CLOVER

CLOVER

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
4
RELEASE
June 20, 1999
CHAPTERS
116

DESCRIPTION

Kazuhiko is a young, but already deeply wounded black ops agent of a baroque, retro-tech future - pulled out of retirement to escort Sue, a mysterious waif, to a destination she alone knows. Suu and Kazuhiko have never met . . . yet she knows him, having grown up since the age of four with her only human contact being two distant voices: that of her elderly "grandma," General Ko, and of Kazuhiko's dead girlfriend, Oruha. And Suu has been kept in that cage all these years because of what she is, and what the Clover Leaf Project found her to be -- a military top secret, and the most dangerous person in the world.

(Source: Dark Horse Comics)

CAST

Suu
Fay Ryu Kazuhiko
Oruha
Lan
Gingetsu
A

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO CLOVER

MUSIC DramaClover

Cover Art for Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE

MANGA ActionTsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE

REVIEWS

mynameisdoofy
80/100
A rare instance in which a manga's style is its substance.
__This review is spoiler free.__
Clover debuted in the premiere issue of Kodansha’s experimental shoujo magazine, Amie, which released on February 2, 1997, and would continue until the magazine ceased publication in the summer of 1999. The manga ran for a total of 116 chapters, which were later published into four volumes. Remarkably, this was just one of four manga that CLAMP were releasing at the time: X/1999 (May 1992 to March 2003), Wish (November 1995 to August 1998), and Cardcaptor Sakura (May 1996 to June 2000) were all ongoing during this same period.

The story is set in a futuristic, dystopian world, at a time in which the military are conducting searches for children nicknamed 'clovers,' i.e., children born with magical powers capable of manipulating technology. Each clover is classified according to their strength. They are given a tattoo of a clover, with the number of leaves correlating to their strength. These clovers are then imprisoned out of a fear that they may develop feelings for humans and be used as weapons, thereby jeopardizing the country’s national security. The plot of Clover opens with Kazuhiko, a former solider, who is tasked with delivering something for the government – a task issued by one of the five wizards, General Ko. This ‘something’ turns out to be Su, the only known four-leaf clover, who is to be delivered to some undisclosed location. The first part of the manga, then, details their journey to this location and the various obstacles they encounter. Subsequent parts jump back and forth in time to flesh out certain characters, their relationships, and offer a new perspective on the core narrative.
_Clover, Chapter 5_
While there are some neat concepts at work, the overall narrative suffers from a severe lack of development, leading many to charge it with being all style and no substance; however, I would argue that – on the contrary – Clover’s style is its substance. Unlike other CLAMP titles, Clover is a manga in which how the story is told is more important than the content of that story. CLAMP have imbued Clover with a sort of poetic quality: from their careful paneling, use of negative space and abstract imagery, to the frequent lyrical refrains woven throughout the story like the chorus of a song; taken together, these elements create a strong mood which engages readers at an emotional level. In this way, I would argue that even if it falls short in terms of its narrative, the unique experience it offers by way of its presentation makes it worth reading alone. This does not make it any less valuable than a more narrative-heavy manga; rather, it is simply just another kind of experience that one can have through a manga, and one that I recommend we all try at least once.
_Clover, Chapter 18_
That being said, there is one issue that may worry potential readers: as I previously alluded to, Clover’s serialization was unfortunately cut short when Amie ceased publication just two years after its launch. However, rest assured: Clover still offers a complete experience. Indeed, CLAMP revealed in an interview that the story was meant to be divided into four parts, with volumes one and two comprising the first part, volume two comprising the second, volume three the third, and what would have been volumes four and five comprising the fourth. Although we will likely never see those final two volumes, the story is structured such that each part offers a somewhat completed experience. The first part largely focused on Kazuhiko and Su’s journey, from their initial meeting to Kazuhiko’s attempts at bringing Su to her destination. The second part focused on Ora, highlighting her various relationships and influence on other characters. The third and final part then shifts focus to Ran: his origins as a three-leaf clover, how he met Gingetsu, and the problems he encounters with another three-leaf clover. While there is a common thread connecting each part, they can all stand on their own and be appreciated as such. Thus, the issue of Clover not having a proper ending is no issue at all.
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