Movies: ×××HOLiC, Vol. #3

A friend of mine and I somehow got into a discussion of what constituted dream logic as opposed to nightmare logic. (For perspective, this is the same guy who routinely torments me with questions like “What is the difference between flammable and inflammable?” Answer: Strunk & White’s Elements of Style, p. 47.) After some batting back and forth of the verbal shuttlecock, the answer came to this: Dream logic is when things don’t make sense and you want them to make sense, but you don’t mind wandering around in David Lynch territory for as long as it takes to get all the pieces to snap together. Nightmare logic is exactly the same, except you want to get the hell out and interpret it later.

×××HOLiC seems to encompass both dream and nightmare logic in the same breath. For every one thing that Watanuki is entranced by, there are at least two other things that scare the bejesus out of him — and they’re often in the same place at the same time. How convenient. It doesn’t help that a good part of the time Watanuki’s terror is offset by Dōmeki taking everything — everything, from “pipe foxes” to losing his freakin’ soul — at face value. To Watanuki’s credit, a little of that preternatural calm is rubbing off on him … but not fast enough for him to retain all the calm he needs. Good thing he has Yūko and Himawari(-chan) to fall back on as needed.

Article originally written for AMN. Click here to read full text.