#tokyo babylon volume 7 spoilers

[b-else-writes]

The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 8: Legend of Chunhyang

Part 1 (RG Veda) | Part 2 (Man of Many Faces) | Part 3 (Tokyo Babylon) | Part 4 (Duklyon) | Part 5 (Clamp Detectives)| Part 6 (Shirahime)| Part 7 (X)| Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)

The RG Veda historical epic that never was, or better off cancelled? While X is widely cited as CLAMP's first unfinished work, there is actually another 1992 stillborn CLAMP work, before we can finally move onto 1993 in the CLAMP timeline. To be a broken record, I had no idea this existed! It’s unsurprising: only 3 chapters were ever published (plus 1 drama CD), before the magazine folded and CLAMP decided to cancel the project (yeah yeah they said they’d love to finish it. They’re liars).

Unlike many of their other discontinued early works, this one actually got a tankoban release, and Tokyopop did the now out-of-print English translation in a single volume with no extra art. Plus, I was hesitant about approaching a work of Korean folklore written by 4 Japanese women, given the history, and my fears were not unfounded. So I’m content that I put off getting the physical release for my collection. Spoilers (?) ahead.

Synopsis: In Ancient Korea, a brave young maiden called Chunhyang, opposes the injustices of the corrupt governing Yangbans. When her mother, a magic-wielding mudang, is kidnapped by their town's Yangban, Chunhyang is aided by the lecherous Mongryong, the Amhaeng’eosa, a secret government agent. Together, the two set off on adventure that will take them across Korea to liberate towns and discover the truth of Chunhyang's father.

The Story: I wrote all of that out, but the reality is what actually exists of Legend of Chunhyang is two chapters and a flashback. It's very hard to judge a story that hasn't settled in or moved further than the set up for the adventure. What we got is entertaining enough - chapter 1 is the inciting incident where Chunhyang’s mother dies and she teams up with Mongryong, 2 has them liberate a mystical flower village with the help of a rain god and twin mudang, and 3 is a flashback that reveals Chunhyang’s dead father was important and killed for defying the Yangban. It’s very Robin Hood, and moves at a good pace despite being pretty standard YA fantasy. Speaking of, I don’t think CLAMP realises most Korean towns back then would have been agricultural. Why does Chunhyang live in a huge villa doing nothing all day? I want my peasant hero, not a disgruntled pseudo noble.

The skeleton for the entire story is pretty obvious (bring revolution to Korea) and I’d definitely be curious to see more of it. But I’m also not sad we got nothing more. It’s a pleasant afternoon distraction.

The Themes: Don’t be a bully and tyrannical governments are bad and must be resisted - as long as they’re Korean (side-eyes that Rising Sun flag in CLAMP Campus Detectives. Ah, Japanese nationalism). It’s 3 chapters, that’s all I can glean.

The Characters: Chunhyang fits heavily into the CLAMP stock heroine: young, spunky, strong, pure-hearted, and athletic, shojo ingenue. Still, while she’s nothing new, I enjoyed Chunhyang. CLAMP has the formula for the fun, palatable heroine we love to see win, and I’m hardly immune. Mongryong was more bland to me, falling hard into that 90s era shojo hero who gets comically beaten up by his love interest, but always suavely swoops in to save her. It’s nostalgic, he’s hot, but that’s it. Maybe with time they would have defined themselves like RG Veda’s cast did (also archetypes), but there’s just so little!

The crumbs of minor characters are equally stock - one dimensional cackling villains, and pure beyond belief good guys. Mongryong’s tiger spirit was my favourite because I love all cats. It’s really the charm of Chunhyang that carries us above - she’s a good balance of fierce and endearing.

The Art: Legend of Chunhyang is interesting in that chapter 1 was brush inked due to their experience on Shirahime, but the remaining art was done with marker pen. The result is chapter 1 feels a bit unpolished, with backgrounds being mostly chunky blobs and quick lines in a way I found distracting. 2 and 3 work much better, with thick swirls of soft magic and flowers, giving Chunhyang a slight distinction from their other early 90s work. The panel work is quite conservative unlike RG Veda, very rarely having dynamic spreads, but satisfactory and readable. Chapter 2 is a standout of circling dragons and flowers. Everyone is gorgeously dressed and pretty. It’s not the best of CLAMP, but it’s nice and elevates the material.

Questionable Elements: While certain CLAMP podcasts have praised CLAMP for essentially rewriting the folktale to make Chunhyang more active - why would you even choose to adapt that Korean folklore then, if your intention is to make a generic Robin Hood sword and fantasy series that has zero to do with the original culture? You could just set it in feudal Japan! It feels very distasteful to deliberately choose Korea as a setting of barbaric unending tyranny that needs correcting. Especially given Japan’s history in “modernising” Korea.

On top of that, there’s a clear lack of research done - a lot of the outfits and hair accessories are inaccurate. Chunhyang’s mother’s decision to kill herself than risk dishonour is also incredibly Japanese (and notably doesn’t exist in the original). I have to cry foul because if you’re going to actually set this in a real ancient Korea, you should do your research. I’m not saying CLAMP are anti-Korean but they show a disappointing lack of care and bias.

Also. How old is Mongryong if Chunhyang is 14. Answer quickly, CLAMP.

Overall: Listen, RG Veda 2.0 this is not. Rather than an imaginative, fantastical, sweeping epic, Legend of Chunhyang is built on very familiar tropes and stock characters with a dose of cultural insensitivity and bias. It doesn’t even have a proper narrative arc, existing more as a “what if” than an almost masterpiece. It’s alleviated by the sheer charm of Chunhyang herself, its brisk, entertaining pace, and the enjoyable art. But it’s no great literary tragedy that it was never finished, and I’d really only recommend it to diehard CLAMP fans who want a quick, pleasant escape on a fantasy adventure.

[13eyond13]

THE MANGA REC LIST

in order of date released (and with the number of volumes listed on Wikipedia in brackets... I will keep this list updated with my progress through the volumes):

1967 Cat-Eyed Boy (3) / [progress: 3/3 read] {★★★½}

1968 Ashita no Joe (20) / [progress: 1/20 read]

1970 Lone Wolf and Cub (45)

1972 The Rose of Versailles (14)

1972 Devilman (5) / [progress: 5/5 read] {★★★½}

1974 The Heart of Thomas (3) / [dnf]

1974 Dear Brother (3) / [dnf]

1976 Glass Mask (49)

1981 Touch (26)

1982 Akira (6)

1982 Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (7)

1984 Dragon Ball Z (42)

1985 Banana Fish (19)

1987 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (132) / [dnf]

1989 Berserk (42) / [progress: 42/42 read] {★★★★★}

1990 Tokyo Babylon (7)

1990 Slam Dunk (31)

1990 Crows (26)

1991 Sailor Moon (18) / [progress: 1/18 read]

1992 X (18)

1992 Boys Over Flowers (37)

1994 Monster (18) / [progress: 9/18 read]

1994 Neon Genesis Evangelion (14) / [progress: 14/14 read] {★★★★}

1996 Card Captor Sakura (12)

1996 Yu-Gi-Oh! (38) / [dnf]

1996 Inuyasha (56)

1996 Revolutionary Girl Utena (7) / [dnf]

1997 Haru wo Daiteita (14) / [dnf]

1997 Hellsing (8)

1997 One Piece (107)

1997 Trigun (14)

1998 Hunter x Hunter (37) / [progress: 3/37 read]

1998 Fruits Basket (23) / [dnf]

1998 Uzumaki (3)

1998 Forest of Piano (26)

1999 Naruto (72) / [progress: 6/72 read]

1999 20th Century Boys (22)

2000 Dorohedoro (23)

2000 Nana (21) / [progress: 21/21 read] {★★★★½}

2000 Chobits (8) / [progress: 2/8 read]

2001 Worst (33)

2001 Fullmetal Alchemist (27)

2001 Claymore (27)

2002 Skip Beat! (49)

2002 Ouran High School Host Club (18) / [dnf]

2003 Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (28)

2003 Death Note (12) / [progress: 12/12 read] {★★★★★}

2003 Gintama (77)

2003 xxxHolic (23) / [progress: 1/23 read]

2003 Wolf's Rain (2)

2004 Vampire Knight (19)

2004 Soul Eater (25)

2006 Black Butler (33)

2006 Pandora Hearts (24)

2006 Code Geass (8)

2007 Totally Captivated (6)

2007 The Breaker* (10)

2007 Noblesse* (25)

2007 Goodnight Punpun (13) / [progress: 2/13 read]

2008 Bokura no Kiseki (29)

2009 Attack on Titan (34) / [progress: 4/34 read]

2009 Durarara! (18)

2009 One Punch Man (28) / [progress: 1/28 read]

2010 Cheese in the Trap* (webtoon)

2010 Tower of God* (13)

2011 Puella Magi Madoka Magica (3)

2011 Tiger & Bunny (9)

2011 Orange Marmalade* (webtoon)

2011 Tokyo Ghoul (14) / [dnf]

2011 Girls of the Wild's* (webtoon)

2011 Hero Union BBS (1)

2012 Made in Abyss (12)

2012 Houseki no Kuni (12)

2012 Erased (12)

2012 Mob Psycho 100 (16)

2012 Assassination Classroom (21) / [dnf]

2013 The Gamer* (6)

2013 A Silent Voice (7)

2014 Golden Kamuy (31)

2014 Dungeon Meshi / [progress: 5/12 read]

2015 My Next Life as a Villainess (9)

2016 The Promised Neverland (20)

2016 Demon Slayer (23)

2016 Moriarty the Patriot (19) / [dnf]

2016 Beastars (22) / [progress: 22/22 read] {★★★★}

2017 Blue Period (14) / [progress: 1/14 read]

2017 No Longer Human (3) / [progress: 3/3 read] {★★★½}

2018 Chainsaw Man (15) / [progress: 12/15 read]

2019 Cheating Men Must Die** (18)

2019 Vampeerz (9) / [dnf]

2020 A Stepmother's Marchen* (webtoon)

2020 Death is the Only Ending for the Villainess* (webtoon)

2022 Gokurakugai (2) / [progress: 1/2 read]

2023 The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy At All (1)

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*manhwa // **manhua

Check out my sorting hashtag #13readsmanga to see my liveblogging of the series I'm currently reading (but beware of potential spoilers in there!)

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Check out the notes of THIS POST [X] for my spoiler-free reviews of the series I newly finish

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And check out THIS POST [X] if you want a short explanation of why I dnf'd one of the series on the list

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last updated 2024/Sept/22

So for my book reading goal next year I think I'm going to attempt to read a lot of iconic/classic/influential manga series everybody should know, and I'd love to get your recommendations if you have them! Pls comment them here, even the really obvious ones, chances are I probs have not read it yet

[tsugarubecker]

me, reading Tokyo Babylon volume 7: wow, I knew volume 7 was fucked up but I forgot that Seishirou is legitimately a psychopath. Like textbook definition. He’s really out here like (major spoilers!) “I gave myself a year to see if I could feel any differently towards you than I feel towards this dead body but alas, I feel nothing” like? Jesus christ dude go to therapy

[volfoss]

my big clamp ranking list (part 1)

S- Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, X/1999, xxxholic, Tokyo babylon, Cardcaptor Sakura clear card, Chobits, xxxholic Rei

A- Tsubasa World Chronicle, Cardcaptor Sakura, Clamp School Defenders, Shirahime-Syo, Magic Knight Rayearth 1 and 2, Drug and Drop, Derayd

B- Legal Drug, Gate 7, Clamp School Detectives, The One I Love

C- RG Veda, Man of Many Faces, Legend of Chun Hyang, Wish, Angelic Layer, Kobato

D- Clover, Miyuki-chan in Wonderland, Suki

As for best in each category:

Art was easily the best in X/1999, it was so visually stunning!

Best and most frustrating sequel definitely goes to xxxholic Rei.

Best plot is a tie between TRC and xxxholic!

Best ending without a doubt goes to Tokyo Babylon!

The one I'd recommend is xxxholic and TRC although all the ones on the S tier are very good!

And now for my extended (so extended that I discovered Tumblr's length of a post limit) thoughts under the cut:

Series this part goes over:

Clover

Legal Drug

Tokyo Babylon

X/1999

Gate 7

xxxholic

xxxholic rei

Cardcaptor Sakura

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle

Tsubasa World Chronicle

Man of Many Faces

RG Veda

Clamp School Detectives

Clamp School Defenders

Shirahime-Syo:Snow Goddess Tales:

Legend of Chun Hyang

Magic Knight Rayearth 1 and 2

Wish

Miyuki-chan in Wonderland

Suki

Angelic Layer

Chobits

Kobato

Drug and Drop

I tried to keep this as spoiler free as possible since my main goal is getting new people into these series or finding ones they might not have read before

Clover:

TLDR: There's powerful people known as Clovers, and the government is trying to hunt them down, and the group of protagonists is trying to protect one.

Plot: The plot is somewhat confusing with the time skipping around a lot but it's intriguing at the same time, maybe a 4/10. There just simply wasn't enough time really to flesh things out as well as they probably could have been if it was finished and it's (for me) one of the most underwhelming of their unfinished works.

Characters: The characters are given a bit of development but not a lot with it being only 4 very thin volumes long, but they're entertaining enough to keep my attention 5/10

Art: The art for this is probably my favorite part, there's a lot of the drastic shading that Clamp does a lot in their later works, and the faces and clothing are lovely. The level of detail given to the mechanical bits and things along those lines is immaculate. The formatting is so different than their other mangas that it really stands out visually as well! 8/10

Ending: it was ended early due to the magazine that it ran in being shut down, but with that in mind, the ending is honestly a mild cliffhanger, nowhere near as bad as stuff like Bus Gamer (which is the work with the worst ending that I’ve ever read). 3/10

Other things: I really enjoyed how the song was woven throughout the story but I think overall, I would pretty much only use this to look at the art, the plot isn't anything special with the fact that it was so short and didn't really have time to develop better. I read the tokyopop translation so it might be different in the new omnibus/fan translations.

Overall: Personally would not recommend this to anyone unless you want pretty art and a mildly confusing futuristic story without a lot of the necessary world building that it could have used, probably a 4/10

Legal Drug:

TLDR: Two guys working at a drug store are sent out by their boss and his partner to solve cases in exchange for extra money on the side.

Plot: The plot didn't do anything really new for me, it felt like how xxxholic does the whole 2 dudes forced to go on jobs by the employer but it's a drug store although the drug store element rarely comes in. There's something oddly charming about it, in its own way. The plot is very like early xxxholic with going through cases slowly but there isn’t a lot of the underlying plot threads that make rereading xxxholic so good each time. Probably a 6/10, I'd return back to this to reread sometime and something about the plot captured my interest in a "I want to fix this" way.

Characters: Characters are probably where I have the biggest gripe with this. The main couple is the most stereotypical bottom and top, with one of them being very, “oh I'm helpless and shy and get really flustered easily”, and the other being very teasing and kinda stoic? It feels like a mashup of the other couples CLAMP has made. However, the background couple consisting of the store owner and his partner is a lot less cliched and had a really cute dynamic. With it being so short, (3 volumes and only 16 chapters) there wasn't a lot of room for character development or seeing them change a lot or grow closer/further apart. 5/10

Art: The art for this is really hit or miss, it had Ouran Highschool Host Club art style solely for one character and the rest look completely different. They kept a lot of the drastic shading with backgrounds which I enjoy but it's not as here's all these big panels and pages with just one or two words as Clover was. The clothing and expressions were nice as they always are but overall it was ok? The color insert panels in this between each volume are very pretty though and I do enjoy how the clothes are generally boring but with the Clamp touch, they don’t appear as boring as they would be in real life. 6/10

Ending: The ending didn't feel very conclusive but it wasn't bad. The arc wrapped up and there were a couple of omakes that showed a bit of their backstory, overall the ending wasn't as cohesive as some of their series but it didn't turn out to be as disappointing as I was expecting with how short it was. 6/10

Other things: Before reading I had the feeling it would be typical top/bottom dynamics and it hasn't exactly proven me wrong. I think despite the sheer amount of cliches, it's still a fun read. The character interactions and art style remind me a fair bit of OHSHC, which isn't necessarily a bad thing (slightly in a Haruhi and Tamaki interacting sort of way? I’m not sure how else to compare it but it felt very much like them).

Overall: There's something kinda charming about this, in a way that it doesn't really go anywhere or say too much but it makes me interested to see what they would do with Drug and Drop (which is a prequel series to this). If you want something to fill the void that xxxholic leaves after you finish it and you're ok with some of the very stereotypical things, this could be a good fit. Just like with Clover, I feel there was some potential to it, had it gone on longer than it did. I think this is something I would reread but I think it's solely because I do really enjoy the dynamic between the main characters (as stereotypical as it is, they’re fun to read about) and it's similar enough to xxxholic that it brought nostalgia. However, it's not something I would readily recommend, but the lack of characters being gross (for the most part) brings it a bit higher than Clover was. Also worth noting I read a fan translation for this. I'd say this is a 6/10.

Tokyo Babylon:

TLDR: The protagonist (Subaru) is the head of a clan and he, his twin sister, and the veterinarian all work together to solve supernatural crimes while the tension between Subaru and Seishirou (the vet) builds.

Plot: The plot is fascinating but the main relationship makes it hard to enjoy (see later in the notes for explanation). I really like a lot of the mystery elements and how there's a sneaking suspicion that one of the characters is up to no good for the entire plot. I personally like it a lot more than the aspects of xxxholic, if I'm comparing the beginning customers in xxxholic to the beginning cases in this. Comparing this to Legal Drug, they handle the cases along with that building suspense much better in Tokyo Babylon. I'd say it's a solid 8/10

Characters: There's not a ton of development but I think the characters are a fascinating part of it, even the minor characters have a lot of personality to them. For the most part, the characters are enjoyable to read about. The dynamic between Subaru and his twin is probably my favorite part of it, their interactions feel very natural. And of course, you can’t really discuss Tokyo Babylon without bringing up the relationship between Subaru and Seishirou which starts as fairly naive in general and then slowly descending into suspense until you hit the end. 7/10

Art: The artstyle for this is really nice, you can tell it's one of their older works and the level of detail and character design is up there with some of my favorite manga. There’s a lot of panels in this that are so haunting and stuck with me weeks after reading it, and I can’t gush about the character outfits enough! I really enjoy how Clamp does fashion that’s relatively timeless and I could definitely see people currently dressing similar to how the characters in this dress. The visuals in this in general are so haunting and so memorable. 8/10

Ending: HOLY SHIT the ending for this is wild and really something I didn't see coming too far and it really tied everything that was being subtly dropped throughout the story together. The way things were building up and the hints were being subtly dropped is so well done. 10/10

Other things: The relationship between Subaru and Seishirou is something that makes me incredibly uncomfortable (as Subaru is 15 or 16 and Seishirou is 27) with how it's portrayed as romantic and a good thing although I know that won't be a problem for everyone. I also want to clarify that it's a main point in the story and not something just thrown in every once in a while.

Overall: If you can ignore the very questionable romance aspect, it's a very fascinating read and one that I would read again solely for the ending. I also used a fan translation for this, in case there's a drastically different interpretation of things in the official translation. I'd say it's a probably 8/10

X/1999:

TLDR: High school boy tasked with deciding Earth's fate, which is supposed to end in 1999, but he's being pulled by both an evil and good side as the date draws closer to the world ending.

Plot: The plot was something when I tried to initially read it, I was very bored and confused. But with this time around, it grabbed me right from the beginning, but if it doesn't do that for you, give it until book 2. The plot is very very good, balancing a lot of intrigue and mystery with some comedy in the beginning, and just being really good with world building. All of the flashbacks into characters' pasts really fleshed them out a lot and were such a good touch! I thought that it wouldn't be able to top Tokyo Babylon in terms of plot twists and turns but it far exceeded that, there's so many plot twists that have been so carefully laid out throughout the story leading up to the reveal. 10/10

Characters: There is a TON of characters in this, and just like RG Veda, I'd highly recommend keeping a list of characters for this series. They're all very distinct but just keeping the names on paper or nearby can make the reading experience a lot better. The characters are able to balance the story between comedy and such an intense drama and plot, it's very impressive! They’re all really loveable and the character growth in the story is so fascinating. The returning characters from Tokyo Babylon changing subtly with the passage of time is something I really enjoyed! 10/10 I got way too attached to every single character in this.

Art: I'm gonna be honest and maybe a bit biased but this is some of my favorite art that's come out of Clamp (biased because I adore their 90s style). The backgrounds are visually stunning and there's so many two page spreads, and the characters look gorgeous. Everyone is very visually distinctive and the work put in on this manga really shows. There's not been a single visually boring or ugly panel in this. I'm also gonna add that this is my favorite series visually from Clamp. The fight scenes are also really clear and very obvious on what's going on (for me at least. I normally have problems figuring out what is going on in fight scenes so this being really clear with what's happening in each panel is really nice). 10/10

Ending: This was on hiatus and has been for a while but the ending was a big thing where everything was being built up and then it ended abruptly. If they ever return to it, I'll be thrilled but it's been so long that I'm unsure if they will. The ending and parts leading up to the ending were emotionally devastating but so good. If it was finished (and finished well), this would be the first clamp work on this list with 10s across the board but as is, the ending or lack of is a 3/10.

Other things: This makes 10x more sense if you read Tokyo Babylon beforehand, as when I tried to read this before I was pretty confused, but post reading Tokyo Babylon, I understand it a fair bit more. The story takes place after the events of Tokyo Babylon, and the references to Tokyo Babylon begin around volume 8. I had seen some reviews mentioning it getting confusing so if you have an interest in this, I’d heavily recommend reading Tokyo Babylon beforehand so it doesn’t get confusing with the new characters that are introduced from that. Not super relevant but the series also goes under X, but I personally refer to it as X/1999 because its a bit easier to search for.

Overall: 9/10 I cannot recommend this enough, this is in my top 3 Clamp mangas, but the ending is probably the only thing I'd want to put the overall rating lower than a 10, but everything else made it such an enjoyable experience that it is a 9/10.

Gate 7:

TLDR: A high schooler gets transported to a different world full of mysterious characters and moves in with them.

Plot: The plot makes a lot of references to Japanese historical figures which is really neat! The plot was really interesting but I felt there could have been more done with it, but Gate 7 has been on hiatus for a while. 5/10

Characters: The characters are really charming and fun to read about, there's a lot of intrigue built up about them with just small bits of information we're given. There's a few times where there are many characters introduced at one time which makes it hard to juggle all the names and lore, at least for me. It's very short so there's not a lot of development going on. The main character, Hana, is definitely one of the best things about this story, they’re just fun to read about and try to figure out if anything deeper is going on with them. 6/10

Art: I can tell it's similar to the xxxholic/TRC artstyle but a bit more polished and I really love how it looks! It combined a lot of the art features from xxxholic Rei and CCS Clear Card to make a really pretty artstyle! The characters are all visually distinct and interesting and the backgrounds are really nice! 8/10

Ending: This is on hiatus and has been for a while so rating the last chapter I can find (chapter 22.5). The ending wasn't the worst that I've read ever but it was a bit strange. 4/10

Other things: I think that this could have been a great manga if it was ever continued but as it is, it's just kind of average.

Overall: I think with more time or if it was finished, this could have been so much better. As it is right now, it's a 5/10

Xxxholic:

TLDR: The protagonist is haunted by spirits and due to mysterious circumstances ends up working at a mysterious woman's wish granting shop in order to get them off his back.

Plot: The plot genuinely gets better each time you read it with the foreshadowing and subtle hints but even on a first time through, it's plenty to capture your attention! It starts out on a slightly connected case by case basis until it slowly turns into a plot that makes you question everything and feel despair. The things in the last 4 books make me cry every single time I read it but it's so phenomenal and so well done that I wouldn't trade it for the world. The cases are all so fascinating and fun to read that you don't really notice where it's going until it happens and then you're just wallowing in the despair that is the latter half or so of xxxholic. But the plot outside of that really balances the cheerful and the spooky as well as just people living their lives in such a wonderful way that it's very easy to get through it all in record time! The pacing very much keeps on track with not a lot of filler in the manga much more so than the anime, there’s never really a dull moment. 10/10 probably my favorite plot to come out of Clamp!

Characters: THE CHARACTERS!!!! This manga has such entertaining characters who go through so much and grow so much and get along in such a fun way. The characters in this are so human in such a way that I think Clamp excels in and I love that so much! There's just so much to love with every single character and it's so hard to not feel so immersed and attached with them even with Watanuki (the protagonist) acting a bit outlandish at times! The characters in this are probably my favorite that's come out of Clamp (alongside TRC) because they feel so real and so well written. I'd read about the characters' journeys forever as long as Clamp kept writing them! I could gush about these characters for hours but I’m trying to keep it relatively spoiler free and also not as long as I definitely have talked about these characters in the past. 10/10

Art: The art for this is so stark in a way, with the backgrounds more often a plain black or plain white but it really does lend to the mystery and melancholy that is there especially towards the beginning (as towards the end you do find out why the just heavy feeling has been there since the beginning), and the characters suit it perfectly. Despite it being so dark at times, the comedic expressions from the characters (especially Watanuki) are illustrated so perfectly. The characters are easy to distinguish visually (except two relatives that don't come into play until later in the story) and visually, Yuuko's outfits are some of the most beautiful that Clamp has ever drawn. It's the perfect balance for me of detailed panels and less detailed ones in terms of facial expressions. Especially towards the end, the art is so stunning! 10/10

Ending: I have a fair bit of mixed feelings on the ending, as I wish it had a more conclusive ending but I think the ending also emotionally ruined me for a very long time so I'd argue it's an even trade. The way that they structure it to leave it slightly up to interpretation isn't my favorite but the events leading up to the ending are so beautifully woven together and so fantastic! 9/10

Other things: I admit this review is heavily biased more so than the others since xxxholic was the only one I'd read fully before going into this, and it's my favorite manga and anime of all time, so please realize there is bias but there is also a very good reason it's my favorite! I’m also biased because this is the only one I've seen the anime all the way through on, but the anime is a lot different than the manga but not as egregiously adapted as some of their other works! As an important note, this crosses over with Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, so you’ll see certain characters from that there and reading it does help make more sense of what’s going on towards the end. The anime adaptation completely cuts out the way that xxxholic and TRC are so heavily intertwined, so that might be a surprise when reading the manga if you’ve only seen the manga.

Overall: 10/10 if I can convince anyone to read one Clamp work, it's this.

Xxxholic Rei:

TLDR: Continuation of xxxholic (keeping it vague for spoiler reasons)

Plot: This was quite honestly everything I could have wanted from this and more, although as with any of their unfinished works, I would love to see more of it. This did everything a sequel could, filling out some of the areas in the latter half of xxxholic that were slightly skimmed over and just kept the general feel of the series so well. The beginning was a bit confusing but was cleared up soon after in a very heart wrenching way, and the rest of it was very much leading up to something big and then never really fulfilled that since it’s on hiatus. 9/10

Characters: They very much did what they did with Tsubasa World Chronicle with the passage of time in the real world causing the characters to grow a bit in a natural way, and their interactions are enjoyable as always! The new characters introduced were fun and the old ones returning felt like such a treat to get to see them again. The dynamics between everyone feels just like it did in xxxholic as well! 10/10

Art: The art feels slightly like what they did with TWC, where they took the original art style and made it more polished! They really went above and beyond with the art for Rei and it's so lovely to look at. Clamp kept everything that made xxxholic charming and visually stunning and made it more elegant! 10/10

Ending: This is on hiatus but arguably up there with one of the worst cliffhangers that they've created. Whether you read online or go off of just the physical books, they've set things up so well and then it's been on hiatus for years. It’s very much up there with some of the worst hiatus caused endings (not to constantly reference Bus Gamer but it felt like that a lot with a lot of set up then it went nowhere). With this being the current ending that's there and no proof that it's going to get continued, I'd give it a 2/10

Other things: The last 3 chapters weren't published in the format that the rest are in, so you'll have to find a fan translation for them if you want to read the entire thing. I’m keeping this very incredibly vague because I especially don’t want to spoil sequels for things.

Overall: 9/10, it was amazing but the way it's left off is very frustrating!

Cardcaptor Sakura:

TLDR: A middle school girl is out to collect all of the Clow Cards along with her sidekicks because if she doesn't collect them, the world will be in trouble.

Plot: I started this out very skeptical since I'm not a big magical girl genre fan but the plot for this has the typical Clamp charm with just how they blend together action and character growth as well as comedy. The plot is a pretty simple structure (Sakura having to collect the Clow cards) but they do so much with it that I never felt bored once. The pacing is really good, with it being enough action but also downtime to keep it balanced. 9/10

Characters: I cannot explain enough how much I adore these characters. Clamp really excels in the longer series imo and this one really does these characters justice. I've read a bit of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle before this (which ties in but it's complicated) so I recognized the characters a bit! The character growth is honestly really good and a lot more than I was expecting! The characters are just very charming and really enjoyable to read about! 8/10

Art: Beautiful, you can tell that it was a slightly older style (CCS was made in the late 90s) but seeing how that style transitioned into the modern Clamp work is really fascinating. The art is gorgeous and the fight scenes are so neat with how they're done! Also the character design is gorgeous, Sakura and Syaoran always have these really intricate outfits and all the characters look really good! 9/10

Ending: The ending oh man. It's something that's really sad but bittersweet, it really got everything wrapped up and just suits the series really well. I'm leaving it vague because I'm full of feelings but not able to put them into words. 10/10

Other things: There are a few (yes you read that right, a few) questionable age gap relationships (that aren't in the anime but the manga doesn't make a super big deal out of them like Tokyo Babylon does), although there are multiple and it's not super subtle about it, one including a teacher proposing to a 10/13 year old, another being the protagonists parents, and the other being *gasp* another teacher student relationship. Also worth noting that there is a fair bit of LGBTQ+ representation in the series and done really well, with it not being very cliched (much better than how Legal Drug does things). I’m keeping this one somewhat vague because I feel this is one of the ones that’s slightly more popular than the rest and because it’s something that you just have to experience for yourself.

Overall: I'm gonna be honest and say the relationships factor is something that makes it a lot less enjoyable than it could be, although that was something I was aware of going in (and a motif Clamp tends to repeat unfortunately). If it wasn't for that, it would be a solid 9/10, but it's not such a big part of the plot as Tokyo Babylon was.

CCS Clear Card:

TLDR: All of the cards that Sakura collected during the initial series have all turned clear and they need to figure out why. (shitty summary but it’s hard to sum up without spoilers)

Plot: When I began this, it really just felt like Cardcaptor Sakura all over again in a way that it was being rehashed needlessly. But around halfway through, it picks up a bit and differentiates itself from CCS a bit, which feels good! The plot is mostly similar until the halfway point but with new characters which feels nice. The plot has been picking up steadily (and adding new things) at the latest chapters which is very good! Waiting monthly truly is nothing but torture because of the plot picking up so quickly. 7/10

Characters: The new characters introduced are good! They have interesting backstories and mesh well with the preexisting characters! I really enjoy them a lot but so far it's not a lot of character growth. We do have a much more present villain with this part, which I enjoy a lot! The original didn’t feel as if it had that, so it’s a welcome change. I feel it's a bit unfair to judge it since it's not finished, but I'd say it's probably a 7/10?

Art: The artstyle feels like they're putting CCS Sakura and TRC Sakura in a blender, it feels slightly newer than how she looked in CCS but it still looks nice! It's not my favorite Clamp style (I personally prefer a lot of their older stuff and the stuff that’s very visually distinct) but the art is really pretty! The full page spreads are also really nice, you can tell they put a lot of effort into the backgrounds and doing detail with them! I’m especially impressed with how they managed to keep the feel of the original style but update it a bit to look more polished. 7/10

Ending: As of writing (September of 2021), this hasn't finished so I can't rate this. For context, it's still ongoing, unlike the works on hiatus. I feel more confident rating those since they've been on hiatus for years instead of new chapters every month or so.

Other things: I may have not enjoyed this as much as I could since I jumped into this the same day I finished CCS, since the beginning felt very similar, so please be aware of that.

Overall: It's good but definitely not up there with my favorite Clamp works, and the gross relationships still prevail a bit in this, which is really unfortunate. 7/10 I do feel like things were a bit better than CCS in terms of plot picking up in the later half, so it's a bit higher on my overall ranking because of thinking back on it.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle:

TLDR: Found family traveling universes together to help one of them regain memories

Plot: Okay I physically cannot explain enough how amazing the plot in TRC is. It's paced perfectly, with the right amount of relaxation moments and action, and each of the universes are really unique and fascinating! When it gets past the halfway point though, things start to pick up and get even better. I don't want to get too deep into the plot for spoiler reasons, but it's so good. 10/10

Characters: The characters are all amazing and I think that this is genuinely the Clamp work with the most character development and the best characters. Seeing their backstories added so much to it and them as characters are all phenomenal. Thinking about these characters too hard makes me cry, the authors did such a phenomenal job developing everything about them and making them so enjoyable to read. The villain was a truly big threat and all the side characters that you met along the way were so nice to see again (TRC is basically Clamp’s big crossover work so reading everything before this resulted in me recognizing a lot of the characters from their other works that appeared in this). 10/10

Art: The art for this is stunning, with the characters having such detailed clothing and faces, as well as the backgrounds being so lovely! There's so many memorable moments that are just punctuated by the art. The style is a lot different than their older works, but it suits TRC so well! There are way too many panels in this that have stuck in my head for way longer than I want them to which is a testament to how good this was. 10/10

Ending: Words cannot explain how well the ending was done. It was somewhat open, which I know really could irritate some people, but I didn't mind it because everything that was leading up to the last few pages was so wonderfully crafted and brought everything together. When it was closer to the ending, it was a bit confusing but not too bad, despite the reputation it can get. 9/10

Other things: I wrote thoughts down right after finishing it, so it's not very long because I don't want to give away spoilers one bit. But this was such an amazing series and so so worth it. It's one I'd definitely reread over and over. I’m keeping this so vague because I can and will pressure people into reading it solely because of the characters or the plot but please trust me this deserves all the praise I’m giving it. It crosses over with xxxholic and both works make a lot more sense with the context from the other.

Overall: If I could recommend one Clamp work outside of xxxholic, it would be this. 10/10

Tsubasa World Chronicle:

TLDR: Sequel to TRC, can't really go into further detail without spoilers

Plot: It felt very much like returning home after finishing TRC but I also feel that with the plot being basically one adventure (in comparison to TRCs many adventures), it felt slightly disappointing because I wish that they had done more with it (slightly like how xxxholic Rei had around the same length and fit more plot in). I know that my disappointment is because I care about the characters in TRC so much and always want to see more of them. Outside of that, the plot was really interesting with the world and characters, and how it ties into Rei was a nice touch! 7/10

Characters: With the characters already being established and given so much depth and growth in TRC, I wasn't expecting much going in, but Clamp made the choice to show a bit how they grew between the end of TRC and the beginning of TWC in a subtle and nice way. The other characters that were in this were from Gate 7, so they were somewhat established as well (to me at least), and there were some original characters as well. Since it's so much shorter than TRC, there wasn't as much character development and growth but that's alright with TRC having such good characters. 9/10 solely because I'm very attached to the TRC characters.

Art: The art feels like Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle but a fair bit more polished which makes sense due to the passage of time in the real world between this and the original series! The characters just look a bit better in my opinion and the backgrounds are very lovely! It's very much up there with some of the best that they've put out, although I also admit I do generally prefer their style from the 1990s, I think that this is beautifully illustrated! 10/10

Ending: The ending was similar to TRC, with it being open ended but this was somewhat wrapped up but a bit less so than TRC, in my opinion. It still was good but I really wish they had done more with it being a sequel series (or maybe I just hope for more adventures for the characters). 8/10

Other things: It does give away the ending/after the end of xxxholic (and xxxholic Rei) very early on, so I'd read this at after xxxholic Rei, as Rei spoils a little less about this than this does for Rei. The official translation on this just felt really odd after reading TRC which I believe was translated by a different company, but I think the main thing I have a gripe with was just the font choice and how it kept changing in the Kodansha translation I have.

Overall: I think it was a very good sequel to TRC, but it didn't add a lot to the TRC lore, although it was very very nice to see the characters again. 8/10

Man of Many Faces:

TLDR: The protagonist is the son of a famous thief and has taken over his work, mainly because of his mom's insistence.

Plot: It's similar to Clamp School Detectives with a slightly underlying plot but new cases each chapter. I really enjoy this kind of plot so I'm a bit biased. 6/10

Characters: The moms are really great but seriously, the characters are all pretty good at being distinct and they interact really well! I wasn't expecting that the characters would have growth in a manga that's 11 chapters, but there was actually a bit of growth! 7/10

Art: The art style is really nice! Clamps 90s material has such a nice feel to it, and the backgrounds look really good! The clothes variety for the moms and the costumes in general are gorgeous! 8/10

Ending: The ending wasn't anything special, just wrapping up a few loose ends, but it wasn't bad. 5/10

Other things: The protagonist is dating someone younger than him by 4 years (a 5 year old and a 9 year old just feels a bit off to me) which is a pretty prominent plot point so if that's something that bothers you, that's there. The romance in this felt pretty unnecessary to me personally.

Overall: It was ok? The art was nice and the characters were nice but it didn't do a lot for me in comparison to a lot of the longer series that they have, which I suppose is an unfair comparison as this is only 11 chapters long. 6/10

RG Veda:

TLDR: Father and child go on a journey to stop an evil ruler.

Plot: This length and attention to detail is what I really wish that a lot of their other fantasy series that are shorter had, the plot is really rich and well developed for the most part. 7/10

Characters: A fair bit of the characters irk me, but I admit they're interesting and pretty well fleshed out. My biggest problem with this is how they just constantly are throwing new characters in without much warning and it's a lot to balance and keep track of for me. I think with the amount of characters they put in, it was a bit too ambitious and made it really hard to care about characters who barely showed up when they died. I'd recommend keeping a written list of characters handy to make it a bit easier to keep track of. The villain in this is really compelling and has instilled a lot of dread in the protagonists, which I think is really good since they need motivation to go on their journey. 6/10

Art: The art is really pretty and detailed, and there's a few panels that are up among the best things Clamp has drawn. The clothes look nice but typically aren't super elaborate. 7/10

Ending: Big battle and kind of emotional ending. It didn't do a lot for me because I wasn't really attached to the characters with there being so many. 5/10

Other things: I feel the need to point out that on the wiki, one of the relationships is "Adoptive father, lover" so that's there. After finishing it though, there's not anything really blatant so unless I missed something, there's not anything inherently romantic about this. It seems as if I am disinterested by this, but I think it was truly because of the scan I read being blurry and making it a bit harder to focus. This would be one I’d potentially buy physically to do a reread and see if my opinion changes. It’s very much a good manga but the circumstances I was reading it in made it hard to enjoy, basically.

Overall: This wasn't my favorite but it wasn't the worst, so I'm confident in giving it a solid 6/10, although it's one I'd probably reread sometime to see if I would enjoy it more.

Clamp School Detectives:

TLDR: 3 elementary school age kids going and solving mysteries and helping other people out

Plot: There's a slight recurring theme to each chapter and a slight plot thread connecting them each. 7/10, I really enjoy this kind of content because it's just lighthearted fun but there's an actual plot to it.

Characters: The three main boys are really distinct both visually and personality wise, but there's not a lot of character development which makes sense with it being only 12 chapters long. The characters are all very charming and their interactions are very nice! 8/10

Art: Very similar to Tokyo Babylon, not at all a bad thing! I really like this style and the less detailed faces in the background that keep reappearing! 9/10

Ending: The ending was super abrupt and not what I was expecting, honestly a bit disappointing, with as far as I know, the series officially ending there. 3/10

Other things: I think the best way to explain the feel of the series is if Ouran Highschool Host Club meets the Hardy Boys, which wasn't a crossover I knew I needed but I really did.

Overall: I honestly really enjoyed this despite it being so short and the ending not being great, it was just really charming and it was fun to see the crossovers with the other Clamp School related series! I would definitely read this again, 8/10

Clamp School Defenders:

TLDR: It's a group of people at Clamp School who are saving their school from a villain.

Plot: Similar to Clamp School Detectives, it's cheesy but honestly a ton of fun. Each chapter has them fighting in a different circumstance. I'll be honest and say this was much better than what I was expecting! The plot goes in a direction I wasn't expecting around chapter 10, and it's a lot more than I was expecting from a pretty short manga. 8/10

Characters: The characters are all incredibly charming and I was pleasantly surprised that the female character didn't get the damsel in distress treatment, as she can easily handle her own! All of the characters are very distinct (although I did occasionally mix up the two main short haired boys as their hairstyles are somewhat similar). With it being so short I wasn't expecting a lot of character growth, so I suppose it's again, similar to Clamp School Detectives, not a lot of development but a lot of charm and characters that aren't bland! 7/10

Art: The art for this is very similar to Clamp School Detectives, which I adore! I don't have a ton to say about it but the Mecha designs are really cool and the backgrounds and details are really nice! 9/10

Ending: The ending was kinda mediocre, quite honestly. I wasn't expecting much but it was just pretty bland. 3/10

Other things: This one crosses over a bit with Man of Many Faces, but it works well enough on its own without reading it. It also crosses over a bit with Clamp School Detectives, but you can also read this without the context of reading Clamp School Detectives. There's also quite a bit of meta jokes as it goes on. It is also unfortunately a trademark of a fair bit of Clamp's work to include an age gap relationship and this is no exception. I think it's quite a bit less romanticized than some of their other works (Cardcaptor Sakura for example), as the protagonists are fighting against this relationship to happen, but it is still there. It is an arranged marriage and still gross (referring to the age gap that isn't specified how big other than referring to them as an older woman dating a younger man) but I'm very relieved it's not as romanticized as their other works. I would say I prefer this overall to Clamp School Detectives, because the plot and characters were a bit more fun to read about but I think they’re also pretty similar.

Overall: I really really enjoyed this one, I think Clamp does well with these not super plot detailed shorter mangas as well as their longer ones, but if you're looking for a really plot detailed one, this is not it. It's just cheesy and a bit goofy but imo it's a lot of fun! 7/10

Shirahime-Syo:Snow Goddess Tales:

TLDR: It's an anthology with the plot all being connected in it's own with Shirahime-Syo, the snow goddess.

Plot: The plot in each chapter is something I really enjoy, and Clamp excels at. It's a short manga but it's really well paced and kept my interest the entire time. 8/10

Characters: With it being so short, there's not a lot of room for character development and growth, but the small bit that it has is really good. The characters were all distinct in their own way and that I think is impressive for a 5 chapter manga. 7/10

Art: The art is like nothing I've seen from Clamp before, it's absolutely lovely, I really like the thick lines and semi realistic faces! The backgrounds are beautiful and the overall format reminds me a lot of Clover's set up (not a traditional manga panel setup) especially in the first chapter. The two page spreads are so stunning and I love the kind of harsh lines used throughout. This is probably one of my favorite things artistically that Clamp has released. The art in this is so so pretty, it really stands out! 9/10

Ending: The ending was simple yet tied it all together, it was really good! 7/10

Other things: This appears to be an anthology with a small thread of plot connecting them all, which isn't something I hate! It feels melancholy but in a haunting and beautiful way.

Overall: I think this might be one of Clamp's hidden gems, it's extremely quick to read but such an impactful story! 8/10

Legend of Chun Hyang:

TLDR: A child prodigy at martial arts goes on a journey with a traveler

Plot: The plot for this slightly reminds me of Slayers, with a strong girl and a kinda dumb dude following her around (I haven't gotten super far into Slayers so I'm aware the dynamic might be different). But despite it being really long chapters, the plot grabbed me in right away and it was entertaining. 7/10

Characters: There was not enough time for a lot of character development but the characters were fun to read about and were ones I'd love to see further content with. 6/10

Art: The art is very 90s Clamp, which is something I don't mind at all! The backgrounds are pretty detailed and the action scenes are very clear on what's going on, the character outfits are really nice too! 8/10

Ending: It's very clear that this was dropped after the 3 chapters that were released since it ended so abruptly and had a lot of plot that was set up and never really followed through with. It wasn't the worst ending I've read but it was frustrating. 2/10

Other things: I believe that this is based on a legend but I'm unsure. Review is so short because of how short this was, and just not having a ton of thoughts on it.

Overall: I enjoyed it and just wish there was a bit more to it in general. 5/10 solely because of how bad the ending was.

Magic Knight Rayearth:

TLDR: Three girls get sucked into a magical world with the goal of having to save it from a villain, as prophecy foretold.

Plot: The plot moves along really quickly but manages to make it not feel like it is, with a lot of character interactions and a little bit of downtime between each battle. The plot kept me interested the entire time throughout and the twist by around the middle of book 3 was unexpected. With it being so short, I really wish it had been stretched out over more books, but for a quick fantasy story, it's pretty impressive. Things moved so fast that I really wish that Clamp had been able to slow down a bit and show a lot more of the world or add more plot details other than it just being a pretty straightforward adventure. 7/10

Characters: The characters are all really likeable and easy to visually distinguish, which I feel is on purpose. The side characters you meet are also really charming and make sense with the narrative of the story. As for character development, they have visual reminders of the girls getting stronger with their armor and weapons upgrading as they do. I feel like as with all categories in this, I wish they had done more with it, adding more details and letting the story be paced a bit slower to give the characters more growth and bonding time. 6/10

Art: Early Clamp art style is so stylized in such a nice way, and this is no exception at all! The backgrounds are stunning and the character design is really distinct and easy to tell apart with who is who, I really like how it's done! It's not too overcrowded (like how Miyuki-chan in Wonderland is) so it's really easy to read and easy on the eyes! 8/10

Ending: The ending for this was really good and not what I was expecting, and it really fed into the beginning of Magic Knight Rayearth 2 in a cohesive manner. 8/10

Other things: The world in this is honestly something I would love to see more of (which is great that there's a sequel) and I really wish it had been longer. The world building was just kind of giving out little crumbs of information sprinkled through and I wish we had learned more about it. My main gripe is that I would have loved to see more from this, not necessarily to the length of TRC but I do wish it was longer than it was.

Overall: For what it was (a 3 book adventure story), it's really pretty impressive how much they fit in. The characters were much better than I expected and it's definitely one that I wasn't expecting to enjoy as much as I did. I would definitely reread this in the future. 7/10

Magic Knight Rayearth 2:

TLDR: After the adventure of Magic Knight Rayearth, the girls realize that they miss the world and their adventures and go back, continuing their adventures.

Plot: The plot is honestly just as strong as in the original and there's yet another massive plot twist that was the opposite of what I was expecting! The plot was really nice and it felt as though the story just flew by with the pacing being really nice although perhaps a bit rushed. 7/10

Characters: I feel just even at the very beginning, the main three girls have a lot more complexity (which does make sense after what they went through), which is definitely a good thing! The new characters introduced are all really fun to read and the old ones returning was a pleasant surprise! 6/10

Art: The art is just as nice as the first, with a lot more of the 2 page spreads which was a really nice touch! 8/10

Ending: The ending, just like the original, was pretty unexpected, but also somewhat not? I'm not too sure how to explain it other than it feels like it falls into some cliches but also puts a fresh spin on them. 7/10

Other things: Not a very long review because this was also a short one and I said most of what I wanted to say about this in the first series.

Overall: I really enjoyed it and the world was something I really wanted to get back to, it was fascinating! 7/10

Wish:

TLDR: A man finds an angel and she tries to grant his wish despite his insisting he has no wishes to grant.

Plot: It was really oddly paced and not super memorable (I read this in a day or two and by the time I finished, I remembered barely anything from the beginning). It's a little similar to Suki where romance is a big focal point but has a slightly bigger cast of characters. The pacing went from fast to dragging its feet at times, which made it a bit frustrating to read. 4/10

Characters: The characters are slightly walking stereotypes, especially the angels and demons with their appearance and personality and there wasn't much character development to speak of (which was what I was expecting from such a short manga). Some of the characters were entertaining but overall I didn't really get attached or invested in anyone. The side characters were pretty much the only redeeming things in Wish, and I really wish more of the story was focused on them instead of the main couple. 5/10

Art: The art is middle of the road but the constant chibis have made the art really grate on me (the protagonist turns into a chibi version of herself at night, so it's a pretty frequent occurrence). It could just be that the art isn't my cup of tea but the way people are drawn just makes me miss the ones I've read in the past that look a bit more polished. 5/10 (although I also admit it's a bit biased and the art is nice but I just don't enjoy it a lot). The main artist for this one has illustrated ones that I really enjoy but also some I didn't so I think it's just slightly a hit or miss for me personally.

Ending: The ending was something I wasn't expecting and the way things were concluded wasn't necessarily bad but I think just my disinterest in the plot and most of the characters made it hard to enjoy. The ending felt as if it was supposed to be emotional but how things were executed didn't really fulfill that for me. 5/10

Other things: I fully acknowledge that this could be a good manga but it's just not one I really enjoyed. If I were to change it to make it better, I’d focus more on the world and the side characters more than the main characters and the romance aspect, because I think there was a lot of potential there.

Overall: 5/10 it was average but not anything I'd ever bother rereading.

Miyuki-chan in Wonderland:

TLDR: Protagonist gets sucked into a wacky world with a lot of women and things return to normal by the end of the chapter, and then things start over the same each chapter but in a different setting.

Plot: I cannot physically explain the sheer lack of plot this has, with things resetting each chapter, there's not really any underlying plot, nor pretty much any plot in each individual chapter. If you want something that’s very little plot and easy to digest, this definitely might be the work for you, it’s kind of like junk food with it being really simple? 0/10

Characters: The only thing we know about our protagonist is she works at a restaurant and that's pretty much it. There's not any interesting characters but I sure wish there were. 0/10

Art: The art is fairly busy compared to the other Clamp works I've read, which isn't something I particularly like. The style is somewhat similar to Tokyo Babylon but the skill is just going to drawing a ton of women barely wearing clothes instead of the pretty backgrounds that their other series had. 5/10

Ending: It was kinda like an anthology of stories so the ending didn't really pack any punches or do anything interesting, just wrapped up the last chapter. 1/10

Other things: The very definition of porn without plot except there's not any porn just suggestive content all over the place. Probably the most frustrating one that I’ve read in terms of plot because I went in with some semi low expectations and they somehow didn’t meet any of those.

Overall: This was something I'm glad to be done with, it was really boring and didn't do much interesting with the concepts that were presented other than just here's women. 1/10 the art was ok? The point is just for the artwork not looking too bad.

Suki:

TLDR: A naive high school age girl falling in love with her 32 year old teacher but all is not what it seems for them both.

Plot: By this point, I'm a bit exhausted of this kind of relationship in Clamp works and just am not really captured by the plot fully surrounding this. I'm not the biggest fan of romance only plots and that's pretty much all that this was. It was really predictable and didn't really do anything new. Even when the plot twist was introduced, things didn’t really get much more interesting because of the main character.1/10

Characters: Honestly (and not trying to be negative about this), a lot of the characters are pretty insufferable, especially the protagonist, it makes it slightly hard to read. No matter what the circumstance is, the main character just ignores any and all danger and proceeds to act naive to the point of exhaustion (for me). A couple of the side characters weren’t insufferable but a lot of them also were at the same time. It really seems like Touko (one of the side characters) is the only one remotely with common sense and no one listens to her. The love interest is so boring and also lacks some common sense. 2/10

Art: The art is completely different than anything I've seen from Clamp before, and while it's well done, it's just not my cup of tea personally. I fully acknowledge it's biased and some people may enjoy the artstyle but 4/10.

Ending: The ending was gross but what I predicted, it's very frustrating how often they really romanticize these kinds of relationships. 0/10

Other things: There was literally nothing that made me enjoy this one bit. I hated it here so much when reading it, and the 2 bearable characters did not make it worth it.

Overall: 1/10 I would never reread this or recommend it to anyone, it was just very frustrating to read and the plot didn't really do anything that was exciting or new.

Angelic Layer:

TLDR: A girl gets involved in the world of robotic doll fighting and she fights through a tournament.

Plot: At around the halfway point, the plot has been just fight after fight, which is fine but there's not a lot of time for plot outside of the fighting. The plot slightly picks up from just repetitive fighting around chapter 19/26 which is really late for there to feel like there's something actually going on plot wise. If you enjoy just fight after fight without a lot of other stuff, this is the plot for you, but that's not something I really enjoy. For me, this kind of plot just drones on and on and it could not keep my interest that well. 3/10

Characters: The main characters identifying trait is she's short and doesn't think she can fight properly because of that but that changes throughout the story. There's not a lot of character motivation for the protagonist with her just continuing to fight without much of an end goal. I don’t think that explained a lot, but simply, the protagonist just wants to fight in the tournaments and doesn’t necessarily seem to have an end goal in sight. 3/10

Art: Very much similar to Chobits with the style but everyone looks like how Chi looks, which isn't really cute to me. I think that Chobits had it more balanced with not everyone in that artstyle that Chi was drawn in, but this isn't too bad. I don't really enjoy it a lot and a lot of the fight scenes are a bit hard to understand what's going on for me. As well, one character doesn't have his nose in a lot of panels or just a bit of it isn't drawn, which is pretty distracting. The backgrounds aren't that interesting either, no one really did much that made them stick out in my memory. 4/10

Ending: The ending was just things wrapped up with a minor plot twist, it didn't do much for me. It just didn't really seem well earned or something that the protagonist was really striving for, since she was mainly just continuing to play and wasn't specifically stating that this was what she wanted. 3/10

Other things: The plot was very much not something I enjoyed but I can also see where it could be good for someone that was interested in this. I have some hope that the anime might make it something I enjoy a bit more.

Overall: I'm sure this could be something someone would like but it lost my attention super early on and didn't ever really regain it. 3/10

Chobits:

TLDR: An average guy finds a Persocom in the trash and the Persocom is not all that she seems to be at a glance.

Plot: The plot starts out as a slightly slice of life, but progresses around halfway through into a really fascinating plot with exploring the universe and the effects of Persocoms (basically robots, without going too much into detail with how they work). Honestly, it's way more than what I expected with how the first 20ish chapters are just kind of fitting into the genre that I was expecting from it, but it really does grow a lot deeper than that. I know I already emphasized that it's very different than what I initially expected, but it's a lot deeper than I was expecting, there's a lot of stuff that really resonates with me outside of the typical genre stuff that's early on. As the story progresses, it blossoms into a narrative about grief and how humans cope as well as humans heal from it, blended with action scenes in between. 8/10

Characters: I'm gonna be honest and say some of the characters (excluding Chi) are probably the weak part of this. A fair bit of them are stagnant throughout the story which doesn't do a lot for me. The rest of the characters just don't really endear me to them as much as Chi does. However, Chi genuinely does a very good job at embodying the kind of character development I'd love to see in more of this genre as truly, she grows and changes so much through such a short time. She really does make the story for me, as there's just something about her that intrigues me. Hideki's (protagonist) character development isn't horrible but it's just slow, and is a very gradual thing, which isn't necessarily bad, but it feels like the only thing he's doing to change is caring more for Chi. For Chi only, I'm adding a few points to the total score of 6/10.

Art: This art style looks similar to how I think Angelic Layer looks (based off the cover, I'm reading this before Angelic Layer) but it's a really nice artstyle! I fully admit I have a lot of nostalgia for this art style but I really enjoy it! Post reading Angelic Layer, I really appreciate how this balanced how Chi and everyone else looked and just some of the visual details in it. It had enough visual variance that it kept my attention really well. 7/10

Ending: I didn't think I would get emotionally invested in this story, but the ending was beautiful and I don't wanna admit to crying over this at 2:30 am, but it was so so good. I don't want to go into more details to not spoil things, but it ties things up perfectly. 9/10

Other things: I'm not sure what it is about this series but it's very easy to get sucked into and read a lot of (probably since the 88 chapters are only around 15 pages long). I'm a bit ashamed that I got so sucked into it that I proceeded to read all of it in one sitting instead of going to bed. Also be aware there's a lot of dirty jokes in this and occasional nudity if that bothers you (it's very much the worst in the beginning and gradually gets less intense). I would also like to add that Chi gets sexualized rather often (which is what a lot of the jokes are from) and especially in the chapter covers. The way that the (in universe) books are tied into the plot is something I also really enjoy and is something that's such a neat touch with tying the story together overall. Also very much worth noting I have nostalgia for the anime so it definitely might be a bit of rose tinted glasses for this one specifically. Unfortunately, it's not a Clamp work (for the most part, not all of them are like this but I'm noticing a pattern) without an age gap relationship (or two, I can't find information on some characters' ages). I know the first part of the story can be a bit off-putting to me, but if you can give it a bit of time, the story does really grow away from a lot of the funky stuff if that bothers you (the first chapter is pretty much the worst with that, although the questionable relationships are more in the middle to last half of the story). There’s something about this story that just really spoke to me, in finding a person that accepts you for you and is your person. Overall: I'm gonna be honest and say (in case it wasn't clear by the above category) that the dirty jokes do slightly sour this for me, but genuinely even despite that, it's something I would reread again. 8/10

Kobato:

TLDR: A girl and her dog try to fill up a jar by resolving people's problems (it's better than what I'm explaining it as I promise).

Plot: The plot really doesn't start to pick up until around halfway through if not a bit before but the early plot is just really calm and relaxing! When it picks up, it doesn't let back down and holds your attention the rest of the time. 8/10

Characters: The characters are all a lot of fun to read and they really are part of an interesting plot between the characters! I really enjoy them a lot and seeing the protagonist grow and learn is so nice! 7/10

Art: The art style is pretty similar to CCS Clear Card, which is definitely not a bad thing but I really enjoy the dramatic expressions and backgrounds! The character design is really nice and elaborate in terms of clothes and all the characters are visually distinct! 8/10

Ending: I'll be honest and say around 3 chapters before the ending, I enjoyed it but by the time I reached the ending, I was pretty frustrated with the direction it was going. I think the ending had potential but the last few chapters felt off to me. 3/10

Other things: Starting this, from things I heard from my mutuals, I was anticipating something really deep and emotional and instead it's this story about a girl and her supernatural dog, although it's a lot of fun before it gets deeper. I really like the cameos (Chobits, xxxholic, Suki, etc), it's a neat touch to include especially with me reading a lot of clamp lately! Also the ending includes a 16 year old getting with a 36 to 40 year old, so they're really trying to push their previous age gaps.

Overall: 6/10, I enjoyed parts of it but the tone just changed a lot throughout and there were a few things I felt mixed feelings on.

Drug and Drop:

TLDR: See Legal Drug, it's a continuation of that.

Plot: The plot really picks up in this, going from regular cases each chapter to a larger overall plot and it's really intriguing.

Characters: I'm not sure how to explain this other than they take a lot of stereotypes and find a way to make them charming and interesting. The main couple is a lot more interesting than in the original, and there's a lot that was revealed. 7/10

Art: The art is the same as the original and xxxholic towards the end of its run, I think it's a tiny bit more polished than the original for the most part and I enjoy it quite a bit! They have a lot more two page spreads that are so beautiful and the backgrounds are really nice! 7/10

Ending: Need to emphasize this was put on hiatus years ago and doesn't show much sign of finishing, but I'll still rank the ending where they left off (chapter 19 in case they do end up finishing it in the future). The ending left quite a bit to be desired as the entire last chapter was spent dropping information that could have really played into an interesting plot if it was ever continued. It wasn't the worst ending I've read but it was a bit lackluster. 3/10

Other things: This was the continuation to Legal Drug, which I really enjoyed (I am pretending I do not see the sheer amount of stereotypes), so before starting it, I have hopes that the characters will get fleshed out and that it explores their relationship more! After finishing it, they definitely did get fleshed out and the relationship was deepened in a very nice way! I really like how it's crossed over with xxxholic, although if you do read this, wait to do so after you finish xxxholic otherwise things won't make sense. Also clarifying that just like Legal Drug, this isn't everyone's cup of tea because of how a lot of the characters are walking stereotypes but in spite of that I very much enjoy it. I think the main take away from this is they did improve a bit on the stereotypes but also took some steps back, but I enjoyed it in spite of that.

Overall: This is a massive improvement on the original and I really enjoyed it! There were a lot of twists and turns that felt semi built up to. 7/10

cont in part 2

[feministfujoshi]

August Reading List

Hi everyone! This is the first of many posts in which I reflect on the BL/shojo/LGBT manga I have read or am currently reading. In the future, I’ll aim to post these lists at least twice a month and also track/discuss unlicensed manga I’m reading through scanlations. Definitely let me know if there are series you want to see me pick up--especially licensed works available through the library. This list is not a collection of summaries or formal reviews, and it’s definitely not spoiler-free! That said, enjoy these thoughts and feelings and take from them what you will~

Thanks so much for all your support, and be sure to check out my Patreon if you want to help me pay my rent and keep writing! Local Library Go For It, Nakamura! (v. 1)

Fun! Feels quintessentially BL but also very modern

Inclusion of an unambiguously self-identified gay protagonist is a nice touch, makes for some excellent jokes and contributes to the modern sensibility of the book

The whole chapter about Nakamura picking up BL and becoming a fudanshi was incredibly charming, I loved it.

TENTACLES

I Hear the Sunspot (v. 1)

Gentle, tender romance

Thoughtful portrayal of disability; at times Taichi's role in the narrative toes the line between advocacy and saviorism, but the inclusion of a girl who wants to date Kohei in order to fulfill a shallow fantasy about caring for a helpless 'other' helps bring that into contrast and emphasize how Taichi's protectiveness of Kohei comes from an appreciation and respect for his dignity and humanity, rather than a paternalistic denial of it

Gave me heart palpitations

Tokyo Babylon (v. 1-4)

Eyebrow-raising age gap; Subaru and Seishiro are both heads of their respective clans which does put them on more equal footing, but it’s a BIG gap when Seishiro is 25 and Subaru is SIXTEEN and still in HIGH SCHOOL

Magic, mystery, intrigue, heavy-handed social commentary!

For the most part I agree with the points the series tries to communicate about modern society (or at least don’t disagree) but Clamp is not subtle here

Subaru's genuine affection for Tokyo, as well as his determination to protect people and do the right thing is still very endearing and balances out some of the smacking you over the head with debauchery! cruelty! loss of spiritual connection! alienation!

Don’t think I’ve gotten to the best bits of the story yet; the suspense being built up around the inevitable reveal of Seishiro's true identity and moral ambiguity, particularly as it relates to his first meeting with Subaru is shaping up to be very compelling

We’ll see what happens in 5-7!

Loveless (v. 1-11)

BIZARRE

I LOVE IT

Ritsuka and Soubi’s relationship is framed in an uncomfortably romantic way, particularly in the earlier volumes; there are hints at the more complex notes their interactions take on later in the series, but it’s very, very frustrating and could certainly be a dealbreaker for a lot of readers

Adult authority is problematized in a fascinating way--although there are several sympathetic adult characters, the only one in a significant position of influence who the narrative frames as trustworthy (if somewhat incompetent) is Shinonome, who is depicted as more childlike and still has her ears

Soubi, Kio, and to a certain extent, Ritsuka, walk the line between being adults and children; although Soubi is in college and has lost his ears, making Ritsuka initially see him as an ‘adult,’ the later volumes emphasize how much of Soubi’s character is a result of being an abused child, groomed and taken advantage of first by Ritsu and then by Seimei. Ritsuka is only 12 and still has his ears, causing multiple characters to (understandably!) scold Soubi for his dependence on Ritsuka and declare that Ritsuka is a child in need of protection. Although this is not necessarily untrue, it raises the question, protection from and by whom?

Yun Koga’s art is gorgeous and she gave me lesbians. I would probably die for her.

My Brother's Husband (v. 1)

Gengoroh Tagame is Horny On Main

The opening panels of Yaichi changing, with the close shots of his calves, body hair, and the noticeable imprint of his dick (soft) in his underwear are such blatant carryovers from Tagame’s past, more pornographic work that I’m shocked no one else has commented on them

This is a tender, sweet story about family, grief, and overcoming prejudice. (This is, uh, probably why no one has commented on Tagame being Horny On Main--after you finish the book, the tears in your eyes and the wonderful pain of recognition in your heart make it feel a whole lot less significant.)

Arguably this sensuality/sexuality in the depiction of men's bodies is part of its appeal, at least to (Western? overseas?) LGBTQ fans, as it marks the work as coming from a distinctly gay male perspective

The moment where Mike comes home drunk, sees his late husband in Yaichi, and collapses into his arms sobbing, overcome with grief, was incredibly powerful

Wandering Son (v. 1); (OOP, buy on Amazon)

Takako Shimura’s art and paneling is striking here

The emotions of the kids are given gravity and empathy--the last panel of the book, with Shuu holding her knees, looking at the “girl” version of herself in her imagination, is gorgeous and heartbreaking

Renta! Yata & Momo (v. 1)

Harada is such a tricky artist!

Very strong example of her tendency to subvert or 'break' the BL fantasy! As Yata and Momo grow closer the audience assumes (and the narrative framing suggests) that Momo will become responsible, organized, gainfully employed and sexually faithful/monogamous--that he will heal as a result of Yata's love and his own love for Yata. The twist at the end that Momo is still Momo: messy, lazy, and generally incompetent is interesting and even refreshing

I'm still not wild about the undercurrents of sex-as-punishment that  pop up in Yata and Momo's dog/cat dynamic; physical arousal is not the same as genuine desire, and seeing Yata become sexually aggressive and Momo respond with surprise and uncertainty or hesitation (meant to be 'canceled out' by his physical pleasure) was frustrating

Warning! Whispers of Love

Takes the association of ear-cleaning with romance to a comedic extreme

Extremely cute collection of oneshots, Puku Okuyama is a fave

[b-else-writes]

The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 3: Tokyo Babylon

Part 1 (RG Veda) | Part 2 (Man of Many Faces)| Part 4 (Duklyon) | Part 5 (Clamp Detectives)| Part 6 (Shirahime)| Part 7 (X)| Part 8 (Chunhyang) | Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)

The CLAMP 90s series. Perhaps their greatest work ever. Tokyo Babylon ran from 1990 to 1993, concurrent with RG Veda, the CLAMP School, Shirahime, Chun-hyang, AND X. It makes you wonder how X and Tokyo Babylon shaped each other (but more on that later). Tokyo Babylon (and X) is also set in the same universe as the CLAMP School reflecting CLAMP’s early interest in crossovers. Planned out as 7 volumes, it consists of 11 big stories and 3 annexes. I read the omnibus versions which contain lots of coloured art, but the original print run is a beauty in 80s and early 90s graphic design.

While I'd never read this before, it's famous enough (two OVAs, a drama CD, and a live action movie), that I went in knowing some of the big spoilers, but not details. So while my reading was coloured by the knowledge of its tragic end, it still felt revelatory to me. It is the first CLAMP work where I think they had gotten their storytelling pinned down enough to consciously think of how to write a story that ties together on a thematic level, in every stage, and it's phenomenal. Heavy spoilers.

Synopsis: Onmyoji and thirteenth head of the Sumeragi clan, Subaru Sumeragi is called upon to solve occult mysteries in post-bubble Tokyo. It's a time of glittering lights, a rotten economy, and city populated by lonely people desperate for an answer to their problems as the millennium draws near. Joined by his fashionable twin sister Hokuto and the kindly but strangely sinister vetenarian Seishiro Sakurazuka - who is in love with him - the overly sacrificing and empathetic Subaru must solve these problems and learn how to live - but Tokyo is not a kind place, especially to those with gentle natures.

The Story: On its surface, Tokyo Babylon begins as a "case-of-the-week" style story, where Subaru has to solve an occult case and learns something. Its a deceptively simple premise that allowed for CLAMP to explore pressing social issues of their time (which still feel resonant due to the sensitive way they explored them), while also building upon Subaru's character development through this, and the suspense of Seishiro's true nature. We observe Subaru grow through his failures and learn more about the limitations of his empathy. No case feels pointless in how it develops Subaru as a person, and his relationship to Seishiro. The dread we feel about Seishiro's connection to Subaru grows that we almost believe we might just get out of this. It's just excellently plotted out.

The comedy is well-timed and CLAMP know when to pull back from it to allow the emotional aspect to come through. Every case is incredibly gripping and I even cried reading "Old". I have seen some suggest it would have been more effective to have a massive twist rather than seed Seishiro's psychopathy throughout, but I actually think this works on a thematic level, and finding out Seishiro is a murderer, the bet, and Hokuto's death, still hit like a gut punch. It's a brilliant usage of seeding information without the full context until the end. I have no complaints here. It's a poignant story of Tokyo in the early 1990s and its destructiveness, while never losing its humanity.

The Themes: Do you know why the cherry blossoms are red. Tokyo Babylon is a story about well, Tokyo. It's about how modern city living that pursues only personal gain and conformity leads to human loneliness, and loneliness is a trap that destroys us all. We can never know someone else's pain, which leads to loneliness - but to recognize that is also freeing because it means we cannot judge and be judged for it. Having empathy is good, but too much and for the wrong people and not for yourself, can only lead to death. Subaru forms his self-identity through others, in contrast to his self-actualized twin, remaining aloof and detached from his own self - this is why Seishiro's betrayal breaks him, because Subaru doesn't know how to live as his own person. It is also what causes his loved ones so much harm in how little he loves himself in comparison to others.

Its a fascinating interplay between community and individuality, the reality of modern life of trying to be someone while also needing to generalize, without ever really settling on either side. Hokuto is right that they're not the same person, but Subaru is also right that they are deeply connected, as all people must be. Where it does come down hard is that humans are not the villains but Tokyo is, in what it represents - greed, selfishness, cruelty, and apathy. "Things like this happen in Tokyo everyday". It is intensely tragic and yet, strangely, incredibly life-affirming. Despite everything Subaru suffers, people are not born and made evil and everyone should be taken for who they are, not a faceless mass. Including ourselves.

The Characters: Like the plot, everything in the characters is tied into the story of Tokyo. Seishiro is Tokyo: the slick, cool-cut well to do man in a suit with no empathy and a taste for violence. He's Subaru's mirror - charming AND connected to people, and yet not. Nobody is special in Seishiro's eyes, nobody deserves to be treated as anything but an object. And then we have Subaru, poor sweet Subaru who is so empathetic and yet so detached from the world and himself because he's so focused on only his job, on not being an individual. He is what Tokyo wants him to be, filled with self-loathing and frankly suicidal impulses that he shouldn’t be alive if others are not.

It's so tragic to watch Subaru finally grow into a person, but to do so to the one person who will hurt him. Subaru wants to to love Tokyo so badly, that it kills his sister, the one person he SHOULD have been pouring his love into, the person who could love him back and expect nothing in return, the person who would allow him love while not dissolving himself in it. And Hokuto is just a showstopper, funny, kind, witty and cool. She's Subaru's northstar, the empathy and humanity where he cannot, almost co-dependent. I love characters that reflect one another and the themes.

The Art: The visual storytelling and panelling are fantastic. Tokyo Babylon offers a sparser and more distinctly black and white look than RG Veda, with a stronger emphasis on emotional paneling that breaks into beautiful spreads. It creates an almost wood-block, timeless appeal (despite the fashion) that is neither too busy nor too simplified. Anything to do with the Bet and especially the finale is incredible. Subaru surrounded by cherry blossoms? Haunting. The fashion is impeccable, I love the bold design choices in the covers and spreads. The character designs in and of themselves are quite simple (and I don't love the seme-uke look of Seishiro and Subaru), but the personality-costuming is so well done and tell stories themselves. And the use of Hokuto and Subaru being identical to conceal the twist? Masterful character design. My only complaint is some of the scanned photo backgrounds are jarring against the lovely drawn art.

Questionable Elements: Subaru is 16 and Seishiro is 25. That being said, I do think from their interviews and the actual text, we aren't meant to ship them, and it's not unrealistic to be a teen and fall for an older person only for it to majorly fuck you up because they abuse their greater knowledge to harm you (which hey, might be a theme!). Some of the way issues are handled is dated, but not too badly. Again, I’m not going to comment on whether this is queer representation or not, since I don’t think that has ever been CLAMP’s intention. Despite the stereotypical seme and uke stuff, the relationship feels real and tangible (which is why the payoff works). My real gripe is Hokuto getting fridged, though it's handled better than expected (still. let's stop killing women to make men sad).

Overall: A beautiful tragedy and an ode to human alienation, identity, and empathy. I went into this expecting to like it, and ended it never the same. It is genuinely a fantastic, fully complete thematic work from them that speaks as a reflection of the time it was written, and yet remains resonant. I know some people find it edgy, but I actually don't think edge is its intention, it's dark and it's tragic but never misanthropic. Yes, Subaru enters the adult world broken, but his refusal to become like Seishiro and to continue to count himself amongst humanity despite everything, reaffirms that life and people have value (notwithstanding his behaviour in X).

You can see so much of their ideas crystallize here that they’ll repeat across X, Xxxholic, etc. We're all just lonely people and we hurt each other in our loneliness, and it's important to recognize that in ourselves and take care of ourselves for it. We have value as individuals AND through others. Read it!

[b-else-writes]

The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 7: X/1999

Part 1 (RG Veda) | Part 2 (Man of Many Faces) | Part 3 (Tokyo Babylon) | Part 4 (Duklyon) | Part 5 (Clamp Detectives)| Part 6 (Shirahime)| Part 8 (Chunhyang) |Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)

The magnum opus that never was. Spanning 18.5 volumes, with 3 volumes unpublished, X is the most notorious of CLAMP's unfinished works, stalled for over 20 years at a cliffhanger because they and their publishers allegedly lost their taste for its too-real destructive violence and ending. Both the 1996 film adaptation and 2001 film attempt to give the story an ending, and while I'll touch on them briefly, I'm trying not to allow speculation to influence my reading.

X (subtitled as X/1999 in its original USA run) ran from 1992 to 2003 and in many ways marks the end of CLAMP's 90s era, tying up and saying goodbye to the stories of Subaru, Hokuto, Seishiro, and the CLAMP School, for now. There's a stylistic and even tonal shift after X halted, ending a run of tragic, violent, interpersonal psychology that so characterized their early writing. Reading it was bittersweet in that regard, as going through CLAMP's early years has made these characters, ideas, and dynamics some of my all-time favourites. At turns frustrating and meandering, revelatory and awe-inspiring, a surreal mix of Western and Eastern mythologies, with some of their most beautiful art yet, let's bid farewell to Tokyo and the Earth with CLAMP's most ambitious work yet. Heavy spoilers!

Synopsis: In the year 1999, the esper Shirou returns to Tokyo to fulfill his mother's dying wish of changing the fate of Earth. Kamui is destined to save the world, or destroy it, but he only cares about the protecting his childhood friends, Kotori and Fuuma Monou. In his wake are drawn the Dragons of Heaven, who fight to preserve humanity and the Earth as is, and the Dragons of Earth, who seek to destroy humanity and renew the Earth from our corruption. As the promised day of destruction draws near, what does Kamui wish for? And who is the second Kamui, and how is he connected to Fuuma?

The Story: A Christ figure character having to save Earth? Everything being re-explained at least 3 times? Constant dream scenes? In every way, X seems poised to fail, but CLAMP succeeds in infusing a level of ambition and sweeping grandeur that lifts X up in spite of itself. What sells X is that it takes a story about the end of the world and tells it on an emotional, inner-world scale - dreams become entire volumes as characters puzzle out destiny and what makes life worth living. The entire first arc revolves around building the relationship between the main trio, and Kamui's character psychology, so that Kamui's choice actually resonates and emotionally and narratively destroys us. The entire sequence of Kamui and Subaru inside Kamui, and the end of Seishiro and Subaru's arc will haunt me FOREVER.

At the same time, it contains all the sweeping epicness of RG Veda (and shares many motifs and plot elements!), presenting the tales of god-like characters against the backdrop of emotional, homoerotic fights. We're dealing with fate and god-like power, but all of this is placed against the question of, "who are you? and what do you want? And is that the right choice for others and yourself?" Set against the fight between two homoerotic best friends - honestly this manga is so sexually charged, from the BDSM undertones to Satsuki's computer-sex. This god-scope conflict is reduced to our own base instincts for humanity and sensation and consumption and intimacy. There's highly compelling stuff in here. It's so shojo in the best way.

That's not to say X doesn't have structural issues. It has some severe pacing issues, mostly at the end as the Dragons of Heaven are stuck losing battles while Hinoto goes evil and Kamui can't make a kekkai, ad nauseam. It feels like trying to fit the Tarot card number to number of characters, bloated the story. Additionally, while I really love the Keiichi arc, I think X needs more grounding in characters not tied to the apocalypse. Destruction can often feel weightless, an issue for a story that trades on the idea of human connection vs. apathy. Gaia Theory (killing humans will save Earth) is also just bullshit, which can make the conflict frustrating because nobody questions its logic.

Still, despite all that, I can't argue that X is just compelling. It has SUCH a strong sense of millennium angst mood, such interesting character and thematic ideas, lays just enough narrative bread crumbs, that it's visceral enough to work despite itself.

The Themes: X is sooo crystallized RG Veda with the deeply psychological exploration of human loneliness of Tokyo Babylon, CLAMP once again returning to these core themes of their career at a new, fresh angle! X feels so thematically cohesive in what it's trying to do. It's the journey of The Fool across the tarot deck into Judgment and The World. X takes the notion of fate internally, beyond the will of the stars, to explore shadow selves and personal desire. I LOVE a mirror character and Greek tragedy; I ate up the dualism and fatal flaws. It's all very (attributed to) Carl Jung: Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate. Fuuma reads the deepest, most self-destructive wishes of others, and is himself the shadow self Kamui cannot accept: only by realising his true wish and self, can destiny be overturned!

People focus heavily on the apocalyptic conflict, but X is so meaty because it is fundamentally about our own sense of self-identity. X deconstructs RG Veda's thesis that holding onto your wish (CLAMP defines as love for one person), beyond reason, pity and rectitude, is NOT a moral high ground. It tracks Subaru's character to its logical end-point: The Dragons of Heaven subsume their love for one singular person into their only self-worth that they self-destruct without them. Conversely, the Dragons of Earth lack all connection to anyone. It's nature vs humanity, attachment vs detachment, desire vs freedom. For all its Christian trappings, X is deeply Buddhist: we escape samsara in a middle path of a stable self-identity, beyond apathy and desire. X uses the end of the world to position the singular truth that you have to want to live and be a person.

The Characters: Oh Kamui, Fuuma, Kotori, my bargain bin Subaru, Seishiro and Hokuto, who are bargain bin Yasha, Ashura, and uh, Gigei I guess (who are themselves bargain bin Jotaro, Kakyoin, and Girl. God, it's just endless games of telephone between masculine reserved seme and feminine emotional uke. I see you CLAMP).

Okay being serious, I do actually find Kamui interesting - and I think it's meant to be textually repetitive. It's refreshing to have a shojo man who is a violent unpleasant little asshole. And while narratively I understand Fuuma absorbing these traits when he becomes Kamui's shadow, I don't care for the uke-fication of Kamui. Still, Kamui's inner conflict and inability to figure out who he is beyond "the Kamui" works. Fuuma never quite grew on me, mainly because he is so blandly perfect at the start, but I think he's acceptably charismatic as a villain. And the concept of twin stars is undeniably compelling. Kotori fared the worst for me. The purehearted housewife shojo ingenue is so riddled with sexism and Kotori never becomes anything beyond a satellite character - her dream scenes are narratively compelling, but her character is lifeless (literally) and dull.

The supporting cast fares much better, though it's too large. Aoki and Saiki, for example, could have been merged. Still, I loved Arashi and Sorata, Karen, Yuzuriha, Kusanagi, and of course, the conclusion for Subaru and Seishiro. There's such interesting ideas woven into the cast, and I really enjoyed watching them wrestle with connection and self-identity. The Dragons of Earth aren't as individually interesting, but they're just cool enough that it wasn't too bothersome (except Yuto. I kept forgetting him). The main issue is that having so many perspectives meant character arcs had less room to breathe.

The Art: With one major caveat, this is probably THE most beautiful CLAMP manga, ever. Very few pages have a traditional grid layout, with incredibly beautiful and inventive panelwork that bursts out and follows characters' emotions and dreams into consecutive pages of gorgeous spreads. Panels are layered but never visually messy and only enhance visual storytelling and meaning. The constant use of motifs and visual metaphor is, while unsubtle, just gorgeous that we become swept away in the grandeur of a new myth with swirling dragons consuming Earth. Water, feathers, sakura, ticking clocks and glass Earths lead the eye through dreams and inner worlds and even characterize entire interactions and distract from sometimes painfully repetitive dialogue. And the colour spreads and tarot cards are insane maximalist works of art. The fight scenes are illegible, but I don't think CLAMP knows how to solve this.

The character design is mostly memorable, transforming undeveloped personalities into fully realised characters, like Satsuki's bio-tech room - though Aoki and Fuuma look too similar. My caveat is I don't like the cuter look we get in the later volumes when they were influenced by other series they were drawing, though it still reads (Vol 1-10ish are the peak). Still, the art grants the story a mythos greater frankly, than what it ever achieved in its writing.

Questionable Elements: I've alluded that many CLAMP manga have a baseline sprinkle of sexism - not anymore than a lot of shojo, but something I'm more able to spot now than when I was a teen. X is decidedly more sexist. FIVE separate women are fridged to either help a male character and/or cause a male character pain, with Hokuto's being the worst because X strips her of so much agency to turn her into Kakyou's lost love. Arashi loses her power because she is no longer a virgin. Yuzuriha and Satsuki's arcs revolve around their male love interests. Kotori's writing is terrible (bless the anime for making her a PERSON) and Kanoe can definitely veer into hyper-sexualized fanservice in a way male characters aren't. I don't love how Karen's emotional worth culminates in becoming a mother. And Nataku lacking a soul because they weren't "born from a mother" sits poorly (plus being genderless because they're literally from a lab). X is one of my favourite CLAMP works, but it has a sexism issue and I think dismissing it as "well, it's a tragedy", fails to see the differences in how women are written and treated by the story, vs. the men.

The Ending: So, the elephant in the room is X has no ending. The anime and movie attempt to conclude things, to mixed effect: the anime ignores that Kamui's true wish is NOT to bring Fuuma back, and while the movie ending ties us back to X's inspiration Devilman, it feels mostly for shock. Ultimately, it doesn't matter because, how do you assess a story that is only 6/7 way told? I'm trying not to heavily speculate on whether the ending would have elevated or diminished X. In the end, I think X is still worth the read despite the lack of ending. As Subaru says, nothing will change and nothing will get better if you don't, but you will walk away changed if you do try it.

Overall: I've seen people say X is a series more to be experienced than to be read, and I both agree and don't. X is a visual tour de force, probably one of the most beautiful manga I have ever read and lessens MANY of its flaws. And it's true it doesn't stick all its story beats or character writing and perhaps, in hindsight, they might have written it smaller and more cohesive. But there is something beautifully human and raw and ugly and intimate at the heart of X, of human connection and shadow selves and self-destruction and free will, that really haunted me afterwards.

'X, despite its edginess, stands out from the drecks of misanthropic, apocalyptic, violent tales of dueling best friends for centering its story at the heart of the human soul. It remains deeply resonant and influential more than 30 years after it was started, and 20 years after it halted, and for that I would count it amongst CLAMP's best. It's a fascinating deconstruction of heroic sacrifice and selfless love and in so doing reaffirms human connection, individuality, and hope in the face of the apocalypse. The future, after all, is not yet decided.

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The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 5: CLAMP School Detectives

Part 1 (RG Veda) | Part 2 (Man of Many Faces) | Part 3 (Tokyo Babylon)| Part 4 (Duklyon)| Part 6 (Shirahime)| Part 7 (X)| Part 8 (Chunhyang) | Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)

I don't know about all of you, but one of my first fond fanfic-adjacent writing experiences was painstakingly creating a magical school rip-off story where mine and all my friends self-insert OCs could go on adventures. And we wrote all this by hand in a notebook! I bring this up because CLAMP School Detectives says so much about CLAMP's doujinshi roots and how that thinking, of a vast playground for their characters to mess around in, was going to shape their opus. I also bring it up because this is self-indulgence to its core, in the way the best and frankly, worst, of fanfiction is. Despite having an expanded anime adaptation, CLAMP School Detectives did not have the lasting cultural memory that their other adaptations did.

CLAMP School Detectives ran from 1992 to 1993, concurrent with all of their early series, and bridges several, with dozens of other references to their doujinshi and uncollected early abandoned works. It is out of print and only had a 2000s Tokyopop English release, of 3 volumes comprising 13 chapters. Again, I read this entirely online and wouldn't pick up a copy unless I wanted to be a completionist. "Spoilers", I guess?

Synopsis: Imonoyama Nokoru, Takamura Suoh, and Ijuin Akira are members of the Elementary School Student Board at CLAMP School. Nokoru has the incredible ability to detect when a woman needs help, and the three precocious children decide to form a detective team that solves the problems of fair maidens everywhere - if only Nokoru could get his paperwork done, to Suoh's despair!

The Story: If Dukylon and Man of Many Faces had barely a story, this is even less than that - it's a bunch of barely mysteries that the trio solve every chapter, with the finale being a flashback to explore Suoh and Nokoru's past and bond. It's a gag manga that relies on whether you think the gimmick of Nokoru being able to sense a woman in danger is funny, and find the little adventures cute, and it just did not land for me. It feels like an overly saccharine attempt at Enid Blyton type school boys solving mysteries (but in Japan), and it was just plain boring. Mostly because they're barely even mysteries - I felt cheated as a huge mystery lover! This is either going to read as really cute, or really boring to you, and it was the latter for me.

The Themes: Uhh.....help out fair maidens. It's a gag manga, if you're doing analysis on this, good for you, but I have a very packed life and I don't think CLAMP wants me to learn anything but "Nokoru cutie".

The Characters: The characters are largely enjoyable but quite plain. Nokoru is basically the perfect little elementary school boy dream, but it's done sweetly enough that he reads as funny rather than irritating. Suoh is textbook tsundere who devotes his life to Nokoru (Ashura & Yama you will always be famous), and Akira is ditzy. There's not much here beyond Nokoru secretly feeling distanced from people because he doesn't want to hurt others. If you like cute wacky elementary school stories, you'll like them. I found them fine. Though I did squeal in fondness when they showed up in X. CLAMP knows how to charm you despite yourself.

The Art: I find this some of CLAMP's weakest character design - Nokoru and Suoh look too similar to me beyond the colour palette, and the different women featured are unimaginative. It's overall decent art, but nothing special or groundbreaking. As someone who devoured RG Veda, Tokyo Babylon and even Man of Many Faces for just how damn pretty and creative they could get, it's lacklustre.

Questionable Elements: I don't know if this is a translation issue, but Nokoru's behaviour is referred to as "feminist", and it is not. This is Victorian era paternalism that women need taking care of and can't be held responsible for our actions because we're the emotional and fairer sex. While satirical, the sexism is still irritating. Also there's another "older person x literal minor bad, but only because older person is a woman". Are CLAMP ageist? One wonders.

Also. There is overt fascist imagery in CLAMP School Detectives:

CLAMP draws them in Nazi uniforms on another cover, and there are MULTIPLE images of the Rising Sun Flag (which is a symbol of fascist WW2 imperial Japan). It's abhorrent and there is much to discuss frankly about how fascist imagery is so ubiquitous in manga.

Overall: Putting aside the REALLY bad elements, CLAMP School Detectives is probably the most unmemorable so far of CLAMP's oeuvre. The characters are charming and the premise itself is not bad, but it never lands. It's a very cutesy, almost slice of life manga, which is just really not my thing because it never succeeds in at least being funny or exciting or anything substantial to linger on. Not something I'd recommend to anyone beyond devoted CLAMP fans, besides the adorable main trio. Say what you will but CLAMP really knows how to make you love their characters.

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The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 1: RG Veda

Part 2 (Man of Many Faces) | Part 3 (Tokyo Babylon) | Part 4 (Duklyon) | Part 5 (Clamp Detectives)| Part 6 (Shirahime)|Part 7 (X)| Part 8 (Chunhyang) | Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)

At the recommendation of a friend, I decided to pick up RG Veda. I've read a few CLAMP manga across the years, and had always been curious to read Tsubasa, but put it off because of all the meta. So this became an opportunity to try to get through their whole oeuvre.

I'm just putting my reviews on this blog since it's my "writing" blog. I read the 2016 Dark Horse omnibuses. RG Veda came out in 1989 and was CLAMP's first official work, spanning about 10 actual chapters, as they intended the work to fit exactly 10 volumes. Some spoilers!

Synopsis: Based so loosely off the Hindu and Buddhist versions of the Rigveda, 300 years ago, Taishakuten kills the God-King and the God of War Ashura and takes the throne of Heaven, ruling with an iron fist. But a prophecy arises that six stars will gather when Lord Yasha awakens Lord Ashura's child (also called Ashura), who will bring down Taishakuten. As the wheels of fate turn, Yasha and Ashura gather allies with their own reasons for fighting, and attempt to avert tragedy and find reason to live - but all is not as it seems regarding Ashura and the prophecy.

The Story: Is RG Veda cliche of every sword and sorcery adventure story? Yes. Does it compel me? Absolutely. It's dramatic and over the top and tragic. But once you settle into the fact that everything is larger than life and obsessed with destiny and love and other grand motifs, because this is a story of gods, I loved it. I want to read more sweeping comic epics. Some of the writing is cheesy but again, it works because the story knows it's not meant to be realistic! It's about the spectacle of this tale of the gods and their loves and sins.

The start of the story is clunky since you're dropped into this world with a lot of moving parts and characters, but it had just enough intrigue to keep me reading. The story has a real strong driving force since it's a race towards the palace to kill the God King, while also being rather non-linear as we jump between locations, time periods, and characters to create this incredibly high-fantasy world. It's a little self-indulgent in taking us on side adventures for character development or fun, but this never gets boring or frustrating, every side character contributes to the themes and the story feels like its building appropriately. This race against time while also avoiding tragedy that Ashura inevitably brings is a REALLY smart narrative device because it allows us character development and movement, and to contemplate the story's central questions. Three-for-one.

I'd say the only place the pacing falls apart is the ending, which is really rushed and has a TON of last minute revelations, which makes it hard to register everything. It still sticks the landing thematically, I just think it maybe needed more room to breathe to hit that poignant ending.

The Themes: It's really interesting to see even this early on, CLAMP already had certain themes they would continue to explore in their work: the immutability of fate and our natures, the power, both good and evil, of love, duty and promise, and selfishness vs. selflessness - with that further entangled by our own sense of identity and will to live. Pretty much every character expresses some contemplation of what it means to live and who they are, and whether their wishes or loves will inevitably jeopardize the world and themselves.

I wouldn't say RG Veda is philosophical, but it is mostly consistent in what it wanted to say and do, which is that love is the force that overturns fate, for good or ill, and that being loved by others and finding your community, can make life worth living despite its tragedy. Nobody deserves to be unwanted. There's also a lot of interesting interplay about our culpability in evil due to our birth, the duality within people, and holding onto our promises despite the destruction they cause (something they would deconstruct in later works, but that's stargazing).

The Characters: The characters are definitely highly archetypal but again, it works in the context of an attempt to write new mythology. I liked Ashura and Yasha decently, but they lacked complexity. I found Ashura's death-seeking nature compelling and wish it had been explored more in the conflict between being apocalyptic and unwanted. Yasha never quite grows beyond the stoic dark haired seme but I do think he had an interesting story for being a King that doomed his people to protect Ashura. The side characters are more complicated; I'm obsessed with the tragic pathetic nature of Taishakuten cannibalizing his lover to be with him yet lose him forever. I also really liked Kendappa, Kujaku, Kaara and Kumara, Ratetsu, and Karura and her sister. Ryuu was totally superfluous. Overall, it's clear they wrote most of the characters with the story and themes in mind, so I can't fault their archetypal nature since they are meant to be thematic rather than realistic.

The Art: The art is very late 80s shojo, which isn't an issue once I got past the anatomy (though some of the anatomy is really, glaringly off.). It's such a pretty manga with gorgeous and creative paneling that constantly breaks the grid, overlays panels, and transforms into gorgeous double page spreads, and really gives the sense of a sweeping epic. The backgrounds are especially nice, as well as the costume design, everything is richly detailed and feels beautiful and dreamy. While CLAMP only knows how to draw one face, the character designs are still distinguishable and memorable. There are some issues with readability during action scenes but having read some of their other works, it's clear that's their weakness. Some of the more elaborate panels are lost in detail, but overall, it's pretty.

Questionable Elements: Ashura having no sex so that they can't reproduce and "pass on sin" is iffy to me. Yasha/Ashura is also hmm because Ashura is 300, but stuck in a child's body to protect the world. Yasha raises Ashura and loves Ashura for who they are, so its clear from the ending (and Tsubasa) they're meant to be lovers, but also the relationship is said to be father-child. It's definitely icky and while I understand thematically what they were trying to do with having Ashura be in a child form vs adult form for most of the series, they could have just made him an amnesiac adult the whole time. Ugh. Also, while I adore Kendappa/Souma, it does play into the over-emotional psycho lesbian trope. But CLAMP in general has a poor track record with lesbians (more on that later).

There’s also a discussion to be had on their choice to pull from the Rigveda and their approach to South Asian culture. Please see the discussion here for my thoughts in full on it and discussion on cultural appropriation, but in short, I don’t believe it’s cultural appropriation to make a fantasy pastiche world, but it’s a sad and telling missed opportunity that South Asian culture remains of little interest to Japanese media while being included in their world building.

Overall: A beautiful, entertaining, tragic spectacle that tries to create a sweeping mythological epic that mostly sticks the landing, with some truly interesting characterizations going on. Some heavy pacing issues at the start and end, and it's not groundbreaking or necessarily progressive, but worth a read all the same, if nothing for the incredible panelwork, the mythopoetic scale, and the unique ultra-high fantasy world. Definitely a new CLAMP favourite for me.

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The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 4: Duklyon: CLAMP School Defenders

Part 1 (RG Veda) | Part 2 (Man of Many Faces) | Part 3 (Tokyo Babylon)| Part 5 (Clamp Detectives)| Part 6 (Shirahime)| Part 7 (X)| Part 8 (Chunhyang) | Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)

Let's go a bit backwards in time to their fourth work, Duklyon: CLAMP School Defenders. It ran from 1991 to 1993, concurrent with all series mentioned in my past review, and in the same world as Tokyo Babylon/ X. It feels like the real start of CLAMP's interest with shared universes, meta-textuality, and self-reference, because so much of this series is tied to your knowledge of their other work. Proto-Tsubasa? Maybe that's a bit too much credit.

Like Man of Many Faces, I had never known this existed. It had no anime adaptation (but 1 drama CD). It's out of print and was released in English by Tokyopop in the early 2000s, in two volumes comprised of 13 chapters. I read this entirely online and like with Man of Many Faces, am not likely to ever get a physical copy unless I feel like completing my collection. "Spoilers", in the loosest sense of the word.

Synopsis: Higashikunimaru Kentarou and Shukaido Takeshi are freshmen students who lead double lives as masked sentai superheroes Duklyon, protecting CLAMP School from evil! Aided by the General and the fiery Eri Chusonji, they've got to fight the fiendish Imonoyama Shopping District from world domination (and also keep being main characters in their own story!).

The Story: Listen, this is a gag manga in the purest sense of the word. It starts off mocking the repetitive nature of tokatsu and kaiju shows, which made the first volume a slog. Satirizing repetition by being repetitive is not actually funny. Volume 2 improved by introducing a wacky alien love triangle and more CLAMP self-referential humour, which did land. The manga overall feels random and aimless, and while the latter chapters do manage to pull things together, the earlier chapters really struggle. The satire isn't particularly striking or witty, it's meant to ~cRaZy and poking fun for long-term fans. I'd rate this below average. When it leans into breaking the fourth wall and mocking themselves, it lands. When it parodies Super Sentai by just...being Super Sentai, it's a poor copy.

The Themes: There are no themes here. This is light and playful and silly and a way for CLAMP to poke fun at all the genres they like. I have learnt nothing from this and I think Takeshi and Kentarou would be proud of me.

The Characters: One thing I'm realising in these CLAMP re-reads is 1) the strength of CLAMP's character writing elevates their weaker material, and 2) they copy earlier character templates into newer characters. Takeshi and Kentarou are prototype Watanuki and Doumeki "stop saying we're close but actually they're in love". And it is charming to experience the second (first?) time, especially the flash-forward at the end where they're married (almost). I prefer the put-upon, fourth wall breaking Takeshi between the two, but their dynamic really holds things together. Sukiyabashi is pretty good as a fail villain with even more fail hair. There's nothing deep about the characters, but they're entertaining and carry the paper-thin plot.

The Art: It's competently drawn, comprehensible visual storytelling, and the detailing on the Sentai suits are pretty well-done (though something about how the codpiece connects to the legs bothers me anatomically). I do love the tokatsu villain costuming, but otherwise the character designs are quite plain. It was actually a little difficult to distinguish Takeshi and Kentarou at first. Like Man of Many Faces, it's fine, it gets the job done, but its lacking compared to CLAMP at their best. The colour spreads aren't even that fun!

Questionable Elements: I do think it's funny this is the ONE CLAMP series where an adult person-teenager relationship is treated as gross, and it's (so far) the only one where the adult is a woman and the teenager is a boy. Something something ageism misogyny. But otherwise there's really nothing to talk about here. Eri is portrayed as a lovesick harpy but it's mild, as sexism in shojo goes.

Overall: I can see why Duklyon is an obscure CLAMP work. Where Man of Many Faces had sweet charm to carry it, Duklyon treads the more fickle ground of comedy, and it just doesn't always work. There's some genuinely funny moments here, and I do like Takeshi and Kentarou, but I don't think it's a necessary read for anyone but the most dedicated of CLAMP fans. CLAMP can write a really dumb funny bit when they want to, but that's about it.

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The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 2: Man of Many Faces

Part 1 (RG Veda)| Part 3 (Tokyo Babylon) | Part 4 (Duklyon) | Part 5 (Clamp Detectives)| Part 6 (Shirahime)| Part 7 (X)| Part 8 (Chunhyang) | Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)

Onto the next work in CLAMP's oeuvre, Man of Many Faces (technically the translated title should be 20 Faces, Please!!). This ran from 1990 to 1991, and it is wild to think that it was running concurrently with RG Veda (and Tokyo Babylon!) because it is SO tonally different. It is also technically CLAMP's first foray into shonen, running in Newtype magazine, although it feels like it's aimed younger. I had never knew it existed! It's one of the few CLAMP manga with no anime adaptations (it did have 2 drama CDs).

It's out of print and was released in English by Tokyopop in the early 2000s, in two volumes comprised of 11 chapters. I read this entirely online and would probably only hunt down a physical copy if I'm feeling like being a completionist. Spoilers? I guess?

Synopsis: Ijuin Akira is a precocious 9 year old at CLAMP School who leads a double life as the gentleman thief 20 Masks/Faces. As 20 Faces, Akira steals beautiful objects to satisfy the whims of his kleptomaniac two mothers. One day, Akira ends up in the bedroom of 5 year old Okawa Utako, sparking off a romantic comedy due to his double life and the nature of love!

The Story: There really....isn't one. Whatever it bills itself as, this is not a heist story. Man of Many Faces is pure fluff, basically a gag manga, which is what makes it so crazy that it was concurrent with the dark, fatalistic fantasy of RG Veda and the tragic urban fantasy of Tokyo Babylon - did CLAMP need a cute comedy as a mental break?

The chapters have a similar structure: Akira's two mothers spot something and cry "we want it!". Akira goes after the object and ends up entangled with Utako as they overcome the next (very low stakes) obstacle in their relationship. Akira often gets advice from his uncle and school pediatrician Akechi Shigetaka, while narrowly escaping his next door neighbour Kobayashi Ryusuke, who acts as the Inspector Javert. Along the way, he and Utako mediate on love and what makes a good man and good bride.

The story ends with the two getting married and still working to make sure that their relationship is always loving and new. It's a light, charming read (I was able to read the whole thing in about an hour) and it did make me smile a few times. The Christmas episode is particularly cute. Otherwise, the story is fine, just enough to string together the story that it doesn't implode from meandering fluff.

The Themes: Despite being so divorced from their serious works, I'd actually say you can see a lot of what would come to be CLAMP's attitude towards love - what makes a good love? Can love last forever and overcome all barriers? Are people destined for each other, and if so, does that make love easy? Some of the waxing poetic is very silly (Akechi once quotes the plot of Some Like It Hot, yes, the Marilyn Monroe film, to give advice) and very questionable, but there are some surprisingly nuanced takes too.

Namely, you are entitled to your feelings (very CLAMP), that nobody can fully know another person's heart (hello Tokyo Babylon) so we must remember we are two people and not lose ourselves in each other (X 1999??), be understanding and kind, and that love and people will change, and love is about meeting that new person each day, which is shockingly mature for CLAMP, who I had always taken to be rather fatalistic and immature in their romantic attitudes. I definitely walked away thinking that I hoped these two kids made it.

The Characters: It's an 11 chapter gag manga - the characters are thinly written. That doesn't mean they aren't charming. Utako is a rich brat but an adorable one, and Akira's maybe polyamorous mothers are very funny. Akechi and Ryusuke are especially funny, and Akira's father definitely leaves an impression. Akira himself is rather boring, he's a Mamoru with even less personality (interestingly this predates Sailor Moon by 2 years, but you can't read it without thinking of Tuxedo Mask!). They all serve their purpose, are funny and cute enough, but you're not going to be left contemplating them either.

The Art: It's very 90s shojo in style (despite being marketed for shonen) so it is competently drawn, comprehensible visual storytelling, and nice to look at, but it is not particularly transcendent, especially by CLAMP standards. The only time they really shine is in the splash pages, which are sooo delightfully sweet. Akira's mothers are very pretty, and Utako is cute, but the character designs are unremarkable despite the nice outfits. It also hits one of my irritations, which is that the backgrounds are very ill-defined and replaced by patterned screentones. In short, it is fine.

Questionable Elements: The way gender roles was discussed did not sit right with me. This was written in the 1990s in Japan so I am not surprised it is so "woman are emotional and crazy and end up as housewives" and shojo like it or not has a lot of sexism baked in so it didn't shock me, but it is disappointing and can make some of the advice and comments touted unpleasant. Also I see you CLAMP with Utako's first love being her teacher - at least he rejects her!

Overall: A little sidetrack in CLAMP's oeuvre as sweet as the pastries our couple enjoy. It's got enough genuine charm to get it across the line into enjoyable, but it's also perfectly obvious why it remains one of their most obscure works - you'll end with a smile, but it won't change your life. I wouldn't personally recommend it to anyone except diehard CLAMP fans. It's a nice sugary treat for a quick read and doesn't overstay its welcome, but only just.