is an hour-long traditional animation

Traditional animation

Traditional animation, is an animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand...

 film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 by Production I.G based on the Young Magazine

Young Magazine

is a Japanese manga magazine published weekly by Kodansha. The magazine was started on June 23, 1980 and is targeted at adult males . It is also known as Young or YM. It goes on sale Monday every week...

 comic

Comics

Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...

 xxxHolic by Clamp

Clamp (manga artists)

, is an all-female Japanese manga artist group that formed in the mid 1980s. Many of the group's manga series are often adapted into anime after release. It consists of their leader , who provides much of the storyline and screenplay for all their works and adaptations of those works respectively ,...

, though it is an original story set within that of the comic rather than an adaptation of any part of it. It opened in Japan on 20 July 2005 as the A movie of a double bill

Double feature

The double feature, also known as a double bill, was a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatre managers would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown.The double feature, also known as...

 with the Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

is a shōnen manga series written and illustrated by the manga artist group Clamp. It takes place in the same fictional universe as many of Clamp's other manga series, most notably xxxHolic. The plot follows how Sakura, the princess of the Kingdom of Clow, loses her soul and how Syaoran, a young...

film Tsubasa Chronicle: The Princess of the Birdcage Kingdom

The Princess in the Birdcage Kingdom

#, known officially as Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle the Movie: The Princess in the Birdcage Kingdom, is an animated short film based on the Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle manga by the group Clamp...

, also by Production I.G (unlike the Tsubasa Chronicle television series) and originally based on a Clamp comic. The film is the first motion picture and the first voiced work based on the comic.

Plot

A woman comes to Yūko to ask for assistance because her key won't unlock her mansion. Later, Yūko receives an invitation to the mansion. Yūko sends Watanuki and Dōmeki along with her to the mansion. They aren't the only people there. Many collectors were invited. When collectors start disappearing, Watanuki starts to suspect that something supernatural is happening.

DVD and Blu-Ray Disc release

The film was released alongside the forty minute anime film Tsubasa The Movie: The Princess in the Birdcage Kingdom. It was released with both Japanese and English. The Blu-Ray has full 1080p high definition and AVC encoding. The audio is Dolby TrueHD

Dolby TrueHD

Dolby TrueHD is an advanced lossless multi-channel audio codec developed by Dolby Laboratories which is intended primarily for high-definition home-entertainment equipment such as Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. It is the successor to the AC-3 Dolby Digital surround sound codec which was used as the...

 with a 5.1 track for the English dub and a 2.0 track for the original Japanese version. The special features are some trailers, a recording montage, character artwork, background designs, and some video footage of the film's opening release in Japan. The back of the Tsubasa movie/xxxHolic movie combo DVD and Blu-Ray Disc

Blu-ray Disc

Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...

 claims that it has over two hours of bonus features. There is a commentary from the original Japanese actors, actresses, and other staff.

Reception

N.S. Davidson of IGN

IGN

IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...

 said that the film is very original, clever, and long enough to get things accomplished. Todd Douglass Jr. of DVD Talk said that the film feels like an extended episode, but that it has better animation and a better story. The film was selected for the 2006 Annecy International Animated Film Festival alongside the films Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a 2005 British clay-mation animated comedy horror film, the first feature-length Wallace and Gromit film. It was produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Animations, and released by DreamWorksPictures...

, Renaissance

Renaissance (film)

Renaissance is a 2006 French black-and-white animated science fiction film by French director Christian Volckman. It was co-produced in France, United Kingdom and Luxembourg and released on 15 March 2006 in France and 28 July 2006 in the UK by Miramax Films...

, Asterix and the Vikings

Asterix and the Vikings

Asterix and the Vikings is an animated feature film, produced in France and Denmark, and directed by Stefan Fjeldmark and Jesper Møller. The story was adapted from the graphic novel Asterix and the Normans, which was written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo...

, and Origin: Spirits of the Past. The film is included in the book Magic as Metaphor in Anime: A critical study by Dani Cavallaro.

External links

• xxxHOLiC: A Midsummer Night's Dream at Production I.G