Clamp’s Effects on the Anime Community

As someone who has been a long-time lover of manga and anime, I remember that many Clamp creations were staple manga and anime of my childhood. Eye-catching with the fairytale-like scenes and dramatic plots and breathtaking character designs; Clamp was able to capture my attention and has enchanted me to this day. This can probably be attributed not only to the beautiful art but also the multifaceted stories and multidimensional characters that resonated with their audience.  

So what is Clamp? Clamp is a female group of mangkas that formed in the 1980s. They started off writing doujinshis which are comics based on an already established manga and slowly began to produce original work. Their works include classics like xxxHolic, Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa Reservoir, and Chobits. A majority of their work is in the manga format, however, numerous manga of Clamp’s have been adapted into anime, which has allowed them to be seen by many more people. 

Clamp is not only revolutionary in the stories they tell but also their characters. For example, one of Clamp’s most famous works Cardcaptor Sakura has good representation for LGBTQ+ people especially for its time, it came out in 1994. For example, Tomoyo, Sakura’s best friend, is shown to be in love with her but it is not stereotyped or even seen as out of the ordinary,  rather it’s presented as a normal childhood crush. Similarly, Syaoran, Sakura’s love interest, first interacts with her through their mutual pining for Yukito, an older boy. Never is Syroan’s bisexuality portrayed as weird; it is also not villainized or, again, used to stereotype Syaoran.  

This is a common thread through many of Clamp’s works: the normalization of the LGBTQ+ community. Other examples are seen in mangas like Tsubasa Reservoir (an extension of Cardcaptor Sakura) where Yukito and Touya (side characters), are categorized as soulmates which in the Clamp Verse means they will always find each other. Their love isn’t portrayed as a surprise or something that needs to be explained to the audience, it is portrayed as just pure unaltered love. Even in lesser-known works such as Wish, we get much-needed representation. Wish is revolutionary in its depiction of nonbinary folk, as a majority of the characters do not have a gender but rather play with gender expression.  

The great thing about Clamp is that it normalizes being part of the LGBTQ+ community without making all their works centered around coming out or focusing on the distress of not being accepted. Clamp rather speaks to the idea that you can have your own stories, love, adventures, and experiences regardless of how you identify. I believe this is why Clamp is so revolutionary, it showed many young kids, teenagers, and adults that it was okay to be true to one’s self. That you can still be a hero or protagonist, just as you. If anything Clamp taught, not just me, but its audience to accept themselves and others for who they are.

 

• art
• LGBTQ+
• opinion
• pop culture
• self-love