Who hasn't wished for something extraordinary to come from an otherwise ordinary life? Watanuki Kimihiro wishes for the exact opposite: he can see things that nobody else can, and he wants nothing to do with it. Of course, he really should be more careful about wishing. Especially since wishing is what practically drags him into the shop of the infamous Space-Time Witch, Yuuko Ichihara. There, he enters into a bargain: she'll remove his horrible visions, but only after he has worked off the debt in her shop. In other words, he's her slave until she says otherwise.

With Yuuko around, it doesn't take long before Watanuki's life goes from weird to insane, but there's more method to this centuries-old witch than one might expect. As the days roll by, it's clear that she's not keeping him for his help, but readying him for a storm that's about to descend over all dimensions.

Created by CLAMP, an all-female Japanese manga artist group, xxxHolic starts out as a fairly simple paranormal-investigator series. It takes readers through the colorful world of Japanese mythology, introducing monsters and spirits in a beautiful ukiyo-e style. But anybody familiar with CLAMP's work knows that nothing that starts simple ever stays that way. Unlike many of their other works, xxxHolic is strongly character-driven. Although offering no truly intense moments, there's more than enough to tug at your heartstrings. Despite a slow beginning, xxxHolic is certainly worth the read.