Tokyo Babylon: CLAMP Premium Collection Volume 5 Review
When it comes to the social issues covered in the fifth volume of Tokyo Babylon, arguably the one common factor relating to the three chapters here is death – namely trying to help those near death naturally, those who are near death sooner than expected, and those who have already died.
The first chapter sees Subaru Sumeragi helping to cleanse a house where a family committed suicide due to their rising debts. After carrying out his work, he encounters an elderly gentleman in a park who has an affinity with animals. He used to be a zookeeper in his youth, which is Subaru’s dream job. However, Subaru also learns from the gentleman that his family consider him a burden because they too are tight financially – something he knows all too well when he came into the house one day and his grandchildren asked him when he was going to die.
The next significant person Subaru encounters is when he, his twin sister Hokuto and their friend Seishiro Sakurazuka go to a karaoke bar together. Seishiro sends Subaru out to get some cigarettes, which he happily does because it gets him out of having to sing a song he doesn’t know. While getting them, he is dragged into another karaoke room occupied by a sole woman, whom Subaru listens to and helps when he learns she had an ill-advised affair with her boss, which she can’t get passed from.
The third chapter in the story is arguably the most significant in the whole of Tokyo Babylon. Subaru comes down with the flu and has to go to hospital. While there, he encounters a young boy named Yuuya who comes into the hospital regularly. The location of where he goes to in the hospital leads Seishiro to conclude that Yuuya is on dialysis. We learn that this is a recurring problem in Yuuya’s family and, that due to various societal taboos, there is a lack of donors in Japan. The selfless Subaru decides that he will donate one of his kidneys to save Yuuya’s life, but when Yuuya’s health takes a sudden downward turn, Yuuya’s desperate mother does something horribly drastic, to the detriment of all around them, and to one person in particular.
CLAMP’s use of social commentary continues to examine more topics that seem lacking in the world of manga generally, still to this day. Having already tackled topics like the environment, immigration and sexual assault, in Volume 5 we can add issues like ageism, the health system, and the still ever-present issue of the price of housing. At the same time, you have CLAMP’s famous artwork, which at times leads to peculiar mash-ups. For example, after we learn about the elderly gentleman who is being considered a burden, the next thing we see is Seishiro and Hokuto playing chess, with Hokuto wearing one of her most outlandish outfits, in what appears to be some kind of playing card tunic. She looks like Hisoka from Hunter x Hunter on his day off.
However, CLAMP are also able to make things graphically dramatic, especially when it comes to the conclusion of this volume during the breakdown of Yuuya’s mother. This leads to what is arguably CLAMP’s most famous motif. If you are a fan of Tokyo Babylon’s sequel X, this is where one of the main characters gets THAT particular injury.
Concerning the production, we return to the same people we had making Volume 3, with Amanda Haley as translator, Phil Christie is the lone letterer, and Jacquelyn Li and Won Young Seo are the editors. Once again we have another fold-out colour illustration, nothing untoward regarding the way the work has been translated, and some translation notes at the back, although it should be said that most of these notes concern what songs are being sung in the karaoke chapter.
The main thing to take away from this volume is that following its conclusion, we know that things are going to get even darker for the trio at the heart of the story. While on the surface this story looks rather colourful – and the special covers for this reissue help to seemingly cement that feeling with this edition featuring Subaru and Seishiro in regal, military outfits – things are only going to get worse for Subaru.
Our review copy from Yen Press was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
