I wrote the following hot take on the YouTube channel Anime America Podcast for their Hot Take Video.
"Clamp are great artists but terrible writers"
My biggest surprise was that it got read on the actual video.
The host Robyn laughed at the hot take which was a better reaction than I expected followed by what I can assume good examples of Clamp's works.
Responding to the Examples
Robyn gave me the examples of Chobits, Card Captor Sakura, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and Wish, Robyn admitted herself that Wish was a guilty pleasure rather than a good story.
I found Chobits hard to follow, Card Captor Sakura never seems to do anything other than re-trace old steps every season, there's never a more grandiose reason for Sakura to keep obtaining Clow Cards.
Tsubasa is exactly what Nelvana wanted Card Captor Sakura to be but Li Syaoron is about as effective at leading a story as Goku is dieting, he's really not suited to the job, not helping is what they made Sakura into.
There is a Theme
One of the things I notice about Clamp's works is that they don't seem to flow well the later into the story nor do they seem to end in a good place.
Rayearth should've finished with season 1 but we all had to endure the melodrama of season 2, Angelic Layer had to change their plot and ending in the anime because the manga's plot and ending was so stupid.
Don't get me started on the whole X debacle or the Clampverse links.
I Don't Hate Clamp
To make it clear I don't hate Clamp, I'm just frustrated by how close they can come to a really great story but ultimately throw it all away, but I still love works like Card Captor Sakura, XXXHolic and Rayearth. They are supremely talented and really set a high standard for art that is distinctively theres and no one elses.
