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.

On the bright side we have CLAMP’s embracement of Japanese mythology with Shirahime Syo.
On the dark side we have one of CLAMP’s worse, CLAMP School Defender Duklyon V. 2!
This is Shirahime Syo, the good one.

First off scoldings to the editor who wrote the passage on the back of the book, and for miscounting the amount of “stories” in this book. According to the back passage this book contains “five tragic tales”, of which it does NOT.
Ok. Quick. Do you remember the movie “Creepshow”? How about “Tales from the Hood”? Basically a movie in these venues will count, though “Cat’s Eye” doesn’t count because the ending closer story is a story unto itself and counts as a story, unlike the closers for the other two which cannot count as individual tales. Now, I know what you’re thinking, why is this important? Because these are movies which start with an opening sequence, go into a series of tales, and then ends with a closing sequence. The opening and closing sequences are not tales of their own, but merely the vehicle by which the montage of stories is introduced and closed. This is the same with Shirahime Syo. In the beginning a young man wanders into a beautiful woman standing in the snow, and that starts up talk about the Snow Goddess (the title goddess in question). This, and the closing sequence, are NOT INDIVIDUAL STORIES! These are the vehicles by which the triad of short stories begin and end, and cannot be counted as individual tales all their own. Hence the count of this book is off, the count should read “three tragic tales”, not five. Pay attention, please.

Now the stories.
In the first story a young woman seeking revenge against a wolf who killed her father runs into a roadblock when said wolf saves her, and she ends up forming a bond with it (even going so far as giving it a name)… somehow you just know that isn’t going to end well. And no I don’t mean the wolf kills her, she lives to see the end of the story.
In the second story some loser goes off to war or something and leaves his kind of overdramatic girlfriend behind. She vows to never change and wait for him as he leaves her, no matter how long it takes for him to get back. Well, it takes him what seems like forever to get back and yet she’s still the same… gee, wonder why… maybe the whole talking near an ice lake that seemingly people can freeze in even at springtime.
Yeah, I see no happy ending in sight here folks!
The final story has another loser lost in the snow trying to get home. He spots two beautiful big birds… no, not the Sesame Street variety of big birds… and decides to take out his Animal Crossing Octavian grumpy attitude out on the birds by killing one… gee, nice guy. Maybe this story will have a happy ending… well, not really. At least he didn’t get arrested for cruelty to animals at the end though.

Three stories, just three (not five), and they all are bummers. Yet somehow they don’t really have all that much to do with the Snow Goddess herself mentioned at the front. Unlike Hawaiian deity stories where the actual deity has a big role in the stories, these stories either has the deity drop in for a cameo or the deity’s role is only symbolic in nature… or something like that. Ok, let’s break this down already.

Shirahime Syo Breakdown
What’s Hot?
Well it’s not like you see CLAMP belting out an ultra serious piece of nicely done fiction like this on a daily basis. They are the best at what they do, but to get this kind of work is a rarity. So if you are a CLAMP fan, and would like to see a different side to CLAMP then this is it. Ultra serious, ultra anti-happy endings, ultra profound and well written and drawn, this is going to be a nice touch to your collection.
And if you get the limited hardback version (which looks like a library book instead of what you might expect from a hardback manga) then that makes it all the more special… except it’s $20 so you’ll have to be a die hard fan to be dropping 20 large for one manga (that is abit thin in content compared to other $20 titles I’ve seen).

What’s Not?
However if you are looking for tales of the Snow Goddess herself then you probably will be disappointed. Unlike, say, Hawaiian or certain other cultural mythos where the goddess in questions plays a rather big role in the story, in these stories the snow goddess’ role is either symbolic or cameo in depth.
The three stories are themed, and the goddess herself sums up the theme and the significance of when it snows, but she barely makes any appearances in these stories.
Which is not to say the stories are diminished by this fact, it’s just that if you were looking for some depth and some background on the deity herself you’ll be disappointed. It’s more about the people whose lives are “touched” in some way by said deity than the deity herself, which sets up the significance of the meaning of when it snows and all… well, you’ll understand once you read it.

Moments to Remember?
This time out I’ll say the work as a whole is the memorable factor. A bit of a departure from what you probably know of CLAMP (unless you’ve read 100% of their work) this is something different for the CLAMP fan who thinks he or she has seen everything CLAMP has to offer (yet hasn’t seen this).

What to Ignore?
The back passage. Remember there’s only THREE stories, three, not five.

Overall?
If you are looking for an uplifting happy ending tale… well, go read Angelic Layer.
If you are looking for a piece of finely crafted literature that doesn’t promise a happy ending, but promises a beautifully crafted and touching ending then you’ll enjoy this.
A CLAMP work that you probably never seen, but should see, Shirahime Syo delivers a read worthy of your time and effort to check out. A CLAMP title I recommend from me to you, try it.