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.

From the back cover:
The battle between Yasha-o and Ashura-o is at an end. But now Ashura-o seems depressed. What this means for the country of Shura, none can tell… not even the five friends on a desperate journey through dimensions to find the memories of Princess Sakura—memories in the form of immensely powerful feathers. The five have been racing from world to world, separated and then pitted against one another as enemies. Now young Syaoran is at the center of the maelstrom—and only wits, luck, and some help from his friends will save the tiny band from destruction.

Review:
I have been toting this around for over a month, waiting to get the desire to read it. It turned out to be pretty good, and there’s actually a bit of movement plot-wise. Villainous dude continues to be pretty ho-hum, but makes a reference to his “next plan” (I don’t remember any coherent former plan) so there seems to be a possibility that we’ll start to see some sort of organized attempts to thwart our heroes in the future. I hope so, because this story really needs some strong narrative backbone. It can’t bank on cameos forever, as fun as those are.

The art is lovely, especially with Ashura and another CLAMP character who is an important personage in Piffle World, where they end up next. On a side note, while they’re there, Syaoran’s outfit is totally reminiscent of Gatchaman (as are the little dunebuggyesque cars).

From the back cover:
Five friends continue their desperate search for Princess Sakura’s memories, which have been scattered across parallel worlds in the form of magically potent feathers. But this time Syaoran and Sakura are pulled from a tumultuous land where two factions battle over a statue of the God of Calamity—and into the realm of that very divinity! Now they find themselves on one side of a long, bloody conflict between two gods and their minions. Unfortunately the experienced fighters in their band, Fai and Kurogane, seem to be aligned with the opposition. In a war that can be ended only by the death of a god, how can Syaoran and Sakura hope to stay alive?

Review:
I liked this volume’s battle scenes and new setting, though I wouldn’t rate it as excellent. It does advance the plot with a couple of revelations, though still more remains unexplained. I’m still not fond of the creepy-haired villainous dude and his random appearances; he’s far too two-dimensional for me to care about him at all. I have the feeling that this won’t change much in the future, even when we eventually learn what he’s truly up to.

Ashura and Yasha are both extremely pretty, and I particularly liked the panels in which they appear together. I also thought Del Rey elegantly tackled the issue of Ashura’s ambiguous gender. Other publishers take note! The translation wasn’t at all clunky without specific pronouns. Now I’m left wishing for a Del Rey edition of Wish!