Fitting the standards.

As I’ve said for my past two reviews in this series, xxxHolic: Third Collection is pretty much the standard for most anime DVDs in appearances these days. It has a picture of Doumeki and Yuko on the front, and within an illustration spread of Yuko, Watanuki, Doumeki, and Himawari. The DVD menu is also fairly simple, with side images and basic menu options. Also, as I’ve stated over and over before, the real gem is the actual animation itself. CLAMP really outdid themselves with such sleek, elegant character designs and artwork that inspired the look of the anime. Not only that, but there are artistic nuances used, such as making all unimportant people (such as people on the street or in stores) merely blanked figures.  The music, too, plays key part in the animation and it would really be hard to find a more fitting soundtrack.

Back to the basics.

It’s getting redundant saying this, but xxxHolic:Third 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, why bother watching them without the credits? Trailers seem to make up the bulk of the Extras feature, featuring such trailers as Fullmetal Alchemist, DBZ, and more. Really, even the trailers become more of the same after awhile, with one or two changes to the line-up.

A price well-paid.

For all xxxHolic: Third Collection has shortcomings in minor areas, the overall anime itself is enough that it keeps you hungry to watch each new episode. Many clues are brought to your attention, however subtly, that change is in the wind for Watanuki and his friends.  The mysterious atmosphere of the show and the comedic points mesh and mingle perfectly. Its thematic stories are also engaging, and it leaves you thinking “Oh man. I’ve said/done/thought things like that before…” and rethinking ever doing those things again. I can easily see xxxHolic become one of those classic series one must have in their anime shelf.