Review of Tsubasa: Vol 2 - Seeds Of Revolution

Introduction

Ever since some bright egghead invented the quantum, scientists have been puzzling over the implications. One of the most tantalising is that of parallel universes, realities where history developed in slightly different ways, where the dinosaurs never died out, or where England didn`t get kicked out of Euro 2008. The possibilities are infinite, as are the naff books that posit what could have happened if Hitler won the war. It`s difficult to get right on screen though, it basically means inventing a new world every week, and it`s something that Sliders only managed to get right for a few seasons before disappearing up its own wormhole. You can`t just filch someone else`s world for a week, or we would end up with tacky fanfic on our screens, although it may answer a long pondered nerd quandary. What would win in a battle between the Starship Enterprise and an Imperial Star Destroyer? But what if you owned the rights to several fictional worlds, and multiple story properties? CLAMP are a prolific creative team responsible for several popular manga series including Chobits, Angelic Layer, X, and Cardcaptor Sakura. With Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle a tale about dimension hopping adventures, they have a magnificent library of stories and characters to call on.

Syaoran, an archaeologist following in his father`s footsteps, and Sakura, princess of the realm are an ill-matched couple, but despite their differences they develop an abiding affection. All that changes at the local ruins. Sakura has an innate power, a destiny that is revealed when she undergoes a transformation. But something goes wrong, and her memories in the form of feathers are sent scattering through the dimensions. For Syaoran to restore his beloved`s memories and save her life, he has to find all the feathers. But the price is high. For the Dimension Witch`s aid, he has to sacrifice Sakura`s memory of him, but she gives him a cute creature named Mokona that will take him from world to world and help find the feathers. She also gives him two companions, a wizard stripped of his magic named Fai, and a warrior named Kurogane divested of his sword. Together they travel from world to world working to restore Syaoran`s lost love. All the while, dark forces watch and wait…

In the previous volume, the five of them travelled to the Hanshin Republic, a world where people are protected by `kudan`. These are spirit forms made real and they differ for each person. On arriving, our heroes found that they too wield powerful kudan, and Mokona announces that the feather is hidden within a kudan native to this world. The second volume from Revelation comes with 5 episodes and assorted extras, offering more multi-dimensional magic.

6. Unshed Tears
Shogo challenges Syaoran to a kudan battle at the castle. Water against fire literally makes the earth tremble in this high level battle, but the fallout from the contest is severe, and several people are endangered. Syaoran`s guide in the Hanshin Republic, Masayoshi has been lamenting the weak state of his own kudan, but when his life is endangered it suddenly swells to giant proportions in order to rescue him. He`s having trouble controlling it, and it soon goes on a rampage through the city. How did it become so strong? Could it be drawing on the power of a feather?

7. The Broken Memento
With the feather restored, Sakura has regained consciousness, but her memories remain fragmented. It`s time to move on to the next world, and Mokona takes them to the town of Ryeon Huei in the feudal world of Nayutaya. Syaoran immediately finds himself in the middle of a dispute when he stops the town bully Bullgal from laying his hands on Sakura. His boot sole makes an instant impression, and some powerful enemies. This is a world where powerful people control the elements with `Hijutsu`, and use it to do good and help people. Only for the last year Tambal and his son Bullgal, who have unusually powerful hijutsu, have ruled the town. With their impressive arrival, a girl named Cyunyan mistakes Syaoran and his friends for Mitteishu, government agents sent to rout out the troublemakers. Cyunyan`s mother used to look after the townsfolk, but she couldn`t stand up to Tambal, and was murdered by him. Since then Cyunyan has been plotting her revenge, and sees Syaoran`s arrival as the perfect opportunity. But Tambal has been watching this development through his hijutsu and he has a welcome prepared for Syaoran. Tambal`s power comes from an unusual source, a glowing feather.

8. God`s Favoured Daughter
All that power can only come from one of Sakura`s feathers, and Syaoran and friends realise that they will have to storm Tambal`s castle. Kurogane sees his expertise is called for and he sets about planning an assault. But volunteers aren`t forthcoming. There have been previous attempts on the castle, and all have failed. Tambal`s magic is so powerful that he has his own little dungeon dimension. When one of the castle doors opens, it opens directly into this pocket universe, and all his foes are pulled straight in, destined to suffer whatever torment he may devise. But Sakura has been hearing something calling to her, urging her towards the castle. Before Syaoran can stop her, the door opens and she walks straight into Tambal`s hell.

9. Princess Of Shadows
Syaoran follows Sakura into the gateway, but she has been summoned to receive a message, and it isn`t long before they return. With options running out, Mokona helps Syaoran contact the Dimension Witch, Yuka for help. The price is high, but she gives them something that will break the spell protecting the castle and get them inside. Kurogane, Fai and Syaoran head off to break into the castle, while Sakura has a message to deliver to Cyunyan. Meanwhile Tambal sees his rule threatened and he awakens Kiishima, a powerful hijutsu master who he keeps under his thrall to protect him.

10. Mirror Of Separation
Cyunyan wants to help Syaoran attack the castle, to avenge her mother, but Sakura insists that she has something more important to do first. It isn`t what Cyunyan is expecting though. Meanwhile Fai and Kurogane are left to face Kiishima in an illusory but deadly world. Syaoran looks for the feather, but Bullgal, who has been magically strengthened by his father, confronts him.

Video

Tsubasa gets a rather spiffy 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer. It`s nice and clear throughout; I didn`t notice any artefacts and even the perennial problem of digital banding seemed minimal. The character designs are thin and elegant, allowing for fluid animation. This volume sees the debut of a new world, and Nayutaya is an elegant, rustic place. There are plenty of greens and gold in this rural vision, the buildings are all wooden and tiled, and it harks of a gentler age. It`s certainly more pleasing and easy on the eye than the Hanshin republic, but there is a degree of simplicity in the designs, less of an attention to detail, which seems constant no matter what world we are in.

Audio

You get a choice of DD 5.1 English or DD 2.0 Japanese, with optional subtitles and signs. As per my usual preference, I went with the original language track, and found that even though it`s just a stereo track, there is a fair bit of separation and vibrancy to the sound. The effects are impressively accomplished, and Yuki Kajiura`s (Le Portrait de Petite Cossette) music is distinctive and memorable. I don`t think this dub will ever rank among my favourites, but it will probably be acceptable for all who prefer English to Japanese.

Features

The usual animated menus, jacket picture, textless credit sequences, and trailers (Beck and Mushi-shi) as per the common garden anime disc.

The character guide offers 10 pages of text and line art, which go into more detail about the characters that you will meet on this disc.

The World Guide similarly offers 11 pages of text and art, which look at Cyunyan`s home Nayutaya, as well as a definition of hijutsu.

Faces In The Crowd takes a look at some of the CLAMP cameos that appear in the show. Cyunyan is recognisable as Chen Hyang in CLAMP`s The Legend of Chen Hyang.

Conclusion

I found this second volume of Tsubasa to be more enjoyable than the first, although that does highlight a potential weakness (or strength depending on your perspective) of the format. With series that aim to tell just one story, that show will live or die on the strength of that story, with episodic series, individual stories can be hit or miss, but as long as there are more hits than misses you`re onto a good thing. Tsubasa walks something of a middle ground, with story arcs of 4 or more episodes in length, and watching 4 episodes in a row of a story that you don`t like can be enough to put you off a series, regardless of the strength of the next arc.

While I was initially impressed with the premise, the opening arc of Tsubasa didn`t click with me, with a rather lightweight tale that kept the characters running on stereotype idle. The Hanshin Republic was a rather unimaginative place with a one-note gimmick to keep things interesting, the kudan. It was like so many other tournament anime, with our heroes climbing straight to the top of the tree for their heroic qualities. Also the story lacked emotional resonance, as all they had to do was find one of Sakura`s feathers. In hindsight, it makes sense to ease the audience into the story with something light and inconsequential, to get the basic story points and character foibles across without the interference of something so prosaic as a plot.

That all changes with this second disc. We begin by mopping up the Hanshin storyline, and there is a poignant pause as Sakura gets her feather back and reawakens, but with no memory of Syaoran. He has to get over a brief moment of loss before they can move on, and the show gains some emotional weight. That continues in the next world of Nayutaya. This time they arrive as guests in an ongoing story. This world is one where the powerful practice a form of magic, which is supposed to help people. However, that all changed when one of Sakura`s feathers arrived, gifting a power hungry minor mage with amazing talent. Since then, he overthrew the existing leaders and set himself up as a despot, and people have been suffering ever since. In the process he murdered the local mage, who happened to be the mother of Cyunyan, the girl who greets the travellers when they arrive.

What really makes things interesting is that against all my expectations, none of the main cast developed any hijutsu by arriving there. Unlike the Hanshin republic, where all of them developed colossal kudan, here they are technically powerless, and have to rely on their wits and existing skills. They`re immediately placed as underdogs and it becomes easier to relate to them. Their characters begin to develop more, especially with Sakura now awake. You can see her and Syaoran`s relationship begin to develop anew, as she sees what initially drew her to him, while he approaches her with a combination of worship and melancholy. Kurogane is still the lantern jawed comic relief, most often sparring with Fai and Mokona, but Fai has some interesting background filled in. When he gave the Dimension Witch his tattoo in exchange for the ability to travel the dimensions, it was assumed that he gave up his magic. It turns out the reverse is true. That tattoo was the limiter on his magic ability, and now he is stronger than ever. It begs the question of why he refuses to use magic now, even when his life is threatened.

This second arc of Tsubasa is much more satisfying. The characters are better written, the story has an emotional strength to it, and it all seems to have much more import to it. In an ideal world, each disc would contain a separate arc, but just as the Hanshin arc cliffhangered over into this volume, so this disc leaves us poised and waiting for volume 3 to resolve the story. I still contend that Tsubasa, like Saiyuki is entry-level anime, the sort of thing best used to introduce new fans to the medium, as it has all the touchstones and clichés that fans quickly learn as a shorthand for the style. Unlike Saiyuki however, Tsubasa is actually good.