xxxHolic (film)

xxxHolic (Japanese: ホリック xxxHOLiC, Hepburn: Horikku) is a 2022 Japanese supernatural dark fantasy drama film based on a manga series with a same name written and illustrated by manga artist group CLAMP. The film is directed by Mika Ninagawa, written by Erika Yoshida, co-distributed by Shochiku and Asmik Ace, and stars Ko Shibasaki as Yuko Ichihara and Ryūnosuke Kamiki as Kimihiro Watanuki. The film was released in Japan on April 29, 2022.[2]

xxxHolic
Poster of the movie
Kanjiホリック xxxHOLiC
Revised HepburnHorikku
Directed byMika Ninagawa
Screenplay byErika Yoshida
Based onxxxHolic
by CLAMP
Produced by
  • Fumitsugu Ikeda
  • Mitsuru Uda
Starring
CinematographyDaisuke Sōma
Edited byYoshiyuki Koike
Music byKeiichirō Shibuya
Distributed by
Release date
  • April 29, 2022 (2022-04-29)
Running time
110 minutes[1]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

The film marks the first live-action film adaptation for xxxHolic, and the second film following xxxHolic: A Midsummer Night's Dream (2005).[3]

Premise

Kimihiro Watanuki, a boy who is plagued by ayakashi spirits, where he stumbles upon a shop that grants wishes. He meets the owner, Yuko Ichihara, a mysterious witch of many names and esoteric known. For a price, she offers to grants his wish to rid of spirits, but for a price, to become Yuko's part-time cook and housekeeper. Meanwhile, Watanuki connects with his classmates, Dōmeki and Himawari, and he is involved in big mysterious incident.[4]

Cast

Ryūnosuke Kamiki portrays Watanuki while Ko Shibasaki plays Yuko in the live-action film.

Other cast members include Shuri and Sakurako Ōhara as Misaki and Guest #2, Yuko's clients that are possessed by ayakashi.

Production

Development

In November 2021, Shochiku and Asmik Ace announced that a live-action film adaptation of CLAMP's xxxHolic manga series was in the works, with Mika Ninagawa directing the film, and Erika Yoshida providing the screenplay.[2][5][6][7][8][9]

The idea to make a movie about xxxHolic came to director Mika Ninagawa in 2012 while she was still shooting her second movie, Helter Skelter. At first, it was going to be her third xxxHolic was one of the candidates. Ninagawa then called the producer out of the blue on January 4, 2013, and announced that she wanted to shoot a movie about xxxHolic. Ninagawa herself is a fan of the manga, she wanted to do a film that would bring the best Asia, including Japan. She is a well-known photographer across Asia and she thought xxxHolic visually represented both Asia and Japan. The team wanted to do something contemporary that they could show to their children. The producer contacted Kodansha the next business day to talk about the movie, and they all went to Kyoto and had dinner with CLAMP to discuss it.[10]

Deciding which parts and stories from the 19 volumes would make it to the movie was difficult and it took a long time to come up with a script that would please everybody. For that reason, two other movies came out first and xxxHolic became Ninagawa's fifth work, instead of third. The team wanted to convey to the world the importance of recognizing diversity, rather than just separating 'good' and 'evil', defeating the enemy and feeling satisfied. Meanwhile, as Yuko is called dimensional witch, the nickname was changed since the movie does not reference other CLAMP works.[10]

Casting

In November 2021, actress and singer Ko Shibasaki and actor Ryūnosuke Kamiki was cast to portray Yuko Ichihara and Kimihiro Watanuki respectively.[2][7][11] The following month, SixTONES idol group member Hokuto Matsumura and actress Tina Tamashiro was announced to portray Shizuka Dōmeki and Himawari Kunogi respectively.,[12][13][14] with singer and rapper Daoko and actress Serena Motola being cast as Maru and Moro weeks later.[9] In February 2022, actress Shuri, Nanase Nishino and Sakurako Ōhara were cast as Misaki, Nekomusume and possessed guest respectively.[15][16][17] That same month, Riho Yoshioka was cast as Jōrogumo, while Hayato Isomura was cast as Akagumo, an original character for the film.[18] Shooting was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that became a turning point in deciding how the story climax would become. That's when "tolerance" became a thematic that would be explored in the movie. The original character, Akagumo, was created with the purpose to explain the story to the audience. Katsurada recognizes that this is useful for storytelling and understood and approved this original character. They think CLAMP did too because of the drawing they did. The casting had a lot of Ninagawa's influence. The producer would suggest a few names but she would reply "that's not what I had in mind", because she is a fan of the original manga.[10]

Filming

Director Ninagawa stated that filming was completed in November 2021.[7]

Music

Keiichirō Shibuya will compose the music for the film.[9] The theme song for the film is titled "Habit", performed by J-pop band Sekai no Owari.[19]

Release

The film was released in theaters in Japan on April 29, 2022.[2]

Reception

Box office

The film ranked number 5 out of top 10 in the Japanese box office on its opening weekend.[20]

Critical reception

Dale Roll of SoraNews24 gave the film a mixed review, as she praised the costume designs and visuals, but felt the story was poorly executed.[21] Mark Schilling of The Japan Times also gave the film a mixed review.[22]

References

  1. ホリック xxxHOLiC. eiga.com (in Japanese). April 2, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  2. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (November 22, 2021). "CLAMP's xxxHOLiC Manga Gets Live-Action Film Next April". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  3. "xxxHOLiC Movie "Introduction"". xxxHolic Movie Official (in Japanese). Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  4. "xxxHOLiC Movie "Story"". xxxHolic Movie Official (in Japanese). Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  5. CLAMP「xxxHOLiC」神木隆之介&柴咲コウで実写映画化!監督は蜷川実花. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. November 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  6. "xxxHOLiC Movie "Staff"". xxxHolic Movie Official (in Japanese). Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  7. Komatsu, Mikakatsu (November 22, 2021). "Ko Shibasaki & Ryunosuke Kamiki to Star in xxxHOLiC Live-action film for April 2022 Release". Crunchyroll. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  8. Ashcraft, Brian (November 23, 2021). "XxxHolic Manga Getting A Live-Action Film in Japan". Kotaku. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  9. 「ホリック xxxHOLiC」にDaokoとモトーラ世理奈がマル・モロ役、渋谷慶一郎が音楽で参加. Music Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. December 5, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  10. 『ホリック xxxHOLiC』映画プロデューサー・宇田 充&原作編集者・桂田剛司インタビュー「実写化しても原作の良さは変わらない」. Animate Times (in Japanese). May 25, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  11. 神木隆之介、柴咲コウがダブル主演 映画「ホリック」で18年ぶり共演 構想10年“蜷川ファンタジー”. Sponichi Annex (in Japanese). November 23, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  12. 実写映画『ホリック xxxHOLiC』百目鬼静(ドウメキシズカ)役がSixTONES松村北斗、九軒(くのぎ)ひまわり役が玉城ティナに決定. Famitsu (in Japanese). December 1, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  13. Mateo, Alex (December 1, 2021). "Live-Action xxxHOLiC Film Casts Hokuto Matsumura, Tina Tamashiro". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  14. "xxxHOLiC Movie "Cast"". xxxHolic Movie Official (in Japanese). Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  15. Mateo, Alex (February 2, 2022). "Shuri Joins Cast of Live-Action xxxHOLiC Film". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  16. Mateo, Alex (February 3, 2022). "Nanase Nishino Joins Cast of Live-Action xxxHOLiC Film". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  17. 映画「xxxHOLiC」猫娘役を西野七瀬、金魚鉢をうれしそうに見つめるビジュアルも. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. February 3, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  18. "xxxHOLiC Live Action Casts Riho Yoshioka & Hayato Isomura!". Otakumode. February 21, 2022. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
  19. 神木隆之介×松村北斗の共闘シーンも!『ホリック xxxHOLiC』予告編が公開. Cinematoday (in Japanese). February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  20. "Japanese 2022 Weekend 18". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
  21. Roll, Dale (May 14, 2022). "The new xxxHOLIC live-action adaptation is here with stunning visuals and costuming【Review】". SoraNews24. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
  22. Schilling, Mark (April 21, 2022). "'xxxHolic': Over-the-top camp casts a lackluster spell". The Japan Times. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
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