Xxxholic 2 (2)

With the arrival of Syaoran and Sakura from another world, Yuuko sends Watanuki to get the Mokona while explaining the nature of parallel worlds. Once the travellers have been sent on their way, Yuuko takes Watanuki to get his fortune told by a couple of different fortune tellers. Later Yuuko, Watanuki and his two friends Domeki and Himawari gather in Domeki's temple to tell ghost stories.This second volume of the `xxxHolic' manga is another very good instalment of the series with some beautiful artwork and some nice funny moments. The `Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles' crossover at the beginning is good and it is nice to see the scene from a different perspective. The other two storylines in the volume are also good with the fortune telling storyline being interesting and the ghost story one introducing Watanuki's `friends' quite nicely.The volume also includes the usual translation notes and information on some of the characters and events of the volume.

Spoiler alert!This book starts with a scene from the first book in the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle series. Syaoran and Sakura have arrived, needing the help of Yuko, and Watanuki seems to sense something about Syaoran. If you're a Tsubasa fan, seeing this scene played from Watanuki's point of view should be interesting. After that scene, most of the book follows the difficulties that Watanuki has with the girl he fancies, the boy that everybody else admires (who he imagines is his rival), and the adjustments he makes as he learns about the weird beauty of Yuko's world. It's totally cool, and the art is strangely fascinating.