Episode 27 of CLAMP’s podcast, CLAMP Kanbukai, is out! You can listen to it on YouTube and all major podcast platforms.

This episode’s theme is “Places we visited from early summer to summer”.

They started the episode explaining that they were not recording this episode at their usual recording studio and their usual microphones. Instead, they were using lapel microphones. It was raining heavily during the recording and they wondered whether the rain could be heard (indeed, they sound a little muffled, maybe the audio was filtered a little to erase any noise, plus these lapel microphones are not as good as the big ones). They explained that when the episode image on YouTube is green, it means that it’s an episode where they are using lapel microphones. Indeed I had noticed that green was used for when the recordings were made outside their recording studio (for example, the ones they did in Okinawa).

Then, they talked about a collaboration cafe that is now open at Sweets Paradise. It was a bit hard for me to understand since I am not familiar with the characters, but they all really enjoyed it. Ohkawa-sensei pointed out that they don’t usually go to collaboration cafes themselves. Mokona-sensei mentioned a Resident Evil and a BASARA one she/they went to but that seems to be about it. Ohkawa-sensei recalled that sometime ago there was a XXXHOLiC one in Shibuya. Satsuki-sensei says that Ohkawa-sensei was the only one that went to that one, the others didn’t. Ohkawa-sensei says she would like to be able to visit collaboration cafes based on CLAMP’s works more often. They said that even during the Cardcaptor Sakura Exhibition in Roppongi, while they did try the collaboration menu that was served to them, they never actually went to the cafe itself.

Next, they talked about their trip to Hokkaido for the Sapporo leg of CLAMP Exhibition -SELECTION-. This time, they were able to make their signatures about 10x bigger than last time!

They were really big xD

They spent the rest of the episode talking about the things they did in Hokkaido. It was a bit hard for me to translate, again due to me not being entirely familiar with the names and places, but Ohkawa-sensei mentioned an Italian restaurant they went to with the exhibition crew called Orizzonte that she really enjoyed.

Hokkaido is the land of the Ainu people and it seems like all of them except Ohkawa-sensei took some sort of Ainu embroidery workshop while Ohkawa-sensei went to a cafe because she had some work to be done. However, Ohkawa-sensei realized she had left her wallet and iPhone on her room so she had to ask for some money to the other three in order to pay for her latte xD

Ah, yes, Mokona-sensei visited some local shrines. She wanted to take pictures but the weather was not very good. She said she will upload pictures of her Goshuin on the podcast’s instagram account.

It seems like the next episode will also be centered around their summer activities.

Thank you for reading this post!

Episode 26 of CLAMP’s podcast, CLAMP Kanbukai, is out! You can listen to it on YouTube and all major podcast platforms.

This episode’s theme is “Summer essentials and solo activities”.

At the beginning of the episode, Ohkawa-sensei asked each member to recommend one “summer item” that they have been into lately. They made two rounds of recommendations.

On the first round, Satsuki-sensei recommended Jakuchi Konnyaku, which seems to be a konnyaku-based cold noodles. Nekoi-sensei recommended a sunscreen by SteamCream. Mokona-sensei recommended an organic cold-brewed Gyokuro tea by Kotoshina. Lastly, Ohkawa-sensei recommended a skincare powder named “Snow Beauty” by Shiseido.

For the second round, Nekoi-sensei recommended a natural insect repellent (Katori Senko). They talked about wanting a Black Mokona incense holder they drew for the Haruka LINE wallpaper. Mokona-sensei recommended a sugar candy called MIO by Nanasan. She said it goes well with champagne. Ohkawa-sensei recommended Fujiko’s Aburatori Water Powder Neo (she emphasized it is the Neo version). Lastly, Satsuki-sensei recommended something called. “Cool Shirt Shower Strong”, which is like a spray that you put on your clothes and it makes them feel cool and refreshing. They said that “cool mint” is a very popular scent during summer. Mokona-sensei recommends applying it on the vests that go underneath the kimono. All members use it except Ohkawa-sensei.

Next, each of them talked about summer activities they do individually. First, Satsuki-sensei mentioned a Monet exhibition she went to at the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art. The exhibition is called “Monet: The Late Waterscapes” and she said she was listening to water sounds on YouTube while seeing the paintings. Next, Nekoi-sensei said although she doesn’t enjoy eating at restaurants by herself, she went to a Vietnamese restaurant in Kyoto and felt really comfortable doing so. Ohkawa-sensei said she is been playing web mahjong (she even downloaded an app!). She said she plays mostly with NPCs while she is taking a break between work or waiting for an email. She also said the game made a collaboration with Code Geass and would like to see something similar being done for a CLAMP work — she said XXXHOLiC has a mahjong “feeling” to it, and for Tsubasa she said Sakura-hime could be a character/piece with a lot of luck. Finally, Mokona-sensei went last and said she likes to pray at nearby shrines as early as 8:00 in the morning. After that, she enjoys buying souvenirs and discovering new bakeries on her way to the studio.

Thank you for reading this post!

Episode 25 of CLAMP’s podcast, CLAMP Kanbukai, is out! You can listen to it on YouTube and all major podcast platforms.

This episode’s theme is “Information dissemination and LINE wallpaper”.

At the beginning of the episode, they gave some general information about the upcoming Sapporo leg of CLAMP Exhibition -SELECTION-.

Now, on to the episode’s main theme. They mentioned that since their debut, CLAMP have had various ways to disseminate information about their activities, like the print newsletters and newspapers they did back in the day as a subscription-based system (like a fan club). Some of them came with special goods that they produced themselves and Satsuki-sensei recalls a Duklyon handkerchief that the colors did not come off in the fabric the way they hoped since at that time the technology to print on fabric was not as great as today.

Nekoi-sensei mentions a small bag (pouch-like) that was supposedly meant to store a cellphone shaped like a penguin, but apparently it’s too small to fit one. She could not remember if it was something that was sold or something that came as a bonus item. None of the other members seem to remember of it. Ohkawa-sensei asks her to send a picture of it if she happens to find it so that it can be shared on the podcast’s instagram account (Nekoi-sensei doesn’t know where it is, but it’s somewhere in her house).

Mokona-sensei talks about a hanger, but Ohkawa-sensei doesn’t remember it at all. Mokona-sensei then says that back then a lot of “weird” goods were being produced and Ohkawa-sensei interjects her and scolds her fondly “hey, don’t call them ‘weird’, Sa-chan and I worked really hard to create them!” xD

Ohkawa-sensei talks about a Tokyo Babylon tissue, akin to those that are given away on the streets to promote a certain brand or shop in Japan.

They talk a bit about some of the hardships and limitations of that time such as having to produce goods that would fit within the delivery package (otherwise the delivery fee would cost more) or the fact that they had to use word processors to do all the typography work in a time where computers were still not around. They did not have a copy machine at the time of their debut so they had to go to the nearest convenience store to make copies.

Next, Ohkawa-sensei mentioned that the curation team for the CLAMP Exhibition had the complete set of CLAMP NEWS and CLAMP Laboratory and she was amazed by it (hey, I have them all too! xD) Mokona-sensei said that not even themselves have them anymore! =O They were checking all the materials during the planning stages of the exhibition and going “Ah, so this is what was happening at that time!”

After the print services, they had a FAX and telephone services, in which you would call a number and listen to the news/information. Mokona-sensei says it was common to have a service like that back in the day.

Then, their official website was launched (in 1997) and for a few years (before it was renamed “CLAMP-NET.COM”) all the contents published on the website were compiled and released later in a CD-ROM format. They remember that there was some original content created only for the website and only for the CD-ROM release. It’s a bit funny and completely understandable to see them trying to remember where and when this and that was published and while listening I kept thinking “no, that’s not the case” or “yes, that much is true” xD Somehow it amazes me that I know more about those things than they do, but at the same time, again, completely understandable since they have done so much in so little time and they probably did not revisit all those contents as much as I did, lol

Next, Ohkawa-sensei mentions that in today’s age they have a website, social media accounts (so cute to hear her mentioning Bluesky!) and a podcast, and how these are all of CLAMP’s current forms of sharing and disseminating information. For LINE, she says that it was her idea to have a system for CLAMP since she learned that it was possible and that some businesses had been using it. However, she understands that it can be annoying to keep receiving too many messages so for the time being the service is only notifying when a new podcast episode is released and when a new “full moon” wallpaper is released.

Then, they started talking about the wallpapers released monthly through their LINE channel by every Full Moon:

They had been aware of the Full Moon names and using that to decide which character to draw and how they would be drawn. But at the same time, they also were aiming to draw characters in pajamas/loungewear. Seishirou from Tsubasa was chosen for the Hunter Moon because he is a hunter in the story, but he is not wearing pajamas or loungewear (it seems they debated over it). Since it was around halloween, he is shown with a pumpkin. All the other characters that followed are wearing pajamas or loungewear (even Kohaku, who is wearing a dress, since they can conjure any type of clothes for themselves). Later, they started drawing characters with an object or cushion, and that became the pattern for a while. For Pink Moon, it was Haruka and they said they “cheated” a little because only the background is pink. Oh, and they said they asked permission to the animation studio in order to draw Meiling since she is an anime-only character! =0

For the following Hunter Moon, with Ferio, they dropped temporarily the pajamas/loungewear pattern, only to resume again by the following months (but it seems to be less focused on “pajamas” and more about loungewear).

For this year’s Snow Moon, Ohkawa-sensei thought about Yukito and therefore Yue as well, so she decided to try a new pattern by having pairs of characters for two consecutive months. She says they will be doing this pattern throughout this year — so we should expect more pairs!

Ohkawa-sensei asked each member to list their favorite wallpapers. Mokona-sensei chose Kazahaya (I love this one too!), Nekoi-sensei chose Shirahime (she loves the colors) and Haruka (she said she would like to have the same Mokona-shaped incense holder thing), Satsuki-sensei said that even though likes Yuzuriha, she thinks Miyuki-chan’s one is cute and Ohkawa-sensei chose Koryuu (the latest one).

Thank you for reading this post!

It was fun seeing them explaining and confirming some of the things we’ve been theorizing about these wallpapers for the past two years xD And it’s interesting to see how much thought and care to details they put into making them!