From the back cover:
Without realizing it, Kimihiro Watanuki has purchased a dream. According to Yuuko Ichihara, the mysterious time-space witch, people usually buy good dreams—but Kimihiro’s dream is a man-eating nightmare. Even worse, it has come true! Then Kimihiro meets a wistful girl who, like him, can see the spirit world. Together they try to prevent a harmless ghost from being exorcised from its beloved resting place, an ancient cherry tree. The girl’s mother wants her to have nothing to do with Kimihiro, but the spirits say otherwise…

Review:
I’m not generally one to talk much about the art in manga, but it’s such a big part of what makes xxxHOLiC special. The lines are simple and clean, and offset by great swaths of solid black. Nothing else looks like this; it’s stunning.

The two stories in this volume almost had a slice of life vibe. Sometimes episodic stories bother me, but that wasn’t the case here. The visit with the dream merchant in the other world was a lot of fun, and CLAMP also made sure to show the gradual way in which Watanuki and Doumeki were beginning to get along. They even had a relatively friendly conversation for six whole pages!

I guess I might’ve been annoyed that no progress was made on revealing Himawari’s hinted-at secret, but since I already know that volume 10 is going to take care of that, I didn’t read this volume anxiously awaiting answers.

From the back cover:
Kimihiro Watanuki’s after-school job working for the mysterious witch Yuuko Ishikawa has taken a dangerous turn. A recent assignment cost Kimihiro his right eye to a spider with a grudge. Now the missing eye has become the latest must-have item in the spirit world. Even the Zashiki-Warashi, the pretty spirit who has a crush on Kimihiro, has become entangled in the mess… and she’s being held captive by an unknown evil! Can Kimihiro save both the girl and his eye—without getting himself killed by beings more powerful than he can imagine?

Review:
Watanuki continues to grow on me. Though he continues to spaz, he displays a lot of quiet bravery in this volume that put him in a new light. I was a little surprised to realize how much I really like him now.

Yuuko seems to be orchestrating things to ensure that Watanuki learns certain lessons, which he duly does. The first time, it’s obvious that that’s what’s happening, but the second time, in the very cute final chapter wherein Watanuki and Doumeki build snow creations, it’s much more subtle. I particularly liked the possible foreshadowing of the very last panel.

I want more!

From the back cover:
Kimihiro Watanuki has a wish on layaway with Yuuko Ishikawa, the sultry time-space witch who can grant anyone’s deepest desire… for a price! Still, working like a slave in Yuuko’s shop hasn’t dampened Kimihiro’s enthusiasm for his cute classmate Himawari-chan, nor his irritation with his too-cool rival Doumeki, the guy who always seems to be around during Kimihiro’s most embarrassing moments.

But when Doumeki, trying to be a good samaritan, inadvertently becomes the object of a terrible grudge, Kimihiro seeks Yuuko’s help. However, the cost for her assistance is steep: Kimihiro would be permanently impaired! Is such a sacrifice worth it for someone he would rather have disappear?

Review:
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Watanuki and Doumeki. It isn’t rushed, and gives the sense of realizations being made on both sides. I’m not personally a fan of Watanuki’s spaz attacks, but I hope that Doumeki’s influence is going to get him to chill out a bit. It would be neat to see the main character change and mature so much throughout the series.

Aside from this subtle progress in bonding, there wasn’t any obvious elaboration on the hints from the previous volume about some task that Watanuki is going to have to perform. There were, however, a couple of references to another character that make one go “hm.” I wouldn’t say the pace is too slow, because the volume certainly didn’t drag, though it’s a little frustrating that the resolution isn’t going to be coming down the pipeline any time soon. Volume 9 isn’t even released in Japan yet.