Archive for the CLAMP Category


Cardcaptor Sakura Manga Omnibus, Volume 1 (English)

February 28th, 2011

513FFeTeOrLIt was no real surprise to me that I have never before reviewed Cardcaptor Sakura here. By the time I was writing regular reviews, the English edition of the anime was out of print and so was Tokyopop’s manga edition. I’m sort of sorry for that, since this was a Gateway Yuri story for a lot of people in that post-Sailor Moon phase of Yuri audience development. Because I am revisiting this series, but some of you may not be, let me tell the story from the beginning.

Cardcaptor Sakura was one of the earliest CLAMP mega-hits. (Not *the* earliest, but right in the zone.) As a manga it ran from 1996 – 2000 in Nakayoshi magazine, which meant it was riding on the magical girl coattails of the massive popularity of Sailor Moon. It had…one of everything. There was Yuri, BL, it was chockful of intergenerational relationships (my first thought was that there was *some,* but then I started to think about it and the list got longer and longer….) It had cute girls and beautiful women and cute boys and beautiful boys and even some handsome men. It had arguably some of the best magical creatures ever to grace a magical girl series. (Admit it, ladies, how many of you swooned over Yue?) And, not coincidentally, the voice cast of the anime was stellar – also major crossover from Sailor Moon. I have not loved everything CLAMP has produced, but no one can tell me that they are not geniuses at their business. Cardcaptor Sakura was a milestone.

The story contained in this CCS Omnibus Volume 1 is a simple one – cute, athletic, cheerful Sakura finds a book which, when she opens the cover, proves to be a book full of cards. The cards immediately scatter to the four corners and the creature depicted on the cover of the book comes to life. His name is Cereberus (nicknamed Kero-chan); he is the Guardian of the Cards. Because she could open the book at all, he tells Sakura, she must have magical ability. It is her task to gather the cards once more because blah, blah, blah.

Sakura is not the only one in the family with magical ability. Her deeply odd older brother, the bishounen Touya (Toya in the English edition) also can “see” things. Toya’s best friend is the real reason we all watched/read the series – Yukito, who has a secret within him that makes him even *more* the reason we all read/watched this thing. Unashamedly, I hung on Yuki’s every word, as he was voiced by Ogata Megumi, whose voice still sends chills up my spine. Sakura’s father is perfect, her mother is deceased, and their story becomes increasingly relevant to the overall plot of this omnibus volume as it progresses.

Sakura’s exploits as the “Card Captor” are filmed and enabled by her filthy rich and extremely besotted best friend Tomoyo. For those of you who came to Yuri in later years, Tamao from Strawberry Panic! was specifically meant to be a Tomoyo clone.  Tomoyo is practically the *definition* of the best-friend in one-sided love – in the manga this is made quite plain…and given historical precedent.

Ultimately, Sakura develops a rival in the form of Li Syaoran, which added shota and, eventually, heterosexual romance into what is a really entertainingly bent series. (^_^);  And let’s not forget Kaho-sensei. No…we must not forget her. She is, in any case, unforgettable.

So many of the things that made Cardcaptor Sakura work were an effect of timing, CLAMP’s unerring ability to squeeze a genre until it bleeds money and their raw talent for telling character-driven, beautifully drawn series. Cardcaptor Sakura is beautifully drawn, the characters are likable and the story, which has become a cliche of itself, still works. How can I say this? Because I have read the original in Japanese several times and in English several times, I have watched the anime several times and, when I hit the last page of this Omnibus, I thought, “I want to see what happens next!” Seriously, I did. I KNOW what happens next, but I can’t wait to read it again.

Technically speaking, Dark Horse did a fine job. I don’t recall being irked by the translation, the S/Fx are translated inline most of the time, except in a few spots where they were easily replaceable. The addition of color pages was a delightful bonus, I’m very glad that they thought to add those. If I were *forced* to come up with an objection to this omnibus I would say that this nearly 600-page volume is not, perhaps, little kid friendly. But in this world where Harry Potter novels were devoured by tweens, perhaps even that is not an obstacle. If you know a tween who likes fantasy, or just needs the smallest push to becoming an otaku, consider buying this series for them.

For me, though, the true pleasure of this Omnibus was spending time with old friends. Seeing Yamazaki lie so cheerfully, Tomoyo kvelling over Sakura, Kero-chan obsessing about sweets and Yuki eating gigantic lunches…was just, so…nice.

If you have never before read this series, I really hope you will. It’s got significant Yuri cred; it was, in its time, a gateway series for a lot of GL and BL fans. It’s CLAMP doing a series that is unshockingly an excellent example of the genre and, if you like XXXHolic or, especially, Tsubasa Chronicles, *this* is where major players came from. It’s good to know your roots.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters –  9
Story – 8
Yuri – 4
Service – 4

Overall – 9

As I have said repeatedly, I am not a nostalgic person. Reading this volume, I came as close as I’ll ever get to it. Many, many thanks to Okazu Hero Eric P. for letting me wallow, just a bit, in pleasant nostalgia. ^_^

Dear Nozomi/Right Stuf, if you’re looking for another anime series to resuscitate, Cardcaptor Sakura would not be a bad choice. Hint hint





Magic Knight Rayearth Anime Season 1 (English)

May 18th, 2010

Magic Knight Rayearth Season 1 - Remastered Volumes 1- 4, Eps. 1-20Today is not a Yuri review. I’m obsessed but not insane. Magic Knight Rayearth, Season 1, had no Yuri. However, I had never watched it all the way through and I thought it was worth a mention here.

Surprisingly, I do not love CLAMP. Like Madonna, I admire their grasp of their business more than I do their actual creative work. They are undoubtedly talented, their art is lush, and they are as close to genius and masters of their craft as any creative group out there. I am an unashamed Card Captor Sakura fangirl, but with that exception, I can take them or leave them. So, back in the day, when MKR was all the rage, I gave it a try and let it drop. It just didn’t hook me.

When the fine fellows at Media Blasters offered me a copy of Season 1, I took it precisely because I thought that, with all those years of watching anime behind me, perhaps now I could come to this classic series with an appropriately “objective” mentality. Basically, I wanted to know if the series could make me care about Hikaru, Umi and Fuu.

Well…it did. About two-thirds through I found myself totally kvelling at them when they cleared some level or other. And boy, did I appreciate the meta-comment about their story being an RPG. It is obviously so, but it was fun to see them say it.

Aside from my dislike of Mokona who, as an acquaintance put it so well on Twitter, is like a kitten, “cute, but a real asshole” I found the series to be engaging. (I think I mentioned that if I find myself humming the theme song for days and days, it’s usually a good sign….) It’s also a product of its time and place. The animation was not as good as we might hope, and certainly not CLAMPs best work, but their standard character designs were solid. It’s fun to imagine what it might look like if it were done now.

The story was…refreshing. It’s innocent of service, it’s got solid storytelling, power-ups and great teamwork and bonding between the players. The “twist” at the end was as obvious as the hand on your arm, but it’s good to remind ourselves that this was a show for kids. You can tell by the “Who Is it?” “game” at the end of each episode, as well as the innocent look at life, love, adventure and maturity. It’s an added bonus for me that it is voiced by some of my favorite voice actresses, women who were the top of their industry at the time.

My *only* complaint about this collected Season Box set is that the interviews with the various Voice Actresses  have unbelievably bad sound quality and are impossible to hear even at top volume. In every other way, it’s a lovely set.

Did I like it? Yes. This time I did.

Ratings:

Art – CLAMP, but not at their best. – The art was 8, but the animation wasn’t up to it – 4
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 0
Service – .5 (I’m sure, if you REALLY wanted to, you could find something salacious to obsess over, but that’s a lot of work for little return.)

Overall – 7

My thanks go to Media Blasters  for their kindness in allowing me to once more step back to my anime roots and regain a taste of those early days.





Yuri Manga: Miyuki-chan in Wonderland (English)

July 10th, 2009

Wow, it’s only a few years ago, but reading Miyuki-chan in Wonderland feels like stepping back a million years into the past. To a time when Tokyopop was *the* name in manga, when they were cutting edge and hot. And CLAMP was the name on everyone’s lips all the time. From X to Chobits to…well just about a zillion series, whatever CLAMP touched turned into money.

Miyuki-chan is a collection of 6 short, service-filled stories of hapless high school girl Miyuki, as she wanders through dreamscapes loosely based on Lewis Carroll’s iconic works, games and CLAMP’s own work. All of these are filled with primarily female characters, mostly adult, and almost all focused on feeling Miyuki up or stripping her down. A psychological reading of the book could easily attribute all sorts of pent-up lesbian feelings to Miyuki but, as she’s completely fictitious, we have to just assume that CLAMP really likes drawing women in underwear. ^_^

The Yuri in this manga is really Yuri – there are no lesbians here. Just fictitious female beings groping a fictitious female character. There’s no emotion at all involved, unless you count titillation as an emotion.

Personally, the best line was when Miyuki cries out, “Oh no! I’m in some weird movie version of the X manga!” which made me laugh because, like there was a non-weird movie version of the X manga? ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 5
Story – 5
Characters – 5
Yuri – 4
Service – 7

Overall – 5

The upside of the manga is you don’t have to listen to that *horrible* music, but the downside is you don’t get the great seiyuu voices, either.

This manga volume shipped to me with no Hero’s name attached. (Boo Powell’s.com, not letting me know who my Hero is!) If you were the sponsor for today’s review, will you please step up and claim credit? Thanks so much from all of us!





Yuri Anime: Miyuki-chan in Wonderland

December 7th, 2007

Today’s review was brought to you by Katie, who lent me this DVD as a case for something else she was giving me.

It’s been 7 years since I watched Fushigi no Kuni no Miyuki-chan and Kagami no Kuni no Miyuki-chan, released collectively in the US as Miyuki-chan in Wonderland. I still remember when and where I first saw it, and the look of triumph in the person’s eyes who was showing it to me as if they had discovered a great well-spring of Yuri. My reaction was more along the lines of “gosh, what annoying music.” I remember it well. ^_^

Miyuki-chan in Wonderland is a two-part reimaging of Lewis Carroll’s Alice stories by all-female studio CLAMP, starring the happless Miyuki-chan, a schoolgirl far less capable and quite a bit older than Alice. To be fair, Miyuki-chan is not just facing strange creatures loosely based on Cambridge professors of Carroll’s acquaintance, she’s facing sexual harrassment by the all-female anthropomorphic cast of apparent nymphomaniacs that inhabit this Wonderland and Looking Glass world.

The “Yuri” is the above sexual harrassment. Miyuki is more interested in getting home that in the attractive, well-built, adult semi-humans who want to play with her, so the humor is of the “kyaaaahhhh!” variety. Sure, the Mad Hatter *seems* to be gay, but it’s sort of a moot point, really. And it’s a one-trick pony. Practically every meeting involves a sexually suggestive component, flavored with some panty shots. I got tired of it quickly. Many people find it to be brilliant. Your mileage may vary.

The voice cast deserves a mention – it’s fairly all-star, especially the first vignette, the one in Wonderland. There’s some pretty level up names there for what is mostly a soft porn drabble of an anime. :-)

While CLAMP is extremely famous for stunning art, Miyuki-chan the anime, did not do much to expand their reputation. The artbook is significantly less ragged. And it doesn’t have that annoying soundtrack. If you like CLAMP for the art, stick with the book. If you like the idea of all of Caroll’s creatures animated as buxom scantily-clad women sexually harassing a girl, with famous voices, you’ll love the anime. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 5
Story – 5
Characters – 5
Music – 2
Yuri – 5
Service – 8

Overall – 5

Lewis Carroll’s works are the third most-quoted body of literary work in the world, following the Bible and Shakespeare. CLAMP’s contribution to the canon is memorable, without actually being good.





Sweet Valerian

December 9th, 2004

Sweet Valerian is suspended somewhere between “how adorable!” and “wtf?”. :-)

I can see the scene clearly:

The ladies of CLAMP are sitting around after work one night, drinking, maybe sharing a few hallucenogenics between friends, relaxing and having a few laughs.

Tsubaki asks, “What haven’t we done yet?”

And Mokona answers, “Well, we haven’t done a magical girl series in a while.”

Everyone boos Mokona down, but about then the acid kicks in and they start to brainstorm.

Satsuki has another sake and posits, “Hey, let’s do it! But instead of a magical girl thing, we’ll make them turn into bunnies.”

“Yeah!” agrees Ageha, who is now leaning at an alarming angle. “And when the papers report that the bunnies have saved the world, the girls can be all annoyed.”

At which point in the conversation Tsubaki wakes up and adds, “Yes, and the art can be all Peter Max on bad mushrooms…”

There’s a pause in the conversation as they all ponder adding mushrooms to their happy-time menu….

Interrupting the silence, Mokona stands up and says, “I got it! We’ll make it a short, like, 3 or 4 minute thing, so there doesn’t really have to be a plot – in fact it doesn’t even have to make sense!”

Tsubaki joins Mokona on her feet and raises a glass to the merchandisable, yet inexplicable, new series from CLAMP. “Now all we need is a title,” Tsubaki says.

She looks at her fellow CLAMPers, but Satsuki is looking sick, “My head is pounding. Anyone got aspirin?” she asks miserably.

Ageha shuffles in her purse. “No – but I have some valerian pills. They’re pretty good for relieving stress…” And they all stare at each other, as the chill of the inevitable settles over them and a new series is born.

(The above is, of course, fiction and completely NOT meant to imply that the members of CLAMP in any way indulge in illicit drugs. Really…)

So, anyway, we meet rich-girl Kanoko, game company representative Pop and model Kate, as they go to apply for a scooter license, but instead are tricked into becoming a team of magical girl bunnies,”Relaxation Squad Valerian,” that save the world from the evils of the Stress Boys, in 3-minute chunks of surreal weirdness.

I love this anime, but I’m glad it’s short. If it went on too long, like Super Milk-chan it would begin to grate on my nerves. And like Kogepan, the super-short format adds considerable surrealism to the otherwise bare storyline.

Let’s cut to the chase – is there yuri?

If you turn your yuri goggles up and remember that fanon goes a *long* way to filling the holes, then…yes. ;-)

Take a look at this picture from their origin episode.

Note how cute Kate and Kanoko look together. Remember that there is virtually no character development in this goofy thing. Now close your eyes and write a little story…. There! There’s your yuri! LOL

Just to up the yuri potential through the “6 degrees of yuri” game, Pop’s voice is done by Asakawa Yu, who we know and love for doing Sakaki from Azumanga Daioh and Jura from Vandread.

As an added bonus, Kate, the monotonal model, also has a yuri voice credit to her name. Her seiyuu played Subaru from .hack/sign. Feel free to write fanfic, draw fan art, connect the dots, fill in the blanks and otherwise make this series a yuri-fest. :)

Ratings:

Story – What there is, is a silly 7

Characters – 8

Art – Intentionally simplistic and surreal, 8

Yuri – 4

Overall – 7

I mean, come *on!* Magical *bunnies*! And, erm, some yuri fanon potential. Just watch it already.

P.S. – A visit to CLAMP’s official website has just netted me the info that Sweet Valerian manga will be begin running in February’s Nakayoshi magazine. I’ll definitely be looking for it!