[News] CLAMP-NET

Nothing new added to CLAMP-NET (that we haven't heard of), so please visit the last update for what's coming up next.

[Review] xxxHolic: AnotherHolic novel

xxxHOLiC: AnotherHolic by Nisioisin is a 2006 novel inspired by CLAMP's manga, xxxHOLiC. This was released in English by Del Rey in 2008. I did want to include more reviews on this blog, so here goes...

Del Rey's production is pretty lovely. The book is a hardcover with metallic-printed dust cover. It contains the full color splash and the three CLAMP-illustrated splashes for each of the three stories. The paper and ink quality seem good, and translator uses plenty of footnotes to explain Nisioisin's numerous cultural and pop references. I love footnotes and wish more jp-to-eng novel publishers would use them instead of endnotes. It's an annoyance to get at the end of book and finds notes that reference back to what was already read, or find a reference number and flip back to the notes. Footnotes = a good thing.

The story isn't written exactly for someone who is not familiar with xxxHolic. Or rather, it is probably a richer (or more disappointing) read for someone who is familiar. It's also not written for the fan who wants a fluffy anime/manga story. The three stories are interwoven by the concept of sight. As any CLAMP fan knows, eyes and eyeglasses are sometimes important to their characters. Landolt Ring Aerosol is the Japanese subtitle to the novel and refers to a visual acuity test. There's an afterward by the author that explains the title.

As mentioned, Nisioisin likes cultural references and visual wordplay A LOT. It's slightly amusing that the characters are more verbose on one page of the novel than they ever were/are in a whole chapter of the manga. Though parts of the story mimic the manga, the style of the story is definitely the author's. On the other hand, there are certain parts to the story that foretells what recently happened in the manga a few months back; *spoilers* Yuuko's disappearance, the fact that she wasn't living, and Watanuki extended length of life. I can't say that I liked the book, but it was an original take on CLAMP's manga. It's not quite your average fanfic.
Find the novel at Amazon.

[Raw] xxxHolic ・Rou short OAD AMV

Nico link to the teaser/opening for the 2011 OAD.

The song is Suga Shikao's Adayume from his 2003 Smile album. You can find the romanized lyrics here. There's a nice video of him performing the song live on youtube.

[Update] xxxHolic release

Gotta love a fan who received the mail-in present to auction off. Here's a look at the frame for those 3 previously released magazine cards and the short OAD. [credits: Yahoo.jp Auctions]

[News] xxxHolic•Rou OAD

2ch has leaked the news that a new OAD was announced for Spring 2011 on the mail-in OAD that was released to those who bought & mailed in vouchers from three magazines last June.
[credits: 2ch]

[Cover] Kobato. DVD Volume 10

Kobato.tv has updated with the cover of DVD Volume 10. The limited edition extra is a new drama cd titled 'A Day at the Bear's Baumkuchen Shop Part 3'. The volume will be out Oct 22nd.

[Update] CLAMP in America

Just got a release date notice from Amazon ~
"CLAMP in America"
Estimated arrival date: February 22 2011

Moved back again? 5 months? (confirmed at Random House)

[News]CLAMP-NET

CLAMP-NET's mid-August/beginning of September update: a rare scheduling break for Kobato...

Kobato. ~ [Newtype - monthly drops]
~break Oct 9th~
August 27: DVD Volume 8
September 24: DVD Volume 9
October 16: 2011 Calendar
October 22: DVD Volume 10
November 26: DVD Volume 11
Other DVD release dates

xxxHOLiC ~ [Bessatsu Shonen Magazine - monthly chapters]
~no new scheduling breaks through Oct 9th~

August 25: xxxHolic anime DVD Box Part 1
October 13: 2011 Calendar
October 15: Volume 18
October 27: xxxHolic anime DVD Box Part 2
Spring 2011: OAD 2
Date unknown: xxxHolic◆Kei anime DVD box set

ETC.
September 24: Angelic Layer re-release in a DVD & Blu-ray box sets
December 22: Magic Knight Rayearth re-released in a DVD box set
February 2011: CLAMP in America
Date unknown: Mangettes: Gate 7
Date unknown: Code Geass GAIDEN: Boukoku no Akito

*updates
ETA: updated for 9/1/10

[News] xxxHolic 2011 calendar

There will be a 2011 xxxHolic desktop calendar on sale in October. It will be 1575 yen. I'll update the post if I see any other details.

Angelic Layer 10th Anniversary Jubilee Special

There was an hour-long Tokyo MX TV special commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Angelic Layer anime on today. The title of the special was Angelic Layer 10-Year Jubilee Special - Tenshi no Tamago ~memorial wing~. The special featured highlights from the anime, seiyuu interviews (Fukujun & Atsuko Enomoto), a preview of Atsuko Enomoto's new Be My Angel PV, and a look into the anime re-release in the DVD/Blu-ray box sets.