Manga: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle

[Buffalobiian]

Sakura is the princess of Clow kingdom, which is ruled by her older brother, King Toya. Her childhood friend Syaoran is a young archaeologist. Sakura is revealed to have strange powers when she has a vision of a mysterious symbol and places she has never seen. Meanwhile, Syaoran discovers the same symbol at the ruins he is excavating. He sees Sakura standing on the symbol on the ground. Ghostly wings appear on her back and a mysterious force begins to pull her into the walls of the ruins. Syaoran rescues her in time, but her wings are scattered across dimensions. The High Priest of Clow Kingdom, Yukito, immediately realizes that Sakura's "wings" were the manifestation of her soul and memories; without them, she will die. In order to save Sakura, Syaoran must journey to retrieve her wing's feathers, the fragments of her memories. (Sakura. Syaoran, Toya, Yukito and the Clow comes from another Clamp anime series, Cardcaptor Sakura)

Yukito sends Syaoran and the unconscious Sakura to the Dimensional Witch, Yuko, who is one of the main characters in xxxHolic. There he meets Kurogane, a rough-mannered ninja banished from his world by Princess Tomoyo, and Fay D. Flourite, a magician who fled his world to avoid King Ashura. Each of them must pay with what he values most in order to gain the power to cross dimensions. For Kurogane, it is his sword Ginryu, and for Fay, it is the tattoo on his back which regulates his control of his magic. Syaoran, on the other hand, must pay with his relationship with Sakura: even if he is able to retrieve all of her memories, she will never remember anything about him or their relationship. (This sacrifice also pays Sakura's "toll" to Yuko, because what Sakura values most are her memories of and with Syaoran.) Only when the three agree to her terms does Yuko present them with the power to cross dimensions; a white creature named Mokona Modoki.

While traversing through worlds to find Sakura's feathers, the four travellers and Mokona are forced to overcome many dangers and opponents, some of whom are figures from Syaoran's past who wish to collect Sakura's feathers for their own reasons as they are seen to be objects that hold great power.

The manga adopts darker and more complex tones in the latter half of the story.

Because of the crossover characters with xxxHolic, the two manga occasionally intertwine with each other.

~Manga Traders

Files available here: http://www.mangatraders.com/manga/series/255

Anyone following this besides me and Zell?

Newest chapter (216) was confusing. The magic circle lead me to believe the two in the jar are Sakura and Syaoran from Card Captor Sakura, but them appearing in Tsubasa clothing was a weird one.

Overall though, still very enjoyable. It'd be even better if we bounce ideas off each other, for those who can get their head around this :S.

[RyougaZell]

And yes. Those are CCS Sakura and Syaoran.
Their wish to Yuuko, in order to help their son, had them pay with their lives literally. Their time was rewinded and they were trapped within the tube. So, therefore, the Sakura and Syaoran at the very beginning of the manga are those of CCS.

Yuuko explained how their relatives left them in her care. Touya and Yukito.

[Buffalobiian]

Ah, that explains Touya and Yukito's frame.

I started with the anime, then went over to the the manga though....so I guess I missed the beginning of that. I might just pop over back to chap 1 to see what happened.

[RyougaZell]

The manga doesn't really show that much in the beginning different from the anime. It took all by surprise, the sudden twist.

But it also clearly explains how Watanuki (xxxHOLiC) is parentless, for Sakura and Syaoran are trapped. Remember that Watanuki was 'born' with the wish that sent Syaoran to the other kingdom, in order to rewind time. In escence... he is half of the real Syaoran Jr (his real name was never released...)

Overall this manga has been an interesting fanservice. I wish Chapter 217 was coming out this week, but CLAMP decided to take yet another break after a major chapter. Damn them.

Both Tsubasa and xxxHoLiC are scheduled to end this year, before CLAMP debutes their new shoujo manga.

Wish they decided to continue X already instead...

[RyougaZell]

Wow... just wow...

This page on xxxHoLiC held a LOT of impact

http://onemanga.com/xxxHolic/177/08/

[Buffalobiian]

Yeah. Bit late now, but I guess reading xxxHolic and Tsubasa Chronicles in parallel would have been the way to go. That settles it that it's CCS Sakura and Syaoran for me now.

[RyougaZell]

You do know WHO Watanuki really is, do you Bill?

[Buffalobiian]

You do know WHO Watanuki really is, do you Bill?

I can't quite remember. He was Syaoran's other half or something right? The shadow/clone created to take his place when he chose to reverse/freeze time to stay with 7yr old Sakura, hence he was seeing the mum and dad he never remembered in that scene.

Do correct me if I'm wrong.

[RyougaZell]

Correct! The essence left behind when Syaoran Jr wished to return time.
It held a LOT of impact for Watanuki to see them for the first time, even if he didn't recognize them, his body did.

Damn... I think I need to buy the Tsubasa manga now...

[RyougaZell]

Oh god.
Chapter 217.

I came...

[Buffalobiian]

I'm mindf*ed...

Okay...right now, right here, there are 2 Sakuras and 2 Syaorans.

1 pair was here originally (7yr old Sakura who's been frozen in time, and Son Syaoran)
2 others just appeared in a non-bloodied fashion (adult Sakura & Syaoran in Tsubasa clothing).

So now Adult Sakura had a dream where CCS Sakura gave her her staff....so..who's Adult Sakura?

I was confused at who made the containing spaces too, but it looks like:

Adult Sakura summoned one encasing her and 7yr old Sakura
CCS? Syaoran summoned one encasing him and his Son
Fye saw them and did likewise, protecting him, Kurogane and Mokono.

[RyougaZell]

I didn't really understood the part with the staff either. But it did seem like Adult Sakura dreamed about her own younger self from Junior High, since the clothes are the same from the CCS ending. Scratch that, I saw the scene again... its yet another Sakura, or the clone Sakura visiting CCS Adult Sakura in yet another paradox. But if Tsubasa also travels through time its plausible.

The growing number of Sakura's is overwhelming my brain... lol.

I think you nailed who summoned which space. Nice touch seeing Watanuki here as well.

And nothing can beat Sakura's "Zettai Daijoubu" phrase, even if got translated differently in both mangas. I believe they used "Everything will surely be alright" during the CCS subbing days.

[Buffalobiian]

he growing number of Sakura's is overwhelming my brain... lol.

Haha, same. After reading that, I tried remembering exactly what happened to each of the Sakuras we've met. I thought I nailed it down once, but now I'm not so sure (or I've forgotten).

7yr old Sakura is THE Tsubasa (aka Clow country) Sakura.
Real Sakura was a Sakura living in an alternate Clow country storyline when Son Syaoron froze the other timeline.
When Real Sakura fell through those ruins in the first few chapters, she went to Fei Wong, and was replaced by Clone Sakura. Clone Sakura was mistaken as the Real and journeyed along with them. If memory serves right, she died in the Nippon arc, right?

Real Syaoron was sent to Clow Kingdom because his Dad told him to. He met 7yr old Sakura, froze time, and chose to keep reliving it, right? He left to find a way to save 7yr old Sakura and got captured by Fei Wong.

Fei Wong created a clone of him, and sent Clone Syaoran ??back??

This back part was one that I didn't quite get. Where did he send him? Because when he got sent there, time was moving. The architect adopted him, they met "little Real Sakura" for the first time and so on......

Was that really some alternate timeine? I don't get the connection between that Clow Kingdom and the one that keeps repeating the same day.
-----------------------------
I also forgot the reason why when Fye/Kurogane showed up at timelocked-Clow Kingdom, with each repeating cycle, the number of citizens decreased.....

/brainmelt

This manga needs a guidebook.

[RyougaZell]

I wonder if any of this connections have anything to do with the small Sakura that appeared on the Tokyo Arc in the OVAS (she wasn't in the manga)


Ok... my own take on the Sakura's and Syaoran's.

CCS Sakura - The Adult one on Chapter 217 who had her timed rewinded in order to aid her son.
Real Sakura - The Princess of Clow Country, daughter to Fujitaka and Nadeshiko. Her time was frozen at 7 years old.
Clone Sakura - The Sakura living at Cloned Clow Country where her father was Clow himself. She was used to break the feathers of Real Sakura, Clone Syaoran thought they belonged to the real one. This Sakura has been collecting the memories of the real Sakura.
Unknown Sakura - The one that traveled in time to hand Adult Sakura her staff.

CCS Syaoran - The father of the current Syaoran.He had his time rewinded to aid his son.
Real Syaoran - Son of CCS Sakura and Syaoran. He met Real Sakura while traveling through the worlds. When Real Sakura's time was frozen, his wish allowed time to be stopped, thanks to his parents and Yuuko, but was eventually captured by Fei Wong Reed and imprisioned.
Clone Syaoran - The one sent to live on Cloned Clow Country, brainwashed to collect the feathers.


So in a way... the Cloned Clow Country is falling apart, that is why the people are dissapearing. Why is it on the loop? Maybe because all the magic here is breaking its structure.

One thing... Real Syaoran's time didn't stop, for he grew while being imprisione... yet Real Sakura's time still remains frozen, as she hasn't aged. Will Tsubasa end with Syaoran getting his time rewinded again? Or will Sakura suddenly age? What will happen to Watanuki?

I wonder what Eriol and Fujitaka (CCS) think about all this mess. Or if Cerberus and Yue accepted this outcome. Well... I guess Yue should have at least... since Yukito, alongside Touya, left the case with Yuuko.

[Buffalobiian]

Chap 218
Chap 219

Well this doesn't really clear up any previous questions, but at least it only added one more.

Clow's sign - I wonder if that's the same one as CCS Sakura's. If that's the case, then it just means her sign was obscured from Fei Wong's view by Syaoran(s).

Weird thing is, if that was the case though, CCS Sakura could have helped them out all along during that fight instead of waiting till the last minute. Fye showed you can work magic outside of your sphere, but I guess it's quite taxing.

The alternative is that somehow Son Syaoran developed the ability to use Clow's sign, and somehow applied it to all his allies. From memory, his pervious shows of magic didn't show a magic circle, so it's not necessarily the same as his dad's.

Anyway, it was some good flashy magic chapters.

[Buffalobiian]

How it all started:

Chap 220

[RyougaZell]

Please do excuse me while I embarass myself squealing like a fangirl.

Chapter 222 features Hikaru, Umi and Fuu!! WOOT!!!!

Nice way to 'end' their story. Now onto the originals...

There is just something very awesome to see two of my favorite clamp girls together in the same manga... Sakura and Hikaru...

[Buffalobiian]

I didn't recognise them, since I only just jumped on board I guess.

But damn, I like this chapter, short as it was. Particularly p398. Those eyes....<3

[RyougaZell]

Hikaru, Umi and Fuu are the main characters of Magic Knight Rayearth, the anime responsible for me liking anime.

And yeah, I also liked page 398... heck... the chapters is full of win...

I don't think xxxHOLiC has much longer to go either... with Yuuko dying.

[Buffalobiian]

Well, it's been said before that that xxxHolic and Tsubasa are going to end together, but since Yuuko is so much more a central character in that manga, I wonder how the story will conclude without her alive till the very end.

Or do they not run in EXACT parallel? (ie this week's Holic chapter covering the exact same events in this week's Tsubasa, just in their timeline).

I'd be so much fun cosplaying this manga too. The wardrobe set is enormous, possibly only beaten by CLAMP's own Card Capter Sakura costume set.