Fanstuff Friday: CLAMP no Kiseki

The Black Team is so much cooler.

Fanstuff Friday documents the fun and unexpected things that fans create and cherish in honor of their favorite anime and manga.

CLAMP as Creators and Re-creators

Picture somewhat relevant: I really don’t understand the collective Japanese obsession with Alice in Wonderland and/or Through the Looking Glass. Is it the cute costuming possibilities? I feel that the works that attempt to use Alice as a motif don’t replicate the best part of those stories, so it ends up being pointless and more nonsensical than intended.

Creating stories is hard. Creating stories that people will enjoy and which will resonate with them is even more difficult. I feel that the reason why adaptations of classic stories such as Alice in Wonderland and other classic fairy tales remain perpetually popular is because these are stories that have proven their value. As children, we enjoyed them as literal tales of adventure, whimsy, and heroism. As adults, we enjoy them because we realize that there are additional layers — some of them dark or subversive — to these stories that we didn’t realize when we were younger, thus the same stories that we thought we knew probably aren’t.

It’s in this aspect of storytelling where I feel CLAMP truly excels. On the surface level, their stories are cute: a masked master thief, a girl collecting magical cards, a teenage trio whisked off to a fantasy world, an android looking for love. There are talking mascots that can eat you out of house and home, winged creatures everywhere you turn, heck, even the creators themselves generally show up in the author endnotes, depicting themselves with bunny or cat ears.  Even their more dramatic stories, such as Tokyo Babylon and X, are not immune from a cutesy moment or two.

But not is all what is seems, as CLAMP makes sure that there are additional layers underneath the sugary cute frosting. Not that there’s anything wrong with frosting, but as consumers of their work, the reader is more likely to stick around if there’s more substance. CLAMP stories may start off cute, but their renown was cemented through their handling of tragedy and the repercussions on those who are left. Where most fairy tales only show the hero’s happy ending, CLAMP’s dramatic stories explore the possibility of an ending that isn’t ideal. What if the hero doesn’t win? What if the hero only wins at a great cost? Or better yet, what if there is no ending at all?

I may have been a bit facetious a couple of days ago when I wrote that CLAMP’s storytelling sometimes feels to me like it’s a public exercise in trolling. When I read (or re-read, as it were) their series nowadays, I’m confused whether I need to make notes on what certain characters say or certain events that happen, as I’d never know if it’ll be marginally relevant ten chapters in the future. Most of the time, it’s a red herring. It means nothing and I feel foolish for having looked too much into it.  Yet, it’s more common that something will happen one time I’m not paying attention, and the remaining storyline will be predicated on that seemingly throwaway event. Is that why they’re so popular, because they keep us on our toes, keep us paying attention?

CLAMP is among the few manga creators who have had the luxury of being popular with various age groups and audiences. They’ve been published in shoujo, shounen, and seinen magazines. Even leaving out the international and cross-cultural appeal of their stories, I can’t even name another author with their diversity of publication success.

Not many manga creators, therefore, could indulge in something that I believe is a typical CLAMP storytelling device: the crossover. Even before the multi-universe adventure jaunt that was Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, CLAMP was inserting characters from previous published series into new ones, usually maintaining that character’s role and personality consistent throughout all the various appearances.  Even as early as 1992, the character Akira IJYUIN, who previously appeared in Nijū Mensō ni Onegai!! (Man of Many Faces) became one of the central characters of the subsequent series CLAMP School Detectives. Eventually, all three characters of CSD would then show up as slightly-older versions of themselves in X.  

While using crossover characters is a typical narrative device that has been used in American comics, CLAMP’s history of works has allowed them the opportunity to set up small clues as to which one of their universes that series exists. The uniting thread could be as inconsequential as the “Piffle Princess” brand, or a revised version of a character, such as Chiho/Chise (Kobato) vs Chii (Chobits).  With CLAMP, just because a story ends, it doesn’t mean that the rest of the universe ceases. Each universe that they’ve created in one series could be expanded in future series, ad infinitum.

I also love that CLAMP decided to create a psuedo-transformative work based on their own original series. As if the crossovers and references in TRC and xxxHolic weren’t enough, they had to go and create yet another alternate universe work in the Holitsuba Gakuen parodies.  This mini-work (and drama CD) re-imagines the central characters of Tsubasa and xxxHolic as the students and staff of a typical high school, again with the characters maintaining the established quirks and behavior from their respective original series. With CLAMP, it’s almost like fanfiction isn’t necessary since they’ll create their own.

Making Sense of Miyuki-chan in Wonderland

I don’t know why being a CLAMP fan seemed like such a big deal back in the early 2000s. It seemed that every anime/manga fan that I knew — in real life and through the internet — was extremely familiar with CLAMP and their oeuvre, and I was the last remaining newbie left. How did you all find out about CLAMP anyway?

So I guess there was a certain point when I felt that I needed to catch up, and luckily for me, Tokyopop saw that they had an easy cash cow in CLAMP, and licensed everything they could get their hands on, excepting, of course, whatever Viz and Del Rey had already called dibs on. They had the big guns in Tokyo Babylon, Card Captor Sakura, Rayearth, and Chobits…and then they had the rest of the stuff that only the loyal and the hardcore would buy.

…Titles such as Miyuki-chan in Wonderland, which I found and bought for US$ 3.00 at comics warehouse sale in Brooklyn. I actually think I still may have overpaid for it.

I love how CLAMP explains that Miyuki-chan was created “to showcase [their] sexy female character designs.” I’m no apologist, but yes, the female character designs in this work are strikingly beautiful. It seems that they took more effort back then to create unique looks for nameless female characters than they did for all of the Tsubasa and Kobato manga. It’s seems that you can’t win with them; either you get great art and a flimsy story, or lackluster art with a complex plot. And in the one instance where you seem to get both (that is, X), of course they leave it unfinished.

I’m actually not a disgruntled or dissatisfied fan; on the contrary, I think only somebody who’s extremely devoted to their work would bother writing hundreds or thousands of words discussing their works. Yet even the biggest fan deserves to be critical; it’s through the lens of criticism that one is able to quantify the strengths and relative weaknesses of a work.

In the seven worlds that Miyuki finds herself trapped in, CLAMP seems to be having a gleeful time torturing her. Each time, Miyuki is sucked into an unfamiliar milieu, but always ends up in the same predicament: being molested and groped by beautiful women. Miyuki always reacts in shock and runs away, although you’d think by the third or fourth time she’d figure out the routine and just enjoy.

Are the various worlds manifestations of Miyuki’s psyche? In each occasion, she’s always either waking up or falling asleep, therefore it could be presumed that each world is her subconscious fantasy or dream. Miyuki may actually want to be in these dreamscapes, but there is still a part of her that will not let herself indulge or let go, hence the covering herself and running away, which are only temporary solutions, since she finds herself ‘trapped’ in the world and ‘doomed’ to repeat it endlessly. Is Miyuki the universal stand-in for shame and repression of desire?

There are several instances where it seems as if Miyuki does actually want to participate in the events of the world. In Looking Glass Land, she admits that she’s “never been turned on by chess pieces before.”  Additionally, in TV Land, she’s conscious that her school uniform may not be formal enough to meet the empress. Even though she wants to escape the world, she is aware of the attractiveness and physicality of the women, and is even concerned about her own presentation in these worlds.

Yet, it all goes back to how Miyuki thinks the rest of the world will perceive her. If she participates in her fantasies, “if the neighborhood finds out she plays strip mahjong,” she will no longer be innocent and possibly not get a boyfriend because of her reputation. If that isn’t slut-shaming, then I don’t know what is.

With this, I’m another step closer to reading all of the CLAMP titles available in English.

Public and Private Kindnesses in Kobato.

I wasn’t planning to make this week’s posts all CLAMP-themed, but since we’re here, why not? Between Gate 7 and Kobato and a Magic Knight Rayearth rewatch, I think I have to write about for the next few days.

I always find it more difficult to write about the series that I would initially write off because one or more of the characters are airheads (see: K-On!!) — but, as I wrote in a previous entry, now I want to be fair to the work, and actually experience the anime or manga before dismissing it entirely. It would probably end up being bunk in the end, but at least, in my defense, I could say that I have actually watched or read it and have ample justification for saying it sucks.

So, Kobato.

Based on surface appearances alone, I should be a big fan of this series. The character is really cute, and has a personality reminiscent of Sakura Kinomoto, my favorite of all of CLAMP’s characters. She even has a talking plushie friend, just like Kero-chan!  The anime version is animated by Madhouse, and even the opening/ending songs are sung by Maaya Sakamoto, thus perpetuating the CCS connections. What’s not to love?

In CLAMP’s various universes, there are two groups of people: the Happy Happys and the Grumpypants. Sakura Kinomoto, Hikaru Shindou, Fai D. Flourite are examples of the Happy Happys; they are outwardly cheerful, exuberant, enthusiastic, and would most probably be smiling all the time. This doesn’t mean that they are never sad, or aren’t just using their cheerfulness as a facade — but on a shallow level, the Happy Happys present to the world that they are, um, happy.  Their counterparts, the Grumpypants, are surly, constantly irritated, sometimes mean-spirited, and too practical for their own good. Kurogane, Touya Kinomoto, and Umi Ryuuzaki are quintessential Grumpypants. These two groups often clash because of the fundamental differences in their temperaments, although in some cases, it is also possible for them to realize the complementary nature of their personalities and work together for a common goal.

So, applying this classification to this series, Kobato is obviously a Happy Happy whereas Fujimoto could be nothing else but a Grumpypants. It’s because of their polar personalities that conflict happens: Fujimoto is constantly irritated by Kobato’s behavior, and Kobato cannot understand why Fujimoto rags on her all the time, just because she’s being herself. Neither can see the situation from the others’ perspective: Kobato doesn’t realize that despite her good intentions, her clumsiness and incompetence sometimes hurts more than helps. Fujimoto, in turn, doesn’t understand that his honesty and pragmatism could be misinterpreted as rude and cold.  Both of them actually are working for the same good,  they just don’t realize it yet.

I’m about halfway through the anime series, and at this point, I’m only sticking around to find out more about Fujimoto. If you can’t tell already, I’m actually more of a Grumpypants myself, and Sakura is the sole outlier in the canon of my favorite CLAMP characters. It is only through Fujimoto’s balancing out Kobato’s personality that I can continue to watch this anime. It’s not that I dislike her, but she’s just too much, y’know.

I’ve read enough spoilers so I know the reason why Kobato acts the way she does. But when the main character of an anime can barely walk a couple of steps without tripping on her two feet, or can’t master the simple task of talking and thinking at the same time… it’s not cute, it’s frustrating.

It also makes it difficult for me to accept the sincerity of her motives for wanting to “heal broken hearts.” I know I’m being nitpicky, but her behavior is mitigated by a reward, a konpeito, and even a score by Ioryogi. From the day she arrived on earth, she publicly announces that she wants to help people, accosting random strangers on the street, asking if they need their heart healed. She constantly has to encourage herself, being her own personal cheerleader, to make sure that she’s on the right track to achieve her goal.

Fujimoto, on the other hand, does good things because it’s what should be done. He works quietly and doesn’t feel like he has to announce to everyone that he’s helping. He has the typical gruff exterior, but even the toddlers in the kindergarten say that he’s a nice and gentle person, being the first to take care of them when they need anything. And that’s why his character appeals to me so much; he and Kobato are equally good people, but I prefer his methods a lot more.

Gate 7: CLAMP’s Take on the Sengoku Jidai

With CLAMP, it’s not a matter of if, but when you’re going to be trolled.

Gate 7 leaves the crossovers and multi-universe jumping of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle behind to bring us to the historical city of Kyoto, home of Japan’s imperial past and the ghosts it left behind. Except, since it’s CLAMP at the helm, why stop at ghosts when you can have these same characters show up in newly formed incarnations of themselves?

As other reviewers have mentioned, Gate 7 presumes that you, the reader, are generally familiar with the history of Japan’s Warring States (Sengoku) period, but just in case, it recaps with enough information to make sure you keep up. If you’ve watched Sengoku Basara, or Tono to Issho, or Brave 10, a lot of the names will sound familiar to you.  Masamune DATE, Hidetsugu TOYOTOMI, Yukimura SANADA and his brave warriors all show up in Gate 7, although not all in forms that you’d recognize without a little bit of prodding.

I confess that I’m not very well versed with this segment of Japanese history, so I do appreciate the thorough translation and notes by Dark Horse. While knowledge of the Sengoku characters does enrich one’s understanding through familiarizing oneself with their back stories, the story moving forward doesn’t need you to be a Japanese history scholar to understand. Gate 7 is a shounen manga at its core, with some of the fights taking enough pages as some of the expository sections. I feel that CLAMP’s work in Tsubasa has helped them hone their fighting scenes; this time around, I feel like I actually know what’s going on.

As someone who’s read enough of their works to be familiar with CLAMP’s sometimes quirky sense of humor, I don’t mind that they exaggerate certain personality traits for comedic effect.  But when they repeat the gag too much, it gets tiring. Date, for example, is an fifth-grade school boy who’s in love with the warrior Hana. Date wants to be Hana’s protector and so if there’s anybody who dares to harm Hana, Date leaps into action! But when all that Date can do is fawn over Hana and their future wedding, and how much he loves her, it makes me lose my respect for the character. I know he’s supposed to be a kid, but please, fifth-graders show more dignity than that.

As you may have noticed in the previous paragraph, I am trying so much to avoid using a gendered pronoun to refer to Hana… Which is another thing that bugs me about CLAMP, and with Gate 7 specifically. Hana’s gender remains a mystery, like the angels and demons in their previous manga Wish. Maybe there’s an actual reason why they don’t want to reveal the gender at this point, or maybe they just are being CLAMP, as usual. They’re teasing us — Hana kisses Chikahito, so isn’t it cute if Hana turns out to be not what Chikahito or the reader thinks Hana is, that is, female? How un-heteronormative of CLAMP!

Again, maybe it’s a function of age and cynicism, but really, who cares what Hana is. So, a boy kisses another boy. Pffft. CLAMP enjoys titillation for mere effect, and has for years.  Ladies, after Tokyo Babylon, X, Card Captor Sakura, we’re no longer surprised when you draw boys kissing or being in love with other boys. We actually have come to expect that from you. I have a feeling that more people would be aggrieved if it is revealed that Hana is, in fact, a girl.

I may have mentioned elsewhere that I have this weird devotion to CLAMP, so even if I say that I think their work has gotten more annoying over the years, I’ll still probably give it a look to see for myself just how bad it’s been.