This is the second season which started to air in Japan in April 4, 2008.  Again, we see the Watanuki and his employer, Yuko, Doumeki, Himawari-chan, Mokona and the rest of Yuko’s household, including some characters previously seen in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles.

EPISODE 1

     It seems that there is no end to Watanuki’s work in Yuko’s house.  He still cooks, cleans and looks after Yuko and her other household members who never cease to badger Watanuki with all sorts of chores.  One morning, he woke up dreaming about the love of his life, Himawari-chan, and when he asks Yuko about it, she simply told him that she is not his goddess of happiness.  Watanuki dismissed the idea and proceeded to go to school.  On his way, he passed by the shrine where Doumeki lives.  Thinking that Doumeki would not be there, he was quite surprised when Doumeki appeared.  As always, Watanuki, being so susceptible to suggestion, began to clean the shrine grounds after Doumeki told him to.  Although he appeared angry at being told to clean, Watanuki nevertheless did what he was told.  However, he got entangled in a huge spider web and Doumeki helped him by destroying the web.  Little did they know that it would be the catarsis that would start a chain of events affecting both Watanuki and Doumeki.

     By the time Doumeki and Watanuki went home, Doumeki’s right eye seemed to have been cursed, and has been shut closed by a spider’s web.  Watanuki told Doumeki to see Yuko but Doumeki knew that he could not enter Yuko’s shop.  Thus, Watanuki sought help from Yuko and he was told that the spider who lives in the web that Doumeki destroyed was holding a grudge at Doumeki.  Watanuki felt guilty considering that the web would not have been destroyed if he have not made a big fuss about it and asked Yuko for a way to save Doumeki’s right eye.  True enough, that same evening, Doumeki’s eye was saved, but the grudge was transferred to Watanuki.  The following morning, Doumeki discovered the reason why his eye was spared and asked Watanuki to make Yuko see him.  Yuko told Doumeki that it was something Watanuki wished for not knowing that what he did only hurt the person he was trying to save.  On the other hand, Watanuki soon experienced a split vision, sort of a parallel vision with his right eye, without knowing what it really means. 

     Doumeki started to research on how to regain Watanuki’s sight on the right eye unknown to Watanuki.  When Watanuki learned this from Yuko over an Alice-in-Wonderland-theme dinner, Watanuki rushed to Doumeki’s shrine.  In the final scene of the episode, Yuko reveals the reason why Doumeki could not enter her store:  Doumeki would try anything on his own without need of seeking supernatural help.

     I am quite excited to watch the second season of xxxholic.  I find the stories intriguing and the dialogues philosophical.  It’s even fun for me to see Yuko bitch Watanuki around like a slave 24/7.  Although Watanuki always gets irritated, he could not help himself but do what he was told, like an obedient dog.  It is specially funny when Doumeki, whom he considers as his rival, asks him to do all sorts of things, like cooking what he wants to eats.  Poor Watanuki!

     Kidding aside, this story really creeped me out when Doumeki’s face was shown with the spider’s curse.  Imagine, the right side of his face became a spider’s web made of flesh, the center of the web being his right eye.  Creepy!  I don’t think I could deal with spiders lightly ever again.  Scary!

     What surprised me most is not the creepy factor, but the logic that came with the spider’s grudge.  Apparently, while the destruction of the spider’s web seems insignificant to the one who caused it, the spider sees it as a complete annihilation of its home.  While it may not seem grudge-worthy, the victim feels otherwise, hence, the grudge.  The sophistry in this series is indeed interesting, more than enough actually to make me want to see more.