Episode 34 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 “Adult field trips”.
They started the episode talking about a bus trip they did in Shiga. Satsuki-sensei was born in Shiga so Ohkawa-sensei asks her if she recognized any of the places but she replied that although she recognized some of the places, the road trip itself was not familiar to her since she didn’t pay attention to those things when she was a child.
Then, they talked briefly about a cruise trip they did with fireworks watching at Lake Biwa (Lake Biwa Otsu・Night Cruise Firework Cinematic Starmine). I think this was in 2023 (they not necessarily talking only about trips they did recently).
Next, Ohkawa-sensei asked the other members to recommend a field trip, not necessarily from Kyoto. Nekoi-sensei went first and she recommended the Koishikawa Botanical Gardens, in Tokyo — she says that although lots of people go there to see the cherry blossoms, it’s still a very spacious and beautiful place.
I did not fully understand Satsuki-sensei’s recommendation, but it’s related to cherry blossoms alongside a riverbank.
Mokona-sensei’s recommendation was Kasuga-taisha, in Nara, and their pilgrimage which includes 15 locations.
Ohkawa-sensei did another round, starting with Nekoi-sensei again, who recommended the Kyoto Botanical Gardens (they all laughed), which is celebrating their 100th anniversary. Ohkawa-sensei added that there is a good yakinuki restaurant around there that they really like.
Satsuki-sensei recommended walking along the Kamo riverbank, in Kyoto.
Mokona-sensei recommended Kitano Tenmangu and a festival with suncatchers that is taking place there called KYOTO NIPPON FESTIVAL which has Mika Ninagawa (famous photographer and director of the XXXHOLiC live action movie) as one of the artists. She said it looks all very pretty and sparkly. It is where Mokona-sensei took this picture:
I’m not entirely sure of Ohkawa-sensei did any actual recommendation for field trip, but she did mention a few shops that they like which are around Kitano Tenmagu:
Ohkawa-sensei then asked if anyone had any other recommendations, but nothing stood out to me and it was a bit hard for me to understand.
Before wrapping up, Ohkawa-sensei said that the next episode will be uploaded in June, but before that, she would like to do one-on-ones with the other members. She said she will ask them some questions from the perspective of a company boss interviewing their employees and that she will use ChatGPT to help her come up with some questions.
Episode 33 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 “Interesting collaborations”.
They started the episode talking about the XXXHOLiC x HUB collaboration. They went to one of the shops for Nekoi-sensei’s birthday and ordered a chocolate cake from the collaboration menu, which so happens to be a Himawari cake. The pub had some collaboration drinks but they don’t like sweet drinks so they just ordered some beer and highball.
The place was decorated with XXXHOLiC posters and while they were there, Ohkawa-sensei had the idea to sign the posters. That idea, however, did not come to fruition because they were not there “officially” as CLAMP. Instead, they were there as regular customers and unlike “talents” (idols and other artists), who are easily recognized, authors are not, so after a second thought, they would have a hard time proving to the staff that they were the real authors. Mokona-sensei even mentioned that she had considered asking previously for Kodansha’s help to tell the shop in advance that four ladies would appear at a certain time and they would be the authors, but I think she didn’t do it.
In the end, they discarded the idea and nothing was signed. Such a fun story!
Next, they talked very briefly about the Godiva collaboration. They went in person to a shop in Osaka and there was a huge line on that day. Lots of workers (salaryman) and people who wanted a break from shopping. Ohkawa-sensei said her family was very happy with this collaboration because they love Godiva and could eat it at home.
Then, they talked about the recent CONVERSE TOKYO collaboration. They still did not see it in person, although Ohkawa-sensei had previously seen photos while she was supervising the collaboration.
Next, they did two rounds among themselves where each member talked about a collaboration that they are interested as of lately. This had nothing to do with CLAMP works, it was their own favorite brands with some collaboration, so I’m going to skip this part since there are some very specific things I’m not familiar with.
Near the end, Satsuki-sensei mentioned she’s working hard on her Animal Crossing island and she’s still determined to reveal it to us on April 1st as part of CLAMP Day celebrations. It seems like they will upload it as a YouTube video.
Lastly, Ohkawa-sensei made an announcement concerning the podcast schedule. Instead of monthly deliveries on every new moon, in 2026 there will be four more episodes. Now, I did not entirely understood the schedule but the next episode will come out on the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere, which is on March 20th. They are also planning on having an episode on the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. Either way, there will be only 4 more episodes this year and the deliveries will be more spaced out. Ohkawa-sensei also mentioned she would like to do more interviews and one-on-ones with each member (and possibly guests).
I was somewhat surprised with Ohkawa-sensei’s announcement, but at the same time, we knew this would come at some point. Much like the previous internet radio (from the old CLAMP-PLA.NET site) and all the past radio shows they did, all things come to an end. However, it does make me wonder if this could also mean that they will be busier with other activities from now on.
Episode 32 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 “Various things happening in early 2026”.
They stated that this is the first episode of 2026 and they were wearing lapel microphone, meaning they were not at the studio where they typically record these. Everyone was drinking beer, except Satsuki-sensei who was drinking some sort of special beer (“adult craft straight over-finished beer”?).
Ohkawa-sensei then said that although they were recording this at the very first week of 2026, a lot of things were already happening by then (which is the episode’s theme). She talked about the perception of time going by faster as one gets older (Janet’s Law). She asked the other three members if they agreed with this theory and basically they all agreed. Mokona-sensei mentioned that she feels like time went by slower during her 30s and Ohkawa-sensei added that the reason for that is probably because they had a bigger workload during their 20s, 30s and 40s (as in, manuscripts to draw). According to the theory, keeping oneself busy and creating new challenges helps the perception of time passing slower. Ohkawa-sensei then says that, indeed, she was very busy during the time she was working for the CLAMP Exhibition and that made her feel like time went by a bit slower.
Next, they spent some good 10 minutes talking about a recent trip they did to Fukuoka where they watched a couple of stage plays, starting with “12 Kingdoms” at the Hakataza Theater (the actor who played Yuuko on the XXXHOLiC stage play is also part of the cast of this one). On the next day, they watched “The Phantom of the Opera” for the first time in over 30 years. They spent some good 6 minutes talking about the experience.
After returning to Kyoto, they ended up eating at their beloved Fuugetsu (Okonomiyaki restaurant) near Yodobashi Camera. They said they are curious about trying the other restaurants nearby but they are always drawn to Fuugetsu (specially Ohkawa-sensei).
They finished the episode talking about a funny episode on New Year’s between Ohkawa-sensei and Satsuki-sensei, who have the exact same laundry machine. Apparently the machine displayed a New Year’s greeting via text and that amused them — or something along those lines!
Episode 31 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 “Rediscoveries and New Discoveries of 2025”
First, they began talking about the “new discoveries” for 2025. Ohkawa-sensei went first and recommended a stomach medicine. It was hard for me to understand this part, but we learn that Satsuki-sensei loves pork meat, Ohkawa-sensei likes chicken meat the best while Mokona-sensei prefers fish.
Next was Satsuki-sensei, who strained a muscle at the end of November so she bought a cane at a Black Friday Amazon deal (the cane was her “new discovery”). They all talked about how having a cane at home can be helpful at times, specially if you live alone. Ohkawa-sensei even mentioned a situation that happened with a staff member of the original Cardcaptor Sakura TV anime.
Next, Mokona-sensei mentioned the Blueberry Cafe as her 2025 discovery, located in Kyoto. They have blueberry mascots and there is a shrine located on the same building.
Lastly, Nekoi-sensei recommended a spice cafe & bar that serves a gigantic portion of Biryani.
After that, Ohkawa-sensei had another go, and she mentioned Diatec Counseling Pre-Shampoo as another 2025 discovery. She mentioned that her hair had been feeling heavy/oily so she asked her hairdresser and they told her it’s because of all the cosmetics used daily that get “stuck” in the hair and don’t come off with regular shampoo. This shampoo is good for removing those chemicals, so she’s feeling her hair is now lighter. She says that although she sounds like she knows a lot about the matter, she learned everything online and advises everyone to be careful when trying these products since they may have different results on different people.
Moving on, they talked about the “rediscoveries” of 2025. Starting with Mokona-sensei, who mentioned having rediscovered a dashi seasoning.
Next, Nekoi-sensei talked about the Copic Acrea line of Copic markers, how she’s been using it on glass surfaces and how it doesn’t come off even after washing.
Next, Ohkawa-sensei talked about customized hairbrushes for her 2025 rediscovery. Each of them has a custom brush with their names on it:
Finally, Satsuki-sensei’s rediscovery is Animal Crossing (fueled by Nintendo Switch 2, apparently). She built a new island from scratch and is working hard on it ever since. She will try to have everything ready by April 1st, 2026 so she can share the dream code and everyone can come visit her. Apparently she is trying to have only squirrels as villagers in her island.
Before changing the topic, Ohkawa-sensei had another go and mentioned a shop called Otafukuya at a commercial district that sells delicious traditional Japanese sweets.
Before wrapping up, Ohkawa-sensei mentioned the upcoming XXXHOLiC x HUB collaboration with a special menu that will be available at all 82 stores from January 8th~25th.
Episode 30 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 “So, how have you been?”
They began the episode pointing out that they are using the lapel microphone (notice the green color theme), which means they are outside the recording studio — are they not in Kyoto? Another data collection trip? Or maybe just a leisure trip. Anyhow, they didn’t mention where they were…
After toasting with some sparkling wine, they started to share some movies that they watched recently, starting with the Japanese movie Exit 8, which is based on a game of (almost) the same name (the game is called The Exit 8). They spent the next 5 minutes or so talking about the movie and the differences and similarities with the game (some of them have played it). They really enjoyed this movie.
Next, they talked about Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle. They spent a few minutes talking about it, but not that much. I haven’t watched all of Demon Slayer myself so I couldn’t understand most of what they were talking about. But they are fans of the series, they have talked about it in several other occasions.
Then, they talked about a Japanese movie called Kinki Chihou no Aru Basho ni Tsuite, based on a horror novel of the same title about an editor of an occult magazine that suddenly goes missing. Ohkawa-sensei said she had been wanting to watch it for a long time (she also read the novel) — of course. They also talked about Superman.
Next, they talked about Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc. All of them are familiar with the story except for Satsuki-sensei. Nekoi-sensei said that the Ending Theme song (performed by Hikaru Utada and Kenshi Yonezu) was stuck in her head. It seems both the movie and the theme song made them feel very emotional (to the point of crying). Since she is not familiar with the manga, they kept asking stuff to Satsuki-sensei like what was her favorite scene (to which she responded it was the pool scene). They spent some good 5 minutes talking about this movie.
Moving on, they talked about two Japanese movies that they watched on streaming services: the horror movie Kisaragi Eki Re: and Battle Royale. For Battle Royale, they said that at the time it came out (2000) they were busy working so they couldn’t watch it. Ohkawa-sensei watched it first and then invited the other three to watch with her. She thinks it’s a stylish movie. They all praised the movie a lot in many of its technical aspects (director, soundtrack, actors) and they mentioned the fast pacing of the movie. Ohkawa-sensei said that a lot of actors are still in the industry and she mentioned Ko Shibasaki who would later play Yuuko in the XXXHOLiC live action movie by Mika Ninagawa. It’s a truly violent movie so Ohkawa-sensei understands that it might not be for everyone. Overall, they really enjoyed the movie (personally I am impressed that they had never seen it! It’s a great movie indeed).
Next, each of them talked about a work with “female villain” that has caught their attention. I couldn’t get the titles since they are all in Japanese and unknown to me but Satsuki-sensei is reading a supernatural novel with new chapters coming out daily that seems very interesting and Mokona-sensei is reading a manga with that theme. It’s kind of intriguing why they picked that theme precisely (are we getting a CLAMP manga with a female villain soon?)
Lastly, they spent the final minutes talking about the Japanese movie Kokuho.
Episode 29 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 “#MyCLAMPExhibition” (#わたしのCLAMP展).
This episode was almost entirely dedicated to reading messages from people who attended the CLAMP Exhibition and its installments. CLAMP previously asked everyone to share on their social networks about their impressions using the hashtag #わたしのCLAMP展 (#MyCLAMPExhibition).
They read several messages shared on X, instagram, threads and Bluesky (I was really happy that they even picked one from Bluesky!)
Ohkawa-sensei also revealed the outcome of her handkerchief. She had been wanting to hand out the handkerchief to someone crying seeing the exhibition, but she never managed to find anyone crying in any of the times she went in person. They went again on the very last day of the Nagoya leg and she found a young girl who was not crying but looked a lot like Subaru (it seems even her clothes were similar). She approached her and began talking to her. It seems her favorite CLAMP work was Cardcaptor Sakura (and not Tokyo Babylon, to their surprise) and she did not recognize her as the original author at all (she had to introduce herself). She asked if she could keep the handkerchief and she did, although she had no idea what it was all about. It seems like the whole situation was a bit awkward, but they were courteous with each other. Apparently the other 3 joined Ohkawa-sensei and the girl eventually.
Ohkawa-sensei finally completed her mission of handing her handkerchief to someone at the CLAMP Exhibition!
Sadly, they did not take pictures of the handkerchief before giving it away to the guy… (lucky guy!)
Episode 28 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 “CLAMP Exhibition Original Illustrations and Collaboration Items”.
As indicated by the green color of the episode, this means that they recorded this outside of their usual recording studio. It seems they were at the Okura Hotel (not sure which one, but it could be the one in Tokyo).
They started the episode talking about the trip they did to Nagoya in order to leave their signatures. Apparently, they all had to return to Kyoto quickly so they literally just signed and rushed back to Kyoto on the Shinkansen. It seems like they stayed for only 10 minutes. They were sorry that they couldn’t have any of the food they were looking forward to (they even wrote in Young Magazine a comment in which they were wondering what kind of food they should eat while in Nagoya, but alas, they were unable to do it).
Next, they talked about the signatures in Nagoya being their biggest ones yet. They take turns in whoever writes the “CLAMP” part of the signatures and it seems like this time it was Satsuki-sensei.
The last time the 4 of them went to Nagoya was for CLAMP FESTIVAL (in 2012) and at that time they couldn’t stay either and had to go back to Kyoto after the end of their participation due to a deadline they had to meet. The artists were having an after party but they couldn’t stay.
Before meeting the other two, Mokona-sensei and Satsuki-sensei visited the Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya. They tried to go to the museum cafe but it was too crowded and the line was too big, so they met the other two and everyone came back to Kyoto, as mentioned earlier, and they all ended up eating Okonomiyaki in Kyoto.
Ohkawa-sensei said she would like to “revenge” that and eat something delicious in Nagoya sometime.
Next, they went into the main topic: the shikishi (signed drawing board) they did for each of the CLAMP Exhibition -SELECTION- cities.
For Osaka, because it was the first city, they went with the same concept used for the new illustration they did for the Exhibition: their debut work and their latest work, which is why it has Ashura and Sakura. Ohkawa-sensei asked to have flowers in it. They said that people often think that they like to draw flowers but in fact, they don’t (love it). They quickly added that of course they love flowers (but drawing them is more complicated, I guess). It seems that Mokona-sensei realized she had drawn a lot of different kinds of flowers when they made different stickers with flowers only drawn by her for the “Flower Room” in the Cardcaptor Sakura Exhibition.
For Fukuoka, it was Hikaru and Kamui. Here, Mokona-sensei said it was very easy drawing them both, and that they look like siblings. Ohkawa-sensei asked if it was because they are both from the same “period” (meaning X and Magic Knight Rayearth were drawn around the same time), to which Mokona-sensei agreed. Ohkawa-sensei then said that their eyes are similar, but Mokona-sensei said their eyes are not so similar, but somehow these two make “sense” together.
For Sapporo, it was Kobato, Subaru and Chii. Ohkawa-sensei expressed some concerns that having three characters for a small shikishi might feel too “crowded”. They talked about that, unlike the covers that they are drawing for the CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION series, in which they are consciously unifying all their different styles in one single style, for this shikishi the styles were not unified (meaning they respected the different styles from each work) and still somehow the final result looks coherent.
And finally, for Nagoya, it was Syaoran and Watanuki. They didn’t say anything relevant about this one, only that it is Watanuki from XXXHOLiC Rei, which is currently being serialized.
Next, they talked about the process of making all four shikishi. Since the beginning, the organizing committee had suggested to sell miniature versions of the shikishi as goods and that made them think of a specific method to make sure the final product would turn out well. Apparently they didn’t draw directly on the shikishi board, but rather on regular paper and then transferred it to the shikishi board using a carbon copy method, then traced it with pigma pen. Finally, the coloring was made using Copic markers. Coloring the flowers is what took most of the time.
Since there are four shikishi, they also took turns in writing the “CLAMP Exhibition -SELECTION-” portion in each shikishi (meaning a different member wrote it for each shikishi). Ohkawa-sensei ranted a little that since it’s such a small, but very detailed drawing, perhaps there was no need to have all their four signatures, perhaps having only “CLAMP” would have been enough (I disagree xD).
They did not reveal which member wrote which one. Maybe soon they will reveal it?
If you look at the shikishi, indeed the way “CLAMP Exhibition -SELECTION-” is written looks different in each one:
All four signed shikishi drawn by CLAMP for "CLAMP Exhibition -SELECTION-"Osaka / Fukuoka / Sapporo / NagoyaWhich one is your favorite? Mine is Fukuoka (Hikaru, Kamui and Mokona 🤭)#CLAMP#CLAMP展
After that, they briefly mentioned the more recent collaborations with CONVERSE TOKYO and GODIVA. They are very honored and happy to collaborate with GODIVA since they have memories when they were kids of GODIVA being a high-class brand. Nekoi-sensei and Satsuki-sensei really like their chocolate ice cream. They confirmed that the chibis were drawn by Mokona-sensei.
Lastly, they spent the remaining minutes of the episode talking about yukata and kimono dress code. Both Ohkawa-sensei and Nekoi-sensei recently wore yukata after a long time and the other two helped them by lending accessories and giving them tips/recommendations.
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!
The signatures CLAMP left at the Sapporo leg of CLAMP Exhibition -SELECTION-For the first time, they were left at the exhibition's exit instead of the entrance.The signatures are really big this time, they outdid themselves 😆Source:x.com/NE________ko…x.com/cocomomo1234…#CLAMP#CLAMP展
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.
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.
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!
