Kara Dennison
October 25, 2020 
CLAMP’s epic fantasy series Tokyo Babylon will be returning next year! There’s no telling just yet what Tokyo Babylon 2021 will hold. But with the studio’s interconnected universe and a vast history of previous stories, there’s a lot to be hopeful about.
In the meantime, we’ll have to bide our time until the new series commences. Fortunately, CLAMP has made lots of anime and manga to occupy ourselves with. Why not have a CLAMP anime marathon? We’ve picked a few essential titles you can stream online, but we also recommend diving into any other titles you can find from the studio!
X
Potentially the closest you can get to Tokyo Babylon without actually finding the original series, X is a beautifully shoujo apocalypse. The 2001 anime series, directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri of Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust fame, tracks the end of days to Tokyo. There, powerful people known as the Dragons of Heaven gather to determine the fate of Earth. Also present are the esper Kamui Shiro and his childhood friends Fuuma and Kotori. Their destinies are intertwined as well, in ways even they don’t yet understand.
CLAMP School Detectives
Looking for something a little lighter than Tokyo Babylon? Drop into CLAMP School and meet the Elementary School Board — who also happen to be genius detectives and adept in their respective fields. There’s the high-IQ Nokoru, the martial arts master Suoh, and the phantom thief Akira (who has his own series, Man of Many Faces). Together, they form a detective agency to solve mysteries for the school. Is it for justice? For the smiling face of a person done right by? Actually, it’s mostly so Nokoru can ignore his school board responsibilities.
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle
As we’ve seen from the original Tokyo Babylon and many other titles, CLAMP characters can show up pretty much anywhere. See also Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, which puts a high fantasy spin on the stars of Cardcaptor Sakura.
Tsubasa features Syaoran and Sakura, once again as childhood friends, but this time with a very different back story. Here, the pair travel across worlds, looking for Princess Sakura’s scattered memories. You’ll also see looks-in from other CLAMP characters — and, most notably, the series crosses over with their concurrent dark fantasy story xxxHOLIC. In fact… why not watch them together? The story of Watanuki’s time working in the Dimensional Witch Yuko’s shop of dreams does, after all, play right into this story as well.
Watch Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle
Bonus: CLAMP in Wonderland
Want to see a CLAMP mash-up to the max? Check out the “CLAMP in Wonderland” music video. It features looks-in from Magic Knights Rayearth, the aforementioned CLAMP School Detectives and X, and Tokyo Babylon. Plus a few other notable faces… including Jota Kujo and his Stand Charmy Green, from CLAMP’s JoJo doujin “JoJo’s Bizarre Married Life.” And if you want more, a second CLAMP in Wonderland video works in later titles.
Where will you start on your CLAMP marathon? Are you excited for Toyko Babylon 2021?
