In the Country of Ôto, Syaoran fought his former mentor, Seishirô, and lost badly. Now Seishirô is back, and this time Syaoran is determined not to allow him to escape with Sakura’s feather. Many things have changed since their first battle, but is Syaoran now strong enough to withstand Seishirô’s vampire-killing skills?
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.
"Reason itself is beginning to crumble." Just now, Princess Tomoyo?
soooo many payments . . .
(reread 2019) this is still one of the most difficult volumes to get through. don't vanish, don't vanish. "you are more similar to me than anyone else." I don't know who it was who came up with the idea that Watanuki is Syaoran's Nobody (Kingdom Hearts) but this is it, right here.
Clamp's art is gorgeous! Detailed and clean, flowery and beautiful... Just look at the cover! This volume was a bit relief, because they arrived at Kurogane's country, met Tomoyo -hime and made peace with each other. But the ending! Finally Shaoran&Shaoran battle begins!
Not bad, but it's getting confusing. I do plan to read xxx holic soon, so hopefully that will explain alot of my confusion away. The art is great, and there are some great action scenes here as well. I love how the characters are growing and changing, and the final showdown at the end of this volume-!!! Although, it does seam kinda forced because Syaorian woukd give Sakura her feather, same as the image, so the fight makes little sense. Also, not a big fan of Sakura being largely absent, but the other characters help make up for it. So close to being done!
Capitulos 167-173 * RESUMEN EXPRESS CON SPOILER* - Llegan al país de Nihon el mundo al que pertenece Kurogane. Y Tomoyo le explica a Kurogane el precio que tenía que dar para salvarle la vida a Fye, que resulta ser su brazo que en ese momento tenía el mismo poder mágico que Fye. - Mientras Kurogane está inconsciente, Fye hizo un trato con Yuuko que consistía en que el le entregaba lo que quedaba de su magia si ella le conseguía un brazo a Kurogane. - Seichirou llega al mundo de Nihon y entra en una lucha contra Syaoran, para que el grupo obtenga la pluma de Sakura que está en posesión de Seichirou. - Se revela que antes de viajar a Celes Fye hizo un trato con Yuuko para que después del viaje a su país llegarán a un lugar seguro la mitad del pago la hizo Tomoyo que entrego el poder de yumemi que tenía. - se revela que el deseo deFei Wang Reed es el de desmoronar la lógica y la secuencia de eventos. - Syaoran obtiene la pluma de Sakura, pero esa pluma como venía del país de edonis lo transporto al mundo de los sueños y allí como tiene la pluma de Sakura se encuentra con ella y con el Syaoran clon.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 2013: 4 Stars Not the best volume, but still interesting. It was nice to see some humour again, too ^_^ Yûko-san's business must be flourishing, what with all these expensive wishes and trades lately! Yeesh! Spoilers: Before I'd even cracked open this volume, I wondered: "Hmm, I wonder if they'll arrive in Kurogane's Japan, soon. Will he keep travelling with them if they do? The whole point of his joining them was to eventually get back home, after all." Well behold! The volume begins with Kurogane and the gang who have arrived safely in his Japan. Am I psychic, or what? (When I shared my eerie ponderings with my brother, he told me I must be a seer, like Princess Tomoyo. Ha!) I'm glad Kurogane has his arm back too, in a way. I was so worried about him!
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.
Kurogane se despierta herido en el reino de Japón, su ciudad natal. Al fin el grupo de aventureros consiguen una pausa para poder recuperarse de las heridas, tanto físicas como emocionales, aunque no deben dormirse en los laureles ya que todo avanza con rapidez y deben conseguir una buena estrategia para vencer al hechicero. Descubren que personas conocidas para ellos estaban involucradas para ayudar y, aunque algunas en un principio dieron problemas, finalmente están aportando su grano de arena para que puedan seguir adelante y parar los planes del enemigo. El cuerpo de Sakura está a salvo y su alma está en el mundo de los sueños. ¿Serán capaces de recuperar a su amiga y conseguir adelantarse a su gran contrincante? Si el hechicero consigue lo que quiere todos los sacrificios y la lucha habrán sido en balde.
Kurogane wakes up back in his home country, with princess Tomoyo next to his sickbed. It seems the group made it through, despite the trap laid for them. But what has happened to Princess Sakura?
Now I can finally react to the ending of the last volume, because That is some commitment! Despite how dark things have gotten, to a certain degree, it's clear this group cares about each other - which helps me deal with the more and more convoluted plot.
"Siempre quise fuerza para que no me arrebataran a las personas importantes para mí. Pero tener fuerza significa que el desastre estará cerca de ti… y a veces, la fuerza por sí sola no puede protegerte."
Poco a poco hemos visto cómo todos han ido creciendo y evolucionando en mejores personajes. Todos y cada uno de ellos ha intentado huir de su destino y sea coincidencia o no, lo cierto es que el destino quería que se conocieran y que viajaran a través de diversos mundos para recuperar lo que era importante para ellos.
La fuerza y el amor tienen diferentes formas y este volumen es un claro ejemplo de que proteger a la persona que quieres involucra sacrificarse a sí mismo; e inclusive una vida entera puede no ser suficiente.
Algunos deseos se convierten en maldición y en este caso, Syaoran es quien ha decidido dejarse el cuerpo y alma con tal de recuperar las plumas de Sakura. Ha luchado contra incontables enemigos, y sea como sea, no permitirá que Fei Wong se salga con la suya.
As much as the action sequences in this volume were beautifully illustrated, I felt like the story didn't actually start progressing towards the climax of the series until the very end. I guess Clamp is going for the long and drawn out finale, but if we've already read Xxxholic we kind of know what's coming. At least we're set up to see the final Syaoran vs. Syaoran battle in the next collection...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Fai's World crumbled because Karogane was the one to kill his majesty, triggering Fai's last curse. Fai had just enough magic to allow Syaoran and Sakura to escape the trap, Karogane sacrifices his magic arm as even trade to pull Fai free. Wow! So many twists in just a few moments. They go back in Karogane's world through Tomoyo's wish. Definitely feeling the chemistry between her and Karogane. Fighting the vampire hunter then Syaoran goes to dream world to find Sakura and to fight copy Syaoran. What a crazy amount of action and events in one book!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The genuine Fai smiles are worth the amount of money I had to pay to acquire this book after so many years. The Kurogane and Fai interactions, seeing things start to get resolved, or turn towards a final resolution, the number of characters willing to sacrifice so much for the others... I love this series so much.
Setelah bertarung dengan Seishirou dan mendapatkan sayap yang bisa membuat fiksi jadi realitas, Syaorang berhasil masuk ke dunia mimpi untuk bertemu dengan jiwa Sakura dan bertarung dengan kloningan dirinya.
(Aviso: lectura hecha en ejemplar en español, publicado en México por otra editorial. La presente nota se modificará cuando se dé de alta en GR la edición correspondiente).
Después de lo intenso del tomo anterior y con ese final sumamente genial, nuestros protagonistas por fin tienen un respiro para descansar y reponerse. Y no es en otro lugar que en el Japón de Kurogane, en el que finalmente se reencuentra con Tomoyo.
En serio, Kurogane siempre me ha parecido un personaje de lo más genial pero después de lo que ha hecho por Fye, a mi parecer pasa a otro nivel de genialidad. Ha madurado mucho conforme ha avanzado en la historia y la conversación que tiene con Tomoyo es un claro ejemplo de ello. Las cosas con Fye vuelven a la normalidad, es un gusto que esto sea así, puesto que ellos dos tienen una de las dinámicas que más disfruto y de igual manera Fye también ha tenido un gran crecimiento después de todo lo acontecido en Celes.
A partir de este tomo la historia con Holic se empieza a relacionar más y para entender de una manera más clara todo lo que sucede es aconsejable leer sobre Watanuki desde el tomo doce, ya que hay un gran número de acontecimientos interesantes que vale mucho la pena conocer. Sin duda hay una relación significativa entre el Syaoran verdadero y Watanuki, pero como siempre este tipo de información no se nos proporcionará de momento. De igual manera hay aspectos de Syaoran que se van mencionando que solamente incrementan la curiosidad y la impaciencia por saber más acerca de él.
Mientras tanto Yuko nos da una pequeña explicación acerca de lo último acontecido en Celes así como de algunos detalles generales de lo que está sucediendo, lo cual como siempre es de agradecer.
En cuanto al cuerpo de Sakura, éste se encuentra descansando en un árbol de cerezos que le permite ir recuperando su vitalidad de poco en poco mientras carece de alma.
Las cosas no podían estar del todo tranquilas y un personaje ya conocido por ellos se encuentra también de invitado en el castillo de Japón, pero es alguien que trae un regalo inesperado. Aunque me imaginaba que ciertas cosas no podían solamente quedarse así como así, para nada esperaba que sucedieran de esta manera y menos el pago por este particular regalo. Y cuando todo parecía indicar que después de ver a este invitado todo regresaría a la calma, entra en escena otro personaje igual de conocido pero que a diferencia del primero, no pretende que las cosas estén del todo tranquilas y aunque después de una breve conversación pretende continuar su viaje, Syaoran no lo dejará ir tan fácilmente puesto que posee algo importante y por consiguiente para obtenerlo tendrá que pelear con él.
En tanto que la batalla empieza su curso, Tomoyo y Fye tendrán una conversación muy interesante, que nos viene a servir para entender un poco más las razones de lo que hizo Sakura y donde finalmente descubriremos cual es el deseo de Fei Wong… la razón detrás de todo lo que ha estado haciendo para conseguirlo. Tenía una remota idea de lo que podía ser pero ahora falta saber un detalle complementario, puesto que nos lo dicen de manera general pero sin entrar en muchos detalles. Mencionaré que durante esta conversación incluyen una pequeña parte del momento en el que nuestros protagonistas llegan a Japón, en donde podemos ver un aspecto de Fye que en lo personal me ha fascinado y conmovido de sobre manera.
Regresando con la batalla de Syaoran, como es más que obvio toma un giro inesperado…como todo lo que sucede en esta historia pero que en ningún momento deja de impresionarme… todas las piezas que han ido sucediendo en su estancia en Japón empiezan a encajar y dan pie para que la siguiente aventura comience en el Mundo de los sueños, donde para ello Syaoran se separará de los demás temporalmente y donde por lo visto tendrá las cosas algo complicadas para recuperar el alma de Sakura. Un momento que he esperado a que llegue y después de ese final, sin duda el siguiente tomo estará lleno de mucha acción.
The travelers are in Kurogane's native country/world/dimension, the country of Japan in feudal Japan. We also see a dream between Syaoran and Watanuki (from xxxHolic). Fuma visits with a prosthetic arm for Kurogane. We also learn Fai and Tomo gave us their magic as a price for guaranteeing their next country after Seresu would be Tokyo (though Tomo was specific and Fai's condition was a safe country where they can be treated).
Seishiro also unexpectedly drops by, attracted by Fai's vampire blood, which leads to a battle with original-Syaoran and Seishiro. We also learn that Fai-Weng's wish is the same like Fai -- to bring someone back from the dead. In the end, Syaoran wins the feather from Seishiro, and grasping this feather leads him, alone, to the world of Dreams where Sakura is. Unfortunately the image-Syaoran who is rather soulless and evil also comes in, intent on taking that feather back. (Which is kind of one-tracked and evil and nonsensical since the original-Syaoran would obviously give it back to Sakura.)
So this volume ends with the two Syaoran's facing off.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
El desenlace está tan cerca que casi puedo saborearlo.
Y está más o menos genial (conste, lo pongo en el nivel de "genial" y no solo de "bien"); está bueno pero no se puede comparar a l mar de las revelaciones de los volúmenes 15 como a 18.
En mi opinión la forma de acabar con los planes de Fei es irle quitando a todo mundo la capacidad de viajar entre dimensiones y ver el futuro. No es spoiler porque no está en la historia, es mi idea e igual y no es así.
/////////
pues nada hahahaha creo que quedó mejor la historia a cómo lo pensé, a la vez todo esto ya ni lo recuerdo, es que son tantos giros, tramas, sagas, personajes que a la vez son los que ya conoces y ahora todo mundo le pide deseos a Yuko pero a la vez es ella la que está conectando todo mientras Wata se deshace, y total que los personajes... está cañón todo lo que han ido perdiendo, las partes, las emociones y los traumas.
En este volumen quiero entender que Seishirou ya sabia el desmadre ilógico que Fei Wang había montado y por eso ya sabia quien es "el padre" de Shaoran? Parece tambien como si desde el principio solo hubiera estado dispuesto a entregarle la pluma a "El original" y por eso al otro no se lo dio. Yo tampoco nunca entendí por que Ashura se volvió loco, podría ser un buen motivo que intento de todo para que Fye acabase con el pero aun así... supongo que como dice Tomoyo toda lógica se acabo. Tambien incluso me planteo la teoría de que Fei Wang incluso replico a Yuui y a Fye y por eso fueron gemelos... Tambien siento que en este punto Shaoran ya sabia quien era su papá... o ya deberia haberlo deducido pero bueno...
I know that this series is mostly about Syaoran (Shaolan) and Sakura, but my favorite part is the storyline of Fai (Fye) and Kurogane. Their relationship can be viewed as a very, VERY close friendship or something more which is perfect. I'm fascinated by all the changes that the characters went through, especially Fai - who's now a full-fledged vampire with no magic - and Kurogane - who now has a mechanical arm. Also, I love the guest appearances of many Clamp characters like Seishiro or Fuma. I'm still slightly confused though, despite reading both xxxHolic and Tsubasa: Who IS Watanuki?
Maybe I was too tired, feeling slightly bluesy, and feeling trapped by the torrential rains when I picked this up to read by candlelight, but I didn't enjoy this volume as much as I had the last few.
After all the darkness in the last volumes, the humor sprinkled throughout this one provided some relief. We have arrived in Kurogane's world. More sacrifices (payments) are made to Yuko-san, but there are some surprise visitors and some gifts.