The official companion to Tsubasa volumes 8 through 14!
Creative Staff
Writer/Artist: CLAMP
Translation: Satsuki Yamashita
Adaptation: Ysabet MacFarlane
What They Say
Are you completely obsessed with Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, the bestselling epic manga by CLAMP? Now explore the magic behind the masterpiece in this official companion to CLAMP's thrilling fantasy saga. In the second installment of Tsubasa Character Guide , learn more about the people, creatures, worlds, and mysteries featured in volumes 8 through 14' -including a cool look at the Tsubasa and xxxHOLiC crossover! Tsubasa Character Guide 2 also includes an interview with CLAMP, games and quizzes, a special fan section, preproduction artwork, a full-color poster, and more! This essential book is perfect for any fan of the Tsubasa anime and manga!
The Review!
Technical:
In terms of production value, Tsubasa CHARACter GuiDE 2 is definitely not on par with those glossy, full-color anime/manga artbooks in the larger A4 size. However, if you liked the first character guide released in 2006, you'll like this one. Del Rey produced this book in the slightly larger A5 size as opposed to the B6 size used for the first character guide. Other than that, the two guides are technically comparable; the book lengths, the number of color pages, and the materials are all identical. In addition, the style of the covers and layouts are also very similar. With the larger size comes an increase in price, from $12.95 to $17.99. It seems like a big jump for an otherwise comparable book, but perhaps part of it is due to inflation.
The bulk of the book is printed in black-and-white, but it does include nine color pages on glossy stock, which consist of one foldout illustration (23 cm x 28 cm), seven single page illustrations, and a single page display of various Tsubasa promotional items and prizes only available in Japan. As in the first character guide, the print does run a little dark in places; however, they've reformatted the banner headers for the story digest section to read smoother.
The text reads awkwardly with some verb tense problems. There are a few misplaced captions and mislabeled illustrations, and Suzuran's name is misspelled in a caption in her own character profile. Also, in the Tsubasa multiple-choice quiz, all the choices for question 24 are identical.
Content:
As you can guess from the title, this is a guide to the characters, worlds, and mysteries of CLAMP's Tsubasa manga series. This particular installment focuses predominantly on material from volumes 8 through 14, but there are references to characters/events from volumes 1 through 7 in the material gallery and a few other places. Except for a storyboard for the anime opening, the book does not include any material from the Tsubasa anime.
The contents of Tsubasa CHARACter GuiDE 2 closely mirror those of CHARACter GuiDE 1. After the black-and-white and color illustrations of the illustration gallery, we have the story digest, character files, and world guide sections. There are the latest versions of the personality profile questionnaires to help you discover which Tsubasa personality you most resemble and which country best suits you plus a new Tsubasa multiple-choice quiz. Kurogane again rates the strength of the other warriors in the "Character Battle-Strength Report, and we have a new omake style original manga involving milk. Fan's Square is also back, presenting Shonen Magazine's 2006 poll results and comparing them to the results of the 2005 poll. Along with the previous questions such as “[Which Tsubasa character] could be your ideal friend or lover?" and "Best Couple and Best Pairing," we have the new categories of Favorite Fun Scene, Favorite Sad Scene, and Most Requested Battle Face-offs. And no character guide would be complete without character and setting design sketches!
In addition, there are a number of new sections to pique the interest of the Tsubasa fan including:
• A collection of scenes linking Tsubasa and xxxHOLiC
• CLAMP Mini Interviews, where each member of CLAMP shares which moments from volumes 8 through 14 stand out for her.
• Special conversation between Mokona-sensei of CLAMP and one of her favorite mangaka Takao Yaguchi, creator of Fishing Sampei (a fishing manga, which to my knowledge has not been picked up in the United States yet).
• Syaoran, Sakura, and Mokona Dimensional Travel Q&A
• Tsubasa Fashion Check!! with the editor of a popular fashion magazine
In summary:
This character guide covers the adventures of Syaoran and company from the Country of Totems up to the Country of Recort. The book is packed with various Tsubasa fan material, from polls to interviews, and the character and world profiles are extremely detailed with charts and lists of key points. A high production value glossy artbook it's not, but it still has a lot to offer. If you liked the first character guide, you're certain to like this one.
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