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Clamp’s intriguing, beautiful and fun anime is back in a fifth edition of magic, wishes and hitsuzuen in xxxHolic, Fifth Collection.

Watanuki is a high school kid with a problem: he can see spirits. Lucky for him, he stumbled into a wish granting shop run by Yuko, the Space Time Witch. Now Watanuki works for Yuko until he can achieve the price required to rid himself of the pesky spirits. But Yuko doesn’t require mere chores from Watanuki. Though he does do a lot of cooking, cleaning and fetching of saki, he is frequently sent on little adventures on her behalf. Along with his friend\rival Domeki and Yuko’s little furry companion, Mokona, Watanuki faces a world of weirdness, ensuring that his days – and the episodes - are never boring.

In episode seventeen, “Self Mutilation”, Watanuki meets a woman who always takes rash decisions in her life, which often lead to injury or personal loss. He brings her to Yuko in the hopes she can help, but as the woman ends up in the hospital, it is clear that Yuko can only do so much for her.

“Ground Cherry” is a beautiful episode. Watanuki and Domeki join a “Monster Procession” in Yuko’s place, bringing a lantern that was a gift from a mysterious fox woman. As it always does, trouble finds the duo and only through the help of Zashiki-warashi are the pair allowed to go to the end of the procession, where a great tree waits. The tree gives for an incredible wine, which Watanuki and Domeki collect in the ground cherry lantern.

“Unreasonable” follows the gang – Watanuki, Yuko, Domeki, Mokona, Himawari, Zashiki-warashi and Ame-warashi – through a snowball fight of magical proportions. Yuko has the entire group build snowmen, and the snowmen battle it out for a prize – a box Watanuki found in Yuko’s storage, a box that she claims grants wishes. Naturally, Watanuki can never get what he wants, something that is humorously apparent in this episode.

“Atonement,” the final ep on this disc, is a ghost story of sorts.  A customer comes into Yuko’s shop with a picture that she can’t seem to get rid of. As Yuko and Watanuki try to work with the picture, the woman’s dark past is unveiled. Though Watanuki thinks they should take the photo to the authorities, Yuko still grants the woman’s wish – though not with her desired results.

The set features the usual round of Funimation extras – textless songs, a fantastic array of previews, and a photo gallery. This is the fifth disc, which means only one more to go before season one is over. There will be a bit of a wait until season two, so grab your discs now.

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