Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

AUTHOR:Clamp

ARTIST: Mokona Apapa (illustrator); Tsubaki Nekoi (illustrator); Satsuki Igarashi (illustrator)

PUBLISHER: Kodansha (Japanese); Random House (English)

FIRST SERIAL PUBLICATION:Tsubasa: Rezaboa kuronikuru, 2003-2009

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 2003-2009 (English translation, 2004-2010)

Publication History

By 2002, the four-woman manga artists’ collective known as Clamp (which includes Nanase Ohkawa, Mokona Apapa, Tsubaki Nekoi, and Satsuki Igarashi) decided to create a new series that would bring together some of their previous characters from other series. These characters were given new backstories, though, making them quite different from their originals.

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle began publication in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine in May, 2003. The manga’s two main characters came from Clamp’s previous series, Cardcaptor Sakura (1996-2000); however, they were both aged to late adolescents and featured completely new origins.

At the same time, Clamp began the series xxxHolic (2003-2011) in Young Magazine. Its two main characters were given important supporting roles in Tsubasa, encouraging readers to follow both series. The four artists of Clamp managed to deliver the weekly output of both series.

The success of Tsubasa led to the collection of its 232 episodes into twenty-eight books. Unique for manga, Kodansha offered both regular and deluxe editions of the books. The deluxe version featured additional colorized pages. The two book editions were published simultaneously from August, 2003, to November, 2009.

In the United States, Random House published the twenty-eight-book regular volumes under its imprint Del Rey Manga from April, 2004, to November, 2010. The American version stayed faithful to the manga format, reading from right to left, with the book spine on the right.

Plot

With Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Clamp wanted to create a manga for young boys from elementary school to middle school. Midway through the series, major plot twists turned it into a manga for somewhat older readers.

Tsubasa opens in the fantasy Kingdom of Clow. Syaoran is a young archaeologist who continues the work of his late father. He is friends with Princess Sakura, who is in love with him. On a trip to ruins that are the subject of an archaeological dig, Sakura looks at a strange seal on the ground. Suddenly, she is attacked by a horde of black clad men, who steal her wings (wings representing her soul and memories). She is left in a coma. The next few panels reveal that a strange man and his female assistant are behind the maneuver. Much later, the series reveals them to be the evil wizard Fei-Wang Reed, the antagonist of the series, and his helper Xing Huo.

To save Sakura, Syaoran lets himself be transported to another world in another dimension by Clow’s High Priest Yukita; the world is actually Japan. There, Syaoran meets the space-time witch Yuko Ichihara. The witch helps people for the price of what is most dear to them. Syaoran gives up Sakura’s memories of him in return for a chance to save her. During the quest, he is joined by two young men from two other worlds. One is an uptight young ninja, Kurogane, who was sent away by his queen, Tomoyo, to cure him of his eruptions of violence. The third associate is a young wizard, Fai D. Flowright, who wishes to travel as far away from his king as possible. To facilitate their travels, Yuko creates a cute little creature that looks like a happy rabbit, called Mokona Modoki.

To save Sakura, the band of three unlikely allies must collect as many of the white feathers that contain fragments of Sakura’s soul as possible. They travel to many strange worlds in different dimensions. Each world provides the setting for an individual story arc. Typically, all worlds feature strong fantasy elements.

When the first white feather is secured, Sakura wakes up. Each new feather brings back more of her memory, excluding those of her love for Syaoran. Sakura begins to develop new feelings for Syaoran independent of her past memories.

After a series of feather-hunting subplots on different worlds, Clamp shocks readers with the first of many major plot twists. On a world resembling a postcatastrophic Tokyo, it is revealed that Syaoran is actually a clone. At the root of all the problems is the evil sorcerer Fei-Wang Reed. Jealous of the magic powers of his antagonist, Clow Reed, Fei-Wang Reed imprisoned the original Syaoran and cloned him. This happened when the original Syaoran first visited Clow and tried to rescue Sakura from a death curse placed on her by Fei-Wang.

The original Syaoran managed to endow the clone with part of his heart, sealed behind the clone’s right eye, to humanize him. As this seal breaks during a fight, the clone becomes the unthinking tool of Fei-Wang Reed. Just before this happens, the original Syaoran managed to escape, travel to Japan, and have Yuko unite him with the clone’s group around Sakura.

The original Syaoran fails to kill the evil clone. Under a spell from Fei-Wang Reed, Fai Flowright tries to kill the original Syaoran. Sakura takes Fai’s blow instead. This splits her body and soul, sending the two parts into two different dimensions. The clone kills Sakura’s soul to get at her feathers, which was his mission all along. Just before her soul dies, Sakura reveals that she, too, is a clone of the original Sakura, now in Fei-Wang’s power.

The original Syaoran and his allies travel to an alternate version of the Kingdom of Clow. There, they face Fei-Wang Reed. In the course of battles, Fei-Wang destroys both clones. Fei-Wang also revives Yuko, whom Clow Reed froze in time to prevent her death. This means Fei-Wang’s magic has become stronger than Clow’s.

Before dying again, Yuko uses her new life to revive the clones of Syaoran and Sakura. These clones give birth to a boy who turns out to be the original Syaoran, creating a time paradox. Finally, the original Syaoran, Kurogane, and Fai Flowright confront Fei-Wang Reed. The original Sakura awakens and joins the fight. Kurogane kills Fei-Wang. As their price for this, Syaoran must continue to travel through space and time. Only occasionally can he meet the original Sakura, who must stay in Clow to keep chaos at bay. The clones turn into two feathers as Fei-Wang dies. Kurogane and Fai decide to accompany Syaoran on his journeys.

Just as he is about to depart, Syaoran tells Sakura that his real name is Tsubasa, the word for “wings” in Japanese. This finally explains the title of the series, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. All the worlds visited serve as a reservoir for the feathers of Sakura’s wings stolen in the beginning.

Volumes

• Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Volume 1 (2004). Collects the first five episodes. Introduces Syaoran and Sakura and launches the series.

• Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Volumes 2-14 (2004-2007). Each volume collects from eight to nine episodes, up to episode 108. The protagonists travel from one fantastic world to the next to recover feathers of Sakura’s soul. Her personality grows back with each feather.

• Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Volume 15-16 (2007, 2008). Collect episodes 109 to 124. Clamp surprises their readers with the major plot twist that Syaoran is actually a clone made by Fei-Wang Reed. This completely upsets the story.

• Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Volumes 17-27 (2008-2010). Collect episodes 125 to 219. The story turns to the fight against Fei-Wang Reed. Clamp adds twist after twist to the plot, including the fact that Sakura is also a clone. The series moves from a young-male-adult to an older–male-adult audience.

• Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Volume 28(2010). The final volume collects episodes 220 to 232, and resolves all plot twists. Syaoran must continue his journey, but his two male friends join him, making for an open ending.

Characters

• Syaoran, the apparent protagonist, is an adolescent boy with light brown hair that is drawn as white when not featured on color covers. He is of medium height, making him the shortest of his friends. He is in love with Princess Sakura. In the beginning, he wears trademark goggles to protect him from the sands of Clow, and he often wears a trench coat. The manga reveals that he is a clone of the original Syaoran. Destroyed but resurrected by the space-time witch, he and clone Sakura become parents of the original Syaoran.

• Syaoran, a.k.a. Tsubasa, the true protagonist. He is a teenager who looks and dresses just like his clone. In the middle of the manga, he escapes his imprisonment to hunt down his clone. His price for being part of killing Fei-Wang is to travel the universe forever. He can see his true love, the original Sakura, only occasionally.

• Sakura, love interest of Syaoran, is the teenage Princess of Clow. She has red hair that is drawn as white in the manga. She often wears a short-sleeved blouse with round chest ornaments, a short skirt, and sometimes a long cape. She is robbed of her memories, represented by white wings. Later revealed to be a clone, she dies, is resurrected, and gives birth to the original Syaoran. She dies again when Fei-Wang does.

• Sakura, original princess of Clow, is the same age as her clone and is dressed like her as well. She awakens during the final fight against Fei-Wang. She waits on Clow for Syaoran’s visits.

• Fei-Wang Reed, the antagonist, is an evil wizard. He is an older man and wears a monocle. His hair is black with long sideburns and two strands of white hair that look like devil’s horns. His quest for power triggers and fuels the plot.

• Kurogane, supporter of Syaoran, is a young ninja dressed in black. He has a short, fierce temper and comes from the world of medieval Japan. He is sent on his journey by his mistress, Queen Tomoyo, to protect him from Fei-Wang Reed. Kurogane kills the evil sorcerer and volunteers to accompany the original Syaoran on his eternal journey.

• Fai D. Flowright, supporter of Syaoran, is a gangly young wizard with blue eyes, the source of his magic powers, and a white-blond mane of hair. Good-natured and a steady friend of Syaoran, he loves to tease Kurogane. As a child, he was given the identity of his twin, who has been killed by Fei-Wang. Fai resumes his original name of Yui as he accompanies Syaoran in the end.

• Yuko Ichihara is a powerful sorceress called the space-time witch. She appears to be in her twenties but is of indefinite age because of her magic background. She wears black. At her shop in Tokyo, she grants people their wishes for what is most dear to them.

• Mokona Modoki, the comic sidekick of the three protagonists, is a funny-looking, rabbitlike creature with a jewel on its forehead, drawn like a Pokémon character.

Artistic Style

When the four-woman mangaka collective Clamp began work on Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, the weekly series was designed for a young male audience. Clamp decided to simplify their typical panel layouts and use broader strokes in the drawings of characters and backgrounds. The characters were drawn in classic manga style. The alien worlds, particularly the ruins and palaces of Clow, tend to look roughly executed.

The interplay between the major characters drawn by Apapa, and the supporting cast and backgrounds created by Nekoi and Igarashi, worked well visually, showing no stylistic breaks. Clamp maintained its fluid organization of panels. Panels rarely correspond to the classic arrangement, almost breaking out of the page at climactic moments.

The drawing of wings and feathers, to support the series’ key theme, is prevalent throughout. The wings tend to be rather stylized and can be observed in various architectural elements, such as the palace and ruins of Clow. Evil Fei-Wang Reed sports an emblem of two dark wings on the front of his black robe.

At times, readers were confused by the detail and exuberance of the manga’s many fight scenes. It requires some careful scrutiny to figure out the exact movements of a battle, what weapon hits where and with what impact. Stark contrast of black and white is often used for fight scenes. Romantic interludes tend to rely on shades of gray.

As the series progressed, Clamp reverted to its more mature, trademark Artistic style. Combined with a more complex plot, the artwork became more chiseled. Close-ups of characters appeared to take up central space.

Themes

As Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle begins, the key theme is the journey of three unlikely companions to save the soul of the woman one of them loves. It is a classic quest story. The series presents the idea that through a strong, communal effort, mishaps can be reversed, and a bad situation can be rectified.

The plot around Yuko concerns the theme that to gain one’s ideal one has to be ready to make a major sacrifice. All three characters on the journey to save Sakura must separate from what they hold most dear. The themes of self-sacrifice, self-discipline, and goal orientation are highlighted.

The manga is also a classic adventure story. Working from the plot premise of collecting Sakura’s feathers from different worlds, the creation of each new world allows Clamp to visualize strange, fantastic environments that often bear some thematic connections to modern Japan. The first world visited, the Republic of Hanshin, can be read as a satire of Japanese obsession with perfection. The postcatastrophic Tokyo exemplifies the popular theme of life after an apocalypse.

Finally, the theme of life as a journey is used to close the series. In a fashion not untypical of a manga series, there is little closure; instead, there is the promise of new beginnings. Ironically, the new start does look somewhat like a continuation of the old. It seems that the theme of the circularity of life is given more prominence than in Western comics.

Impact

In Japan and the United States, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle was welcomed because it promised to include many of Clamp’s popular characters from their other series, albeit in a new story. In the beginning, readers liked Syaoran’s commitment to save Sakura. The series proved popular because of the different adventures of the three protagonists.

The manga became famous for its dramatic plot twists. The more plot twists Clamp offered in the second half of the series, the more they astounded, and mostly delighted, their readers. There was some criticism that the plot twists were too many. Some critics complained that the twists were insufficiently motivated and executed, and that they merely led to confusion.

But Clamp’s audacious experiment paid off well. Also successful was their idea to link the fantasy world of Tsubasa andxxxHolic, set in contemporary Japan. Yuko’s magic shop, which links the two series, was well liked by fans. Since Clamp began as a fan enterprise, they kept an astute eye on the series’ appeal among readers. At one point, story writer Ohkawa admits that the focus of the series was shifted from horror to mystery to keep in tune with audience preferences. As a result of the series’ popularity, the original Japanese run of the Tsubasa book volumes, both in the normal and deluxe edition, exceeded a remarkable twenty million copies sold.

Films

Tsubasa the Movie: The Princess in the Country of Birdcages. Directed by Itsuro Kawasaki. Clamp/Dentsu/FUNimation Entertainment, 2005. This thirty-five-minute animated film stars the voices of Miyu Irino as Syaoran and Yui Makino as Sakura. The film features the key characters of the manga in an original story about searching for a feather containing Sakura’s memory on a different world.The film was not written by Clamp and received mixed critical reviews.

Television Series

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. Directed by Koichi Mashimo, et al. Bee Train/Clamp/FUNimation Entertainment, 2005-2006. The series starred the voices of Irino as Syaoran and Makino as Sakura. It ran for two seasons, with a total of fifty-two episodes. It was written by Hiroyuki Kawasaki and stayed fairly close to the original manga. The episodes cover the search for Sakura’s feathers on different worlds, before the revelation that Syaoran is a clone.

Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations. Directed by Akiko Honda, Shunsuke Tada, and Hideyo Yamamoto. Production I.G., 2007. One of two original video animation series. This was not aired on television but was sold straight to video. It was written by Clamp author Ohkawa. It comprises three episodes, which reveal that Syaoran is a clone and feature his fight with the original Syaoran.

Tsubasa Chronicle: Spring Thunder. Directed by Shunsuke Tada. Clamp/FUNimation Entertainment/Kodansha, 2009.Created by the same team as the first direct-to-video release, this film takes the story forward to the apparent death of clone Sakura and ends just before the climactic battle against Fei-Wong Reed.

Further Reading

Clamp. Cardcaptor Sakura (1996-2000).

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. xxxHolic (2004-2011).

Bibliography

Johnson-Woods, Toni, ed. Manga: An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives. New York: Continuum, 2010.

Raitery, Steve. “Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 1.” Library Journal 129 (September 1, 2004): 128.

Reed, Calvin. “Comics Bestsellers.” Publishers Weekly 254 (July 9, 2007): 16.

Solomon, Charles. “Four Mothers of Manga Gain American Fans With Expertise in a Variety of Visual Styles.” The New York Times, November 28, 2006.