Animation Source Forums

Okay, since CLAMP makes manga, not anime, it probably would have been more appropriate to put this in the books section. But unfortunately, that section is currently cluttered with way more Warriors and Twilight threads than there need to be, so I'm trying my best to keep my distance from there.

Anyhow, for those that don't know, CLAMP is a four-woman team of manga creators who are responsible for some pretty famous, and, if I must say so myself, pretty amazing manga. A lot of which have been turned into anime, so even those who are more into watching anime than reading manga may have heard of some of their works. An incomplete list off the top of my head (not necessarily in order) :

RG Veda
Magic Knights Rayearth
Tokyo Babylon
Angelic Layer
Wish
X/1999
Clover
Cardcaptor Sakura
Chobits
Legal Drug
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle
xxxHolic

I've only actually seen/read a few of these, but at the moment, my top two favorites would be Tsubasa and xxxHolic, with Cardcaptor Sakura coming in at a close third. Part of what makes CLAMP work so unique is the fact that these three stories are actually very closely interwoven and related to each other, sharing major characters and keeping plot points organized into one continuity that at the same time can stand alone as separate, different, and equally enjoyable reads. What I found the most fascinating was how this one continuity was able to separate itself out into these three separate series, completely different in tone and genre.

We have Cardcaptor Sakura, which came first out of the three. It generally maintained a lighthearted mood, and was a cute little series generally aimed at young girls.

Tsubasa came next, which once again starred the two Cardcaptor Sakura protagonists, Sakura and Syaoran, just a few years older and living in an alternate reality. This one started out like a lighthearted, adventurous, typical Shounen series but about halfway through became significantly darker due to a few (for lack of a better word) strange plot twists, frightening revelations, and a decent upturn in the grisly, gory stuff going on. A few people lose eyes, someone gets turned into a vampire, and someone else loses an arm, I'll just leave it at that.

And then there's xxxHolic, the official companion to Tsubasa (the two are being serialized simultaneously), which takes the form of a dark comedy centered highly on philosophy and various occult stuff. The tone remains pretty much the same throughout, though it does eventually become more serious, shifting away from the comedy to coincide with the dark turn in Tsubasa's plot.

So... do I have any fellow CLAMP fans?

Sure! Now, out of curiosity, what was it like? I've only seen the Japanese version, Cardcaptor Sakura, and I've been kind of afraid to touch Cardcaptors because I heard that a lot of stuff was changed in the American version. For example I've heard a lot of Japanese names were changed into American ones, like Tomoyo/Madison, Touya/Tori, Kinomoto/Avalon, Yukito/Julian, etc. I also heard that they removed and reorganized episodes so it looked like Syaoran was the main character when it was actually Sakura. And one thing I know for sure they took out was the relationship between Touya and Yukito. As well as that student and teacher, whose names I don't remember.

I'm just asking because I've yet to receive a confirmation of all this stuff from someone who's actually watched it, I've just heard secondhand info from other fans of Cardcaptor Sakura, who, like me, have made it a point to avoid Cardcaptors.

I've only seen one episode of Cardcaptor Sakura, I was on vacation and it was in spanish. Lolz, I was so confused.

Anyway, a couple months ago I started watching Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicle and I love it! I've even read as far as I can into the Manga, I can't wait for more of it. I love Fai & Kuro-puu

Ah yes, Fai and Kuro-tan are my favorites too. I've always though it was so sweet how much they care about each other. In the manga, Kuro-sama goes through A LOT of trouble and makes so many sacrifices to protect Fai, like turning him into a vampire to keep him from dying, becoming his sole source of blood, and chopping off his own arm so Fai wouldn't get trapped in Celes. It really shows how much they've changed since the beginning, where Fai just got on Kuro-rin's nerves and Kuro-puu wanted nothing to do with Fai.

Yahoo!! Sakura Card Capture and Tsubasa Chronical is a major HIT! I just hate freakin' American Version >.> They messed up the whole thing Grrr.....Chobits made me go O___O In the first episode and I stoped watching it XD

I haven't watched Chobits, my friend told me it's good but I don't think I'll watch it anytime soon.
I don't think the english Tsubasa is as bad as other english dubs I've seen (I definately like the japanese version the best though).


About a week ago I started Holic, I love it too ^^