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August 26, 2007

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CLAMP on Top Runner & Tsubasa on the Top Rankings


Top Runner… subbed!

When this video first aired, it was like a dream coming true xD I remember as if it was today, I couldn’t believe my eyes, but I was seeing the 4 members of CLAMP moving and talking for the first time. I was so overjoyed. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, short recollection: CLAMP appeared on the japanese TV show Top Runner on July 24th of 2005. It was their first TV appearance after 16 years of working as professional mangakas.

Like everybody else, I desired for a subbed version, but I knew it would be really hard to happen, but I still thought it was worth trying. So I suggested the project to the group that was subbing Tsubasa Chronicle at that time (Live-Evil, I think?). They took it, but later on, the Tsubasa anime got licensed in the USA and they eventually dropped the anime. Top Runner was consequentially dropped as well.

For a while I didn’t try anything, but some months later it occurred to me that I should try again. I went to another fansub, I don’t remember which one nor where I found it, I offered to them the (scary) project, and they rejected it claiming that they would only do animes, and since Top Runner wasn’t really an anime…

I asked them whether they knew about any group that would accept the project, and they suggested me Mognet, famous for doing JTV.

So I went on their mIRC channel, looking for someone from the staff who would accept my request. There I found Kumama, the leader of the group. To my great surprise, and for my own advantage, Kumama told me she was a CLAMP fan herself! xD She was really kind with me and showed great interest in doing the project, as I told her a lot of people would want to watch it.

Even our dear ladydarkmoon had a part in all this, she was the one who gave Top Runner’s huge file to Kumama to analyze it (I remember my connection was really bad at that time and I couldn’t transfer by myself). That was… sometime around April or May of 2006? See Alison, it’s finally here!! XD

Kumama-san analyzed the video and gave it an “OK” to start working on it. However, she said it would take time, a lot of it. She gave me no deadlines and told me they had other priority projects they would have to deal first. I was completely fine with it because I obviously knew that 9 out of 10 groups would have rejected this project xD So to me, finding a group that would actually do it was already a great achievement, and I could wait as much time as it would take since, without this group, who knows when we would be having the video subbed?

I kept coming back in their channel from time to time to check over the progress of the project, whether they had dropped it already or not XDDDDDDDD That was my biggest fear XDDDDD But thankfully, Kumama never gave me such sad news, on the contrary, she was always very confident about it.

The project took over an entire year, and that time is directly proportional to the magnitude of the project and the quality of the final result.

The staff did an absolutely AMAZING job with it. The translation is very smooth and natural, every speech and every text that appears on the screen was translated. Great timing, typesetting, really top-quality job. There are some tiny mistakes and typos, true, but the final balance is extremely positive.

Enough of history, the torrent link to download the file is HERE. It is also available for download in their mIRC channel (#mognet@irc.rizon.net)

PLEASE download it! I should spare any kind of recommendations seeing how this is a MUST-watch video for any CLAMP fan xD Besides, I promised to them a lot of people would download it ^^””

I would like to send a HUGE thank you to all the Mognet staff, who did an splendid job with this video, in special to Kumama-san, who accepted my request and carried the project to the very end just like she promised. (they’ve got to endure Ohkawa and her unstoppable mouth, bless them! XDDDD The funny credits at the end say it all XDDDD)

Congratulations for the brilliant job! ^______^

Regarding the video, it’s fantastic to being able to finally fully understand it! I don’t wanna ruin any surprises so don’t read below in case you don’t wanna know anything about it.

I’m particularly fond of the part where they talk about when they first met. Nekoi remembers details such as Ohkawa wearing sunglasses and her multi-tiered lunch box (why I can totally see her like that? XDDDDDDDD) While Ohkawa thought they were really cute kids when they were only 1 year younger than herself, how cute xDDDD

What about the fights on who’s gonna take the shower first? Priceless! xDDD

Tsubasa #20 on the rankings:

A week after the release of the 20th tankoubon of Tsubasa, let’s see how well it went on the most important rankings of Japan.

Amazon.co.jp Daily Comic Ranking

08/18:

1st – Full Metal Alchemist #17
2nd – Air Gear #18
3rd – Tsubasa #20
7th – Tsubasa #21 (pre-sale)

08/19:

1st – Full Metal Alchemist #17
2nd – Tsubasa #20
3rd – Air Gear #18
6th – Tsubasa #21 (pre-sale)

08/20:

1st – Full Metal Alchemist #17
2nd – Zero no Tsukaima#12
3rd – Shigurui #9
5th – Tsubasa #20
51st – Tsubasa #20 – Deluxe Edition

08/21:

1st – Full Metal Alchemist #17
2nd – Zero no Tsukaima#12
3rd – Shigurui #9
4th – Tsubasa #20
83rd – Tsubasa #20 – Deluxe Edition

08/22:

1st – Zero no Tsukaima#12
2nd – Full Metal Alchemist #17
3rd – Shigurui #9
51st – Tsubasa #20 – Deluxe Edition

08/23:

1st – Zero no Tsukaima#12
2nd – Full Metal Alchemist #17
3rd – Hataraki Man #4
16th – Tsubasa #20
85th – Tsubasa #20 – Deluxe Edition

e-hon Daily Ranking:

08/19:

1st – Full Metal Alchemist #17
2nd – MAJOR #64
3rd – Tsubasa #20

08/20:

1st – Full Metal Alchemist #17
2nd – Tsubasa #20
3rd – Air Gear #18

08/21:

1st – Tsubasa #20
2nd – Air Gear #18
3rd – Full Metal Alchemist #17

08/22:

1st – Tsubasa #20
2nd – Air Gear #18
3rd – Full Metal Alchemist #17

Taiyosha Weekly Ranking:

08/14~08/21:

1st – Full Metal Alchemist #17
2nd – Air Gear #18
3rd – Tsubasa #20

Yahoo Books Weekly Ranking:

08/13~08/20:

1st – Hanazakari no Kimitachi e #9 – Deluxe Edition
2nd – Hanazakari no Kimitachi e #10 – Deluxe Edition
3rd – Tsubasa #20

Tohan Weekly Ranking:

08/15~08/22:

1st – Full Metal Alchemist #17
2nd – Tsubasa #20
3rd – MAJOR #64

Oricon Weekly Ranking:

08/20~08/27:

1st – Full Metal Alchemist #17
2nd – MAJOR #64
3rd – Tsubasa #20

Animate Weekly Ranking:

08/13~08/20:

1st – Full Metal Alchemist #17
2nd – Tsubasa #20
3rd – Kuroshitsuji #2

Tsubasa was very good but not as good as Full Metal Alchemist. It reached 1st at 2 days straight on e-hon’s ranking, but it’s average position was 2nd. Even on Animate’s ranking, where usually CLAMP does it’s best, Tsubasa couldn’t reach 1st, not to mention that this is one of the few times (if not the first) that the Deluxe edition doesn’t make an appearance on Animate’s ranking.

The numbers for Tsubasa #21 are expected to be much higher since it’ll come with the first limited OAD (it’s pre-sale has already appeared briefly on Amazon’s ranking).

61 thoughts on “CLAMP on Top Runner & Tsubasa on the Top Rankings”

  2. I wanna watch the interview, but my school’s firewall hates IRC. T.T

    Could someone upload it to MegaUpload or Sendspace or something to that effect if they fell like being charitable? Pretty please? I’d be so thankful I’d even make you an icon. ^^;

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  4. A long time have passed since that video was aired, and I also remember the desire of having a subbed version. However, after years of waiting I saw the news “top runner has been subbed” I was like OMG!!! finally my prayers have been listened XDDDD but the big surprise was that this is the result of the effort of all of you *o* thank you so much to everyone!!! ^_^

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  5. chibi yuuto-san! thank you very much!!
    and of course thank you so much to Mognet staff and ladydarkmoon-san!
    thank you so much! that show was aired on my birthday x333333 wiiiii
    unfortunately it wasn’t subbed on my birthday XDDDDDDDD hahaha but it doesn’t really matter, I would be just as excited if it has been subbed next year, thank you very much!

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  6. It sounds awesome! Thanks a lot, yuuto & the subbers ^^
    Not sure if I’m able to get it. I use dial-up at home, not suitable for large files >_< so I depend on abusing the uni's network XDD

    Hopefully can do something to download it. Again thanks for this!!

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  7. *tackleglomps* Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!! I’m so excited to get to see this fansubbed!! I’ll also post a link tomorrow on my DA account so even more people can hopefully download it. Thanks for all your hard work in getting it subbed! *hugs again* I’m such a happy CLAMP fangirl right now. ^^

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    • >I’ll also post a link tomorrow on my DA account so even more people can hopefully download it.

      Please do so! The more the merrier ^__^

      Your icon is very suitable for such occasion xD

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  8. I’m glad that Tsubasa and FMA were at the top of the ranking ^_-
    I couldn’t understand the info of the video, what is it about? It’s the video about the first time that Clamp appeared on TV? or not? :S
    Well, thanks for all chibiyuuto, as always and thanks for the subber too, I’m sure they have done a very good job.
    I’m waiting for the next chapter of Tsubasa ^_^

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  11. My internet connection’s been dying on me, but it will eventually cater to my needs and let me watch CLAMP live xD I can’t wait! Yay, I’m so grateful to all wonderful people who made this possible *.*

    I think that Tsubasa is still very high on the rankings. FMA is insanely popular, its anime version is constantly one of Japan’s top favorite ones so it’s not surprising.

    Come on, CLAMP, you know what you gotta do.. give the fanservice xDD

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      • Ah, no problem, I’ve managed to watch it! And I really respect Mognet staff, I wouldn’t understand a thing xD Ohkawa-san really talks a lot. And she seems so dangerous, like a boss who’s constantly watching xD

        It was such an interesting show! I felt sorry for Mokona, who didn’t want to kill Hokuto.. and Ohkawa-san likes terror and champagne.. okay xD

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  13. when I saw the link at Clamp_now I couldn’t believe my eyes …. I had not forget about it and was finnally subbed!!! YAAAY! thanks for the efforts, we have it thanks to you 😀

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    • I knew there was a group working on it for over a year and I didn’t say a thing xDDDDDDDD

      That was a bit mean, wasn’t it? XDDD But I wanted to make a good surprise to everybody, and it would be really sad if I had told everybody and later on the group decided to drop the project. Not to mention that telling everybody would just put a lot of pressure on the Mognet staff. That’s why I kept silent about it ^^”

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      • In other words… you are learning from Ohkawa how to keep a secret ;D really thank you, was a BIIIIG surprise and a pleasure to watch (and read) the video ^__________________^

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  18. Oh thank you so much !
    I saw a little part of it long ago, but it is the first time I see it entirely and…translated *o*
    Thank you, thank you, thank you !

    It is very instructive >-o

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  19. I just… couldn’t believe it when I saw the torrent on TokyoTosho! I just thought it was the raw file again, seriously XDDDDD Aw, I still remember this interview as the first time we really talked to each other (and all the problems we both and went through >_>). Apart from being the historical moment when CLAMP first got on TV, it may sound cheesy but… it’s also very special for me because it kind of symbolizes our meeting ^^u *stops that crap* XD

    I’m SO happy it finally got to someone who had the patience and skills to do it ^^ It doesn’t actually tell anything crucial, but the insight on their life, their way of thinking, how they actually work… really makes them more human and “real” for me, if you know what I mean.

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  20. FMA beat Tsubasa? Huh. I mean, I like FMA and all but from what I’ve heard from fans who follow the more recent chapters, it’s been moving slow, compared to TRC, so I’m vaguely surprised it beat TRC. Then again, said friends are also mad Ling Yao fans and have been angsting waiting for his return, so that might have something to do with it. =/

    …I didn’t do this on my old journal (), but do you mind if I friend you? =D

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    • You talked with the wrong fans. o.O
      Since I follow both series, I can assure you FMA is more incredible these months than any chapter of Tsubasa so far. And FMA is getting even more addictive after tankoubon 17. Tankoubon 15 was slower with the Ishbal war and all, but on 17 is back on full speed.

      Spoiler ahead!

      In FMA tank 17, Scar and Yoki left the train to get back to Marcoh and Mei-chan, while Sloth finally appear, out of the tunnel we saw him dig sooner. He was dinning so close to the fortress’s basement floor, the tunnel’s ceiling crumbled down. Becuase of him, Edward and Alphonse are in an awful mess with Major-General Olivie Armstrong (she think the alchemist and the homonculus are spies from Drachma), but he can’t say a thing about the homonculi or Bradley will harm Winry. Then Kimbley and General Raven show up to deal with Scar and Sloth. Major-General Armstrong manage to make the Elrics brother talk, together with Falman’s incredible memory they discover there’s only two battle left for the homonculi to complete their transmutation circle with the Amestria country. Outside the Brings fortress, Marcoh and Mei-chang have found Scar’s brother’s notes, but needs Scar to deciepher the Ishvalian’s writting, they have a chat about the differences between alchemy and rentanjutsu. Later, Major-General Armstrong have a tricky chat with General Raven, while Van Hoheinem is draing blood from of his body to “store it” into the ground. We then have a flash back of his family life until the day he left his wife and sons (why we never saw his face on the famous picture with the four Elrics). Back to the Briggs fortress, the scot team send in the tunnel made by Sloth is slaughtered, only a horse with a severed arm came back. By the time Major-General Armstrong go have a look to the said severed arm, General Raven have said enough to force Armstrong to work for the homonculi, so Armstrong just kill him on the spot and sink his body in the fresh concret he forced her to sceal the tunel with. Meanwhile Kimbley is plotting on his own and arrange with Bradley that Winry is sent north and Scar reach Marcoh and Mei-chan. Finally, Armstrong send a message to Mustang via a flower seller.

      Meanwhile in Tsubasa tank 20, Sakura’s soul part from her body to Yuuko’s soul container. The guys have a chat with Yuuko and they understand Fay was tricked by Feiwang. The wizard decided to go get Sakura’s body in the Celes country, first alone, then Kurogane and Syaoran insist to go with him. Another chat with Yuuko about the price, then Fay use his majic to lead Mokona to Celes. There, Syaoran fly them to the castle where they all witness Fay or Yuui’s past. Born twins, they were sent to a magic stunner tower were left to live forever miserable. The king went mad and kill everybody in the country until there was only him left. He then killed himself in front of Yuui. Feiwang Read then cursed the twin and Ashura-O came to get him.

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  21. yay good news… except I already know japanese lol, I’ll just congratulate you for finally having the patience to wait a whole YEAR. I recall I was extremely disappointed about not relieve X’s hiatus.

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  22. >And it wasn’t even released in that week, FMA o.o

    Well, FMA isn’t the avarage shounen manga, and it isn’t only “above average shounen manga”, it is as revolutionary to the genre as Card Captor Sakura’s anime was to the magical shoujo anime. Compare to Tsubasa, the characters are deeper by leagues (their personnalities are complex, but simple and they are so variated), the plot is unspeakably richer (everything is linked together in many ways and levels), Arakawa is a master of the one-liners and concision, she can convey the deepest feeling with a single line (what takes Clamp 20 pages to show, Arakawa takes 2 to 5 pages and is as effective), and the women are so unusually intense. FMA is Arakawa’s first series, before that she wrote two one shot manga, both were awarded.

    Although, FMA alchemist’s drawings are far down from Clamp’s level and the color illustrations are especially weak. Plus the transition part often brings too much new stuff we don’t see the point to show, it becomes relevant later, but on the spot, it seems weak.

    So compare to that, Tsubasa, which is just “above average shounen manga”, can’t win. Sure it draws a good share of girl crowd, which much shounen manga don’t, but so do FMA. But FMA has another advantage, in each FMA tankoubon there are 4 pannel and 1 pannel joke comics and as a master of the oneliners, she is unbeatable. On the other hand, there’s nothing new in the Tsubasa Tankoubon beside the cover.

    >The numbers for Tsubasa #21 are expected to be much higher since it’ll come with the first limited OAD (it’s pre-sale has already appeared briefly on Amazon’s ranking).

    And since the 18th tank of FMA will be sell on December. XD
    Although I hope the three editions won’t cut his selling into three instead of into two.

    Ok, that’s enough about FMA or I’ll bore you to sleep. I’ll get back on Top Runner, I’m still downloading.

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    • I’m also a fan of FMA. It’s really great, but I would say that Arakawa has a big advantage on her side, because she’s publishing in monthly magazine. It really makes a big difference. Just look at “Naruto” by Masashi Kishimoto (published in Weekly Shonen Jump) and “666 Satan” by Kishimoto’s twin brother, Seishi (published in Monthly Shonen Gangan). At the beginning their drawings were almost identical, but now the difference between them is simply unbelievable, both in graphic and plot. It really should be considered when it comes to judging manga. Btw, after the last chapter of FMA, I found this very amusing. What a resemblance XD.

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      • lol @ Parcelus! XD That’s one of the reason I like Arakawa so much!

        >I’m also a fan of FMA. It’s really great, but I would say that Arakawa has a big advantage on her side, because she’s publishing in monthly magazine. It really makes a big difference.

        Have you ever tried Monster or 20th Century Boys by Urasawa Naoki? It is possible to make plot intense weekly manga (I recommend Monster especially). And Clamp for Clamp, Chobits’ story was more concentrated than Tsubasa. It’s just a question of how intense you’ll make the plot’s plan, and it sure takes more works to deliver a plot intense storyline, so most people don’t bother to push it as far as Arakawa. The real difference between weekly and monthly manga is the number of pages a month, so the graphic tend to be simpler for weekly manga. Here Arakawa should have the advantage, but she doesn’t, graphic is Clamp’s strongest point. XD

        As for Masashi and Seishi, they are different people, it is expected they would get a different style once get free of their dragon Ball, Akira, etc’s influences. The same goes for the pace of the plot, each find his own style. There are other influences at work than weekly vs monthly manga alone. My identical twin sister and I used to draw close to Windy Pini’s elfquest style, but now our drawing style are totally different.

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  23. i downloaded the video,THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THAT VIDEO POSSIBLE!!!
    it was great! and i had a lot of info, *lol*
    thanks again :DDDD

    woot, Tsubasa did great to me :3 ♥

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  24. I was going to ask you for the raw version of this episode of Top Runner, because old link was dead for ages, but then I found this. I’ve just watched it and OMG, Ohkawa looks ans acts exactly like my high school form-mistress!!1one I must admit she’s pretty talkative XD.
    I love so much her voice, it isn’t as squeaky as average Japanese girl’s/woman’s. But Nekoi suprised me, I though she’s a loud troublemaker type, but she appears quite shy o_0. From technical side, some subtitles was hard to read, they’re displaying to fast for me. And I must admit it was quite… boring, especially at the end. But, still Clamp in a show, all this emotions…

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  28. Spread covers and special omake

    Hi Chibi Yuuto! Long time no see;) Thanks for the news 😀

    I have a request: Do you have TRC volumes 1 to 12 special edition spread covers already scanned? If so, could you please post them? Since I live in Canada, I can only have access to the normal edition. And I’d like to print them to make some covers myself as if I would have the Deluxe edition 😀 This would be grrrrrreat 😀 If you can not, I understand. Thank you once again for your hard work 😀

    Also, have you read the Horitsuba Omake? I found it at http://groups.msn.com/TsubasaReservoirChroniclesOnlineManga/
    Do you know what Horitsuba means? Is this a special bonus? Interesting fact: The two Shaoran are there! I think the one who is shy is the real one while the other is the clone. What do you think? Are they the same age?

    Why are the omakes not announced by clamp? Are they puplished in the same magazine as the normal chapters are? Why are they harder to find on web?

    Thank you very much 😀
    Cheers!

    -Dominique

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  29. — tomara que alguma alma do anime blade legende pra português também uahahaha

    Isso seria interessante… o.õ
    Muitos grupos só traduzem do inglês mesmo… ^^;
    Ah bom, pode acontecer… Mas pra mim não faz muita diferença XD

    Né, thanks!! Eu mal posso acreditar que legendaram isso… *___*
    Eu já assisti umas 3 vezes só tentando entender tudo… Claro que entender tudo eu nunca entendi. -_-‘
    Agora finalmente vai dar pra assistir o vídeo e entender tudo *_*
    THANKS! \o/

    Deve ter sido um trabalho e tanto pra eles, fazer isso tudo.. o_o

    Até mais~!

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  30. Yeey!! i´m so happy!! Fullmetal and Tsubasa on the first postions!!! those are my fav mangas, so i´m really glad they made it so well. Also i´m watching Zero no tsukaima anime, and i got to say it´s really entertainent, so i´m also satisfied about it. ^-^. thanks for the info!!

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  31. O – M – G !
    Thank you so much for all your efforts, Yuuto-san!! And many many many thanks to Mognet for picking up this unusual project!!
    I’m so happy we can understand every detail!!Aww, I’m going to download it right away!!!

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