Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle is 26 episodes of the a first season of a fantasy adventure anime, with romance bubbling beneath the surface. The main cast hops between alternate worlds in order to complete their goal. It reminds me of other great anime like FMA, Dragonball, Code Geass and even Mai Hime. The story seems confusing and unexplained at first, but picks up the pace and feels slightly episodic due to the constantly changing settings and supporting cast. I get a feeling of nostalgia from this anime somehow, even though I don't recall ever having watched it before. I would definitely say give this anime a try, this seems to be one that a wide range of people can enjoy.AnimationThe animation quality is excellent. Despite that, I watched it in 480p since I couldn't find dual audio in better quality, it is available in 1080p in Japanese for sure though. Otherwise it seemed to be just right for a 2005 anime. The animation style seems generic and a bit aged, yet this felt good somehow. I got a feeling of nostalgia, which won't come to everyone and characters did remind me of characters in other anime. Syouran reminded me of Suzaku from Code Geass and Kurogane seemed a mix between Scar and Greed from FMA. Even the little furry thing Modoki seemed familiar and somehow not that annoying as it should seem. The movement is fluid and works well for the most part, there was one flying scene that seemed a bit off however. No ecchi or fanservice here too, a good thing. Overall, the animation didn't exactly stun me and I felt like there was a little something missing. Or maybe I'm too harsh on these anime for not having an original animation style back in 2005/6.SoundOh my the music is stunning. The intro music was good, but the outro just filled me with warmth. After my first run of 6 episodes I felt like I wanted to get the soundtrack. The background music in the anime itself was just as beautiful. At times the music was choral and there were many moments when I just forgot I was watching the anime, I was so immersed in the beautiful soundtrack. Heck it made me want to cry. I was too busy enjoying it that I didn't notice too much of a break from background music. I also noticed that it played epic music when the on screen action wasn't suitably epic. Minor blemishes though, since the sound quality is excellent.
This anime is available in both English, Japanese and even French. They have some great voice actors for the dub including Vic Mignogna as Fay, who also did Yukito Kunisaki in Air, Edward Elric from FMA, Shigeru Aoba from NGE and Ryouta from Yumekui Merry. Syouran is voiced by Jason Liebrecht, the voice of Kouhei from Tsukuyomi Moon Phase and Natsu Tanimoto from History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi, coincidentally the last anime I watched. Sakura is voiced by Monica Rial, do I really need to point out what she's been in? Ugh, Misuzu Kamio from Air, Mei Misaki from Another, Kanae from Elfen Leid, Lyra from FMA, Maya Ibuki from NGE, Hazuki from Tsukuyomi Moon Phase and a lot more (as with every VA I list in these sections of my reviews). The moody Kurogane is voiced by Christopher R. Sabat who also voiced Kitz in Attack on Titan, Various voices in Dragonball including Piccolo and Vegeta, Armstrong from FMA and Shio Sakaki from History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi, again. There are so many other big voice actors in this anime including Carrie Savage as Mokona, Luci Christian as Chun Hyang, J. Michael Tatum as Seishirou and Troy Baker as Dr. Rondart.
Overall, the sound is rather immaculate, there is only a minor fault that awesome music plays when it doesn't need to, which can be seen as a good thing.CharactersWhilst there are five main characters throughout this anime, the male lead would have to be Syouran (pronounced Shao-ran). A mysterious teenage boy who has a passion for archeology and works as an archeologist, following in his father's footsteps. His full past is shrouded in mystery, but one thing is for sure, his childhood friend Sakura is very dear to him. This guy willingly puts his life on the line for Sakura and would do anything for her. The sacrifice he has to make at the start (explained in the story section) is for Sakura to loose her memories of him, effectively starting their relationship from scratch and he becomes a stranger to her. Thus, the main quest is his goal, that is shared with the other companions. He's a pleasant guy, a protagonist who powers on through sheer goodwill and care for other people, besides Sakura. Of the many mysterious things about him, is his good combat ability, which someone points out is surprising given he has no background in fighting. His father died while excavating the ruins outside of their home in the desert kingdom (who's name eludes me). Thus Syoran has made it his goal to finish his father's work. A great protagonist, since I can't find much to fault the design of this character.
The female lead and arguably the only main female character in this anime is Sakura, the princess of the desert kingdom where Syouran grew up and now works. Her older brother Touya is the king and often likes to tease her, like any sibling is expected to. Initially he seems unhappy that Sakura often flees the palace to spend time with Syouran, but it seems he is just looking out for his little sister and he's actually glad that Syouran is her 'chosen one.' It's quite obvious that Sakura has feelings for Syouran and he feels the same way about her. She is a very kind-hearted and gentle girl, she gets along with animals well and so forth. Sakura also has mysterious power, one that starts off the whole saga of this story as her menories and life force are bound in wings and the feathers are spread throughout many alternate worlds. After she looses her memories, she becomes fragile, but her personality remains. As such, she is unconscious for a while and has nothing to sacrifice at the start. Another great character.
The powerful wizard Fay D. Flourite is another kind-hearted, goodwilled companion of the the group, who often jests. As a wizard he has access to powerful magicks, but requires a tattoo on his back in order to keep the magic under control. He has promised himself that he will not use magic without the tattoo. While he is well versed in the arcane arts, he is also rather adept at physical combat too. Heck he's so multi-talented, he has skills in art and cooking too! His reason to join the group on their quest is both due to his helpful personality and his desire to escape from his homeworld. He had locked up and sealed away a powerful and evil mage, only temporarily however. Thus to flee the wrath and retribution he joins the main quest to hop between worlds. His sacrifice he has to make is the precious tattoo on his back. Yet another positive character... though this is starting to be trend. It would be boring with just these nice personalities right?
That's where the final human and oldest member of the group comes in, Kurogane the moody and aggressive feudal Japanese warrior. His desire to grow strong by defeating any and all foes turned bloodlust, causes his princess Tomoyo to exile him from his homeworld using her power. She does this in the hopes that Kurogane learns the error of his ways during his travels. Kurogane is the loose cannon of the group, though surpisingly he has quite some self control. Which completely dies whenever Fay or Mokona annoys him and he gets filled with rage. He seems to be a 'bad guy turned good guy trope' character, that includes the likes of Vegeta & Piccolo from DBZ and Kai from the original Beyblade series. Not a bad trope to have if I'm honest, one of the better and much appreciated tropes of anime. He desires to return home and the only way he can do this is by joining the group on their travels and hoping to find his homeworld once more. His sacrifice is his precious sword. Nice to see a different character in the group.
The final member of the group is the non-human magical rabbit creature Mokona Modoki. This character seems like she (no idea what gender, but voiced by a woman so I'll assume it) should be annoying, but is a rather cheerful and comedic thing, often playing harmless jokes on other members of the group. One ability I noticed is the ability to imitate others voices. It appears to me that she has taking quite a liking to Kurogane, often teasing him and calling him nicknames.
The other secondary characters don't appear to often, due to the nature of the plot of this anime. I will say that the story of the girl Chun Hyang from the second world is a rather heart-wrenching one and this helped make her a likable character. The big bad seems to be the shady and enigmatic Fei Wong Reed who appears often scheming in the background along with his sidekick Xing Huo. Seishirou is also another interesting character, however I feel his additoin was too late and would have benefitted from flashbacks or foreshadowing in earlier episodes. Some of these characters appear to be very human, they may look perfect on the surface, but they each have their issues.StoryI will say that my biggest issue with the story is that it was split up into two seasons. There could be various reasons for it, but it could have just as easily be done as one series of ~50 episodes like other anime. Tsubasa in the title is the japanese word for wings and refers to the overall story. The plot goes that Sakura's memories and life force become drawn out in wings that grow out of her back during a freak event (in episode 1) and the feathers of these wings are scattered throughout many worlds. If she doesn't retrieve all of her memories (feathers), then she will die. Syouran takes Sakura and along with 2 individuals from other worlds appears in front of the sorceress Yuko who agrees to help them traverse worlds and to complete their quest, for a price. Within these multiple worlds they would find doppelgangers (look-alikes) of people they know, join fights, solve mysteries and more.
Of course, it goes without saying that the story is more complex, due to the backgrounds of the characters, which also means flashbacks to explain things. Both the overall plot and inidvidual stories within each world tiwst and turn, with unexpected occurences and more. There is even some uneasiness within the group and the characters begin to question themselves. The pain of Sakura bing unable to remember Syouran in her past is apparent and can be empathised with. As I mentioned in the intro, the story reminds me of other anime like FMA due to how the characters are constantly travelling. The feathers are usually a major source of power in each world, sought by evil for nefarious uses. I'm also reminded of Dragonball, there is similarity in the quest to find 7 Dragon balls and the quest to find all of Sakura's feathers. An excellent story with little that annoys me. Even the individual tales of characters from the various worlds are very interesting.
One thing I will note (without spoilers) is the rather interesting plotline in the last world. It eventually may seem unreasonable, but I'd say it's not. I just had a feeling from the very start of that world that something was off, though I agree they could have spread the tells and foreshadowing out a bit earlier. Otherwise, that sort of subplot would be a terrible overall plot. Thinking back to past stories, that sort of thing has happened as a subplot and as long as it doesn't outstay its welcome, it isn't so contrived.ConclusionI enjoyed this anime so much, I went out of my way to watch more than my 6 daily episodes. I'd recommend this anime to all, heck I designate this as a must watch anime. Everyone should be able to enjoy this, if you don't you either have no heart, lack patience or have a bad taste in anime. I really don't see anything here that isn't to like or any sort of BS. Or your cycnicism vastly outweighs mine, I honestly didn't expect this to be so good before I watched it. I wasn't even going to watch it at first, but I'm glad I did. If you enjoyed anime like FMA, Dragonball or even Code Geass, you'd love Tsubasa Chronicle. It's been a while since I gave an anime such a high rating, but this is just excellent.Family-friendliness Rating: 1/5 Nothing dodgy at all. Just a bit of fantastical violence, but who cares about that ^.^ (lower is better)Overall Rating: 10/10 (higher is better)