Story:
Pain, tragedy, pain, tragedy, throw in some more pain and tragedy. Not to say that the plot is bad, not at all. In fact CLAMP here uses the urban landscape quite well, delving into the lives of those cursed by its overwhelming power to either let you rise or sink to the bottom. Tokyo is basically the main theme for a large part of the manga, and apparently it is filled with many restless spirits who can't seem to break their chains.The plot while containing the words "supernatural" and "magic" happens to be quite grounded on the tiles of reality. Interesting philosophies are thrown about now and then which overall raises the level of intelligence of the series.
However the drawback is the over the top tragedy that takes place, yes, tragedy exists in this world but when presented a number of times over and over it eventually seems unrealistic and makes the story heavy for no reason whatsoever. There are also many typical approaches to certain things (like dreams from the past and such, loss of memory) that follow the leads that make the whole thing become predictable from scene one, an atmosphere of mystery is supposedly created but fails.
Art:
Well, it's CLAMP,as overdone as that sentence might be it's the truth. Their art is really a matter of taste, with unusually proportioned bodies and over the top uncomfortable clothing, big eyes and pretty boys and girls. They also manage to put a bit of a cinematic feel to their drawings, overall the art is always well done.
Character:
Soubarou, our main lead, is not anything exceptional. In fact he holds many of the cliches one would encounter in anime one too many times, throughout the series it is noted multiple times how "kind,gentle,pure,caring" he is. He is nothing too complex or original but his put together quiet nature makes him likeable and during the process of the series he has an interesting formation of character. In other words he starts off dull but gets better on the process.
His sister Hokuto is a delightful comic relief of a character, her eccentric outfits and sassy attitude make her enjoyable. The relationship of the two is well done, they don't have the rather typical approach of twins where they look, act, talk alike. Rather they both share a different personality and different perks.
Seishiro, well, is all you would probably expect him to be.He is probably the most predictable character of the three from the beginning of the series. There is an attempt to create a certain mystery around him from the jump start but ( at least for me) failed miserably since from the very beginning it was pretty obvious what he is and is not. His jokes are cute but nothing outstanding, he is overall from beginning to end pretty bland and overdone.
Tokyo Babylon is a light read, it's nothing too groundbreaking or too complex, however it is the start of another series called X and X also links to Tsubasa which links to xxxHolic...so basically it is the start of a very very looooooong story. So expect to have to read further into other series.
