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What's New? Nothing to new I'm afraid... |
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On this page;
Angelic Layer |
Lawful Drug Magic Knight Rayearth Miyukichan in the Wonderland REX R,G,Veda Tokyo Babylon WISH X/1999 X |
This is my first Love,
Manga! |
Art:
Level given for Art Work. "Detailed" = Very detailed line "Mid" = Easy on the eye "Easy" = Line, little shading |
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Tokyo Babylon is one of
CLAMP's most famous works, but still about the only one that has not been
translated into English, R,G,Veda not withstanding... This is a story of Subaru Sumeragi, and his twin sister Hokuto, Subaru is a Medium and the 13th head of his family. They live in the centre of Tokyo with Subaru helping the Police and anyone or anything that needs his help... This is a very Shonen-ai story with innuendos flying left right and centre between Subaru and Seishiro Sakurazuka much to Subaru's embarrassment, and his sister Hokuto doesn't help. But in-between all the light heartedness there is a very dark streak running through this manga between Subaru helping lost spirits his friend Seishiro who isn't all he appears to be... If your not sobbing your heart out by the end of this manga you have a stronger will than me!... Also the stories from the Tokyo Babylon OVA do not appear in the manga... I recommend this manga to anyone willing to sit with a print out of the translation! well worth it! |
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R,G,Veda
in my opinion is an epic of a manga, in the Fantasy sense and in the thick
10 volumes that you have to wade through in shear eye popping delight..
R,G,Veda starts out with CLAMP in their early years, where the art work
was a little nieve, then by the 2nd volume it just keeps on getting better
and better... This is "Detailed Clamp" were as manga's like TB
and WISH are line and more stylish in there presentation. R,G,Veda is a fantasy about love, hate and power also promises that sometimes hurt. This is pure unadulterated Clamp. We laugh, we cry, we have heart stopping moments mouthing the word "no" in delight or disbelief. This is life and death, world and human kind destroying fantasy at it's best, were gods walk the earth and fight each other to the death, where love is the most powerful thing of all and everyone would die to preserve it and their friendships... Humm making it sound a little too girly here, but this is also not a manga for the faint of heart, Clamp, as always like opening vains in the most goriest way and disembowelment never goes a miss, they make your Hollywood blood fests look like a Childs playground when they really get stuck into it... This manga might never be published in English for it's goriest, especially after the stink X threw up when it started getting a bit gory for most sweet and innocent girls... I love this manga, it's just beauty on ever page! |
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This
manga is so like a modern-day rewrite of R,G,Veda, but is one of the few
of Clamps works that doesn't have a reference in X... For the first 4
volumes this is a stand alone manga until references to "Tokyo
Babylon" start coming in... This is the manga where Tokyo Babylon's
21 year old Subaru has his final battle with Sieshiro, while making
friends with Kamui the main chara in X... Also older versions of the 3
boys from "Clamp Campus Detectives"... This manga, again, starts of a little nieve when it comes to the art work, getting more and more detailed as the story progresses while at the same time it get's easier on the eye in the line art... X starts off very girly in it's approach, being a
little to sickly sweet and nauseating, but that soon changes. X is a manga
that makes you thank what ever god you worship that your life isn't THAT
bad... From the first volume you fall in love with the chara, sympathising
totally with them to the point you just want to hug them and make it
better. This is not a feel good manga at all, it's story is dark and
depressive and points to a more tear jerking end from every angle. It's a
damned if you do and even more damned if you don't, do you save human kind
and kill the earth or do you sacrifice all to save the earth? not and easy
choice, the bad guys are really the good guys and the good guys are really
the bad guys, but then their not... It's not a comfortable plot line at
all and keeps the reader reading in morbid fascination, it starts off all
black and white until it hits you that what you thought is totally turned
on it's head and thrown back at you... |
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The
English version X/1999 by Viz has taken 7 years to get this far, the first
volume printed in 6, 30 page comics, then being published in Animerica,
then in Animerica EXTRA... and at Volume 6 it had 2 years gape before they
finally began printing again... Many thearis for this, but I think it was
complaints about it being to gorry were it's almost downfall.
[Review Continued] There is no lack of torture
and pain in these pages, with explicit blood thirsty seines, Mixed in and
around a very close Shonen-ai seines, but as
with most of Clamps stories, the art work screams Shonen-ai while the text
is saying something else... There is no lack of touchy-feely between the
cast. X the Anime... There is much controversy over this... It's to complicated for those that have not read some of the manga and to twisted for those that have, They also replace one of the chara for another in the anime and it explains little [for more info go to my X-relm site from my main page] |
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Art: "Detailed" to "Mid" |
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This manga is being
Fan Translated into a Scanlation (see Scanlation links on
my Mainpage) Re-Done Review: Finally with a fan Translation (Link above) I was finally able to understand this manga, for the months that I had it I just drooled over the art work, but now I know what's going on, I'm hooked!! This is one the best Clamp work there is! Rikuou (Tall guy on the right) saved Kudou (The short Blond) from freezing on the street at Christmas. Both of them as far as I know are runaways (Though it's never mentioned why just that they did)... They both live above the drug store they work, the mysterious Manager of the store, Kakei (Tall blond) keeps sending them on small jobs for him. He also has a *caughes* lover? Saiga, (Tallist Black hair) who never takes his sun glasses off and when not groping anyone blond is sleeping. Kudou has some kind of ESP, he see things when he touches stuff or someone, based around emotions, he keeps seeing a girl in his visions and this turns out to be someone Rikuou knew and is looking for, after such encounters he normal passes out. I think his ESP is the reason he ran away from home?... He keeps saying he need's money, and you find out it so he can move out and live by himself, he keeps calling Rikuou names and on the outside he hates him, but we know there is something else going on that he just doesn't want to admit to himself. Rikuou, though his cold and cool outer image is always there for Kudou when ever he's in trouble, and Hudou can also see though his eyes when in physical contact. Rikuou also possess some kind of ESP, he can brake things or move things with his mind, but again not much is said. Kakei is a mystery also, at the end of the manga you find out that he has the ability to see into the future, and he seems to know more than he's letting on. The why and where for of him sending the two 17 year olds on little ESP missions is a mystery also, though Saiga seems to know what's going on. This is Clamp at their finest, The story skips along in a light hearted mood with Clamps unmistakable dark undertones, but your laughing or biting your lip with this one, just the right mix of light and dark that isn't as oppressive as Tokyo Babylon, X or even R,G,Veda. nor is it kiddy-fied as Cardcaptor Sakura. I've fallen in-love with this one volume. Everything about it is just RIGHT... This is a MUST for anyone who loves Clamp, or even if you don't! |
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[ REVIEW ]
I have no translation for this manga so I'm hesitant on commenting on it... If you can or have read it... please supply me with a Review! ^_^ |
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Bllaaa... Review in waiting... having a Kazuya Minekura (Saiyuki) moment... so I'll get round to reviewing this... umm eventually :P |
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Clamps
kiddie works! The first series of this manga is sweet, and with all Clamps
works involves magic of some original kind... Personally the thing that
attracts me to this manga is the REAL brother and sisterly play between
Sakura and her older brother Toya, the "I can pick on you but I'm
damned if anyone else will" kind of love... All the chara are strong
and lovable... Though again there is a darker thread running through it...
And not forgetting Yue finally turning up and having most Clamp fans
squealing with glee [he doesn't appear till Volume 6 *winks*] and again despite
the fact this is a kiddies manga, the play between Toya and Yuki (Julian
to those that just watch the dubbed anime) keeps any true blooded
Shonen-ai fan coming back for more! (me included) All in all a nice little manga that shouldn't offend anyone to much and well worth a read! |
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This is the 2nd series
of Cardcaptor, The one's with Yue in it... Need I say more, if you
already like this series then you will love this one :P Sakura, now master of the Claw, she must change the cards to her own will. So far, love this one! |
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This was not
drawn by the normal Clamp artist, and so looks a little different to the
rest of their works, concentrating more on line and solid black enough to
warm the minimalist side of my heart... This is a story about Angels and Demons and about human dreams that cannot be realized alone... Shuichiro (human) found and saved Kohaku (an Angel) one night on his way home, Kohaku being so grateful grants him one wish, but Shuichiro has everything he wants and doesn't need a wish, so Kohaku offers to stay around until he wish's for something while he looks for another angel that had gone missing from Heaven, while also being pestered and bullied by the demon Koryu... [review continued below] |
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It's light
hearted and blood thirsty free, feel good manga's, but with Clamp being
Clamp nothing is ever easy, and that's the way we like it :P He? She? It? the English Version... There is no word for "it" in the English language, for the angels are sexless... In fan translations Kohaku and Hisui are referred to as "he" (for Shonen-ai nuts) Hisui being called "he" even I find debatable. The things that Kohaku wears and that blindingly flat chest the reference to "he" is more palatable, but in the published English version as with R,G,Veda's Ashura [Also an "it"] they refer to Kohaku as "she" mostly because Shonen-ai in the western world isn't acceptable. [ Printed the Original Japanese way round ] |
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::
ART BOOK! ::
This is an Art book but it has another little 16 page manga at the back that is based after the manga finishes, it's quite cute and well worth getting this alone, though there are no translations for it that I know of >_< To find out more go HERE to my Art Book Reviews. |
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Cover alone |
This manga was out for
ages before I decided to finally buy it, mostly cause the internet
interest in it was never very great... Boy was I SO wrong!... After buying
one I swiftly bought the rest! This is not a typical manga at all, most of the text is made up of a song, it's kind of futuristic but then it also has a fantasy feel to it... The story is also a little back to front, starting in the middle to end in the first two books, then skipping to a bit before the beginning in the 3rd and finally going to the very beginning in the 4th book, but all wonderfully laid out and with a cast of very strong chara that you fall right in an almost know instantly. The story revolves around a girl called Sue, who is a four leaf clover (Clover is some secret scientific experiment with ESP but nothing is quite clear on what.) She's forced to live alone and all she wants is to know happiness, that being to go to a derelict fair ground called Fairy Park. Kazuhiko, an rough ex-soldier is the only one who can get her there, with a little help from his friends, Gingetsu and Ran (The Shonen-ai interest here PPL!) This is a great story and I love it all, it's also a girly manga, and Tokyopop as publishers seem to leave nothing out of the text and with their later publications make a good effort to leave all the original colour artwork intact... This manga has a green metallic finish with original Japanese writing on (I think) then there is the transparent fly leaf with silver metallic finish and English translation of the Japanese text beneath... a Lovely presented Manga with a wonderful story inside! a MUST have for all true Otaku! |
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Review
Supplied by Anne-chan One of Clamp's best works (jus' my opinion), Magic Knight Rayearth is only six manga books long, but still gets the job of a great story line and wonderful characters done. It's about the land of Cephiro, a different world that is ruled and controlled by one single person's will; what the people of Cephiro call The Pillar. The Pillar (the current, and I believe the only pillar Cephiro's ever had, is called Emeraude Hime, or Princess Emeraude), only focuses on her prayer for the well-being and peace of Cephiro and it's people/other life forms. But she's been kidnapped by a man named Sol Zagato, and she summons the Magic Knights from Earth; Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuzaki, and Fuu Hououjii. Their job is to fulfil the legend of the Magic Knights; become skilled knights, save the Pillar, and all that fun stuff. As the story continues however, they learn the painful truth behind the legend of the Magic Knights the hard way... Beautiful artwork and absolutely awesome characters, Rayearth is definitely a manga series for Clamp (and not Clamp) fans. It's a bit of a fantasy story, with some action and comedy here and there. Also, just a touch of shounen-ai near the fifth and sixth volume, not too much... ^_^ Chockfull of bishoujo and bishounen as you can usually expect from Clamp. I also believe that Rayearth is what really started to make Clamp popular, but I'm not so sure about that one... Definitely a manga series worth looking into. |
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[ REVIEW ]
Review in Waiting ... cause I cant find a Fan Translation |
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This is one
of Clamps latest Manga's... not totally my cup of coffee, infact I get
this for my brother... It's only into it's 2nd release in English so not a
full review as yet... It's set in the future where computers are old, replaced by Percicoms, Computer Dolls. They can do everything that a computer can do and are mobile... One poor kid finds one in the trash and takes it home, only it's memory has been wiped, though it has the power to learn... With help he tries to find out more about her. But she's more of a mystery and infact unbeknownst to Hideki his new Percicom is more than she appears to be... This is not a typical clamp in story or artwork... So far I don't know what to make of it, and anyone looking for Shonen-ai this is lacking so far >_< [ Printed the Original Japanese way round ] I'm confessing here that unless I'm obscenely bored I will NOT be getting anymore of this 'mass market' piece of boring trash, poorly lined for Clamp, the story is for a masculine market, aiming at the 'cute' factor that makes me shiver in revulsion. This is for anyone who complained about the gore in X... I'm not impressed... Now I like my futuristic, dark manga as much as the next guy, but this is just boring... Don't like and wont be indorsing this manga with my buying power... If anyone would like to try and perk my interest in this manga then please e-mail me! |
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This is another
"Kiddies Manga". Misaki moves to Tokyo to live with her aunt and
go to school, but arriving in Tokyo she sees an Angelic Layer battle and
is instantly hooked, a strange guy in a lab coat "Icchan" shows
her everything she need's to get started and become an Angelic Layer competitor,
he also shows up with the best of entrances. Misaki makes a small fast
Angel (Angel = foot high dolls) and with help from her new friends from
her school and the mysteries Icchan, she fights her first battle in a
small arena called a 'Layer'. For all her lack of experience and her
little Angel, she is surprisingly good and so she must win more
battles. There are deeper threads running through the basic plot line, like where is Misaki's mum? Why does Icchan not want Misaki to know who he really is, and why is he so interested in here anyway? Ok, cause I'm such a Clamp fan I succumbed and bought this manga... and ok, so the first manga has me more intrigued than Chobits (above), but first things first, this manga has a very annoying factor that was setting my teeth on edge before I was half way thought, "To Much Octopus Super Deformed Panels!"... quite frankly this was the only thing that was annoying the hell out of me! it seemed inappropriate and cheep, and just leaves you distracted. Despite all that, this manga has it's funny moments and could keep my interest. but it's not the Clamp I love >_< I think the old, darker, more controversial Manga may have seen their day as Clamp hit's the main stream of kiddis manga >_< |
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::
Also an Art Book ::
This is very early Clamp, done about the same
time as RG Veda, though it's one of there more easier styles. To find out more go HERE to my Art Book Reviews. |
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For the Back Cover Click HERE |
This book is for the
male reader really. I always wondered why no one ever gave this book any notice,
and the circles I run in I now know why... All the plot is is Miyukichan keeps getting sucked into strange worlds and then keeps being jumped by the nearest randy female, the amount of times her clothes get striped from her is just mind boggling, and if she hasn't got some huge phobia by the end of it when ever some woman smiles at her I would be surprised. There is a wonderful X tie in that actually had me laughing, involving all the female cast. This manga isn't really for anyone who doesn't mind looking at F/F action on a moderate scale, It's not my cup of Tea, but I cant say I don't like it, I'm too much of a mug for Clamp's artwork when it's this good, and it is amusing even if I cant read it... The style is that of RG Veda and very detailed, and the chara in it are great. There isn't one guy in this book, So all you rabid Shonen-ai fan's this is not for you, it's for Clamp Art nuts (like me), Clamp hummer feends, and guys who need a life ^_^ Again I like this book, it also contains some colour illustrations by Mokona Apapa, this book is also HUGE! and wouldn't fit entirely on my scanner bed >_<. |
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I
cant remember what this manga is called and I don't even know if there is a
translation for it :P... and I only have the 2nd one... oops...
Anyhow, what I can tell you is, the chara's end up watching X again, and the blond kid (who get's into everything) from Clamp Campus Detectives is also in it! Again if anyone could help me with info on this manga please just e-mail me :P |
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I
think Tomayo was once a member of Clamp (hence this book is for anyone who
loved RGVeda, cause this is the same style)... It still says Clamp in the
back of the book but I don't think this is a CLAMP title (if that makes sense)... Well that's all I can say, bought it on a whim and I have no idea what it's called... If anyone could help me with anything on this book then please e-mail me! |
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[ image ] |
[ REVIEW ] |
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