Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (Manga)

CLAMP. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle.  Del Rey, 2004. Paperback $10.95, ISBN 978-0345470577.

What’s it about?

Princess Sakura has lost all her memories, and will die if she doesn’t recover them. Enter her childhood friend, Syaoran, who pleads for help from Yuko, the space-time witch, and two men from disparate worlds.

Find out more:

Princess Sakura is first in line to succeed the throne of the Kingdom of Clow, and is in love with her childhood friend Syaoran, who is unaware of how she feels. She’s no ordinary girl.  She possesses a little-understood power that has the capability to change the world. This same power brings adversity to her life, however, in the form of a strange symbol formed on rock. When she steps on it, she is struck down and robbed of all her memories, never able to articulate how she feels to Syaoran.  Sakura’s memories are scattered. Fragments exist in many different worlds, and Syaoran must collect them to save Sakura’s life.  Syaoran enlists the help of Yuko, the space-time witch and two men from different worlds, the ninja Kurogane and the magician Fai, and begins his desperate search.  

CLAMP is a group of critically acclaimed and prolific Japanese manga artists.  Their artwork is well-known and respected for its detail, creativity, beautiful lines and breath-taking settings and character design. The artwork in this volume looks a bit rougher than usual, and this stylistic difference helps create urgency. Sakura is quickly running out of time, and the Syaoran has to visit many worlds if he wants her to survive. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle is serious in tone, but there are moments of humor, particularly with Kurogane and Fai, whose disparate personalities provide some levity. The translation is solid, with sound effects are translated alongside the original Japanese.  Del Rey provides readers with some information about honorifics at the beginning of the book. The plot twists and grows more complex with each new volume, which may potentially confuse some readers, but boggles the mind (in a good way!) of the rest. This is overall a rich, gorgeous manga with likable protagonists and intriguing secondary characters.

 Genre: Fantasy, romance, adventure

Reading level/interest level: Grades 6 through adult

Subjects: Memory loss, other worlds, heroes, quests

Read-alikes:

CLAMP’s Cardcaptor Sakura

CLAMP’s Xxxholic

Inuyasha

Pandora Hearts

Series information:

Complete series spans 28 volumes. It’s also an anime that aired 52 episodes between 2005 and 2006. The first volume of XXXholic crosses over with the first volume of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle.