Drug and Drop chapter 1!

XO The time has come folks! The day that like 10 people were waiting for. CLAMP has finally started up the long on hiatus manga Legal Drug. AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!

Only now it is called Drug and Drop….

CLAMP is bringing sexy back!

WOOHOO! The crowd goes wild for Drug and Drop!


CLAMP has done fans wrong in recent years. I could almost handle the X__X ending of Tsubasa because answers were coming in XXXholics. But then XXXholic came and went, probably with one of the worst ending ever for the group. Nothing was explained and the ending left a bad taste in most fan’s mouths. While Kobato was ended in an actual way that made sense it seemed rushed. Kobato ended so fast so CLAMP could get to their new work Gate 7. And we all know how that turned out…

To be fair to CLAMP it seems as if Gate 7 can only be appreciated by people who have extensive knowledge of Japanese history. Meaning Japanese people probably love this series while many foreigners are like um what is this? Someone on the web compared it to having American heroes coming together in one series, like George Washington, Abe Lincoln, and Amelia Earhart. To me this makes sense. Yet I still find Gate 7 way too wordy and slow on the plot.

How I missed those cute little faces!

So with all this RARW CLAMP fans needed some good news. And trust me it did not come in the form of Blood-C. If anything that might have driven more fans away. No no there was hope on the horizon. CLAMP for whatever reason decided to pick up Legal Drug once again. And the first chapter came out this month! Let us review this long awaited miracle.

Now it is a bit sad that there were only about 17 pages for this new first chapter. But beggars cannot be choosers right? But I will put that aside for the fact that Drop and Drug has picked up where Legal Drug volume 3 left off. Meaning the same characters in the same situations are gracing the pages! We are not getting a restart and the art is ALMOST the same as it was before. There was no dramatic X/1999 art going on. You know what I am talking about right? One second Kamui was looking like he could hold his own in the square shoulders competition and next thing you know he is the cute little boy everyone needs to save.

Too much...sparkles....

The only real difference I can see is the backgrounds are less busy than they were before and Kakei seems to have gotten a bad case of the sparkles. As one of my commentators pointed out Kazahaya better watch out! He might be out cutied!

Always looking on the bright side of life!

The chapter starts off reminding the viewers of key points that happened in the past three volumes yet did so in a way that people picking up the manga for the first time were not lost. Kazahaya is having a lovely moment with his sister that quickly turns creepy. Of course 7 years ago I found Kazahaya’s sister really, really bizarre but now after witnessing real crazy (AKA Yuno) I am just thinking she has the sads. And maybe the adults in the situation are really to blame. Either way I see her more as tragic. Obviously Kazahaya had a good reason for leaving her but I am sure she is depressed and sad.

Not a really awesome dream there...

But Kazahaya’s dream turns into Rikuo’s dream. Meaning Kazahaya sees the “dead” Tsukiko. Now we don’t know if she is really dead or not but usually when there is a room splattered in blood I lean towards the dead side. Before Kazahaya can learn anything Rikuo wakes him up in the usually Rikuo fashion.

Isn't that your man you are joking about?

Things at the store seem to be the same. Kakei and his super hot self is still telling the boys to get to work on time or else. Kakei does sense some sadness in Kazahaya but Saiga breaks up that tension pretty fast. Same old same old for them.

So much concern on that little face!

What is interesting and new about this chapter is Kazahaya. He has never been a mean person per say. It is usually Rikuo making him act all spazzy. But in this chapter he seemed genuinely concerned for Rikuo. Like actively thinking about poor Rikuo and his problems. To an extent I am wondering if this really was Kazahaya. X__X Like when did he even learn that Saiga was looking for Tsukiko? I just reread the mangas yesterday and I don’t recall Saiga or anyone telling Kazahaya that.

In any case instead of subtle yaoi tension like the first three volumes this new chapter has it front and center. Which is fine by me. It would be nice for Watanuki..I mean Kazahaya to have a happy ending. So while this is a bit of a character change for Kazahaya I think I like it. Wish it happened over time but apparently only ONE YEAR has passed since the last volume. I guess we got to roll with it.

While there were some tiny moments in XXXHolic that featured our boys I am not sure if I want to see any XXXholic moments in Drug and Drop. I want to move on to new (well old) couples having problems and working through weird moments. Saiga is the first Yuko, lets see how things play out.

Yay for a good first chapter. Please keep up the good work CLAMP. Don’t make me regret this 12756th change I am giving you!