Introduction
Summer break has arrived, but while his other classmates are out having fun, Kimihiro Watanuki continues to work as compensation for the eccentric Yuuko in her shop. With the spirits and supernatural phenomena that bother him lessening, he pays his dues by cleaning, cooking, and doing whatever else the apparently lazy Yuuko needs.
Watanuki, however, gets involved in a new predicament when Yuuko receives a mysterious invitation to a mansion whose owner seeks Yuuko's wish-granting ability. When he, Yuuko, and his classmate Shizuka Doumeki make their way to the peculiar residence, they meet others who were summoned by the same strange invitation. All of them are collectors of various unique items, drawn there by the chance to expand their collections. But as the collectors begin to disappear one by one, Watanuki and his companions must solve the mystery and put the case to rest, or find themselves in risk of danger.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Audience reviews
9 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Connoisseur5910
WELL,
xxxHOLiC the Movie: A Midsummer Night's Dream (xxxHOLiC Movie: Manatsu no Yoru no Yume) is a stunning standalone film that perfectly captures the eerie, dreamlike essence of the series. At around 60 minutes, it follows Watanuki, Yūko, and the crew as they're drawn to a mysterious auction in an old mansion during summer vacation. What starts as a gathering of obsessive collectors for rare "items" spirals into something far stranger—disappearances, shifting realities, and a clever unraveling of the mansion's true secrets.
This movie nails what makes xxxHOLiC special: supernatural intrigue, deep themes about desire, consequences, and human nature, plus that signature mix of whimsy, creepiness, and subtle humor. Production I.G delivers breathtaking visuals—CLAMP's intricate designs come…
Read at the sourceRickyGgG
Revisiting this series once again took me back as I remembered why I enjoyed this anime so much. It's just so beautifully designed, engaging story and likable characters. While the movie is in its own pace and direction, it certainly didn't take away the strengths the anime had. In fact I'd argue that the movie could easily be plugged in to the series as canon.
Aside from that, I still don't think the movie is perfect by any means. I do appreciate the somewhat psychological/horror in it, it still doesn't peak my interests. The story also isn't that memorable compared to the ones showed in the anime, I also was more mesmerized with the shifting environments and how cool it looked. Still a great movie and another win for the Clamp group.
Read at the sourceAnimelover875
I find that this movie is highly skilled in not only telling an appealing story, but also simultaneously proves that a unique and clearly defined premise is not always necessary to draw viewers in. While the main concept is relatively tame, the story truly comes together thanks to its artistic appeal; much of the movie is eye candy with wonderfully creepy and deceptively abstract and surrealist imagery designed to play with perspective (among other factors), which adds a highly admirable amount of stylistic and aesthetic appeal. The characters all appear in the same vein as they do in the original, though truthfully the series has always been more focused on spirits and contemplation and questioning of humanity, life, morals, and other factors than specific character development. Even the…
Read at the sourceangelsreview
Addictions… they are something that you can put your whole life and wellbeing into, not caring who you harm and sometimes even forgetting why you started it to begin with. No, this is not a two step ‘drug addiction’ seminar; it’s the start of a strange twist of fate for Watanuki and his friends. The movie starts out like any other episode of the anime really, with Watanuki being loaded down with a mass of spirits who all seem to want his attention up till he finally reaches the place that he works at, Yuuko’s wish granting house where he works like a slave for her. I can understand why they started it out with this as there is a need to explain who the characters are within the movie, but for people like me who know the story from both the anime and manga, it feels like a cop out. The reas…
Read at the sourceWere_Vampire
xxxHolic is probably my favorite manga and one of my favorite animes. My experience with anime movies has never been too promising; for example, I've seen and hated 5 of the Naruto movies, the Tsubasa movie was dreadful and so the Fairy Tail one, some Digimon movies were also quite bad (though there are some that deserves to be recognized as very good). So I avoided the xxxHolic movie for quite a while, and when I finally made up my mind into watching it I decided not to expect that much from it. However, I'm glad I did, because I had a great time. It's not perfect, but it's pretty great mixing good comedy with some very disturbing (and quite effective) thriller moments.
Story: It's quite simple, there's a request from a woman because her key won't unlock her mansion, and Yuuko sends (as…
Read at the sourcekaworude
This movie was an excellent side story to Holic: creepy yet comedic, structured yet whimsical. If you haven't seen it you should, and of course, this movie is recommended only for those who already know the characters of the series.
The story moves quickly and I enjoyed the vivid depictions of the collector's 'meeting' place. The art was pretty well done. If you're not a fan of CLAMPs 'noodle people' (quoted from TVTropes), then you shouldn't watch this since the anatomical correctness of Holic is questionable at best (especially Yuuko's plunging neckline). But why would you see this is if you weren't a CLAMP fan anyway? ... *ahem* ... Going back to the storyline, it isn't super predictable but it is interesting and original. I enjoyed the structured mystery-novella plotline and the inte…
Read at the sourceAeterna
xxxHOLiC is one of my favourite series (though, I only read the manga) so when I heard that there was a movie for it, I immediately jumped and went to find it. I was not disappointed!
Story -- If anything made me hesitate about seeing this movie, it was the story. For most movies based off of an anime series, their plots generally leave something to be desired. For the most part, they tend to feel like one long episode rather than an actual movie. However, xxxHOLiC's movie actually felt like a movie. I can't quite put my finger on it, but regardless, this movie delivers on plot. The mystery and intrigue build and build, occasionally relieved by humour (mostly on Watanuki's part) or heightened by some frightening scenes. Near the end, the story got a little confusing, but that's quite typi…
Read at the sourceFree
xxxHOLIC - Manatsu no Yoru no Yume is mystery, horror, fantasy movie of the series xxxHOLIC. This movie does not follow the storyline of the series, which is to say it also does not have ties to the story in the manga. I would suggest watching the first season of xxxHOLIC before watching this.
It starts with Yuko receiving an invitation stating that her 'collection' is incomplete and is inviting her to an auction at his house. This story is something we've all probably seen before. Main character gets invited to creepy old house, weird things happen, they solve a mystery, the end. Even with a common plot, it's still a good story. They keep a fair amount of mystery and there are scenes that make your heart skip a beat.
The characters aren't something new. We have the same main characters…
Read at the sourcejet2r0cks
I’m even more impressed by the movie compared to the series. I like how the horror and comedy was balanced. It was even exciting in some parts, especially the scene with Yuuko, Watanuki and Doumeki near the end.
It still scared me though. That little girl is the spawn of evil and I wish I never have to see her in a CLAMP crossover series. Speaking of crossover, I got a laugh out of the shameless plug at the end. I don’t wanna give out any spoilers, so I’ll just say it has something to do with a CLAMP crossover movie.
The animation really improved for this one with regards to details. The backgrounds were more intricate, the color palette had more variety and the characters were given more realistic bodies. Their heads were notably smaller though.
The music was really g…
Read at the source