Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE Vol 13 (Ch 94-96)

Thanks to BWYS for the scans.

Chapter 094

Syaoran continues continues to observe the events from the book as if he were there, seeing the young teen boy that looks like Kurogane with his ill mother. As Syaoran observes, he recalls that Kurogane handled the book before him and had not experienced anything, yet when he opened the book, he began observing the life of this family, specifically from the boy’s perspective who looks like Kurogane. He speculates that the book recorded Kurogane’s memories which he is now watching.

Having decided that he is watching scenes from Kurogane’s memories, he attempts to let go of the book, but is prevented from doing so. The book instead flips forward pages with images on the pages showing Kurogane’s mother getting worse and Kurogane training harder. The pages stop by displaying the young Kurogane use his Hama Ryuuoujin attack to defeat a creature who’d been attacking the people. They are thankful to him for his work, though he wishes hed gotten there sooner. A young girl gives Kurogane flowers to give to his mother, for which he is grateful.

Returning home, Kurogane finds his father has returned with injuries and a broken katana. Kurogane is amazed that the monsters his father went to destroy were so strong. His father tells Kurogane to get his injuries tended to. Ignoring his own injuries, Kurogane’s father takes the family heirloom sword Ginryuu to head back to fight the powerful monsters.

Chapter 095

Young Kurogane is amazed that his father would need the sword Ginryuu just to defeat a monster. Kurugane’s father concedes that creature is a difficult foe, but he’ll defeat it. Kurogane’s mother emerges and gently chastises him for taking the sword and planning to leave without calling her. They both gently call each other unreasonable in their attitudes, but he submits to her, unleashing Ginryuu and kneeling before her to receive the miko prayer/blessing from his wife. She does and her power flows over the sword.

With that, Kurogane’s father attempts to leave, but Kurogane wants to go too. His father acknowledges Kurogane’s strength and urges him to use it to protect the things he loves. With that, his father and his shinobi take off. Kurogane rushes back to the house to discover his mother has collapsed, the blessing of the blade having taken much out of her. She refuses to be taken to the doctor, requesting instead to be taken to the Inoriba — the place of prayer. As a miko, it is her duty to do this to aid her husband in battle and protect the country.

Her request is granted and the young Kurogane kneels on guard outside. Hearing noses from the Inoriba, he comes in to see a hand with a large sword and hilt like dragon wings coming from the opposite wall, the sword having run through his mother.

Chapter 096

Kurogane rushes into the room, having observed this giant sword run through her mother. Before he can reach his mother, the hand extracts the sword from her body and disappears back into the wall with the wall returning as if nothing had come from it. His dying mother states that the Kekkai has been broken and dies. As Kurogane screams his mother’s name, giant monsters have invaded the city and are destroying everything in their path.

A large creature breaks down the walls of the house where Kurogane holds his dead mother. In its beak, it holds an arm still gripping Ginryuu — his father’s arm. The giant creature manages to get the sword to fall to the ground where it then eats the arm. Kurogane snaps and grabs Ginryuu to attack the monster.

Sometime later, the Empress of the country of Japan, Amaterasu, arrives at the Suwa capital with a party. The ninja Souma reports that the miko of Suwa has died. Empress Amaterasu remarks that her younger sister, Tsukuyomi, saw all of this in a dream, which is why this party from Japan has come. She then addresses a figure in the distance, stating that he most likely defeated all of the monsters that had attacked. That figure is the wild-eyed Kurogane, bloody and holding Ginryuu and his mother.

Thoughts/Review:

Egad! Up to this point, Tsubasa hadn’t been dark at all (or not much). Further, the action shown had been pretty much shounen fare with little more than fanservice in the fighting shown (maybe a little bit of character growth in that a character becomes stronger in battle). Chapter 95 ended all of that with the bloody death of Kurogane’s mother, father, and the bloody aftermath of the battle. CLAMP certainly decided to take off the gloves and with volume 13, Tsubasa has moved up in my opinion of the title. I still like xxxHOLiC better, but CLAMP really has brought the manga forward since the end of volume 12, which ended the Tomoyo race arc.

Considering how dire things in Tsubasa were hinted at in volume 11, chapter 122 of xxxHOLiC, I expect that this increased level of intensity and darkness will continue.