Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (ツバサ-RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-) is a fantasy shōnen manga series written and illustrated by the mangaka group Clamp. It was serialized in the Kodansha publication Weekly Shōnen Magazine from May 2003 until October 2009. It takes place in the same fictional universe as many of Clamp's other manga series most notably xxxHolic. It follows the story of how Sakura, the princess of Clow Kingdom, loses her soul and Syaoran, a young archaeologist who is also a childhood friend from her, goes on a quest to save her. Dimensional Witch Yūko Ichihara intruscts him to go with two people who also want to accomplish their wishes, Kurogane and Fay D. Fluorite, in the search of Sakura's memories which were scattered in various worlds, and gathering them will help save her soul.

The manga was adapted into an anime series, Tsubasa Chronicle (ツバサ･クロニクル), animated by Bee Train, which aired 52 episodes over two seasons during 2005 and 2006. Production I.G also released five original video animations (OVAs) between November 2007 and May 2009, which acted as a sequel to the TV series. Additionally, various video games and CD Dramas based on the series have been released. The manga was licensed for English language release by Del Rey who have been releasing its volumes ever since April 27, 2004. , the English dub of the first season was being broadcast on the Funimation Channel in the United States. Broadcast of the second season began October 12, 2010. Another English dub has also been broadcast by Animax across Asia under the title Chronicle of The Wings.

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle was conceived when four Clamp artists wanted to create a manga series that connected to all their previous works and took the main characters from Cardcaptor Sakura, an earlier manga made by them, to reuse them as its protagonists. In contrast to most of their previous works which were shōjo, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle was developed as shōnen title which influeced Clamp in their artwork. The series has been received by Japanese and English readers, having reached high places in various lists featuring the best-selling manga in different regions. Both manga and anime have also been well-received by critics, who praised its connections from previous works, as well as the artwork.

Plot
The series starts introducing Syaoran, a young archaeologist investigating a nearby ruin, and Sakura, the princess of Clow Kingdom. Both are childhood friends who are in love with each other, but still When she visits Syaoran in the ruins the next day, she stands on a symbol opening a secret room and disappears into it. Syaoran chases after and finds her with a pair of ghostly wings being pulled into the wall. He rescues her, but then her wings disintegrate into feathers that scatter across dimensions. The High Priest of Clow Kingdom, Yukito, immediately realizes that Sakura's "feathers" were the manifestation of her soul; without them, she will die.

Yukito sends the two to the Dimensional Witch, Yūko Ichihara. There Syaoran meets Kurogane, a rough-mannered samurai who wishes to return to his home after being banished from his world by Princess Tomoyo in order to learn what true strength is, and Fay D. Fluorite, a magician who fled his world and wishes never to return to avoid being forced to kill the King Ashura of his home world. In order to gain the power to cross dimensions, each must pay with what he or she values most. Kurogane pays with his family's heirloom, the sword Ginryū. Fay pays with the tattoo on his back that suppresses his magical power. Syaoran and Sakura pay with their relationship; even if Syaoran is able to retrieve all of Sakura's memories, she will never remember him. When the three agree to her terms, Yūko presents them with the one of two creatures named Mokona Modoki who holds the power to cross dimensions. The group of five then set out on their journey across dimensions in search of Sakura's feathers. As the first feather is obtained, Sakura awakes from her catatonic state, without any memories. Although the feathers the group obtains does not make Sakura remember events related with Syaoran, she starts bonding with him. The group of five also start befriending each other to the point Fay comically labels them as a family.

In the journey, it is revealed that Syaoran is actually a clone, who holds half of the heart of the original one. Various years ago, the original Syaoran was taken prisoner by Fei Wang Reed, who created his clone to collect Sakura's feather for his own agenda. Before being imprisoned, the original Syaoran sealed a part of his own heart within his clone, hoping he would grow his own heart. However, as the seal is broken, the clone becomes a mindless being working for Fei Wang. The original Syaoran also recovers his own body, and joins Sakura, Fay, Kurogane and Mokona in their journey, although Sakura decides to search for a way to save the clone. When transported into the Dream World, Syaoran faces his clone persona, and both fight for the feathers. As both Syaoran attempt to finish each other, Sakura intervenes, receiving the attack. Before her soul disappears, Sakura reveals that she is a clone from the original Sakura who was taken prisoner by Fei Wang Reed. The cloned Sakura's soulless body is taken to Fei Wang Reed. Learning that Fei Wang Reed is in Clow Country, the group departs to rescue the clone and the original Sakura.

As they arrive in Clow, Syaoran explains Fay, Kurogane and Modoka the origins of his and Sakura's clones: As a young child, Syaoran was tasked to go to Clow Country by his parents as her mother had foreseen the future which involved Syaoran. In Clow, Syaoran met the original Sakura, and both fell in love. During the first week of Syaoran's stay, Fei Wang Reed placed a seal of death on Sakura, and Syaoran was then forced to stay in Clow forever to search a way to stop the curse. As years went on, neither Syaoran or Sakura's parents were able to stop the curse. As the curse is bout to activate, Sakura's mother used her power to stop time and Syaoran makes a wish to turn back time by Yuko, but at the price of losing his freedom to Fei Wang. Yuko's assistant Watanuki Kimihiro is created to replace Syaoran within his original world, and Fei Wang created the clones of Syaoran and Sakura to use as pawns in an alternate Clow Country.

The group battles Fei Wang, who manages to grant his wish of reviving the dead in order to prove himself superior that Clow Reed. He does it by reviving the cloned Sakura who is reunited with the cloned Syaoran by Yuko. Yuko sends the clones to an alternate world where both grow up and have a son. The son is revealed to be Syaoran's original self who would go Clow after his Sakura's clone foresaw the future, thus creating a paradox. The clones break the paradox to help their original selves, Fay and Kurogane, kill Fei Wang. However, both Syaoran and Watanuki are victim of Fei Wang's last curse and are trapped in a void between time and space. As both clones die, Syaoran pays a price so that he and Watanuki escape from the void which is to continue travelling throughout worlds forever. The group rests in the original Clow Country where Fay and Kurogane decide to join Syaoran once again. Before leaving, Syaoran and Sakura confess their love for each other and reveal their original names: Tsubasa. Nevertheless, using the power of the memories of his clone, Syaoran's journey will always lead him back to Sakura's side.

Production
Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle first began with the inspiration of the four-member team, Clamp, to link their works set in a realistic world with all of their works set in different fantasy worlds. Prior to beginning work on Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Clamp had created the manga Cardcaptor Sakura, from which the two main characters are taken. Clamp decided to draw Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle using a style first conceived by Osamu Tezuka, named the "father of manga" and often credited as the "father of anime", known as the Osamu Tezuka's Star System where characters with the same name and design are used in different settings, drawing mostly from the vast character pool of its own works and occasionally from others' works. However unlike characters under the Star System, three months prior to Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle release, the Weekly Young Magazine began serializing xxxHolic, a manga whose two main characters, Kimihiro Watanuki and Yūko Ichihara, are identical to the ones used in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. It runs parallel to Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and is another of Clamp's works. Like many of their other works, each member of Clamp had a role different from their other projects as opposed to retaining set roles. For Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Mokona drew the main characters whereas Tsubaki Nekoi and Satsuki Igarashi drew the side characters and backgrounds; Nanase Ohkawa was the sole person in charge of the storyline and not even the other members of Clamp were told in advance how the plot will unfold.

A special interview with Ohkawa and Kiichiro Sugawara, Clamp's editor from the Shōnen Magazine's Editorial Department, took place after the story of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle had progressed past the Ōto Country arc. Ohkawa has stated that the group is very conscious of the fact that Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle is the title in Shōnen Magazine with the youngest readership and that it is their very first foray into the shōnen demographic. Thus, the members of Clamp ensure that they employ a drawing style and dialogue appropriate for young, male audiences; the manga incorporates furigana that makes reading Japanese easier. To aid in this effort, the group holds conferences with Sugawara where they discuss the plot. However, Ohkawa stated during the interview that the only time the story significantly changed was during Country of Jade arc; was from a "horror story with vampires" to a "detective mystery".

The members of Clamp had some difficulty adjusting from their typical style after deciding to publish with a Weekly Shōnen Magazine. Because their typical thinner lines did not give the desired impact, Ohkawa expressed the group's desires to make their lines thicker and have simpler layouts similar to the other stories already present in Shōnen Magazine. Furthermore, in regards to the art, she stated that they used their original style to attract initial readers and then slowly transitioned to a new style, however mentioned that since sometime around when the Country of Ōto arc took place, their art style has been gradually changing and that they were thinking of returning to their original style. Also they are still adjusting to a weekly schedule as many of their previous works were on a monthly schedule. When first presenting the idea to Sugawara of running Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle linked with xxxHolic, although he expressed concerns for the strain the weekly pace of such a series would place on the artists, he whole-heartedly approved. In accordance with Ohkawa's desire for each to have a well organized story, Clamp avoids putting references between the two stories too frequently.

When thinking about including character goods with the volume releases, Sugawara came up with the atypical idea of releasing a deluxe and normal edition of the manga after contemplating the inconsistency of novels getting both a soft-cover and hard-cover release, but manga not. Because it was a new concept, the group experienced several mishaps such as accidentally placing the illustration on the first deluxe edition they released vertically flipped. The group also decided to use another atypical practice of keeping catchphrases that appeared in the magazine identical to the ones that appear on the frontispieces of the deluxe editions.

Manga
Written and illustrated by Clamp, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle was serialized in Japan in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine between May 2003 and October 2009. Its 233 chapters have been compiled into twenty-eight tankōbon volumes by Kodansha. with the first volume released on August 12, 2003, and the last one on November 17, 2009.

Tsubasa was one of the first four manga series licensed for English release in North America by Del Rey Manga, and was acquired together with Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Negima! Magister Negi Magi, and xxxHolic in January 2004. Del Rey released the first volume of the series on April 27, 2004, and has released 27 volumes of the series. Tanoshimi, the United Kingdom branch of Random House, published the first 14 volumes as published by Del Rey in the United Kingdom, between August 3, 2006 and June 5, 2008.

Anime
The animation studio Bee Train adapted the manga series into a two-season anime television series Tsubasa Chronicle (ツバサ･クロニクル) spanning fifty-two episodes in total. Both seasons were written by Hiroyuki Kawasaki and directed by Kōichi Mashimo with Hiroshi Morioka joining on as co-director for the second season. The music for the series was composed by Yuki Kajiura. The first season aired Saturday nights at 18:30 on NHK from April 9, 2005 to October 15, 2005 and spanned twenty-six episodes. The second season began on April 29, 2006 at 18:30 and concluded on November 4, 2006 and spanned twenty-six episodes. In Japan, Bandai Visual released the series across fourteen Region 2 DVD compilation volumes between August 26, 2005 and February 23, 2007.

The anime television network Animax dubbed both seasons and began broadcasting the series under the title Chronicle of the Wings on April 6, 2006 across its English-language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia as well as its Chinese-language networks in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Funimation Entertainment licensed both season under the title Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle for English-language release in North America across twelve Region 1 DVD compilation volumes. Funimation also released the first season of Tsubasa Chronicle in the United Kingdom through Revelation Films beginning on September 17, 2007 across six Region 2 DVD compilation volumes. Revelation Films had previously confirmed the release of the second season of Tsubasa Chronicle in the U.K. although no release dates were ever set.

A film interlude, Tsubasa Chronicle the Movie: The Princess of the Country of Birdcages (劇場版 ツバサ･クロニクル 鳥カゴの国の姫君), was adapted by the animation studio Production I.G and premiered in Japanese theaters on August 20, 2005 in conjunction with xxxHolic the Movie: A Midsummer Night's Dream between the two seasons of the anime series. It was directed by Itsuro Kawasaki and written by both Midori Goto and Junichi Fujisaku with character designs provided by Yoko Kikuchi and music provided by Yuki Kajiura. Shochiku released the DVD for the film on February 25, 2006 in Japan in both regular and premium editions. Funimation released the film on a single DVD in English on February 19, 2009 in North America as a double feature with the xxxHolic film.

Two original video animation (OVA) series were animated by Production I.G as sequels to the anime. They are directed by Shunsuke Tada and written by Nanase Ohkawa with music provided by Yuki Kajiura. A three-episode OVA series entitled Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations, stylized as Tsubasa TOKYO REVELATIONS, was released between November 16, 2007 and March 17, 2008 across three DVDs bundled with limited versions of volumes 21, 22 and 23 of the manga. A two-episode OVA series entitled Tsubasa Shunraiki (ツバサ春雷記) was released across two DVDs. The first was packaged with volume 26 of the manga, which was released on March 17, 2009 and the second was packaged with volume 27, released on May 15, 2009.

Audio CDs
The original soundtrack for the anime was released in four soundtrack albums entitled Future Soundscape I~IV were released by Victor Entertainment for the anime from July 6, 2005 to September 21, 2006, each in a normal and a limited edition that featured additional merchandise. Additionally, a compilation album entitled Best Vocal Collection was released on December 20, 2006 collecting fourteen of vocal tracks from the anime. Each release charted in the Oricon charts, with the highest ranking album Future Soundscape I peak ranking at 39th remaining on the charts for three weeks.

A total of ten music albums have been released, each containing a single piece of theme music for the various adaptations. For the anime adaptation Tsubasa Chronicle, four maxi singles entitled Loop, Blaze, It's, and Kazemachi Jet / Spica were released between May 10, 2005 and July 14, 2006. For the anime film Tsubasa Chronicle the Movie: The Princess of the Country of Birdcages, two maxi singles entitled Aerial and Amrita were released on August 17, 2005 and on August 18, 2005. For the OVA adaptations, two maxi singles and two studio albums entitled Synchronicity, Saigo no Kajitsu / Mitsubashi to Kagakusha, Kazeyomi, and Everlasting Songs were released between November 21, 2007 and February 25, 2009. All of the releases charted on the Oricon charts, with the highest ranking single being Loop peak ranking at 7th remaining on the chart for nine weeks.

Victor Entertainment released a series of three drama CDs entitled "The Matinée of the Palace" based on the anime adaptation featuring the same voice actors. The first, subtitled Chapter.1 ~Coral, the City on the Water~, was released on December 16, 2005. Chapter.2 ~Impossible Goal~ followed on February 1, 2006. The final CD, subtitled Chapter.3 ~Unspeakable Lines~, was released on March 24, 2006. All of the releases charted on the Oricon charts with the highest ranking album being Chapter.2 ~Impossible Goal~ peaking at 161st and remaining on the chart for a week. A spin-off series of four drama CDs entitled "Private High School Holitsuba" have been released between 2006 and 2009, and has also had a one-chapter manga adaptation.

Video games
A video game entitled Tsubasa Chronicle and developed by Cavia, based on the anime adaptation of the same name, has been released in Japan for the Nintendo DS on October 27, 2005 by Akira. Tsubasa Chronicle is an role-playing game whose gameplay requires the player to navigate the world as Sakura and Syaoran in search of Sakura's memory fragments. Additionally, players can compete with each other wirelessly. A sequel titled Tsubasa Chronicle Volume 2 was released in 2006, again for the Nintendo DS.

Art and fanbooks
Three different fanbooks have been released for Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. Kodansha released two in Japan by between 2005 and 2006 containing character illustrations and information, a collection of the theme song videos, and interviews with the seiyū. The second book published was TV Animation Tsubasa Chronicle Official Fanbook (TV ANIMATION ツバサ･クロニクル OFFICIAL FANBOOK) on May 17, 2005 bearing an ISBN 978-4063720112. The third book published was TV Animation Tsubasa Chronicle 2nd Season Official Fanbook (TV ANIMATION ツバサ･クロニクル 2nd SEASON OFFICIAL FANBOOK) on June 16, 2006 bearing an ISBN 978-4063721614. DH Publishing released one in English on May 25, 2008 bearing an ISBN 978-1932897265 entitled Tsubasa Chronicle Factbook: Mystery, Magic and Mischief, the eighteenth of the Mysteries and Secrets Revealed! series of books.

Three different artbooks have been released in Japan by Kodansha between 2006 and 2009 containing illustrations. The first book published was TV Animation Tsubasa Chronicle Best Selection (TV ANIMATION ツバサ･クロニクル BEST SELECTION) on April 17, 2006 bearing an ISBN 978-4063721386. The second book published was Tsubasa Original Illustrations Collection –Album De Reproductions- (ツバサ原画集-ALBuM De REProDUCTioNS-) on April 17, 2007 bearing an ISBN 978-4063646863, and containing art from the first 14 volumes. An English version of ALBuM De REProDUCTioNS was released on December 8, 2009 bearing an ISBN 978-0-345-51079-2. This additionally contained one of the short stories entitled Tsubasa: World of the Untold Story that also featured as omake to the manga volumes. Another artbook, Tsubasa Original Illustrations Collection –Album De Reproductions- 2 (ツバサ原画集-ALBuM De REProDUCTioNS- 2) was released on November 17, 2009, containing art from the final 14 volumes.

Two character guides were released by Kondasha in Japan and then translated and released in North American by Del Rey Manga containing overviews of the worlds, overviews of character, fan reports, illustrations, and interviews. The Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle Character Guide (ツバサ CARACTere GuiDE) was released on April 15, 2005 bearing an ISBN 978-4063720013 covering events from the volume 1 to volume 7. It was released in English on December 26, 2006 bearing an ISBN 978-0345494849. The Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle Character Guide 2 (ツバサ CARACTere GuiDE 2) was released on October 17, 2006 bearing an ISBN 978-4063722161. It was released in English on October 13, 2009.

Reception
The Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle manga series was well received by Japanese readers, appearing various times in lists of best-selling volumes. After the first volume's English release in April 27, 2004, it sold 2,330 copies in May 2004, placing it at the top end of the top 100 sales of that month. It was consistently ranked in the top 10 on the list of Manga Top 50 for every quarterly release of the ICv2 Retailers Guide to Anime/Manga, based on sales from both mainstream bookstores and comic book shops, since its release in May 2004 except for the fourth quarter of 2007, reaching a top rank of number 3. In the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation Award from 2009, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle was the winner in the category "Best Manga - Action".

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle was fairly well received by reviewers, who described it a treat for Clamp fans due to the large number of crossover characters in the series. Initial fan response to Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle was that it was "Cardcaptor Sakura for guys." Fans speculated that the series will put a conclusion to one of Clamp's unfinished series X. Critics described the series as being marked by several points of plot twists with About.com writer Katherine Luther labelling as "perhaps the "twistiest" of twists that we've seen in anime and manga in quite some time". For the earlier half of the series, Mikhail Koulikov from Anime News Network described the series as settling into a "predictable pattern" that Melissa Harper, also from Anime News Network, described as somewhat slow, and "frankly a bit boring." On the other hand, Michael Aronson from Manga Life found the series appealing, finding it accessible to readers who have not read other Clamp series and hoping it would remain this accesible for following volumes. Nevertheless, he also found that the relation between Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and xxxHolic would persuade readers to also read the latter series. Mania Entertainment's Megan Lavey found its introduction as a "pretty simple love story", while liking the characters' personalities. She also liked how the series was connected with xxxHolic and hoped that both series would continue crossing over. In a general overview of the manga, Julie Gray from Comic Book Bin gave positive remarks to the characters' complex personalities and how the plot has been developed throughout its first ten volumes, recommending people to buy the series. Active Anime's Blake Waymire found that the change of settings was well done, particulary commenting how some story arcs could go from dramatic to charming.

From volume 15 onwards, Clamp unleashed a series of "mind-blowing" plot twists that had been foreshadowed frequently throughout the series. These twists have been described by Anime News Network as "stunning", however very confusingly executed due to the sheer number of storylines come together. While some highlighted felt that the plot went from slow to messy, other critics praised this pacing as letting "the story progress at its own natural momentum," keeping the reader "from being bored by any one literary genre." Additionally, the plot twist was praised for changing the plot's as well as the relationships between the manga's main characters, something as "few manga creators could pull off this sort of outrageous storytelling stunt". Active Anime writer Holly Ellingwood called such plot twists as "the most shocking set of events in the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles to date!", finding that despite such twists, more secrets were brought to readers to persuade them to read following volumes. Ellingwood also reviewed following volumes, finding the last plot revelations intriguing as well as the fact that a bigger connection is revealed between characters from Tsubasa and xxxHolic. Critics have described the artwork as "keeping up the standards expected of Clamp" with its high level of detail, though perhaps too much detail, especially during action sequences. The artstyle is "stylish" and "dynamic," characterized by a large number of "sweeping lines curlicues that look unlike anything else in the genre," help bring the action scenes to life for exciting experiences that make you hold your breath. Ed Sizemore from Comics Worth Reading highlighted the fact that each dimension that the protagonists visit is characterized by its very own look and feel such that "no two worlds are even remotely similar." However, the amount of detail and lack of contrast, while beautiful, often render scenes incomprehensible leaving the reader guessing who is attacking. Critics have praised Del Rey's inclusion of English translation notes that aid in understanding the plot, especially due to its crossover nature. Lavey found the translation as a "good read", liking how some Japanese words were not translated and instead explained in notes.

Critics have described the anime adaptation as having a very slow pace, but having a beautiful musical score. Carl Kimlinger from Anime News Network faulted the director, Koichi Mashimo, for "downshifting the plot's energy" and as having "too many flashbacks, too many slow pans over inexpressive eyes," that create an end-product that is "tediously formulaic." While thinking about its main audience, Active Anime's Christopher Seaman gave mixed feelings, finding its romantical themes mature, while some of its magical themes would go to younger audiences, concluding that "Teens would get the most out of the series." Nevertheless, he recommended the series in general, praising its plot and its themes. DVDTalk's Todd Douglass Jr. ranked the anime DVD box as "Highly Recommended", having liked how despite borrowing elements from other series, the series was "entirely self-contained." Douglas pointed that following its second season, the anime kept entertaining viewers, mentioning that they would not find a reason to dislike it. Moreover, Douglas enjoyed the anime's storytelling, having liked its characters, but still found it sometimes dragging due to its episodic nature. Kimlinger also praised the musical score as being beautiful as Yuki Kajiura's work has always been. Chris Beveridge from Mania Entertainment echoed similar comments, praising the series' score and animation, while also commenting on the series' accesibility; He stated that people unrelated with Clamp's works would like Tsubasa in contrast to other people who would "get out of the series." Its episodic nature was praised by Luther who commented how the main plot was connected by each of its story arcs. Reviewing the anime's and xxxHolic's films, IGN writer N.S. Davidson found the Tsubasa film as a appealing to viewers of the series, despite its short length. He also liked how both films' storylines interacted, allowing parts from Tsubasa's to be explained in the xxxHolic film, while also found artistic similarities between both of them. In a TV Asahi poll, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle was ranked as the 59th most popular anime in Japan.