Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle

A Summary of Karen's Role in the TRC

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle is a long series which sort of unites all of the CLAMP works. It follows the story of Sakura, princess of a country called Clow, and Syaoran, an archeologist who was investigating famous ruins in Clow. Sakura and Syaoran were originally in the series Cardcaptor Sakura, but in this story they both appear to be much older. To make a very long story short, Sakura’s memories become feathers and scatter throughout the different dimensions. Syaoran vows to find the feathers and restore them to Sakura, which is the only thing that will save her life. He and Sakura are joined by two other men—Fay D. Fluorite and Kurogane—who both want to travel through dimensions for various reasons—as well as a little magic creature named Mokona. Throughout their journeys they meet many of the other CLAMP characters who are different or in different situations than the ones from the characters originate.

In one story, they travel to a world called “Shara”, apparently based on the floating world (or pleasure quarters) of the Edo period of Japan, where Syaoran, Sakura, and Mokona get separated from the others. According to the notes at the back of the volume, “The floating world is the world of geisha, restaurants, inns and other carnival-like entertainments” (vol8 191). They are taken in by a troupe of performers at a place called the Yukaku (which, according to the text, translates as “Fun-Flower District), who have returned to the country for an annual celebration. The performers, led by a girl named Suzuran, carry with them a holy statue of a guardian god named Ashura (who is a character from an earlier CLAMP work). The other two men have ended up with those who oppose the floating world—those of the religious sector who believe that the Ashura statue brings calamity to the world. They possess a similar statue of the guardian god Yasha whose eyes begin to bleed when the Ashura statue is present in the pleasure district.

When they arrived in the world, Sakura and Syaoran were both unconscious so the troupe took them in. Yukaku arrives and is displeased to see a boy among her ladies in their rooms. She scolds her girls, but someone says, “Please do not be too hard on them owner (the title Yukaku prefers).” Yukaku addresses her as “Karen-dayu”, which means that she is an important person within the troupe. She is of course a version of Karen from X/1999. Karen explains that the troupe found sleeping outside the building a little while ago. Sakura woke up quickly but Syaoran would not wake up, no matter what they did, so Sakura and everyone else was very concerned. Despite her earlier statement, Yukaku decides to take them in.

That night the troupe puts on a wondrous show, including an act in which Karen manipulates a strange fire that does not burn when people touch it. The show is a huge success and everyone is having a great time celebrating until an earthquake occurs, and those of the religious district blame the floating district and come to attack them. Yukaku defends her girls, but she is very upset about the implication that the statue is to blame because it is something very precious to her. Karen, who had been looking after Mokona and was not present at the fight, asked Sakura about the incident, specifically asking if she was hurt. Karen observes, “The owner, Suzuran-chan, is a very strong woman. But she can’t seem to accept fate. If there’s something you want, you have to reach out and grab it!”

Suddenly both statues begin to react and portals open up over both places. Yukaku is horrified at the thought of her statue causing this because if her statue is the cause of the misfortunes, she will never see it again. Both Sakura, Syaoran and Mokona enter the portal and enter a world in which Yasha and Ashura are literal people caught in an endless battle every night on a floating castle.

Karen’s appearance is very brief, but entertaining. It’s interesting that her new job is also in a place called “Flower” and that she still works with fire. She has very little impact on the course of the story, but this is generally true of many characters who appear in TRC. She appears again in the Acid Tokyo Arc, but she is very much a background character there. It was still nice to see her and to get new pictures of her in CLAMP’s interesting new style.

CLEAR