RG Veda, Vol. 03

聖伝 ‐RG VEDA‐ #3

by Clamp

Three hundred years ago, a warlord overthrew the Emperor of Heaven and began a cruel and tyrannical reign, but a prophecy foresaw that Six Stars could bring about his downfall, and Yasha is determined to make the prophecy come true.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Comics Manga, Comics, Japanese Literature, LGBT

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 25, 1990

About the author

Ōkawa Nanase 大川七瀬
[born: 2 May 1967; Ōsaka, bloodtype: A]

Mokona Apapa もこなあぱぱ
[born: 16 Jun 1968, Kyōto; bloodtype: A]

Nekoi Mick 猫井みっく
[born: 21 Jan 1969, Kyōto; bloodtype: O]

Igarashi Satsuki 五十嵐さつき
[born: 8 Feb 1969, Kyōto; bloodtype: A]


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.

Reviews

[MaguiWorld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un tomo dónde no vimos mucho a nuestros protagonista principales pero comenzamos a conocer a otra personas que estoy más que segura se unirá al grupo.

Es curioso todo lo que pueden presentar las mangakas, porque si buen estamos llegando casi a la mitad de los tomos (el siguiente sería la mitad) no parece que la historia haya avanzado mucho, simplemente nos están presentando a los personajes.

[K.S. Trenten · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another gorgeous, powerfully tragic volume of this myth-based fantasy epic, beginning with the fall of Kusamapara, the revelation of Kahra’s secret, and the awakening of the Shura sword, Ashura’s heriditary weapon while Ashura is forced to confront the true nature of his mother. This is followed by Karura’s discontent as a Guardian warrior until cruelty and tragedy takes away the one person she valued enough to continue to serve Taishakuten, in spite of her hatred for him. One wonders if Taishakuten wasn’t egging the various guardian warriors on, trying to incite them into rebelling. First Yasha, now Karura, he’s certainly pushing them, almost punishing them to the breaking point. Bishamonten appears to be a part of this as well, as opposed to Shashi, his queen and Ashura’s mother, whom is out for her own gain. Most of the characters are becoming more complex except for Yasha. Almost everything he does is for Ashura as Ryu-oh notices and Yasha himself admits. Ashura, however, has a quite the dark side to balance out his more innocent moments. Hints are being dropped that matters are more complex than they seem, everyone has secrets, giving additional levels to this visually gorgeous epic. For all of these qualities, I give this four stars.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is so sad. I do wish the English translation didn't just make Ashura into a male character with no mention of the fact that he's actually genderless and has no sex. Kinda erasing this cool representation of intersex and nonbinary people. But it's an old series, so I guess I understand it was easier for them at the time to avoid that.

[Bibliothecat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for complete series


Taishakuten has murdered the Heavenly Emperor and conquered his throne. The once peaceful kingdom falls into a long period of tyranny where rebellion against the new Heavenly Emperor means the destruction of whole tribes. The legendary Ashura tribe was the first to fall, yet the young Prince survived and prophecy has it that he will gather the six stars who will be the downfall of Taishakuten.

Although RG Veda isn't CLAMP's first work, it is their debut manga. It is loosely based on the Veda Hindu scripts, but as I am not very familiar with those, I really can't say how much freedom CLAMP allowed themselves with this one.

RG Veda is not an easy manga to get into, and definitely not one I would recommend to someone who is new to reading manga. It has a very slow start with a lot of information getting thrown at you. This also leads to a somewhat rocky flow of the story. That being said, once getting through the first volumes, it turns into an emotional and complex story.

There are many characters involved and even though the length of this series doesn't allow us to know all characters in great detail, it is still very easy to feel their pain. What little we know of them looks very real and as the story progresses, one can find that there are many grey characters - even the most villainous ones have their good sides and there are many surprising twists towards the end. There is certainly a lot of drama and suffering in this one, despite the occasional comic relief, you really might not want to start loving these characters too much, CLAMP started early with killing off their characters.

Also typical for CLAMP is the stunning artwork and ambiguous relationships between characters. Although several of the male characters are a little too bulky for my liking, there's not much left to be desired when it comes to the intricate clothing, backgrounds, hair, weapons and general page layout.

Although he is clearly named as Prince Ashura, our young hero is said to be genderless and has fooled several potential readers, myself included, into thinking him to be a female. I've never felt comfortable with people romanticising his relationship with the god of war Yasha - yes, the two of them are very close, but I can't see it as anything other than a father-son kind of bond. However, there are other queer characters along the way and some of them really come around with a twist that I don't think many people would see coming.

So despite the slow start, this is a wonderful tale of gods, humans, age-long wars and family and love. For all who struggle with getting into this, give it another chance, the second half may very well prove worthy of your time and surprise you in ways you did not see coming.

[Kyla Sixkiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This stunning sequel dives deeper into the myth-woven saga, delivering tragedy alongside breathtaking visuals. Kusamapara's fall sets the stage for revelations - Kahra's secret, the awakening of Ashura's ancestral blade, and a confrontation with their mother's true nature. Meanwhile, Karura, a Guardian warrior simmering with discontent, experiences a brutal loss that shatters her loyalty to the enigmatic Taishakaten. One can't help but wonder if Taishakaten, like Bishamonten, is manipulating his warriors, pushing them towards rebellion. The complexities deepen as characters like Ashura grapple with darkness alongside innocence, and secrets emerge from every corner, hinting at a grander scheme.

[Harumichi Mizuki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aku beneran gak ngerti jalan pikiran Taishaku-ten. Kalau dia pingin melindungi rezimnya, mengapa dia malah menyulut pemberontakan di mana-mana? Dia kan pingin mencegah biar Enam Bintang tidak bersatu di bawah Ashura-ou. Tapi malah ngebantai klan Soma, ngebantai klan Yasha, dan bikin adiknya Karura-ou, Karyoubinga, menyanyi sampai mati. Dasar aneh! Mengingat dia melakukan itu demi memenuhi permintaan terakhirnya Ashura-ou untuk membiarkan anaknya hidup, benar-benar ANEH!!!

Dan akhirnya ada yang menyuarakan isi hatiku soal tindakan Yasha-ou yang nurutin Ashura tanpa mikir panjang soal risikonya. Si Ryu-ou!

[Adrian Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo que me confunde son los nombres, difìciles de pronunciar, leer y asimilar.

Pero la historia ya despegò màs, vemos la tiranìa en la historia y tambièn te rompe el corazòn el final de este tomo. Los diseños tambièn me gustaron mucho, y la idea de la ciudad en el cielo. Todo muy poètico.

[Léa]

Un tome que j'ai préféré aux deux premiers : le casting est un peu plus resserré, et l'histoire de la grande sœur qui protège le tyran pour assurer la sécurité de sa cadette (tout ça pour qu'elle meurt lors d'un recital comme un oiseau en cage) était touchante.

[Freya Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is terrific and this story is outstanding!

[Jody Mena]

Ooh, it's getting good! I really do like this manga; the characters and their relationships feel a little forced at times; the bad guys in particular are rather one-dimensionally evil. However, I think of it as having a sort of fairytale quality, not necessarily believable, but also not intended to be believable so much as fantastical. Anything the characterizations lack is made up for by the beautiful artwork. I love the detail, the flowing lines, the epic scenery, dramatic poses and action scenes, and all of it made more amazing by the wonderful frames and angles! It's got a rich style and a lot of depth and wonder to the imagery. The plot is compelling, once again sometimes feeling a bit stilted, but if you view it as a mythical epic, it takes on a legendary quality that is incredibly satisfying. I'm really looking forward to the next volume, I am excited to see how this will turn out!

[Hapsari Darmastuti · Rating 3 out of 5]

The next project is to read every single thing CLAMP wrote because I really want to read the new Cardcaptor Sakura continuation. I've attempted this before but did not follow through to the end, and this 1st series it the hardest to read. There are just so many characters and backstory and we are thrown right in the middle and I don't know what is happening even though I've read it before. I just need to hold out and finish the series and move on to better things.

[Kati · Rating 4 out of 5]

More gut-wrenching stuff yet it finally feels like a real story is developing there, that it's not just about murdering characters to get readers emotional anymore. I loved the part where the demon kidnapped Yasha, the ice castle, good!Ashura pushing evil!Ashura back because of Ashura's love for Yasha and Kujaku's surprise... Wonderful.