Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (ツバサ-RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-, Tsubasa: Rezaboa Kuronikuru?), also known as Chronicle of the Wings, is a manga by CLAMP which is running in Shonen Magazine in Japan. Tsubasa means a wing or wings in Japanese.Currently still in the process of being written, Tsubasa is published by Kodansha in Japan, and the fourteenth volume came out in April, 2006 in both hardcover and paperback versions. In North America, the series is licensed for translation into English by Del Rey Manga, and in Singapore it is published in both English and simplified Chinese by Chuang Yi.
An anime adaptation, Tsubasa Chronicle, has finished its first two seasons, with a third airing in April, 2007[1]. It was broadcast by the anime television network, Animax across its networks within Southeast Asia and South America in English, Spanish and other languages. The first season and movie are licensed for release in North America by FUNimation Entertainment[2].
Plot summary
Sakura is the princess of Clow Country, which is ruled by her older brother, King Tōya. Her childhood friend Syaora
n is a young archaeologist. Sakura is revealed to have strange powers when she has a vision of a mysterious symbol and places she has never seen. Meanwhile, Syaoran discovers the same symbol at the ruins he is excavating. He sees Sakura standing on the symbol on the ground. Ghostly wings appear on her back and a mysterious force begins to pull her into the walls of the ruins. Syaoran rescues her in time, but her wings are scattered across dimensions. The High Priest of Clow Country, Yukito, immediately realizes that Sakura's "wings" were the manifestation of her soul and memories; without her wings, she will die. In order to save Sakura, Syaoran must journey to retrieve Sakura's lost memories.
n is a young archaeologist. Sakura is revealed to have strange powers when she has a vision of a mysterious symbol and places she has never seen. Meanwhile, Syaoran discovers the same symbol at the ruins he is excavating. He sees Sakura standing on the symbol on the ground. Ghostly wings appear on her back and a mysterious force begins to pull her into the walls of the ruins. Syaoran rescues her in time, but her wings are scattered across dimensions. The High Priest of Clow Country, Yukito, immediately realizes that Sakura's "wings" were the manifestation of her soul and memories; without her wings, she will die. In order to save Sakura, Syaoran must journey to retrieve Sakura's lost memories.
Yukito sends Syaoran and the unconscious Sakura to the Time-Space Witch, Yūko, who is one of the main characters in xxxHOLiC. There he meets Kurogane, a rough-mannered ninja banished from his world by Princess Tomoyo, and Fay D. Flourite (as spelled in CLAMP's official guide or "Fai" as translated by Del Rey), a magician who fled his world to avoid King Ashura. Each of them must pay with what he values most in order to gain the power to cross dimensions. For Kurogane, it is his sword Ginryū, and for Fay, it is the tattoo on his back which regulates his control of his magic. (Fay later reveals that he still possesses magic, but has sworn not to use it without the tattoo on his back.) Syaoran, on the other hand, must pay with his relationship with Sakura: even if he is able to retrieve all of her memories, she will never remember anything about him or their relationship. (This sacrifice also pays Sakura's "toll" to Yūko, because what Sakura values most are her memories of and with Syaoran.) Only when the three agree to her terms does Yūko present them with the power to cross dimensions; a white creature named Mokona Modoki.While traversing through worlds to find Sakura's feathers, the four travellers and Mokona are forced to overcome many dangers and opponents, some of whom are figures from Syaoran's past who wish to collect Sakura's feathers for their own reasons as they are seen to be objects that hold great power.
Note that because of the crossover characters with xxxHOLiC, some of the plot points of the two mangas occasionally intertwine with each other.
Tsubasa Chronicle
Tsubasa Chronicle (ツバサ・クロニクル, Tsubasa Kuronikuru?), also known as Chronicle of the Wings, is a Japanese anime TV series adapted from Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. The first season aired Saturday nights on NHK from April 9, 2005 to October 15, 2005. The second season began on April 29, 2006 and concluded on November 4, 2006. It was broadcast by the anime television network, Animax, across its networks within Southeast Asia and South America in English, Spanish and other languages.The first season contains 26 episodes and the second season (also the final season) also contains 26 episodes, making the whole series total 52 episodes.
A movie, 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 , Gekijōban Tsubasa Kuronikuru Torikago no Kuni no Himekimi?), was released in Japanese theaters on August 20, 2005 in conjunction with xxxHOLiC Manatsu no Yoru no Yume. The DVD of the movie was released on February 25, 2006. The movie also crosses over with the XXXHOLiC movie.
Characters
Main characters
- Syaoran: The hero of the story. A crossover character from Cardcaptor Sakura. He (at this point) does not have any magical power, but is an excellent martial artist and an aspiring archaeologist with extensive knowledge of various languages, histories, and artifacts. His right eye is blind; sometimes, in mysterious dreams, he can see out of the eye and
look at a person he does recognize as himself in endless mirrors. Syaoran was found in his childhood wandering the streets without a memory, before he was discovered and adopted by the man he now calls father (Sakura's father in Card Captor Sakura), who recently passed away, leaving his foster son to continue his great work. He obtained his sword Hien during his stay at Ōto, which he learned to use from Kurogane, and learned his fighting abilities from now-enemy Seishirō, who can also travel between worlds and says he is looking for vampires.
- Sakura: The Princess of Clow Country. Sakura is a cheerful, selfless, and stronghearted being. She states if there was ever something that she could do, she would try her absolute best. She possesses a mysterious power, namely her "wings" that can actually change the world, though it will still be a while before anyone understands what that means. Her wings are the manifestation of her soul, namely her heart and memories. She is targeted by Fei Wong for that very power. After losing her memories, Syaoran gave up their relationship in order to save her. Meaning, even if she regains all of her memories, the one that she would never retrieve would be the knowledge of Syaoran's existence. Her main goal is to get back all of her memories and return home. A crossover character from Cardcaptor Sakura.
- Kurogane: A rough-mannered ninja from the world of Nihon (Japan), exiled for his recklessness. He originally possessed the blade Ginryū before giving it to Yūko as price for his deal with her. He obtained a new sword in Ōto called the Sōhi, and taught Syaoran the skills of sword fighting and sensing attacks from the right. Kurogane is an original character and is not from any other Clamp work.
- Fay D. Flourite: He's a laid-back mage from the Country of Celes. He is on the run from King Ashura (a crossover from RG Veda), whom he put into a near-eternal slumber. Although he seems happy-go-lucky and pretends to know less than he does, there is more than meets the eye. His assistant in Celes, currently guarding against the awakening of Ashura, is a very organic-looking Chii from the series Chobits. In chapters 125 and 126 Fay is turned into a vampire at Kurogane's request, to save his life after Syaoran stole his left eye and half his magic. Because he drank Kurogane's blood mixed with the vampire Kamui's, he is able to feed only from him. Fay is an original character and is not from any other Clamp work.
- Mokona: A creature given to Syaoran, Fai and Kurogane by the Time-Space Witch in exchange for their most-valued possessions. Whichever world he/she (there are no actually gendered pronouns for Mokona) finds himself in, Mokona can contact his sibling Black Mokona. Both were created by Clow Reed and Ichihara Yūko after having met Mokona from Magic Knight Rayearth. In chapter 133 of Tsubasa, it is revealed that the two Mokonas were created by Yūko and Clow to help prevent the wish Fei Wong wanted to happen.
Secondary characters
- Syaoran: Kept asleep in a liquid chamber at Fei Wong Reed's palace, with his left eye covered by a piece of cloth, his hands and arms by binding spells and wearing clothes marking Fei Wong Reed's bat symbol. In fact, this Syaoran is the original while the Syaoran at Sakura's side is only a clone that Fei Wong Reed created. This Syaoran is of Clow Reed's bloodline and can thus use magic and gave an exact copy of his heart to his clone, Syaoran, to stop Fei Wong's plan temporarily. He was depicted as a villain (it was believed that he was controlling the clone's actions, when it was only the clone's true nature showing) until it was discovered that the main character, Syaoran, was a clone.
- Yūko Ichihara: Also known as the Dimension Witch or the Space-Time Witch, who resides in modern day Japan. She owns a shop in xxxHOLiC, which can grant people their wishes if they in pay the equivalent price. She works against Fei Wong Reed.
- Seishirō: A mysterious traveler from Syaoran's past who also gained the power to travel between worlds from Yūko. He is currently searching for the vampire twins and, like his younger brother, he is a treasure hunter, not a vampire hunter like originally believed. His abilities include summoning Oni to fight for him. He is able to perform these abilities with the help one of Sakura's feathers, which Syaoran failed to retrieve in their encounter in Ōto country. An experienced fighter, Seishirō was also the one to teach Syaoran his kicking technique. He is a crossover character from Tokyo Babylon and X/1999.
- Subaru: One half of the vampire twins that Seishirō is hunting and seems to be the only one that Seishirō is interested in. Upon arriving in the world 'Tokyo', Subaru fell asleep and does not awaken until Syaoran and his friends arrive. He is the protagonist of the manga Tokyo Babylon and also plays an important role in X/1999.
- Kamui: The other half of the vampire twins that Seishirō is hunting. His true identity is revealed when he attacks Syaoran's clone in an attempt to use his blood to awaken Subaru. Kamui is originally the protagonist in the manga X/1999. He and Subaru gained the power to traverse dimensions as twins from Yūko. It should be noted that Kamui was not Subaru's twin in Tokyo Babylon, they were not even the same age. Subaru had a twin sister named Hokuto.
- Fūma: Seishirō's younger brother, who is also a treasure hunter and apparent leader of the people of the Tower. He arrived in 'Tokyo' four years earlier along with a feather of Sakura's. Little is known about him right now, but he does seem to have an interest in Kamui and he seems to be friends with Yūko, for whom he retrieves items for whenever he traverses to different dimensions. He is also the antagonist in X/1999.
- Princess Tomoyo: The princess of a feudal country called Japan/Nihon who sends the ninja Kurogane on the quest that causes him to join the dimension travelers. Tomoyo is a powerful miko sorceress responsible for maintaining the wards of Nihon that protect the country from demons. She is also a yumemi (dreamseer) with the ability to see into other people's dreams. Another incarnation of her appears in Piffle World. A crossover character from Cardcaptor Sakura.
- King Ashura: The King of Celes, who has a connection with Fay. Fay places Ashura in an enchanted sleep at the beginning of Tsubasa and transforms Chi to serve as Ashura's guard. Ashura is the reason why Fay seeks to travel to multiple dimensions and avoid returning to Celes, but the reason why Fay sealed him in the first place and why Fay fears Ashura's awakening has yet to be revealed. King Ashura is a crossover character from RG Veda and is not be mistaken as another crossover character from RG Veda, Ashura-ō, who is this Ashura's son in RG Veda. (Ashura-ō means King Ashura and is a title also used as a name in RG Veda, which both of these characters bear, though there the son is usually referred to as "Ashura".)
- Clow Reed: The sorcerer who is tied to the storyline, but does not appear directly as he is already deceased before the story begins. A crossover character from Cardcaptor Sakura. He and Yūko appear to have had a strained relationship. Another incarnation, who is also deceased before the story begins, is the father of the Sakura and Tōya of Tsubasa.
Villains
- Fei Wong Reed: A mysterious and powerful villain who is after Sakura's feathers. He is later revealed to be a direct ancestor of Clow Reed and well aware of the powers of the Dimension Witch. He was the one who imprisoned the "real" Syaoran and created the Syaoran who is the protagonist of Tsubasa. Though he already possesses the power to cross dimensions like the High Priest of Clow and Princess Tomoyo, he seeks the power of Sakura's wings, which surpasses the power of all who can cross dimensions, and the power that lies under the ruins of the Clow Country in order to "To bring back a dream that has already ended". He does not care on how much blood has to be shed to get that power; those he has killed (or arranged to be killed) include Kurogane's mother. His true objective not to obtain Sakura's feathers; rather, the scattering Sakura's memories was to provide a motive that would force her to travel between dimensions to recover them and attain the physical memories Sakura gains through her powers as she visits various dimensions. Therefore the scattering of memories and having the TRC trio accompany Sakura on her journey was a pre-planned situation created by Fei Wong in order for him to attain his "wish".
- Xing Huo: Fei Wong's assistant. Not much about her is known besides the fact she is Fei Wong's assistant and was somewhat also a "failed creation". However, as the story progresses her character has more depth. In Volume 15 of the manga she helps the real Syaoran go to Yūko after he awakened (Volume 10 of xxxHOLiC), but stated she can only do it once. Her reason to him was because "If the dream does not end." She is killed by Fei Wong shortly afterwards.
- Kyle Rondart: An agent of Fei Wong Reed, first introduced in Jade country as the good doctor who was helping the village with their problems around the time the children started vanishing. He seems kind and sincere at first, but we later find out that through hypnotism he was the one that sends the children (most of them his patients) to the old castle to dig out Sakura's feather. He re-appears in Piffle World as the very same person, knowing that Syaoran and his friends will likely assume he is just another incarnation of himself. In Piffle World he tries to sabotage the race to get Sakura's feather, but later escapes without it.
