I realized I haven't posted a blog in ages, and maybe I should be giving some substantive updates, but instead, we will just celebrate our beloved Little Wolf. The past year went by in such a flurry it shocked me that it was already our favorite grouchball's birthday again. Syaoran will always be my unparalleled favorite, which may be why I've been stuck on his birthday special chapter for years! My CLAMP love is getting worse with age for sure, because I have friends now who know my love for CCS.
The best thing I did last year was to get to see in person the CLAMP Exhibition at the National Art Center in Tokyo last year, celebrating CLAMP's 35th anniversary. I first learned about it through my artist friend who I saw the CCS Exhibition with in Tokyo some years ago. The perk is she was the one who convinced me to go when I otherwise though I wouldn't be able to make the trip. Anyhow, it is a good to be able to share hobbies with friends. I meant to write a full-on blog post on the exhibition but never got around to it because it was such an overwhelming experience for a CLAMP lover and didn't know where to start. The short takeaway was it was so hot when I went even though it was in September, and it was soo crowded, so didn't get to enjoy to the fullest. But then, I was bursting with pride thinking of how many CLAMP fans there were globally. I did see the Cardcaptor Sakura Exhibition in Tokyo in 2018, so it was not my first time seeing CLAMP's artwork in real life, but I actually love CLAMP's older artwork even more so it was an amazing experience seeing, X, Magic Knight Rayearth and other iconic artwork, both color and illustrations, in real life. It was the largest CLAMP exhibition to date, and it was such a bucket list wish to see the exhibition, I made it happen even though last year was otherwise a very dismal one because of work circumstances. Anyhow, I will rave about the exhibition in another full review post in the future.
The CLAMP exhibition had 10 different character variable tickets, and my first choice was the Sakura-chan "Love" ticket, but I ended getting Kohaku from Wish. The two friends I saw the exhibition with were fans of CLAMP's older work, and one of them got Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle's Syaoran "Adventure" ticket and was kind enough to switch with me, it was a win-win. If it was CCS!Syaoran, it would have been my first choice ticket of course. Anyhow, I felt very lucky to get a ticket that was pretty much my first choice.
Let's focus back on what makes Syaoran so wonderful. I haven't seen the end of Clear Card-hen yet, so I hope he still is canonically wonderful. But he must truly be wonderful because CLAMP can't stop writing about him!
I haven't done this in a long time. Music spotlights are hard because I have literally one new song I end up liking in a year.
"Versailles" by Ayaka, theme song for the 2025 film "The Rose of Versailles," which I haven't seen yet, was released in January but I already knew it was going to be my song of the year. I'm pretty sure I have raved about Ayaka sometime in the past, one of the most powerful female vocalists of her era. Her songs were very much on repeat when I was writing Arc 3 era, probably Arc 4 as well. And I probably have reference Rose of Versailles, set during the French Revolution, multiple times as a formative anime, both as a Francophile and lover of history from that era. Everything about the "Versailles" theme song is perfect, from the lyrics, to the music video, to Ayaka singing from the perspective of Oscar. Her voice even fits. I literally bawled the first time I heard the song. And the second, third and fourth time. It's rare a song can make you tear up each time. I watched the original anime when I was too young to get all the nuances, but I feel like I feel more sympathetic towards the characters and the choices they made now that I am older, Oscar, Andre and even Marie Antoinette. But I will always loath Fersen. And yes, my love for Rococo fashion and macaroni curls are totally credited to Rose of Versailles and Marie Antoinette. Also it taught me early on to cope with anime ending trauma.
