Customer Reviews

Clamp Double Feature: Tsubasa Chronicle and xxxHOLiC

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With two seasons each (xxxHOLIc 2 having been announced fairly recently) plus a reportedly spectacular OVA covering Tsubasa's famed Acid Tokyo arc (which is currently in full swing in the English manga release) about to conclude in Japan, collecting the Tsubasa/xxxHOLIc crossover in anime form is going to be a pretty big investment for us Region 1 fans if it is in fact eventually all licensed. These two short movies - essentially anime-exclusive episodes based on the mangas acting as advertisements for their respective series - are an excellent opportunity to dip into the continuum to help us decide if we want more. They seem to be intended for people who are familiar with at least the story covered in the first four or so volumes of the mangas, as a basic understanding of the situations of the characters is taken for granted. The Tsubasa gang's initial separation suggests that their story takes place before the Shura arc and Fai's subsequent insistence that they maintain physical contact during space-time jumps, while the xxxHOLIc story clearly takes place before the Spider's Grudge arc.

First up is The Princess in the Birdcage, a half hour Tsubasa adventure. You know the drill: The gang drops into another alternate universe in search of Sakura's feathers. This time, their quest involves rescuing an AU Princess Tomoyo from an evil would-be usurper. It's drawn in more or less traditional fantasy style, the highlights probably being a fight scene for Kurogane and Fai against a routine military patrol (poor patrol) fairly early on and an aerial combat sequence between Syaoran and the main villain near the end. It gives a pretty good idea of what could be done with the more drawn-out events of the manga visually. The problem is that we're given only the barest hints of the heart of the series - which is the relationships between the four leads (five if you include Mokona). A few words of banter between Kurogane and Fai and some meaningful glances between Syaoran and Sakura are just about it. On that basis, I'd give Princess in the Birdcage three stars - not bad but nothing particularly special, aside from the enjoyment of seeing the characters animated for the first time for those of us who haven't watched the volumes of the Tsubasa series currently available.

Then, there's A Midsummer Night's Dream - our highly anticipated first look at xxxHOLIc in animated form. As opposed to Tsubasa, it's drawn in a very stylized art nouveau form, faithful to the manga, with some trippy psychadelic sequences thrown in for Watanuki's clairvoyant spells. The one hour long story involves Watanuki and Domeki accompanying Yuko to a haunted house to which she's been summoned. The big news here is the absolutely amazing English dub, which I can say without exaggeration is one of the best I've heard so far with solid performances all around. In particular, Todd Haberkorn uncannily captures Watanuki in all his shrieking, fussy, goodhearted glory. He had me laughing out loud several times, at one point in particular bringing new meaning to the catchphrase "screaming like a little girl", but in some other scenes also hinting at Watanuki's warmth and empathy - something that's going to be very important in the series proper. A very solid four stars for this one.

You might give pause once the price for this volume jumps, but while it remains the price of a hardcover book it's well worth your money, with the Holic movie quite possibly having rewatch value even once both series are commercially available in their entirety and we don't need these shorts for a quick fix anymore.

I absolutely love XXXHolic books and like the Tsubasa books a lot. I enjoy the XXXHolic series but I didn't like these movies very much. The Tsubasa movie went so quickly and had so little depth, I didn't know what was going on. The XXXHolic movie was a bit tired and boring. Not that interesting but definitely better than the Tsubasa movie that came with it. I think the books are the best.

This double feature allows you to get a taste of both popular CLAMP series, Tsubasa and xxxHolic. The characters and animation in both series were drawn well, and the backgrounds were beautiful. Tsubasa seems oriented more toward children, the plot a little simplistic and predictable, but I thought xxxHolic was wonderful. There was subtlety and nuance in the characterizations, and the story was more adult in its focus. It was on the basis of this DVD set that I decided to purchase the first xxxHolic series set. I love xxxHolic!

Having only recently begun watching both CLAMP TV series, TSUBASA - RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, and xxxHOLiC, I decided to revisit this pair of so-called "movies" to compare these to the series; and to see if knowing more about what has been called the CLAMPverse would affect my opinion of them. Rest assured that if you know nothing about these intertwined tales, watching "Midsummer Night's Dream" will at least allow you to understand what's going on. ( And it definitely should be watched FIRST; otherwise the "flashback" which begins TSUBASA will be totally meaningless. ) This hour-long stand-alone story has all the elements of a xxxHOLiC episode, including information about the main characters Yuko, the Dimentional Witch; her "part-time employee"/lacky/flunky, the spirit-sensitive Watanuki; and his stolid, unemotional "rival" Domeki. The story itself plays out like a regular, if extended, episode; featuring beautiful lush backgrounds and interiors appropriate to the eerie setting of the likely haunted mansion. The "crossover" in it with TSUBASA is minimal and doesn't really affect the understanding or enjoyment of the xxxHOLiC story.

The Princess in the Birdcage Kingdom suffers by comparison: as part of an essentially continuing saga of the hunt for Sakura's Feathers of Memory, it is far less episodic in nature than xxxHOLiC, and is given far too little time for any backstory. Those unfamilliar with either the characters or their predicament will be struggling to understand exactly what's going on. The supporting characters Kurogane and Fai suffer particularly in this respect; at least I was already somewhat familliar with Sayoran and Sakura. For me the only real treat was the reintroduction of the character of Tomoyo, here the eponymous captive princess of the title and NOT exactly the same princess who propelled Kurogane on his particular journey. Unfortunately, these characters have lost a great deal of their connection and recognizability from their origins in CLAMP'S Card Captor Sakura by the changing of their original voice actors. Still, it was good to see Tomoyo-chan again, even if it was no longer Junko Iwao doing her voice; but instead Escaflowne's Hitomi, Maaya Sakamoto!

The story in Birdcage Kingdom is a rather ordinary-seeming tale of a typically evil usurper who essentially wants to destroy Princess Tomoyo's idyllic paradise; as usual in tales like this aimed essentially at a young audience, for no apparent reason whatever. Layered on top of that is the ongoing search for another of Sakura's magical "feathers". And all in a timespan of only about 40 minutes! If you're not too familliar with TSUBASA, you might be rather confused and even bored by all this rushing around in the pursuit of??? It usually takes several episodes of the series to resolve the story behind each of Sakura's errant feathers; stupidly, this SHOULD'VE been the case here, evidenced by the backstory of the Birdcage Kingdom crammed into one of the extras! ( If you want this to make any sense, you should watch it FIRST. ) Contrasted with the slower-paced logically unfolding Midsummer Night's Dream, there's NO contest between these two stories. Even a viewer unfamilliar with the CLAMPverse should be able to understand and hopefully enjoy the xxxHOLiC story.

A final selling point of this set is the two hours or so of extras, particularly if like me you are fans of the Japanese original casts. Both the TSUBASA and xxxHOLiC separate discs feature interviews, clips from the recording sessions, and full commentary tracks with the Japanese voice actors that add to the appreciation of the respective stories. Recommended for fans of CLAMP; but xxxHOLiC - Midsummer Night's Dream is accessable to anyone interested in a humorous and mild tale of the supernatural.

I must admit, when I first purchased this double feature I had my doubts. I have never been an XXXHOLIC fan although I have always loved the plot lines of TUSBASA RESEVOIR CHRONICLES, so it was out of pure curiosity that I took the plunge, and what a surprise it was. The first title 'The Princess of the Bird Cage Kingdom' swept me off to a visually pleasing and creative world. I cheered as Sayoran tried to save the day, cried when I learned the princesses plight and felt my hope rising as the people fought for their freedom from their kingdom's biggest tyrant, the king. I found myself laughing out loud at the character antics of Fai and Kurogane and giggling along with Mokona... and the scenes between Sayoran and Sakura were in one word cute. But what shocked me the most was the XXXHOLIC title 'A Midsummer's Dream' what I had precieved to be nothing more then a dark and horrific anime actually turned out to be very entertaining. The story throws a clueless, hardworking boy, a sly and vivasious witch, a strong and silent hero and of course the cute heartthrob heroine into an adventure no one could predict. The story holds your interest from the very beginning with hilarious character antics of Watanoki, Yuko and the flipside of Mokona which is much more mischevious then it's seemingly angelic pair. After recieving a mysterious invitation to a mansion and a desperate plea for help the group heads off to the mansion. What you meet there is mystery, secret passage ways, possible villains and, of course plenty of funny twists and turns. I fully enjoyed the dream sequences of Wantanoki and the gentle chidings of Yuko, with a quiet and touching ending the story was in one word, refreshing.

I just watched all of the episodes and read all of the mangas so to watch the ovas was just. Magical.

Loved it. Enjoyed every second of it.

Tsubasa was not my favorite thought it was dull, xxxHolic is my favorite series thanks for the movie it was great.

I love both of these animes, I love watching these movies great to watch in the summer time. I love the tsubasa advanture and romance between the two main characters and xxxHolic gothic feel. Both animes I love to death. A must have for any anime fan.

Both anime having two seasons of their own, and then both having one movie each.

The xxxHolic movie, a Midsummer's Nightmare, is almost an hour long. Longer than the Tsubasa movie. It was a great movie, in my opinion, and the art and plot line was very great. I don't want to say much about it because I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone. But I also recommend that you watch the xxxHolic movie before the Tsubasa movie. It'll explain more.

The Tsubasa movie was the best, in my opinion. It may be short (30 minutes or so long), so it almost pretty much seems like another episode, but it was magnificent. The art for it was very great, and the plot line was also fantastic. The best scene would probably have to be Fai and Kurogane with that fight scene. And I suggest you watch this movie after the xxxHolic movie.

All in all, both movies were amazing. And any CLAMP fan should have this in their collection.

Love the anime and manga so love the movie as well. CAUTION: the English voices are mind numbing to high pitched or overly manish no in between. Japanese language w/ subs are way better.