#is to have Kurogane just... have a copy of his sword

[completeoveranalysis]

[3]

Oh I LOVE this. The first page here begins by touching on the topic of the distance that has been between them for a while now due to everything that’s happened. He mentions ‘As long as it’s you’ because he’s met OTHER Tomoyo at this point, and the reason that happened at all was because Tomoyo sent him away in the first place - and Tomoyo smiles sadly, or perhaps thoughtfully, at the subtle reference to that difference. 

Kurogane then immediately brings up Evil Wolverine’s initial plans for him, which I’m THRILLED by because I genuinely didn’t think they’d address this between them. But Tomoyo uses examples of their past together to say that Evil Wolverine’s plan was NEVER going to work with Kurogane (He didn’t even do what TOMOYO wanted after all), and IT MAKES KUROGANE SMILE. They end the second page by BOTH SMILING, the closeness between them re-established by both parties. And OH the character growth Tomoyo must see in him. To go from the Kurogane in Chapter 2 to the Kurogane before her now must be the most amazing thing to witness, to see this gentleness, to see this sense of calm, to see a touch of the same prickly nature he always had but this time with his heart full of love and the wisdom to know what ACTUALLY matters the most. 

It really shows that even though they’re not talking about the fact that Kurogane is about to leave again, they’ve emotionally realigned themselves and nothing is different between them, even if they're very different people now.

I don’t actually know this for certain but I feel like the wording at the start of this page might be a little off, in tone at the very least. Kurogane asking for confirmation that what Evil Wolverine did was a "crime" is like the LEAST compelling way to start topic of conversation, but I’m just going to reword it in my head and keep going. 

I… 

Wait EXCUSE ME?

DID WE KNOW THIS?

... I'VE FORGOTTEN SOMETHING HAVEN'T I.

The sword Kurogane had with him WAS NOT THE ACTUAL GINRYUU BUT JUST A COPY OF IT.

SO. THAT ONE CHAPTER COVER THAT HAD KUROGANE WITH THE TWO GINRYUU SWORDS WASN’T JUST A COOL FLAVOUR MOMENT BUT REFERENCING THAT HE DID IN FACT HAVE TWO OF THESE ALL ALONG AND THAT IT WOULD BE RELEVANT AGAIN SOON.

EXCUSE ME I’M HAVING A MOMENT

[sweetsouya]

Yesterday I was in Hino!!!!!!

I was the for a Peacemaker Kurogane event, where the voice actors of Tetsu (both VA of his younger and older self were there), Tatsu, Susumu, Saitou, Hijikata, Kondo and the three idiots.

It was a great event, they preformed scripts of the CD drama that came with the first movie DVD and spoke about the shinsengumi and PMK (or as it's known in short in Japan: Pisume).

The VA of Shinpachi and Sano both wore kimono, matching what their character wear (Yamaguchi-san looked just like Shinpachi!!!!!!). He said it was all planned, and Santo's VA agreed... Then Heisuke's VA chimed in going "this is the first I heard of it". Those three were great tbh. XD

Soujis VA is a sweet heart, and Saitou VA was amazing.... At the introductions, he began talking like he would as Saitou, then broke character by giving out a hearty laugh. Hahaha

Anyway, other from the event (no photos were allowed during the event). I also met other fans of the series - I was the only foreigner, but everyone made me feel so welcome. They approached me! Haha

I also went to the Shinsengumi museum and Hijikata museum. Where, at the Hijikata museum, got the rare chance to see his sword! I got to see Kanesada!!I also got to see his haiku books and in the Shinsengumi museum, they have the original copy of Hijikata's photo... It was truly special.

It was a great Sunday, and a quick 24hr trip to Tokyo and back. We're all thinking that they're planning something too, because this PMK event was called "spring gsthering". So we're wondering if they will, in the future, will do one for each season. Especially since the voice actors have been saying on sns thst they really enjoyed the event, and were so happy to see so many of us.

[completeoveranalysis]

[8]

ORIGINAL OUTFITS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

COMING FULL CIRCLE INDEED

Going ALL the way back to their most iconic looks, that speak the most directly to who they are and who they were, and we can SEE the visible differences in their designs. Kurogane’s arm has been replaced, doubling down on his signature colour as he’s become the truest version of himself. And as a FASCINATING parallel to that, his sword is the actual one this time - not a copy or imitation, like HE was before. Haunted by his past as he was, he was a damaged echo of who he was when he was younger, but not anymore. Now Ginryuu is really here and it’s the actualisation of Kurogane BECOMING the Kurogane he was always meant to be. He’s fulfilled his family role by relearning the love his parents taught him, he’s regained his true name by healing from the grief their loss left in him, he has more family than ever before, and now he’s on his way to punish the one who took it all away from him in the first place. Kurogane is PEAK Kurogane. 

And FAI. He’s in his Seresu clothes, but he’s not displaying the damaging lessons Ashura taught him in order to manipulate him into doing what he wanted. Fai isn’t lying anymore - he’s not smiling, he’s not pretending to be happy, the entire facade is gone. He’s showing how he really feels - in a direct contrast to how Ashura taught him to fake smile as the only way to help them since he couldn’t do it with magic. Now he doesn’t even HAVE that magic and he’s helped the people that mean the MOST to him without ever touching it. Fai knows his VALUE now - he knows he is loved, that he loves them back, that that’s ENOUGH, that that ACCOMPLISHES more than magic itself ever did, and that he doesn’t need to fake anything in order to make a difference. 

Also his HAIR is longer. He’s no longer keeping his appearance the same as a facsimile to the twin he wanted to switch places with. He’s healed from that too, moving on as HIMSELF and not just as a living promise that he was manipulated into making in the first place. He’s his own person now, all the chains on him are gone, and there’s nothing in his past looming over every action he takes. He’s free now - and he’s chasing down the man who DID THIS to him in the first place, along with the people he loves. 

OH IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL. 

And then Mokona outlines it for us in words too, because Mokona is still awed by the plot coming back around to the beginning and it’s utterly adorable. Because at this point ME TOO MOKONA.

MEANWHILE I SEE BOOTS AND A CAPE AND I THINK I HAVE THOUGHTS (tm) ABOUT WHAT THIS NEXT PAGE WILL HAVE ON IT

LAVA LAMP DRESSED AS SYAORAN

OH now THAT is interesting

On the one hand it’s a FASCINATING move to make. Because visually? YES, the Syaoran should dress like Syaoran in the beginning of the manga.

But we know now! It’s not the same! This ISN’T the Syaoran we started the manga with! Moreover Lava Lamp NEVER DRESSED THIS WAY. These AREN’T his clothes. He never looked like this! He didn’t grow up in Clow like Syaoran did - though he WAS apparently there, in his Lava Lamp, the whole time. 

And all of THAT is difference enough that we get no other visual signifiers of his growth. His outfit is the SAME because it’s the CHARACTER who’s different. Instead of the clone donning the identity of the original, now it’s the original donning the visual identity of the CLONE. 

And THAT’S an entirely different kind of circle, but I kind of love the inversion of it all. Especially since the last time Lava Lamp left the Clow Kingdom (where he was trapped) he travelled TO Acid Tokyo, in order to hopefully fix Syaoran’s soul. But now Syaoran’s soul IS fixed, and he’s travelling BACK to the Clow Kingdom to find a whole Syaoran instead!

… OH AND HIS EYE. He only has ONE eye in the reaction shot at the end, because that’s an echo of the link he had with Syaoran, and how he ALSO used to have all the single eye imagery that foreshadowed Lava Lamp watching through it his entire life. 

Lava Lamp is the reverse of everything that has happened - the mirror image of things coming full circle, but coming full circle all the same. 

[completeoveranalysis]

[4]

And Tomoyo just whips it out immediately, because she knew he was going to bring it up in this conversation. Not even as a seer, because she can't do that anymore - just because she knows him so well.

AND OH THAT FINAL PANEL, WITH KUROGANE REFLECTED IN TOMOYO’S EYES. AMAZING. BEAUTIFUL. 

Also the SECOND funniest way to tie the theme of doubles into Kurogane’s plot - there are just… two of him when reflected in someone’s eyes. 

I WILL TAKE IT. THANK YOU CLAMP.

The fact that Kurogane is surprised to see it is SUCH a nice touch. Even though he had a copy of it for such a long time, this is the ACTUAL link to his family. This is the ACTUAL symbol of his past and everything his family legacy means. It's not just a memory anymore - it's sitting right here in front of him, carefully wrapped up and cared for all this time.

It's the final stage in Kurogane's backstory coming back around. It's the continuation of the exact conversation they had in this exact room about this exact sword all those years ago. It's Kurogane finally returning home, not to be with Tomoyo as he once thought, but to continue the promise he made to his family all those years ago, and to take down the man who slaughtered everyone he loved.

It's, once again, everything coming full circle.

Proof that Tomoyo is the best: SHE EVEN PROVIDED THE FLASHBACKS TO THE EXACT SCENE I WENT LOOKING FOR.

THANK YOU TOMOYO, MY BELOVED. If I did not just hunt this down moments ago this would have been the EXACT context I needed.

That aside, Tomoyo pulling a “So I kept it” is infinitely funny to me and this is such a good turn of events. 

It turns out that Kurogane’s mother foresaw certain future events and ALSO prepared for them ahead of time. 

Or at least that would fit the pattern of every other seer we have in the series. It’s possible she didn’t foresee anything at all and she just talked to Tomoyo as a general precaution, but either way! Here we are!

[completeoveranalysis]

TRC Translation Notes Volume 16 (Chapters 117 - 124)

Even more fantastic translation notes from the even more fantastic @giniroangou. 

Highlights include: Kamui vampire antics, Fai being a sweetheart, clone explanations, real understanding of what the seal was, insight on Xing Huo, and oh my lord Fai is a sweetheart.

Chapter 117

p.5 - The word Kamui says aloud is “nakami” (the contents/substance) but it’s written with the kanji for “soul” (tamashii/魂).

p.16 - It’s ambiguous (especially at this point in the chapter) but I’m fairly certain Kamui is speaking to Subaru here. His last line is, “Or were you pulled in by this thing’s sleep?” He expected Subaru to wake up once the feather’s power vanished and is concerned that Sakura’s soul is keeping him asleep now.

p.21 - Kamui’s tone is less questioning in the original text - it’s more like, “You’re game, aren’t you?”

p.22 - Kamui’s clarification here is just a change from katakana to kanji - エ to 餌 - so the word is still spoken as “e.” I have to assume communicating through telepathy allows him to convey the meaning of his words through something other than pronunciation. The kanji 餌 means “esa,” which is bait or animal feed. I think the use of the word “game” is a clever way to preserve the ambiguity of the term in earlier scenes, but I believe most people in the fandom prefer the word “prey.” Both lean more towards the word “emono” (獲物) in meaning, but that could easily be something CLAMP was hoping to evoke here as well and given the context either word feels appropriate as a translation.

Chapter 118

p.36 - Just a subtle correction, but Kamui says that Subaru fell asleep immediately after they arrived in Tokyo.

p.42 - There is a difference between Syaoran’s line here, “I will give them all back to her,” and his similar earlier lines. The verb he used in the earlier scenes was “torikaesu” (取り返す), which as I explained before means to take something back. In this scene, he uses “torimodosu” (取り戻す), which means roughly the same thing, but with a stronger implication of returning the feathers to where they came from. He also adds “subete” (全て) or “all of them,” where before he didn’t clarify, which I would interpret as a hardening of his resolve rather than a true difference in meaning.

Chapter 119

p.53 - To elaborate a little on Kamui’s explanation, he’s saying that beings who live off of blood keep “game” (in the sense of keeping an animal) to serve as their food supply.

p.54 - After Kamui learns that Syoaran doesn’t belong to Fai, I interpreted his line as questioning whether Syaoran belonged to Seishirou instead. The wording is ambiguous enough that I suppose he could be asking whether Fai works for Seishirou, but that wouldn’t have been my first instinct.

p.55 - I feel like the translation takes some of the punch out of Fai’s words here. They feel a lot sweeter in the original text - I actually started tearing up, lol. It’s not a huge difference, but what he should be saying is, “You’re wrong. He’s a really good kid.” ...this is never going to sound as nice in English as it does in Japanese but at least this should be slightly better?

p.59 - Lava Lamp is described here as Clow Reed’s blood relative (no mention of being his heir) using the same word that was used earlier to establish Fei Wang as part of that lineage as well.

Syaoran is described in the translation as an “image,” but the original Japanese word was “utsushimi” (写身). I discussed this word a bit back in chapter 66, since Ashura uses the same word with different kanji for feather-Yasha. To repeat what I said back then, the original word “utsushimi” is a form of “utsusemi,” meaning one’s transient body/existence, but it’s not written with these characters. The verb “utsusu” when written as 写す means “to duplicate/imitate,” so when it’s paired with “mi” (身/body), it implies a replication of a previously existing body, as is the case here. The popular fandom word for this is “clone,” which I feel encompasses the concept much better than the official translation.

This may already be implied in the translation, but Fei Wang says that Syaoran was created in order to gather the feathers.

p.62 - In the Japanese text, the implant isn’t Lava Lamp’s soul but his heart/spirit (“kokoro”/心). I think it amounts to the same thing, but this word allows for a little more focus on the potential to feel emotion, particularly love.

p.64 - The translation on this page is kind of unclear. Basically, the magic Lava Lamp used to implant his soul also caused clone Syaoran to fall apart if his eye was removed (as you’d expect from one of Clow’s bloodline, Fei Wang says.) The main reason Fei Wang decided to send Syaoran out as is was because it would have been too difficult to create another copy that held the same power as the original.

p.65 - Fei Wang describes Sakura specifically as the key to the power of the ruins.

Chapter 120

p.68 - Lava Lamp wasn’t just growing older. Yuuko uses the word “seichou” (成長), which refers to both growth and development. It’s often used to describe someone becoming more mature or improving their abilities.

p.70 - A correction to the first line on this page: Lava Lamp awakening is equivalent to the seal on Syaoran’s eye breaking. The first event inevitably causes the second.

p.71 - A tiny bit of key information got lost in the translation here. After confirming that Xing Huo sent Lava Lamp to Yuuko, Fei Wang says, “Considering your origin, I suppose it can’t be helped. And besides, you’re another one of my failed creations after all.”

p.72 - This line should be, “I guess you can’t hear me anymore,” which makes a lot more sense all things considered.

Chapter 121

p.99 - I feel the need to mention that there are no exclamation points or question marks in Kurogane’s original dialogue on this page. It’s not like family members getting eaten is anything new for him, haha… ha.

p.100 - Syaoran’s line here is, “I’m taking his right eye too.”

p.110 - Kurogane isn’t talking about Fai being able to smile, but about the kids being able to smile. It’s a callback to the conversation Kurogane and Fai had in Piffle (conveniently featured in one of the flashback panels here). Fai changed in order to do whatever he could to preserve Syaoran and Sakura’s happiness.

Chapter 122

p.122 - Lava Lamp specifically says that Fai tried to return Syaoran’s soul ALONG WITH his left eye. I’m assuming Fai managed to implant the soul within his own eye before Syaoran took it, hoping that by eating the soul along with the eye Syaoran would be restored. If you ever wondered why Fai didn’t even try to fight back, here’s your answer.

p.124 - VERY IMPORTANT CHARACTER NOTE about Lava Lamp: I’m thrilled you noticed that he isn’t using Fai’s name. Lava Lamp’s speech style is totally different from Syaoran’s - it’s something that isn’t nearly as apparent in translation, but in the Japanese text it establishes them instantly and obviously as separate personalities. Lava Lamp, like Kurogane, rarely uses other characters’ names. There are exceptions, but after so many chapters of hearing Syaoran say “Kurogane-san” and “Fai-san” it’s quite striking to see that disappear altogether in Lava Lamp’s speech. He also uses more casual language overall, which again creates a strong contrast with Syaoran’s persistent politeness. Mostly it makes him feel more mature, and it puts him on a more equal standing with Kurogane and Fai. (I’ll mention here as well: autopilot Syaoran doesn’t use polite language either.)

p.127 - Lava Lamp doesn’t just say Sakura is precious to Syaoran, he says “That Sakura.” Also, the official translation finally starts using “heart” here instead of “soul” but it’s still the same word, as I discussed earlier.

p.132 - Kurogane doesn’t ask for his sword in this scene, but he’s not specifically asking for Syaoran’s either. He just wants a sword, lol.

Chapter 123

p.143 - The use of “I am betting” in the translation doesn’t have quite the right nuance, IMO. When Lava Lamp implanted his soul into Syaoran, he knew it would only be temporary. He was taking a gamble and placing his hopes on Syaoran being able to grow his own soul before he inevitably lost the one Lava Lamp gave him.

Chapter 124

Cover page - “The Value of Life” isn’t a mistranslation, but I would probably translate this title as, “The Price of Life.” The word in the title is “taika” (対価), the same word Yuuko uses when she makes deals with people.

p.169 - There are not supposed to be any exclamation points on this page. *sighs deeply*

p.170 - I believe this is less that Lava Lamp doesn’t know where Fei Wang went (I don’t think he went anywhere?) but that he doesn’t know where he was being kept in the first place.

p.171 - The translation isn’t as consistent, but the original text differentiates between Syaorans by putting quote marks around the original Syaoran’s name, so it always looks like 『小狼』. There’s technically no difference in what people are calling him, but as readers we can still differentiate, and I suppose it implies a different emotion/perception on the speaker’s part.

p.176 - Kurogane’s anger is a little quieter in the original text - his line starts with an ellipsis and doesn’t have any punctuation at the end, which I feel evokes the underlying grief a bit better. He also brings back the same phrase he used in his conversation with Fai in the previous volume - “hara wo kukuru.” If I reference back to my translation of the earlier line, this one would be, “...who told you to resign yourself like that.” In the Japanese version it’s obvious Kurogane is seeing his own hand in the decision Fai’s just made and now that it’s too late he’s basically saying THIS ISN’T WHAT I MEANT.