I guessed right again! XD Kusanagi and Yuzuriha =) Am I getting the hang of this? The stakes are getting high XD
Kusanagi’s yellow coat for a second reminded me of Fuuma’s from Tsubasa. They are using the same shade of color from the cover of the original edition which has Kusanagi in it.
I think the new style didn’t suit Yuzuriha very well. Kusanagi looks better in my opinion. They added the flowers so they could have an element with the same color from the cover of the original edition which Yuzuriha is in it.
I love the background illustrations for both.
My next guess would be Karen and Aoki.
Here’s the upcoming schedule for CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION of X:
July 4: vols 10 & 11 August 4: vols 12 & 13 September 4: vols 14 & 15 October 4: vols 16 & 17 November 4: vols 18 & 18.5
I guessed right! Satsuki and Yuuto =) They actually look great? They haven’t been much affected by the current art style (a bit, yeah but they still look hot). Unlike Sorata and Arashi, they are both wearing clothes that they are wearing often in the manga.
Love the details in the back. Mokona-sensei draws water like no one else *-*
Happy to see a new color illustration of Youth 🙂
For the first time, I don’t have a favorite between the two. I like both equally.
My next guess would be Yuzuriha and Kusanagi.
Here’s the upcoming schedule for CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION of X:
June 2: vols 8 & 9 July 4: vols 10 & 11 August 4: vols 12 & 13 September 4: vols 14 & 15 October 4: vols 16 & 17 November 4: vols 18 & 18.5
Sorata and Arashi! With their respective volume colors and both wearing their religious ceremonial clothes. The background also has a religious motif. This confirms my theory that the covers will come with characters as “pairs” — not necessarily couples and not necessarily one Dragon of Heaven and one Dragon of Earth, either (as proven by these covers)!
This time, I think I liked Sorata’s one better.
My next guess would be Yuuto and Satsuki.
Here’s the upcoming schedule for CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION of X:
May 2: vols 6 & 7 June 2: vols 8 & 9 July 4: vols 10 & 11 August 4: vols 12 & 13 September 4: vols 14 & 15 October 4: vols 16 & 17 November 4: vols 18 & 18.5
We have Hinoto and Kanoe this time, which were from volumes 2 and 3 in the original series.
The covers are somewhat mirrored and, contrary to what the first three covers seemed to indicate, Kamui is not in either of them! So there isn’t like a “rule” in which Kamui must appear in all covers. Surprising!
I think from now on CLAMP will play around with this mirrored/paired concept. It makes sense to have Kotori paired with Fuuma and Hinoto paired with Kanoe. We will probably be seeing more “pairs” such as Seishirou and Subaru, Karen and Aoki, Yuzuriha and Kusanagi, Arashi and Sorata, Satsuki and Yuuto, and so forth.
Again they are respecting the “color” of each volume (purple for Hinoto and green for Kanoe), not only in the font color, but also their clothes.
As far as I see, there are no elements from the tarot cards, so I really think CLAMP are not too attached to this concept for the CPC covers at all.
Of course, as expected, Kanoe’s design in the current art style has the biggest impact.
I quite like the golden pattern in the back and I am really excited to see what they will look like for the next covers. Plus, they look prettier printed than digital (it has a small glossy/shiny effect in the print version).
Here’s the full CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION schedule for X:
April 3: vols 4 & 5 May 2: vols 6 & 7 June 2: vols 8 & 9 July 4: vols 10 & 11 August 4: vols 12 & 13 September 4: vols 14 & 15 October 4: vols 16 & 17 November 4: vols 18 & 18.5
Wow, so unexpected! We already have Kotori and Fuuma? No Hinoto and no Kanoe, but I think they might still be using elements from the tarot cards, except they are not following the original order. For instance, Kotori is holding a flower and the composition (Kamui behind her on his back) is very similar to the tarot card. The color pink is also the same. On the other hand, we don’t know Fuuma because he hasn’t appeared in a tarot card yet. Could this cover be a little foreshadowing of the tarot card he would feature? If that’s the case, does this mean he will be The Sun? (there is a sun at the back) Does this mean the color of volume 19 will be this shade of blue?
Kotori looks great! This style suits her very well.
I guess we can expect Kamui to be the common character of all covers (and his ragged red cloth)? I actually love this idea, I don’t mind seeing 19 new Kamuis at all.
The symbol in the back also changes for each cover. It shall be fun to look at all the 19 different symbols and patterns that they will come up for every cover!
The colors are so unexpected as well, We have pink and blue instead of purple and green (like the classic edition).
Between the two covers, volume 2 is my favorite! Kamui and Kotori look great and I love the wings in the back.
Here’s the full CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION schedule for X:
On sale: vol 1 March 3: vols 2 & 3 April 3: vols 4 & 5 May 2: vols 6 & 7 June 2: vols 8 & 9 July 4: vols 10 & 11 August 4: vols 12 & 13 September 4: vols 14 & 15 October 4: vols 16 & 17 November 4: vols 18 & 18.5
The 4th series of CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION has been announced and it’s going to be X!
Following the Kodansha/Kadokawa pattern, after Magic Knight Rayearth (Kodansha), fans already anticipated the next title would be one from Kadokawa.
The news comes from Amazon Japan, which lists X volume 1 of CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION for a February 3rd release date.
The description informs that all color pages that were originally printed in black and white on the original tankoubon version of X will be in color in the CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION! Moreover, the 5 chapters released for X 18.5 will also be included in this edition!
The bonus for those who purchase all volumes will be a set of 19 clear tarot cards! Gentle reminder that it must include The Fool, which was only published in the X ZERO artbook, which brings the total to 19 cards. Another gentle reminder that you must live in Japan or have a Japanese address in order to apply.
Kadokawa is coming with a bang! Bringing their longest CLAMP series next (albeit still unfinished) and including (some) original color pages!
This solves one of the major questions that fans had: whether incomplete series would be included in CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION and X confirms that they will!
I’m already looking forward to the new covers, CLAMP’s commentary YouTube videos (hopefully), Kadokawa promotional efforts and enjoying new re-releases of X for the next 9 months!
This is just the illustration that will be used for the cover, it is not the actual cover. It’s still missing the typography of CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION.
It looks a bit similar to the tarot card from that volume, so I wonder if all covers will follow the same pattern… I also wonder if they will all be black (how cool would that be?)
The art style is simple, which is expected from this series.
CLAMP decided to switch the order of appearance: in the classic version, Hikaru was at the forefront of volume 1 and Fuu was at the forefront of volume 3. It was the other way around for CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION. The color tone for the covers is the same as the classic series.
There had been some speculation among fans that the covers for the second series would feature additional characters. Some speculated that it would feature the characters from the foreigner countries (as they are in the back covers of the classic series), but the concept that CLAMP chose was: the magic knight and their loved ones.
Here’s the complete release schedule for Magic Knight Rayearth in CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION:
November 11, 2022: Magic Knight Rayearth volumes 2 & 3 December 13, 2022: Magic Knight Rayearth 2 volume 1 January 13, 2023: Magic Knight Rayearth 2 volumes 2 & 3
So this is it for Magic Knight Rayearth in CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION =) Looking very much forward for the next title which should be published by Kadokawa (fans are guessing it’s gonna be RG Veda)
As expected, they follow the same logic as the original series’ covers, with one of the girls being in the foreground, with the other two girls at the background. The circle ornamental piece is the fixed element for all covers, with the jewel color changing its position to follow each girl’s main color.
Umi looks so sassy in her cover, as she should xD And Fuu has her glasses only on the cover of volume 3.
Both volumes are coming out on November 11.
UPDATE: Here’s the complete release schedule for Magic Knight Rayearth in CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION:
December 13, 2022: Magic Knight Rayearth 2 volume 1 January 13, 2023: Magic Knight Rayearth 2 volumes 2 & 3
Following the publication of the 7th and last volume of Tokyo Babylon for the CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION series, the next title to be published will be Magic Knight Rayearth! This was indeed the guess of a lot of people (including myself).
The first volume will be released on October 13 and its cover has been announced!
As a bonus, each volume will come with a postcard featuring the same illustration used as the cover of the classic edition. The bonus is the same as XXXHOLiC (a bit of a bummer, I expected something different for each series).
Just a reminder that Kodansha and Kadokawa will alternate their titles for the CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION releases. We have had XXXHOLiC (Kodansha), Tokyo Babylon (Kadokawa) and now Magic Knight Rayearth (Kodansha). The next title, which still hasn’t been announced, will be a Kadokawa one.
What did we learn from this cover?
We learned that they will probably be using the same colors from the classic edition, so likely volume 2 will be blue and volume 3, green.
We also learned that we have 3 characters right from the start. It could not have been different, right? I thought maybe each volume would feature just one girl (like the Kodansha new issue), but this is of course, much better.
Hikaru is on the foreground while Umi and Fuu are in the background (again, just like the classic edition), which means that volume 2 will have Umi on the foreground and volume 3, Fuu on the foreground.
It’s a refreshing cover. It’s nice to see the girls in a new art but at the same time, a bit shocking to see them with with much less detail. The original Rayearth art is so polished, after all!
At this moment, only volume 1 has been announced. It’s unclear if volume 2 will come out on the same day and we will have 2 volumes as usual, or if it’s going to be one per month, meaning a 6 months run for all 6 volumes. I personally think that they will keep the 2 volumes pace.
Kodansha is marketing this as a celebratory release for Magic Knight Rayearth‘s 30th Anniversary, which will be in 2023, and in alignment to that, they will be reprinting the two Magic Knight Rayearth artbooks, that will also be released on October 13. This will be just a reprint, there’s no new content to be added on it (it’s just a reprint, not a new edition).
Technically, it’s still one person on the cover, or is it three? Hmmm it’s quite unclear.
The cover is very reminiscent of the classic edition, with Subaru looking like a priest. The new additions being obviously Seishirou and Hokuto (which seems to be attending her own funeral?). I have mixed feelings about this cover. Not sure if I find it so ingenious…
Oh, and this time around we got a full view of Seishirou’s shoulders, no cheating 😉
The seventh volume will be released on September 2.
This is it, ladies and gentlemen, this finishes Tokyo Babylon‘s ride with CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION. It was a fun one, and definitely shorter compared to XXXHOLiC. Kadokawa surely made things more fun than Kodansha with announcing the covers in advance and spoiling us with heavy promo.
The next CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION has not yet been announced.
Chibi Yuuto's CHRoNiCLEs 