Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, Volume 14 Book

Three and a half stars, really. Not a bad three and a half, just didn't grab me as much as some of the four-star ones have.

That, and I didn't love the bit where Sakura's like, "I can't do anything to help!" and Mokona's like, "Yes, you can help!" and I'm like, "Sweet! Finally! Our one consistently-appearing female character can DO SOMETHING!" Then Mokona's like, "You can help by waiting here for them until they get back!" and Sakura's like, "Yes, you're right!" GAH.

I like Princess Sakura - and the other characters, too, of course - but so often, all Sakura does is stand in the background looking pretty and being scared that Sayoran will get hurt as he does crazy battle things. I mean, every time they complete a find-the-feather plot arc, SHE PASSES OUT, not waking up until the party is established in their new world! And no, having vague, unaccessed powers that make you a mystical MacGuffin does not make you a strong female character.

I like that Sakura feels frustrated by her inability to be more useful - I sure would, and it shows she doesn't just take for granted that this is a female role or something - but it would be nice to see more strong female characters in the series. The time-space witch is kind of cool, but doesn't appear often and isn't well-developed. Maybe this is part of the reason I liked that racing arc a few volumes back so much; the girl who organized the race was pretty cool, even if her motivations did end up being really weird.



On a different note, I like that the library guardians here look so much like lions.

Not too crazy about Fai using the "sound magic" with no problem or repercussion. I thought the removal of his tattoo made it so he couldn't use magic? His glib excuse about this being a different kind of magic makes no sense - I'm glad that the other party members seem to agree with me on that, and I'm hoping that this isn't just let slide.