Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, Volume 16 Book

AUGH so dark and so confusing!

Also, I was intending to finish this one and return it to the library, then pick up the next volume after my beach trip, but then it ended with my favorite character on the verge of death and having just lost an eye! D:

So . . . my understanding is that the Syaoran we followed for fifteen and a half volumes was actually a sort of man-made doppelganger, but he was sort of the real Syaoran, because he had a piece of the real Syaoran's essence in the form of his right eye. Which is why fake-Syaoran couldn't see out of that eye, because it wasn't intended to be part of him. Apparently, while he can't see through that eye, real-Syaoran can.

(All of which, BTW, is INCREDIBLY CONFUSING, because the two Syaorans are distinguished in part by which has which color eye on each side, for which you can only rely on shading because THE MANGA IS BLACK AND WHITE. Also, taking its cue from the original Japanese, the translator uses quotation marks around the name of the REAL Syaoran and not the fake one! AUGH! At least that was clarified in the notes at the end.)

Also, the eye maybe has magical powers?

Anyway, real-Syaoran was held prisoner (for his own safety . . .?) by the evil soul-stealing guy, who created this doppelganger. Which has no soul of its own and is programmed to retrieve Sakura's feathers at absolutely all costs. Real-Syaoran hoped that the presence of part of his own "heart" (because the eye is part of the heart, right?) would enable the doppelganger to develop its own soul.

As of the end of this volume, that doesn't seem to have happened. I'm guessing it will at some point, but in the meantime - even to someone who likes happy stuff as much as I do - it's kind of refreshing to have a ruthlessly-programmed-golemy-thing actually act ruthlessly.

Although it's interesting that it isn't until now that the doppelganger decides that the path it should take to retrieve Sakura's feathers includes going after not just the feathers but nearby sources of power that can theoretically boost its chances of success - hence the taking of Fai's eye. Possibly it didn't feel the need to do this before because Fai, Kurogane, and Mokona were already helping it, but I think it has more to do with this "seal" on its eye which, presumably, is what made the bit of real-Syaoran's essence a part of fake-Syaoran. Once the seal breaks, fake-Syaoran goes totally rogue, suddenly determining that the best way to serve what one would think would be a good, if possibly poorly-worded, goal, is to grab whatever power it can and get on the trail of the feathers itself. The doppelganger doesn't seem to grasp the fact that Fai and the others would have probably kept helping it just the same, especially if they thought it had developed its own "heart", the way real-Syaoran wanted it to. Or if it does grasp this fact, maybe it just doesn't think this would be as efficient as doing the job alone.

(Although, if its real goal is to return all of Sakura's feathers, you'd think it would take her with it when it goes to another world. But then, since it seems to have opened up the world-portal-thing on its own, maybe it can do that at will. Maybe it's going to go around gathering feathers and periodically popping in to be like, "Hi guys, here's another feather!")

Its interesting that the trigger that breaks the seal on fake-Syaoran's eye - the thing making it behave like a person - is basically a creature referring to it as a doppelganger (and then trying to kill it). The vampire we see in this volume is trying to kill Syaoran for what seems to be no reason. Naturally, this makes it seem evil, but then suddenly (and I applaud the translator's use of the word "game") the vampire expresses confusion: why can't it eat Syaoran? After all, these fake-humans are created to be food for vampires, right? Although I'm not sure whether it's the vampire's revelation, or the fact that Fai is made aware of it, or simply the fact that the vampire deals fake-Syaoran a wound that ought to be fatal, that actually makes the seal break.

And then it's like OH SNAP, the Syaoran we've seen hanging out in suspended animation in the bad guy's lair is the REAL Syaoran, trapped there, and THIS ONE is a fake. And confusion reigns.

And now Fai is, like, maimed and half-dead! Nuuuu!