Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle by CLAMP

When I first saw Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle on the shelf, what attracted me to it was the image of Sakura and Syaoran -- two main characters from one of my favorite series by CLAMP, Cardcaptor Sakura. Being a huge fan of the fictional couple, I wanted to see whether or not Tsubasa was a continuation of their lives together (since they look significantly older in the pictures than they are in Cardcaptor Sakura) or an extra story. Surprisingly, it was neither, but still something worth diving into.

"Sakura and Syaoran Return!"
But they're not the people you know. Sakura is the princess of the Clow -- and possessor of a mysterious, misunderstood power that promises to change the world. Syaoran is her childhood friend and leader of the archaeological dig that took his father's life. They reside in an alternate reality...where whatever you least expect can happen -- and does. When Sakura ventures to the dig site to declare her love for Syaoran, a puzzling symbol is uncovered -- which triggers a remarkable quest. Now Syaoran embarks upon a desperate journey through other worlds -- all in the name of saving Sakura.

Now, the description of the manga series includes that Sakura is "princess of the Clow" -- but this has nothing to do with the Clow Cards from Cardcaptor Sakura. In fact, Tsubasa throws you far from the plot of Cardcaptor Sakura but includes several familiar characters from CCS. CLAMP jumbles up the characters from CCS and their relations (not all, such as Sakura and Syaoran who are still coupled in this series) and even includes several characters from CLAMP's other manga series, which I don't want to spoil -- it's fun when you're surprised who is who in this story. I thought this was so genius of CLAMP and a very fun aspect indeed. If you've been a long time fan of CLAMP, perhaps you'll see some very familiar characters throughout the series. Even if you aren't familiar with CLAMP, there is no need to worry -- at the end of the volumes, they include extra notes, particularly for people who are unaware of references to other stories, CLAMP or not.

On a side note, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle crosses over with CLAMP's other releasing story, xxxHOLiC, but again, you don't need to read xxxHOLiC to understand Tsubasa -- each manga has it's respective plot, but includes parts of each other's story which I though was another fun aspect CLAMP did. For example, you'll see extra communications between characters featured in each manga; you'll learn about Sakura and Syaoran in xxxHOLic; and so on.

Tsubasa is rated "Ages 13+" -- far from Cardcaptor Sakura's "All Ages" rating -- most likely because of violence. But the violence is not serious -- Tsubasa would be bland if there weren't fights, and it's overall fighting for love anyhow. Yes, there are sword fights, magic fights, resulting injuries, but nothing to the point where you or your kid will have terrible nightmares of ugly, bloody, messy creatures running after them. There is nothing more than that; no sexual content, no nudity for that matter, no real swearing (there is one character that constantly "yells" out of anger), etc. Tsubasa is probably rated so, because the plot is more complex and serious than a normal children's story. There's a lot of strong emotions in this book, from anger to jealousy, envy, greed, love, hate, sadness to moments of happiness.

The story follows Sakura and Syaoran's journey as well as their "fellow companions" -- Fei and Kurogane, as well as their helpful little "pet", Mokona. Although a lot of Tsubasa is serious, CLAMP couldn't help but include several little moments of humor -- it's pretty much inevitable with a group of main characters like that: a teenage couple, two men like yin and yang, and a little furry creature that has outstanding amounts of powers and techniques. The very main point of this story, however, is Sakura. As you can tell, she is one character CLAMP loves and is one character of amazing capabilities, as she is the main character in two series now, Tsubasa and Cardcaptor Sakura. The second main point is, of course, Syaoran. I can't tell you much about that without spoiling it.

You will find that characters that are pulled from other CLAMP stories have the same type of personality; it would be unfair to change who they are when they have the same appearance and same name in another story. For example, Sakura is still a sweet magical girl that everyone loves and Syaoran is still serious and wants to be tough, often trying to hide true feelings from others.

Tsubasa is currently an ongoing series by CLAMP, now running at 12 released volumes in America with plenty to go. I tend to shy away from long series, but I'm glad I didn't on this one. Tsubasa is definitely worth going through. The plot is amazing, and I think CLAMP is awesome for it. The plot, since it's about Sakura and Syaoran mainly, begins when Sakura's heart flutters away as feathers, each feather containing a memory -- without her memories (or otherwise known as her heart) -- she is just a cold, empty shell. Syaoran must get these feathers back. And, as you can tell from this "simple" (hah!) plot, this is why the series is long: with a girl like Sakura who has a big heart, she has several memories to get back. But it's only going to be done with a price -- nothing is free.

The fact that I'm currently waiting on this series since it's in the process of being released one volume at a time adds to the suspense. I can't exactly predict what will happen, and all I can do is hope for a happy ending. I know the ending will be good, whatever it is.

But I definitely recommend this series for huge CLAMP fans, huge Cardcaptor Sakura fans, and everyone else!

Price is a bit more for Tsubasa, as it runs $10.95 per volume, unlike the usual $9.95 for most manga series. But this is barely a difference. It's worth every cent, but if you're going to throw a hissy-fit about the price, then just buy the books used online. Used books go up almost as quickly as new, so you will have no problem of finding used volumes of Tsubasa at a reasonable price that fits your needs.

The only thing I don't recommend in relation to Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle is the anime adaptation of the story. Although the anime is an ongoing project like the manga, I have seen the first 12 or so episodes, and they totally destroy the manga! There are so many differences between anime and manga, and the anime isn't as exciting. The animation isn't that great of quality either, in my opinion. Sometimes I felt that Fei or someone's head looked a bit lopsided, which is totally unnecessary! I suggest you just read the manga, although I do like the music in the anime.

Pros
Sakura and Syaoran return! Fun extras included afterward, good art layout, good story

Cons
Relatively long series, a tad bit more expensive than the usual manga series

The Bottom Line
CLAMP is genius! Tsubasa was love-at-first-sight for me; I recommend this because of it's strong emotions and good sense of suspense. The good layout of art is a plus.

Recommended:
Yes!