The controversy of CLAMP

So, I started on CLAMP back in the day when the first animes in the U.S. included Card Captor Sakura and was always a fan of their artwork and stories until they came to AnimeExpo back in 2006. It was then that I realized they were very 'celebrity-esk' in their dealings with the fans which turned me off of their work.





From an objective point of view though, they are the pinnacle of mangakas in Japan with a long running career, fresh story ideas, and specific art style. They draw cute yet fierce females and handsome, princely men and then there are the androgynous characters that prevail over any other out there. RG Veda was the perfect example of that imo; see Ashura below-male or female, can you tell? Technically, he's a boy, but when they translated it into English they made him a girl, so it's really hard to tell.



Amazing RG Veda cosplay:





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A change in styles:



CLAMP lost me back with xxxholic (pronounced 'holic') with their elongated bodies and Tsubasa which incorporated every single character they'd ever created (a neat concept but confusing for fans of the other shows).





Now they've released Blood-C, which still uses the same elongated bodies and their newest release, Gate 7. I'm hopeful Gate 7 will be a return to their older style of more realistic body designs. I do however love their clothing designs. A smart move on their part would be to start a clothing brand featuring aspects of their outfits like this Tsubasa design.



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Gate 7:

Plot Summary: Between our conscious, waking world and the subconscious state of slumber, there is a thinly veiled plane of lucid dreaming. While the conscious state belongs to individuals, the hidden plane of dreams is one shared by all human minds, past, present, and future. Yet only a few have ever possessed the power to enter this secret realm at will - where a war is being waged to control the waking world. For our earthly wishes and desires are not our own, but under the manipulation of these unseen masters of dreams. The heroine of Gate 7 is Hana, a high-school girl hailing from Kyoto, the daughter of a temple caretaker. Her peaceful ways give her the self-control to act in the hidden realm. But Hana can only reach it through the strange beast that acts as her totem in the world of dreams - and her companion on a journey to confront the puppeteers of our reality!



Opinion:

Okay, this is really cute! They gets extra points for dressing Hana like a frog, I want one of those sleeping outfits!!!



"Uarshi Chikan" I keep reading it as "Chicken" which makes it funnier I think. Could be the chai talking though. lol Ah geeze, is this seriously about the Tokugawa again? Really, Japan has been around for how long and they can't get past this? My head hurts. This is good though, I'm looking forward to reading more when it comes out.