ツバサ 春雷記 Episode 01
Tsubasa: Spring Thunder – 01
Tsubasa Shunraiki – 01

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Fay uses the last of his magic to help Syaoran and Sakura escape Celes but can’t escape himself. Mokona has Syaoran use the earring to open a connection there. They get Kurogane, who has to sacrifice his arm in order to save Fay. Mokona then sends them to the next world, which is Nihon Country — the land Kurogane is from. Kurogane awakens to find Princess Tomoyo with him and the two have a talk about events and how Kurogane has now learned the true meaning of strength. Tomoyo then has Fay come in, who punches Kurogane in the face as thanks for saving him. Both understand and things are good between them.

Sakura’s souless body is places up in the sakura tree in the courtyard where Syaoran tends to her. Empress Amaterasu arrives with her escorts as does Fuuma, who’s arrived from the Piffle World with an artificial arm created by that world’s Tomoyo. He was sent on this quest by Yuuko-san and as payment, Fay extracts the magic from his good eye and sends it to her. Kurogane gets the artificial arm attached and it is good as new.

Another cross-dimensional visitor arrives, this time Fuuma’s older brother Seishirou. He senses the vampire blood in Fay and knows Fay has been in contact with Kamui and Subaru, the vampire twins Seishirou has long pursued. Seeing his prey isn’t here, he’s about to leave when Syaoran challenges him for the feather Seishirou took to the devastation of the world he removed it from. Seishirou accepts his challenge and at Amaterasu’s signal, Tomoyo creates a barrier pocket where the two can fight without damaging property.

As they battle, Fay has a conversation with Princess Tomoyo, where he learns that she sacrificed her dream seer ability in order to insure that Kurogane and company would come to Nihon Country after Celes. Meanwhile, the battle does not go well for Syaoran but he does not give up and soon gets the feather. Syaoran vows to return with Sakura and enters the dream world, where he finds Sakura talking with Watanuki from xxxHOLiC. The clone Syaoran arrives in the dreamworld too and a showdown seems inevitable.

Thoughts/Review:

This episode suffers a great deal from skipping earlier stories, relegating that (such as the encounter with Asura and the truth of Fay) to mere flashbacks. If you haven’t read the manga, I figure you will be scratching your head some because you won’t understand why all these characters are talking about things that even with the use of brief flashbacks, mean little to the audience. This is a shame, really because things would have been so much better to have just done a longer OVA and bridge the connection to Tsubasa: Tokyo Revelations. Oh well.

If you are aware of the story skipped, things are pretty nice otherwise. I’m having a hard time remembering how close to the manga the production team is sticking. As such, I’m unable to comment on this aspect of the production, which is something I’d normally do. I glanced through the manga and it looks pretty close. I’m betting that it is, unlike the xxxHOLiC counterpart, which has always been all over the place.

Speaking of which, Watanuki’s cameo here isn’t nearly as jarring as Sakura’s cameo in the xxxHOLiC episode.

A nice touch is how the Bee Train-style incidental music remains in this OVA. It really has become a trademark of the Tsubasa anime run in all forms and I’m glad it continues here.

The art and animation here are pretty good too. ^_^

In the end, the skipping of the Ashura arc is the biggest thing that harms this first episode of Tsubasa Shunraiki. However, if you’ve read the manga, you’ll be OK.