deep gray sea
our little family: xxxHolic manga wallpapers
December 23, 2006 Another great manga series by CLAMP is xxxHolic (called simply "Holic" by most readers). This series crosses over with Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, also by CLAMP. An anime store shopkeeper described the difference to me once as "one is from the point of view of the good guys, the other looks at the bad guys". But it's not quite that simple. Both series are something of a mashup of earlier works by CLAMP, with characters grown and evolved in interesting ways. The wallpapers here were created from minitokyo.net scans, mostly courtesy of Marissa, one of the generous curators there. I've cleaned them up, removed text, eliminated page gaps, and repainted as needed, but mostly tried to stay faithful to the originals. I'm more of a technician and a fan than an artist here. All are at 2560 x 1024 dual-screen resolution.
xxxHolic 2560x1024 2.1M. Just what does Yûko smoke in that pipe of hers anyway? From the color frontispiece of volume 6.
xxxHolic 2560x1024 1.5M. There are butterflies in several of these images, but they're the stars here.
xxxHolic 2560x1024 2.0M. Yûko is very beautiful in a traditional Japanese way. She often wears exquisite kimonos (while drinking a great deal of sake). The series deals with traditional spirits and legends, but is set in modern times.
xxxHolic 2560x1024 2.1M. Well, whatever's in Yûko's pipe appears to have gone to Watanuki's head. On the nod, with visions of butterflies.
xxxHolic 2560x1024 2.4M. Yûko and Watanuki, as if Escher drew manga. The cover of volume 4 of the US edition is similar.
xxxHolic 2560x1024 2.1M. They make me think of Christmas here a little. Watanuki acts as a servant to Yûko in exchange for a unique service she has promised to provide him later. The US edition volume 3 cover is based on this illustration, but the colors are not as lively.
xxxHolic 2560x1024 1.9M. This image of Yûko in dual-screen glory doesn't seem entirely safe for work, even if the Mokonas are around to lighten things up. From the frontispiece of volume 4.
xxxHolic 2560x1024 2.2M. These colors and the background reminds me of an aloha shirt. The cover of US edition volume 6 is similar.
xxxHolic 2560x1024 1.5M. Watanuki bickers with Dômeki all the time. They seem to make a pretty good team though.
xxxHolic 2560x1024 1.5M. This might be my favorite image of Yûko.
xxxHolic 2560x1024 2.2M. Dômeki and Yûko, from the color frontispiece of volume 7.