Before there was Cardcaptor Sakura… before there was Magic Knight Rayearth… there was Tokyo Babylon, based on the same name of the dark fantasy/occult detective shojo manga series by the all-female Japanese manga artist group CLAMP (pictured below). It follows Subaru Sumeragi, the head of the Sumeragi clan, and his sister Hokuto, as they work to protect Tokyo from a myriad of supernatural perils while living with a man named Seishiro Sakurazuka. Shinshokan serialized it in South and Wings magazines from 1990 to 1993 and was collected in 7 tankōbon volumes. Tokyopop first distributed the English-language version of the manga before it was handled by Yen Press when Tokyopop went under in 2011… and rose again.
CLAMP consists of four women — yes, FOUR — Satsuki Igarashi (the layout designer), Nanase Ohkawa (the leader and the scriptwriter), Tsubaki Nekoi (the character artist), and Mokona Apapa (the lead artist known for wearing a kimono daily). I’ve written a lot of anime series featuring female characters this month. Instead of pleasing the guys, I decided to please the girls instead. This post also pays tribute to Dave Mallow (pictured below).
Sixteen-year-old Subaru Sumeragi (Mitsuo “Kappei” Yamaguchi — JP TB, Tomokazu Sugita — JP X/1999; Ben Fairman — EN TB, Dave Wittenberg — EN X/1999) is a very powerful Japanese magician, often referred to as a modern onmyōji. He is the thirteenth head of the foremost family of onmyōji in Japan, which has served the Emperor for centuries. As a result, he is called upon to solve various occult mysteries. He sometimes stumbles on people, his kind nature compels him to help. He lives in Tokyo with his twin sister Hokuto (Miki Itō — JP TB, Satsuki Yukino — JP X/1999; Jenny Baker — EN TB, Julie Ann Taylor — EN X/1999), an exuberant girl, whose chief occupations are designing eccentric clothing for herself and her brother, and their mutual friend Seishiro Sakurazuka (Takehito Koyasu — JP TB, Otoya Kawano — JP X/1999; Dean Fenton — EN TB, Dave Mallow — EN X/1999, deceased 2025), a kindly, 25-year-old veterinarian, who often declares his love for Subaru. There are early hints of Seishiro’s true nature. Hokuto jokes about him being a member of the family of Sakurazukamori, a clan of assassins who use onmyōjitsu to kill and are said to be the Sumeragis' opposite. Seishiro met Subaru as a kid and was impressed with the child's purity. Rather than killing him, Seishiro made a bet with him instead: He would meet Subaru again and would spend one year with him, protecting him and trying to love him. If, at the end of that year, he felt something for Subaru that distinguished him from a thing he could easily destroy (as he could not with any other person), he would not kill him. To recognize him, he marked him with inverted pentagrams on both hands, the sign of the Sakurazukamori’s prey.
When Seishiro loses an eye protecting Subaru, the teenager realizes he is in love with him. As the year is over, Seishiro declares himself the winner of the bet. He breaks Subaru’s arm and tortures him, but fails to kill him, as Subaru's grandmother breaks his spell - an action which leaves her crippled. Subaru's shock leaves him in a catatonic state. Hokuto feels guilty for promoting Seishiro, whom she knew to be dangerous, but believed to be the only one who might touch Subaru’s heart. As a result, Hokuto asks Seishiro to kill her instead to protect her brother. Seeing her in a dream, Subaru is shocked out of his catatonia by her action. He vows to find Seishiro and take revenge for his sister’s death, abandoning his present life. The manga ends with an adult and distant Subaru still searching for Seishiro.
This anime adaption and manga series have LGBT characters, which at the time, were frowned upon in the North American market and had to be edited out during its original broadcast in North America. I didn’t watch much of it back then, except for this song by Hideaki Matsuoka.
Fun fact: The characters would later appear in X/1999 (I’m not talking about the platform formerly known as Twitter).
Rest peacefully, Dave Mallow… you were the Ieyasu Tokugawa (Sengoku Musou 3/Samurai Warriors 3 — Nintendo Wii), the Gouki/Akuma (Street Fighter series), and various Digimon characters. And that, my friends, is how we review Tokyo Babylon (including the censorship during the original broadcast) on Substack. Don’t forget to subscribe!
