The first season of Tsubasa proved to be a worthwhile excursion for fans of CLAMP. Comprising many elements from some of the manga group's most popular series Tsubasa quickly became a successful staple in FUNimation's catalogue. Pulling material from Chobits and Cardcaptor Sakura there are other tidbits and morsels tossed in for good measure as well. In my opinion the show isn't quite as enjoyable or creative as xxxHolic, but that's par fort he course I suppose and by the end of the first season it was clear that this particular series had some good legs to stand on.

I'm going to proceed from here on assuming that you know what the show is all about. If for any reason you don't then by all means go check out one of the previous reviews for a synopsis of the plot. Honestly, if after nine installments you haven't heard about it or checked it out, then chances are good you don't need to know what happens in this review. At any rate, this volume features the second season of the show in full swing, with the events of the tenth volume leading right up to this point.

As the second season of Tsubasa winds down there isn't exactly a lot of change afoot. The show has been the same since the beginning with very little in terms of outstanding moments that left strong impressions. Last time around the show explored the remainder of the library and book of memories. We got to see something resembling Clow Kingdom again and it really showcased the price that Syaoran had to pay in order to save Sakura. He appeared nowhere in this world and as that set in the show actually hit some solid dramatic points.

The eleventh installment kicks off with the company being transported to another world yet again. This place looks familiar somehow, and it should because we've been here before. In a nice change of pace for Tsubasa, the first story here takes us back to the world run by hijitsu we saw in the third volume of the show. Some familiar faces are back as well and soon enough Syaoran and company get together with Chun to figure out what's going on. As one would expect, another feather has landed here and naturally it's up to our heroes to work together to recapture it for Sakura. This simple task gets rather complicated when Syaoran and Kurogane are brought to Kishimu's world with the power of hijitsu. Together they have to defeat a common enemy, though right up to the end there's little doubt whether or not they'll emerge victorious.

I always felt Tsubasa was at its strongest when it presented a storyline over the course of multiple episodes. Even then it has been painfully predictable, but at least the additional length helped cushion the extreme formulaic of the series. Every once in a while the show would throw out standalone episodes, and these ones are arguably the weakest moments. Unfortunately we receive one on this disc, and it definitely feels drier than the rest. Thankfully the series gets another arc underway just before this volume comes to a close, so there's something to look forward to as the season comes to a close.

Tsubasa hasn't necessarily been a bad show. There's a lot going for this series thanks to its charming characters, oft well written plots, solid voice acting, and nice animation. As entertaining as the series can be, it suffers from overwhelming repetitiveness, a strong sense of formula, and painful episodic stretches. Tsubasa is still worth checking out by CLAMP fans, but I think at this point the series is being supported wholly by them. If you're new to CLAMP projects consider this one lightly recommended at best.

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle is presented on DVD with a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer. The show features some downright fantastic character designs that while simplistic (and oddly proportioned), are very endearing and unique. Like the first season I found much of Tsubasa's second season fuzzy at times, but in all honesty it was less noticeable with this installment. The show's production and transfer were definitely spruced up a notch to offer better all around quality. Some compression artifacts still pop up from time to time, and grain continues to be an issue, but overall the show looks better at this point than it did in the past.

Fortunately the audio for this release is far less problematic than the video. For options you'll find a 2.0 track for the original Japanese and 2.0/5.1 selections for English. For my first viewing I watched the show in Japanese and found it to be acceptable in terms of all around quality. The soundstage is noticeably subdued for this track but things improve once you turn on the 5.1 English language. The rear channels come to life with a fair amount of music, sound effects, and ambient noise making their presence known. It may not have been the most immersive track that I have listened to before but it was certainly acceptable.

Unfortunately the second season of Tsubasa doesn't spruce things up in the bonus feature department. The same Character and World Guides make a return as well as textless animation and trailers.

With the second season of Tsubasa one volume away from coming to a close, it is quite clear that the show still offers more of the same in terms of expectations. With four episodes on this volume it doesn't bring much to the table in terms of things we haven't seen before. While there are many interesting moments here we still see the group travel to a world to find a feather and then jump ship to the next dimension, as we have seen time and time again. The show simply relies too strongly on its formula and after two year's worth of episodes I can definitely say it's draining to watch the same material repeated constantly. CLAMP fans can consider the show recommended, and there is enough quality to suggest the same for others, but keep in mind that the show's nature wears a little thin after a while.

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