Tokyo Babylon

The plot begins with a monster of the week approach. Sixteen-year-old Subaru Sumeragi, the main character, is a very powerful magician, the thirteenth head of the foremost family of onmyōji in Japan, which has served the Emperor for centuries. As such, he is called upon to solve various occult mysteries, or stumbles himself on people whom his kind nature compels him to help. These occurrences form the main plot of most chapters. He lives in Tokyo with his twin sister Hokuto, an exuberant girl whose chief occupations are to design eccentric clothing for herself and her brother, and to egg on their mutual friend Seishirō Sakurazuka, a kindly, 25-year-old veterinarian, when he declares his love for Subaru.

There are early hints that Seishirō may not be all that he appears. Hokuto jokes about him being a member of the family of Sakurazukamori, a clan of assassins who use onmyōjitsu to kill, and are pronounced to be the Sumeragis' opposite. Also, Subaru has dreams about having met someone under a cherry tree blooming out of season when he was but a small child, but he cannot quite recall what was being said. This person was actually Seishirō, upon whom Subaru stumbled when he had just performed a kill. According to the rules of the Sakurazukamori, Seishirō should have killed him, but impressed with the child's purity, he made a bet with him instead: He would meet Subaru again, and would then spend one year with him, protecting him and trying to love him. If, at the end of that year, he felt something for Subaru which distinguished him from a thing he could easily destroy, as he could not with any other person, then he would not kill him. To recognize him, he marked him with inverted pentagrams on both hands, the sign of the Sakurazukamori's prey. These marks are for most of the story hidden beneath the gloves Subaru continually wears on the direction of his grandmother, the previous family head, who recognized the marks and so hopes to conceal them with her magic.

Things come to a head when Seishirō loses an eye protecting Subaru, and Subaru realizes that he is in love with Seishirō. But the year is over, and Seishirō declares himself the winner of the bet. He breaks Subaru's arm and tortures him, but does not succeed in killing him, as Subaru's grandmother breaks his spell - an action which leaves her crippled. Subaru's shock and heartbreak leave him catatonic. Hokuto, feeling guilty for her promotion of Seishirō, whom she knew to be dangerous, but also believed to be the only one who might touch Subaru's heart, leaves to find Seishirō and confronts him, asking to be killed by him and casting a spell with her death. Subaru, seeing her in a dream, is shocked out of his catatonia by her action. He vows to find Seishirō and take revenge for his sister's death. The manga ends with an adult and distant Subaru still in search for Seishirō.

Seishirō Sakurazuka, Subaru Sumeragi, and Hokuto Sumeragi

Subaru Sumeragi (皇昴流, Sumeragi Subaru)

Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi (OVA), Shouta Aoi (TV series)[3] (Japanese); Ben Fairman (English)

The 13th Head of the Sumeragi clan, a family of onmyōji. He tends to be rather shy, but is extremely kindhearted. He constantly wears gloves over his hands for reasons known only to his grandmother. A shadowy childhood moment may provide the answer.[4]

Hokuto Sumeragi (皇北都, Sumeragi Hokuto)

Voiced by: Miki Itō (OVA), Nana Mizuki (TV series)[3] (Japanese); Jenny Baker (English)

Subaru's eccentric twin sister. She is quick-witted, bold and impulsive, the polar opposite of Subaru. While she lacks most of Subaru's strong spiritualistic abilities, she is still able to cast spells unique to her. She always means well and acts in Subaru's best interests. Hokuto is the designer of the outrageous outfits she and Subaru often don.[4]

Seishirō Sakurazuka (桜塚星史郎, Sakurazuka Seishirō)

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (OVA). Yūichirō Umehara (TV series)[3] (Japanese); Dean Fenton (English)

A veterinarian who claims to be romantically interested in Subaru. He is secretly the Sakurazukamori, a murderous onmyōji who first met the teenager seven years ago.[4]

Clamp's experiences in the prefecture of Tokyo influenced the manga's themes

Tokyo Babylon was based on a one-shot that Clamp headwriter Nanase Ohkawa wrote for a magazine that featured dōjinshi. After Clamp got to illustrate the cover of the same magazine with Subaru and Hokuto, the magazine Wings proposed Clamp making it into a series from their special edition South. Initially, the series was going to be named "Tokyo" but Clamp wanted to give it a more modern tone. Inspired by the pastry Roppongi Alrrond, the series was titled Tokyo Babylon in reference to how the city of Babylon resembled Tokyo according to Clamp. The one-shot's characters had several changes when starting the series most notably Seishirō.[5] Subaru and his twin sister Hokuto, as well as Seishirō, were first conceived by series creator Ohkawa for a dōjinshi novel about an onmyōji who hunts elves, of which only the beginning exists. The characters were twice drawn for covers, and when South asked Clamp to create a new series for them, these characters were used. Originally, the twins were conceived more as mascots with Subaru being a penguin. Both Subaru and Hokuto were modified from the original art in contrast to Seishiro who was completely redesigned. His name was taken from the car Subaru Leone. Ohkawa remembers having troubles when writing Subaru as she was not used to writing kind hearted characters. Similar to Kero from Cardcaptor Sakura, the staff thought about drawing a pet with Subaru and Hokuto originally being considered as one. Since Subaru and Hokuto were the protagonists, whenever the magazines required an image for Tokyo Babylon, both Subaru and Hokuto were used together.[6]

Back when Tokyo Babylon started serialization, Clamp was also writing RG Veda on the monthly magazine Wings. While the authors found this complicated, the series' quarterly publication of sixty pages resulted in the authors making several changes; The length of each chapter made the authors write a darker story in contrast to the original plans for a soft one. Based on their own experience in Tokyo, Clamp incorporated dark social themes making the series realistic despite its focus on occultism. This was also done to give each chapter their own theme. Ohkawa believes their young age when writing the manga also influenced most of the series' negative messages. Although when the series started the ending was already planned, it was not until the Tokyo Tower chapter that Clamp set the general atmosphere with the pilot being perceived as a comedy. The next chapter involving Subaru's past meeting with a man later revealed as Seishirō then set the events from the series' future. Ever since his introduction, Seishiro was written with the idea of having a different agenda in contrast to his actions and dialogues with the other leads. In regards to teh cast, Seishiro was the easiest to write while Subaru instead was the most challenging based on his own good nature. In retrospective, Ohkawa believes that while RG Veda was their first series, Tokyo Babylon was their most original first work as they did not use other people's materials for this manga. Though a 1990s manga, the narrative was influenced by the 1980s.[5]

In the making of the art, colored weft and light colors were used for the main illustrations. This proved to be difficult to the authors. Ohkawa believes the art in general was influenced by the years in which the manga was published. This is reflected in how Clamp's artwork changed, the clothing and most notably Hokuto's dresses.[5] In retrospective, Clamp found this work was completely different from RG Veda as it was completely written by them and was also influenced by their way of living.[5]

The Tokyo Babylon manga has been popular with its English releases often appearing in Diamond Comic Distributors's lists of best selling comics.[23][24][25] It received generally positive critical response with the writers from Manga Bookshelf and Mania Entertainment referring to it as one of Clamp's best works based on the social themes reflected on the main cast whose traits, while found stereotypical at first, are developed across the story.[8][26] Besides its focus on supernatural events, the series is famous for the shonen ai seen in the interactions between Subaru and Seishiro despite being initially taking comically.[27][28] In the Manga: The Complete Guide, Jason Thompson commented that the manga is famous in Western territory for being one of the most famous and initial portrayals of a homosexual relationships, comparing Subaru and Seishiro with the seme and uke couple despite the romance not being actually explored until the ending.[29] Another aspect of praise was the amount of social commentary discussed in the narrative.[30] Some writers praised the handling of Subaru and Hokuto's characterization. Josh Begley noted that Subaru's works stand out from the other espers seen in the Western works, pointing out how he interacts with a spirits, giving compassion to each of them much to the surprise to the writer.[31] Writers from Manga Bookshelf noted how Subaru deeply believes in the philosophy that nobody is fully able to understand another person's pain and thus is unwilling to get attached to other characters. As Subaru develops feelings without realizing for Seishiro he starts growing as an individual, which makes major change in the ending when Hokuto, a physically identical person to him, dies. They further agreed that on the similarities between Tokyo Babylon and xxxHolic and compared Subaru's work with Kimihiro Watanuki's roles in the story.[8] Anime News Network, however, criticized the lighthearted context Clamp gave the narrative for downplaying the relationship between Subaru and Seishiro as well as the former's work.[27] Thompson criticized the amount of exposition the characters often give.[29]

The artwork was praised for its appeal despite Publisher's Weekly reviewing it nearly twenty years after its originally release,[30] Most of the reviewer's compliments aimed to the landscapes and the atmosphere with Mania also praising its simple state createad by Mokona.[26][28][32] while Anime News Network also liked the clothing the cast wears.[27] Thompson further enjoyed the amount of details given to the background, to the point the city of Tokyo is well illustrated, giving it a realsitic look.[29]

When the series was reaching its climax, Wings editor Miki Ishikawa remembers receiving several letters in which fans requested for a happy ending. Once reaching the end, more letters expressed sadness and shock for the tragic ending and wanted more explications regarding Hokuto's fate. In regards to this character, Ishikawa considered her popularity an exception considering most readers tend to be more attracted by the series' male characters.[33] The writers from Manga Book Shelf noted that the series' open ending has also been a subject of criticism within fans but Seishiro's dark revealtion despite how obvious it seems, it left a major impact on the reader.[8] The tragic ending portrayed in the ending made Anime News Network comment that Subaru is one of Clamp's most "treated like absolute crap despite being one of the purest boys in anime and manga" based on his changes in all of his appearances.[34] In regards to Subaru's darker characterization during the finale, rather than comparing it with Seishiro like Silverman, they focused more on how Subaru lost part of his identity as he saw Hokuto as another part of him.[8]

The OVAs were the subject of positive response thanks to its animation which has been referred to as "stunning."[35][2] They have been recommended to X fans for Subaru's appearances as well as the female demographic.[36] Although the story has been labeled as "s nothing complex, nor is it ingenious," it has been praised for its focus on horror even though the violent imagery may bother viewers.[35][2]

Subaru and Seishirō return in Clamp's apocalyptic manga X. The story, set nine years after the end of Tokyo Babylon, has the two onmyōji on opposite sides during the final battle for humanity's future. Despite having no relation to Tokyo Babylon, Clamp's manga xxxHolic was also focused on social pathologies but with a different approach.[37] Alternative version of Subaru and Seishirō also appeared in the crossover manga Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. While reviewing the Tokyo Babylon OVAs, Chris Beveridge from the same site found Subaru's portrayal interesting and recommended it to X fans to explore the character more.[38]

• Teito Monogatari: A bestselling historical fantasy novel which inspired aspects of the plot and mythology of Tokyo Babylon and X.[39] The novel itself is widely credited with starting the "onmyoji boom" in Japan.[40] The protagonist of the novel even has a cameo appearance at the beginning of the Tokyo Babylon manga as Subaru's "helpful ambassador".[41]

• Tokyo Babylon 2021 official website (in Japanese)
• Tokyo Babylon at IMDb
• Tokyo Babylon (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia