Clover (manga)
Encyclopedia
is a manga
series created by Clamp
, a creative team
made up by Satsuki Igarashi
, Ageha Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi
, and Mokona
. The manga takes place in a dystopian future, where the government is out to control the "Clovers", a race of children with special powers.
Clover was serialized in Kodansha
's Amie from 1997 until the magazine's demise in 1999.
Classified according to how powerful they are, the children were then tattooed with a symbol of the Clover Project, with the number of leaves on the Clover indicating their power. To date, Sue is the only "4-leaf Clover" discovered. Along with other "Clovers", Sue was imprisoned to prevent her contact with other humans, as the government feared that she might develop feelings and be used as a weapon to jeopardize the country's national security.
Being isolated from the rest of mankind, Sue craves for company, and as for her only wish, she asks to visit "Fairy Park." Her escort is Kazuhiko, an ex-military soldier who has been forced to undertake the task. It is later revealed that Kazuhiko and Sue are connected through Kazuhiko's deceased lover, .
comprise part I and trace the main story in the present. The following two volumes are parts II and III, and are flashbacks which explain the history behind certain incidents. According to series head writer Nanase Ohkawa
, two further books are needed to complete the story.
's Amie from 1997 until the magazine's demise in 1999, and remains unfinished. Kodansha collected the chapters into four volumes
. The first was published on June 6, 1997; the final was released on August 9, 1999. Kodansha re-released the series in two volumes on July 17, 2008.
Clover was licensed for an English-language release in North America by Tokyopop
. It published the series from May 15, 2001, to March 20, 2002, but let the series go out of print on May 2, 2005. Dark Horse Manga picked up the license, combining the series into one volume (ISBN 1-59582-196-1) in its original right-to-left format and releasing it on May 13, 2009.
The series is also licensed in French by Pika Édition
, and in German by Carlsen Comics.
music video
directed by Kitarō Kōsaka
and animated by Madhouse Studios
was shown in Japanese theaters before the Cardcaptor Sakura
film in 1999. The short film was released to DVD as part of the Clamp in Wonderland
collection on October 26, 2007.
Dark Horse Comics
, who holds the license for the distribution of the English North American edition of the manga, is currently in negotiations with Universal Studios
for the rights to develop a movie based upon the manga; however, no deal has been made just yet.
and Wish
. She stated that it was a fast-pace drama similar to works such X
and Tokyo Babylon
. She commented on CLAMP's choice of presenting the story in short sequences and in a style "where the frames break out of the typical 'grid'" and to produce an experience of watching a movie on paper. She also commented that the typesetting
of the sound effects helped create the overall cold mood unlike other CLAMP works. Furthermore, she praised the work for retaining a high detail of the art without being too dense.
Kisei from Tokidoki Journal praised Clover for having a sense of beauty due to its empty space and simplicity, which help give the manga and characters a mood of "chilling isolation," a stark contrast from CLAMP's
previous works which Kisei said feature highly detailed pages that make reading difficult and "cheerful bubbly" female protagonists. Kisei further praised the work for, instead of defining the characters, using art to express their personalities and traits. Further praising it as a work that would draw both female and male audiences with its romance and military aspects, Kisei stated that the only flaw with the work was its high price.
Casey Brienza of Anime News Network
remarks that the series is "arguably the best artwork of CLAMP's career" and has "gorgeous production values" but that "pretentious poetry conceals a thin plot and even thinner characterization."
A Publishers Weekly
review claims that reading the series is like, "looking into a dystopic future through one tiny, perfectly square frame." The same reviewer said that the character designs were "magnificent" and that, "the tiny details on the clockwork birds and imaginative effects are stunning." The reviewer felt that though it was obviously an experimental work for CLAMP, that the series would be widely liked.
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series created by Clamp
Clamp (manga artists)
, is an all-female Japanese manga artist group that formed in the mid 1980s. Many of the group's manga series are often adapted into anime after release. It consists of their leader , who provides much of the storyline and screenplay for all their works and adaptations of those works respectively ,...
, a creative team
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
made up by Satsuki Igarashi
Satsuki Igarashi
is a member of the all-female manga-creating team Clamp. Her duties in the team are Nanase Ohkawa's sounding board, and the character designer of Chobits and line artist for Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle....
, Ageha Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi
Tsubaki Nekoi
is a member of the all-female manga-creating team Clamp. She is the co-director and her duties in the team include applying screentones and correcting manga illustrations. She was also the lead artist on Legal Drug, The One I Love, Wish, Suki and xxxHolic...
, and Mokona
Mokona
is the pen name of the lead artist, colorist, and composition designer of the all-female manga-creating team Clamp. She was formerly known as . Clamp has had a huge impact on the "manga explosion" according to an account in the New York Times in 2006. Their artwork has been characterized as "fluid"...
. The manga takes place in a dystopian future, where the government is out to control the "Clovers", a race of children with special powers.
Clover was serialized in Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
's Amie from 1997 until the magazine's demise in 1999.
Plot
Clover is primarily about a young girl called . In the futuristic world that she inhabits, the military conducted a search for gifted children nicknamed "Clovers", who seemingly have the magical ability to manipulate technology. Demonstrations of their powers include teleportation and summoning weapons from thin air.Classified according to how powerful they are, the children were then tattooed with a symbol of the Clover Project, with the number of leaves on the Clover indicating their power. To date, Sue is the only "4-leaf Clover" discovered. Along with other "Clovers", Sue was imprisoned to prevent her contact with other humans, as the government feared that she might develop feelings and be used as a weapon to jeopardize the country's national security.
Being isolated from the rest of mankind, Sue craves for company, and as for her only wish, she asks to visit "Fairy Park." Her escort is Kazuhiko, an ex-military soldier who has been forced to undertake the task. It is later revealed that Kazuhiko and Sue are connected through Kazuhiko's deceased lover, .
Development
The manga was conceived as a four part story. The first two volumesTankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
comprise part I and trace the main story in the present. The following two volumes are parts II and III, and are flashbacks which explain the history behind certain incidents. According to series head writer Nanase Ohkawa
Nanase Ohkawa
is a member of the all-female manga-creating team Clamp. She is the director of the team and is primarily responsible for writing the stories and scripts for Clamp's various works....
, two further books are needed to complete the story.
Release
Clover was serialized in KodanshaKodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
's Amie from 1997 until the magazine's demise in 1999, and remains unfinished. Kodansha collected the chapters into four volumes
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
. The first was published on June 6, 1997; the final was released on August 9, 1999. Kodansha re-released the series in two volumes on July 17, 2008.
Clover was licensed for an English-language release in North America by Tokyopop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
. It published the series from May 15, 2001, to March 20, 2002, but let the series go out of print on May 2, 2005. Dark Horse Manga picked up the license, combining the series into one volume (ISBN 1-59582-196-1) in its original right-to-left format and releasing it on May 13, 2009.
The series is also licensed in French by Pika Édition
Pika Édition
Pika Édition is a French publisher headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, specializing in manga. Founded as a daughter company of Media System Editions, it was taken over by Hachette Livre in 2007.-Distribution:...
, and in German by Carlsen Comics.
Volume list
Media
A Clover animatedAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
directed by Kitarō Kōsaka
Kitaro Kosaka
is a Japanese animator and film director.-Profile:He began his career in 1979 with the studio Oh! Production. He left the studio in 1986 to become a freelance, and soon went on to work on numerous projects as a key and supervising animation director for the noted animation studio Studio Ghibli, and...
and animated by Madhouse Studios
Madhouse (company)
is a Japanese animation studio, founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro animators including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. It has created and helped to produce many well known shows, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! in 1973, and including western favourites Ninja...
was shown in Japanese theaters before the Cardcaptor Sakura
Cardcaptor Sakura
, abbreviated as CCS and also known as Cardcaptors, is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by the manga artist group Clamp. The manga was originally serialized monthly in Nakayoshi from the May 1996 until the June 2000 issue, and later published in 12 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha...
film in 1999. The short film was released to DVD as part of the Clamp in Wonderland
Clamp in Wonderland
Clamp in Wonderland is a series of music videos produced by Clamp, a creative team made up by Satsuki Igarashi, Ageha Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi and Mokona ....
collection on October 26, 2007.
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
, who holds the license for the distribution of the English North American edition of the manga, is currently in negotiations with Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
for the rights to develop a movie based upon the manga; however, no deal has been made just yet.
Reception
Rika Takahashi, from EX: The Online World of Manga, noted the work's stark contrast with other, more positive CLAMP works such as Cardcaptor SakuraCardcaptor Sakura
, abbreviated as CCS and also known as Cardcaptors, is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by the manga artist group Clamp. The manga was originally serialized monthly in Nakayoshi from the May 1996 until the June 2000 issue, and later published in 12 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha...
and Wish
Wish (manga)
is a Japanese shōjo manga series created by Clamp. It is published in English by Tokyopop. The American translation was imported to Australia by Madman Entertainment.- Plot:...
. She stated that it was a fast-pace drama similar to works such X
X (manga)
, also known as X/1999, is a Japanese shōjo manga series created by Clamp, a creative team made up by Satsuki Igarashi, Nanase Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi, and Mokona. It premiered in Monthly Asukas May 1992 issue and ran there until the magazine's editors showed concern with the increasingly violent...
and Tokyo Babylon
Tokyo Babylon
is a manga series created by Clamp. The series follows Subaru Sumeragi, the head of the Sumeragi clan, and his sister Hokuto as they work to protect Tokyo from a myriad of supernatural perils....
. She commented on CLAMP's choice of presenting the story in short sequences and in a style "where the frames break out of the typical 'grid'" and to produce an experience of watching a movie on paper. She also commented that the typesetting
Typesetting
Typesetting is the composition of text by means of types.Typesetting requires the prior process of designing a font and storing it in some manner...
of the sound effects helped create the overall cold mood unlike other CLAMP works. Furthermore, she praised the work for retaining a high detail of the art without being too dense.
Kisei from Tokidoki Journal praised Clover for having a sense of beauty due to its empty space and simplicity, which help give the manga and characters a mood of "chilling isolation," a stark contrast from CLAMP's
CLAMP
, is an all-female Japanese manga artist group that formed in the mid 1980s. Many of the group's manga series are often adapted into anime after release. It consists of their leader , who provides much of the storyline and screenplay for all their works and adaptations of those works respectively ,...
previous works which Kisei said feature highly detailed pages that make reading difficult and "cheerful bubbly" female protagonists. Kisei further praised the work for, instead of defining the characters, using art to express their personalities and traits. Further praising it as a work that would draw both female and male audiences with its romance and military aspects, Kisei stated that the only flaw with the work was its high price.
Casey Brienza of Anime News Network
Anime News Network
Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
remarks that the series is "arguably the best artwork of CLAMP's career" and has "gorgeous production values" but that "pretentious poetry conceals a thin plot and even thinner characterization."
A Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
review claims that reading the series is like, "looking into a dystopic future through one tiny, perfectly square frame." The same reviewer said that the character designs were "magnificent" and that, "the tiny details on the clockwork birds and imaginative effects are stunning." The reviewer felt that though it was obviously an experimental work for CLAMP, that the series would be widely liked.