 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | ENGLISH AND JAPANESE DD 5.1 & 2.0 | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 125 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | TV PG | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 07/17/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 08/02/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | CHRISTOPHER SEAMAN |
Love and magic. Strange worlds and customs. A warrior without his sword, a magician on the run, a young man protecting his princess. This is the stuff of classic quest literature in any language set in any time or place. This is the world of TSUBASA, created by Clamp as a hugely successful manga and translated into an exciting new anime series released here by Funimation. The second volume in this tale is upon us, and like the first, it is filled with the elements that made the manga great- and more.
For the benefit of newcomers, TSUBASA opens in the Kingdom of Clow, where Sakura (a different incarnation of the same character from CARDCAPTOR SAKURA) is a princess in this desert world. Syaoran (also from SAKURA) is the orphaned son of an archeologist and is also Sakura’s best friend since childhood; the one who has captured her heart. But tragedy has struck, and otherworldly forces have attacked her and scattered her memories hurtling across space and time in the form of exotic looking feathers. Joined by adventurers Fai and Kurogane from their respective worlds, this group, with the help of a powerful Space Time witch, embarks on a dangerous quest to retrieve Sakura’s feathers. Fai, Kurogane, and Syaoran have each paid a price for this journey, giving something of great value to the Space Time witch to ‘pay’ for the trip. In Syaoran’s case losing Sakura’s memories of him, even though she will recall everything else once his quest is complete. With a heavy heart and implacable determination, Syaoran agrees to her terms, and the four of them, with the assistance of the witch’s white mokona, (a bouncy, adorable and occasionally annoying creature with a kind of chibi/rabbit like appearance), are swept off to various worlds in their quest. Volume 2 finishes the Hanshin storyline from the first disk, and whisks our heroes to the land of Nayutaya, where a corrupt magician and his cruel son have been bullying the population of a small town called Ryonfi with their magic called Hijutsu- enhanced, in this case, by the power of one of Sakura’s feathers. Befriending a young girl named Cyunyan, whose mother died fighting these oppressors, the gang finds themselves compelled to overthrow the evil wizard in order to retrieve Sakura’s lost memories.
This volume of five episodes covers most of the third volume in the manga, ironically ending in almost the same place as the book from which it was adapted. In the manga, Nayutaya is the country of Koryo. There are some other spelling variations in some of the characters names as well. But that does nothing to detract from the story, which is adapted with utter faith by the creative team behind this series. The scenes created look in some shots identical to the original source material. Some of the dialogue is similarly adapted. Fans of the manga will have no trouble embracing the series, and fans of the series will find catching up with the manga easy to do as well because of this. As in the first volume, the music by Yuki Kajiura is lush, and evocative, evoking the surprisingly strong emotional undercurrent that pins down the foundation of this story. The American voice casting, including Monica Rial as Sakura, Carrie Savage as Mokona, Gwendolyn Lau as Cyunyan, among others, is pitch perfect in delivery, bringing the essence of the characters to life. This is a DVD that has been produced with great respect for the source material, and is widely accessible to the general viewing audience. When it gets timeslots on television, it will undoubtedly have a well deserved long run. EXTRAS:
This Funimation DVD has a number of extras included in it. There is a character guide with production art to complement the text. There is also a world guide, giving viewers some background on the land of Nayutaya. Also, there are textless songs and trailers for other Funimation releases, and a segment called Faces in the Crowd, explaining how Cyunyan actually appeared in several other Clamp productions. This is worth noting as there are a number of ‘crossover’ characters from other manga by Clamp appearing throughout this story. Playing ‘spot the character’ is actually another of the many things that makes this series and its manga counterpart so attractive to its audience. IN SUMMARY:
TSUBASA will grab you, steal your heart, and take you on a journey into worlds varied and magical. Full of wonder, mystery and exciting action, TSUBASA is a classic in the making. Fans of Clamp, fans of anime, and fans of good solid entertainment will find everything they want in TSUBASA.
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