Clover [Paperback]

CLAMP (Other Contributor)

Book Description

Series: Clover | Publication Date: March 2002

As the Clover saga concludes, we flashback to reveal Gingetsu`s first meeting with the three-leaf clover, Ran. Like Sue, Ran was imprisoned for the good of society. But Ran yearned to live a life that was more like a human and less like a lab rat, and broke free from. Now, Gingetsu is ordered to track him down and bring him back to the laboratory. It's a mission he doesn't want to take on, but as everyone knows, the Wizards never give anyone the option to refuse. From the imaginative CLAMP team, responsible for Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, and Magic Knight Rayearth, Clover is a cyber-romance that will be hard to forget.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Grade A, Clover is host to a well drawn, mysterious futuristic world with believable characters and an intriguing story. -- AnimeNewsNetwork.com

It's one of the most unusual, and effective, CLAMP manga ever. -- J-POP.com

From the Publisher

CLAMP is an all-female team and one of the hottest groups of manga creators in Japan today. Credited with bridging the gap between male and female comic fans, CLAMP has many other series to their credit, including X, Magic Knight Rayearth, as well as Cardcaptor Sakura. All followed fanatically by readers wherever they're available.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: TokyoPop (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892213966
• ISBN-13: 978-1892213969
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,957,792 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent pre-Prequel, March 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Clover (Paperback)

All right, this is a little bit confusing, but bear with me:
Clover 1 and 2 are a complete story. Clover 3 is a prequel to Clover 1 and 2. Clover 4 is a prequel to the prequel. Now, with that out of the way, let's talk more about Clover 4.
This takes place, as stated above, before the events in the rest of the Clover books. It's the story of how a very young Ran escaped his government captors and came to meet Gingetsu. On the cover are Ran and his brother (then known as A and C). His brother is jealous and crazed and wishes for Ran to only be near him, never to venture away, but Ran doesn't want to work for the government.

It's a very nice pre-prequel, and has appearances by Sue, Ora and Kazuhiko. The art is, as with the rest of Clover, exceptional, and there are some, shall we say, interesting scenes between Kazuhiko and Ora (not for the very young, methinks). Clover 4 feels just slightly (SLIGHTLY) more flat than the other Clover books, but this is perhaps because of the fact that it's a pre-prequel, and we know what happens to some of the characters. Still, I gave it 5 stars because even with that slight flaw, it's still far above many other manga out there, both in it's layout, art and story.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars presentation counts, June 19, 2004

By 

tami "pinkboxcutter" (chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clover (Paperback)

Clover # 4 is short, like all other books in the four-part series, but that hardly matters at all. In the last intstallment of Clover, an unusually light-hearted Kuzuhiko, Ora, and Sue all have cameo roles, although the story features Ran (C), and his brother, A. Gingetsu gets a large part as well, but not as great as I expected after reading the summary. Reading through #4 the first time left me feeling slightly let down, because I had the impression that the story would be a follow-up on the breif appearance Ran and Gingetsu had in the first book. (I haven't read 2 or 3.)I was annoyed, because Clover is one of the more expensive mangas and I felt I could have invested my money more wisely. But then I went through it a second time and realized that it was good as a prequel, as well. The presentation is in very crip chairascuro (black and white), which gives it a very classical feeling. (I'm aware manga is typically printed in black and white anyways, but Clover has heavy contrast and large areas filled in with simple black or white, aka negative space.) This may appear cheap- but in actuality it's skillful oraganization and presentation that makes Clover so unique, and aesthetically pleasing. In truth, screentoning (using little dots for shading) would lessen the somber, repessive tension that emphasizes the theme of captivity so well. In the end, I was glad I bought Clover, although I'm still irritated by the length.

And on a very practical note- the frosty dustjacket for the book is beautiful, but has a tendency to tear, even when you're trying to be careful. I know someone who is a nut when it comes to the caretaking of her books, and yet the cover had an almost full vertical rip in the front. When she lent it to me, I carried it in a backpack that held the rest of my books, and took out only to find that the cover had ripped all the way around. The corners of the books get wrinkled easily too, on account of the material- the best thing to do seems to be to remove the dust jacket when you're carrying clover, and then replace it when on the shelf. Either that, or handle sparingly. I also reccommend purchase online- few Clover books that have been leafed thorugh by customers at the store are left intact. (it's just that fragile.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clover #4, April 8, 2002

By 

justwildbeat (in the middle of nowhere(ohio)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clover (Paperback)

Although this is may not seem like a prequel it is. I thought this was a very touching story of A and his twin brother C. This where everyone is introduced in a strange but effective way. Also, I personally thought the art was amazing and beautiful. This work especially this volume isn't your usual action pack novel, but i felt it was worth the money. So better buy it since I spent the time to write this! ^_^