Duklyon: Clamp School Defenders, Vol. 2

学園特警デュカリオン [Gakuen Tokukei Duklyon] #2

by Clamp

Duklyon stands strong against any attack from the enemy.  But with the pressures of exams and their bright futures ahead, can they still continue to save the earth from destruction?

Genres: Manga, Comics, Fiction, Science Fiction, Comedy, Action, Graphic Novels

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 25, 1993

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

[Sushi (寿司) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rilettura. Ho dovuto pensarci un po'. Se anche voi avete notato che il panificio si chiama Deuklyon e loro Duklyon penso sia normale. La scritta sul panificio presenta un De + U in katakana. (Una cosa che una volta non avrei visto). Duklyon invece secondo wikipedia ha un Dyu che è un combinato. Praticamente è come sopra con il De ma vicino ha un mini Yu.

Passiamo al manga in se. I capitoli somo banali ma la cretineria fa ridere un po'. Il manga giusto al momento giusto.
Certo se ne volete uno serio non è quello che cercate.

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as conclusions to a series go, I do have to say that this one was fairly fun, and arguably this is due to the fact CLAMP School Defenders Duklyon never took itself too seriously to begin with. That much is evident between the romance that overtook the plot, the constant teasing at Takeshi and Kentaro as a ship despite Takeshi's vehement responses to such jokes, the practical non-existence of the Fourth Wall as CLAMP continues poking fun at themselves in-narrative and has the characters acknowledge they're in a fictional story, and the way the majority of things just wrap themselves up in a manner that's very indicative of CLAMP's more lighthearted storytelling.

Heck, the fact that the back cover of this volume has absolutely no summary text on it at all should have been indicative enough to its nature. And silly though it is, this series and its love of playing with tropes and just having fun is absolutely what makes it worth the read for any CLAMP fan, especially those looking to get into the CLAMP School 'verse they have. I'm so glad that I finally got to read it and add it to my collection of manga, especially to my collection of CLAMP's work.

[Antonio Heras · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un divertimento de las Clamp. Sin ambición ni pretensiones, se disfruta si eres fan y te dejas llevar por los personajes.

[Bibliothecat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review for complete series



The CLAMP campus is as busy as a city - and what is a city without its defenders of peace? Next to their busy life as students, Kentarou and Takeshi are also Duklyon, the CLAMP School Defenders. Keeping their identities secret is almost as difficult as keeping aliens at bay, but they are always at the ready to fulfil their duty.

I love CLAMP for their crossovers. This is yet another instalment to their CLAMP campus - although I really like the concept around it, the actual works related to it just aren't that strong. Duklyon is, I'm sad to say, the weakest of the lot.

It couldn't be more obvious in the fact that this is a parody. It seems like both a homage and an absolute overdramatised version of justice fighters. The scenarios are utterly ridiculous and predictable - every chapter follows the exact same formula.

Although the parody is pulled off nicely, it soon becomes repetitive and thus tiring to read. I like comedy, but I do like at least a tiny bit of seriousness along the way. For Duklyon, it is really just that - gags and laughs. I believe it would have worked better if it had tied in with more of CLAMP's (more serious) works to add some comic relief or even stand in stark contrast. Even adding an odd serious scene of its own would have done this series some good.

[Mads · Rating 1 out of 5]

See the previous volume for my overall complaints with the series. It boils down to CLAMP's reliance on exposition to define characters' relationships, but developing them to reflect this; the pacing being lightning-fast and nigh-incomprehensible during fight scenes; and a plot that is all over the place for the sake of being all over the place.
It feels like this is all a commentary on monster-of-the-week shows at the time, or at least battle anime/manga (Dirty Pair comes to mind). But is Duklyon a proper satire of these pieces of media? We have common character tropes - duo consisting of competent quiet one vs. loud and brash one, lampshaded in that the brash one is actually good at things; mission control located in a hard-to-reach location and manned by a mysterious benefactor; girl; villains who never actually seem to cause any lasting chaos; enemies that are defeated in time for the chapter to end; aliens... the list just goes on.
Usually each of these tropes are flipped on their head in some way as well (possibly responsible for the randomness throughout the manga)...
Oh my god this manga is a parody. Why did I not realize this sooner. Why did I not read the Wikipedia entry before starting the series.
Ok, so this manga is satire. Does that make it good? In my opinion, no. What Duklyon fails to do that so many other superhero/action manga succeed at is being fun. This manga spends way too long trying to catch the reader in a "gotcha" moment. Up until it turns the tropes around, I have to sit through the boring stereotypes and wait for the big reveal. If it isn't fun to read, then the project has failed as a shonen action series. My comments from the previous volume still remain, even if the work is just satire. In wanting to be smart and genre-bending, CLAMP removed the charm from the series.
Who cares if this series has some hot takes, if it's not fun to read?

[Vilma Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second, and final, volume of this series. I still can't get over how weird it is, to be honest. There's action. There's humor. There's romance (a ridiculous romance, in my opinion, but still).

There's revelations about secret identities. How these identities were ever secret when everyone looks exactly the same is beyond me. (Somehow it was so much more believable when it was Sailor Moon doing it.)

This was just a silly read, in my opinion. I think I described the first volume as "crack treated seriously" and that applies to this volume also. Don't expect for this series to make you feel all the feels like some of CLAMP's other works. Still, it was a quick fun read and I don't regret picking it up.

[Adrian Santiago · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitivamente una historia corta y muchìsimo màs normal o relax que todo lo demàs que he leìdo de CLamp.

Pero para nada siento que fuera malo; despuès de RG Veda y sus paradojas es muy relajante una historia completamente normal y traquila. Con màs chistes y monitos cayendo boca abajo con cosas risibles.

A la vez tienes todos los elementos, reinos, princesas y prìncipes, aliens, power rangers, mascotas gigantes, un vato bonito joteando y un vato masculino y cejudo, un cierre divertido y las interconexiones con el mundo Clamp.

No sè còmo rayos pero hay una referencia a X/1999 muy genial.

[Harumichi Mizuki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Di sini ceritanya makin ngaco. Eri dan Kotobuki dibuat saling jatuh cinta. Instan pula prosesnya. Padahal, Kotobuki ini udah punya tunangan. Rupanya Kotobuki ini alien, Sodara. Di planetnya, agar seseorang diakui kedewasaannya, dia harus menaklukkan satu planet. Nyusahin sekali ya aturannya. Planet yang berhasil ia taklukkan ini akan jadi tempat bulan madunya. Masalahnya, kenapa yang diserang cuma Perguruan CLAMP? Mana yang diserang kantin, TK, dkk. Nguaco 🤣

Yang lebih koplak, Kotobuki dan Eri dibuat sama-sama tidak menyadari satu sama lain. Mereka sama-sama mengira pihak lainnya itu punya saudara kembar 🤣

Kenapa Clamp bikin komedi sebodoh ini, sih? 🤣

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm skimming over some other reviews to see that other people kind of miss the core of Duklyon, again probably because they're looking for the wrong genre going in. If you know it's pure comedy every step of the way then you'll have a great time. I mean! That final boss battle! Impossible to miss that every single brick in the foundation of Duklyon is to be as ridiculous as possible, and it reaches it's natural crescendo here.

[Vivian Lu · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first volume was campy and not terrible. However, this second volume takes ridiculous to a whole new level. We have aliens, a secret fiancee, and the main characters are now sidelined for a weird romance plotline. Furthermore, the ending epilogue was so lame. I didn't like it. I was expecting it to be somewhat fun, but I was just confused and the resolutions were not good. 1.5/5.

[Space Panda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Power Rangers' type of superhero in a school. Funny, not serius, hilarious humour. With classic melodrama of 90's classic anime. Just good trash like I need now with my brain in zero. We see characters of" Man of Many Faces", they've got to the same school. Nice touch!

[Makosita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me quede con muchas dudas del Universo CLAMP :( pero lo ame igual.

[Bradley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slightly better than the first volume. Not by much. =(

[kerrycat · Rating 4 out of 5]

and again, I laughed so much that I'm still crying.

but I was absolutely shocked to find them watching X in the school movie theater. WHAT??

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. Not my favorite series, and I don't think I've seen the characters pop-up anywhere else.

[Vera City · Rating 2 out of 5]

Muy descabellado y gracioso

[Lyrica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Absolutely balls-to-the-wall wacky, but definitely a good time.

[Aisyah Yasmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

vol 2 did the justice for the ‘cringeworthy’ in vol 1, walopun ketebak ceritanya but it was a fun and light read

[Taylor Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5⭐️

I had a lot more fun with this series than I expected. It’s so camp, I love it.

[Lissibith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love triangles, giant monsters and familial problems, oh my!

A nice thing about this manga is it does not overstay its welcome. There's not a lot here to hang a plot on - it's mostly tied together by a string of genre tropes and comedy pratfalls. The focus has slipped off our well-meaning but fairly unremarkable heroes and onto the love travails of their leader, Eri, as she becomes a part of an intergalactic love triangle. Will love conquer all? Will Duklyon prevail?

Of course they will, don't you know anything about this genre? :) But it's still a lot of fun if fun is all you're looking for is fun.

[Jocilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clamp School Detectives Duklyon volume 2 is a fitting conclusionary arc for our dynam--

So apparently the story stopped actually being about the Duklyon pair (who are ever more flamboyantly gay and/or extremely cute together), and switched to the quite literally star-crossed lovers Eri and Sukibayashi. The plot progresses in an extremely predictable but nevertheless hilarious way. Will these arch nemesis-turned-lovers finally reveal their secret identities to each other? Will the Imonoyama Shoutengai Kai finally conquer Clamp School Cafeteria? Rather than consult your Magic 8 Ball, you should read Clamp School Defenders Duklyon volume 2 and uncover the truth for yourself!

[Cris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Simple, with a repetitive structure and loveable but dumb characters. The plot is very typical and with a predictable ending. It has nothing special: science fiction, school, romance and absurd comedy. Anyway, I liked the love-hate relationship between Kentaro and Takeshi (because I always enjoy this kind of relationships between men, so I think this is a positive point for me).

To sum up: that's not a CLAMP's marsterpiece as, for example, Chobits. In my opinion, this is just a short manga to spend the time. Nothing more.

[Meli Agüero · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5/5 estrellas.
Emmm estuvo ok. Pero creo que desperdiciaron una idea y unos personajes con ésta trama de "triángulo amoroso" y con un villano que realmente no era villano .-. El problema se resolvió muuuy fácil.
De todas maneras me entretuvo.

[Alejandra RL · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lo más destacable de esta serie:
-Erii Chusounji
-Las bromas leves de corte shonen ai
- El crossover con CLAMP School Detectives
-El cameo de X

Si son fanáticos de CLAMP considero que esta es una obra indispensable, pero si no lo son entonces creo que no se pierden de mucho.

[Teeny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stupid, but cute. A CLAMP classic

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This continued to be just mindless fun. Sometimes you need something like that. Luckily CLAMP also knew when to stop, because the formula would probably have become very repetitive after more than two volumes.

Sure, the stories and jokes were all the same (Ellie is super strong, Higashikunemaru wants to become "Take-Pon's" wife, no one can see through their disguises, the demons are cute and funny, the boss just pops up on screens out of nowhere, meta jokes about CLAMP), but they were still charming till the end.