The series, which crosses over with another Clamp work, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, revolves around Kimihiro Watanuki, a high school student who is disturbed by his ability to see the supernatural, and Yūko Ichihara, a powerful witch who owns a wish-granting shop.
When Watanuki asks Ichihara to remove his ability to see spirits, she grants it on the condition that he pay for his wish by working for her.
While his established job consists of household chores, Yūko increasingly sends him on errands of a supernatural or spiritual nature as the series develops.
A crossing plotline with the concurrent series Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle reveals that Yūko is actually on the verge of death, and she is only alive now because her personal time was accidentally frozen long ago by the powerful wizard Clow Reed.
However, Watanuki chooses to retain his ability to see spirits in order to maintain Yūko's shop and take over her role of shopkeeper.
Further cross-over plotlines reveal that Watanuki was born as a result of a wish to turn back time by a shop client, Syaoran of Tsubasa.
As the series reaches its conclusion, Syaoran and Watanuki become trapped in a void by Fei-Wang and must pay a price to become free and continue existing.
While Syaoran decides to keep traveling through dimensions, never stopping in a single place, Watanuki chooses to stay inside the shop and act as its owner, granting wishes until the day he sees Yūko again.
This idea was further worked with the creation of the character of Yūko Ichihara who would bridge the stories from xxxHolic and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.
Like Clamp's previous work Tokyo Babylon, xxxHolic focuses on social pathologies but with a more esoteric tone.
[6] The script of the series made by Nanase Ohkawa, who the other Clamp members ask her about any confusion they have before starting drawing the chapters.
[8] When first presenting the idea of running xxxHolic linked with Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, although Ohkawa expressed concerns for the strain the weekly pace of such a series would place on the artists, she whole-heartedly approved.
Because Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle was more focused on action scenes, Clamp sometimes took breaks from xxxHolic or create autoconclusive stories so that the storyline between the two series would always be linked.
In early chapters, while she worries a woman addicted to the internet by labeling her husband and child as "other people," Yuko is transmitting the philosophy of individualism and the power her client has.
[70][71] On November 22, 2021, Shochiku and Asmik Ace announced that a live-action film adaptation was in the works for xxxHolic, with Ko Shibasaki and Ryūnosuke Kamiki playing Yuko Ichihara and Kimihiro Watanuki respectively.
A novel titled ×××Holic AnotherHolic Landolt-Ring Aerosol (×××HOLiC アナザーホリック ランドルト環エアロゾル, Horikku Anazāhorikku Randoruto-Kan Earozoru),[74] was written by Nisio Isin and published in Japan on August 1, 2006.
It is set prior to the events of xxxHolic and Tsubasa and tells the lives from the two Mokona Modoki ever since their creation by Clow Reed and Yūko Ichihara.
[87] xxxHolic also makes a crossover with Tsubasa in the drama CDs series 'Private High School Holitsuba (「私立堀鐔学園」, Shiritsu Horitsuba Gakuen) which was released in three volumes.
[99] The xxxHolic manga series has also been well received by various publications with Mania Entertainment's Megan Lavey praising its focus on the people's thoughts, as well as its comedy.
She also found its connection with Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle appealing due to events being depicted from different points of view, persuading readers to read both series.
[103] Joy Kim, another writer from Manga Life, praised how despite its episodic nature, the narrative brought by Watanuki's interactions with other characters made every panel "loaded with significance".
[105] Active Anime found its emotional tension as well as its connection with Tsubasa some of the main reason why the series is worth reading.
[105] Regarding events happening from volume 15 onwards, Active Anime's Holly Ellingwood called them "tragic, inspiring, and beautifully, breathtakingly sad", enjoying the way Yuko's fate was revealed, but wondering how it would continue.
[107] Carlo Santos stated that although the series lost its "star performer", it kept being appealing due to the fact that Watanuki replaced her and found most of volume 16 as "an exercise in getting back on one's feet after a heartbreaking loss, and it is all the more inspirational for that.
[108] The artwork has been praised because of its "striking designs and patterns built into the images", various notable traits from Clamp,[106] as well as for being "equally memorable and evocative".
[109] In a bigger overview of the first season, Carlo Santos found issues with the animation's unintentional "super deformed" moments in which the characters' limbs became notably longer.
[110] Holly Ellingwood from Active Anime called the series "one of the most distinctly imaginative" because of the combination of supernatural elements and comedy.
[112] IGN writer Jeff Harris found its start "tolerable", stating that fans from action series may not be interested by xxxHolic despite its potential.
Like Santos, he commented on its animation, citing similar issues with the design, noting some moments lacked the fluidity seen in other parts of the series.
Analyzing its episodic nature, Beveridge enjoyed the format, and praised the series' ability to strike a balance between light and dark parts of its stories.