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Tsubasa Chronicle
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Animation - 8.5 |
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Sound - 8.8 |
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Story - 7.4 |
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Character - 7.5 |
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Value - 7.2 |
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Enjoyment - 7.5 |
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Average - 7.8 |
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| Average |
6.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| Tsubasa Chronicle tells the story of a young boy's quest to recover the memories of his childhood friend, Princess Sakura one at a time by travelling to different worlds. Syaoran and Sakura (of Clow Captor Sakura fame) are joined by the "macho" swordsman Kurogane, the annoying pokemon-type creature Mokona (from xxxHolic) and the former wizard Fai.
If you think the premise of the group travelling to different worlds to find one of Sakura's memories at a time sounds tedious, you would be correct. The plot is incredibly boring, predictable, and tedious. Through 26 episodes not much actually happens, it seems that these 26 episodes are merely a preview or introduction into the series, merely giving basic character development to everyone but Syaoran.
Syaoran himself is an incredibly serious and focused character, and if he and Sakura were the only characters then the series' tone would be incredibly different. However, due to the pathetic and annoying antics of Mokona and the tired jokes among Fai and Kurogane (calling Kurogane Kuro-pin, Kuro-pun, Kuro-chan, and Kurogane being comicly angry gets really old really quickly) the series' atmosphere is ruined, in my opinion. If the series got rid of Mokona I think it would have been a lot more enjoyable.
Many side characters are introduced in each world, some of them being the alternate versions of characters in worlds our heroes have already been to or come from, causing some conflict or background information to be revealed. Also, Yuuko, from xxxHolic, plays a role as a Dimensional Witch who aids the companions in their quest.
The animation is an odd mix of beautiful background animation and the long-armed awkward character models, but it works for this series. The action scenes are suprisingly good, though the build up to the action acenes can get a bit tedious. The soundtrack is pretty good; nothing too special here though. The voice actors were ok as well; there wasn't really too much that was asked of them and no real acting was needed for anyone but Syaoran.
If this series were a stand-alone series, I would not recommend it, but as it stands, I am going to watch the sequel to see if the anime gets any better. As I stated, the series was a bit tedious at times, but I am interested enough to see where they are going with the plot so I will try out the sequel (hopefully it has less Mokona and less attempts at comic relief).
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John |
(2007-03-15 17:17:25) 2007-03-15 17:16:38 |
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| Average |
9.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| In my opinion, this is one of the best anime out there right now. It's not just all fighting, and it's not just all drama and stuff. I think it has a bit of everything. What I find makes the show good to watch is that it's quite original. Travelling through the different worlds bring a new story everytime. Tsubasa Definitely something worth checking out. I highly recommand this anime if you love shows with great characters and development.
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sun9 |
(2007-03-16 10:15:52) 2007-01-05 23:16:29 |
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| This anime promises many episodes based on the reasons of trying to collect many feathers. Each time the group goes to collect some feathers, challenges usually awaits them. Once in a while, the past or some characteristic of a character are highlighted.
My main problem with this approach is that its quite impossible to indicate the number of feathers remaining (or, its impossible to tell how complete Sakura's memories are).
In the end, I see this as an mediocre anime because so far the journey is just on the basis of collecting unknown number of feathers from an unknown number of dimension and time (compared with dragonball, we know there's 7). This really gives the impression of little progression. It feels like the production is taking their own sweet time to reveal stuffs to you.
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| This is very good stuff from CLAMP. Before seeing this story, you should see other CLAMP works previous from this work as CLAMP is notoriosly known to import characters from its creation to a new anime and it really shows in this. It can be good or bad depends on what you think.
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| Average |
9.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| i love tsubasa chronicles with all my being . this is a great anime and very touching and sad at the same time.
animation- flawless the animation was perfect nothing looked ugly it all looked nice , well colored, and animated.the characters looked very nice and woar very interesting cloth witch was designed good.sakura looked more pretty and maturwe now then how she looked in cardcaptor.syaoran looked very cool and finally wore something different then that old battle chineses outfit he wore.
sound the oppening is awesome. i dowloaded that song write away and i tend to sing the song and even danmce to it from time to time.the japenese voice actors were good especially for sakuras voice.
story- well the story has changed quit a bit now syaoren is the lead character and now he protectssakura.the plot now is much more serious and stronger because now sakuras memorys have been scattered into feathers and syaoran is loking for them all to give her memory back.
characters- the charcters are very well develop and have strong friendship withe ach other. the new characters are floo who is a mage and is very nice and kind and has a servent who looks like chii.then there was the samuaai guy who goes and helps find her feathers he is more rough and nice at the same time. then we have syaorin and sakura as there usaual selves with some tweeks.also now the characters have guardian spirits and they fight.
enjoymenmt- if you like cardcaptors youll like this. i love this show and i love cardcaptors im just a fan.
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| A great series. IT is totally a fun series to watch and you won't be disappointed.
Animation: 10
Great animation. Tough to. I mean they are changing world every other episode giving the animators alot of variable to work with. All the characters are cute and look great.
Sound: 10
Classic. I mean it is very classical and dramatic music playing at the right time to create so beautiful scenes. I didn't get tired of the music and plays a key role in creating the scene.
Story: 10
Overall, the story is great. A guy looking for lost feather that the girl he loves lost. He is doing even though he has to give up something very valuable to him. I gave it a 9 because it is alot of side stories in which the main purpose is to retreive the feathers.
Characters: 10
The greatest innovation and the trademake of the this anime has to be the recycling of previous characters (All in clamp shows). I mean the main characters are (Sakura and Syoaron) are from Card Captor Sakura. Then there is constant referal to "XXXholic" and "X." The new characters also show significant development throughout the story and it is really fun to see what memory Sakura gets next.
Value: 9
You will rewatch some of it for the fun episodes but since the series doesn't end (2nd and a planned 3rd season), i can't give it perfect value
Enjoyment: 10
Just a blast to watch none of the episodes seem to be wasteful and it they contain no feather, it is either to teach you moral or character development.
Amazing series.
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I don't want to start this review off with some plain statement, but here it is anyways. This anime is REALLY good. Just like most good anime, at the end of every episode, it leaves me thinking "What is the next episode going to be about? Will the next episode be as good as this one?" Those kind of thoughts. Every episode satisfies me ^^ Even filler episodes =P
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m-san |
2006-06-02 14:21:53 |
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| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| One of the best fantasy anime series I've ever watched, although it's generally a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none type of anime. It's not particularly bad in an aspect, but it's not the best either. It's just the first season anyway so I guess it's forgivable. Nevertheless, this anime is worth watching. You don't have to be a CLAMP fan to enjoy Tsubasa Chronicles.
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Juuju |
2006-05-21 02:26:15 |
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| Average |
8.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Overall, I think this anime's quite good. But it's not gripping as some, as in I don't feel after watching an episode the desperate need to continue. The main reason to this might be because the story develops very very slowly. It takes usually a couple of episodes for just capturing one feather. And there are lots of pauses in speech which I found unnecessary and annoying, as well as long view shots.
I've only seen CCS so I don't know about how it links to the other anime. But I can say that Tsubasa has really very little link to CSS. The main characters' personalities are almost completely different.
The anime does have some nice songs though. The one Sakura sings in Episode 20 something was so sad and heart-wrenching. I actually felt like crying.
The anime does seem endless for like I said before, each feather take too long to capture, and that kind of bugs me. However, for those die-hard Sakura+Syaoran fans, this would be quite angst compared to CCS. I used to be a fan about them too though the Sakura in this anime I don't like at all. And Syaoran could do to have some expressions once in a while.
This is a pretty good anime overall (though I've been criticizing it...) but to me, it's not as exciting as I think they could've made it. It's also not too original, but the side characters and some underlying plots spice it up a bit.
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Noros |
2006-05-10 04:41:50 |
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Overall a very solid series, with a seemingly infinite story line and some mysterious characters. While some might decry against this series for not being original enough, Tsubara Chronicle plays off a lot of well crafted and classic ideas. The animation and soundtrack mix together well, in simple plot and action scenes alike. This series was designed to be a classic, not a ground breaking original series, so while it is sometimes predictable, and the characters develop slowly, every episode usually has a good moral set to it. Tsubasa succeeds at being both entertaining and a memorable series.
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Pakxenon |
(2006-11-11 11:37:47) 2006-04-23 05:20:51 |
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| Average |
5.3 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| Whew... I dropped it at ep5 weeks ago, then I finished the whole thing in 13 hours.
This anime, while overall is pretty good, starts off so disappointingly boring. I was expecting something good since it's CLAMP and they were recycling favourite characters (CCS, of course), but the first couple of episodes were slow and boring and weird. Eventually, I forgot about it for a couple of weeks, then picked it up 13 hours ago. Not saying that ep6 was immediately good (this had to get to the fourth arc or so before I couldn't stop), but the beginning sure was disappointing.
My next complaint is the overusage of the music. It annoyed me like no tomorrow, so I played some blaring noise on my guitar while reading the subs for awhile before it got dark and everyone had to sleep. Some music were also played in the wrong places, and those action scenes' blows were softened too much. The singing was pretty good, but it was really annoying.
Another complaint is that they lost their Kudan after the first world, but then this is retributed with the keeping of the swords from their virtual game. The concept of the game was also well thought out - I was wondering why they got jobs and money and other RPG elements.
Oh yeah. They have EXTREMELY LONG LIMBS.
Overall, Tsubasa Chronicle was a good watch and a definate pick-up for CLAMP fans. I can't wait for season two, which is in... 6 days. >_>
Edit: Oh ya. This anime is mostly boring, if you haven't experienced it already. I still don't get why it's so popular aside from the recycling of CCS characters.
Edit2: I dropped the second season. It's that boring.
Edit3: My review on the second season has more fleshed out thoughts that covers both seasons, if you even care to read them.
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Overall... this anime is very good(to me).. It has a very charismatic story/plot and characters... The clothes and designs are amazingly cute.. A big thumbs up^_~
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Amaryl |
(2007-10-11 22:35:39) 2006-03-19 16:48:13 |
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Tsubasa Chronicle has all the aspects of a great anime, but flaws at one crucial point.
Too much filler. And I don't mean episodes, but it just gets annoying when characters just stare at eachother and it takes over ten minutes for nothing to happen.
Apart from that, the animation is top notch. A bit flat in some points, but great use of CGI. However, the action scenes never really did come off the ground, which was VERY unfortunate. This got better later on, but still a bit dissapointing.
In the sound, I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever. The voices were nothing less than perfect for each character and the overall BGM, OP and END were nothing short from pure art.
The characters are one by one nothing short from intruiging. Each cahracter of the main party has some kind of background that is never fully told, but is revealed bit by bit. (I'm talking really small bits here). As they unfold, they become all the more cooler. And the main story, the part of Sakura's feathers, is, although a tragedy in itself, quite fresh to the fantasy scene. Then there are the cameo appearances from well-known CLAMP characters. This does make me hate the fact that, beyond X TV, I have seen very few CLAMPS. This does not however, hamper the story...
...Which brings us to that which does hamper it. Although there is a yet to be revealed plot going on, literally half of the season is filled with staring, useless chatter and useless events. Like MC says a couple reviews below, Kajiura's music is too good. A near-biblical piece of music starts playing, anta- and protagonist in battle stance...and nothing happens! Repeat that scenario each episode and at least three times per episode. It drags about as much as Dragon Ball Z. What took 26 episodes to happen could've easily been done in 13.
Now I don't really want to go on too much about that, but it's simply holding the anime back.
Still, keeping in mind that that's just about the only point of citique, well, that and a bit lack of action, but gets fixed a bit later in the series, Tsubasa Chronicle is quite the anime to watch. Once you finish watching the first season, you will immediatly want to start watching the next.
If the second season will fix the filler-problem and stay on the same course as the first season, then I'd say a new classic has been made. You will not regret watching Tsubasa Chronicle.
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| Average |
6.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
2 |
| Enjoyment |
1 |
| Tsubasa Chronicle (TC) had been an extremely PAINFUL series to watch. Don't get me wrong, almost EVERYTHING about TC looks amazing, from the graphics to kajiura's music composition. And the story was awesome as well. Oh, and did I mention the characters? They're SOOOOO loveable, especially Sakura. And I think Shaoran is now my favourite male hero. He may be weak at times, but otherwise, I just couldn't get enough of his personality!
Now, to the bad stuff. The characters have EXTEREMELY LONG LIMBS!!! The proportion was WAAAY off. But surely, that doesn't warrant a 1&2 for Value and Enjoyment, right? Right! While TC had been great, the truth is, it has been an excruciating watching experience. Through out the entire 26 episodes, I kept feeling like I's watching the exact same plot being repeated again and again, only with different characters, locations, theme and maybe a few twists here and there. But after about 3-4 repetition, it just became downright boring.
And did I mention the Flashbacks? OMG, you're NOT going to believe how often TC has flashbacks. And no, I'm not talking about a quick reminder for the viewers about the previous episode. Instead, each flashback is lengthy, and an exact extract of previous episodes. No cutting out those boring bits either. Also, TC has the habit of DRAAAAAAGING the story. 25 minutes per episode? Think again. After the OP and previous episode flashback, 3 minutes have been lost, plus the 2 minutes ED. Not much? Well, throw in ALL the other in-episode flashbacks, and you'd feel like hanging yourself.
Oh yeah, and the dragging. There was one (out of many other) scene where there was not a single action/dialog going on for about 20-30 seconds. Why? I think that's because the creators decided that Kajiura's musics were just TOO good to be shortened. So once Kajuira's ochestra-ic music starts playing, you'll most likely hear it play from start till end. Now this may be a good thing, cuz I'm a Kajiura-fan. But NOT when the creators purposely stretch or drag the scenes just so that they can fit the tempo and length of Kajiura's musics. It was just SOOOOO annoying.
Ok, after my long rant,... my conclusion? Tsubasa Chronicle is a work of art, and that's it. There wre many poetic and artistic scene composition. However, the story-telling and plot composition was absolutely horrid. And for once in my life, I think I'm actually tired of Kajiura Yuki's composition. Also, the ending was just like any of the previous episodes. An exact repetition of the plot used by previous episodes.A BIG letdown indeed. So should you watch it? Hell yeah! Enjoy the story, enjoy the characters, and endure the pain that I'd went through while watching the series.
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cain |
(2006-11-10 17:44:43) 2006-02-03 00:16:45 |
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| Average |
6.5 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
| This anime is amongst few that are solely about one recurring adventure. The main focus of Tsubasa Chronicle is finding the feathers containing Princess Sakura's memories that have dispersed themselves over various worlds or dimensions.
I commend CLAMP's brilliant idea of combining characters and worlds of their other productions to make one Tsubasa Chronicle. The worlds/dimensions are all beautifully portrayed with elegant detail splashed with eye-catching colours, and characters have stylish costumes that vary from world to world, which is a very interesting and refreshing aspect.
What I find a little worrying about this anime is the characters. Sakura is just mystical beyond what I reckon is possible while Syaoran is the ever-kindhearted and temperamental guy. I liked Fai and Kurogane's personalities a bit more (they were more realistic and convincing) but having the four of them travel together was a little forced (especially since Kurogane doesn't seem like the type to follow Syaoran everywhere). Mokona, though, is very likeable, cute and funny!
The background music in Tsubasa Chronicle is brilliant and lively, most of the time bringing into play the mighty percussion that gives the anime a tangy and enticing mood.
I hear that there is more to Tsubasa Chronicle and that their journey is not complete yet, but I sure hope that the next season won't be about finding feathers...again.
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Genesis |
(2005-12-24 17:04:58) 2005-12-24 17:02:23 |
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Since this is only beginning of the adventure and there will be at least two more seasons of this show ,it is very hard to say how good this anime is going to be in the end.It definitely has potential to be great one.Tsubasa chronicle starts well and ends well ,the end of this first season was great it leaves you wanting more from this series.This doesn't mean this show is perfect ,far from that.
Animation is just beautiful to watch ,it is so well done and it fits characters and theme of anime perfectly.One of the best animation i have ever seen.The only thing that i didn't like about animation is body drawings of main male characters.They are made so skinny ! There hands and legs are like sticks ,it just looked like a female super model body.Other than that animation is top notch.
Sound is amazing.Of course it is going to be when Yuki Kajiuras hand work is in it.There is about 7,8 songs that are worth to be in anyones collection.Instant classic!
Story is confusing at times.Looking at how many feathers Sakura looses in first episode and how few they collect in this season ,it looks like this is going to be very long adventure.That is why it is hard to give an realistic opinion about story.Looking at how it was developing in this part of adventure ,it could have been better.I mean not many things change or are explained throw this 24 episodes.Other than getting to know main characters and what has happened to them ,thats it.
I liked characters very much.For example Fai is very nice and easy going guy.He is powerful wizard but we don't get chance to see that.For some reason he doesn't use his magic and he is also running away from some one that is in his real world.That is very mysterious!He is Very likeable.Kurogane is strongest warrior is his world ,he was "punished" by some kind of witch in his world for being so arrogant ,stubborn and selfish.She put curse on him (curse is -If he kills any human ,he will get weaker as a fighter) and sends him to other world where he meats dimensional witch and other main characters Shaoran ,Sakura and Fai and thats it when his adventure starts and he trying to find a way to return to his real world.It was nice to see how his personality changes throw episodes.To make it shorter ,characters are well done and theirs potential was just scratched in this season.It can only get better in future.
I enjoyed Tsubasa Chronicle very much.At moments story had its flaws but great music helped it.
This anime deserves more that 7.9 !
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Hmm.. When i first saw the first ep. I thought "Hell they overuse the music" & "Blah, Sakura voice sound so emotionless". The first problem solve as the story goes on they use less intense music and it was cool. The second didn't solve but instead they fix the story to match the non-cute voice. You can't acutally review this series untill it all complete because u know CLAMP. It's always have something to surprise ya. But still this series is worth something by itself.
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nauXolo |
(2005-12-12 03:09:31) 2005-12-11 19:17:52 |
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| Average |
6.7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Tsubasa Chronicle is a very straightforward anime with few tugging questions or 'mysteries'. Although a lot is left unsaid, the pacing of the anime really doesn't make their mysteries very important. The crew set out on a journey almost immediately with absolutely no background given for anyone. Even up to episode 18 nothing about anyone's powers is told and the groups cooperation with each other is almost too simple and quick. My main qualm with the beginning is how did Kurogane accept Syaoran so quickly? I accepted Fye's reasons just barely.
Aside from things proceeding too fast in the beginning and a bit slow afterwards, this anime is quite fun. This anime is quite entertaining. Although at times Syaoran's all-motivated, idealistic, all-gentle, and all-objective personality gets really boring and flat, I found some of the other characters somewhat made up for it in terms of humor. However, really... the characters are too shallow and none of their "will" or "determination" really impacted me at all. Syaoran can say "im going to get it done" all he wants, but I just don't feel that drive he does.
Putting all personal annoyances aside, this anime is a fun travel/journey anime and there aren't enough of these pure journey animes out there. I really liked the excitement of the characters traveling to different times and dimensions, meeting all sorts of interesting figures. Furthermore, after awhile the fights get more heated and flashy. With a combination of nice visuals and sound effects, Tsubasa Chronicle is a good fantasy anime to enjoy in a laid back manner.
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Splitter |
(2005-11-30 15:37:12) 2005-11-30 15:34:01 |
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
4 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Tsubasa Chronicle has all the makings of a good anime, especially if you're a fan of CLAMP. It's got a great story, excellent music, beautiful animation... and yet, it still falls short of it's potential. Don't get me wrong! I really do like Tsubasa Chronicle, but if this first season is any indicator of what to come, my expectations have been significantly lowered.
The animation for Tsubasa Chronicle is very good. The animation is fluid and the color palette works very well for all the different worlds. Despite this, the series suffers a little from re-use of cels and dreadfully simplistic character design. Sometimes it feels as if I'm watching a paint-by-numbers anime when it comes to the characters. Far less than you'd expect from an anime with such beautiful backgrounds.
The music, composed by Bee Train's stape composer Yuki Kajiura proves to be the strong point of this series. With an energetic opening and heartfelt ending theme, the series opens and closes like a masterpiece. The BGM in-between tends to be very repetitive and in some cases, the same piece is played through and then REPLAYED immediately. It gets to be just a little unbearable. The vast inclusion of various insert songs throughout the second half was also a bit too much (honestly, did they NEED to play two versions of "Tsubasa" in two different episodes?). Standalone, the soundtrack itself is very good. The voices also tend to get a bit irritating. When at first, I thought Mokona would grind my gears, it was of all people, Sakura, that truly had my ears burning in the end. But perhaps that should be saved for the character portion...
The story itself is wonderful, as anyone who has ever seen a CLAMP series should know. It contains many familiar elements to anime, in this case following the journey-type plot device similar to series like Inuyasha and Fullmetal Alchemist, while at the same time being very original. As people who have seen this series know, Tsubasa Chronicle takes place in a plethora of alternate universes and the series does an incredible job adjusting to the various surroundings and new characters appropriately. Though I will admit there are times where a climactic scene isn't so astounding or it can feel as if the series is taking forever to progress. Still, it has me biting at my fingers in suspense at what is sure to come.
Sadly though, Tsubasa Chronicle's biggest fault lies within it's characters. As I said before, I was dreading Mokona. Surprisingly, Mokona is now my favorite character in the anime, though my favorite in the manga was Syaoran. How did it get this way? That's what I have to ask myself now that the first season is over. As I said earlier, character designs are beyond simplistic and the characterization itself isn't any better. Syaoran is more emo than he ever was in the manga (though he kinda has a good reason to be), Fai has almost been completely turned into comic relief, Kurogane remains the same studious but gung-ho ninja he was in the manga... but it was Sakura who got it the worst. She is no longer the courageous semi-heroine who tries her best, but thinks she can't do much to help find her feathers. Instead, she has been adapted into a damsel in distress who pitifully says "Syaoran-kun" in almost every episode. It's so sad to see such a good character ruined in adaptation.
Whether you're a long-time fan of CLAMP or you have no idea who they are, Tsubasa Chronicle is worth a portion of your anime-viewing time. The themes of hope, love, and courage ring true and should provide you with some good entertainment. Especially for those of you who have never seen a CLAMP anime, let this be your gateway into their awesome creations... as every single character they've ever come up with eventually shows up!
For me, though... I must admit this is not the greatest CLAMP anime, nor does it live up to the hype. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I could have. From what I have heard, there's another season coming up next April. Here's hoping this series with endless potential begins to pick itself back up in the future.
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isokana |
(2006-04-23 13:28:51) 2005-11-22 16:18:25 |
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| I read Xxxholic so I knew something of the characters before hand. I didn't have any expectations however because Xxxholic doesn't reveal what is happening in Tsubasa.
Maybe this was good. I've heard the Tsubasa manga is good. Anime may show glimpses of this goodness but fails badly at points. The start caught my interest. The series creates a nice mystery around what is the reason behing what's happening with Sakura and Syaoran. Then they arrive at the first world. I couldn't believe it. The story moves like a snail in a swamp. The people in this world are completely uninteresting with the gangs and the Kudan and the idol. And this annoyance goes on like for five eternities (okay, five episodes but each felt like an eternity). It was very close I didn't stop watching there.
Luckily major improvement follows. The next country has a much interesting story that actually involves something else then Pokemon-fights with silly animal-like creatures. So they spend a lot of time there too and the story doesn't flow any faster, but when the setting is in order the slow storytelling suddenly brings a whole lot of mood in play. The last arc is again too long for its own health. Even tough it is a rather interesting world the pace is too slow and I was hoping them to resolve the whole thing. The ending is abrupt, with "WTF!? Was that all of it?" style. It felt like it was glued there in vain attempt not leave everything completely open. Well, it failed and series would have been better if it were left to episode 25 since it was pretty obvious from the start that true ending couldn't be achieved as the manga is continuing.
Characters are rather interesting. Syaoran and Sakura feel very simple and one-dimensional characters but when they are together is hard not to smile. They are just too cute. Syaoran's attachment for Sakura was little hard to comprehend at the beginning but some light was shed on the matter during the series. Kurogane fills his role as a grumpy old man and as a target for Fai and Mokona. Fai is easily the most interesting of the bunch and his mysterious character yells out "You want to know more about me!" Too bad they don't reveal that much about him or his motives. All in all they form a nice and lively group that makes the dullest of episodes bearable. I'm not sure if it was a wice decision to use characters from different Clamp series. Many people already a certain image of a certain character and messing with that could feel awkward. I'm not that enthusiastic a clamper myself so I was okay with the changes and probably missed a lot of familiar faces. Not Sumomo though, that was hilarious.
The music by Yuki Kajiura is good as expected but I feel that after I recently watched Noir for two times, I have an overdose of her music. At some points I started to feel weary of hearing the familiar sounds again and again. I have noticed that Kajiura series usually have a lot of silence that is filled with music and I like it. Animation is good and character designs appealing. There are some scenes that breathtakingly impressive with well-used colors.
The segment in the middle of the series shows that Tsubasa can work as anime if setting is right. The first and the last part show that is can be boring as hell too. Overall Tsubasa leaves a positive image and I could watch more of their adventures. Or maybe I'll just get the manga. Hmm, feel the power of advertisement working there.
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