Clover (manga)

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Clover

Genre	Fantasy, Cyberpunk
Manga
Authored by	Clamp
Publisher	Kodansha Editorial Ivréa Pika Éditions Editions Star Comics Carlsen Comics Mangaline Grupo Editorial Vid Tokyopop
Serialized in	Amie
Original run	1997 – 1999
No. of volumes	4 (incomplete)
OVA
Directed by	Kitaro Kousaka Nobuteru Yuki
Studio	Clamp, Madhouse
No. of episodes	1
Released	1999

Clover is a manga by Clamp. Clover was published in Japan by Kodansha and in North America by TOKYOPOP. Clover is notable for its intense use of negative space, a lack of structured bordered panels, and illustrative style reminiscent of a cinematic sequence. Clamp strays from their usual styles of art and brings a very artisticly outstanding manga.

Clover spans 4 books. The first two volumes trace the main story in the present, whereas volumes 3 and 4 are flashbacks which explain the history behind certain incidents. Many questions have been left unanswered, including Bulz's past and feud with Kazuhiko.

While Clover does reach a conclusion of sorts, the work is considered incomplete and remains in progress. As Clamp themselves have stated in the October 2004 edition of CLAMPノキセキ vol. 2 that they intend for the story to end with either 5 or 6 volumes. An animated clip was created based on the manga by Madhouse, the same studio responsible for X/1999's movie, X the Destiny War. It was shown in Japanese theatres before the first Card Captor Sakura film, but the clip was not released commercially due to a disagreement over the music rights. However, after having sorted out the legal issues, the clip is scheduled to be released on DVD in Japan on May 25, 2007.^[1]

It should be noted that the english TokyoPop version of the manga is very hard to find; as this version has gone out of print. TokyoPop stated that they may look into re-releasing Clover, but that it would not be until at least 2007.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Plot

Clover is primarily about a young girl called Suu. In the cyberpunk world that she inhabits, the military conducted a search for gifted children nicknamed "Clovers", who seemingly have the magical ability to manipulate technology. Demonstrations of their powers include teleportation and summoning weapons from thin air. Classified according to how powerful they are, the children were then tattooed with a symbol of The Clover Project, with the number of leaves on the Clover indicating their power. To date, Suu is the only "4-leaf Clover" discovered. Along with 3 other "3-leaf Clovers" (a batch of triplets), Suu was imprisoned to prevent her contact with other humans, as the government feared that she might develop feelings and be used as a weapon to jeopardise the country's national security.

Being isolated from the rest of mankind, Suu craves company, and as her only wish, asks to visit "Fairy Park". Her escort is Kazuhiko, an ex-military solider who has been forced to undertake the task. Although it was later revealed that Kazuhiko and Suu are connected through their mutual friend Oruha ("Ora" in the english version), fans suspect that the choosing of Kazuhiko has a greater bearing on the story which has yet to be revealed.