'Clover' Review

Alright, so this is a 500 page manga by the group known as Clamp. I'm a huge fan of Clamp's work and this is a pretty overlooked comic in their career compared to their big works. I've read other things by them such as Tokyo Babylon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, Tsubasa. Clover is completely different from anything else i've read by them. It's very futuristic, sci-fi themed. First thing I have to say about Clover is that it is incredibely gloomy. I didn't feel much profound joy while reading this. With that said, I still think it was great.

Plot Summary

Clover is about a futuristic world where the military hold gifted children known as 'Clovers'. They are classified as Clover 1 through 4, with 4 being the most powerful. A '4-leaf Clover' known as Sue has been kept in captivity her entire life because of her immense power. All she wants to have some friends and experience joy in her life. All the characters are interconnected in different ways which made it very interesting.



One thing that I thought was really peculiar about this manga was the flow of the story. Basically, it's chopped up into 3 different parts. The first part introduces the characters, lots of stuff happens, and your left not really knowing how to feel about it. Then part 2 takes place before part 1 and explains of a lot of things. Finally, part 3 takes place even before part 2 and reveals even more. At the end of reading it, you can finally feel for the events that occurred in the beginning.

Since this is Clamp, the art is obviously amazing. Some really great designs in the futuristic look of things. The panel setup was really bizarre as well. Some pages are almost completely white save for some small panels. Others are almost completely black. A recurring element in the story is song lyrics. They happen EVERYWHERE! In the beginning, I had no idea what was going on. The words 'I want to find happiness, let me be your happiness, etc' are all over the place. Eventually, things are explained the all the song lyrics make sense. Clamp was really adventurous with these panels!



I don't know if I would classify this as Shojo. Everything about this manga is totally out there. Which I really liked!
I give Clover 7.2/10!
That's right, I went into decimals.
Go Clamp!