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Yen Press, LLC and Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC announced the respective acquisitions of the dual Clamp Official Art Books for release this November. The art books, named Kuro (which will be published by Yen Press) and Shiro (which will be published by Kodansha), were created as companions to the Clamp Exhibition that ran at The National Art Center in Tokyo, Japan, from July 2024 to September 2024 and feature the more than 200 original drawings displayed.

Shiro and Kuro showcase stunning art spanning a legendary career of more than 30 years. Each book contains elaborate full-color pieces from fan-favorite series from Clamp’s commercial debut, Rg Veda, as well as Tokyo Babylon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, and many more. In addition to the manga and anime, the art comes from a variety of additional rarities, such as magazine bonuses, video games, telephone cards, and other official merchandise and communications, including pieces created just...

Sci-fi anime are typically known for their thrilling action and dark themes. Although, just because they are supposed to feature fictional scenarios, that doesn’t mean they are exempt from romance. Many of the relationships in these anime series can even be described as the best sci-fi romances of all time.

The most romantic and loving sci-fi romances are endearing and enticingly romantic. Each of these couples displays unique dynamics that audiences can’t help but love. The couple's feelings are palpable. The best of the best sci-fi couples help each other navigate the unbelievable scenarios happening around them and love each other no matter what.

RelatedThis Upcoming 2025 Anime Could Be One of the Best Sci-Fi Romance of the Year

The upcoming 2025 anime adaptation of Kowloon Generic Romance offers something for everyone, making it unique and fresh among slice of life shows.

Zero Two & Hiro Vow To Even Be Together...

Clamp is a group of four female manga artists who have created plenty of classic, fan-favorite anime such as Chobits and Cardcaptor Sakura. However, while their series may be known for the perky heroines driving the story, the group has also created several endearing male characters as well.

From the stubborn Syaoran Li serving as Sakura's rival to the anxious Watanuki desperately trying to handle the supernatural, Clamp has made it clear they're able to write interesting characters who aren't female. They have a wide range of personalities, but these characters have become near and dear to fans' hearts over the years.

Hideki Is Simple but Has a Problematic Side in Chobits Currently not Streaming

Hideki Motosuwa serves as the main character in Chobits and Chii's love interest. This young man is doing his best at a prep school in order to make it into a proper college, although...

Clamp is an all-female manga artist group made up of four women. Together, they've captivated fans' hearts around the world as they crafted brilliant stories such as Cardcaptor Sakura, Wish, and Chobits. While many of their series have received anime adaptations, not all of them have.

Despite this, many heroines created by Clamp have become fan favorites. Sakura Kinomoto is one of the original magical girls beloved by many. Yuki Ichihara is enigmantic and mysterious. Kobato is looking to ascend to the Heavens once more. Clamp is known for creating adorable heroines the fans love. These ten are their best female protagonists.

Chi Is Passive but Sweet in Chobits Currently Unavailable to Stream

In the anime and manga Chobits, humanoid computers exist called persocoms. They come in many shapes, sizes, and genders, but these living computers make life so much easier. However, Chi is a special kind of persocom with a mysterious past,...

The all-female artist group known as Clamp includes some of the best manga authors, credited for many of the most beloved stories in the industry. While they are best known for their more mainstream titles like Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, and the Tsubasa franchise, they have many other amazing series. One of the most cherished by fans is the supernatural manga known as xxxHOLIC.

This intriguing and entertaining series began publication back in 2003, quickly becoming one of Kodansha’s most popular titles and ending in 2011. Its sequel, xxxHOLIC Rei, was never finished, as it entered a hiatus in 2017. After 7 years without a chapter, fans of this beloved series can breathe easy, as it will continue its publication in April 2025.

Clamp’s xxxHOLIC Rei Will Resume in April The Series Had Not Been Published Since 2017 ã€ãƒ‹ãƒ¥ãƒ¼ã‚¹ã€‘『xxxHOLiC・戻〈レイ〉ã€é€£è¼‰å...

When we think about the Shonen genre, the Big 3 has dominated the scene. Be it One Piece, Hunter x Hunter, or Dragon Ball, the series has made waves over the years. But that is not all considering its major pitfalls.

The genre on the whole has brought certain discrepancies into light. While it is considered high-brow, its counterpart shoujo is often looked down upon. However, nothing compares to the genre’s biggest criticism of all time.

Monkey D. Luffy in One Piece | Credit: Toei animation

In particular, fans have thoroughly criticized the male-dominated manga spaces. This also includes the genre with a recent discussion thread highlighting people’s perceptions and ideas of success and breakthrough works.

To add to the inequality angle, most fans have grossly overlooked women and their contributions to the genre on the whole. Clamp, in this case, stands underappreciated for its contribution to both shojo, shonen,...

Before the rise of popular and accessible streaming services like Crunchyroll, newly released anime spread by word of mouth over the internet, and fans often watched whatever they could get their hands on. It was during this time that Elfen Lied rose to popularity in the West, and coming across the series would eventually become something of a rite of passage for fans of the medium. Many of them, myself included, used Elfen Lied as a gateway into other more obscure anime.

For that reason, the show was largely beloved by the anime watching community, building the reputation of a must-see series during any newer fan's anime-watching journey. As the years passed, however, and anime and manga became more easily accessible to fans outside of Japan, public perception of Elfen Lied shifted. These days, the series is widely viewed as a poorly aged product of its time that was edgy...

For 40 years Clamp has revolutionized manga. Starting off as a doujin circle consisting of four women before making a professional debut with their Rg Veda series in Monthly Wings in 1989, the collective would go on to publish manga for all demographics — but primarily shojo manga. In that time, they brought the world some of the most iconic series that transcend gender and cultural boundaries from Cardcaptor Sakura to xxxHOLiC to Chobits to Tokyo Babylon and many more. The National Art Center in Roppongi hosted a Clamp Exhibition that celebrated their history with a showcase of artwork from throughout their career. This expansive showcase of their work was designed to serve as a definitive tribute to the group. It traced Clamp’s trajectory from their professional debut to the modern day, aimed at conveying the core appeal through five key categories symbolized by each letter of the group’s name: Color,...

The Cardcaptor Sakura anime turns 25 next year, but fans are already spoiled for choice with inspired merchandise. They can now accessorize with new wristwatches designed after two favorite Clow Cards and Yukito's keepsake gift to Sakura.

Amnibus is accepting pre-orders for a new line of watches inspired by Clamp manga's Cardcaptor Sakura. Manufactured by Arma Bianca, the collection comes in three design variants: The Mirror Clow Card, The Flower Clow Card and a replica of the watch Sakura lost while searching for The Snow Clow Card. Each watch costs 6,480 yen (US$43.30), with no limit to the number of items allowed per purchase; reservations are open until Nov. 20, with orders fulfilled in March 2025. The collectible wristwatch should arrive ahead of the anime's 25th anniversary in June 2025, making it the perfect gift for fans of the anime and the magical girl genre overall. Amnibus ships internationally via the Buyee service.

Related Bandai...

In the anime and manga world, Clamp is responsible for some of the most iconic shojo and seinen franchises of all time, including the likes of Cardcaptor Sakura, Xxxholic, Magic Knight Rayearth, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles and Chobits -- to name just a few. Now, a major art center in Japan is honoring the group's legacy with a three-month-long exhibition highlighting its most popular creations.

On July 3, 2024, Clamp's 2024 manga exhibition opened its doors at the National Art Center in Roppongi, Tokyo. As detailed on the exhibition's website, this exclusive showcase is designed to "trace the trajectory of Clamp...[featuring] original manga drawings from their debut to the present day, created for a wide range of publishers and magazines." Accordingly, the selection gives visitors a chance to witness how Clamp's art style and technique has evolved over time. As shown below, Cbr acquired a series of exclusive photographs from Part 2 of the event,...

Magic Knight Rayearth is officially receiving a new anime project in celebration of its 30th anniversary. The original series is a beloved anime by Clamp that blends fantasy, mech combat, and isekai elements. Whether the project is a reboot or sequel is unclear, but it's exciting news for old and new fans, regardless.

Magic Knight Rayearth is a classic genre-busting magical girl anime from Clamp, the same team behind such classics as Chobits, Tokyo Babylon, and Cardcaptor Sakura. The way the series combines classic fantasy with mech-based combat and elements of isekai well before the genre took off made both the anime and manga major hits, and 30 years later, theyre both still held in high regard by fans and critics alike.

Magic Knight Rayearth is one of the shojo anime that defines Clamp as a group, and the series is coming back in a big way. In celebration of the animes 30th anniversary,...

Sanrio's Hello Kitty powers up in a shojo magical-girl makeover in an official set of crossover visuals by the iconic manga artist group Clamp -- the manga artist collective behind iconic works such as Cardcaptor Sakura, X/1999 and Chobits.

Via Comic Natalie, Clamp released two new visuals commemorating Hello Kitty's 50th anniversary. The first visual reimagines Hello Kitty as a magical girl with a special wand in a Cardcaptor Sakura-inspired outfit, while the second features Cardcaptor Sakura's own lead protagonist, Sakura Kinomoto, wearing a Hello Kitty-themed costume. Readers can check out the visuals and more information on the collaboration below.

Related Cardcaptor Sakura Revisits Its Iconic '90s Anime Series With Exclusive High-End Jewelry Collab Inspired by "heart-pounding" scenes from the anime, Take-Up releases a throwback jewelry line featuring high-grade gold and natural stones.

Clamp described the Hello Kitty and Cardcaptor Sakura illustrations: "The concept is what would happen...

Madhouse has been producing high-quality anime for over 50 years and has a reputation for creating some of the most iconic series in the medium. From romance to action-adventure to psychological thrillers, Madhouse has tackled a wide range of genres and has left a lasting impact on anime history. Some of Madhouse's standout series include Cardcaptor Sakura, One-Punch Man, Monster, Parasyte: The Maxim, Trigun, Hunter x Hunter, and Death Note, all of which showcase the studio's exceptional animation and storytelling abilities.

Madhouse is an anime studio that was founded in 1972, and for over 50 years has been putting out some of the best stories ever put to animation. Madhouse was fairly active from 1972 to 2000, but seemed to hit a renaissance in the new millennium, greatly increasing its output without sacrificing much in the way of quality.

The best Madhouse anime run the gamut from romance series to action-adventure to psychological thrillers and horror,...

Paprika, a psychological thriller anime masterpiece by Satoshi Kon, is now available to watch for free on YouTube, providing greater accessibility to a new generation of fans. The film explores the blending of reality and fiction through the ability of a psychiatrist to enter dreams, presenting dangerous situations and raising questions of identity and desire. Paprika features a star-studded voice cast and is a stand-out production from the early 2000s that shouldn't be missed by fans of science fiction and anime.

The stunning anime film, Paprika, is now available to watch for free on YouTube. Released in the early 2000s, this psychological thriller masterpiece by Satoshi Kon focuses on the titular heroine, who is the alter ego a psychiatrist uses to get inside her patients' minds. This movie is one that anime and science fiction film aficionados shouldn't miss out on.

Paprika was released in 2006. It was produced by Madhouse,...

As anime is slowly becoming mainstream media, many Japanese anime studios are competing against one another to showcase the hottest series for fans and to land licensing agreements with international streaming services. There are plenty of series to choose from nowadays; thus, the debate on which studio has the best anime catalog is challenging.

Each studio has its aesthetic and culture. Toei Animation has a legacy, featuring iconic anime series that paved the way for future generations, such as Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon. Kyoto Animation is known for its depiction of the beauty of daily life, highlighting and emphasizing specific scenes in clear animation quality.

Yet even though each studio has its unique style to attract anime viewers, there is one studio that stands out from the rest: Madhouse. Madhouse established itself as an anime powerhouse with its several collaborations with other studios, jump-starting the careers of many directors and manga artists,...

With the overwhelming amount of anime that airs every season, some shows are doomed to be overshadowed by more popular or anticipated hits, surpassed by the impossible competition. For the past decade, the isekai genre has been one of the most popular anime categories, each season producing one or more breakthrough hits about a hero trapped in another world.

Related: Top 10 Most Lovable Isekai Protagonists, Ranked

While the demand for isekai adventures hasn't died down quite yet, some series in this enormously prolific genre that had the potential to gain a massive following end up losing against much stronger competitors. Aired alongside some of the biggest hits in the industry, these shows wind up outside the limelight. Despite their seemingly universal appeal and compelling premise, these isekai series wasted their potential to go mainstream by coming out at the wrong time.

Updated on May 16th, 2023 by Maria Remizova: This list...

When the sakura season comes, Demon Slayer's Nezuko leaves her box to view the cherry blossoms.

Cosplayer Naoko-Hime posted their dazzling Demon Slayer Nezuko cosplay on Reddit. With Nezuko's light pink kimono and the magenta flower pinned to her flame-tipped hair, the cosplayer matches the beautiful cherry blossoms surrounding her. Cupped gently in her hands is a cluster of blooms. Nezuko is rarely seen without her bamboo muzzle when she isn't fighting, but she likely forwent wearing it to enjoy the sakura blossoms to the fullest.

Related: How It Feels to Be Slain By Each of Demon Slayer's Breathing Styles

Naoko-Hime's Cosplay History

As a huge Nezuko fan, Naoko-Hime has portrayed the demon in other photoshoots, including one where she seems to be in a dark forest with lights imitating fireflies floating around her. In this particular cosplay, Naoko-Hime wore the bamboo muzzle, which she said was "quite comfortable.

Fans of mangaka and director, Katsuhiro Otomo, known for Akira (1988), won't want to miss a 90s sci-fi anime anthology. Memories (1995) is now streaming and it includes a must-see story as its introductory feature. Severely underrated, it was released on home video in North America in recent years but can now be streamed by anime fans.

Originally released in 1995 in Japan, then in the U.S. two years later, Memories is an anthology film comprising three separate features: Magnetic Rose, Stink Bomb, and Cannon Fodder. Each is based on manga short stories written by Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo. With a screenplay by Satoshi Kon, Magnetic Rose is directed by Kōji Morimoto. Stink Bomb is directed Tensai Okamura with a screenplay by Otomo. Cannon Fodder is directed and written by Otomo. While there are three short films, the highlight of the grouping is definitely Magnetic Rose.

Related: Demon Slayer, Spy x Family,...

For some reason, the future always seems to be a few decades away. 1984 was published in 1949. Terminator, which appropriately enough was released in 1984, set 1997 as the date for the apocalyptic “Judgement Day.” It seems strange now, after the turn of the Millennium (which happened rather uneventfully, with little more than an endless repeat of an old Prince song to mark its passing) to look back on things like Mad Max, Y2K, or the still older imaginings of such retro science fiction classics as Fahrenheit 451 or Soylent Green, but for decades, sci-fi imagineers alternated between the chills of gloom and doom and utopian fever.

Anime and manga embraced these themes with series like Akira, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Vampire Hunter D. X 1999 represents Clamp’s foray into the dark future. Perhaps better known for their recent hit sister series, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and XXXHolic, the all female manga supergroup are...

Dark Horse Comics has reported a rise in sales of its manga titles despite overall decline in the sector. According to director of new development Michael Martens, the firm's manga line saw an increase of 13%. "We're holding steady on the adult manga, Beserk and Gantz. And the Clamp titles (Clover omnibus, Card Captor Sakura and volume one of Chobits) have sold really well," he told Publishers (more)...

In the world of giant mecha and space opera, it’s hard to find anything genuinely new. The genre is so defined, there are few trails left to blaze, and so a new series will most likely develop along one of two routes: it can either ride the coat tails an already established franchise, and present itself as a sequel/prequel/reversioning (the new — and Excellent — Evangelion titles are great example of this), or a show can strive to be a parody, preferably a really Good one, such as Galaxy Angel or Martian Successor Nadesico.

Vandread is in this latter category, and it doesn’t take long (approximately five seconds) to find out that this is space mecha action with a twist — forget aliens or angels, this is boys vs. girls! Men are from Mars, and Women are from Venus, but after decades in deep space, the two don’t...

It’s no accident that you are reading this column. In life there is no such thing as coincidence. There is only… inevitability…

I won’t even try to hide my enthusiasm for this series. If you remember my column on collecting anime swag, you know I own two XXXHOLiC wall scrolls — one autographed by Colleen Clinkenbeard, the voice of Yuko herself, along with a clock (also autographed), and a Yuko lapel pin. I made my own Watanuki/Doumeki cosplay, and there is a stuffed black Mokona plush over the TV. In other words, I’m a fan, and so you can imagine my excitement when Funimation released the entire series of XXXHOLiC as a boxed set.

XXXHOLiC, (pronounced “Holic”; the x’s are silent), tells the story of a boy named Watanuki, who has the curse of being able to see spirits. Wherever he goes, they are drawn to him.