Hey everybody. I got bad news; I can't get any farther on Poke646. Why? A bug is preventing me from getting further. Bugs anger me. I deleted Poke646, for it pales compared to HL1, HL2, OF, and They Hunger. So I went back to Half-Life 2.
But that's not what I'm here for. I've been watching something; the anime version of XXXHolic. Good news! Unlike Tsubasa, Holic actually translated well into an anime series! Also, it's pretty close to the source material, too. However, I do have one complaint. The art in the XXXHolic anime isn't as good as the manga version. The characters, they, uh, they . . . um . . . . .
THEY LOOK LIKE THE CHARACTERS FROM CODE GEASS!!!!!! (Say it like E.E. Or Watanuki, since we're discussing Holic.)
I don't get it! Concerning anime versions of CLAMP series, Cardcaptor Sakura and Chobits, art-wise, came out very well. And the Tsubasa anime is pretty good too, design-wise. And while I still like the Holic anime, it doesn't help that the character designs remind me of that great abomination Geass. Not cool, man. Not, cool.
But what is cool is the English dubbing. The English dub is provided by Funimation, and they ensembled another great cast. Everyone sounds their part. Watanuki and Mokona didn't sound like how I imagined they did in the manga, but their voices fit them. And I can't imagine anyone other than Colleen Clinkenbeard playing Yuko. A job well done. It's not often a dub sounds this good. I'm serious.
It follows the manga closely, for the most part. Some of the dialogue is different, mainly to have less references to Japanese culture. However, unlike the manga, most of the references to other CLAMP series were excised. There's no mention of Clow Reed in the anime (so far), and Shaoran from the Clow Kingdom's fateful encounter was cut out, (but can be seen in the Tsubasa anime.) unlike in the manga novels.
Still, it's a good series. It's not fantastic, but it is different. And it's really hilarious to be able to hear Watanuki as he gets frustrated and swoons over Himawari all at once.
