Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle 17

CLAMP – Del Rey – 2008 – 28 volumes

Things sort of go back to a semblance of normal here, or they do the best they can, at least.  There’s a complicated bargain struck with Yuko that helps save Fai’s life, but it’s not as much on the up-and-up as Yuko makes it sound (as far as Fai’s well-being goes, anyway).  We do get a random plot event from XxXholic explained, however, which is never a bad thing.  I was pleased to see that water come back into play here.

Kurogane’s genuine concern for Fai is quite touching, as is his sacrifice, as is what appears to be Fai’s… er, reaction.  Fai is my favorite character, and it’s because of things like this.  He’s quite chipper when he becomes conscious, but he reveals that his pleasantries are actually stripped of what he had given them before, and he gets quite serious when he finds out what the group has let Sakura do for them.

Sakura puts herself at risk as the final leg of the bargain, in order to pay Yuko.  This is probably the first time this has happened, and I wasn’t expecting it at all since Sakura is so terribly lucky.  I figured she would just dodge everything and come back unscathed, but she pays the price, and aknowledges that everyone is paying a price for her selfish whims, anyway.  She also uses a gun, which was kind of weird.

There’s also an interesting plot point surrounding a feather still present in the X world here, and Fuma unveils the fact that he is (unsurprisingly) related to Seishirou.  I’m going to have an X fangirl moment, so forgive me and just skip to the next review.  Subaru/Kamui seems to be the preferred pairing in this story, which was an interesting fan pairing from the original X.  But we do get to see a little bit of Fuma torturing Kamui, although in a much less hardcore and more goodnatured way than we see in X.  Kamui is resistant to it, and attacks him for Subaru’s sake, and stops when Subaru asks him to stop.  But Subaru also seems to have had dealings with Seishirou, and asks after him.  This also implies Seishirou/Fuma, another interesting pair from X.  Of course, both “pairs” in Tsubasa are of the brotherly nature and not romantic at all, so their not pairings in the traditional sense.  Which leaves the way all the more open for the heavily implied pairs from the original series.

Subaru’s such a nice boy.  It’s so nice to get to see him again.  I wonder what his final fate will be in X, or if we’ll ever get to see it.