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. Considering that we're looking at the twelfth volume today, I have to assume if you were interested in the show already you would have checked it out. Whatever the case may be, this is the final installment of the second season of Tsubasa.

Up to this point a lot has happened, and yet by the same token, nothing has. For all intents and purposes this show has grown little since the very first episode or two, and it has been one lengthy stretch of episodic stories and formula. Basically every volume has seen Syaoran and company travel to different worlds looking for Sakura's feathers. It became painfully episodic after a while and with the tiresome pattern repeated ad nauseam over the course of several volumes, it didn't help matters. Thankfully every once in a while there were storylines of outstanding quality that helped elevate the material and the made the show exciting to watch. That's exactly what happens with this twelfth installment.

Episodes 49 through 52 continue a story that was set into motion back in episode 48. In that episode Syaoran and his posse wound up in a city where an interesting fellow named Chaos resided. At first he seemed to be genuinely nice, and seemingly wanted to help restore Sakura's memories. He seemed so honest that he even presented the companions with a feather. At the start of this volume that feather leads to others, and soon enough Syaoran, Kurogane, and Fay run off to find more where Chaos said he discovered them. Wouldn't you know it's a trap though, and nothing is ever quite as it seems.

Soon enough Chaos reveals that he desires to travel with Sakura and separate the princess from her friends. Naturally this doesn't sit too well with Syaoran and pretty soon he and Chaos are getting ready to duel for the rights to be with Sakura. There are some interesting bits here and the story for each of these episodes is elevated by a nice sense of drama. I especially like the way the show plays this plotline, as it really fleshes out Chaos' character in ways that other secondary personalities in the series haven't been. Right up to the end of this volume it's rather unclear how things are going to play out. I won't divulge the details, but I will say that this was one of the most enjoyable installments Tsubasa has had in a long time. It's too bad every volume of the show couldn't have been as well planned as this one.

If you're a fan of Tsubasa and you have been following it up to this point, then there's really nothing standing between you and this volume. I will say that this volume was very good, if not one of the best that the show has ever had. It's a shame that it came so late in its run, because lengthy storylines such as the one featuring Chaos could have elevated my overall opinion of the show. As it stands Tsubasa is a mildly entertaining traveling buddy anime. The writing is solid all around, but the pacing and episodic structure does not help matters. This volume is a shining example of the show at its best. Strongly Recommended.

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.

Even with this being the final volume of the second season Tsubasa still only offers Character and World Guides along with some clean animations and trailers.

While the rest of the second season of Tsubasa didn't quite push the envelope like I had hoped it would, this final installment is the best of the bunch. The Chaos storyline is quite good and right up to the end you'll realize why you stuck with this show in the first place. While it's by no means an epic masterpiece, Tsubasa is entertaining in its own way, and CLAMP fans will definitely want to check it out. Consider it recommended.

Check out more of my reviews here. Head on over to my anime blog as well for random musings and reviews of anime, manga, and stuff from Japan!