A book of “light” reading, despite its physical size.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: CLAMP
Translation/Adaptation: William Flanagan
What They Say
Syaoran and his companions continue their inter-dimensional travels in order to restore the memories of Princess Sakura, and this time, they find themselves having adventures in two exciting and mystery-filled worlds. They first come to Jade Country–—cold, snow-covered land where the town of Spirit lives in fear of the legend of a 300-year-old princess who has been stealing the townspeople’s children. Following this, our worlds-spanning adventurers find themselves in Oto, where, to earn money, they become hunters of demonic creatures called Oni. Will they be able to find more pieces of Princess Sakura’s fragmented memories as they continue on through new and increasingly perilous worlds?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I really give CLAMP as many tries as possible. I want to love their work as much of America does, but nearly every time I end up disappointed. What’s the cause? Am I missing something, or is CLAMP just overrated? In trying to answer these questions, I always end up coming back to another one of their works—in this case, “Tsubasa Reservior Chronicle,” a series that makes me think of Gaia Online and Mokona hats. (One day when we’ve invented a machine to erase memories, I’ll purge Gaia Online and my 12-year-old self from my memory.)
In all honesty, though, I came into this series trying to keep an open mind, thinking perhaps it would be a fun foray that, several volumes later, would surprise me with its sudden depth of character. From my reading of Omnibus 2, the first part of that statement appropriately fits while the second part has yet to come true. So far the series is not particularly gratifying or profound, but it somewhat delights my more childish desire for fantasy: I look forward to every time the characters travel to a new dimension. The possibilities! Just imagine where they could go next! The dimensions featured in this omnibus aren’t very creative, but I can still say I enjoyed them, and they’re far better than the dimensions featured in the first three volumes.
Omnibus 2, a.k.a. Volumes 4 through 6, sticks to the pattern already established: travel, solve the town/city’s problem, and obtain Sakura’s feather, rinse and repeat. Throughout this process, there’s hardly little revealed about the central characters, so there’s no reason yet to really care about them at all. As such, it’s difficult to care about the series at all, unless the reader dulls their brain enough to ride the waves of oversimplified action sequences until something a little new happens. Jade Country was at least somewhat appealing to me since it drew from a Beauty and the Beast-type fairytale land. Oto had the added bonus of introducing more abstract, interesting problems with a more concrete “system” of fighting. Plus, the end of the omnibus introduces a new character whom Syaoran knows and did not expect to find, thus perhaps finally complicating the backstory of our protagonist.
I have always found myself conflicted by CLAMP’s art, and “Tsubasa” is no exception. I love how their style invokes Japanese woodblock printing on a more basic, aesthetic level, but I have grown to hate how they draw “yaoi arms” proportions for their characters. On one hand, by choosing to draw their characters consistently in such a way, they have branded their own style, one easily recognizable and brilliant from a marketing standpoint. On the other hand, it’s simply bizarre, even funny, how much Syaoran resembles Gumby in full-body shots. There’s a point at which the exaggerated length of the proportions doesn’t work in CLAMP’s favor, and “Tsubasa” is that point.
In Summary
Don’t go into this series expecting anything but light entertainment, and you will avoid (most) of your disappointment. Whereas if you’re looking for a profound series with fleshed-out characters, avoid “Tsubasa” like the plague: the characters themselves are as thin as paper and rigidly adhere to their action-fantasy archetypes. So far the plot is flimsy as well, but at least CLAMP leaves it open to possibility, intriguing its audience with interdimensional travels, new scenarios, and a host of familiar crossover characters. While right now the series feels lackluster, there’s so little still explored that it’s completely possible for the plot to expand and flourish in the future. Given that the series is wildly popular, I’m betting it gets better—a lot better, I hope.
Content Grade: C+
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Kodansha
Release Date: November 11th, 2014
MSRP: $19.99
