xxxHolic

xxxHolic which can be pronounced as “holic”, but often pronounced phonetically “ex-ex-ex-holic” or “triple x holic”, is a seinen manga series planned and presented by Clamp. Clamp’s genres vary widely, from childish and comedic to much more dramatic and teen-rated series. The storyline of xxxHolic crosses over with that of a number of other Clamp series.

The story revolves around the life of Kimihiro Watanuki a young boy with a cursed gift. He is a typical high-school student living on his own. He has the ability to see evil spirits who are magically attracted to him. The spirits are invisible to others, the only one can see them is him. Encounters with these spirits are extremely troublesome.

One day, Watanuki stumbles into a shop that grants wishes, and encounters Yuko Ichihara, a beautiful mysterious woman. Yuko is a very powerful witch, mostly known for her ability to send people to other dimensions and times. She also has an ability to grant any wish in exchange for an equal cost. For a price, she offers to grant Watanuki’s wish to be rid of the spirits. The price, according to Yuko, must be of equal value and so, as payment, he temporarily becomes Yuko’s part-time employee. Yuko discovers that Watanuki is very skilled with his hands and a hard worker. As a result, Watanuki soon finds himself forced to perform housework and odd jobs for Yuko until he has done enough work for his wish to be granted. When he begun working in Yuko’s shop, he discovers that in that place, nothing is what it seems.

Shortly afterwards, other characters become involved with Watanuki’s position, including his love interest, Himawari Kunogi, and his rival, Shizuka Domeki. Despite Watanuki’s annoyances with Domeki, the three become increasingly close to each other. Domeki, occasionally join Watanuki in his work as per Yuko’s request. In the reason that he has the ability to rid evil spirits and is immune to most curses, mostly due to his ancestry and his upbringing in his grandfather's temple. Apart from Domeki and Himawari, Watanuki does not seem to have any friends at school. In fact, Yuko teases him about being unpopular.

Watanuki’s growth and change will happened because of his experiences of meeting one person. Yuko, according to a fortune teller in Volume 2, is the one that will change Watanuki. However, it’s implied that he will be linked to both Yuko and Domeki and that all their connections were foreseen.