CLAMP School Trilogy

Publisher
Tokyopop
Writer
CLAMP
Artist
CLAMP
Country of origin
Japan
Year
2001

CLAMP School Defender Duklyon GN 2

By David Rasmussen
30th Dec 05

As we near the end of the year let’s take a look at the best, and the worse, of that dynamic foursome (or so) of the Manga world, they who probably own a Nintendo DS just to play Sonic Rush, and who should complain more about getting MKRE out in Greatest Hits version (for those of us reviewers who missed it the first time), they who are CLAMP.

At the dark side of the read we have what should probably be considered the worse ending ever in a CLAMP title… other than the ending of Cardcaptor Sakura where she runs off with Mr. Syaoran Potato Head. Or the ending of Chobits if you didn’t want that kind of ending. Or the ending of MKRE (the version where all three girls die… think that’s the Anime version if I remember right). Or the ending of Angelic Layer which only makes sense in the Anime version when the “blanks” are filled in and the ending pairing actually makes sense. Or… uh… never mind.

The third piece of the triad of CLAMP School trilogy, CLAMP School Defender Duklyon is the weakest link of the triad, with CLAMP School Detectives and Man of Many Faces earning more praise and recommendation from me than this title.
But I know what you’re thinking, what is so bad about this story? Gee, what’s so good about this story!
Higashikunimaru & Shukaido live secret lives. When they’re not trying to get through their studies in the prestigious CLAMP School (whose campus layout is designed to resemble a gigantic satantic pentagram star) they are drafted to the service of a certain paperwork hating pretty boy who runs the CLAMP School Detectives as the school defenders known as CLAMP School Defender Duklyon… why? Guess he was bored again so the thought of being “General” sounded entertaining… what! The guy once turned his office into a set piece from March of the Penguins out of boredom!! Talk about hard to entertain!!

Last time was cliché after cliché about monster bashing in Power Ranger ripoff suits.
Today it’ll only get worse as Eri (the team’s strong female lead) has a brain meltdown and spends a third of the book as a babbling brook of love smitten face blushin’ girl in love stereotype gone wrong. Ditto for the glasses wearing guy who happens to be the leader of the enemy that Duklyon “fights”… if you can call what they do “fight”. Yeah, last book he became smitten with Eri, this book he and Eri really become smitten and spends time holding hands and blushing -- only an attack by the bad guys can even break their concentration long enough to… say what? Yeah. If the leader guy is there too busy turning bright red and staring at Eri he can’t be leading his forces into “battle”, so what gives! Turns out the guy has an “arranged” marriage arraignment and she (who is “older” and something I can’t repeat without bleeping myself) has come to get him to commit to that marriage. Obviously there’s going to be a cat fight over the love of the guy, which means the story disintegrates from a Power Ranger parody to a Power Ranger Shoujo Romance Parody which just doesn’t work. It’s bad enough this book is some sort of Power Ranger parody or whatever, thrusting an uncomfortable romantic “rivalry” that seems more silly than poignant (and more cliché than original) is just no good. Oh, and the end sucks, but I’ll go over that in the breakdown.
Speaking of which, here’s the breakdown.

CLAMP School Defender Duklyon Breakdown the 2nd
What’s Hot?
The other two titles of the CLAMP School trilogy… but this sucks the remaining life out of this title and drives the last nails into it’s coffin. It could have been better, but it was worse.

What’s Not?
This! Worse is the ending where the book looks ahead into the future. Yes, they did that with Man of Many Faces, but while that look ahead was cute and beautiful, this ending was grating and annoying. Did I need to find out that they’re at pitiful and pathetic in the Japanese workforce as they were in school? Hell no!

Moments to Remember?
Um… all the blushing and all the staring, and all the hugging and all the… wait, nothing’s memorable.
Wait! I know! Mega sized Inuko (the dog)! She’s huge, she’s gigantic, and she wants to play… and she’ll trample over anything including the very enemy that did that to her and proclaims on high that she is their unstoppable secret weapon… say what!

What to Ignore?
All the blushing and all the staring, and all the Power Ranger parodying that takes a backseat to the improbable, you didn’t see it coming but god you should have, march to the ending that sucked.
My apathy bubbles over on this read.

Overall?
Stumbling over the finish line in a bad way, CLAMP School Defender Duklyon finishes it’s oh short run and you should be glad the title didn’t extend past Volume 2! But the title is over, you don’t have to see another volume of this, and only the most die hard CLAMP fan will even consider looking at these two volumes in the first place! Guess the illusion that CLAMP can do no wrong has just gone out the window, as this is without a doubt one of CLAMP’s bad outputs. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen again, ever.

-- David Rasmussen 30th Dec 05