It's difficult to say whether this film does well standing alone or as an accompaniment to the manga or even the anime. As a fan of both, I had a richer understanding of some of the more random-seeming scenes (the neko-shoujo and Zashiki Warashi being examples). The manga and anime are quite surreal in visuals and story-telling, in true CLAMP fashion. They're metaphysical and heavy on Shintoism.

That being said, this film IS surreal and quite metaphysical. It's quite beautiful. The ending felt for me to be more of a statement on the nihilism felt by Japanese youth under pressure to develop an identity straddling the old traditional world versus the new and lonely postmodern existence. I can see how it seems slow, though. Watanuki has always been a character representing attachment (hence "-holic" for addictions or hang-ups). It would have broken up the pace of the film to have him be as high-strung and screechy as we know him, so instead we get a sullen and very touchy and moody Watanuki who has been traumatized by the death of his mother who sacrificed herself to save him. I didn't have a problem with this. I liked Jorougumo as the villain who wants to devour power; she is a good foil for Yuuko-san, and her henchman is freaky and slimey in a villainous way.

Overall, I liked the film a lot though I noticed some things were lost in translation and would definitely need referencing to the anime/manga. Doumeki and Himawari were like their originals and Yuuko is perfectly played and her costumes and makeup were beautiful.

Granted, I have never seen, nor even heard about, the Manga that this 2022 Japanese fantasy movie "XxxHolic" is based upon. So as I sat down to watch this 2022 live action movie, I had no idea what I was in for. I was simply lured in by the movie's cover, and the fact that it was an Asian movie that I hadn't already seen.

Writer Erika Yoshida didn't manage to put together a storyline that appealed to me. The narrative was simply too mundane, slow paced and uneventful. And truth be told, I ended up giving up on the ordeal 32 minutes into the movie. Yeah, I just found no enjoyment in the storyline, nor in the characters.

I will say, however, that the movie was visually quite nice, both in terms of CGI effects and also the sets, wardrobes and props department. They had really put a lot of effort into the sets. But without an interesting or entertaining storyline, then visuals could only do so much.

The acting performances in "XxxHolic" were fair enough. I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble, but given the fact that the character gallery was pretty terrible, then there wasn't much to be enjoyed here either.

I can't claim to have an interest in watching the rest of director Mika Ninagawa's 2022 movie "XxxHolic", nor do I want to track down the Manga to learn more.

My rating of "XxxHolic" lands on a three out of ten stars. "XxxHolic" just goes to prove that you can't judge a movie by its cover.