Tokyo Babylon (Volume 1)
July 1st 2008 02:02
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: 1991 Shinshokan Publishing Co Ltd/2004 Tokyopop Manga.
Planning & Presented by: CLAMP.
Production Team: Nanase Ohkawa – story/design, Mokona Apapa – comic/cover/poster illustration, Satsuki Igarashi – art assistant, Mick Nekoi – direction, Ray Yoshimoto – translator, Carol Fox – English Adaptation, Ablard Bigting – retouch & lettering, Patrick Hook – cover layout.
Cost: US $9.99.
Apparently the manga-ka group known as CLAMP are fairly big names on the manga scene and are known for a fairly substantial number of major works which have often ended up becoming anime series in Japan. In my recent incursions into the world of manga and anime I had heard of this group and some of their works; Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles being just one such work that had cropped up in previews on some of the various anime I have watched over the last year or so. But apart from these brief glimpses of these various samples of their works I had never actually managed to get my hands on any examples of their efforts…until now. Once again it was whilst wandering the stacks of my local that I came across this particular volume, a work within which is written the claim that this is regarded as the definitive CLAMP manga. Well I can’t say yay or nay to that particular statement all I can do is cast the viridian gaze of the lantern on this particular work and let you, the audience know my opinion.
The time is the early nineties, the place Tokyo, capital of Japan and Japan at the height of its economic rollercoaster when the various other nations of the world were marvelling at the Japanese economic industrial juggernaut and wondering if they themselves could possibly achieve such dizzying heights. Of course this is not only a Japan where technological, social and economic innovations hold sway, the traditional aspects of Japanese society are still as much a part of the land of the Rising Sun in the nineteen nineties as they were in the days of yore. The key example of this is the Onmyoji, spiritual masters, sorcerers if you will, who aid everyday folk in dealing with various spirits and spirit manifestations. One onmyoji in particular is Subaru Sumeragi, the heir to the Sumeragi clan who are a long distinguished line of onmyoji with Subaru being the 13th member of this distinguished onmyoji line.
Of course Subaru is not so worried much about the fact that he is a member of a distinguished onmyoji lineage as with actually helping people and the sprits of the deceased. He is a good hearted soul who seems a little overwhelmed by the splendour and magnificence of Tokyo, this metropolis of metropolises. That being said though he is someone who sees the beauty and wonder of the city and it’s potential whereas others only see the squalor, the decadence and the decay. He obviously believes that there is something worth saving in this great city even though it is at risk from falling under the weight of its own excesses and discord.
Naturally with the first volume in any story what we, the reader, are being given is merely a taste no doubt of what will unfold as events pan out. Here we are given a vignette of the three primary characters around which most of the drama in the tale revolves, these are Subaru, his twin and rather androgynous sister Hokuto and the dashing and very enigmatic Seishiro Sakurazuka, heir to the shadowy Sakurazuka clan another distinguished onmyoji lineage who are noted for operating behind the scenes in modern Japanese society. It seems that the heir to the Sakurazuka clan has a thing for the descendant of the Sumeragi, something that Hokuto has cottoned onto but Subaru seems rather oblivious too, thinking perhaps that it is all some kind of joke or perhaps misunderstanding.
An interesting triangle, though precisely what this triangle is all about is possibly not what is frequently hinted at by either Hokuto or Seishiro in their incessant conversations with each other about Subaru usually whilst he is there and seemingly not included in proceedings. There is something deeper behind the sudden association between the three and Subaru and Seishiro in particular, something that the Sumeragi heir gradually begins to catch snippets of as events unfold. This is definitely an interesting work; I had to admit when I picked it up off the shelf and started to read it I really didn’t know what to expect although I slowly became entranced by the story. There is a distinct sense of mystery and the otherworldly about the tale, as well as a feeling of doom after all the historical Babylon was a city that once was the hub of a great civilization until its fall and there is the feeling that Tokyo is about to endure a similar fate within this manga series.
When you eventually reach the end of this first part of the series there is a glossary of various terms, people and works at the back of the volume that helps illuminate a reader as to some of the atmosphere behind the story. It seems that in Japan the whole onmyoji is a very big thing in the local pop culture as much as Jedi and superheroes are here in the West. A movie called Onmyoji which was released by Geneon Entertainment is recommended as being a good primer for all things onmyoji related.
All in all this is a very lushly illustrated and woven work, one that just demonstrates that the world of manga is certainly one of great diversity in tastes and subject matter. Its no wonder that CLAMP are such big names in the manga world if this is an example of what they’re capable of, certainly makes me eager to have a look at some of their other works as well as trying to track down the other volumes in this particular saga. With this having been written at the time that it was I did find myself wondering whether briefly if there was something prescient in the story considering the events that occurred later on down the track in Japan during the mid to late nineties, the bursting of the bubble economy, major earthquakes etc. Well worth giving a read over a pleasant afternoon with a cup of refreshing coffee.
Planning & Presented by: CLAMP.
Production Team: Nanase Ohkawa – story/design, Mokona Apapa – comic/cover/poster illustration, Satsuki Igarashi – art assistant, Mick Nekoi – direction, Ray Yoshimoto – translator, Carol Fox – English Adaptation, Ablard Bigting – retouch & lettering, Patrick Hook – cover layout.
Cost: US $9.99.
Apparently the manga-ka group known as CLAMP are fairly big names on the manga scene and are known for a fairly substantial number of major works which have often ended up becoming anime series in Japan. In my recent incursions into the world of manga and anime I had heard of this group and some of their works; Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles being just one such work that had cropped up in previews on some of the various anime I have watched over the last year or so. But apart from these brief glimpses of these various samples of their works I had never actually managed to get my hands on any examples of their efforts…until now. Once again it was whilst wandering the stacks of my local that I came across this particular volume, a work within which is written the claim that this is regarded as the definitive CLAMP manga. Well I can’t say yay or nay to that particular statement all I can do is cast the viridian gaze of the lantern on this particular work and let you, the audience know my opinion.
Naturally with the first volume in any story what we, the reader, are being given is merely a taste no doubt of what will unfold as events pan out. Here we are given a vignette of the three primary characters around which most of the drama in the tale revolves, these are Subaru, his twin and rather androgynous sister Hokuto and the dashing and very enigmatic Seishiro Sakurazuka, heir to the shadowy Sakurazuka clan another distinguished onmyoji lineage who are noted for operating behind the scenes in modern Japanese society. It seems that the heir to the Sakurazuka clan has a thing for the descendant of the Sumeragi, something that Hokuto has cottoned onto but Subaru seems rather oblivious too, thinking perhaps that it is all some kind of joke or perhaps misunderstanding.
An interesting triangle, though precisely what this triangle is all about is possibly not what is frequently hinted at by either Hokuto or Seishiro in their incessant conversations with each other about Subaru usually whilst he is there and seemingly not included in proceedings. There is something deeper behind the sudden association between the three and Subaru and Seishiro in particular, something that the Sumeragi heir gradually begins to catch snippets of as events unfold. This is definitely an interesting work; I had to admit when I picked it up off the shelf and started to read it I really didn’t know what to expect although I slowly became entranced by the story. There is a distinct sense of mystery and the otherworldly about the tale, as well as a feeling of doom after all the historical Babylon was a city that once was the hub of a great civilization until its fall and there is the feeling that Tokyo is about to endure a similar fate within this manga series.
When you eventually reach the end of this first part of the series there is a glossary of various terms, people and works at the back of the volume that helps illuminate a reader as to some of the atmosphere behind the story. It seems that in Japan the whole onmyoji is a very big thing in the local pop culture as much as Jedi and superheroes are here in the West. A movie called Onmyoji which was released by Geneon Entertainment is recommended as being a good primer for all things onmyoji related.
All in all this is a very lushly illustrated and woven work, one that just demonstrates that the world of manga is certainly one of great diversity in tastes and subject matter. Its no wonder that CLAMP are such big names in the manga world if this is an example of what they’re capable of, certainly makes me eager to have a look at some of their other works as well as trying to track down the other volumes in this particular saga. With this having been written at the time that it was I did find myself wondering whether briefly if there was something prescient in the story considering the events that occurred later on down the track in Japan during the mid to late nineties, the bursting of the bubble economy, major earthquakes etc. Well worth giving a read over a pleasant afternoon with a cup of refreshing coffee.
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