CLAMP - xxxHolic, ch. 157-164

[oyceter]

Spoilers for xxxHolic AND Tsubasa through ch. 197

I'm glad Kohane's gotten a good ending, although I'm hoping she isn't out of the picture now. I like her!

And now, Watanuki remarking that the cooking client is just like his earlier days with Yuuko greatly resembles how Tsubasa has been doing the flashback to end all flashbacks to the very heart of the matter. Watanuki and Yuuko and one-off clients, Syaoran and Sakura and the price of a life. Only, of course, Watanuki's isn't a flashback; he's going through similar events only to find out how much he's changed.

I wonder if he gave away his taste as a payment for a wish that has yet to be given.

Doumeki eating the woman's potatoes reminds me so much of Sweet Relationship and telling psychology through food!

Both Watanuki and Syaoran are at the point where they are making huge choices. Only with Syaoran, the choices have already been made; we just don't know what they are. And Watanuki is being primed to make his choices, which I am sure will affect Yuuko's future along with that of the Tsubasa gang and Fei Wang Reed.

Comments

[rilina.livejournal.com]

I wonder if he gave away his taste as a payment for a wish that has yet to be given.
This is a neat idea, and I completely believe that's the case now!

[oyceter]

It's sort of very wrong that I think giving up his taste is as angst-inducing as giving up the memory of his parents, isn't it? But! It's Watanuki!

[rilina.livejournal.com]

If true, it's also indicative of how much he's already given up.

[oyceter]

I know! And it's even more angsty amnesia!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I don't think Kohane is gone because [spoilers for I think recent chapters of xxxHolice and I think around 180 of Tsubasa] I think Kohane is either real!Sakura or the soul of clone!Sakura. Fei Wong Reed-or however it's spelled-said real!Sakura's body disintegraetd when he made clone!Sakura, and clone!Sakura's soul turned into Sakura petals, and at the time, I got the impression that was at least partly deliberate on her part, so that he wouldn't be able to use her soul. During her mother's flashback, she says she had Kohane 9 months after being swamped by a mysterious (and, I think, out of season) cloud of sakura petals. When the bit with Kohane having a feather is revealed, Yuuko mentions that the timeline doesn't add up, too. *spends far too much time coming up with Tsubasa/xxxHolic theories, and is now coming up with Mokona theories after reading Magic Knight Rayearth.

ETA: Oh! And I noticed recetnly that I don't think we've ever seen Watanuki eating, which makes me wonder if this is one of those things where he can't eat in that world, like old myths about how, if you eat the food, you can never leave.

[oyceter]

Oh huh! That's really interesting and I never thought of that! I am going to have to go back and reread!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

IT WAS MY FIRST THOUGHT!!!

But...uhm...that was when I read about 10 volumes of the 2 combined in about a week.

Though that's also kinda wht I'm doing now...