Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, Vol. 18

ツバサ - RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE [Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE] #18

by Clamp

A DEADLY GAME OF CHESS!

In the world of Infinity, Princess Sakura has become a Chess Master and the other travelers are her pieces. But the Mafia is running the game, and they don't care if Sakura's opponents break the rules or murder Sakura's companions! Why is Sakura so determined to risk everything?

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Comics, Romance, Adventure, Comics Manga

184 pages, Paperback

First published March 16, 2007

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

[Nərmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually like this turn of events, darker and more dangerous. I like characters more and especially brave Kurogane and serious vampire Fai.
I wish some explanations made sense but nope, everything is complicated. Even bad guy Fei Wan. Who is he again?
And OMG the one king that was sleeping ( Fai put him to sleep) woke!

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying the darker turn this has taken, but also I laughed SO hard when Fai just drank blood right from Kurogane's wrist. Like... they could gather it in a bowl for him or with a needle and some tubes or oh no he's just going to suck it right from the vein while they talk in hushed tones about the dangers they're facing.
And like, yeah I laughed, but also, I have shipped it for forever and I am totally here for this content, so keep it coming.

[Nikki Kinomoto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Y oootro más sin enterarme de nada.

[Matheus Rios · Rating 5 out of 5]

Things are getting very dark and serious... I love it. Can't wait to see what's waiting for me down the road!

[Once upon a Dream · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Bello è bello, ma alcune cose continuo a non capirle 😅

[Leonor · Rating 4 out of 5]

En este tomo se explica el porqué del viaje provocado por Fei Wong, cuál era su objetivo al dispersar los recuerdos de Sakura en forma de plumas por distintos mundos, dimensiones y épocas. También los chicos deciden seguir con el viaje, juntos, y se van del País de Arena / Tokyo para seguir con la ahora doble búsqueda: las plumas de Sakura y a Syaoran, que tiene el ojo que le robó a Fye y que sigue recolectando las plumas por su cuenta.

[Yvensong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I wish CLAMP would give just a minor refresher of the storyline before jumping right in. I've read so many books during the last 2 1/2 months and it can be a bit confusing trying to figure out where we are. Other than that minor issue, this volume was entertaining and a bit darker than previous volumes.

[Silvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

And with this volume the Tokyo arc ends.
Lantis x3!!! And Eagle too! When I first read Tsubasa I hadn't read Magic Knight Rayearth so I didn't care about those characters but seeing them now x3!!

[Bibliothecat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review for complete series



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.

[Ray Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haya sido coincidencia o destino, el grupo de viajeros debe de tomar una decisión. Puede que las circunstancias los hayan hecho reír y llorar por igual, pero los lazos que han formado a lo largo de su viaje son reales y sería iluso pensar que no se preocupan los unos por los otros.

Así pues, con heridas mentales y físicas, viajan al siguiente mundo. Cada uno sigue un propósito diferente y luego del golpe emocional que el otro Syaoran dejó, es cierto que es difícil saber qué camino tomar. Lo único que tienen claro es que deben seguir recuperando las memorias de Sakura y eso les brindará respuestas eventualmente.

En este nuevo mundo, Sakura funge como la Reina mientras que Fay, Kurogane y Syaoran pelean día tras día en ese tablero de ajedrez gigante. Aunque más que el cansancio físico que esto ocasiona, lo cierto es que no se han tomado el tiempo de hablar bien entre todos y emocionalmente siguen a la deriva.

Sakura evita a toda costa al verdadero Syaoran mientras que Kurogane y Fay siguen navegando por aguas turbias. Y para hacerlo todavía más dramático, Chii alerta a Fay y le dice que el Rey Ashura ha despertado de su letargo.

Este volumen contiene los capítulos 133 – 140.

REVIEWS ANTERIORES:
Volumen 1 | Volumen 2 | Volumen 3 | Volumen 4 | Volumen 5 | Volumen 6 | Volumen 7 | Volumen 8 | Volumen 9 | Volumen 10 | Volumen 11 | Volumen 12 | Volumen 13 | Volumen 14 | Volumen 15 | Volumen 16 | Volumen 17

[Jaimie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally the mastermind behind Sakura’s memory loss and the group’s quest is revealed, along with his motivations - Fei-Wang Reed, a magician whose goal is to gain the power to travel through time and space and can only do so once Sakura travels to all the realms and collects memories of them. It’s a bit weird how Sakura is a central part of his plan, but it explains why he scattered her memories throughout the various worlds. Sakura could have easily chosen at this point of revelation to live without her memories and completely halt his plans, but her caring nature won’t allow Syaoran to remain broken or for the rest of the team to not complete their goals.

As they continue on their quest, though, it seems like things are getting even more dangerous as they have entered a realm where teams of combatants (themselves included) compete for prize money put up by the world’s mafia. The game they play may be referred to as “chess,” but the consequences for the players (and the team’s master, played by Sakura who has few fighting skills) can be quite deadly as the hosts of the game allow for rules of fair play to be broken. At the finale of this collection it seems that Sakura and company are doing quite well in the competition, but I won’t be surprised if they turn their attentions to defeating the mafia-hosts rather than simply beating their official chess opponents.

[Mariana Arguello Galvez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Capitulo 133-140
* RESUMEN EXPRESS CON SPOILER*
- Yuuko le revela al grupo que Fei Wang Reed transformó los recuerdos de la princesa Sakura en plumas y las disperso por diferentes dimensiones para que esas plumas guardarán recuerdos de esas dimensiones. Todo con la finalidad de tener el poder para cruzar realidades y manipular el espacio y el tiempo.
- Después de que deciden continuar con el viaje llegan a Infinity un país que está comandado por una organización llamada la mafia, y el grupo se encuentra haciendo retos de ajedrez para ganar dinero y así poder pagarle a Yuuko para que restaure un mundo anterior, el cual el clon devastó
- Fye recibe el mensaje de que el rey de su mundo despertó.
- Me enoja mucho la actitud de Sakura en este volumen deja suelta a una amenaza y después piensa reponer los destrozos que haga (el clon). Tambien es muy notable la división en el grupo y el cambio que ha tenido cada personaje.

[Lourdes Fierro · Rating 4 out of 5]

El poder que reside en Sakura es tan importante que es capaz de cambiar el orden del mundo. Es por este motivo que un gran hechicero está creando todo tipo de artimañas para obtener lo que desea, el control del espacio y el tiempo.
Nuestros aventureros no entienden hasta qué punto están siguiendo los pasos del destino que ese gran hechicero tiene pensado para ellos y necesitan una estrategia para salir airosos de tantos obstáculos.
Sakura, pese a saber que el clon es un instrumento creado por el enemigo, necesita encontrarle. Para ella es un ser querido y pretende hacerle recordar quién es.
Los problemas aumentan, los secretos dividen y el destino juega en contra de nuestros amigos. ¿Serán capaces de dar un giro a su propia historia? Ninguno pretende rendirse hasta el final y retoman su viaje entre mundos.

[Josh 谢翊杰 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel terrible for our heroes (that now has the real Syaoran) who are continuing their traverses to other dimensions, and seeing the ruins left in the wake of homicidal copy Syaoran. Now while they are trying to find a feather, they are fighting dangerous fights to earn money to help the victims of the previous world. They can't just ignore the effects of soulless Syaoran's rampages. This volume has a very sad undertone. Still loving it! So intense!

[Mads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally hit a portion of the series that I haven't spoiled for myself! What a dreary turn this series has taken (though it was never truly light-hearted considering its premise). Everything's dark and dank, everyone's dressed in gothic/early 2000's rave gear, and they're constantly fighting to right recent wrongs. It's an interesting twist, and I'm curious to see where CLAMP takes this series.

[Hannah Belyea · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the true Syaoran joining them, Sakura and her friends enter a world where she must lead them as her chess pieces in a deadly game against the mafia - but after everything that's happened, can they truly trust one another? CLAMP brings another tense battle that will keep fans on the edge the whole way through. Can Sakura outwit the mafia and gain a prize worthy of Yūko's powers?

[S.M.M. Lindström · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fai has been saved, but is now a one-eyed vampire. Syaoran is missing, "replaced" by a lookalike. The group must decide now - do they continue, or do they give up here, knowing all they've done up to this point have been manipulated by outside forces?

Ah, what a cliffhanger! Need to read the next volume a-sap!

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

So that man has a plan that Sakura needs to travel around to a bunch of worlds so that her body has the memory of visiting these places and to force her to that, she has to collect the memory-feathers. So then why have the copy-Syaoran go by himself to collect feathers? Does that man assume Mokona will send them to the same worlds anyway?

[Harumichi Mizuki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Demi memperbaiki dunia yang rusak di Tokyo, tim Sakura berniat memenangkan lomba catur manusia di negeri Infinity yang dikelola oleh mafia The Vision.

Sakura merasa tertekan karena Syaoran yang ada di depannya bukan Syaoran yang dia kenal, tapi segala tindak tanduknya adalah tindak tanduk Syaoran yang dia kenal.

Sementara itu Fay terkejut karena diberitahu Chii bahwa Ashura-ou sudah terbangun.

[Farah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little put off with how Sakura's reacting in this one. I get that it's not the same Syaoran but it's not his fault that things happened the way it is. Finally we get to know Fai's arc in the next volume. I've been dying to know what happened between him and King Ashura's. Can't wait!

[Jenny Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, things are slowly changing between everyone, and now Fai gets his turn in the spot light! I think at least. There were a few things that were translated rather awkwardly, but they are easy enough to make sense of in context.

[Snarky Hatter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy all of the drama going on between the characters, but these chess matches just feel like placeholders.

[Maribel · Rating 3 out of 5]

¿En que momento secuestro a Saoran? , del que tiene recuerdo Sakura, ¿era el clon? Esas dudas me dejó este tomo.

[Mosley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dark this series gets the more I fan girl over the next volume and the next!

[VSP · Rating 5 out of 5]

:c

El volumen más triste hasta ahora

[Pedro Ángel · Rating 4 out of 5]

El punto de quiebre en la historia, tras todas las aventuras que han vivido juntos se topan de frente con una de las advertencias de Yuuko, la posibilidad de encontrarse con ellos mismos en alguno de los mundos.

Aquí es donde el rumbo toma un tono más oscuro y cuando el grupo tiene que tomar la decisión de seguir viajando por compromiso o como elección propia.

[Chivitouille · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yuko finalmente se decide a contarles todo lo que puede acerca del porqué del viaje que han tenido que emprender en busca de las plumas de Sakura y del porqué todos terminaron acompañándola. Como es obvio, todo ha sido planeado por Fei Wong, todo en pos de conseguir un deseo que anhela y por lo visto hará todo lo que este a su alcance para conseguirlo, pero Yuko se interpondrá en su camino.
Y aunque ya sabíamos bastante de Kurogane, se empiezan a vislumbrar más aspectos de la vida de Fye, el cual parece ser que finalmente tendremos la oportunidad de conocer más a fondo.
Los planes de Fei Wong es algo que los afectará tanto a ellos como al mundo de Yuko, por lo que es importante que sigan a delante para detenerlo. Una vez más vemos como los dos mangas se relacionan y de cómo Syaoran tiene una relación muy particular con Watanuki pero de la que no sabemos nada.
De igual manera aunque Yuko los ayuda en lo que puede, también nos dan una breve explicación del porqué no puede intervenir mucho.
Una vez que las cosas ya están algo más claras, dándose cuenta de que a pesar de todo, el hecho de que estén juntos es una cuestión de elección, tienen que decidir qué hacer de ahora en adelante sabiendo lo que saben ahora.
Como es evidente todos deciden seguir adelante motivados por razones personales.
Fye y Sakura se verán más unidos que antes a partir de este momento y aunque debido a sus similitudes era obvio que eran compatibles entre ellos, me encanta mucho que se vayan estrechando los lazos entre ellos, pero debido a su situación emocional sin duda necesitaran de la ayuda de los demás para salir adelante.
Ya quiero seguir leyendo para saber cómo evoluciona esta parte.
En cuanto a Kamui, Subaru y Fuuma por lo visto tendrán una participación importante más adelante y a pesar de que nos han explicado algunas cuestiones aún quedan muchas por descubrir.
Como punto aparte lo que fue a buscar Sakura como pago por el agua del depósito, por lo visto tendrá un papel importante en Holic, lo cual me emociono bastante puesto que sirve para algo especial, pero las sorpresas no terminan ahí.

El siguiente lugar a visitar es el país Infinity, en donde participarán en un juego de ajedrez bastante particular, en el cual tendrán que enfrentarse a fuertes rivales para conseguir el premio. Cabe mencionar que resulta bastante interesante y que de cierta manera reflejara el poder y el estado de ánimo de Sakura y en el cual todos tendrán que participar para alcanzar su objetivo.
Sin duda resulta difícil para Sakura tener que convivir con el verdadero Syaoran y esto la irá afectando poco a poco.
Podemos ver como Fye y Sakura se hacen confidentes en su propia tristeza y dolor; mientras que Syaoran al sentirse un intruso, recibirá el apoyo de Kurogane, que como siempre resulta ser el más objetivo y centrado de todos ellos, pareciese que a pesar de lo mal que les pudiera ir es el que trata de que las cosas no se derrumben del todo preocupándose por cada uno de ellos y me parece genial que quien empezó siendo alguien distante y hasta cierto punto desinteresado, este resultando el que se preocupa más y trata de que las cosas vayan lo mejor posible.
El final ha sido completamente emocionante y admito que estoy deseando leer el siguiente tomo, ya que por fin parece ser que conoceremos más de la historia de cierto personaje que ansiaba ya conocer.
Y aunque este tomo ha sido tranquilo parece ser que es el preámbulo de más cosas imprevistas que están por acontecer.

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art and characters are still fun, but I rank this a little lower than the others because:

A. I'm a bit confused about what's going on (admittedly, this is probably partly my fault for not reading the volumes closer together, but who is the guy lying wounded in bed at the beginning, with his hands wrapped up, who the Time-Space Witch assures them will live? WHO IS THAT?)

Also, I can't remember which eye Syaoran can't see out of. More than ever now that it's . . . switched . . . I think? Not that it's ever made a difference, as he seems to use the Force to see things on that side at least as well, anyway.

B. The villainish guys in the world of Infinity are especially egregious examples of, "As you know, Bob." I mean, seriously, the one guy's like, "So, my family runs these games, right? And we're the Mafia, right? And you guys have always been close to my family, right? And your names are . . ." :P Starts to be very silly.



It's interesting to see the real Syaoran refered to as "Syaoran" with quote marks, and the fake one without quote marks. It kind of makes sense - for, like, seventeen volumes, we were technically dealing with the fake one, and calling him Syaoran because we didn't know. I guess it might be confusing to switch now.

Actually, it's all pretty confusing. But I'm operating with the understanding that the fake Syaoran was acting on the wishes of the real one most of the time (only deviating on those occasions when he flipped out because of his programming to prioritize collecting the feathers above all else), and that the real one could see through his eye, so it's sort of like the real one was there all along. 'Cause, you know, otherwise, it's sort of upsetting to think that our protagonist has been a freaky clone robot thing all this time and that this new guy's really not connected to anything at all.

Of course, if I'm right about that, it's kind of weird that Sakura's all like, "I know he's not really Syaoran," because, um, he really is.

[Mely · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the volume with "chess game" where Loligoth Sakura (with her leg in a metal brace and her aspect still fetchingly restrained and damaged by revelations from the previous two volumes) controls the other members of the gang as their "queen" who is connected to them by literal chains and directs them in their physical battles to win the chess game. Also there is much pining and painful accidental touches and jerking-away-from-touches as the result of recent revelations. Also there is hot vampiric blooddrinking doubling as a way to hold a secret conversation away from the eyes of spies.

In case you missed some of that: CHAINS. PAINFUL JERKS AWAY FROM ACCIDENTAL TOUCHES. FORMERLY OPEN AND OPTIMISTIC CHARACTER CLOSED DOWN AND STOIC IN THE FACE OF MASSIVE EMOTIONAL TRAUMA.

In terms of plot and characterization and art, there are better volumes, but my id likes this one BEST OF ALL. I don't think it likes the same things about it that attract its target audience of 13-year-old boys. I am totally okay with that.

[Izlinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

We get a little more explanation from Yuko about Fei-Wang Reed's motivations. Basically he wants to harness the power of the memories Sakura's body makes from traveling across worlds and dimensions, in order to have the power to manipulate space and time. Obviously he was the one who made the image-Syaoran (still a little weirded out from that plot twist), and killed Kurogane's mother. Clow Reed and Yuko worked together to block his plans and created two futures.

Sakura is very giving in this volume, leaving one of her feathers behind in Tokyo so it would protect the building from acid rain.

The flashes we get of the image-Syaoran and his rampage is pretty...whoa. I guess it failed, the hope of the original Syaoran that image-Syaoran would grow his own soul from the little seed original-Syaoran put in him.

I have to say I like the costumes they wear in Infinity, all the black and sharp edges. :P

The book ends with Fai getting notified by Chi that Ashura-o has awoken.