xxxHolic: A Midsummer Night's Dream

xxxHolic: A Midsummer Night's Dream

North American DVD cover
Directed by Tsutomu Mizushima
Screenplay by Jun'ichi Fujisaku
Yoshiki Sakurai
Story by Tsutomu Mizushima
Based on XxxHolic 
by CLAMP
Starring Jun Fukuyama
Sayaka Ohara
Music by Tsuneyoshi Saito
Cinematography Hisashi Ezura
Edited by Taeko Hamauzu
Production
company
Distributed by Shochiku
Release dates
  • August 20, 2005 (2005-08-20) (Japan)
Running time
 60 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

xxxHolic: A Midsummer Night's Dream (劇場版 ×××HOLiC 真夏ノ夜ノ夢[1] Gekijōban Horikku: Manatsu no Yo no Yume[2]) is an hour-long anime film by Production I.G based on the Young Magazine comic xxxHolic by Clamp, though it is an original story set within that of the comic rather than an adaptation of any part of it. It opened in Japan on August 20, 2005 as the A movie of a double bill with the Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle film Tsubasa Chronicle: The Princess of the Birdcage Kingdom, also by Production I.G (unlike the Tsubasa Chronicle television series) and originally based on a Clamp comic. The film is the first motion picture and the first voiced work based on the comic.

Plot

A woman comes to Yūko to ask for assistance because her key won't unlock her mansion. Also, Yūko receives an invitation to the mansion, so he enlists Watanuki and Dōmeki along with her to solve the mystery. When they reach the place, they are able to enter without trouble, but they discover they aren't the only people there. Many collectors were invited to what they believe to be some kind of auction, and Watanuki is able to see that something supernatural is happening behind them, as strange events have place at night and the organizer of the auction doesn't appear. When collectors start disappearing, Watanuki and Dōmeki penetrate the depths of the mansion and find out that someone is keeping the collectors in a sort of collection itself. They are joined by Yūko to meet the Collector, an entity who seeks to have the greatest collection of anything ever. The Collector summons apparitions against them, and Watanuki and Dōmeki are forced to battle them while Ichihara confronts him. When it seems that she has been captured by the Collector, she reveals the true reason of his desire to collect, an old promise made to a girl a long time ago. The revelation makes the mansion disappear, and they appear on the outside of a common house, where the Collector reencounters the girl, now an old lady, who was actually the woman who hired them. With the curse dissipated and the collectors liberated, the trio moves to a nearby resort, in which Yūko brings in Himawari and Mokona. The movie ends with Yūko being asked by Syaoran and Sakura to free the Birdcage Kingdom from the darkness, which the witch solves with the key of the mansion.

DVD and Blu-ray Disc release

The film was licensed by Funimation Entertainment in North America and released alongside the forty-minute anime film Tsubasa The Movie: The Princess in the Birdcage Kingdom.[3] It was released with both Japanese and English. The Blu-ray has full 1080p high definition and AVC encoding. The audio is Dolby TrueHD with a 5.1 track for the English dub and a 2.0 track for the original Japanese version. The special features are some trailers, a recording montage, character artwork, background designs, and some video footage of the film's opening release in Japan.[3] The back of the Tsubasa movie/xxxHolic movie combo DVD and Blu-ray Disc claims that it has over two hours of bonus features. There is a commentary from the original Japanese actors, actresses, and other staff.[4]

Reception

N.S. Davidson of IGN said that the film is very original, clever, and long enough to get things accomplished. Todd Douglass Jr. of DVD Talk said that the film feels like an extended episode, but that it has better animation and a better story.[3] The film was selected for the 2006 Annecy International Animated Film Festival alongside the films Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Renaissance, Asterix and the Vikings, and Origin: Spirits of the Past.[5] The film is included in the book Magic as Metaphor in Anime: A critical study by Dani Cavallaro.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Sakuhin shōsai". Production I.G. 1996–2008. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Gekijōban ×××HOLiC: Manatsu no Yo no Yume trailer". YouTube. December 6, 2008. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 Douglas Jr., Todd (May 4, 2010). "Clamp Double Feature: Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE and xxxHOLiC (Blu-ray)". DVD Talk. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  4. ↑ Davidson, N.S. (March 17, 2008). "Clamp Double Feature: Tsubasa Chronicle and xxxHOLiC DVD Review". IGN. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  5. ↑ Ball, Ryan (March 24, 2006). "Annecy Selection Unveiled". Animation Magazine. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  6. ↑ Cavallaro, Dani (2010). Magic as Metaphor in Anime: A critical study. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-4744-2. Retrieved September 28, 2010.

External links

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