Tsubasa: Shunraiki

Tsubasa Chronicle: Shunraiki is the newest OVA adapted from the famous CLAMP manga Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles. After the spectacular work done by production I.G on Tokyo Revelations I can say I was more than excited to watch this, since I am a big fan of the manga. The plot is also connected to the xxxHOLiC Shunmuki OVAs.

Story:
+ Very close adaptation of the original material
+ The actual plot is very interesting and complex
+ Plot twists are sure to surprise some viewers
+ Finally we get xxxHOLiC/Tsubasa connections

- If you've only watched the anime versions of Tsubasa (including Tokyo Revelations) you WILL NOT understand the plot fully.
- ... Manga knowledge is absolutely necessary to understand what is happening.
- Celes and Infinity arcs were never animated (the ones who continue after Tokyo), further emphasizing my previous point.

Art:
+ CLAMP style art (if you like it)
+ Production I.G delivers fantastic and fluid animation even during fight scenes

- CLAMP style art (if you hate it)

Sound:
+ Kajiura Yuki delivers once again
+ a blend of new and old songs makes this very pleasing to listen
+ Great job to all the seiyuus specially Irino Miyo for his Syaoran

- I can't think of anything (sorry)

Character:
+ Great level of character development
+ All the characters are very likeable

- Fai and Kurogane fans might be let down by the lack of involvement of the two during this OVA as they spend most of their time as observers.

Enjoyment: I can say this easily, this 2 episode OVA was absolutely fantastic and I really hoped this would last longer. This was one of my favourite parts of the manga and im glad at how well production I.G has handled it once again. This OVA makes my current top 5 for now. How I wish we could just get a third anime season by I.G ;_;

Overall Tsubasa Shunraiki can be fantastic or annoying depending on how you look at it. As a stand alone OVA adaptation of the manga, it is absolutely perfect. If you try to look at it as a continuation of the series, then unfortunately it is almost a prerequisite to have read the manga to enjoy this fully. If you are a fan of the manga then I guarantee you will not be let down by this, if you have only experience Tsubasa as an anime then I would STRONGLY suggest you read it before trying to watch this, it would greatly decrease the enjoyment factor.

:::I was wondering if Tsubasa Chronicle: Shunraiki would be good, after I have waited for it since Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations and my opinion is...it's just amazing!^^

:::The artwork is precise and even if there are only two episodes, you can see the difference in it between the two seasons of Tsubasa Chronicle and the OVAs.

:::The soundtrack is awesome as always and the op and the ending are very nice.

:::The characters are the same for all of you who have watched Tsubasa, but /especially if you are reading the manga/ you can see them more serious and everyone of them with his personal story in ... the shadows.

:::So I think that this OVAs are one of the best CLAMPs works and you will enjoy them even if you aren't reading the manga and can't understand the plot very well [=

Tsubasa Spring thunder is CLAMP's latest installment of their ever ongoing Tsubasa/HOLIC project. Following the exceptional work that was "Tokyo Revelations" even I was beginning to think I.G was the better choice for handling future Tsubasa projects.

With the announcement of Spring Thunder it was no surprise the various CLAMP fanatics began jumping for joy and same with some of the fans such as me. Now after watching both episodes, I have to say, this was a real let down.

Tsubasa Spring Thunder is the bad example of what happens when the original creator of the source ... material comes to write in the adaption. Nanase Ohkawa (aka Ageha Ohkawa) the principal writer of CLAMP, whom I've found to have exceptional screenwriting talent handled this script for this as well as "Tokyo", having taken over from the TV series writer Hiroyuki Kawasaki. Ohkawa crafted Tokyo so well, I would have handed her the Academy Award for Best Screenwriting of the year. In the case of Spring Thunder I would easily hand her a Razzie award for the Worst.

Ohkawa proves that she and her fellow CLAMP mates are too married to their story that all they can do is tell an animated version of their manga, basically wasting everyone elses time. Spring Thunder proves to be nothing more than a carrot for the loyal fans who have kept reading through the years while basically saying "piss off" to those who have only followed the anime installments. Having only partially read the manga I was beyond confused. As Spring Thunder doesn't immediately pick up where Tokyo left off.

Production I.G's motto is, " to make anime that stands on its own ground without being an extension of manga." And to me I.G completely threw that motto out the window. The film is cluttered with to many flashbacks to events we haven't seen and likely never will, and it only leaves the viewer with a real sense of emptiness and endless plotholes that they won't be able to fill unless they claw their way through god knows how many books there are now. At the very least Ohkawa was still able to make a somewhat-coherent screen story that I could follow at the very least. Still most of the time I was hopelessly lost with no hope of ever returning. It seems the plot of Tsubasa has dissolved to a very epic and thoroughly thought out quest to just mind-bending improv from CLAMP.

Equally disappointing was Shunsuke Tada's direction. Tada used way to many cuts and hardly got creative, except with the action scenes. Too often than not we are cut into long and pointless exposition scenes that some of us really just don't care about. I found my self fast forwarding through this more than on the edge of my seat with anticipation of what the next scene holds. And of course Tada follow the old animation creed of "animation first, music second." Yuki Kajiura's score is ridiculously forced into the background to the point you even wonder if there is any. Rather than use music to heighten the scene and emotion, Tada makes it feel like it's just playing on a radio, as basic white noise. I said this in my review for Tokyo, that the use of music is the thing I find much more appealing about Koichi Mashimo at Bee Train compared to anyone else, and this only proves my point. On the one plus side was he finally decided to use more variety of pieces from the Tsubasa OST archives than he did in Tokyo and we were able to get a few new pieces from Yuki, who is understandably busy with a variety of projects.

Yoko Kikuchi character designs while not dreadful aren't exactly appealing. That being said I do prefer Bee Train's designer Minako Shiba. The art style is a slab of strangely clashing color pallets dull pastel colors mixed in with dark blacks. It's almost as though Tada can't settle on any style. Tomoyo is equally unappealing in her design as she looks like she's wearing football gear under her robes. There is no continuity to the visual style of this. It's bright and flowery yet strangely dark, almost filmed like a dark comedy.

The opening animation is just beyond obscure and doesn't set the mood appropriately for this short OAD series. While Maaya Sakamoto is probably one of the best singers from Japan I've ever heard, her themes never seem to ever to match appropriately to anything Tsubasa. Kajiura however has always mastered the theme songs as her ending has fitted a lot more. It's great to hear FictionJunction YUUKA perform yet again.

The overall animation quality is still very well done for this short production and I didn't notice any real problems with the animation. The fight scenes were well crafted and well animated which made for some great footage.

If anything else saved this from being the worst video production I've seen of all time it was the animation as well as the all star acting from the cast. Miyu Irino has come a long way as an actor, and gives the performance of a life-time for this. The other cast-members also have given it an all star performance and continue to improve as actors.

Spring Thunder isn't bad or terrible. It's simply average, boiler plate, run of the mill. It was CLAMP's little present to their die-hard fans, and leaves anime fans in the dark. It's now very clear as to why this little production is only being sold with the manga instead of a wide release on DVD as opposed to CLAMP's other productions.

It makes me think they should give it back to Mashimo and just make another season, or at least maybe go to the movie director Itsuro Kawasaki.