There be spoilers here.

From the back cover:
In the world of Infinity, Princess Sakura has become a Chess Master and the other travelers are her pieces. But the Mafia is running the game, and they don’t care if Sakura’s opponents break the rules or murder Sakura’s companions! Why is Sakura so determined to risk everything?

Review:
Although many an awesome thing transpired in the X version of Tokyo, I was ready for a change of scene and so was glad when the team finally shifted away from there. Before leaving, though, they received more information from Yuuko on the situation with Fei-Wang Reed, including what he is trying to accomplish. There was also a sliver of a hint as to how Watanuki will play into all this. So, not really answers, per se, but definite progress.

What occured in the next world was mostly setup. Having seen the devastation caused by Syaoran in his search for her feathers, Sakura decided to enter a competition with a monetary prize that could be used to help rebuild the country he ravaged. Most of the rest of the volume consisted of the guys fighting various opponents and Sakura freaking out over all the similarities between the new Syaoran and the one she grew up with. I thought it was nice that she and Fai seemed to be even closer these days, and that the similar way they have of bearing pain with a smile was pointed out (by Kurogane, of course).

The new Syaoran had angst of his own, seeming to have fallen in love with Sakura while seeing her through the clone’s eyes. There was one particularly great sequence where she stumbled and he caught her, followed by each of them retracting their hands from the other, she quickly and he more regretfully. Describing it like this, I suppose it sounds like some lame harem gimmick, but really, it was quite sad and awkward.

Finally, I liked how, though everyone was trying to proceed as they did before all of the heavy revelations, it was clear that none of them really was the same person they were when they started out. I’d be happy if the series continued on with this new mix of adventure and darkness.

Book description:
One of the travelers is about to die, and the only way to keep that from happening is to make a deal with Yuuko the witch. The price has lasting repercussions for the others—one must be responsible for the saved life while another is sent out into the inhospitable ruins of Tokyo on a quest… alone.

Review:
It’s not a surprise that when CLAMP does shounen, they don’t do it like everyone else. In most shounen series I’ve read, characters aren’t allowed to undergo such fundamental changes as have occurred in these last couple of volumes of Tsubasa. There’s also lots of rather subtle character growth and interaction, too, especially between Fai and Kurogane. I love every scene where these two are together—okay, part of it may be “squee, they’re so in love!” but there’s a lot more to it than that. Fai’s struggle to stay remote and unconnected is particularly fascinating to me.

There’s not a whole lot of focus on what’s going on with Syaoran, since there were more immediate things to deal with, like wishes and their prices. Sakura, however, gets a lot of attention. Upset by how often people are getting hurt on her account, she decides to pay the price of one of the wishes on her own, and exhibits some surprising toughness. I’m a little unsure of where this grit came from, honestly, but the chapters focusing on her quest are pretty neat. I’m impressed by how well the story was conveyed in a 99% nonverbal fashion.

The ending is super sweet, and ties back in to Fai’s issues in an understated way. Again, I urge people not to judge this series based on its early volumes—I think it’s starting to become one of my favorites by CLAMP.

From the back cover:
The five dimension-hopping travelers have stuck together through all sorts of worlds and all kinds of harrowing adventures. But when the group enters the ruined city of Tokyo, two powerful fugitives set in motion a disastrous chain of events that may cause their tight-knit friendship to unravel. Syaoran’s mysterious past is finally revealed, and a tumultuous battle leaves one of the friends near death, while another becomes an enemy after a shocking act of betrayal. Don’t miss this pivotal volume in the Tsubasa saga!

Review:
Holy crap! Now that’s what I call major payoff! It took quite a long time, but wow! In retrospect, maybe all that lag time was necessary to make the events in these chapters even more shocking by contrast. This was easily the most suspenseful volume of manga I’ve read in ages.

In addition to all the stuff in the blurb above, which was incredibly awesome, there was also movement on a couple of subplots—namely the twin vampires that Seishirou is after and Kurogane’s quest for revenge against the person responsible for killing his mother. These chapters were very, very creepy and every bit as dark as something like Tokyo Babylon or X.

I am really glad that I didn’t give up on this series. If, like me, your interest waned around volume 10, I urge you not to give up on Tsubasa. It’s volumes like this that really show what masterful storytellers CLAMP are. Now if only they could get over their thing with eyes…

From the back cover:
Kurogane, Syaoran, Fai, Mokona, and Princess Sakura have come upon a desert of shifting sands and ruined skyscrapers. This postapocalyptic nightmare is all that remains of the booming metropolis that was Tokyo, and the survivors are battling for the few life-giving resources left in the world. As the five dimension travelers search for another piece of the princess’s lost memories, they will all be tested to their limits in ways they never expected!

Review:
When did I start to like Kurogane so much? It’s crept up on me unawares. My favorite thing about him is how observant he is. It was Kurogane who, a few volumes back, knew something was up with Tomoyo and her Dragonfly Race. It’s been he who’s noticed Syaoran’s shifts in personality, and it’s he who initiates a fascinating conversation with Fai in this volume about how the latter has been keeping his distance while wearing a “constant grin.” What I love is that no one ever cried, “Gee, Kurogane! You sure are observant!” Instead, the character trait is portrayed with subtle consistency, and I really like that.

There’s a lot to like plot-wise in this volume, too. The gang from X is almost all here, but with some differences. The groups that Kamui and Fuuma lead are reversed from how they were in the X manga, and Subaru and Seishirou are missing. All of Tokyo is battling over water—a precious resource in this country—and it’s a pretty interesting landscape for our leads to be thrust into. More importantly, there is a major development concerning the villain’s plans that also seems like it might shed light on Syaoran’s mysterious origins.

Every time I resume reading this series I realize anew how entertaining it can be. Some chapters are uneventful, and I find it hard to care very much about Syaoran and Sakura, but I really adore Fai and Kurogane and anything that pertains to them.

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!