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OMG !!!!!! SO THAT’S WHY XXXHOLiC REI WENT ON HIATUS!! =O

Jurougumo (Spider Lady) and Yaobikuni (Mermaid) are looking beautiful on the title page. I love how not only their poses but also their dresses look “mirrored”. High feminine energy.

Even though Watanuki and Doumeki are older and wiser, we still see the occasional bickering. Doumeki coming from the back door (subtext?) pisses Watanuki off, but it’s funny because as a reader, the back and front entrances look exactly the same (you can only tell because the building entrance looks different).

We know Doumeki is going to university in Rei, therefore some time has elapsed. And here again Watanuki points out that they have been drinking from that beverage for at least a year (as some sort of ritual that they created). Yet, we still don’t know exactly how many years have elapsed since the events of XXXHOLiC (the main story), or even if this Doumeki is the same one from the beginning of the main XXXHOLiC story or one of his descendants. Of course, CLAMP are purposely keeping that information from the readers…

Upon talking about the Zashiki Warashi-lookalike, Watanuki reflects on how she dreamed about being trapped inside a cage (similarly on how Zashiki Warashi is also being kept inside one), which is what took her to the shop in the first place. So, not only she looks the same but her dreams are also directly connected to Zashiski Warashi.

Watanuki sees her a human being, so she’s not a creature, spirit and doesn’t seem to have magical powers. However, he also admits that he may be under the influence of a more powerful being and therefore he may be being tricked to believe the girl is a regular human being. Yuuko comes to his mind when he thinks of that, and this is a clear indication that by the point in the storyline, Watanuki still sees himself as less powerful than Yuuko was at the end of XXXHOLiC.

Watanuki and Doumeki are once again in the shop’s backyard and Watanuki has set up a spider-web-like spell/barrier thing. He reveals that this is the first time he is doing this and we learn it’s a summoning spell.

After some struggle and some interference, the THING he was summoning arrives!!!!

He was hoping to get some signal, clue or information about the thing that is missing (to help Zashiki Warashi). BUT HE DIDN’T EXPECT THE THING ITSELF TO ARRIVE!!!

The thing is, no less than Momo’s BOOK OF TIME aka Akiho’s “Alice in Clockland” book from Clear Card!!!!!!!!!!

OMGGGGGGGG WHAT A TWIST!

THIS IS WHY XXXHOLiC REI HAD TO GO ON HIATUS AND WAIT FOR CLEAR CARD TO BE OVER! On the interview given for Da Vinci magazine in 2022, Ohkawa-sensei mentioned that certain “events” needed to happen before they could resume XXXHOLiC Rei. Update: This was actually mentioned by Ohkawa-sensei on a Twitter Space that took place on May 2021.

So many questions are raised at this point… starting with where exactly in the timeline we are at? I wanna say this is after the events of Clear Card (after all the book has disappeared), but we never know. Kaito and Akiho went on a journey to look after Momo and the Book, will they eventually reach the shop?

Watanuki has a worried expression on his face when he realizes the book has come. He probably knows about the weight of using it.

The crimson pearl, the dragon amber and now the Book of Time. Watanuki has everything he needs to help Zashiski Warashi. But at what cost? What will be the consequences and side effects of using that book with those two other items? Is Watanuki powerful enough to handle its magic?

I was talking to my friend Sakura84-chan and she pointed out that Zashiski Warashi’s situation is akin to the situation Kaito is in: their time has stopped. This could be very important.

It’s obviously no surprises to see XXXHOLiC being connected to yet another CLAMP work, but I did not expect something like this to happen so soon. I remember during the time where the dragon amber first appeared there were some fans who pointed out its resemblance to Kaito’s dragon form. Hmmmm I wonder…

Knowing where exactly in the timeline we are (before or after Clear Card) can help answering some questions. I really think it’s after Clear Card, but hopefully next chapter can put some light into that! I’m particularly excited if this helps tying some of the (few) loose ends of Clear Card!

This is getting interestingggg!

14 pages for this chapter, which is the typical amount for a regular XXXHOLiC chapter. 90 pages so far for volume 5. We’re halfway through volume 5!

XXXHOLiC Rei is now a biweekly serialization, therefore Chapter 59 will come out on May 26th.