Hi there,

My pen name is Ian Wolf, and I am a manga critic from England, currently working for Anime UK News. I am also autistic, work in the comedy industry, and have worked in TV as a quiz show question writer.

During the recent pandemic, I decided to combine my two passions by writing a comedy book about CLAMP, which Chibi Yuuto has been kind enough to fact check, along with Lucy and Robin from the podcast CLAMPcast in Wonderland. As it is about CLAMP, and I wrote during Britain’s numerous Covid-19 lockdowns, it is entitled CLAMPdown.

CLAMPdown is not a normal guide to the world of manga. As someone who is in the world of comedy, I decided to take a personal, comedic approach to it, using humour to educate those who know little about manga in hope that the work of CLAMP might be their first stepping stone into the medium. For example, people may take an in-depth look as to how Magic Knight Rayearth shaped modern isekai manga. I write an entire appendix explaining over 50 car references in Rayearth, a series that has no actual cars in it.

I am currently trying to fund my book via Kickstarter. My target is £2,800 (around US$ 3,700). Rewards range from credits in the book, ebooks, signed print copies, and even online preview readings. If I achieve my goal, I plan to add an extra stretch goal to fund an audiobook as well. The deadline to fund the book is 16.00 on 31st March UK time – which is midnight on 1st April Japanese time, to coincide with CLAMP Day.

If you want to get more of an idea of what the book is like, you can my interview on CLAMPcast in Wonderland, or visit my Twitter account @clampdownbook, where you will some early extracts including a draft of the entire first chapter, covering RG Veda.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to Chibi Yuuto for both fact checking my book and for allowing me to write this post.

Cheers,

Ian Wolf