“I’ll Find You Again…” – Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (manga) – 9/10 Turkeys

Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end. ~Author Unknown

Genre: Action/Advenure/Romance/Fantasy

Review Status: Complete (28 Volumes/28 Volumes)

Licensed: Licensed in the US

Art: It’s CLAMP. While in the first three or so volumes, the characters are unusually out of proportion, it settles down into the elegant, detailed, streamlined and stylized artwork that fans are familiar with. The only thing I can really complain about is that it’s often hard to follow what’s happening in the fight scenes.

Summary: This is the story of four travelers, bound by fate and by prophesied future. Sakura is the princess of Clow Country, and possessor of a strange power that promises to change the world. Syaoran is an aspiring archaeologist and her childhood friend. When Sakura is endangered by the plan a certain man has for the future, the princess' memories are scattered across dimensions in the form of feathers, and Syaoran is forced to go on a desperate journey to retrieve them. They are accompanied by Fay D. Flourite, a magician running from the horrible truth of his past, and Kurogane, a rough-mannered ninja trying to get back to his world. However, the ability to cross worlds demands a great price, and each of them must pay the Dimensional Witch with what he or she values most. In order to save his princess, Syaoran must give up his relationship with her. Even if he gathers all of Sakura's memories, she will never remember their past together...

But the world is not so simple. The very moment these four made this decision, their destinies are sealed into a tragic course...as everyone in the group has their own secrets. Visions of the future are seen, and prophesies are made. The cruel future which lies ahead reads only of betrayal, abandonment, devastation and anguish.

Review: This manga is a massive CLAMP crossover. You encounter many of their characters as the mains travel from world to world. Now, this hasn’t always been received well- some people feel that it cheapens their other works, or just isn’t very creative. However, I feel that it was done well enough that the story is fantastic in its own right.

Each world is full of surprising characters and things, which makes it a joy to read and see what's coming next! You become aware, though, that their travels aren't all fine and dandy- they encounter many obstacles to getting her memroies back. Sometimes it's from fellow travellers, sometimes the world itself that keeps it from them. And when you're closing in on the end, you discover that the price that they paid might not be enough to keep tragedy from happening.

You get to know the characters very well, with each of the mains having a hard past that they must overcome. Sakura and Syaoran’s story, however, surpasses their comanions’ stories even more- not only does a tragic moment in their past come back to haunt them, but they must deal with space-time paradoxes, false memories, clones, and being separated time and again!

I have to admit, it doesn’t really tread new ground in time-space paradoxes. However, as I was reading it I discovered that the only way to fully understand what was happening in Tsubasa was to read the companion manga xxxHolic.

Even so, once I was aware of what was happening where and why, I was rooting for our protagonists to win and for the happy ending they deserved.

Overall, while you do need to read xxxHolic to really get it, this is still a fantastic series in its own right.

Recommended: 13+. Moderate violence and bloodspatter during fights. Dead bodies are shown, though not in detail, and gore is kept to a minimum.

Other titles you might enjoy: xxxHolic (manga and anime, though I don’t know how well the anime is faithful to the manga)
Anything else by CLAMP (manga)
Zombie-Loan (manga)
Pandora Hearts (manga)
Princess Tutu (anime)
Kino’s Journey (Anime)
Spirited Away (anime)
Castle in the Sky (anime)
Millenium Actress (anime)