Theme Spotlight: CLAMP Edition

Since I don't think I've made it 100% clear yet on this blog how desperately obsessed I am with CLAMP (sarcasm), today's Theme Spotlight is going to be devoted to the music of the anime based off CLAMP works. As a worshiper of the original CLAMP canon, my reactions to the anime have been varied from absolute love (xxxHolic), to annoyance at an overabundance of contradictory filler (Tsubasa), to outright horror that a 10 volume series was condensed into one OVA (RG Veda), but there's no denying that the music that comes along with CLAMP anime is killer. Here are my top 10 picks:

10. "Magic Number" from Kobato: Maaya Sakamoto is a staple to CLAMP anime, from Card Captor Sakura to Tsubasa, so I was beside my self when I turned on the first episode of one of CLAMP's more recent series Kobato to hear one of my favorite songstresses at it once again. Sakamoto is a veteran on the scene, but this song is so current, fresh, and exciting that you might be surprised to hear she's been working since the late 1980s, and has contributed seven full lengths CDs to the industry. In any case, this song is practically bursting with the spirit of Kobato and made a fantastic opening to a heartwarming and adorable series

9. "eX Dream" from X: X is CLAMP's dark and broodingest (now a word) emocalypse (also a word), and they were wise to stay away from anything too perky for this series. Masatoshi Nishimura/Myuji provided an emotional and atmospheric rock opening with "eX Dream," which is spot on for the theme of the show, although whenever I sing along, I mess up and say "Drowning for my life" rather than "Burning for my life." Whoops!

8. "The Starry Sky" from Angelic Layer: I was half-and-half with my opinion of the Angelic Layer anime (loved the action, hated the meddling with the original pairings), but I loved the closing theme from HAL. HAL brings that nostalgic 90s sound which I often find myself missing, and delivers a solid vocal. Oh, CLAMP from the olden days... -sniffle-

7. "SONIC BOOM" from Tsubasa: Wait, Maaya Sakamto again? While it's true Sakamoto is an idol of mine, this track would have probably given me a swift kick in the heart even if I hadn't known it was her. After the insane opening to the Tsubasa Shunraiki OVA I was already bawling my eyes out courtesy of Kurogane and Fai, and as soon as this beautiful and heart wrenching track about losing the person you love started I was so out of control thinking about Kurogane, Fai, Syaoran, and Sakura that the waterworks only got worse. And the violins.... AND THE GUITARS ON THE LIVE TRACK!!!! Aaah, yes. So this is love I feel.

6. "Let Me Be With You" from Chobits: Winning the most adorable track in existence award is Chobits opener "Let Me Be With You" by Round Table with Nino (and I'm pretty sure Nino is Rie Tanaka's alias, because it sounds/looks just like her). This song is pure, sappy romance at its best, and I don't care if the sugar is piled on high, because I want more of it!

5. "Yuzurenai Negai" from Magic Knight Rayearth: I mentioned 90s nostalgia earlier with Angelic Layer, but this song is the very definition of it. Whenever I hear this track, I think back to the glory days of InuYasha, Ranma, Kenshin and all the fun and action that went along with them, and I get all warm and fuzzy inside. I still want to be Umi, Hikaru, and Fuu even at 21, and I love this song for all memories it brings.

4. "Catch You Catch Me" from Card Captor Sakura: I have a difficult relationship with this series. I loved the manga and the Japanese Card Captor Sakura, but the horror that was the American Cardcaptors cannot be forgotten. Moving the episode timeline, giving the characters American names, diminishing Sakura as the lead, cutting out canon pairings (TOUYA/YUKITO!?!?).... it cannot be forgiven. However, the CLAMP original and Japanese editions are not to blame, and this song from Gumi proves exactly why this series was perfect in its native land. Poor American children brainwashed by our stupid reinterpretation...

3. "Peony Pink" from CLAMP Campus Detectives: May I also add that Japanese shows for younger audiences are boss? Card Captor Sakura featured a whooping number of homoerotic situations (Everyone of every gender having the hots for Yukito, Tomoyo lusting after Sakura, Yue lusting after Clow, etc), and CLAMP Campus Detectives had elementary school students Akira and Suoh with kindergarden aged girlfriends. And kicking the collective butts of grown adults alongside young womanizer Nokoru. In any case, the brilliant theme was performed by the baroque duo Ali Project in their milder years, which makes for an interesting comparison to their newer stuff. It's light and fluffy like the show, but an excellent listen.

2. "Ningyo Hime" from Chobits: Chobits makes the list twice for spanning the whole range of emotions. After the joy of "Let Me Be With You," Rie Tanaka shifts gears into the deeply bittersweet "Ningyo Hime," an ode to desiring love no matter how badly it hurts. As Chii herself phrases it, "If the someone just for me doesn't choose me, I'm afraid the hurt will be so bad that I'll stop working. It's a powerful feeling, isn't it? A hurt so strong that it could cause you to break." Commence sobbing. Thank you, thank you, Rie Tanaka.

1. "19sai" from xxxHolic: On a happier note, I am in love with Suga Shikao. Yes, I know he's an older man, but I just can't help myself! His chillaxing CDs are always a favorite on my Ipod, but I never would have discovered him if not for the glory that is the first xxxHolic opening theme "19sai." The song is catchy, fun, and smooth, and was just what I was looking for in the show based off my favorite manga. It was the first show where I had ever listened to the opener for every one of the 24 episodes, and even after I finished season one, I burned it to every mix CD in existence and listened to it some more. God bless those 19 year old days!

Theme Spotlight: Magic Number

Hooray for Maaya Sakamoto! Not only is she responsible for some of my Tsubasa favorites ('Loop,' 'Kazemachi Jet,' and 'Sonic Boom'), but she's also the vocalist behind the adorable opening theme to Kobato, 'Magic Number'. Though she is perfectly capable of being serious, this song embraces all of the cuteness and fresh innocence of the title character and is very playful and light. It makes me glad she's an old standby for CLAMP anime, and I hope they will utilize her excellent vocals again in the future. Even Ioryogi would have to smile along to this one!

Or not.

Fun Stuff: Shipping Roulette

For shippers, crack pairings are either something you love or you hate. On one hand, it's a bit unsettling to see one-half of a pairing you love being all over someone completely random, but there's a lot to be said for getting creative enough to make a relationship between two totally unrelated or opposite characters seem believable (or just indulging in the straight up humor of the situation). The world is full of unlikely relationships, so why not see what would happen if you sent Aizen and Chad skipping into the sunset together or made poor Hermione Granger the object of Gregory Goyle's affection?

Team Starkid's crack pairing of Quirrell/Voldemort in A Very Potter Musical ended up being a huge hit with fans even though it goes against many canon truths of the books. It's funny, so who really cares?

Crack pairings are typically a staple in fan fiction and fan art, but anyone can try their hand at them to get some laughs out of their favorite fandom. One of my favorite crack pairing memes, shipping roulette, is a fun and easy way to make your own cracky pairs as a foundation for a silly story, picture, or something interesting to store in your imagination during a boring class in school. So if you're looking for something random to do, why not give it a try?

To start off, write down the names of at least 20 of your favorite characters to rip up and put in a hat, or if you want to save a tree, type them in to an online randomizer. The names can be from your favorite fandom or a mix of different fandoms (or even original characters, if you have them), and can include whatever gender ratio you're interested in as well as amusing non-human options (like Aizen's tea cup if you're doing Bleach or Tony, Pixie, and Brownie for Hetalia). If characters have alternate identities or personas, it may also be fun to include those for some extra cracky pairings.

Be forewarned: Aizen will not tolerate his tea cup seeing another man.

As a sample, I'm going to be doing roulette with CLAMP characters: Chii, Subaru, Black Mokona, White Mokona, Yuuko, Hikaru, Umi, Fuu, Sumomo, Eagle Vision, Kurogane, Fuuma, Watanuki, Himawari, Tomoyo, Kamui, Ioryogi, Syaoran, Ginsei, Fei Wang Reed, Sakura, Doumeki, Yasha, Ashura, Yukito, Touya, Fai, Sorata, Eriol, Syaoran!Cloney, Arashi, Seishirou, Clow, and Koboto. That's more than 20, I know, but I love CLAMP! Now let's see what happens.

Got the names all mixed up? Pick two, and that will be your first pairing. If you've started with a good variety of names, it should typically be something pretty odd. I ended up with the dynamic duo of Watanuki + Touya, xxxHolic's famous keet and Sakura's big brother from Carcaptor Sakura and Tsubasa. I don't know if Touya's easily annoyed demeanor would be able to tolerate Watanuki's shrieking, but we all know he doesn't mind same sex relationships (poor, lonely Yukito) and dudes with glasses.

As luck would have it, Watanuki already knows a few things about being a neko

Every series needs an OT3, so this time pick out three names from your list for your fandom's threesome. Looks like our leading man Syaoran gets all the ladies, including Umi and Tomoyo! As one of the most popular ladies of CLAMP canon, Sakura must be feeling pretty bummed that both the people with a crush on her have moved onto Magic Knight Umi. Must be a blue haired thing.

Syaoran and Tomoyo have found a new hero to worship: the beautiful woman warrior Umi!

Now, let's get a bit convoluted. Pull out the next seven names, paying attention to the order. The first character you picked (for me, Fai) is in a relationship with the second (Fuuma), but the second runs off with the third (Chii) leaving the first brokenhearted. One (Fai) has a steamy one night stand with the fourth (oh God, Sumomo) and unhappy affair with the fifth (Yasha) before taking the advice of six (love guru Yukito) and finding true love with seven (Kamui). My god, Fai, what an intriguing love life!

The cracky loves of Fai D Flourite. He's a busy man... and apparently enjoys dolls on the side.

The next four will be our chain of fools. The first (Subaru) is in love with the second (Kobato) who is in love with the third (Clow) who loves four (White Mokona) who loves one (Subaru). Bwhaha, I think I just destroyed the CLAMP canon and pissed off a few jilted pairings (Seishirou, Fujimoto, and Yuuko). Sorry guys. Mokona wants to have fun!

This is wrong on so many levels. Dying here!

A more straight up love triangle is in order for the next three names. One (Sorata) and two (Eriol) are in love with three (Ioryogi). What will happen when they vie for his affection? Keep in mind that Ioryogi is actually a spirit trapped in the body of stuffed animal, so our boys aren't crushing on a plushie... kind of. They just have odd taste. 

Ioryogi's just so cute, both Eriol and Sorata have to have him

Our poor last name... Kurogane... will be alone forever. Shocked by Fai's risque sexcapades, his liege lady's and son-figure's abandonment of her his 'daughter' Sakura for Umi, and Mokona's shocking feelings for Subaru Sumeragi has destroyed his desire for love. He will instead spend the rest of his life bleaching his brain. As will I after this experience.

Even if you ring an apology out of him, Fai's not going to feel guilty, Kuro-tan

Hope anyone who tried it out enjoyed it. And my apologies to CLAMP fans :)