It’s time for my first journey into the xxxHolic series at least in terms of animation since I’ve read the manga. It’s a pretty fun low key supernatural franchise with a lot of things happening and often times it’s all about the atmosphere. Usually things don’t end up going well for the greedy figures or anyone who is too antagonistic. This short film is definitely no exception to that. It’s a fun ride all the way through though.

The film starts off with Watanuki having a tough time as always with a bunch of spirits trying to grab him. The poor guy has always been able to see spirits and the main issue is they know it so he has to constantly fight them off. The film has a lot of fun with the animation with Watanuki flailing to escape. Well it’s summer time now and Watanuki has to head back to the witch Yuko to serve his time. Basically she gave him something to keep the spirits from totally destroying him and in exchange he spends the Summer working from her. (Yes this is a film that jumps you right in so for more context you’ll want to read the books. That said, it’s not like you need much more context than this.

For this film’s adventure, Yuko has been invited to a gathering of exclusive collectors by…The Collector. She wants Watanuki and his friend Domeki to attend with her. I say friend but Watanuki doesn’t really get along with Domeki. Domeki has a habit of being super oblivious while Watanuki is super petty and so they’re constantly bickering. But it’s really one sided as Domeki doesn’t care enough about anything to ever actually get upset. He’s also got strong spirit energy so spirits leave him alone with Watanuki is jealous of. Well the heroes arrive at the mansion but the Collector is not there and mysterious things start happening. It would seem that he aims to destroy all of the invited collectors!

I’d say the main thing to learn from this is if you receive a mysterious invitation to go to a mansion in the middle of nowhere…you should probably decline. Is there any positive outcome out of going there? The film does address this though as every collector is incredibly proud of his/her collection and basically came out of pride. You see one extra note is that on the invitation the collector implied that each person is missing something so they can’t let that insult slide. Each collector also collects a different thing and they all start to compare against each other’s collections. Naturally Watanuki isn’t much of a collector so they’re all bashing him the whole time.

The animation is definitely great all around. The mansion is suitably mysterious and the supernatural effects are all on point. It’s got a bit of a retro vibe to it that works really well. Mix that in with all of the experimental stretchy effects and this gets a full thumbs up. It’s all just very fitting for the general weirdness of xxxHolic. The soundtrack is a bit more forgettable but I still wouldn’t call it bad or anything. It’s just not super memorable so you’ll forget most of the tracks real fast.

Watanuki makes for a good main character. He may complain a whole lot and is constantly yelling but it makes for an entertaining lead. He’s fun to follow around and even in the scariest of situations he’s panicking more about the annoyance than actual terror. Then you have Domeki who is a solid foil since he’s so much quieter. He’s not quite as fun though but it’s always good to have a strong fighter at your side when you’re in a crazy mansion like this.

Yuko mainly likes having all of the answers to everything without actually helping so don’t expect her to contribute much. Technically she is never in a lot of danger or anything but you also get the vibe that she would let Watanuki die if she felt he made a mistake. So you’ve still got a good bit of tension here. She makes for a solid mentor character. The actual Collector has a mysterious presence the whole time but I wouldn’t say he’s that great. He’s a good vehicle for making the plot move but that’s about all I’d say for him.

The rest of the collectors are more entertaining. I just like how selfish and over the top they all are. They’re constantly bragging while pretending to have a little humility the whole time. So the film shows you their true faces which look monstrous all while they’re technically saying nice things. It’s all just really insincere the whole time. “Wow your collection is just as good as mine” but you know that’s a complete lie. At least the person saying that didn’t believe it in the slightest.

I would say this film is definitely more on the low key side so if you’re expecting a bunch of explosions and fights then this isn’t exactly what you’re about to get. The film is more about being a warning against rampant greed. You could say the whole film is really a metaphor about it with these guys risking everything they have for something extra. Their need to be the ultimate collector really came back to haunt them where if they had been satisfied with their collection they wouldn’t have fun into that issue at all.

Overall, xxxHolic delivers another satisfying story here. The only issue you could even say is just that it’s so short so it’s over in an instant. It definitely feels like an adventure right out of the books. The ambiance is really good and the atmosphere is really tense which is always what you want to see here. It balances the plot, horror, and comedy all very well so that nothing is out of place. Mix that in with the fast pacing and I really have no complaints with this title. I’d definitely recommend checking this one out.

Overall 7/10