough how unique xxxHolic is in regards to other popular anime right now. While its ethical themes aren’t new to anime, it’s certainly a genre you don’t see enough of. Not only that, but CLAMP’s unique art style translates well to animation form and makes unique-looking characters and settings that stick with you, as well as the stories they’ve created. If you can, I highly urge you to add xxxHolic to your collection. The story gets more interesting from this volume on, and you won’t be able to stop watching.