Clamp has been around for decades creating anime and manga masterpieces such as Card Captor Sakura, xxxHolic, Magic Knight Rayearth and more and what better way to tie this masterpieces together in a fabric so delicate, complex and intricate than to put them all together in a cinematic universe, thus Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles was born.
To give you insight behind this anime, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles is a shonen manga series written and illustrated by the manga artist group Clamp. It takes place in the same fictional universe as many of Clamp’s other manga series, most notably xxxHolic. The plot follows how Sakura, the princess of the Kingdom of Clow, loses all her memories and how Syaoran, a young archeologist who is also Sakura’s childhood friend, goes on a quest to save her. Dimensional Witch Yuko Ichihara instructs Syaoran to go with two people, Kurogane and Fai D. Flowright. They search for Sakura’s memories, which were scattered in various worlds in the form of feathers, as gathering them will save her soul. Tsubasa was conceived when four Clamp artists wanted to create a manga series that connected all their previous works. They took the designs for the main protagonists from their earlier manga called Card Captor Sakura.
Animation studio Bee Train adapted the manga into an animated series spanning two seasons containing 52 episodes. The series aired from April 2005 and concluded its second season on November 2006. Unfortunately, the television series was concluded and there are rumors that this will be rebooted. Two OVA’s were created as a result of fans arguing and getting disappointed as how the television series redirected its plot from the manga saying that the manga was too violent to show on television where million of kids are watching. What’s more appealing than the intricate plot and story behind this anime was the music, originally scored and composed for television by Yuki Kajiura.
This is highly recommended for those who grew up with the previous animes, people who love cinematic universes which contains highly young adult romance theme, fictional worlds, fictional powers and political rear view behind the plot. Also, it’s important to take note that you don’t need to watch the previous animes for you to understand the story as only the characters were borrowed from them. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles is an anime of its own story.
I don’t know if this was planned all along by the geniuses behind Clamp but it gives me joy and contentment to see my beloved anime characters to be the subject, protagonist, antagonist and characters of a vast and master crafted universe. The story might get confusing, as there are episodes that ties into another episode in another anime.
What do you think about it?Leave a comment below.
Anime Kawaii 