Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

Sakura is the princess of Clow Country (The Country of the Eternal Tower), which is ruled by her older brother, King Tōya. Her childhood friend Syaoran is a young archaeologist. Sakura is revealed to have strange powers when she has a vision of a mysterious symbol. Meanwhile, Syaoran discovers the same symbol at the ruins he is excavating. He sees Sakura standing on the symbol on the ground. Ghostly wings appear on her back and a mysterious force begins to pull her into the walls of the ruins. Syaoran rescues her in time, but her wings disintegrate into feathers, which are scattered across dimensions. The High Priest of Clow Kingdom, Yukito, immediately realizes that Sakura’s “feathers” were the manifestation of her soul and memories; without them, she will die. In order to save Sakura, Syaoran must journey to retrieve her wings’ feathers, the fragments of her memories.

Yukito sends Syaoran and the unconscious Sakura to the Dimensional Witch, Yūko, who is one of the main characters in xxxHolic. There he meets Kurogane, a rough-mannered ninja banished from his world by Princess Tomoyo, and Fay D. Flourite, a magician who fled his world to avoid King Ashura. Each of them must pay with what he values most in order to gain the power to cross dimensions. For Kurogane, it is his sword Ginryū, and for Fay, it is the tattoo on his back which regulates his control of his magic. Syaoran, on the other hand, must pay with his relationship with Sakura: even if he is able to retrieve all of her memories, she will never remember anything about him or their relationship. (This sacrifice also pays Sakura’s “toll” to Yūko, because what Sakura values most are her memories of and with Syaoran.) Only when the three agree to her terms does Yūko present them with the power to cross dimensions; a white creature named Mokona Modoki.

While traversing through worlds to find Sakura’s feathers, the four travellers and Mokona are forced to overcome many dangers and opponents, some of whom are figures from Syaoran’s past who wish to collect Sakura’s feathers for their own reasons as they are seen to be objects that hold great power.

The manga adopts darker and more complex tones in the latter half of the story.

Because of the crossover characters with xxxHolic, the two manga occasionally intertwine with each other.

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Saber Marionette

The Saber Marionette story is about androids that look like real girls, what makes them different from ordinary androids is that they act and feel like real humans. They are able to feel real human emotions because of their otome kairo. In general, it is a story of love, friendship and a marionette who is on her way to discover what it is to be human under the guidance of a guy who doesn’t seem to mind whether she’s made up of electronics.

In a city called Japoness, there was an ordinary guy named Otaru Mamiya. Like most men in Terra 2 he has a pretty average life until he accidentally woke a Marionette named Lime, unlike common marionettes, Lime seems to be different. Otaru’s neighbors thought she was defective and decided to dismantle poor Lime, but she easily threw them all out. An annoying fellow who goes by the name Hanagata always follow Otaru around and he always gets into Otaru’s nerves, right after Hanagata first met Lime, they didn’t go together very well. Otaru’s simple life became a bit more complicated when he got into trouble inside Castle Japoness, amidst the commotion he, again, accidentally awaken another strange Marionette and she introduced herself as Cherry. Things seem to go from bad to worst when Faust (the leader of Gartlant) decided to attack the leader of Japoness Ieyasu, after an explosion that injured Ieyasu he ordered Otaru to awaken the third Marionette. This third marionette is not like Lime and Cherry, she has a very strong personality and she is determined to seduce Otaru and force him to marry her. Poor Otaru’s life turned topsy-turvy after meeting strange marionettes that act like real human beings and with a friend like Hanagata, who would need more problems?

Should My Kids Watch Anime?

If your kids are talking about cosplay and watching shows with names such as Bleach, Naruto and Peach Girl, you’re not alone. Anime is one of the most popular forms of television entertainment and the craze gets stronger every day.

But as a parent, you might be wondering if anime is appropriate for your kids to watch. Here’s some tips to help you make sure your kiddos are getting the most from anime.

For starters, relax. Anime is the Japanese equivalent of cartoons so if your kids are catching their favorite anime shows on stations like Cartoon Network and Nick, chances are they’re probably okay.

That said, you should be aware that not all anime is meant for young eyes to see. Unlike American cartoons, anime has a really wide following with fans ranging in ages from 6 to 96. Many of the companies and creators behind anime know this and as a result, there’s quite a bit of anime out there that’s intended for more mature audiences.

Luckily, anime shows have ratings just like all of your movies and DVD’s so its easy to figure out what kind of show you’ll be watching. Keep in mind however, that there are some cultural differences that come through in anime shows:

• Happy Endings - Not all animes have happy endings. In fact, sometimes characters die and sometimes the bad guy wins. Japanese culture doesn’t shy away from death and this is often evident in anime shows.
• Sexual Content - Unlike American culture where nudity and suggestive content automatically gets a mature rating, the Japanese are more relaxed about this subject matter and you may see some nudity or implied nudity in shows with a PG rating.You’ll also notice that many of the female characters in the show tend to have somewhat exaggerated features and many flit around in semi-sexy outfits. Again, much of this will depend upon the rating but just know that a girl in a short sailor outfit doesn’t mean the series is suggestive. Quite the contrary, Sailor Moon is probably one of the best examples of a kid-friendly anime show and all the main characters wore sailor suits. Why? It was their school uniform.
• Violence - One of the most popular anime genres is the action/adventure kind, many of which fall into the category of “battle anime”. This kind of anime features a considerable amount of fighting - usually with a martial arts slant - and sometimes the characters can end up looking quite bloody and bruised.

If you’re cringing at the idea of your kids watching anime right about now, take heart - not all anime shows are full of nudity and violence. Quite the contrary, there’s plenty of really good anime out there that’s appropriate, no matter what age your child might be.

To make sure however, that your kids are seeing only the stuff you want them to see, the best advice is to watch a few episodes with them. Most of the stuff you’ll see during the daytime and early evening hours has been edited with the younger ones in mind and in addition, many of the American anime companies have edited the shows to make them more appropriate for American audiences.

Some good ones to try include Case Closed, Avatar: The Last Air Bender, Pokemon, Card Captor Sakura, Tenchi Muyo, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Spirited Away.

In addition, Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist, Dragonball Z and Yu-Yu-Hakusho are fine for the older kids, say 12 and up.

But what about morals, values and all that good stuff? Actually, the majority of anime shows out there do tend to have an underlying “be good” message. Again, not all anime, but most of the shows, especially those that are created for kids. In fact, you’ll find that many shows deal with universal issues such as bullying, feeling isolated and the all-important believing in yourself.