So my library is really awesome and has a manga (Japanese comic) section. And while it doesn’t have such dietary staples as the full run of Sailor Moon, like my personal bookshelf does, it does have Tsubasa, a series I’ve been dying to read.

CLAMP is an all-woman manga team that has produced several series, such as Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, and Magic Knights Rayearth. The draw of Tsubasa is that it takes characters from CLAMP’s established works and puts them into an “alternate universe” with a new storyline and sometimes even altered personalities.

Tsubasa stars the much-loved (and one of my favorite couples ever) Syaoran and Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura. They’re older in Tsubasa, teenagers instead of just kids, and Sakura is princess of the Clow Kingdom, where her brother rules as king. Syaoran is the son of an archaeologist, fulfilling his late father’s dream of digging up Clow’s ruins, and is Sakura’s best friend.

Sakura loses her memory and will die if Syaoran doesn’t go on a long quest to many other worlds to gather the missing, and magical, pieces for her. The only way he can go on this journey, though, is to give up his most precious thing to a powerful witch (Yuuko from xxxHOLIC) — any chance that Sakura will remember him or their dear friendship.

Before any of that mess started, they were already in love but hadn’t told each other yet. And this interrupts any romance. But once Sakura wakes up, they get along just fine, and each of her restored memories gives us a sweet glimpse into their past — her with a befuddling emptiness where Syaoran should be, and him with the complete version of the memory. And, obviously, Sakura doesn’t know what he gave up to save her.

It has so much potential for awesome sweetness, I can hardly stand still. Unfortunately, the library is missing issues 5&6 (the books are marked as in but aren’t on the shelf or in the back), and I just finished 4 and have 7-11 waiting for me to pounce. But I want to give the library book-finders a week or so, at least until we have to leave for Christmas. Then the new issues are fair game.

If you want to try this manga series, I strongly suggest saving up your money, because many of the books have cliffhangers, and you’ll want to gorge on them all at once. Also, even if you don’t know CLOW’s other stories, there’s a guide in the back of the book, telling you where each character comes from and their role in their original story. And though not all references are noted (the guardians from Magic Knights Rayearth definitely make an appearance in book 2, but aren’t noted in the back), they aren’t necessary to enjoy the books.

These books gave me a physical emotional reaction, and I even cried and didn’t mind. They’re so good! How can I wait a week? *le sigh* Pray the library finds them quickly, or I’ll go crazy! ^_^