SEAN: Far be it from me to break with what I suspect is going to be unanimous. The clear pick this week is the first omnibus re-release of CLAMP’s Tokyo Babylon. I joked about it being the story of Hokuto and those two other guys, but it is certainly true that Hokuto is my favorite thing about it, and I’ll likely be digging into this volume especially for her. That said, the tragic story of Subaru and Seishirou is no slouch, and if I want to pretend things end happily I can just stop with this first volume anyway. This is one of the books that made CLAMP famous, and justifiably so.
MJ: I’m sure that by now it’s obvious I concur. Though there are at least two series I love just as much on this week’s list (Fullmetal Alchemist and Paradise Kiss) Dark Horse’s re-release of Tokyo Babylon is one of my most euphorically anticipated of the year, and there’s no way I can turn down the opportunity to try to bring more readers into the fold. I love everything about this series—its overblown comedy, its sometimes-clunky drama, and its eighties fashion sense—but mostly I love it for its slow-developing characterization and, well, its cruelty. CLAMP goes at this story with full force, and isn’t satisfied until they’ve beaten you into an hysterical, bloody heap. If you think I’m exaggerating, you haven’t read Tokyo Babylon. So go to it!
MICHELLE: I’m not gonna be the one to buck the trend! The best thing about the series being in print again is that readers who missed out the first time will be able to discover it. I hope we see some reviews from first-time readers in the near future!
ANNA: I think all of this peer pressure means I have to give this series a second chance.
Readers, what looks good to you this week?
Johanna says
March 11, 2013 at 3:27 pm“reviews from first-time readers” — worked for me! I tried the book and wrote about it here: http://comicsworthreading.com/2013/03/05/tokyo-babylon-book-1/
It was difficult coming to it fresh, though, because so many people talking about it online talked about the series overall, so I got spoiled on a few things. Which may not have been bad — I might have just written it off as a nostalgia thing if I hadn’t know more was to come.
Michelle Smith says
March 11, 2013 at 3:32 pmYay! I’m glad you liked it. I was (voluntarily) spoiled before I read it the first time, too, but it didn’t diminish my enjoyment.
Melinda Beasi says
March 11, 2013 at 5:50 pmI really enjoyed your review, Johanna!
I realize it’s difficult to approach the series completely fresh at this point, and our roundtable is the worst offender on that front. But I guess at some point we decided we wanted to discuss it in a level of detail that was impossible without spoiling. I hope we haven’t ruined it for anyone! I was lucky enough to pick up the series before I was enough a part of the manga blogosphere to have read much about it, so I did actually read it pretty fresh my first time through. That’s getting harder and harder to do.
Johanna says
March 11, 2013 at 7:36 pmThank you! I found the roundtable helpful in contextualizing the series and its importance, and you were careful about labeling it as full of spoilers, so I knew going in what I was getting. I don’t regret making that choice.
AshLynx says
March 11, 2013 at 4:59 pmMan, I dunno, I’m CLAMP shy, is this the sort of manga a non-CLAMP fan would still like, or is it too….CLAMPey?
Melinda Beasi says
March 11, 2013 at 5:02 pmI’m not always sure what people mean when they say that. If you don’t mind spoilers (BIG spoilers) I’d recommend checking out our roundtable or perhaps Johanna’s (non-spoilery) review linked above.
AshLynx says
March 11, 2013 at 5:07 pmWell when I say I’m “CLAMP shy”, I mean once bitten twice shy. I haven’t really liked any of their series I’ve read so far, I’m just not a fan of their style of storytelling. But I never try to dismiss a mangaka (or group of mangaka’s) entire body of work so quickly if there’s a remote chance of a single gem. So my question is if the story telling here is different from their usual.
I’ll probably just go to the library in a few weeks, it’ll be there.
Melinda Beasi says
March 11, 2013 at 5:42 pmHonestly, having read so much CLAMP, I’m still not entirely sure what you mean, because I don’t see them as having a single, recognizable storytelling style. They have some tropes they reuse, and two or three major art styles they tend to stick with (depending on who is the primary artist & what magazine it’s for), but storytelling… it’s not so clear to me. Perhaps it would help if you told me which of their stories you’ve read, and then I may be able to weigh in on whether those resemble Tokyo Babylon.
Melinda Beasi says
March 11, 2013 at 5:45 pmI will add one thing here, just in case X is one of the series you’ve read… Tokyo Babylon is technically a prequel to X, and is, in most ways, the exact opposite of X. It’s an oddly intimate little series.
Johanna says
March 11, 2013 at 7:41 pmI’m not a huge CLAMP fan — I’ve only really liked Suki and Chobits out of those I’ve read, because of the focus on the romance and interpersonal relationships. (I thought Legal Drug was interesting but it ended before it got to where I could really say I liked it.) I’d say I liked Tokyo Babylon so far, but mostly out of nostalgia. As I said in the review, based on where I’m told this is going, I think the CLAMP series it’s most like is xxxHOLiC. I’m not sure I’m going to like future volumes as much, because I actually prefer the stand-alone chapters to the overarching angst drama.
As Melinda asks, I’m curious to know what CLAMP series you’ve read and what you’ve thought of them.
AshLynx says
March 12, 2013 at 6:32 amHmm, let’s see
Cardcaptor Sakura-I liked this when I was younger, but not really any more, so I sold it recently and don’t really miss it. Oh and the teacher/elementary school student romance always creeped me out.
Clover-I just all around disliked this one. The art was pretty, sure, but I just found everything else to be a mess, I really really disliked this one, easily my least favorite of their works I’ve read
Magic Knight Rayearth-I rented the new omnibus from the library, but can’t honestly remember if I read both 1 and 2 or if only 1 was there. I just found it rather boring and unremarkable iirc. I think I did finish it, it just left me feeling rather blah.
Tsubasa-not all of it, first 8 vols maybe? I liked the premise, but not all the weird twists they ended up putting there. Also didn’t like the way it was told either iirc, kinda getting repetitive, so I dropped it.
And for things I think I’ve read via library that had no lasting impact on me whatsoever: Miyuki chan in wonderland, Suki, maybe early vols of Chobits ages ago
Melinda Beasi says
March 12, 2013 at 6:58 amOthers can weigh in here, but if nothing else, I think I can confidently say that Tokyo Babylon resembles none of these in the slightest. As Johanna mentions, I’d probably compare it most closely to xxxHolic in terms of look and feel (and the way it begins episodically), though it’s much more compact (originally 7 volumes vs. xxxHolic‘s 19), so the storytelling is more compact as well. Hints of the overarching plot begin to show up very early on, and will be in full force by the time the second volume comes out (I think Dark Horse is doing this in just two volumes). Early plot points and characterization pay off big time later on.
Melinda Beasi says
March 12, 2013 at 7:26 amAlso, I could suggest reading my original review of the series. I think having read the series several more times since, I have to disagree with my original statement that it takes four volumes to establish itself. In retrospect, I think my impatience with the early volumes was due to my frustration with episodic stories and wanting the larger plot to come to the fore earlier. Now that I’m free of that initial impatience, I actually think (as we discussed in the roundtable) that CLAMP planned that all very deliberately and kinda brilliantly. YMMV.
In any case, that review is a lot less spoilerific than the roundtable and still contains art samples for you to look at.
gerichan says
March 12, 2013 at 4:53 amTokyo Babylon is an old favorite of mine—I already own the Tokyopop volumes, and was debating over whether to buy the new Dark Horse version. Does anyone know if it has any extras (illustrations, translation notes, etc.) that weren’t in the older books? Or any noticeable differences in the translation?
Regardless, I am happy that it is being re-released and will hopefully attract new fans to the series!
Melinda Beasi says
March 12, 2013 at 6:49 amI’m waiting for my copy from Amazon, but I’ve read the PDF review copy from Dark Horse, and the translation is noticeably different. The credits indicate that they used the original translation, but re-edited by Carl Horn. I like it a lot. Otherwise, I *think* the color pages are the same and so on. I don’t know what the trim size is or anything yet. I’ll report back when I have my print copy.
Melinda Beasi says
March 12, 2013 at 9:06 amAlso, I just realized… Hokuto’s side chapter has been… moved, I hope? It’s not inserted in the spot where it is in the Tokyopop editions, and doesn’t seem to be in Dark Horse’s first omnibus at all. I’m hoping it’s just been moved to a later point in order to balance the volumes better, or that perhaps it didn’t originally appear in that place to begin with? It’d better show up eventually. Otherwise, I’ll have to take back my recommendation entirely, no matter how much I like the new adaptation. I’ve got a message out to Dark Horse to find out. Perhaps someone who has read the series in Japanese can let us know whether that Hokuto chapter originally fell in the spot where it is in Tokyopop’s editions?