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March 20, 2024

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CLAMP x Netflix: “The Grimm Variations” season 1 premieres on April 17 (Updated)

Image courtesy of Netflix

After nearly three years since its key visual was announced, and more than four years since its original announcement, we have have a release date for the Netflix anime series in which CLAMP provided character design for.

The official title is The Grimm Variations and the first season containing 6 episodes will begin streaming on April 17.

Here’s the synopsis:

Inspired by the classic Brothers Grimm stories, this anthology features six fairy tales with a dark twist, exposing the shadowy side of human desire.

Staff

Character design: CLAMP
Script: Michiko Yokote
Animation studio: WIT STUDIO

Michiko Yokote is a long time CLAMP collaborator. She has worked with CLAMP on the TV Anime of XXXHOLiC, Kobato. and BLOOD-C. WIT STUDIO is a PRODUCTION I.G subsidiary. They are known for animating Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan).

More info as they come!

Source: Anime News Network.

To be confirmed but it looks like for the first time CLAMP provided the character design and not only character design concepts, as they have done so far for all the anime which they have provided designs for: Code Geass, Mouryou no Hako, Kabukibu!, Vanguard overDress and so on. If that’s the case, then that means their designs were the ones used by the animators as references. Whereas when they are in charge of character design concepts, someone else later adapts their designs for animation.

Very happy to know we have a premiere date at long last! Also it’s only the first six episodes, we might have a second season with six more episodes in the future.

Update:

Official trailer and poster:

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March 11, 2024

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CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION: Chobits vol. 2 cover

The cover of volume 2 of the CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION edition of Chobits has been announced!

© CLAMP・Shigatsu Tsuitachi CO.,LTD. / 講談社

So we have Sumomo and Kotoko, which answers the question that we have all been wondering whether Chii would appear alone in all covers or not. It makes sense that more characters appear given that we already have Chii alone in all covers of the original edition.

The shade of red is slightly different than what I expected… it looks more pink than red to me. And again the ribbon in Chii’s dress matches the main color. I guess this will be the pattern: Chii always wearing a white dress with a ribbon of the same color of the volume.

Between the first two covers, I prefer the first one.

Is it going to be only persocons in the covers? I don’t think there is enough persocons for that. Is it going to be only girls? For now, for volume 3 my bet is on Yuzuki.

This second volume is coming out on April 5th.

Here’s the upcoming schedule for the CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION of Chobits:

Vol. 2: April 5th
Vol. 3: May 7th
Vol. 4: June
Vol. 5: July
Vol. 6: August
Vol. 7: September
Vol. 8: October

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February 21, 2024

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CLAMP Exhibition: first details

As previously announced, a CLAMP art exhibition will be held at the National Art Center in Roppongi, Tokyo, from July 3rd until September 23rd of 2024. It will be the largest CLAMP exhibition to date.

Today the exhibit’s official website and X account were both updated to reveal the first details of it.

The exhibition will be consisted of five themes:

“C” is for COLOR.
CLAMP color the world.

“L” stands for LOVE.
The form of love that CLAMP depict.

“A” is for ADVENTURE.
Follow CLAMP’s story.

“M” is for MAGIC.
CLAMP create magic.

“P” is for PHRASE.
CLAMP spin words.

I guess this is why the exhibition’s logo is shaped the way it is 😉

Key visuals for the five themes will be released soon, the first one will be announced on February 25th.

Moreover, the exhibition will be split in two parts. The first part will run from July 3rd until August 12th. The second part will run from August 14th to September 23rd. It’s not clear yet at this point what is the difference between the two parts, but usually contents change between one part and the other. Goods and visiting giveaways might differ as well.

July 3rd to July 5th will be “special viewing days” to celebrate the exhibition’s opening.

Here’s the full schedule:

July 3rd~September 23rd
Full run

July 3rd~July 5th
Exhibition opening special viewing

July 3rd~August 12th
First part of the exhibition

August 14th~September 23rd
Second part of the exhibition

According to this post by the official X account, all CLAMP works will be featured, from RG Veda to Drug & Drop:

Interestingly enough, sequels where the main title didn’t change were referred to as a single work: Magic Knight Rayearth, Card Captor Sakura, Tsubasa – RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE – and XXXHOLiC. Gouhou Drug and Drug & Drop, however, are listed as two separate works (indeed they have different titles and logos, after all).

I do wonder if we will be seeing any of their early doujinshi works or non-series or non-manga works as well.

I am very much looking forward to the key visuals! Surely they will be new illustrations drawn by CLAMP? I sure hope so!

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February 15, 2024

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Card Captor Sakura Clear Card arc #16 (final) cover and release information

Card Captor Sakura Clear Card arc volume 16 (final) will be released on April 1st, 2024. This time, the special edition will come with a set of big trump cards featuring Clear Card illustrations and a synthetic leather case to store the cards.

Here are pictures of the volume cover and the special edition:

© CLAMP・Shigatsu Tsuitachi CO.,LTD. / 講談社
© CLAMP・Shigatsu Tsuitachi CO.,LTD. / 講談社
© CLAMP・Shigatsu Tsuitachi CO.,LTD. / 講談社

Volume 16 is listed as having 224 pages, which is a little bulkier than the average Clear Card volume (160 pages). This volume will include the special 32-pages chapter that will be published on March 1st in Nakayoshi magazine.

Wow! They really did save the best for last, huh? You can really tell how much effort and detail they put into making this cover. It’s absolutely stunning. Also, I don’t remember ever having two different types of flowers in the same cover… isn’t it always only one type of flower?

They are both available for pre-order at Amazon Japan with worldwide shipping: [Regular Edition], [Special Limited Edition]

Kodansha is also reprinting the first four Card Captor Sakura artbooks, which will come out on April 1st as well. This is your chance to get them in case you don’t have a copy yet. They are probably gearing up for the release of the Clear Card artbook (to be announced).

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February 5, 2024

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CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION: Chobits vol. 1 cover

The cover of volume 1 of the CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION edition of Chobits has been announced!

© CLAMP・Shigatsu Tsuitachi CO.,LTD. / 講談社

Following the all-black X covers, I do believe that for Chobits all covers will be white. Also, once again the volume “color” (blue) is on the font, but unlike X, the font color is also mixed with black — very similar to the original edition: white, black and a color. The ribbons on Chii’s dress are of the same color as the font. This could also tell us a lot about how the pattern for these covers will be.

The style is very similar to the original Chobits style, I think CLAMP’s current style suits Chobits really well. It’s almost as if that illustration was drawn around the time the series was still being published.

Now, is this going to be all Chii or will we see other characters? The next cover shall clarify that.

In a similar fashion to the previous two CPC works published by Kodansha (XXXHOLiC and Magic Knight Rayearth), each volume will come with a postcard featuring the illustration used as the cover for the original edition and those who purchase all 8 volumes are eligible to receive an exclusive binder to hold all postcards.

This first volume is coming out on March 6th.

Here’s the upcoming schedule for the CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION of Chobits:

Vol. 1: March 6th
Vol. 2: April
Vol. 3: May
Vol. 4: June
Vol. 5: July
Vol. 6: August
Vol. 7: September
Vol. 8: October

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January 16, 2024

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Chobits is the 5th series of CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION, first volume out on March 6th

In November it was announced that Chobits will be the 5th series of CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION.

Instead of the usual 2-volumes per month schedule, this time only one volume will be released each month, with the first volume coming out on March 6th.

Here’s the upcoming schedule for the CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION of Chobits:

Vol. 1: March 6th
Vol. 2: April
Vol. 3: May
Vol. 4: June
Vol. 5: July
Vol. 6: August
Vol. 7: September
Vol. 8: October

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December 18, 2023

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‘Code Geass: Rozé of the Recaptured’ opens in May 2024

©SUNRISE／PROJECT G-ROZE
Character Design ©2006-2024 CLAMP・ST

Finally some news about the new Code Geass anime!

There was a special event today held in Japan to celebrate Lelouch’s birthday with several announcements.

The new anime series that was originally announced in 2021 as Code Geass: Z of the Recaptured was renamed to Code Geass: Rozé of the Recaptured.

It will be screened in Japanese theaters in four installments starting in May 2024.

The production was likely delayed after the series’ main character designer Takahiro Kimura passed away earlier this year after battling amyloidosis. For this new series, Shuichi Shimamura was added as character designer along with Takahiro Kimura’s name, for legacy reasons and it’s very likely that he had some work done before his passing.

Official website: https://geass.jp/roze/

PV:

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December 2, 2023

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Card Captor Sakura ~Clear Card arc~ #15 second week sales report

© CLAMP・Shigatsu Tsuitachi CO.,LTD. / 講談社

The fifteenth volume of Card Captor Sakura ~Clear Card arc~ dropped to the 30th position in Oricon’s weekly ranking, with an estimate of 16,512 copies sold in its second week of sales for the regular edition. The Special Edition (Clear Bookmarks) did not appear in the ranking this time around.

Overall, volume 15 has sold an estimate of 85,931 copies in two weeks.

Despite the strong performance it had on its first week, this is the second weakest overall sales figures by the second week for a Clear Card volume, only behind its previous volume (14), which had sold an estimate of 75,315 copies by the second week.

It is always worth mentioning that Oricon only takes into account a certain number of shops and preorders are likely not taken into account. These numbers are only an estimate and it’s possible that the real figures are higher than these.

Source: Oricon.

The chart below shows the progress in the sales of Card Captor Sakura ~Clear Card arc~ over the weeks and compares it with previous volumes’ performances (click on it for dynamic version):

I could be wrong but I don’t think we will see week 3 for volume 15.

UPDATE: volume 15 did not make it to its 3rd week in Oricon’s weekly Top 30.

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November 30, 2023

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Card Captor Sakura – Clear Card arc – Chapter 80 (Final)

© CLAMP・Shigatsu Tsuitachi CO.,LTD. / 講談社

This chapter is available for free at CLAMP-FANS.com.

DISCLAIMER: If you enjoyed reading this story, please support CLAMP by purchasing the original or licensed material available in your country.

Card Captor Sakura is available for purchase at CD Japan and Amazon Japan with worldwide shipping.

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November 30, 2023

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CLAMP Exhibition to be held in Tokyo in 2024

A CLAMP art exhibition will be held at the National Art Center in Roppongi, Tokyo, from July 3rd until September 23rd of 2024.

Here’s a short text about it, taken from the exhibition official website (https://www.clamp-ex.jp/) and roughly translated by me using an online translator tool:

This exhibition traces the activities of CLAMP, a creative group of four women who have produced a wide variety of works in the genres of boys’ manga, girls’ manga, and young men’s manga. This is a large-scale exhibition that will showcase CLAMP’s works from the time of their debut to the present, focusing on their manga manuscripts and crossing publishers and magazines.

The exhibition has an official account on X: https://twitter.com/clamp_ex

The announcement is included in this month’s Nakayoshi magazine as well and it only shows Kodansha works (Card Captor Sakura, Magic Knight Rayearth and CLOVER), however, judging form the blurb above, it really seems like works from other publishers will be included as well.

2024 will mark CLAMP’s 35th anniversary in the manga industry, therefore this exhibition must be part of the celebrations. The National Art Center is a huge place and the blurb says this will be a “large-scale exhibition”. I’m expecting great things from it! Hopefully it will be as big as CLAMP Su (2004), or even bigger than that.