Tokyo Babylon
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Tokyo Babylon (東京BABYLON) |
| Abbreviation(s): | TB |
| Creator: | CLAMP |
| Date(s): | 1990-1993 |
| Medium: | manga, OVA, live action film |
| Country of Origin: | Japan |
| External Links: | CLAMP's Site/JP D |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Tokyo Babylon is a supernatural themed shoujo manga written and drawn by the CLAMP group. It is set in the same universe as X/1999 which takes place nine years after Tokyo Babylon and one of the story strands picks up the stories of Subaru and Seishirou. Tokyo Babylon was adapted into two OVAs, a live action film and Drama CDs (audio dramas). The manga was published in Japan during the 90s and has since been translated into different languages.
The live action film is set a few years after the manga (with Subaru now being 21), but is loosely based on a story from volume 2.
Synopsis
Main protagonist is Sumeragi Subaru, the sixteen year old 13th head of the powerful onmyouji Sumeragi clan. He and his twin sister Sumeragi Hokuto live in Tokyo where Subaru is working as an exorcist. They are friends with Sakurazuka Seishirou, a veterinarian who, for some reasons, doesn't seem to mind having the almost ten years younger siblings around. However, Seishirou is part of the Sakurazuka clan, enemies of the Sumeragi for centuries, and his reasons for staying close to Subaru and Hokuto aren't as harmless as they think.
Fandom
Pairings
The by far most popular pairing in fanfiction is Seishirou x Subaru.
English-language Fandom
Tokyo Babylon had an active, but small internet fandom after the boom of animanga fandom in the 90s, relying on scanlations and fan translations for the manga. Fanfiction was hosted on private Archives and sites like Aestheticism.[1]
It is considered a yuletide fandom, although it's often cited among the fandoms that show the yuletide mod’s lack of knowledge when it comes to animanga sources and there is often discussion about its eligibility.[2]
German-language Fandom
German-language Tokyo fandom started at roughly the same time as English-language fandom and had another surge when the manga was released in German by Carlsen Comics in 2004, but remained a very small fandom in comparison to other CLAMP related fandoms. By then the German-language animanga fandoms were mostly using animexx.de for fanish output, which included fanworks like fanart, fanfiction, cosplay and more.[3]
Fanworks
- Tokyo Babylon fanfiction on FanFiction.net
- Tokyo Babylon fanworks on AO3
- Tokyo Babylon fanworks on DeviantArt
- Tokyo Babylon fandom overview on Animexx
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanfiction
Tropes & Fanon
The tropes in fanfic range from humourus to fluff and dark and angsty. The dark ending of the manga story and darkish continuation in X/1999 led to a certain amount of fix it fic, and also to more deathfic and fic with unhappy, dark endings. Most of the fic in the fandom is centered around the main pairing of Seishirou x Subaru. More information on the pairing page
Examples
- Sakura and Snow by Natalie Baan
- The Other Side of Twilight by Fuu-chan (Rurouni Kenshin/Tokyo Babylon crossover)
- Your Eden (archived 2011) by Amet
- Tacit, by mithrigil for un_love_you
- Sweet Nothings by MarineHaddock
Recs
- Tokyo Babylon recs on Faineant Fanfiction Recommendations
- Tokyo Babylon recs on Fleeting Fancies
- CLAMP recs on Consensus Realities
Fanart
Doujinshi
Cosplay
Resources
- Tokyo Babylon at Wikipedia
- tokyobabylon (LJ community)
- clampfiction (LJ community)
- clamp-now (LJ community, CLAMP news)
- clamp-fanclub (deviantART community)
References
- ^ Aestheticism via Way back
- ^ Tokyo Babylon discussion during Not Prime Time, accessed 8. December 2012.
- ^ Tokyo Babylon fandom overview on Animexx (German)