Customer Reviews

Clover

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

 

 

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.

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.)

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! ^_^

The plot here concerns twin brothers A and C. They are both Clover 3s and will die if they leave their government operated cage - the facility where they live alone together. Trouble starts when C decides to leave. We see this through the eyes of Sue, the Clover 4 kept in a cage that really does look like a bird cage. (Clover 4s can psychically see Clover 3s, Clover 3s can see Clover 2s, and Clover 2s can see Clover 1s.) Here she telepathically communicates very briefly with C and the government studies her nervously to try and predict his behavior.

He is located by the government, who discuss what to do with him. (The twins are pretty young, maybe twelve, so clearly he won't be off on his own.) The real plot is resolving the relationship between A and C. A feels abandoned and is jealous of anyone C meets in the outside world. Also he can psychically kill people, so that is a bit of a problem. The two brothers communicate telepathically and things that happen to C outside the cage contribute to them sorting things out. Meanwhile we see some tiny secrets revealed about government agent Gingetsu and a night club singer Ora, who is dating a government agent and in other ways more centrally connected to the bigger story.

The graphics here are good. There is a lot of negative space here, but it does contribute to mood and pacing. Graphics are straight black and white with lots of curly ques and organic shapes. In other books in the series this got a bit overly sappy - pin up girls in a very idealized style abound. Here maybe because the subject matter was more on the twin boys and the government agents it wasn't so so sugary sweet.

From reading this and Clover 3 I would say that these books fit a specific taste. Don't hate me for it if you are a fan, but they are kind of vague for me. You piece the story together and things aren't always chronological. That isn't a problem, except that often the story seems pretty simple without layers of meaning. So rereading doesn't feel like it gives me more. If you love the series, then this particular book was fine, so go for it. If you haven't read the series at all then borrow before you buy, and don't start with Clover 3.

CLAMP has done it again. I love this manga. Too bad it's so short! I'm still trying to get #3, and it's driving me batty, because the story is so addicting that you just have to know what happens, but you don't want to skip ahead and read #4! It's so gorgeous, I recommend it to anyone who likes anime. Especially if you like X or any of the darker CLAMP mangas.