From the back cover:
The odd group of dimension travelers arrives in a country full of magic seeking a book that may hold the key to finding one of Princess Sakura’s powerful memory feathers. But the volume they need turns out to be a national treasure, off limits to the public. Now Syaoran, Kurogane, and the others must brave traps, ravenous beasts, and some of the universe’s strongest magicians in order to steal the book. When it comes down to enchantments versus martial arts skills, can the team pull off the biggest caper of their career so far?

Review:
A lot of important stuff went down in this volume and, though the individual chapters often seemed short and occasionally uneventful, the whole was definitely greater than the sum of its parts.

In addition to learning a little bit more about the motivations of the villain, readers also learned more about the main characters, as two of them displayed previously unseen sides of themselves. While battling for access to the book containing Sakura’s feather, Syaoran seemed briefly to be taken over by a more ruthless fighter. Kurogane noticed something afoot immediately. Later, when the group’s escape attempts were thwarted, Fai relented and performed some magic so they could transport to another world. “First one and now the next!” Kurogane noted.

By the end of the volume, the tone of the story had become quite serious. I thoroughly approve! It really seems that things are going somewhere at last.

From the back cover:
Five friends must journey through time and space to lift a curse from beautiful Princess Sakura. Their quest now leads them to a world of magic and mysterious learning. Syaoran, the princess’s young but fierce defender, is awestruck by this new world’s enormous library. But when he opens one of the books, he is suddenly whisked away to a different dimension—a rough, barbaric place that resembles medieval Japan.

There he witnesses the hardships faced by the family of a feudal lord who looks surprisingly like Syaoran’s gruff companion Kurogane. Now Syaoran must figure out how he was transported… if he ever hopes to see Sakura again!

Review:
This volume started kind of slowly, but finished strong. Turns out, a magic book with the power to reveal one person’s memories to another had been handled by Kurogane before it was passed to Syaoran, and so Syaoran took an accidental tour through some of Kurogane’s past. The first few chapters were okay, but Syaoran kept intruding on Kurogane’s memories as he took ages to figure out what was going on, causing the reader to go “Duh! Of course you’re in the world of the book! Didn’t you read Fushigi Yûgi?”

Once he figured it out, Kurogane’s tale continued and progressively got both more interesting and more sad. The significance of Ginryu (the sword that was Kurogane’s prized possession and his payment to Yuuko at the beginning of the story) was revealed as well as the circumstances of Kurogane and Tomoyo’s first meeting. In one of the chapters there was an image that made me go “Eww!” and “Cool!” simultaneously, which I appreciated.

I really liked the last chapter. In it, Syaoran woke from the book trance and immediately asked for Kurogane to talk about what he’d seen. A nice conversation ensued. Also, I was happy to see movement on the plot regarding the mysterious evil figure who’s been lurking in the background all this time. On the whole, this was a really good volume.

From the back cover:
All is not well on Piffle World. The magical land’s most popular sporting event—a race of lightweight aircraft called dragonflies—seems to have been rigged by one of the contestants. But winning the competition is the only way Princess Sakura and her friends can recover one of the princess’s precious and powerful memory feathers.

The five friends are determined to cross the finish line first, but the cheating is taking its toll—even Fai is out of the running! Can the travelers still win the race and discover who’s behind the booby traps before it’s too late?

Review:
This volume was a little disappointing, since the identity of the culprit was fairly easy to guess. I was hoping that a certain person wasn’t responsible, since it was so obvious, but alas.

Still, there were an awful lot of good character moments that made up for it. Sakura does particularly well in the race, and it was nice to see her looking determined and not helpless. Fai commented to Kurogane about it, and was surprised when Kurogane told him that he (Fai) had changed, too. I really love the dynamic between those two. The best moments, though, were between Kurogane and Tomoyo, especially a conversation they had outside while a celebratory party went on inside.

CCD watch update: The boys didn’t really have much to do in this volume, but the observant will spot Nokoru sleeping in Suoh’s lap the morning after the festivities. Also note that while Akira and Nokoru both appear to be somewhat hungover, Suoh looks perfectly fine. In character to the end!

From the back cover:
The Dragonfly Race is set to begin in Piffle World, and the prize for one lucky lightweight aircraft pilot is an amazingly powerful battery in the shape of a feather. But for the four dimension-travelers and one odd creature named Mokona, who have joined the competition, the feather represents more than energy—it’s one of Princess Sakura’s lost memories!

And Sakura’s feather isn’t the only thing at stake. Despite President Tomoyo’s best efforts to protect the race using her wealth and resources, unexpected hazards keep popping up, and the perilous contest could lead to death for unskilled pilots… like the princess!

Review:
This volume was a lot of fun. The race itself was entertaining (and could Kurogane’s contraption fit him any better?) but there was also the pressing reminder of Fei Wong Reed’s plan, which was to send a minion with a familiar face to do his bidding—a person they’d assume was not the same one they’d met before on a different world. Fai also remarked at one point about feeling the eyes of someone watching them, and it was nice that this aspect of the plot got a little more attention.

The best part, however, was Nokoru. I swear he completely stole the show. When I first saw the CCD boys rendered in this art style, I thought it was weird. I really liked it in this volume, though, especially that they looked a bit older than their 4th-6th grade selves. Nokoru was particularly pretty, and it was good to see his personality quite intact. I wish Suoh could’ve done a little bit more, though.

I’ve really enjoyed these past couple of volumes, and even liked volume 10 better on a reread than I did the first time. I’m glad I decided to get back into this series.

From the back cover:
Here is a revealing look at the acclaimed bestselling manga series Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE. Spanning the first seven volumes, this thrilling guide includes intriguing details about the characters, worlds, and mysteries of Tsubasa, including info on the popular crossover CLAMP characters who always seem to appear in the Tsubasa universe!

It also features a brand-new Tsubasa short story, an interview with CLAMP writer Ageha Ohkawa, games and quizzes, a fan section, pre-production artwork, and more. This is an essential book for any fan of the Tsubasa manga series and anime!

Review:
After I read the tenth volume of xxxHOLiC my interest in Tsubasa rekindled. As I hadn’t touched the series since November 2006, however, I decided to refresh my memory with the aid of this handy character guide before resuming with the regular volumes.

I’d forgotten so much! The wishes Fai and Kurogane made that got them traveling in the first place, Syaoran’s mysterious origins, the fact that Seishirou still has one of Sakura’s feathers and will undoubtedly be seen again as a result… Though the guide was rather dry reading and sometimes hard on the eyes, with lots of tiny white print on grey or black backgrounds, it was definitely successful in reminding me of many important plot bits.

That said, I’m not sure how much this book would offer to someone completely up-to-date with the series. There were some things that weren’t a story rehash, like quizzes and popularity polls and an interminable fan section, but the only one I particularly enjoyed was the interview with Ageha Ohkawa.