Rate this book

Gate 7, Volume 1 (2011)

by CLAMP(Favorite Author)

3.68 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1595828060 (ISBN13: 9781595828064)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Dark Horse

series

Gate 7

review 1: I grew up with CLAMP novels so it is neat to see what the group is doing now as opposed to the later 80s and early 90s. I haven't tracked what CLAMP has been up to in years and just happened to see this at my library. I've only read volume one, which was slow to start for me and the immediate "cuteness" factor attributed to Hana kind of put me off BUT the story did eventually pick up and my interest is peaked.as usual, Gate 7 displays CLAMP's trademark--gorgeous art work. the male characters are a little more unique compared to the male characters CLAMP created in the past but Hana bares resemblance to Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura, Hikaru from Magic Kngiht Rayearth and exhibits the personality of Chii from Chobits. yet, of course, as another one of CLAMP's trademarks mand... moreates, volume one of Gate 7 leaves readers wondering whether Hana is a girl or a boy...go figure. why do they do this?the thing that I liked about Gate 7 so far is the integration of medieval Japanese history, Kyoto culture and Shinto. it's very clever and somewhat indicative of Japan's recent "religion movement" among the youth. I think it is this historical element that really roots this story, and is also what kept my attention anyway. the tone of the story seems light hearted and positive in comparison to more series CLAMP works like X/1999 and The Snow Goddess Tales. there are chibis and plenty of funny parts.Gate 7 also offers some shout outs to long time CLAMP fans--the male protagonist's school also makes an appearance in XXXholic and the art work is quite reminiscent of XXXholic.this series seems promising and I plan to try to pick up volume 2. I just really hope the historical aspect of the story remains the center of the series, otherwise this series will turn into every other magic-oriented manga series and I will probably loose interest.
review 2: hahaha wow, words can't describe how incredibly wary i am feeling about this series. i mean i enjoyed this volume? but it was mostly set up and tsubasa and xxxholic have left me deeply mistrustful of clamp's ability to deliver satisfying followthrough. i'm not even sure what to say yet because this book is straight up classic clamp. pretty artwork, what looks like the basis for straight played fantasy (a la rayearth or cardcaptor sakura), tropey yet enjoyable character set up. let's all just cross our fingers that this doesn't devolve into clones. 3 stars less

Download links for: Gate 7, Volume 1

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