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Manga Extras
I have typed up the extras from the back of the manga. (as I get them and find the time to type it up ^^ Oh and BTW, this is skipping, "About the Creators" and "Past Works") This is for those who have "misplaced" some pages or do not own the manga themselves, and just want to see what the extras are. This is taken directly from the manga (so © to CLAMP/Del Rey), except for a few possible errors, and the footnotes that I say as they come to mind :)
Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLES Volume 1 Extras
Dramatis Personae
You'd need a scorecard to keep track of all of the characters who will be appearing in Tsubasa and xxxHOLIC, so we've decided to create one for you. Some of these characters will look familar, but you haven't really met them before. Warning: Possible spoilers, that's why CLAMP put this at the end of the book ^^
Sakura:
While it's clear that Sakura is older than her counterpart in Cardcaptor Sakura, we don't actually know her age yet. She is the princess of Clow, raised by her brother, King Toya. She's a happy princess, well-loved by her people. Sakura possesses the power to change the world, but it will be a while before she-or we- understand what that means.
Syaoran:
Syaoran's father died in an archaeological dig, leaving him an orphan, but Syaoran felt compelled to continue his father's work. He's closer than ever to uncovering the secrets of the giant wings buried in the sand, but a threat to Sakura's safety sends him on a quest to save her life! The Tsubasa version of Syaoran is very different from the character in Cardcaptor Sakura. Where the CS Syaoran is dour, surly, even rude at times, Tsubasa's version is open, friendly- and clearly in love with Sakura. (Link: Awwwww!!!! That's one of those cute things, isn't it? XD)
Tomoyo:
In CS, Tomoyo was Sakura's best friend who videotaped her card-capturing exploits. In Tsubasa, Tomoyo is the queen of another realm, and like Yukito, she is a powerful sorceress. (Link: She's like Yukito in that she is a sorceress, but that doesn't mean Yukito is a sorceress too! XD) It remains to be seen if her role in this drama is concluded. (Link: DOUBT IT IS! LOL)
Fai D. Florite:
Fair's motivation for visiting Yuko, the Space-Time Witch, isn't entirely clear. Like Tomoyo, he is the ruler of his land of Seresu. (Link: Odd... I thought Ashura was the king, and Fai was just a wizard..... Ah well) He may be fleeing a battle that he's lost, or he may desperately need to get away from a battle he's won- we just don't know yet. What we do know, is that he is the creator of this world's Chi, a character from CLAMP's Chobits, and that he is fleeing from Ashura, a variation of the main character of CLAMP's first series, RG Veda.
Chi:
In Chobits, Chi was a persocom, a personal computer found by Hideki Motosuwa. With her memory wiped clean, Chi and Hideki have a lot of work to do to discover her origins. Along the way, each discovers a lot more about themselves and their feelings for eachother. Of course, that's assuming that a machine can have feelings in the first place...
The Tsubasa version of Chi was created by Fai, so she is clearly not the sam character as in Chobits, although her personality appears remarkably similar. As Fai begins his quest, he leaves Chi behind to guard against King Ashura's awakening.
Yuko:
Yuko is a witch. She lives in a peculiar house in Tokyo with two peculiar helpers, Maru and Moru. Her work is simple: She helps people... for a price. The price is never more than her customer can bear, but the greater the need, the higher it gets. Yuko is something of an enigma. She comes across as very mysterious and all-knowing, but she also has a playful, sometimes wild side that leads to unfortunate side effects. Like Hangovers. (Link: Yuko? Hangovers? Actually, I can picture that O.o)
Watanuki:
Watanuki Kimihiro will pop up in Tsubasa from time to tome, but his home is over in xxxHOLIC, where he works for Yuko, cleaning, cooking, gardening, and whatever other chores Yuko can come up with. (Link: Not a job I would want...) It's the price he pays for Yuko to grant him his wish- to rid other the spirit visions that haunt him. Although he's a hard worker, he often finds working for Yuko to be a frustrating experience.
Sorata (Sora) Arisugawa:
When Sora was three years old, the Buddhist monks of Mt. Koya recognized Sora as a future Dragon of Heaven. Knowing that he would develop powers that could help him save the Earth, the monks started training him, and Sora's irrepressible personality was parted from his mother, the tears in her eyes affected him deeply. He determined that he would find the one girl for him, and he would protect her. He would protect her and die for her so that she may never feel hurt the way his mother did. In the story of X, (X/1999 (Link: OMG! GREAT Manga, GREAT anime. Maybe one day Sealed Angel will have a X content section. Oops, too much babbling)) the girl he found was Arashi Kishu.
Arashi Kishu:
At age six, Arashi was wandering the streets eating out of garbage cans and wondering if life was really worth it. Her mother had died three months earlier, and although she asked Arashi to somehow survive, Arashi was beginning to have second thoughts. Being found by her mother's old Shinto teacher and brought into a beautiful shrine still didn't answer Arashi's question of whether to die or go on living. The promise of becoming a Dragon of Heaven, and more importantly, having friends in the future so that she wouldn't be alone, made Arashi decide to give life a try. In the story of X, (X/1999) she grew into a Shinto "miko" priestess and joined the Seven Seals.
Translation notes:
Japanese is a tricky language for most westerners, and translation is often more art than science. For your edification and reading pleasure, here are notes on some of the places where we could have gone in a different direction in our translation of the work, or where a Japanese cultural reference is used.
The Kingdom of Clow:
Made up of the characters, Eternal and Tower, the pronunciation "Kuro" sounds suspiciously like Clow.
Intimacy:
After Sakura and Syaoran's conversation, (Link: About him calling her Sakura and not Your Highness) you notice a distinct similarity between that conversation and the later one of Toya and Yukito. It's all about intimacy. Once two people are close enough friends, they drop the "honorifics" and titles and the grammar of polite language, and they become more direct and easy going.
Ginryu:
The characters for Ginryu mean "Silver Dragon", which gives you the reason for the dragon on the hilt.
Hitsuzen:
This is actually defined by Yuko is xxxHOLIC Volume 1: "Hitsuzen. A naturally foreordained event. A state in which other outcomes are impossible. A result which can only be obtained by a single causality, and other causalities would necessarily create different results.
Kuri-chan, Kuro-rin...:
All of the names that Fai is trying to give Kurogane are the types of nicknames that one would give cute high school girls (ko-gals), or that cute high school girls would give themselves.
Sora's accent:
Accents in Japanese and English work somewhat differently. In English, an accent is mostly marked by pronunciation- especially of the vowel sounds- and a few differences in vocabulary. So if you take a little time to get used to the differences, you will have no problem understanding even the thickest accent in English. In Japanese, there are some pronunciation differences, but most of the differences are in vocabulary. Since the differences start at the core vocabulary (even the ubiquitous verb "to be"!), and spread throughout, a thick accent is nearly as difficult to understand as a completely different language. Fortunately for most Japanese citizens, the Osaka dialect is very popular in the media, so everyone is used to different words, even if they didn't grow up in the Osaka area.
The Hanshin Republic:
For those who don't know Japanese baseball, the most popular team in Japan is the Yimiuri Giants. The second most popular team is the Hanshin Tigers, and like other second-mosts, the fans of the Hanshin Tigers are fiercely competitive and fanatical. None more than Sora's character, and so, the Hanshin Republic is the fondest dream of Tigers' fans- an entire nation devoted body and soul to Osaka's favorite baseball club. More on this in Volume 2!
Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLES Volume 2
*Currently typing*Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLES Volume 3
Translation notes:
Japanese is a tricky language for most westerners, and translation is often more art than science. For your edification and reading pleasure, here are notes on some of the places where we could have gone in a different direction in our translation of the work, or where a Japanese cultural reference is used.
Tora-Cola:
If you will remember from the previous volume, "Tora" means Tiger- the mascot of Osaka's baseball team, the Hanshin Tigers, and the symbol of the entire Hanshin Republic. History buffs might also recognize "Tora" as the Japanese Navy's signal to start the attack on Peal Harbor: "Tora Tora Tora."
Chu'nyan:
What's with the apostrophe? It's just to note that the "n" belongs with "nyan" rather than with "Chu". By the way, "chu" uses the kanji (the Japanese system of writing) for "spring" and "nyan" uses the kanji for "scent."
Ryanban:
The "Ry" combination is one of the most difficult combination of sounds for native, monolingual English speakers to wrap their lips around. Many out pronounce "Ryan" as if they were saying the first name of Ryan O' Neal. Not quite. First, remember that the "r"sound in Japanese sounds like a very light "d" sound- similar to the "r" sound in that upper-class British person would use to pronounce the word "very". Add that to a "ya" sound, and you get a single syllable that sounds a little like "dya". Remember, it's not "di-ya" or "ri-ya," but like "rya."
Manju:
The same type of big, white, wheat-dough burn as Siu Bao found in dim sum restaurants, and sometimes sold steaming hot on a chilly autumn day by street vendors in Yokohama's Chinatown. Mmmmm.
Mito Komon:
One of Japan's most popular hour-long TV dramas, "Mito Komon" began its run in 1970 and continues today. The main character is an elderly aristocrat who travels Japan with his three retainers, finding injustice and doing what he can to correct it. In the last act of every show, just when the bad guys seem to have the upper hand (reportedly at exactly the same minute mark of every program), Mito-sama pulls out the emblem of his nephew, the Shogun! The bad guys realize that Mito-Sama's influence trumps any power they might have, and they capitulate. Like James Bond, the title character has been played by a number of different actors.
Rowing the Boat or Asleep at the Oar:
(Link: This is something that Kurogane says) Actually, both of these phrases mean the same thing... that Sakura is basically asleep. "Asleep at the oar" is obvious, but "rowing the boat" also means that she's a little brain numb- probably because of the less-than-towering amount of brain work it takes to row.
Gambling Prizes:
Cash payoffs for gambling are illegal in Japan, so you will find that gambling for prizes is a very normal occurrence. Unlike skeeball-style amusement centers in the U.S., the prize counters at pachinko parlors are more like mini convenience stores with food, cigarettes, and household items. In Chu'nyan's country the prizes are a natural product of the barter system, and bringing home groceries from your lucky gambling trip is very common to Japanese readers.
Moxibustion:
An ancient Chinese remedy, possibly even the precursor to acupuncture, since the Chinese word for acupuncture literally means "acupuncture-moxibustion." A lit and soldering stick of mugwort in pralces on or over an acupuncture point (sometimes to the point of scarring the skin). When combined with acupuncture, the lit mugwort is attached to heat the needle. Like most Chinese medicine, the purpose of moxibustion is to enhance the blood flow and elevate the chi. The Kiishim intends to treat Kurogane and Fai with a full-body acid-based moxibustion, which would almost assuredly be... unpleasent.
Mirrors:
Mirrors are a traditional mystic element of the earliest parts of Japanese culture. According to the Kojiki (the book of Japanese myths), the Sun Goddess Amaterasu ordered her son, Ninigi-no-Mikoto, to go to Earth, and with him she send three sacred objects: a magatama (a beadlike jewel accessory), a sword, and a mirror. Those three objects have been passed down in the Japanese imperial family. Mystical mirrors have also crept into Japan's fox-spirit tales and other traditional stories.
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