xxxHOLiC (2022)

I have to keep reminding myself that this newest ×××holic adaptation was a movie rather than a whole series, because I really wished that it was the latter... as it had been for the 2013's adaptation. And as with the 2013 version, I wished that there were plans to make a live-action adaptation of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles since it does feel out out place to think of Watanuki's existence without having any mention of Shaoran.

That said, having Shibasaki Kou as Yuko was really perfect! I have nothing against Watanabe Anne tbh but I have to say that Kou really do carry the mysterious aura that Yuko had. And that was also partially the reasoning as to why I wished that this current adaptation was also made as a series. Because one can't really get enough of it, seeing Shibasaki Kou's Yuko and Kamiki's Watanuki as well as the rest of the casts.

I love Himawari's actress and she really carried the characters well. But I have to admit that due to the movie's length a lot of her story was revised to fit the time constraints. It made it hard to really relate to her character since the plot was moving too fast. Same can be said about Doumeki tbh. Like I prefer his drama version more, which was understandable since drama Doumeki had time to develop his relationship with Watanuki (and Himawari) compared to the movie version. And movie Doumeki feel a bit too stiff than how I remembered him.

Like the drama, this movie also covered the arc regarding the Spider Lady. But unlike drama, movie place more emphasis on the incident between the Spider Lady and Watanuki... aside from extending further to cover the end plot of ×××holic where Yuko passed the shop to Watanuki. Not that I blame the movie for that (since without the TRC connection it's hard to justify the reasoning for the latter plot to happen) but I kinda wished that movie didn't just speedrun the plot about Yuko's shop being a shop that grants wishes as well as Watanuki's interaction with the customers just to reach the end plot. I mean at most, I wished that the movie plot could be split up into several movie length production rather than just one. I mean, man.... how could movie tease us with a few seconds of Zashiki Warashi×Watanuki yet later forget about it? Like I know people used to complain about the 2013 drama, but I wished that the adaptation this time could be a bit longer.

Anyhow, this was still a great movie. While the lack of TRC mention made the adaptation feel incomplete (since it basically can explain everything about Watanuki's existence and why he needed to be at the shop) it was still nice to revisit the world of ×××holic after so long. Not to mention how perfect the costume department had been for this movie.

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Well, that was very... Japanese. And as much as I looked forward to this movie - I own the manga in its entirety and I watched and loved the anime - I simply didn't like it. Why?

For one, the music was very jarring. Terribly loud, electronic, very... 2001: A Space Odyssey like with the whole droning thing etc. After a while, it made my eye twitch. I really hated it.

Also, I felt like I was actually watching a theater performance. It was mostly filmed in a studio, among very obvious set pieces - the shop didn't even look like a real place - and the performances themselves were so overwrought, especially by the villains. It felt very "even the viewers in the last row need to see I'm batcrap insane, watch me cackle." Yeah.

The only saving grace? Watanuki and Doumeki. This kind of a relationship was what I wanted from the manga and the anime and the movie actually delivered. So brownie points for that.

But... yeah. This? Not my cuppa. Maybe someone who is really into artsy stuff will love it but not me.

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Beautiful, but not a good movie.

I put my hope too high for this movie. I never watch or read any of xxxHolic franchise so I don't know about the story, but the trailer seems promising. With Kamiki Ryunosuke, Shibasaki Kou, Matsumura Hokuto, and Tamashiro Tina... it'll be great! I thought.

But nope. There is something wrong about this high potential project.

The story is sooo unclear. For the first half of it, I keep wondering "what happened? wait what?". I felt so dumb, after I finished it I still can't wrap my head around what happening in the movie.
The chacaracters dynamic are strange too. I expected to see more meaningful Watanuki and Yuuko interaction, as well as Watanuki and his friends, Himawari and Doumeki. Himawari is barely there, it seems like Doumeki there only for fanservice lol eventhough I like it as Kamiki and Hokuto's fan... but for a movie it's not a wise choice.

The A-list actor and actress can't help this movie either. Kamiki and Shibasaki doing great, but sorry to say, Hokuto and Tina are sucks. Their character is so plain and blant. It's weird because both of them are really talented actually, they did excellent on another project. Especially Hokuto because I've been following him for years.

After some searching, I found out about the director, then it all make sense now.
No wonder why this movie is so beautiful. But still sucks tho, she can't become a director atleast for now.

I recommend anyone to watch is just because if you're a fan of one of the cast, or a fan of xxxHolic.

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Hyped at first but disappointed in the end.

I loved the anime so I was so hyped to watch this movie. I was disappointed. Everything felt forced; the acting was mediocre, and the plot had me puzzled. The ending scene where Watanuki is shown to act like Yuuko and a few scenes before where the spider demon laughs to her heart's content to show how evil she is felt rather awkward to me.

Moreover, the music was loud and kind of irrelevant to the movie's aesthetic as if someone hit play and hoped for the best!

The only saving grace of this movie is the cinematography. It's shown that a lot of effort was put there.

If you are a fan of the xxxHOLIC series and want to watch this movie, watch it without expectations!

Personal Overall: 5/10
Rewatch Value: No need

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A solid companion movie

It was unexpectedly good, given that I didn't expect much.
The story is solely Watanuki-centric, and it's a logical choice because it's a movie, not a series.
Kamiki Ryunosuke acting is perfect, his Watanuki is pretty believable and sympathizable. I wasn't sure about Shibasaki Ko as Yuko after seeing the photos, but she actually fits. Their relationships are a bit cut up because obviously they should have sacrificed something, and Yuko and Watanuki relationships are built on many client cases. So, yeah... There is a slight disbalance, but I consider it to be a companion movie to the original manga, so I'm okay with it.
Also, I loved how visuals and music mix together to show the bizarreness of the story. I think, without them, this movie wouldn't work half as well as it did.
Overall, I would definitely recommend it to dive into the nostalgia for the original xxxHolic.

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