XxxHolic ep.1

One of my favorite mangas, Xxx holic , has been adapted into a drama to my great surprise! Here , I will talk about how I felt after watching the first episode.

Synopsis (from DramaWiki) :

Based on the manga "xxxHOLiC" by Clamp (published from 2003 to February 9, 2011 by Kodansha) the story is about protagnist Watanuki Kimihiro (Sometani Shota) whose blood attracts spirits. He is bothered by this predisposition to see the way the ghosts are affecting the people around him but he can’t do anything about it..
Coming home one day, he’s once again assailled by evil apparitions but his feet lead him to a strange shop called “Mise” and there he encounters Ichihara Yuko, the mysterious fascinating owner who offers to grant Watanuki’s wish to remove the spirits. But the price must be of equal value, so Watanuki has to temporarily work for her in her shop that grant wishes in exchange for a “consideration”. He comes across strange customers including troubled people and therworldly beings and encounters bizarre events … ….

Cast : 

• Sometani Shota as Watanuki Kimihiro
• Watanabe Anne as Ichihara Yuko
• Higashide Masahiro as Domeki Shizuka
• Miyazaki Karen as Kunogi Himawari

My impressions

I was very exited to watch this! I was pleased with the first episode, it felt good to rewatch this story. The genre of this drama is supernatural. It is a bit different than the usual dramas. It is not horror, but can be scary at times.

I don't know any actors of the main cast and that worried me a bit before watching this. Sometani Shota was good as Watanuki Kimihiro, he really plays his role well and he was convincing as Watanuki. Ichihara Yuko was played by Watanabe Anne. Here, my opinion is mixed. She looked great as Yuko, but her acting was still missing a bit of Yuko's mysteriousness. I have to admit that acting Yuko is probably a very challenging thing to do,  I just wished that her acting would of left me with a mysterious and eerie feeling that sends chills through my spine. We didn't see much of Domeki and Himawari in the first episode. Domeki's actor was actually cute, but I always imagined Domeki with a more adult or manly face. Finally, I was very disappointed with Himawari's actress choice. This is a personal opinion and feeling, but she was not as cute as what I had hoped. We didn't see much of her acting yet, but I felt her acting was not natural. However, I might be a bit pickier than usual as I am a fan of the manga.

However, the story shown in the first episode was good, moved at a good pace and kept interesting. I just wished it was a full 45 min episode instead of 30 mins. The effects, like smoke and camera views were really nice and better than what I expected. I am definitely going to keep watching the rest of the series. There is only 8 episodes of 30 minutes.

If you never read the manga, you will probably like this if you like a "light" supernatural story. With only 30 mins episodes, the story isn't as deep as it could be.