TSUBASA: RESERVOIR CHRONICLE VOLUME 13 & 14
February 2nd 2009 00:21
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: 2008 Tanoshimi
Story & Art by: CLAMP (Ageha Ohkawa – story/script/graphic novel design, Mokona – cover illustration/manga illustration, Tsubaki Nekoi – art direction & Satsuki Igarashi – graphic assistance).
Translated & Adapted by: William Flanagan
Lettering: Dana Hayward
Cost: £6.99
After being successful in the Dragonfly Race in Piffle World and managing to evade the traps and tricks laid by their mysterious enemy, Doctor Kyle, an individual whom the Fab Five have encountered in previous adventures the prize is presented to Princess Sakura. With much pomp and ceremony the crew then enjoys some much earned celebration which sees Syaoran, Fai and Kurogane along with Tomoyo, the President of the Piffle Princess Corporation and various other participants in the race enjoying some hard earned cleansing beverages. Piffle World is obviously a highly cultured civilization, as there is nothing better after a long hard day sitting back, putting your feet up and enjoying a cleansing beverage or three with friends, something that I have been known to do on occasion.
But once the frivolity and celebration is all done and dusted it soon becomes time for the companions to move onto the next world, the next part of their ongoing quest to gather up all the feathers that comprise the entirety of Princess Sakura’s memories. Bidding farewell to President Tomoyo, her loyal retainers and the numerous valiant and somewhat tipsy Dragonfly racers the five are whisked away via transdimensional magic onto the next locale.
From the somewhat high tech futuristic society of Piffle World and the Piffle Princess Corporation the drama now establishes itself in the world of Recort. As I said Piffle World is somewhat high tech whereas this new sphere is more of a mixture of Harry Potter, Victorian England, the works of Terry Pratchett and the Great Library of Alexandria, famed for centuries for its store of knowledge and generally regarded as one of the wonders of the Ancient World. In Recort magic is very thick on the ground and is actively studied by many living within its confines, the waving of wands, flying on broomsticks and various other magical practices and traditions are seen a matters most serious and very befitting a learned and cultured society. Naturally the wearing of pointy hats is probably de rigueur and would no doubt get you into the right kind of homes, clubs and other similar establishments.
Upon arrival the first order of business is to scout out the lay of the land which Fai and Kurogane do, coming up with the analysis that magic is predominant in this world as well as procuring the means to blend in seamlessly with the locals…when in Rome do as the Romans do. Once intelligence has been gathered and camouflage procured then the focus is onto the seeking of the feather that exists within this world, usually Mokona, the rather cute fluffy creature that transports them from world to world is able to also sense the feathers. Unfortunately in a world where magic almost literally saturates the fabric of reality it is a bit problematic tracking down this avian artefact. All Mokona can sense is a general feeling of the feather being within the world but not a precise location.
So in order to fulfil their objective here in Recort our fearless five will have to resort to the time old tradition of legwork. It helps that there are almost a plethora of libraries in which information of all shapes, sizes, categories and mediums are stored. Syaoran is enthralled, and as soon as he’s in the front door he is staring longingly at the stacks and the vast plethora of contents that they hold, all the secrets of the ages he is no doubt thinking, treatises on magic exotic and strange along with gazetteers of places wondrous and foul. I know how he feels, I felt pretty much the same way the first time I wandered into the State Library down in Melbourne several years ago, still trying to work out why there is a statue of Joan of Arc outside the front though, maybe one day I find out.
Of course sometimes you can pick up a book and have a truly unusual experience as a result, and in a land of magic that is bound to be a given. Syaoran picks up a book that has already been looked at by his friend and mentor Kurogane and in so doing unleashes an unusual phenomena, he finds himself quite literally lost within the book. Somehow via magic our intrepid hero has been transported into the pages of this weighty tome, although it’s all rather baffling to him as he recalls that his friend had said that the pages had nothing on them, they were completely blank. What becomes even more confusing is how he seems to progress from various moments in time and space without any seeming logic, and to make even just that little bit more surreal it seems that his mentor is the primary protagonist within the drama.
It seems that the book which Syaoran has delved into is called a memory book; it draws out the memories and past of the first person to pick it up and read it then when it is read by a second person they in turn experience those memories as a sort of virtual experience. Interestingly the symbol on such books is similar to the symbols found on Sakura’s feathers. It seems that inadvertently the group have stumbled onto their first major clue in finding the feather within Recort, both the book and feather are inextricably linked in a rather unusual manner.
This isn’t the only thing that is linked as Syaoran discovers upon emerging from the trauma that is his mentor’s memories. Being a guy of somewhat polite and reserved manners he feels rather distraught that he has inadvertently peered into Kurogane’s memories and past, he feels as though he has violated a trust with the former ninja. Kurogane brings Syaoran around to the fact that it was not a violation but rather an accident that he found himself trapped within his memories, it was something he could not have expected and he bears no ill will to the young man that this did occur. Reconciled with his mentor the young archaeologist points out that the weapon that killed Kuroganes mother bore a symbol similar to the weapons and garb of people who attacked him and Sakura in the land of Clow, well before this escapade that they have embarked on began.
It seems that there is a common enemy seeking to thwart their efforts, something that Kurogane had no expected and Syaoran didn’t make the connection until being inadvertently exposed to the ninja’s past in vivid technicolour. Mystery, intrigue and danger abound in the pages of these two volumes of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. And there are a few surprises that unfold through the drama, especially at the end of volume 14 when the five have managed to gain the feather and move onto the next world and seeking the next feather…
Riveting stuff, well worth getting your hands on and enjoying.
Story & Art by: CLAMP (Ageha Ohkawa – story/script/graphic novel design, Mokona – cover illustration/manga illustration, Tsubaki Nekoi – art direction & Satsuki Igarashi – graphic assistance).
Translated & Adapted by: William Flanagan
Lettering: Dana Hayward
Cost: £6.99
After being successful in the Dragonfly Race in Piffle World and managing to evade the traps and tricks laid by their mysterious enemy, Doctor Kyle, an individual whom the Fab Five have encountered in previous adventures the prize is presented to Princess Sakura. With much pomp and ceremony the crew then enjoys some much earned celebration which sees Syaoran, Fai and Kurogane along with Tomoyo, the President of the Piffle Princess Corporation and various other participants in the race enjoying some hard earned cleansing beverages. Piffle World is obviously a highly cultured civilization, as there is nothing better after a long hard day sitting back, putting your feet up and enjoying a cleansing beverage or three with friends, something that I have been known to do on occasion.
From the somewhat high tech futuristic society of Piffle World and the Piffle Princess Corporation the drama now establishes itself in the world of Recort. As I said Piffle World is somewhat high tech whereas this new sphere is more of a mixture of Harry Potter, Victorian England, the works of Terry Pratchett and the Great Library of Alexandria, famed for centuries for its store of knowledge and generally regarded as one of the wonders of the Ancient World. In Recort magic is very thick on the ground and is actively studied by many living within its confines, the waving of wands, flying on broomsticks and various other magical practices and traditions are seen a matters most serious and very befitting a learned and cultured society. Naturally the wearing of pointy hats is probably de rigueur and would no doubt get you into the right kind of homes, clubs and other similar establishments.
So in order to fulfil their objective here in Recort our fearless five will have to resort to the time old tradition of legwork. It helps that there are almost a plethora of libraries in which information of all shapes, sizes, categories and mediums are stored. Syaoran is enthralled, and as soon as he’s in the front door he is staring longingly at the stacks and the vast plethora of contents that they hold, all the secrets of the ages he is no doubt thinking, treatises on magic exotic and strange along with gazetteers of places wondrous and foul. I know how he feels, I felt pretty much the same way the first time I wandered into the State Library down in Melbourne several years ago, still trying to work out why there is a statue of Joan of Arc outside the front though, maybe one day I find out.
Of course sometimes you can pick up a book and have a truly unusual experience as a result, and in a land of magic that is bound to be a given. Syaoran picks up a book that has already been looked at by his friend and mentor Kurogane and in so doing unleashes an unusual phenomena, he finds himself quite literally lost within the book. Somehow via magic our intrepid hero has been transported into the pages of this weighty tome, although it’s all rather baffling to him as he recalls that his friend had said that the pages had nothing on them, they were completely blank. What becomes even more confusing is how he seems to progress from various moments in time and space without any seeming logic, and to make even just that little bit more surreal it seems that his mentor is the primary protagonist within the drama.
It seems that the book which Syaoran has delved into is called a memory book; it draws out the memories and past of the first person to pick it up and read it then when it is read by a second person they in turn experience those memories as a sort of virtual experience. Interestingly the symbol on such books is similar to the symbols found on Sakura’s feathers. It seems that inadvertently the group have stumbled onto their first major clue in finding the feather within Recort, both the book and feather are inextricably linked in a rather unusual manner.
This isn’t the only thing that is linked as Syaoran discovers upon emerging from the trauma that is his mentor’s memories. Being a guy of somewhat polite and reserved manners he feels rather distraught that he has inadvertently peered into Kurogane’s memories and past, he feels as though he has violated a trust with the former ninja. Kurogane brings Syaoran around to the fact that it was not a violation but rather an accident that he found himself trapped within his memories, it was something he could not have expected and he bears no ill will to the young man that this did occur. Reconciled with his mentor the young archaeologist points out that the weapon that killed Kuroganes mother bore a symbol similar to the weapons and garb of people who attacked him and Sakura in the land of Clow, well before this escapade that they have embarked on began.
It seems that there is a common enemy seeking to thwart their efforts, something that Kurogane had no expected and Syaoran didn’t make the connection until being inadvertently exposed to the ninja’s past in vivid technicolour. Mystery, intrigue and danger abound in the pages of these two volumes of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. And there are a few surprises that unfold through the drama, especially at the end of volume 14 when the five have managed to gain the feather and move onto the next world and seeking the next feather…
Riveting stuff, well worth getting your hands on and enjoying.
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