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翼を持つ者 [Tsubasa o Motsu Mono] #5-6
Tsubasa: Those with Wings, Omnibus 3
Book by Natsuki Takaya
400 pages, Paperback
First published June 7, 2006
2 people are currently reading
216 people want to read
About the author
Natsuki Takaya
150 books2,700 followersName (in native language) : 高屋奈月
Natsuki Takaya (高屋 奈月 Takaya Natsuki, real name Naka Hatake) is the penname of a Japanese manga artist best-known for creating the series Fruits Basket. She was born on July 7, 1973; (Tanabata). Takaya is left-handed and once revealed that she wanted to be a mangaka since first grade, when her sister started drawing.
She was born in Shizuoka, Japan, but was raised in Tokyo, where she made her debut in 1992. She enjoys video games such as the Final Fantasy series or Sakura Wars, or working on her different manga series, such as Fruits Basket, which is the second best-selling shōjo manga ever in Japan, and the top selling shōjo manga in North America. Fruits Basket has also been adapted into a twenty-six-episode anime series.
In 2001, Takaya received a Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo manga for Fruits Basket.
According to Takaya (in a sidebar of a Fruits Basket manga volume), she enjoys drawing girls (girly ones) more than she does boys. Takaya also enjoys electronics and music, but dislikes talking about herself. Also revealed in a sidebar of Fruits Basket, Takaya broke her drawing arm (left) after Fruits Basket volume six was published. She had to go into surgery, and as a result, had put Fruits Basket on a brief hiatus. Takaya made a full recovery, but complains that her handwriting had gotten uglier, due to the surgery. During her hospital stay, she gained an interest in baseball.
Natsuki Takaya (高屋 奈月 Takaya Natsuki, real name Naka Hatake) is the penname of a Japanese manga artist best-known for creating the series Fruits Basket. She was born on July 7, 1973; (Tanabata). Takaya is left-handed and once revealed that she wanted to be a mangaka since first grade, when her sister started drawing.
She was born in Shizuoka, Japan, but was raised in Tokyo, where she made her debut in 1992. She enjoys video games such as the Final Fantasy series or Sakura Wars, or working on her different manga series, such as Fruits Basket, which is the second best-selling shōjo manga ever in Japan, and the top selling shōjo manga in North America. Fruits Basket has also been adapted into a twenty-six-episode anime series.
In 2001, Takaya received a Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo manga for Fruits Basket.
According to Takaya (in a sidebar of a Fruits Basket manga volume), she enjoys drawing girls (girly ones) more than she does boys. Takaya also enjoys electronics and music, but dislikes talking about herself. Also revealed in a sidebar of Fruits Basket, Takaya broke her drawing arm (left) after Fruits Basket volume six was published. She had to go into surgery, and as a result, had put Fruits Basket on a brief hiatus. Takaya made a full recovery, but complains that her handwriting had gotten uglier, due to the surgery. During her hospital stay, she gained an interest in baseball.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 30, 2016
Overall rating: 3.5 stars
If you like post-apocalyptic, romantic, dystopian/sci-fi, and/or supernatural genres, this short little series has it all. I'm very much reminded of CLAMP's Chobits, with the theming of love and artificial intelligence, but also with a hint of Fruits Basket (same author, so that makes sense), with the idea of extreme loneliness can easily grow toxic, but can also be redeemed.
I must say, for someone who was NOT a fan of Fruits Basket (blasphemy, I know, but I can acknowledge its strengths; plus, Tohru and Kyo are the true gems of the story), I really enjoyed Takaya-san's earlier work. Written in three larger volumes (so, technically, a total of six regular sized volumes), it has just enough characterization and plot developments to keep your attention and also not get too confusing. This is a series about the continual flaws of humanity, about the extent which technology is pushed -- and just how many morals are devastated and atrocities are committed for the sake of progress -- and also the pure and impure intensity of one's love for another soul. Every character has a bit of darkness inside of them, but the strong ones -- Kotobuki, Raimon, Riruko, etc -- choose to keep living and fighting on, rather than run away and use others as a scapegoat. The series talks about prejudice, and systematic corruption in the wealth distribution and army's tyrannical control of the masses. It talks about starting over after a painful past, and how important life is over selfish gain.
If I had one complaint of the series, it would be the redemption of the villain. Not that he was redeemed at all, but how quickly it was done and how completely hypocritical it was. The man responsible for the deaths of hundreds of "nameless" orphan children suddenly is following in his sister's footsteps and taking care of them? I CALL BS. It might be a fitting enough end for some people, but for me, it would be him leaving and going on a long journey, before settling down and perhaps providing therapy to other warped souls like himself....
Otherwise, the series definitely left an impression on me. It's idealistic, but not without tragedy or cruelty. It's romantic, but also shows the darker side of love, the cruel mistress known as "possession" or "jealousy." Raimon was the character who made me laugh the most (and yes, his sociopathic mind suddenly cured by his lover's "light" is BS, but it's typical anime BS. And it's a backstory, not an actual plot point...) Kotobuki is undeniably a new favorite heroine, if only as an honorable mention. And watching their love was sweet, albeit a bit dysfunctional, as was watching the rest of the gang grow.
I recommend this to anyone who is a sucker for the genres I listed above. Or anyone who still believes in humanity, no matter how many wars that may come to pass...
If you like post-apocalyptic, romantic, dystopian/sci-fi, and/or supernatural genres, this short little series has it all. I'm very much reminded of CLAMP's Chobits, with the theming of love and artificial intelligence, but also with a hint of Fruits Basket (same author, so that makes sense), with the idea of extreme loneliness can easily grow toxic, but can also be redeemed.
I must say, for someone who was NOT a fan of Fruits Basket (blasphemy, I know, but I can acknowledge its strengths; plus, Tohru and Kyo are the true gems of the story), I really enjoyed Takaya-san's earlier work. Written in three larger volumes (so, technically, a total of six regular sized volumes), it has just enough characterization and plot developments to keep your attention and also not get too confusing. This is a series about the continual flaws of humanity, about the extent which technology is pushed -- and just how many morals are devastated and atrocities are committed for the sake of progress -- and also the pure and impure intensity of one's love for another soul. Every character has a bit of darkness inside of them, but the strong ones -- Kotobuki, Raimon, Riruko, etc -- choose to keep living and fighting on, rather than run away and use others as a scapegoat. The series talks about prejudice, and systematic corruption in the wealth distribution and army's tyrannical control of the masses. It talks about starting over after a painful past, and how important life is over selfish gain.
If I had one complaint of the series, it would be the redemption of the villain. Not that he was redeemed at all, but how quickly it was done and how completely hypocritical it was. The man responsible for the deaths of hundreds of "nameless" orphan children suddenly is following in his sister's footsteps and taking care of them? I CALL BS. It might be a fitting enough end for some people, but for me, it would be him leaving and going on a long journey, before settling down and perhaps providing therapy to other warped souls like himself....
Otherwise, the series definitely left an impression on me. It's idealistic, but not without tragedy or cruelty. It's romantic, but also shows the darker side of love, the cruel mistress known as "possession" or "jealousy." Raimon was the character who made me laugh the most (and yes, his sociopathic mind suddenly cured by his lover's "light" is BS, but it's typical anime BS. And it's a backstory, not an actual plot point...) Kotobuki is undeniably a new favorite heroine, if only as an honorable mention. And watching their love was sweet, albeit a bit dysfunctional, as was watching the rest of the gang grow.
I recommend this to anyone who is a sucker for the genres I listed above. Or anyone who still believes in humanity, no matter how many wars that may come to pass...
April 26, 2021
Warning: don't read this review if you haven't read the earlier volumes and would like to, because I include major spoilers for certain aspects of the series.
Kotobuki and Raimon are still separated, I believe due to the bomb in Raimon's head (if I remember right, it would go off if he went with Kotobuki on her trip to what was left of Japan). Kotobuki has spoken to the last living Japanese person, a neurosurgeon who tells her the true form of the Tsubasa: they were actually genetically engineered bodiless brains. Only two brains were ever successfully created, and one day those brains spontaneously became a boy and a girl, Rikuro and Kayo.
Kayo has been missing for a while, and Rikuro can't function as the Tsubasa without her, but the neurosurgeon should be able to remove the bomb from Raimon's head. Unfortunately, there's one big problem: Raimon has been captured. Colonel Hil Gil plans to use him to awaken Kayo and, with her, the power of the Tsubasa, which he plans to use to grant his own secret wish.
There is a lot crammed into this omnibus volume, and into this series in general. Military experiments, magical brains, post-apocalyptic wastelands, robots, organic computers, holographic people, and unhealthy relationships. And probably other stuff I'm forgetting.
Takaya does manage to wrap everything up, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. There are a couple very obviously unhealthy relationships - characters who "love" someone so much that they'll do anything to keep those people with them, even if it means harming them. Even though these relationships have been festering for a very long time, and the jealous people involved have caused a great deal of harm (many, many deaths), everything is somehow addressed and "fixed" with a few heartfelt speeches and some time spent caring for children at an orphanage. A couple gentle/happy panels at the end, and I guess we're supposed to believe all is well and forgiven. It rubbed me the wrong way.
And Takaya couldn't seem to resist pairing people off. Raimon and Kotobuki wasn't a surprise (even though I'm still not sure that pairing is a good idea), but
The glimpse of Raimon's past, from his childhood up to the time he met Kotobuki, was okay, I guess, but made me doubt even more that pairing them up was a good idea. At one point, Kotobuki said that she'd be sad if Raimon fell for someone else but could live with it as long as he was still alive. I wonder, did the same hold true for Raimon? Because somehow I doubt it. He went from He made her the center of his world and his reason for living. I doubt he'd have been okay with it if she fell in love with someone else.
All in all, this series was...okay. Not something I'd advise anyone to work really hard to track down, unless they were a huge fan of Takaya's and wanted to read everything she'd ever written. Like I said in a past review, it reminded me a lot of CLAMP's Clover, only with a complete story and much less impressive artwork. I didn't really like everything Takaya seemed to be trying to say, which makes me wonder how I'll feel about Fruits Basket, if I ever get around to rereading the earlier volumes and finally finishing the series up.
Extras:
A 4-page bonus manga Takaya created for the reissue of this series - basically just the characters messing around and making a video message for fans. And a 1-page "thank you" from Takaya to her readers.
Rating Note:
I'm going to round up and give it 3 stars here on GR, but on LibraryThing this is getting 2.5, because of the willpower it took to make myself finally finish it, and because I'm unhappy with how quickly and neatly Takaya resolved a few things that should have been more complex.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
Kotobuki and Raimon are still separated, I believe due to the bomb in Raimon's head (if I remember right, it would go off if he went with Kotobuki on her trip to what was left of Japan). Kotobuki has spoken to the last living Japanese person, a neurosurgeon who tells her the true form of the Tsubasa: they were actually genetically engineered bodiless brains. Only two brains were ever successfully created, and one day those brains spontaneously became a boy and a girl, Rikuro and Kayo.
Kayo has been missing for a while, and Rikuro can't function as the Tsubasa without her, but the neurosurgeon should be able to remove the bomb from Raimon's head. Unfortunately, there's one big problem: Raimon has been captured. Colonel Hil Gil plans to use him to awaken Kayo and, with her, the power of the Tsubasa, which he plans to use to grant his own secret wish.
There is a lot crammed into this omnibus volume, and into this series in general. Military experiments, magical brains, post-apocalyptic wastelands, robots, organic computers, holographic people, and unhealthy relationships. And probably other stuff I'm forgetting.
Takaya does manage to wrap everything up, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. There are a couple very obviously unhealthy relationships - characters who "love" someone so much that they'll do anything to keep those people with them, even if it means harming them. Even though these relationships have been festering for a very long time, and the jealous people involved have caused a great deal of harm (many, many deaths), everything is somehow addressed and "fixed" with a few heartfelt speeches and some time spent caring for children at an orphanage. A couple gentle/happy panels at the end, and I guess we're supposed to believe all is well and forgiven. It rubbed me the wrong way.
And Takaya couldn't seem to resist pairing people off. Raimon and Kotobuki wasn't a surprise (even though I'm still not sure that pairing is a good idea), but
The glimpse of Raimon's past, from his childhood up to the time he met Kotobuki, was okay, I guess, but made me doubt even more that pairing them up was a good idea. At one point, Kotobuki said that she'd be sad if Raimon fell for someone else but could live with it as long as he was still alive. I wonder, did the same hold true for Raimon? Because somehow I doubt it. He went from He made her the center of his world and his reason for living. I doubt he'd have been okay with it if she fell in love with someone else.
All in all, this series was...okay. Not something I'd advise anyone to work really hard to track down, unless they were a huge fan of Takaya's and wanted to read everything she'd ever written. Like I said in a past review, it reminded me a lot of CLAMP's Clover, only with a complete story and much less impressive artwork. I didn't really like everything Takaya seemed to be trying to say, which makes me wonder how I'll feel about Fruits Basket, if I ever get around to rereading the earlier volumes and finally finishing the series up.
Extras:
A 4-page bonus manga Takaya created for the reissue of this series - basically just the characters messing around and making a video message for fans. And a 1-page "thank you" from Takaya to her readers.
Rating Note:
I'm going to round up and give it 3 stars here on GR, but on LibraryThing this is getting 2.5, because of the willpower it took to make myself finally finish it, and because I'm unhappy with how quickly and neatly Takaya resolved a few things that should have been more complex.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
December 27, 2024
Concluded my series reread! If I am going to be completely transparent, Natsuki Takaya was the most formative author of my childhood in developing my sense of morality. And she writes shojo manga. And I do a lot of reading. Even still. I’m not kidding. 5 stars for teaching me how to be a good person. And making me cry and laugh out loud. (Although her other series was the one that was especially influential, it’s cool to see her themes and ideas flesh out over time across different series, starting with this one)
June 2, 2012
Keep in mind that this is a first work of Takaya-san, and that it will have plenty of ties to her later work of Fruits Basket. The tone of Tsubasa wanders everywhere in story, character, and visual decisions (not to stay she doesn't have the style, but that there are places where lack of content is filled with a tone). I now view Fruits Basket as a better-told/rendered/developed Tsubasa.
January 14, 2021
I'm a little biased towards this author since she wrote fruits basket, but I have to say this is one of my all time favorite manga since its one of the first ones I ever read, and I actually prefer this manga to fruits basket.
Without giving spoilers, just know this story takes place in a dystopian world and covers themes of humanity and what it means to be human and feel love and pain, but even with such a big plot, the real meat of the story lies with the characters and their developments over time.
Kotobuki and Raimen are one of my favorite romances in shoujo manga, because their development is so natural. Their dynamic is very tropey at first. Kotobuki is very tsundere and doesn't want to admit her feelings for Raimen, and Raimen is very nonchalant and likes to provoke her. This is just surface level stuff that makes for funny banter between them in the first volume, but its really in the second and third volumes that their romance grows and blossoms, and they pretty much leave those tropes behind in favor of a beautiful character development that makes me tear up just thinking about it.
I read this when I was still young and have re-read it only a few times since then, so the 5 stars might be for nostalgia's sake but I don't care, I love this manga to death and I'm going to re-read it just to see if any of my opinions will change. Spoiler: they won't haha.
Without giving spoilers, just know this story takes place in a dystopian world and covers themes of humanity and what it means to be human and feel love and pain, but even with such a big plot, the real meat of the story lies with the characters and their developments over time.
Kotobuki and Raimen are one of my favorite romances in shoujo manga, because their development is so natural. Their dynamic is very tropey at first. Kotobuki is very tsundere and doesn't want to admit her feelings for Raimen, and Raimen is very nonchalant and likes to provoke her. This is just surface level stuff that makes for funny banter between them in the first volume, but its really in the second and third volumes that their romance grows and blossoms, and they pretty much leave those tropes behind in favor of a beautiful character development that makes me tear up just thinking about it.
I read this when I was still young and have re-read it only a few times since then, so the 5 stars might be for nostalgia's sake but I don't care, I love this manga to death and I'm going to re-read it just to see if any of my opinions will change. Spoiler: they won't haha.
February 2, 2022
I have to admit that it took me two attempts to start this series. I read the first couple chapters awhile back and decided to stop and read something else because it bored me. Well, I picked it up again recently and it still kind of bored me! lol but at least I finished it.
The story was okay. There were too many characters and they all looked similar so I was confused for a bit. And the storyline was confusing at times as well.
Honestly, I was disappointed.
If you want to read anything by Natsuki Takaya, please go read Fruits Basket (who hasn’t though???) and Twinkle Stars. Those are her best work!!!!
The story was okay. There were too many characters and they all looked similar so I was confused for a bit. And the storyline was confusing at times as well.
Honestly, I was disappointed.
If you want to read anything by Natsuki Takaya, please go read Fruits Basket (who hasn’t though???) and Twinkle Stars. Those are her best work!!!!
December 5, 2025
Loved this manga. Touching and dramatic yet also cute and funny. So glad i found it and was able to read it
April 13, 2014
the romance struggle is real i tell you
like i sympathize with shoka, i mean have people not been listening to her this manga? she wants power, prestige, boys, and booze, if she's only gonna get the one then he'd better put some effort into making it worth her while
honestly, the girls in this manga are the only real go getters, their boyfriends could stand to take a lesson
well i mean hil went and got things but also he's the worst and should have been put on trial. the fact that he wasn't is a travesty of justice! i believe in mercy but like really? really? he's not even going to pay a little bit for murdering dozens of people?
brother, injustice like that is how wars gets started
uhh idk guys this volume was kinda dull, mostly i just spent it rooting for shoka
i like a girl who keeps on trucking
in her honour i will give this book: 2.5 stars
like i sympathize with shoka, i mean have people not been listening to her this manga? she wants power, prestige, boys, and booze, if she's only gonna get the one then he'd better put some effort into making it worth her while
honestly, the girls in this manga are the only real go getters, their boyfriends could stand to take a lesson
well i mean hil went and got things but also he's the worst and should have been put on trial. the fact that he wasn't is a travesty of justice! i believe in mercy but like really? really? he's not even going to pay a little bit for murdering dozens of people?
brother, injustice like that is how wars gets started
uhh idk guys this volume was kinda dull, mostly i just spent it rooting for shoka
i like a girl who keeps on trucking
in her honour i will give this book: 2.5 stars
December 30, 2020
Tsubasa: Those with Wings volume 3 is the strongest volume thus far. As I’ve said before Takaya is very good at finishing a story, you can tell that she plans out her characters’ development and plot points very well. This had a pretty epic conclusion, and if you’ve made it this far, I definitely think it’s worth reading. Many of the themes in this story are better developed in Takaya’s later work Fruits Basket, but it’s fun reading her first pass at some of these ideas.
I think the ending to this series is satisfying however unlikely it may be. There is a lot of build-up in a short amount of time and the climax of the story is a big bang. Overall I enjoyed this work because I’ve been analyzing Takaya’s entire body of work. If I were to rate Tsubasa on its own, however, my rating would probably be lower.
I think the ending to this series is satisfying however unlikely it may be. There is a lot of build-up in a short amount of time and the climax of the story is a big bang. Overall I enjoyed this work because I’ve been analyzing Takaya’s entire body of work. If I were to rate Tsubasa on its own, however, my rating would probably be lower.
September 28, 2013
I had volume 1 for a while and just received volume 2 and 3. It was a big let down....not much else to say. I was really dissatisfied with the ending. This awesome story began and built and built. Once I hit the "climax" of the story, it flopped for me and by then I was kind of done with the story. In fact, I almost missed the climax of the story in its entirety because by that point I was glossing over it. Me and my vindictive self was really unhappy about the whole Hil incident, even though I understand what Natsuki Takaya was trying to portray. Someone on a fansub manga board said that the story started as a fantasy and ended up being more science fiction. I feel a little gypped about that as well.
January 5, 2015
I love Takaya's work, and this may not be her greatest one, but I still found myself enjoying this last volume more than I did the first two, mostly because I felt like the real "meat" of the series was all concentrated in this third installment. The plot hit its climax and resolution, the mysterious characters were explained, and the loose ends were tied off. Overall, the series was decent, but I'm glad Takaya hit her stride in the last chapters and managed to deliver a good--possibly great--ending.
November 10, 2016
WELL. All the epic stuff got saved for this volume apparently! What a ride. I still think that the character stuff wasn't as good as it could have been (the very ending feeling rushed didn't help) and that its ideas about love and loneliness were explored more effectively in Fruits Basket. Also the themes about class was kinda still there by the end but ehhh. But overall I enjoyed this series more than I expected to.
November 14, 2009
The last of three double volumes in this early series by Fruits Basket creator Takaya Natsuki! I found that I had a hard time remembering at first what happened in the previous volumes, but it all came back soon enough, and this volume was quite good in and of itself. Still can't believe how much Takaya's artwork has evolved over the years.
January 30, 2011
This was a rather good series. Since each volume is 400 pages, it's really like a 6 volume set. I liked the future/dystopian vibe and the romance undertones.
Also, I've noticed a theme of manga that features male characters intent on having the leading female: the girl ends up saving the guy. Poetic, in a way.
Also, I've noticed a theme of manga that features male characters intent on having the leading female: the girl ends up saving the guy. Poetic, in a way.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 19, 2014
I absolutely love this!! Not as good as fruits basket, but still amazing! I love how she ended it! All her endings are just perfect...
October 16, 2011
Kotobuki is searching for the legendary Tsubasa, but what will happen when she meets Colonel Hil and knows about his plan? Will she be successful in getting the bomb out of Raimon's head?
March 9, 2011
Real killer shock.It was completely intense.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews