Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle
Episode #27
The Dangerous Race
What a way to start the new season! After the new and improved opening credits we're treated to a vision of sorts that Syaoran seems to be having. In it, a mysterious figure who we know to be another Syaoran, is speaking to our Syaoran. Syaoran's blind eye begins to hurt and then he wakes up with Mokona staring him in the face. He and everyone else are in a new world called, Piffle and have been for at least a little while.
Syaoran and Mokona walk outside to join up with Sakura, Kurogane and Fay. Suddenly, Mokona is startled by an incoming message from Yuko which he projects into the air in the form of a hologram. Yuko greets them all and notices that Sakura seems to be a lot more energetic. She also reminds them that she hasn't received her White Day present yet and that she wants it soon. Sakura promises to make some for her. Fay tells Yuko that they've all signed up for a race to which she is very suprised to hear.
Later, as they're all training for the race (which is actually a kind of hover-car race, they flash back to when they arrived in Piffle and saw a huge announcement advertising the race and it's prize... one of Sakura's feathers!
Back in the present, Sakura is having trouble flying her dragonfly (the name of the flying cars) and collides with everyone else, destroying their dragonflies as well! They are all unharmed, however later in a car (driven very well by Kurogane!) she appologises and insists that she wants to continue flying and help get her feather back.
Suddenly a huge black car blocks the road causing Kurogane to stop driving. As he starts to yell at the driver, out steps an alternate Tomoyo! She sees Sakura, runs over, grabs her a twirls her around while explaining that because she's hosting the race and recording it, she needs someone else to race in her place and wants Sakura to be that person! Naturally the gang thinks she's a bit nuts and pulls funny anime faces accordingly.
That night, Syaoran explains to Sakura that the dragonflies alternately glide on wind and fly via motors. As he's speaking he places his hand on hers and the both blush. Outside, Kurogane and Fay both talk about where they're from and the people in their past, i.e. Tomoyo and Ashura.
Meanwhile the bad guys talk about their master plan and introduce a mysterious character who will be "the next piece".
The next day, the preliminary race is about to begin and the gang appear to be racing against alternate versions of people they have met before in their travels! This is great to watch as there are just so many people appearing in this one episode! (Scroll down for a complete list).
As the race starts, Kurogane and Fay seem to be doing the best. Sakura falls behind and tells Syaoran to do his best and she will do hers.
All of a sudden, almost all the dragonflies' engines start exploding. At least one goes up in flames while most manage to land safely. Sakura sees Syaoran in trouble and flies after him. He says that he'll try his best and that she should not worry about him. Sakura listens to him and finishes the race just before her engine gives out. Unfortunately for Syaoran Kanio (an alternate of the fat guy from the Hanshin Republic) tries to stop him from winning, but Syaoran floors it and wins while causing his dragonfly to detonate. He walks away safely but explains that one of the other racers may have caused the sabotaging.
My Original Impression
Saturday, April 29, 2006
I just finished watching Episode 27 also known as the season 2 premiere and let me say that if this is an example of what season 2 we're all going to be in for a treat! Almost every problem that existed in the first season has been fixed. The pace of this episode is super fast. I was amazed at how much they fit into one episode! We get Syaoran's vision with the other Syaoran, a conversation with Yuko, Tomoyo's introduction, a whole space race from start to finish as well as character moments in between!
The animation appears to have been upgraded with Syaoran in particular looking the best he's looked in the series. Sakura looks great though very different from the last season. Kurogane has been perfected and Faye is Faye. Mokona, who suffered from some terrible renderings last season looks great here as does Yuko who looks like her manga counterpart.
As the volumes of the English manga featuring Piffle havn't been released yet I can't really compare story points but I can say that the story here simply worked very well.
The music style from the first season has been kept (thank God as that rocked) and several new tracks have been included which means we'll be getting a few more soundtracks released in the future. Woo Hoo!
Now what about the opening and closing credits? Both a HUGE improvement over the first seasons! While I liked Blaze, I found several aspects of it like Sakura biting and apple and waving to be terribly cliche and annoying. The same with Loop which while the song was amazing the visual just seemed like a combination of all the ending credits from Bee Trains other series (most notably the .hack ones). IT'S (the new opening) is fresh and fastly paced and shows us an interesting concept of the gang fighting themselves. Well their shadows anyway. There's lots off cool fashion shots and... I find this really shows us what the show is about. It's spirit anyway.
The new ending, Kazemachi Jet is also an improvement and shows us an inspired look into the past off all the characters! I was amazed at the quality of animation in the Sakura and Syaoran shots and then they show us chibi flashbacks of Kurogane and Faye! What a bonus! I thought it was a bit strange that Mokona's flashback had him sitting next to a cat on Yuko's lap instead of Larg (the black Mokona). Especially since Larg was shown in Episode 2. Still, it looked amazing!
This whole episode just felt so... fresh.
Let's hope the rest of the season (and the third season!) lives up to this one!
Today's Crossovers
There were a Hell of a lot of crossover characters from other CLAMP series in this episode. If you feel that I've missed one, don't hesitate to email me at; shuttlecok@ REMOVE THIS hotmail.com and let me know! If you do I'll give you credit and a link to your site (if you have one). Cheers!
 Yuko: Our very own dimensional witch from the pages of xxxHolic communicates with the gang again in this episode. She's simply checking up on them, offering some exposition and demanding to know where her White Day chocolates are.
 Tomoyo: The most obvious crossover character in this episode, and a very common one in Tsubasa Chronicle is that of Tomoyo from Cardcaptor Sakura. This seems to be the first time Tomoyo in Tsubasa Chronicle has resembled her Cardcaptor Sakura so much. Whereas previous incarnations showed her as a rather serious princess or a random schoolgirl, here we get the bubbly, slightly insane Tomoyo Cardcaptor Sakura fans know so well.
 Chun Hyang: This is the second appearance from Chun Hyang in Tsubasa Chronicle who originates from the little known CLAMP manga, The Legend of Chun Hyang. She doesn't speak or interact with anyone in this episode, though she is featured quite a bit.
 Masayoshi: He had a rather large role in the Hanshin arc but here he's simply in the background. Masayoshi from Magic Knight Rayearth II is back!
 Sorata: Another Tsubasa Chronicle regular crossover, Sorata from the famous CLAMP series, X (or X/1999) returns. Arashi seems to have been left at home making muffins or something this time around.
 Shougo: Another X (or X/1999) character returns. This time the oh, so cool, Shougo!
 Yuzuriha: Another X (or X/1999) character returns. This time the schoolgirl, Yuzuria! (picture coming soon!)
 Karura-ou: Making her first Tsubasa appearance in this episode (she wasn't in the manga version of this arc!) is Karura-ou who, like Ryuu-ou is from RG Veda! (Thanks to Jeannette!)
   Nokoru, Suoh and Akira: The three boys from Clamp School Detectives return with Nokoru (the blonde) getting the most screen time.
 Oruha: While she had a rather large role last season, here this Clover woman is a silent featured character.
 Ryuu-ou: The cool RG Veda fighter returns and Syaoran's glad to see him!
 Ryanban: That evil bastard from The Legend of Chun Hyang returns and thankfully seems to be pretty docile this time around.
 Ryanban's Son: That evil bastard's son from The Legend of Chun Hyang returns and thankfully seems to be pretty docile this time around.
 Erii: Erii from Duklyon: Clamp School Defenders returns as a silent background character this time around. (Thanks to Jeannette!)
 Kentaro & Takeshi: The two guys from Duklyon: Clamp School Defenders also return for a single shot.
 The Announcer: The Announcer from Angelic Layer appears and... announces stuff!
 Piffle Mascot: Piffle is an imagined company created by CLAMP and used in several series from Kobato to Chobits though most prominently used in Angelic Layer. Here they named the whole world after this company and naturally the company mascot is everywhere and on everything to promote it.
Shopping Guide
 
Vol 7 "The Dangerous Pursuit"
Buy Regular Disk from Amazon.com
Buy Limited Box from Amazon.com
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