The five dimension-hopping travelers have stuck together through all sorts of worlds and all kinds of harrowing adventures. But when the group enters the ruined city of Tokyo, two powerful fugitives set in motion a disastrous chain of events that may cause their tight-knit friendship to unravel. Syaoran's mysterious past is finally revealed, and a tumultuous battle leaves one of the friends near death, while another becomes an enemy after a shocking act of betrayal. Don't miss this pivotal volume in the Tsubasa saga!
CLAMP originally began in 1989 as a twelve-member dōjinshi circle, but by 1990, the circle had diminished from twelve to seven. Of the remaining seven, Tamayo Akiyama, Sei Nanao, and Leeza Sei left the group during the production of the RG Veda manga. Other former members of CLAMP also included Soushi Hishika, O-Kyon, Kazue Nakamori, Yuzuru Inoue and Shinya Ōmi. Currently, there are four members in the group.
In 2004, CLAMP's 15th anniversary as a mangaka group, the members changed their names from Nanase Ohkawa, Mokona Apapa, Mick Nekoi, and Satsuki Igarashi to Ageha Ohkawa, Mokona, Tsubaki Nekoi and Satsuki Igarashi (her name is pronounced the same, but written with different characters) respectively. The August 2004 issue of Newtype USA, a magazine specializing in events of the anime and manga subcultures, reported that the members of CLAMP simply wanted to try out new names. In a later interview with Ohkawa, it was revealed that initially Mokona wanted to drop her surname because it sounded too immature for her liking, while Nekoi disliked people commenting that her name was the same as Mick Jagger's. Ohkawa and Igarashi, wanting to go with the flow of Nekoi's and Mokona's name changes, changed their names as well.
In 2006, they made their first USA public debut at Anime Expo in Anaheim, California. They were well received at the convention, with 6,000 fans in attendance at their panel.
Also, I was intending to finish this one and return it to the library, then pick up the next volume after my beach trip, but then it ended with my favorite character on the verge of death and having just lost an eye! D:
So . . . my understanding is that the Syaoran we followed for fifteen and a half volumes was actually a sort of man-made doppelganger, but he was sort of the real Syaoran, because he had a piece of the real Syaoran's essence in the form of his right eye. Which is why fake-Syaoran couldn't see out of that eye, because it wasn't intended to be part of him. Apparently, while he can't see through that eye, real-Syaoran can.
(All of which, BTW, is INCREDIBLY CONFUSING, because the two Syaorans are distinguished in part by which has which color eye on each side, for which you can only rely on shading because THE MANGA IS BLACK AND WHITE. Also, taking its cue from the original Japanese, the translator uses quotation marks around the name of the REAL Syaoran and not the fake one! AUGH! At least that was clarified in the notes at the end.)
Also, the eye maybe has magical powers?
Anyway, real-Syaoran was held prisoner (for his own safety . . .?) by the evil soul-stealing guy, who created this doppelganger. Which has no soul of its own and is programmed to retrieve Sakura's feathers at absolutely all costs. Real-Syaoran hoped that the presence of part of his own "heart" (because the eye is part of the heart, right?) would enable the doppelganger to develop its own soul.
As of the end of this volume, that doesn't seem to have happened. I'm guessing it will at some point, but in the meantime - even to someone who likes happy stuff as much as I do - it's kind of refreshing to have a ruthlessly-programmed-golemy-thing actually act ruthlessly.
Although it's interesting that it isn't until now that the doppelganger decides that the path it should take to retrieve Sakura's feathers includes going after not just the feathers but nearby sources of power that can theoretically boost its chances of success - hence the taking of Fai's eye. Possibly it didn't feel the need to do this before because Fai, Kurogane, and Mokona were already helping it, but I think it has more to do with this "seal" on its eye which, presumably, is what made the bit of real-Syaoran's essence a part of fake-Syaoran. Once the seal breaks, fake-Syaoran goes totally rogue, suddenly determining that the best way to serve what one would think would be a good, if possibly poorly-worded, goal, is to grab whatever power it can and get on the trail of the feathers itself. The doppelganger doesn't seem to grasp the fact that Fai and the others would have probably kept helping it just the same, especially if they thought it had developed its own "heart", the way real-Syaoran wanted it to. Or if it does grasp this fact, maybe it just doesn't think this would be as efficient as doing the job alone.
(Although, if its real goal is to return all of Sakura's feathers, you'd think it would take her with it when it goes to another world. But then, since it seems to have opened up the world-portal-thing on its own, maybe it can do that at will. Maybe it's going to go around gathering feathers and periodically popping in to be like, "Hi guys, here's another feather!")
Its interesting that the trigger that breaks the seal on fake-Syaoran's eye - the thing making it behave like a person - is basically a creature referring to it as a doppelganger (and then trying to kill it). The vampire we see in this volume is trying to kill Syaoran for what seems to be no reason. Naturally, this makes it seem evil, but then suddenly (and I applaud the translator's use of the word "game") the vampire expresses confusion: why can't it eat Syaoran? After all, these fake-humans are created to be food for vampires, right? Although I'm not sure whether it's the vampire's revelation, or the fact that Fai is made aware of it, or simply the fact that the vampire deals fake-Syaoran a wound that ought to be fatal, that actually makes the seal break.
And then it's like OH SNAP, the Syaoran we've seen hanging out in suspended animation in the bad guy's lair is the REAL Syaoran, trapped there, and THIS ONE is a fake. And confusion reigns.
And now Fai is, like, maimed and half-dead! Nuuuu!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Kamui y Syaoran vuelven a combatir y en medio de todo, se devela la verdad sobre la identidad de nuestro querido protagonista. Al parecer, el Syaoran que era prisionero de Fei Wang Reed se trataba del verdadero Syaoran. Así pues, éste le dio la mitad de su corazón y puso un sello en él para que, al ser un cuerpo vacío, de alguna manera lograra experimentar un montón de vivencias y así no ser solo una marioneta.
Sin embargo, el sello se rompe y la calidez que alguna vez vimos en Syaoran desaparece y regresa a su verdadero dueño. Así mismo, ataca y le quita un ojo a Fay, quien solo intentaba proteger a Sakura. Al devorar ese ojo, Syaoran posee parte de la magia de Fay y como un autómata, solo busca recuperar las plumas de la princesa, sin considerar enemigos o aliados.
En medio de todo un caos, entre heridos, lágrimas y súplicas, el Syaoran que una vez conocimos, se dirige al siguiente mundo. Mientras tanto, Fay está al borde de la muerte, pero Yuuko piensa mostrarles una salida a su actual problema
En fin, que ha sido un volumen intenso como pocos en la serie. Aunque ya se sospechaba que había algo extraño con Syaoran, el que de pronto se vuelva un villano más, hace que todo cambie. La moral de los chicos está por los suelos y ni cómo hablar de la princesa.
A diferencia de muchos, a mi si me gustó este giro en la historia y ver cómo se enfrentan con la magia o con las espadas es algo que me encanta. A partir de este momento las cosas no vuelven a ser bonitas ni divertidas y más bien nos embarcamos en un viaje que cada vez se vuelve más doloroso.
I am confused as heck by the whole two Sayorian thing, but it will be explained more in future volumes I am sure. That ending though, the heck was that???? Onwards!
If I thought the last one ended crazily, it's nothing on this ending. This installment was awesome. The story is really picking up and while I'm still pretty confused I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This is the pivotal volume in this series by the genius members of CLAMP. Finally, the mystery of Syroan's doppelganger is revealed, and the motley traveling companions idyllic travels come to an end while hardships ensue.
What seemed like a benign tale becomes serious . . .
I have a feeling I would like this volume a lot more if I understood what on earth just happened. I'm hoping if I read it again, it will be more clear. Or maybe when I continue reading, everything will make sense in retrospect.
Tsubasa is in a way a love letter to all of CLAMP's other works. I went into this having read almost all - definitely all relevant - series by CLAMP, so I can't say for sure, but I think this series is only half as fun if you haven't read the other works (preferably all). If you enjoy Easter Eggs and cameos, Tsubasa is an absolute treat.
For the longest time, Tsubasa was the longest manga series I owned; anything beyond 10 volumes makes me think twice as I find that most lengthy series just drag unnecessarily. However, it was impossible for me to say no to Tsubasa, Sakura and Syaoran from Cardcaptor Sakura have been long-time favourite manga characters of mine, not to mention that I am generally very fond of CLAMP and all their big and small crossovers. Reading a story that combines almost their entire bibliography and with Sakura and Syaoran as the main characters was too good to say no to. It should also be mentioned that this series is heavily interwoven with xxxHolic's plot and should best be read alongside each other.
This Syaoran and Sakura are not the same from Cardcaptor Sakura (although the original Sakura makes a cameo). In essence, this is a story about travelling between dimensions - the same person can exist in different versions of themselves in different universes. Sakura and Syaoran travel between the different worlds - all very different - and meet characters and elements from all across CLAMP's other works. In fact, some characters appear more than once to highlight how the same being can exist and lead a different life in different worlds. It's really fun to see the characters from other stories living different lives, some are funny and some are bittersweet. CLAMP has killed off a fair amount of its characters in other works so it's nice to see some of them leading happier and peaceful lives.
In addition to meeting a whole lot of known characters, there are also a couple of Tsubasa original characters such as Fay and Kurogane who accompany Sakura and Syaoran on their travels. I've grown to love Fay and Kurogane almost as much as I love the other two - so while Tsubasa is very much a homage to other CLAMP works, it's also a very character-driven story with both Fay and Kurogane having intricate and deep personalities. I also have to express my apologies to Kurogane - I always expected not to like him because I'm not very fond of brawns-over-brains type of characters, but I was very wrong about him; great character, smart as well a strong and just a really great guy.
Being a work of CLAMP, it's almost needless to say that the art is beautiful. That being said, this is more of a shounen-esque series which also shows in the art with the somewhat oddly length limbs and a greater focus on action, weapons and muscles. I prefer shoujo art, but the facial art is much the same as other CLAMP works so I can absolutely live with that.
A downside of Tsubasa is plain and simple that it gets confusing. There are time skips, world switching, doubles across different series (xxxHolic) and rather vague motivations from the villain's side. At some point, I just decided to go with the flow rather than trying to make sense of every detail. There's a bit of a loose end, though I wouldn't exactly call it a band ending either. Now that they are working on a sequel, it'll be interesting to see where things will lead to next.
Either way, an absolute gem if you like CLAMP and crossovers, and Sakura, Syaoran, Fay and Kurogane are just a great team of characters - to be fair, Mokona is as much part of the team and deserves a mention too. Finally, I just love these characters.
Capitulo 117-124 Ya comenzó a venir lo bueno. * RESUMEN EXPRESS CON SPOILER* Se revelo que el tipo del parche es realmente Syaoran y es el descendiente de Clow Reed a quien la organización de Fei Wang Reed tenía capturado. Y el Syaoran que hemos estado viendo es un clon del anterior, al cual en el momento de su creación el verdadero Syaoran le dió parte de su corazón. El clon de Syaoran ahora sin corazón le quita el globo ocular a Fye en donde se encuentra su magia ya que Syaoran llegó tarde. Fye queda muy malherido debido a que el quiso devolver el corazón de Syaoran al clon y no pudo, además él clon lo hirió de gravedad. El clon ahora es ayudado por Fei Wang Reed para viajar entre dimensiones en busca de las plumas de Sakura. El clon no es eliminado por Syaoran debido a que Sakura se interpuso
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Los problemas se acumulan y se descubren misterios que solo añaden leña al fuego a nuestros compañeros. Ese muchacho misterioso no es otro que el verdadero Xiaolang, por lo que se demostró que la persona que los acompañaba era solo un clon. El original, con la intención de que el clon tuviera sentimientos, le entregó parte de su alma, pero, al romperse el sello que lo mantenía preso, el clon quedó como un autómata y su única intención era recuperar las plumas de Sakura. Fye en un intento de proteger a su amigo usa su magia, pero este, que ha perdido todo lo que le hacía ser él, ataca al hechicero para arrancarle la fuente de su poder, uno de sus ojos azules. Kurogane consigue salvar a Fye, pero para que su compañero sobreviva deberá sacrificarse ¿lo hará?
Well damn! This volume had so much going on I had to slow down and absorb it. It was crazy, confusing, exciting, jaw-dropping, mind-blowing and beyond awesome!
I can't believe that Syaoran (the one we've known from volume 1) went all heartless, ruthless and savage! He stole and ate Fai's eye so he could take his magic! He almost succeeded in getting Fai's other eye. How is Fai going to survive? And the team have lost the Syaoran they knew and are left with the original/true Syaoran and have no idea who he is and what he's all about. I wish I didn't have to sleep and go to work tomorrow, I need to keep reading!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Kamui ternyata vampir. Dia melindungi air di waduk di bawah Gedung Pemerintahan karena di sanalah kembarannya, Subaru, tertidur.
Selama ini Syaoran yang mengumpulkan bulu sayap Sakura ternyata kloningan. Begitu Syaoran yang asli berhasil lolos dari Yuuko, segel di mata kanan kloning Syaoran yang merupakan setengah dari hati Syaoran yang asli rusak. Akibatnya, kloning Syaoran jadi jahat. Dia bahkan menyerang Fye untuk memakan matanya, demi mengambil kekuatan sihir Fye agar dia bisa terus mengumpulkan bulu sayap Sakura.
Saat itulah Subaru terbangun dari tidurnya. Huaaah!
The terrible truth has finally come to light: Fai, Kurogane and Mokona are shocked to find Syaoran turning against them, revealing himself to be a clone of the true Syaoran - and when he attacks Fai, the group finds themselves beginning to unravel. CLAMP begins a dramatic descent into madness in this gruesome entry that will have fans gasping. Why are there two of Syaoran, and which of them is the true protector of Sakura?
I'll repeat myself but.. There are volumes where nothing happens, dimension that takes up ten chapters to finish and tell nothing about the plot AND THEN THERE IS THIS VOLUME WHERE EVERYTHING HAPPENS ALL AT ONCE. Also, this volume left me super confused. I've seen the anime multiple times, and I was hoping the Manga was a little bit clearer, but I'M MORE CONFUSED THAN EVER. And why there are a lot of things happening in just few pages???
I deserved to know more about Fay magic, hoping in the future volumes but eh-
Even though, I already know what's coming and prepared my heart for it (I watched the OVA twice and the first time it broke my heart so bad I went into shock after watching it), IT STILL BROKE ME! I was holding my breath reading on knowing what's going to happen *sigh
With Sakura's soul trapped within a mysterious growth deep under water, the rest of the group have a challenge in saving her - especially when Syaoran starts acting strange.
Oooooh, the drama in this volume! The revelations! I'm on the edge of my seat! Why didn't I get the rest of the volumes from the library? Need to get my hands on the next ones a-sap!
I'm fine. Really. So what if everything's fallen apart and we've learned a few things about the main characters that will blindside readers and break their hearts into a million tiny pieces? It's fine.