This volume had some nice twists to it not present in the series thus far (i.e. are the Kurogane and Fai in the Country of Shura the real ones or are they copies that only exist in that country? If they're the real ones, what's happened to them?) We also get a hint that Yuko might be a little more good than neutral.

I'm kind of confused, though, about the nature of Syaoran's sacrifice to Yuko. Sakura clearly loves Syaoran, so why is it that her memories only disappear when she thinks in terms of the word "love"? Yuko said that their entire relationship would be sacrificed, so I'm not sure why Sakura can love him in some ways, but apparently not others. My Hubby thought that maybe it's a cultural issue for me--usually in America, if we show a lot of concern for a person, that means we care about them. In Japan, that might be closer to par for the course. On the other hand, there was some discussion in this volume of Sakura's body remembering things that her heart doesn't. Still doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

It might have made more sense if I hadn't read this volume in Japanese--our public library is missing #9, so I fell back on my manga collection. I think the hardest thing to understand in Japanese is villains talking, because it seems like they use more grandiose language and complex sentence structure when they're detailing all of their evil plans. It also usually happens that those speeches are major plot points, so it's a unfortunate place to get lost. Maybe I'll figure it out reading the next English installment. Or maybe it's time to forgo laziness and use my trusty Seiko electronic dictionary. ( )

The story is starting to get a bit confusing, with the RG Veda references taking precedent over the actual storyline. The group is separated even after they are transported to another world, but I felt like I missed something since the statues are now alive and fighting a battle for the wish-granting moon castle, but the events are somehow representative of the competition between the circus troop and temple crew. This volume ends with one of the living statues impaling herself on the sword of the other, so who knows where this story fragment is going to take us. ( )

Sakura sleeps the day way while Lee fights an evil Kuragane. Is it the original or a copy from that current world?

And is Ashura a woman or a man? I thought a woman, but it gets called lord, master", etc, and other masculine terms." ( )

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle 09 by CLAMP ends the Ashura and Yasha story. It's also the furthest I've gotten in the anime.

For me, Volume 9 was a high point in the series, that I've read so far. I like the time travel aspect and the consequences of Syaoran's actions, namely in the ability to change the world of Shara.

There's also an interesting parallel with the Rô part of xxxHolic. The battle on the moon is a static one, the two sides stuck in battle because of one of the two sides refuses to acknowledge that things have changed.

The big bad, Wong-Fei and company, continues to scheme. While I'm sure this subplot will blossom into something big eventually, right now it feels more like a distraction than actual advancement in the story. ( )

We start off the continuing adventure after Syaoran and Sakura are unexpectedly shanghied into a new world by Mokona in response to his sensing of Sakura's feather during a battle. Upon arriving Syaoran is faced with his missing companions, but something is wrong and they do not appear to recognize him. Determined to find out what is going on during the next moon phase battle Syaoran tries to speak to Kurogane only to find himself trapped in a life and death battle with the warrior. Predictably the volume leaves off with no resolution of the questions of whether Kurogane is a dimensional doppleganger for Syaoran's companion (a theory severely tested by the fact that his sword is the one from the world of Oto), what the visions Syaoran is suffering from mean and how to get Sakura's feather from the Castle on the moon.

There was lots of action and lots of fighting in this volume. The dense art in the panels once again left me wondering what exactly was supposed to be happening. However, I do know that I felt rather sad seeing Kurogane and Syaoran fight each other. Even though there is really no beginning or end to this particular volume, it is another interesting installment in an intriguing fantasy series as a whole and I'm looking forward to reading more. ( )