Clover is a dark, poignant little fairytale.
It holds a special place in my heart, being a big vinatge CLAMP fan. Though technically an unfinished work (CLAMP claims that two further volumes were planned to complete the story) I personally hope they never complete the story. There's something about the jumps in time and the incomplete nature of the 4 volumes available that I prefer to think of it as a completed whole. It just works; and this is why Clover has recently been re-released in Omnibus form by Dark Horse.
Concerning art and pacing, Clover is one of the most beautiful manga I have ever
...
seen. The artwork is minimalist, relying on stark blacks and whites and expressive lines. The style is leaning towards a mechanical, futuristic feel rather than a lush fantasy setting, but sometimes combining both. In this world, the mechanics are as beautiful as Suu's garden prison. CLAMP has managed to merge storytelling, art, paneling and characters into one seamless whole. Every panel is placed with care, negative space is a part of the telling and the dialogue is there seemingly because it must be. Clover is a manga where the telling ofl the story is every bit as beautiful and important as the story itself. I think of it as something of a poem.
Style over substance?
Well...yes. Clover does suffer in that aspect. It's not the most original, life-changing story ever and the characters, while touchingly sweet and poignant, are not that deep. Is this a bad thing? I don't think so. In this case, the characters add to the overall melancholy, fairy-tale like feel of the manga. Now, this is not to say the characters are shallow or stereotypes; rather that being a short manga with a longer story planned to tell, they don't really have a chance to be fully expressed and developed. But what you do see in this short glimpse into the world of Clover, is striking in it's honest simplicity.
Suu has some elements reminiscent of other CLAMP heroines; she is selfless, good and pure. But instead of being upbeat and cheerful, instead she is sad and lonely, resigned to her fate. I love the idea of her character; she is so powerful to the point of rendering her powerless. The government has locked her up because her mere existence is a threat - and she accepts this. Locked up in a gilded cage, she lives a sort of fairytale existence, in a beautiful garden protected by killer robots that look like stuffed animals. She listens to the outside world and in this way hears and then befriends a beautiful singer named Oruha - over the phone. They never actually meet.
Oruha and Kazuhiko are the other two protagonists of the story. I love them because they're some of the few CLAMP couples to have an actual fully fledged, mature love story. No fluff, hints or subtext. They're lovers.
Kazuhiko does not fit into the 'tough guy' or 'young teen' stereotype. He's an ex-military, kind of average guy, brave and level-headed with a heart of gold. Oruha is a mature, intelligent woman, and I consider her one of the most beautiful manga women. She is instantly recognizable, with her mass of black curls, full lips and voluptuous figure. Oruha is kind, brave and proud. In a bit of dramatic irony I appreciate, Suu forms relationships with both Oruha and Kazuhiko, who are lovers, but neither ever know about the other's relationship with our little waif.
All three characters are expressive and you get the feeling there's always something going on beneath the surface. They have pasts, secrets and desires. Not all are fully expressed or explored in the length of the series, but the existence is there.
Where story is concerned, Clover is quite interesting. It starts in the middle, ends, then goes back to the beginning, then the manga ends in a middle before the start of volume one. It's really not as confusing as it sounds and I recommend reading the series the way it was published. It gives it a circular feeling, the story never really ends in my mind, there is no real finality to the events.
All in all, Clover is a story where the telling and the artwork is half the journey. It is a slow-paced glimpse into a strange world and stands out in my mind as an enormously enjoyable work. It is one of my favorite manga. Some call it pretentious; I disagree. CLAMP is a lot of things, but not pretentious. It is CLAMP's venture into something different, a world where characters do not turn into chibis because there is no slapstick (the humour comes from some clever banter between the characters) there are no cutesy animal sidekicks and it's thoughtful, contemplative rather than complex and gimmicky. It is complete in it's incompleteness and I highly recommend it, to any fan of manga, if only to observe the masterful storytelling.
Don't overlook Clover; it's breathtaking.
 Alternative TitlesJapanese: Clover More titlesInformationType: Manga
Volumes: 4
Chapters: 20
Status: Finished
Published: 1997 to 1999
Demographic:
Shoujo
Serialization:
Amie Magazine Authors:
CLAMP (Story & Art) Statistics Ranked: #27762 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #1110
Members: 16,998
Favorites: 353 Resources | Reviews
Filtered Results: 10 / 10
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Jul 8, 2010
Clover is a dark, poignant little fairytale.
It holds a special place in my heart, being a big vinatge CLAMP fan. Though technically an unfinished work (CLAMP claims that two further volumes were planned to complete the story) I personally hope they never complete the story. There's something about the jumps in time and the incomplete nature of the 4 volumes available that I prefer to think of it as a completed whole. It just works; and this is why Clover has recently been re-released in Omnibus form by Dark Horse. Concerning art and pacing, Clover is one of the most beautiful manga I have ever ... 
May 18, 2011
Style over substance is the best way to describe this series.
Stylistically this manga was innovative and artistic - lots of song lyrics positioned to match the mood of the scene, lots of negative space and white backgrounds that created a bleak and somber atmosphere in your mind while reading, and lots of chapters that are 1 or 2 pages long. All of that is fine and I do have an appreciation for serious/quirky series (I am an Utena fan after all). What turned me off was that the ENTIRE manga was like this - all 4 volumes - with heavy style but very little character, plot, ... 
Jan 30, 2015
Hm, where should I start with this review? I remember back in my early days on the Internet, I remember seeing pictures of Sue everywhere. I recognized the art as CLAMP but I wasn’t aware she was from a manga series until I actually started to read about CLAMP. I longed for the day to read it because I really loved their ideas for stories and I wanted to explore what other worlds they have created.
And, honestly, I’m not quite sure what I read. The setting takes place in a retro like world that has steampunk. I suppose that’s interesting in itself – I’m not ... 
Aug 10, 2012
Clover is one of the worst manga i've read (i've read more manga than my lists say, cause i don't remember what they're called), its practically got no story cause theres a guy trying to get a girl to this one place only she knows of, but in the end both of them get sent back to their starting points and the girl starts thinking about other people like her and how they survived. to add on, there would be pages covered in black with some cursive on it (presumably the lyrics of a song) that just distracted from the story and made the manga
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Apr 25, 2014
Story: 4/10
For what it had of a story, Clover was interesting. The major problem: Most of the pages were lyrics and mostly blank pages. I hate lyrics in literary works because I don't know the melody. I'll try to make a tune, then fail. Eventually, I'll just skip the songs. That's all right, but if the pages are mostly lyrics, that's not good. Also, there is little plot development. The volumes are told out of order. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE stories that are out of order: Like Pulp Fiction and Sin City. The thing about those movies/comics is that they have plot development. What I mean about ... 
Mar 31, 2013
I’m not going to lie, this is one of the most confusing manga’s that Clamp produced and I have heard that isn’t even done yet. I’m somewhat glad its not because as it is, there really isn’t any definitive ending to the plot or answers as to what it was supposed to be about. Nanase Ohkawa has actually explained that there are two books left that are needed to complete the story but unfortunately, there is no date to when those would be released.
We follow a girl named Sue and her protector Kazuhiko as they travel the land in search of something. A running fraise ... 
Dec 31, 2021
CLOVER - 8/10
A myterious story about losses, freedom, sci-fi and romance with very sentimentality and sadly passionate. Story- 7/10 The story at itself has a interesting propose, it was what made me want to read the manga, the story is mysterious, poetic and musical, but is also confusing and inverted. It development very well untill the "last" arc, there are so many meanings behind the story. The incompleted romance beautify the manga e it esthetic to how tell the story is very different and beautifull. The sentimentality is very strong which makes the reader get attached to the characters and their relationships, principally the Main Character, Suu. ... 
Sep 5, 2020
If you've been an anime fan for a long time, there's a good chance that you've probably at least heard of CLAMP at some point. Many of their manga are beloved and famous throughout the world, from the kid-friendly magical girl manga CardCaptor Sakura, to the epic old-school isekai Magic Knight Rayearth. Nowadays, they're mostly known for Tsubasa Chronicle and XxxHolic, but they recently started writing a sequel to CardCaptor Sakura called Clear Card, so they're still around. But another thing diehard fans know about CLAMP is their...unfortunate history of starting new manga and then putting them on indefinite hiatus, the most egregious of them
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Jan 2, 2023
Clover is a cyberpunk manga created by CLAMP. Sue is a young girl with very special abilities. She can manipulate technology and can teleport and make objects appear as if by magic. Sue and others like her are called “Clovers” Sue is kept separate from the rest of society in the guise of national security as here powers are considered too dangerous. Sue is accompanied by an ex soldier Kazuhiko, who is enlisted by the government to find other Clovers. Kazuhiko and Sue travels to Fairy Park, a place where they hope to find others like Sue.
The characters, in particular Sue, were compelling ... 
Sep 19, 2023
Clover is a special manga that demands attention to the way ties intertwine intensely, guiding the unexpected.
What makes Clover's narrative special, apart from the fact that it is very well written, is the way in which, constantly in te midst of the artwork, song lyrics are composed and introduced into the contexts of the characters in the story. Part of this is a special factor in the midst of a cinematic expression, which plays with the positions of the frames, explores spaces and shapes feelings. It's something that constantly gains more layers through conflicts and interactions, as the past, present and future intertwine. At the ... |
