I [heart] Washizu-sama, from CLAMP

About a month ago there was a big buzz about a strange CLAMP x Take Shobo collaboration. The manga power circle was reported to take on legnedary WWII era mahjong warriror Washizu in a tribute collaboration of sorts!

Knowing CLAMP’s past I was wondering which one of their characters was going to be transplanted into the 40’s to appear in a smoky game room around an old mahjong table… Well CLAMP proved me wrong by instead turning their 4 pages into a gag manga about an all male yakuza/thug cheer leading group called the Washizu LOVE Ouendan that chants cheers during Washizu-sama’s games…  Washizu’s fans in white are willing to do anything to guarantee that their hero wins. Don’t know what exactly CLAMP means by that but I believe a very young Akagi makes a cameo so you can tell they did their research… maybe.

According to canon, the two met when Washizu was already in his twilight years, 75, and Akagi was only 20 but already an experienced and feared gambler. Akagi appears in some foreshadowing scenes in the new Washizu manga as well.

Check out a scan of the first page of Washizu-sama to Yukai na Nakama-tachi and prepare to die a little… I wonder if Shaenon G. will be mentioning this comic in her book?

What surprised me the most about this is how CLAMP was really able to capture the tone of Fukomoto’s designs. Even if the noses and chins are not as sharp, and Akagi looks like an ikemen the overall faces are almost right. The BL element, though, is kinda scary… I felt they crossed a line that they should have kept in a doujinshi or something.