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ファイト／ステイナイト 
I'm sorry that it's been a while since I wrote anything but I had problem accessing this site ever since I arrived in Japan. Thankfully, the issue has been resolved for now so I hope I can continue doing this without too much of a hiccup. Anyway, onto the series itself, this turns out to be a rather good adaptation of the manga. The OP theme, Blaze is a fitting song for the series. On the other hand, I have to say that I'm one of the few people who don't really appreciate Maaya Sakamoto's Loop as the ED theme. The ED is not bad or anything like that but it definitely took a couple of 'loop', so to say, before I got used to the song. Thankfully the background music are very much spot-on thanks to Yuki Kajiura's arrangement. I have more to say about the entire series itself but let's just get to the episode for now.
For this series, I decide to assume that most people already have an understanding of the story, so unless the story turns out to be different, I will simply do a commentary on the scene instead of recapping the entire episode. Anyway, the series begin with a prophetic dream where Sakura and Shaoran are trapped inside a big tube but the two are separated from each other due to a glass barrier between the two of them. Not long after this, wings suddenly sprout out of Sakura's back, taking her away from Shaoran. I have to say that the appearance of wings on a character's back is pretty much CLAMP's signature sign. Most of the time this simply suggests that the character is either powerful or has an important role in the storyline. This is pretty much is true in the case of Sakura herself in Card Captor Sakura, Kamui, Fuuma and Kotori of X, and Suu of Clover.
Sakura's wings in this series, however, has a rather different meaning attached to it. When she's taken away from Shaoran, the scene is similar to the one in X where Kotori bids goodbye to Kakyou and asks him to tell her brother and Kamui that the future has not yet been decided. In this case, the wings of both characters are used to signify that the characters are leaving/lost their life. In Sakura's case this is not to be taken literally as one will see later on in the story. Having said that, it can be said that the wings are representation of Sakura's life, or one may say, her memories. The memories she has with the people that she knew right from her birth. Before this happened, however, the viewers first get introduced to Shaoran, a young archeologist from Clow Kingdom. In a fun twist, Shaoran's father in this series is actually Fujitaka, who happens to be Sakura's father in the original Card Captor.
Shaoran receives a visit from Sakura, who obviously likes the boy a lot to the point that she insists on him using her real name as opposed to calling her 'Princess'. Shaoran seems to like her as well but the fact that Sakura is a princess of the Kingdom deters him from getting to close to her. Meanwhile Sakura decides to return to her castle and got caught by her brother, who is King Touya. This is where I notice that Bee Train's serious style tends to ignore one of the best SD moments in the story. While the serious nature of the anime lends an immediacy to the story, I have to admit that I miss that scene where Sakura and Touya argue like two little kids. Anyway, the two are eventually interrupted by the Kingdom's magician, Yukito. Again, the reference to Card Captor Sakura is intact here with Touya clearly displaying dislike towards Shaoran. He and Yukito, however, know that Shaoran will have a big role in Sakura's life.
Yukito also sees that Sakura possesses strange powers that will become problematic for her. The scene immediately cuts into a creepy-looking character observing a body inside a tank. I maybe wrong about this but judging from the shape and haircut of the body, that seems to be Shaoran's body. Considering the fact that this series deals with multiple universes and alternate realities, I won't be surprised if that is the Shaoran from another reality. Anyway, the scene then shows the observers as an older-looking guy with glasses and a woman with long curly hair. The man tells the woman that it's about to begin. Meanwhile in the Kingdom of Japan, a Swordsman called Kurogane is seen laughing like a maniac on a rooftop. Apparently he's been quite pleased with himself after killing some enemies. The Princess of the Kingdom, Tomoyo is not happy about this and order Kurogane to stop the killings.
At the same time, a Mage called Fai has just come out of a deep pool containing the body of a person. A creature with rabbit ears resembles the main character of Chobits, Chii, asks Fai what he's about to do now. Fai tells Chii that he needs to go away since he can't stay in the place as long as King Ashura is in there. Back to the Clow Kingdom, Sakura is in her balcony trying to convince herself to tell Shaoran that she loves him. While doing this, however, she suddenly loses her consciousness and suddenly gets levitated by a strange power. When this happens, the symbol from each Kingdom suddenly flashes quickly signaling that something is about to happen soon. Meanwhile Shaoran decides to visit one of the digs in the country and is surprised to see Sakura in the area as well. This is one of the few things that was changed from the manga. This one is a good change though, since it makes the scene more immediate.
In the manga, Sakura gets levitated but then she becomes normal again the next day and able to visit Shaoran in the dig to bring him lunch. I think it's much better that she gets dragged away unwillingly to the dig as in the anime since it makes the story much more tense. Anyway, Sakura seems to be happy to see Shaoran but her mind seems to be onto something else. She immediately crouches down and touches the symbol on the floor. Upon doing this, the symbol splits into two and fills the room with a bright light. Touya and Yukito who sees this realise that the dig has now been surrounded by a massive amount of robotic mercenaries who came out of nowhere. Meanwhile, inside the dig, wings appear out of Sakura's back and levitates her onto a higher platform. Shaoran, however, manages to grab her. But as the two falls down into the floor, Sakura's wings disperse and flies away into the sky. At the same time, Sakura's body becomes cold and lifeless.
Meanwhile, the mysterious pair are seen watching the entire things unfold. The woman thinks that they have failed. The man, on the other hand, believes that this is just the beginning. Soon, they will have the power to cross the time and space. Back to the Clow Kingdom, Touya and Yukito finally manage to reach the area where Shaoran is trying to awaken Sakura. Yukito does a quick spell to see what happens to Sakura and concludes that the wing was Sakura's heart or rather, her memory ever since she was born. But now the wings are nowhere in this world and without those wings, Sakura won't be able to survive for long. Upon hearing this, Shaoran wants to do anything he can to help Sakura. Because of this, Yukito ends up creating a spell to take Shaoran and Sakura to a person, a dimensional witch who may be able to help the two. As Yukito says this, a water-like spell begins to envelope both Shaoran and Sakura.
At the same time, Fai is seen creating a spell with his own staff and immediately disappears from his world. On the other hand, Kurogane is not happy that Princess Tomoyo decides to send him to another dimension as a punishment for his foul temper. Meanwhile, Shaoran and Sakura find themselves landing on an unknown place. A female witch and her servants are standing in front of them as if they know that the two are coming. She also seems to know that both Kurogane and Fai are coming as well. True enough, the two immediately materialise next to Shaoran and Sakura. As the rain pours down on them, Shaoran asks the witch to save Sakura. I must say that this scene becomes 10 times more powerful in comparison to the original manga mostly thanks to Yuki Kajiura's score. It's the kind of score that reminds me of ES Posthumus works. Especially when the song gets to the 'End of the World' type of chorus.
Impression:
What can I say except that I'm amazed? Bee Train and Yuki Kajiura somehow managed to make the anime more powerful than the manga. This is not a small feat on its own. However, they still have to deal with the fact that the manga's storyline is as thin as a paper and they can only do so much to make the series looks cool. It'll be worthwhile to see how they can salvage the series to ensure that the storyline does not become boring after a couple of time travel stories. I also still think that the anime's character design looks unusually weird with those long limbs. This was a rather stylistic decision that works for the manga but obviously not so much for the anime. On the other hand, I appreciate Bee Train's decision to trim some of the unnecessary scenes and go straight for the important ones to create a sense of urgency and immediacy. However, there are times when I did wish that they had kept those SD scenes. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next episode. Hopefully it'll be as good as this one.
Yeah, I really liked the first episode it was pretty cool. Though, it will take a while to get used to the whole long-limbs design of the characters. I'll definitely look forward t watching more. ^_^
Wow you are so lucky I really wish I could see Tsubasa, I guess I will have to wait until a company in the USA licenses it. Boo Hoo Hoo waah...In anycase I was unimpressed with the original character design as I felt Kurogane looked way to skinny; but after looking at your screen caps I really wanna watch it now....lol....anyway thanks for the update...
Cool . TRC was a fav although sometimes i got confused with all the characters and crossovers.
Anyway just noticed the news that you're in Japan now and so just want to say congratulation and good luck.
don't watch too much anime now eventhough i love i really love your reviews and keep some?? a little time for studying hehehe
gotta say, im impressed. the animation actually looks really good (well to me!), besides, if they went with not doing the whole long arm/leg thing, that would probably confuse the manga readers, or just make it look worse. how did u get hold of this ep??!! i really wanna watch it.
thanx for the summary, awesome as always.
I love the first episode...will you be posting when the second episode be finished? I would love to see it ^___^'|"
Great stuff!
I haven't read the manga yet, and I also have not watched the CCS anime, only read the manga version of it. Therefore I'm immune to the changed voices. What I'm not immune to is Yuki Kajiura's score - it makes me emotional just by listening to the richness of her music. So addictive...
Take the final sequence after Sakura got her wings - the background hymn was essential in building the atmosphere. I already want to have this piece in the OST version. This anime seems to be perfect for Kajiura's magic. And I'm also fairly impressed by Bee Train's animation.
I think that there's still some hope for SD animations - based on some preview frames, it seems that they will employ the SD later, but decided to give the anime a "serious" initial kickstart. So let's not give up hope yet.
All things considered, this was a great start. I'll definitely follow it from now on.
A great episode!
I liked both the OP and ED, honestly. I'm a fan of Kinya's stuff from Gravitation, and Blaze wasn't too bad, given the anime it opens for. Maaya's Loop isn't her best song by any means, but its good.
The animation was also quite good. In fact, better than what I expected. I don't mind the long limbs, because that's how CLAMP draws the characters. And, as with everything Yuki Kajiura, the music is absolutely brilliant. I already can't wait for June 22 (release of 1st OST). The seiyuus surprised me, but in a good way. I've actually really grown to like the voices, especially Sakura's and Kurogane's. The one voice I wasn't so impressed with was Mokona.
As I'm an avid fan of CLAMP and Yuki Kajiura, I'm going for the full 26-episode ride. Let's hope that the TRC anime continues the success of CLAMP anime, and that Yuki Kajiura's music continues to be as good as her other series (IMO, .hack and Mai-HiME are her best so far). ^_^V
[nitpick]Sakura's dad in CCS is Fujitaka, iirc, not Fujiwara...[/nitpick]
It seems to me that Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles is CLAMP's "epic", so it'll be interesting to watch. I got used to the voice actors/actresses in CCS, so I had to keep my mind open with a jaws-of-life... However, casting Maaya Sakamoto as Tomoyo (and putting her singing voice in the ED) was all good in my book, even though I thought she would be cast as Sakura.
Oops. You got me there, melchior00. :)
I'll go and fix it. But now I wonder which anime has a character called Fujiwara because for some reason that name sticks in my memory.
Thanx 4 creatin this awesum site! I luv it! I have a comment about one of the screenshots u took off of this anime.
Well it's the guy who's wearin the metal thing on his head with the moon on it. Im srry to say but that is a rip off off of Naruto.
Well that's it. Thanx!
omg thankyou soo much for putting this up!! ive been totally freaking out trying to figure out how to use bit torrent so i could watch it but for the meanwhile im happy that you have this up! im okay with how the drawings look except i dont like how yuko looks for some reason...but thats probably just because im comparing it to the book. i absolutely love tsubasa and hopefully you'll continue doing this for every episode!!
Piloff: I know why you think that, but in Naruto it's more a headband, whereas Kurogane has a helmet with the moon on it. I see your point though ^_^ But I mean anyway, even if it was, it can sorta be classed as a compliment that CLAMP used something similar, as it shows that Kishimoto-san's idea was a good one liked by even 15+ mangaka
hmmm i definitely like the anime more then then the manga
Did anyone notice the glaringly obvious displays of contrasting light, like me? I think Bee Train went pretty lights-happy on TRC, but i thought it was a neat effect. Most of the time, the lights pop up before some serious drama or plot indications...so i'm hoping in the future, that might be toned down so that watchers don't clue in right away to drama because of some twinkly electricity.
Other than that, i actually like the light effects, and the contrast. For some reason i always thought Kurogane's headband thing would be pitch black--it would have looked so much cooler. Oh, well.
Hope you are having fun in Japan, btw.
Well, what a great series opener. The visuals, the music, the action....everything blew me away.
Looking forward to ep.2, but i'd love to see more of whats going on in the clow kingdom and everything now those robitic guys have invaded.
I was also blown away with the first episode. The animation and music was amazing. I'm looking forward to episode 2! ^o^
I love watching the first episode of Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE! I never seem anything soo great in CLAMP! The art work is soo amazing and the music wonderful! I such a great love story! I feel soo bad for Sakura and Shaoran and they look soo great when their older!! CLAMP rules in art! Plus the voice actting is great!! LOVE IT!
Melchior00, I agree with you about the voice acting part - Sakamoto as Sakura. I am not at all pleased with the voice actor they have casted for Sakura... coming from a theatre stage, her voice acting is weak compared to the tried and tested pro's.
The music is wonderful, but I was not impressed by this episode. Having said that, I still hold high hopes for it.
"But now I wonder which anime has a character called Fujiwara because for some reason that name sticks in my memory."
Fujiwara no Sai (Hikaru no Go) maybe?
I could from Harukanaru toki no nakade -Hachiyoushou- there is a character that I think it starts with "Fujiwara"
now that i saw the screen cap is already okey for me...........
I can't wait till it gets to the US!! Then I can import the DVD's!! But I can't help thinking Sakura's hair is a tad short at the back.... The graphics are great though!!
I never read the manga so I was waiting for the anime
I didnt get it and I was O_o
I downloaded the first ep (and will to the second, by conjecture) just to see Yuuko, but I just might stick with it.
Whee.. first episode of Tsubasa was pretty good, although strangely I liked the manga scenes more (except for the wrong translation of "Fye"). Blaze is now currently at the top of my must-get list, but Loop isn't that bad... is it? o___O I kinda felt like Yuuko was being shown a bit cold-hearted though, does anyone think ...?
omg.. i loved this episodes and im sure im gonna love the rest of them since i read the manga and i absolutely loved it!!!
Yay, it's finally an anime!!!! I've gotta admit, the animation is a lot better of quality than I thought it would be. But I luvs it!!
Anybody know where I can get a subtitled version for QuickTime or Windows Media Player?? Thanks!!
>>Aikou-chan
Wow, reading most of the above-posted reviews, I think most of you are very fortunate to have access to the series. I think it'll be at least be another 2 years before they cross the shores over to my country (drats). I have to await for what seems like an eternity before the next issue (10th instalment) of the manga arrives..argh... and the cliff hanger is killing me! As what some of you have mentioned, I believe this may be CLAMP's magnum opus thus far. Kudos.
Way to start out the serie with a bang! The soundtrack reminds me of Noir and the animation is a bit different than some other CLAMP anime which is an improvement imo. Watching the 2nd episode now :)
I've seen through episode 3 now, and I just feel so disappointed by all of it.... it's like watching .hack//sign, but without the excuse of it being supposed to be a video game, and maybe a little underdeveloped. And actually, .hack is overcomplex in comparison, at least making your brain work...
I like the manga art for Tsubasa, but the backgrounds and character design in the anime are really, really simplified. Long limbs don't bother me so much, just the lack of detail.
I was a big CCS fan, and I like what I know of X, even enjoyed the anime. But I'm going to need more to happen for Tsubasa to really mean anything to me.
Hehe...After 3 episodes i must say that the manga is pretty awesome but the series pales in comparison due to the fact that i expected the anime to be much more detailed...and i'm a bit uncomfortable with the skinny long lines as limbs...
Syaorans' voice...maybe the ONE part that i dislike the most about the anime...lol i was expecting something deeper but still had that edge from the original CCS voice...here he just sounds so...peaceful...*SPOILER STARTS*even though he did go through a ton of difficult times as a child...SO Difficult that he has repressed those memories! *SPOILER ENDS*
However i do like this whole hot pot of anime goodies, the bgm music is really awesome, and for those hardcore CCS fans we finally get to see S+S! yay!
My advice...Get the manga...watch the anime after it.... = ) you'll be happier and more filled in....
*READ THE MANGA LAST* (So then you will not be disatisfied with the anime)
I really like the series. I have not read the manga but from the 11 or so episodes that I have seen so far of Tsubasa... I have to say that this is a better adaptation of a CLAMP series.
Yuko, the dimensional Witch, is a crossover from one CLAMP's newer series: XXXholic. I gained a "deeper" appreciation for Tsubasa after reading XXXholic...
I haven't seen the anime, but I got hooked the first time I read the manga. ^_^ I love the style, though, it's very different from what I'm used to seeing. Ah... and a wonderful love story, too.
I have read the series thanks for putting a review thingy a bobber
Nice screenshots! :D ....And episode summary/plot...[whatever you wanna call it].
hello
BeeTrains version isnt too bad, i'm buying them since they finally started releasing in the UK. However, i still prefer the manga, as it does go into more detail and it doesnt meader hlf as much as the anime. I also have to say, as much as i enjoyed the anime, the new OVA's put beetrain's work to shame (thankfuly whilst still keeping the wonderful VA's and the awesome music that beetrain have)
To the person who said forhead protectors are a 'rip-off of naruto'....no. Just no. *facepalms* Naruto's manga-ka did NOT 'invent' forehead protectors...its historic referance and they're seen in many mangas and anime (peacemaker/peacemaker kurogane for example is based upon historical happenings and features the use of forehead protectors amongst the warriors).
BeeTrains version isnt too bad, i'm buying them since they finally started releasing in the UK. However, i still prefer the manga, as it does go into more detail and it doesnt 'wander' half as much as the anime. I also have to say, as much as i enjoyed the anime, the new OVA's put beetrain's work to shame (thankfuly whilst still keeping the wonderful VA's and the awesome music that beetrain have)
To the person who said forhead protectors are a 'rip-off of naruto'....no. Just no. *facepalms* Naruto's manga-ka did NOT 'invent' forehead protectors...its historic referance and they're seen in many mangas and anime (peacemaker/peacemaker kurogane for example is based upon historical happenings and features the use of forehead protectors amongst the warriors).
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