First off, I'd like to record a HUGE sigh of relief that Tsubasa 198 is finally here! Now, on to the actual subject of the post, but first: one big squeeeeeeeeeee for the first page! (above) Chibi Kuro-pon, Fai and Syaoran are so adorable, they need to be glomped at once. Especially Syaoran* (awwwww!), and it's lovely to see Fai as a happy kid, especially after the childhood he had.After a break of nearly ten chapters, we finally see Kurogane and Fai again, since Syaoran's snapped back to the present after telling them his story, with Sakura doomed by the black feather seal. I was afraid the flashback would end there, but CLAMP know they've got a lot more explaining to do for young 'Syaoran'- so it's back to his memory again, and on that point; well done, ladies. I know a lot of sites said Tsubasa and xxxHolic were supposed to be complete by the end of this year, but there's absolutely no way that's happening with the current storyline- it's defnitely going to take over two volumes more to figure things out, let alone wrap them up. The storyline isn't at a point that feels like a wrap-up yet...
On a second note: Syaoran hugs Sakura! Awwwwwwwwwww....there's a reason why they're one of my favourite manga couples of all time, and it's just this: they're so fantastic together. I know TRC gets a lot of flak from CLAMP fans and non-fans alike for being long-winded (what do you expect, it's 25 volumes!) and having fanservice (duh, CLAMP said they were featuring AU versions of characters from every series they'd ever written!), but to me, it's the new spin on Syaoran and Sakura that really got me reading, and it's the biggest part of what keeps me glued to IRC looking for the next chapter. They've gone from cutesy funny to epic, and gone that way successfully too- not an easy thing when its essentially the same people you're reading from a diffeent series (and I speak as a pre-chapter 189 reader).
*and here's my impetus to write yet another story at FF.net about Kero and Syaoran. I tried Kero and Toya last time, and it seemed to work nicely but Kero-Syaoran is equally funny.
