History Manga / TsubasaReservoirChronicle

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs? - The second half of the series.

** HUGE understatement. After all that happens, two orders of this trope wouldn't possibly be an adequate description.
*** [[spoiler: The last one on the pile shows just how big this gets. The BigBad is implied to have been created by Clow's wish which in turn...]]

* LampshadeHanging - In Chapter 218, Mokona mentions being incredibly confused as to what's going on, [[spoiler: especially with the fact that Junior looks just like his father and his mother looks exactly like Sakura. Oh, and they've suddenly appeared to save the day]]. By this point, the reader not only agrees, but thinks Mokona to be a master of {{Understatement}}.

* TimeStandsStill - [[spoiler: Clow Country, or more specifically the Reservoir, which is frozen in the moment just before [[NiceJobBreakingItHero little Sakura is cursed]].]] Subverted in that what happens in the frozen world affects its inhabitants. Don't worry, [[MindScrew they]] [[ForWantOfANail get]] [[IGotBetter better]].

*** And suffers a fatal heart attack from the AscendedFridgeHorror implications of the TangledFamily Tree.

** The Multiverse as such! Just how many darn versions of each character are there anyway?? The confusions of [[WhichWho who's who]] is quite understandable.

** Aaargh! ''More MindScrew''. And a missing mouse (See WhatHappenedToTheMouse below) just doesn't help matters. Not to mention more FridgeHorror.

* LeftHanging - Major one here. Sakura and the whole of Clow Country are themselves a paradox as they too existed only thanks to the StableTimeLoop (see below). [[spoiler: RetGone C!Sakura having left her feather in the Tokyo reservoir]]. And R!Sakura even admits this [[spoiler: while they're trapped by BigBad in his tube]]. But apparently only R!Syaoran & Watanuki have to pay a price for having to exist as a paradox.
** Well by this point even God admitted they [[MindScrew were lost]].

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse - An alternate R!Sakura from an altered Clow Country [[spoiler: which came into being after R!Syaoran's wish split the timeline creating an alternate Clow Country]], came into being out of nowhere and was actually the one cloned [[spoiler: the original R!Sakura was frozen in time]].
** ChuckCunnighamSyndrome: The body of R!Sakura-2 (for want of a better label) was taken away and merged with the cloned soul, while the original soul of R!Sakura-2 ended up in the BigBad's own tube, but is never mentioned again. Or what happened to that tube. Yes, there are '''three''' Sakuras.

** Anything that's occurred during the most recent arc [[spoiler: aka the showdown with Fei Wang (aka Asschin)]] qualifies, as CLAMP continually puts off explaining exactly what the ''freaking hell'' is going on: [[spoiler: Yuuko was mysteriously summoned by Asschin's attempt to revive someone or do something similar, Sakura and Syaoran are multiplying all over the place, and there was a picture of Tôya and Yukito in their CSS clothing in one of the panels]].
** Chapter 223, in which the reader finally goes brain-dead from all the insanity.

* RetGone - [[spoiler:The original Syaoran]], who was replaced by [[spoiler:Watanuki]]. And also the clones, who have vanished from all time, leaving Syaoran a bootstrap paradox, and...

** Let's admit the equations are complicated. The net result is a [[MindScrew blow your brain]] combo of '''all of these put together simultaneously''' - AlwaysIdenticalTwins + [[AlternateSelf Alternate Selves]] + IdenticalGrandson, GenerationXerox + CloningBlues + HappilyAdopted + MyOwnGrampa + EveryoneIsRelated = Really ''Really'' '''Really''' '''REALLY''' TangledFamilyTree. Sheesh!

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse - An alternate R!Sakura from an altered Clow Country [[spoiler: which came into being after R!Syaoran's wish split the timeline creating an alternate Clow Country]] was cloned [[spoiler: the original R!Sakura was frozen in time]]. The body was taken away and merged with the cloned soul, while the original soul ended up in the BigBad's tube, but is never mentioned again. Or what happened to that tube.

* DenouementEpisode - Actually from [[XXXHolic the Holic]], Chapter 204.5. [[spoiler: 520 days after leaving Clow country, the Tsubasa gang return to Watanuki's shop, in the process accidentally giving him the idea for his signature - a bird. So Watanuki then enables Syaoran and company to travel to Clow Country so that he can finally meet Sakura again. But as usual, actual reunion details are not shown.]] [[MaybeEverAfter Typical CLAMP.]]
* DeusAngstMachina - How to summarize the whole story in 3 words. So where do we begin?

* StableTimeLoop - Twice. ''Two overlapping ones even''. Such are the complexities of Hitzuen...
** [[spoiler:C!Sakura's feathers are scattered across the dimensions, she travels back in time and leaves one of her feathers in Tokyo. This prevents the destruction of the Tokyo government building, and humanity can survive. Hundreds of years later, Tokyo has slowly transformed into Clow Country, Sakura is born and cloned, C!Sakura's feathers are scattered...]]
** The [[spoiler:MyOwnGrampa]] scenario.
** Worse - [[spoiler:The entire story is one of these as the trapped Sakura and Syaoran from the bottle are the Sakura and Syaoran we've been following this whole time.]] [[MindScrew Argh!]]

This is a completed manga series, ending with 233 chapters organized into 28 volumes. There was an anime adaptation that ran for 52 episodes, as well as a movie ''Princess of the Birdcage Kingdom'' and two sets of [=OADs=], ''Tsubasa: Tokyo Revelations'' and ''Tsubasa: Shunraiki''.

* TangledFamilyTree - The [[spoiler:Reed/Li/Watanuki]] family tree looks like this. Reincarnation and cloning, make for very, very loopy genealogies. [[hottip:*:To make it short: The real "Syaoran" is the son of the reincarnation of his own clone! In a '[[TheVerse verse]] where reincarnations are visually and possibly genetically identical to their previous life, no less. His mother, by the way, is his girlfriend's clone's reincarnation. Now taking bets on whether or not he himself is going to father yet another of himself. Also factor in possible parents and grandparents given the multiple [[RetCon RetCons]] of the Clow royal family and what we know from CardCaptorSakura.]]

* DeusAngstMachina - Backstory will never NOT be angsty, especially if your name is [[spoiler:Fai]]. "Tsubasa Goes to the Therapist" would be an excellent fic premise.

** Even worse - [[spoiler:The entire story ''itself'' appears to be one of these as the trapped Sakura and Syaoran from the bottle are the Sakura and Syaoran we've been following this whole time.]] [[MindScrew Argh!]]

** Well by this point even God admitted they [[MindScrew were lost]] and it ended violating the LawOfConservationOfDetail.

* MindScrew: '''AND HOW!''''''Several orders of it''', with ''no chance'' of screw driving. Really, {{CLAMP}} deserve a ''special award'' and maybe a even new trope like Mind Screw Pileup. For the sake of your sanity, do not, we repeat, DO NOT try to understand the story.
** ''Some of them'' include...
** WhichWho: Keeping track all the Sakuras and Syaorans can be this, especially when more than one of either is in the same panel. This gets so bad in chapters 226-231 that you can't even figure out who's who from the dialogues, as they could easily be interpreted as being spoken by the clones or the originals.

** The clones apparently live through their originals as well. And now our FlyingDutchman is trying to get them back into a body to stop being the paradox he has become.

* StableTimeLoop - Twice. ''Two overlapping ones''. Such are the complexities of Hitzuen...

** Certain characters are in it and others not, and only those outside it can see the whole loop. Yuuko for one.
* StarCrossedLovers - Played straight and averted with the Sakuras and Syaorans. [[spoiler: In the end R!Syaoran becomes a FlyingDutchman although he will return mor often to Clow Country than any other world. Sakura stays home as going with him would only make things worse.]] The Clones were luckier here...[[spoiler:they got a new life of their own for several years.]]

* TangledFamilyTree- The [[spoiler:Reed/Li/Watanuki]] family tree looks like this. Reincarnation and cloning, make for very, very loopy genealogies. [[hottip:*:To make it short: The real "Syaoran" is the son of the reincarnation of his own clone! In a '[[TheVerse verse]] where reincarnations are visually and possibly genetically identical to their previous life, no less. His mother, by the way, is his girlfriend's clone's reincarnation. Now taking bets on whether or not he himself is going to father yet another of himself. Also factor in possible parents and grandparents given the multiple [[RetCon RetCons]] of the Clow royal family and what we know from CardCaptorSakura.]]
** For starters, draw it right and it turns out poor R!Syaoran has become related to himself in ''FOUR different ways''. It doesn't help that CLAMP kept adding more and more cross-relationships as the story progressed.

** Late in the manga it turns out that [[spoiler:The BigBad's XanatosRoulette was designed to get around this, mainly by keeping Yuko alive and on the edge of death.]]

* LoveMakesYouEvil - Fei Wong Reed made his XanatosRoulette with the intention of bringing someone BackFromTheDead. [[spoiler: Or apparently, to save someone else's life. And that person is Yuuko. She is ''not'' happy with this, [[SelfFulfillingProphecy and ends her unlife to help stop him]].]]

** And that is precisely what his ahem...parents want since they see the two as their original selves. See ShipperOnDeck below. Poor 7 year old Tsubasa Syaoran was totally clueless about the time loop and the XanatosRoulettes of everyone including his parents until WhamEpisode came along. [[AscendedFridgeHorror And also the whole thing had become inevitably pre-destined by this point.]]

* OutGambitted - Fei Wong is beaten by the combined efforts of Clow, Yuuko and the reincarnated clones. [[spoiler: The Clones use their power to restore reality back to normal in all dimensions]]. For all his [[XanatosRoulette colossal scheming]], BigBad [[DidntSeeThatComing did not account for the possibilty]] of [[ReincarnationRomance reincarnation]] and Clow giving his magical power to [[spoiler:Cloney]].

* TomatoInTheMirror - Both [[spoiler:Syaoran,]] and more recently (and much more jarringly) [[spoiler:''Sakura herself'']] are revealed to be copies as part of the BigBad's unimaginably complex XanatosRoulette.

* XanatosFuneral - Clow Reed seems to have planned out an awful lot of the plot before his ([[CardcaptorSakura very deliberate]]) death... Also, [[spoiler:it was recently revealed that Clow didn't actually die prior to CCS, he duped Kero and Yue into believeing he was dead and then buggered off to Clow-koku to play King, then died there, split his soul into two and was then reincarnated into Eriol and Fujitaka]]. Whew.
* XanatosRoulette - Several, for only a few of which are known about fully (although ''not'' fully understood), the combined effect of which is almost to the point where GambitPileup becomes inadequate description. At least three different characters are running semi-independent [[XanatosGambit Xanatos Gambits]]: [[spoiler: Clow, Fei Wong Reed, Yuuko, and (very much contrary to what we believed at the beginning of the series) R!Syaoran]].
** Not to mention the predeceased Clow Reed, who apparently put together ''all of ''CardcaptorSakura'','' (long before TRC, but also after Clow's death) in preparation for TRC. [[spoiler: So is his XanatosGambit part and parcel with Yuuko's, or are they slightly competing? Is it supposed to trump Fei Wong Reed, or possibly stuff even further in the future / past ? AARGH.]]

* StarSystem - CardcaptorSakura characters in an AlternateUniverse setting (and it's ''not'' a sequel)

** Anything that's occurred during the most recent arc [[spoiler: aka the showdown with Fei Wang (aka Asschin)]] qualifies, as CLAMP continually puts off explaining exactly what the ''freaking hell'' is going on: [[spoiler: Yuko was mysteriously summoned by Asschin's attempt to revive someone or do something similar, Sakura and Syaoran are multiplying all over the place, and there was a picture of Tôya and Yukito in their CSS clothing in one of the panels]].

** And there is Mokona's red earring. At first it seemed like a cute accessory. Then Yuko mentions (in xxxHolic) that it can increase magical power. This wasn't used until [[spoiler: Fai needed a power boost in order for him and Kurogane to escape the collapsing world. When they finally did, it was mentioned by Fei Wong Reed that Yuko probably created it [[FridgeBrilliance just so that Fai and Kurogane could escape]].]]

** Partial in chapter 220 - [[spoiler: Yuko has said that she will bring C!Sakura and Cloney back to life - but that this is only possible because they were created beings, and thus could not enter the reincarnation cycle, hence requiring Yuuko and Clow to fork over payment for them to be reincarnated.]]

* ArcWelding - Repeatedly! For our sake, go read about it on CCS or Tsubasa Wikis.

* PhenotypeStereotype - Fai is blond and blue-eyed, and in one chapter has [[ButNotTooForeign some serious objections to sushi and chopsticks]].

** It is possible to choose the correct location and the correct time when travelling to the next destination. That is, if the price is right. Otherwise characters would never be able to track each other down or play their [[XanatosRoulette Xanatos Roulettes]] properly.

* MindScrew: '''AND HOW!''''''Several orders of it''', with ''no chance'' of screw driving. Really, {{CLAMP}} deserve a ''special award'' and maybe a even new trope like Thirty Mind Screw Pileup. For the sake of your sanity, do not, we repeat, DO NOT try to understand the story.

** The Ridiculously TangledFamilyTree and the ever changing relationships added over existing ones, which are just one part of the HUGE ThirtyGambitPileup. Or should we make that Sixty?

*** That and it's a good indication Ass-Chin probably should have stuck with a XanatosGambit instead of the full ThirtyGambitPileup

** Also, [[spoiler: Cloney is also an example, since he has memories of being a clone of Syaoran, and his wife has memories of being a clone of Sakura. Since they got together based on those memories, and a clone can be thought of as being like a child, its debatable which generation is imitating which]]. Time travel, reincarnation and a ''really'' tangled family tree with ever changing relationships [[ThirtyGambitPileup piling up on top of each other]] make things [[MindScrew confusing]], yes.

* ThirtyGambitPileup - Summarize at the risk of your own sanity, for it is said that he who can understand what the hell has been going on since GrowingTheBeard has been lost to [[CosmicHorror eldritch Things from Beyond]]. TrueArtIsIncomprehensible, indeed.
** HUGE understatement. After all that happens, two orders of this trope wouldn't possibly be an adequate description.
*** [[spoiler: The last one on the pile shows just how big this gets. The BigBad is implied to have been created by Clow's wish which in turn...]]

* XanatosRoulette - Several, for only a few of which are known about fully (although ''not'' fully understood), the combined effect of which is almost to the point where ThirtyGambitPileup becomes inadequate description. At least three different characters are running semi-independent [[XanatosGambit Xanatos Gambits]]: [[spoiler: Clow, Fei Wong Reed, Yuuko, and (very much contrary to what we believed at the beginning of the series) R!Syaoran]].

** {{xxxHolic}} Chapter 204.5 had a little extension of the Tsubasa group finally travelling back to Clow. But heck! The Holic didn't even tie itself up completely.

* IdenticalGrandson - Or son, really, being [[spoiler:Syaoran and his son...Syaoran]]. We're confused too. Kurogane and his father also look remarkably alike, the main difference being stubble on the latter.

A word of warning, this series can be [[{{Understatement}} rather confusing]] on occasion. To know how, just see '''how many''' references there are to a [[MindScrew certain related trope]] all over this page.

* [=~Can't Live Without You~=] - [[spoiler:Fai can't live without Kurogane after being turned into a vampire.]]

* GainaxEnding - Well, what did you expect, given the rest of this page? It might be tied up in ''{{xxxHolic}}'', which is still running. Might. And as of the final epilogue chapter, [[spoiler:more of a BittersweetEnding, although YourMilageMayVary.]]