Think of the most complex work of fiction that comes to mind, and it will have nothing on Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles. A mass serialised crossover by the manga artists CLAMP, Tsubasa is a romantic fantasy story that pursued an ambitious scope by utilising the group’s library of characters and worlds in one wild plot.
CLAMP itself is an all-female team of manga artists, formed in the 1980s, with the four co-founders, Mokona, Tsubaki Nekoi, Satsuki Igarashi, and Nanase Ohkawa, all having specific roles that may alter depending on their projects. Notable works include Cardcaptor Sakura, Magic Knight Rayearth, Chobits, X, Tokyo Babylon, and xxxHolic, which is Tsubasa’s sister manga. They have a diverse body of work and genres, a unique art style, and often feature themes related to love and fate. For Tsubasa, CLAMP took inspiration from manga godfather Osamu Tezuka and his Star System, which featured identical characters playing roles in different universes.
Tsubasa was published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 2003 to 2009, the manga was well received, receiving an anime that was mostly filler. That in turn had a movie spin-off and two OVAs that covered later story arcs in the manga, though the manga has never has never seen a complete adaptation.
Telling complex stories in comic books is nothing new, especially if huge crossovers happen say in Marvel Comic’s Civil War or DC Comics’ Crisis on Infinite Earths storylines. The closest comparison to Tsubasa must be with Kingdom Hearts, which has a similar premise about heroes travelling to different worlds, meeting with Disney and Square Enix characters, framed around an equally vexing but fascinating narrative. Tsubasa is worth the read, but may put people off with its increasingly convoluted storyline.
With that in mind, here is an attempt to breakdown the manga and make sense of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles.
Flight of Feathers
Our main protagonists are Princess Sakura of Clow Country, and her best friend Syaoran, a devoted archaeologist. Both are based on the lead characters of Cardcaptor Sakura, which involved a 10-year old girl accidentally unleashing the magical Clow Cards and was tasked with capturing them. Princess Sakura has a long-standing crush on Syaoran. Her late father was Clow Reed, an all-powerful sorcerer, who also originated from CCS. Her big brother Toya rules as king, whilst his boyfriend Yukito serves as the magical high priest.
On the day Sakura plans to confess her love to Syaoran, he ventures off to some recently uncovered ruins in the desert. Sakura is mysteriously drawn to the ruins, where she sprouts magical wings. Syaoran rescues her, but her wings burst into feathers and scatter across CLAMP’s manga multiverse. When monsters start attacking, Toya and Yukito send Syaoran and the comatose Sakura off to another universe to parlay with Yuko Ichihara, the Witch of Dimensions.
The Witch of Dimensions and Price for Wishes
Yuko Ichihara debuted in xxxHolic, which first serialised from 2003 until 2011 across two publications. The manga revolved around high schooler Kimihiro Watanuki, who discovers he can see the supernatural. He visits Yuko, a witch who owns a wish-granting shop, hoping she can remove his gift. As every wish requires a equal price, Yuko hires Kimihiro to work for her in exchange. Syaoran and Sakura soon arrive. Yuko tells Syaoran that the lost feathers personify Sakura’s soul and memories. Finding them will help Sakura slowly regain her sense of self. To do this, Syaoran will have to travel between dimensions. His price though is the shared memories he and Sakura have, so she will not remember him.
Syaoran is joined by other characters who all have their own reasons to travel. Fai D. Flowright is a cheery magician on the run from his world to evade the murderous King Ashura. The gruff swordsman Kurogane gets kicked out of his world by Princess Tomoyo (another CCS alumni) to learn what true strength is. To travel, the newcomers must pay their own prices – Fai surrenders a tattoo that suppresses his power, and Kurogane gives up his prized katana. The group are given Mokona Modoki, a chatty white rabbit that can sense Sakura’s feathers and cross dimensions. The original Mokona first appeared in Magic Knight Rayearth. They can communicate with Yuko via Mokona’s black twin.
Our heroes are soon on their merry way across the CLAMP multiverse, meeting characters from other manga to collect Sakura’s feathers. Each feather is imbued with great magic, often influencing the dimensions they are in. Our main antagonist is Fei Wang Reed, a relative of Clow Reed, who manipulates the manga’s events to acquire enough power to become superior to Clow’s sorcery. He is aided by his assistants Xing Huo and Kyle Rondant. Fei Wang has many schemes at play, one of which comes to light in Tsubasa’s first plot twist.
The Clone Saga
Our heroes arrive in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo ruined by acid rain, where one of Sakura’s feathers protects the last reservoir of fresh water. The plot twist comes when a second Syaoran appears sporting a cool eyepatch. The Syaoran we have been following has been a clone all along, whilst the original was captured by Fei Wang. Clone Syaoran as we shall call him was created using half of the original’s heart, programmed by Fei Wang to find Sakura’s feathers. Clone Syaoran goes all Winter Soldier, rips out Fai’s eye to acquire magic, and abandons the group to fulfil his mission. Fai is left several traumatised by the loss of eye, inherits Syaoran’s eyepatch, and is transformed into a vampire by a pair of brothers called Subaru and Kamui (from X/1999 and Tokyo Babylon).
The real Syaoran’s backstory is detailed in subsequent chapters. Originating from the Magic Knight Rayearth universe, Syaoran crossed dimensions to save Sakura from Fei Wang. Both his parents and Sakura Kinomoto (the original Sakura from CCS) paid for this to happen. However, Syaoran’s plan failed and he was captured and cloned. Wishing to find and save Clone Syaoran, Sakura continues on her journey with her friends and the real Syaoran.
Fai, Yui, and Ashura
After some more interdimensional adventures, our heroes wind up in Fai’s dimension, attracting the attention of King Ashura. Fai is revealed to actually be an alias, taking the name from his dead twin brother. His real name is Yui. Due to twins bringing bad omens in Fai’s world, the twins were imprisoned in a tower by Ashura, who raised the boys as his sons. Fei Wang contacted the twins, offering to free one of them from their imprisonment. When Fai asked to free his twin, Fei Wang swiftly tossed his brother out the window, then altered Fai’s memory so he believed he had sacrificed his sibling.
Ashura’s murderous ways were down to be being too powerful, hoping to commit such vile acts that Fai would kill him. To make matters worse, the real Fai’s death led to the surviving Yui/Fai being cursed with two hexes. The first would be to kill anyone who could surpass his magic, which is triggered when Sakura’s power grows. The second traps him in his dimension if he is unable to kill Ashura. Kurogane kills Ashura and drags a suicidal Fai through a portal, lopping off his own arm to save his friend.
Cloning Blues
The group escape to Nihon, Kurogane’s feudal dimension, where they meet Tomoyo. Kurogane is given a prosthetic arm by a pair of brothers named Fuma and Seishiro, who happen to be hunting the vampire twins. Fai surrenders the last of his magic to Yuko for Kurogane to use his new arm. Sakura is rendered unconscious, her mind drifting into a dream world where she meets Kimihiro. Clone Syaoran shows up, prompting the real Syaoran to jump into Sakura’s dream to fight him. Sakura jumps in the way of their swords and is mortally wounded. Just before dying, Sakura drops the clanger that is a clone as well, and the real Sakura has been Fei Wang’s prisoner all along. Said villain then steals her body to use the stored feathers, causing Clone Syaoran to have a breakdown.
Here is where things start to grow complex. The group set out to find Sakura, winding up in Clow Country which is trapped in a time loop. They learn that Fei Wang lives in an alternate timeline he manipulated into being after the original was distorted. In that one, Syaoran travelled to Clow Country after his mother had a vision of the future. Syaoran befriends Sakura and her parents Nadeshiko and Fujitaka, the latter being Syaoran’s adoptive father in the altered timeline.
Learning Sakura had a death curse placed on her by Fei Wang that would expire in seven years, Syaoran made a deal with Yuko to rewind time at the cost of his freedom. Nadeshiko helped but died in the process, whilst both Syaoran and Sakura were cloned by Fei Wang. Kimihiro Watanuki was created to fill the void of Syaoran’s absence.
Clow Reed is Responsible For Everything
Fei Wang’s backstory is explored. It turns out he is an artificial being himself, implied to have been spawned from Clow Reed’s own wish. Clow and Yuko created Mokona together. However, Yuko grew sick and was on the verge of dying. Clow wished for Yuko to open her eyes for an instant, but his willpower was so strong, it trapped Yuko in a state between life and death. In Cardcaptor Sakura, Clow passed away, leaving the Clow Cards and his guardians Kero and Yue to be inherited by Sakura Kinomoto. However, this seems to have been slightly altered or delayed so Clow could exist within the altered timeline as Princess Sakura’s father.
Fei Wang wished to actually prevent Yuko’s death and prove his magical superiority to Clow Reed. To do this, he manipulated events throughout the manga. The death curse placed on Sakura was used to lure in Syaoran, so both could be imprisoned and cloned. Carrying the real Sakura’s memories, the clone’s feathers were scattered to harness cosmic magic and map out the dimensions, giving Fei Wang enough power to reverse Yuko’s death. We also learn that Clow Country is the future version of the post-apocalyptic Tokyo, linking Sakura back to the feather she left behind in the water reservoir, which triggered the release of her feathers to begin with.
Wibbly, Wobbly, Timey, Wimey
Our heroes confront Fei Wang, joined by Clone Syaoran who turns against him master, but is killed. Things go all Gainax when it is revealed that Clow Reed and Yuko saved the two clones by reincarnating them in the past. The two clones find each other and become none other than the real Syaoran’s parents, creating a time loop within the CLAMP multiverse. To save the duo, Clow is implied to have finally died as the price, only to have a dual reincarnation in Cardcaptor Sakura as Sakura Kinomoto’s father Fujitaka Kinomoto, and school friend Eriol Hiiragizawa. So all of the events in most of CLAMP’s manga library are a part of or were caused by an inter-dimensional time loop!
Realising that they are the cause of a paradox and time loop, Clone Syaoran and Sakura seal themselves in a glass container in Yuko’s shop until the time is right to aid their son and friends. Wielding Clow Reed’s magic, the two break out to defeat Fei Wang. The sorcerer uses the collected energy in Sakura’s body to finally succeed in his wish, only to start breaking down the walls of reality. Kurogane cuts down Fei Wang, whilst the clones uses Clow’s magic to save the universe.
The dying Fei Wang triggers a final trap, imprisoning both Syaorans and Kimihiro within a pocket dimension. When both clones disappear, Syaoran and Kimihiro agree to split a wish to escape, but it will have dire consequences for both. Kimihiro must remain in Yuko’s shop forever. Syaoran returns home, finding the original timeline has been restored. He decides his toll should be to travel across dimensions until he finds the two clones, accompanied by Kurogane, Fai, and Mokona. Sakura decides to stay behind, but both finally confess their love with each other. It also turns out that they have other but identical names: “Tsubasa”.
A Legacy On Wings
Tsubasa’s story would not end there, continuing albeit briefly in a three volume called Tsubasa: WoRLD CHRoNiCLE. Kimihiro’s story would continue as well in xxxHolic and its subsequent sequels. In the anime adaptation of Kobato, Syaoran and co. would make a guest appearance in one episode following the events of the manga. Although there has been no further developments on Tsubasa’s story, the larger CLAMP universe has continued to expand, particularly with new chapters for Cardcaptor Sakura.
The manga’s title itself is one of mystery and intrigue. Tsubasa is the Japanese word for “wings” or “feathers”, as well as the secret names of Syaoran and Sakura. The title was selected so it would be easy to read, but the subtitle was added when CLAMP decided it was too short. Reservoir seems to refer to the memories that make up Sakura’s mind, and possibly the reservoir from the post-apocalyptic Tokyo that triggers the adventure as part of the manga’s wild time loop.
The manga was praised for its plot twists and use of CLAMP’s numerous characters. In a way, Tsubasa is a celebration of the artists’ collaborative efforts and creative talents. The anime was met with mixed reception due to its reliance on filler and unresolved adaptation. Perhaps a revisit to Tsubasa is long overdue, with a newer, complete adaptation of the manga.
Have your read Tsubasa or watched the anime? Which characters are your favourites? Which comic book crossovers are amongst your favourites? Leave a comment on our Twitter feed.
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