Extremely Confusing Series

If there was any reason for Masahiro Sakurai to not include Anime and Manga characters in Super Smash Bros, it's because of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle being extremely confusing due to Fei Wong Reed placing a death seal inside Princess Sakura.

Confusion Crisis

Author's Note: This comic used a popular meme template from the Halo machinima series Red vs Blue about somebody being deceived.

How confusing is Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle? The confusion levels are definitely worse than that of Kingdom Hearts.

What if it turns out Sakura Kinomoto's magical girl escapades were the result of the backstory in Chapter 200 of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle? For those who have read Chapter 220, it turns out Clow Reed's careless wish was responsible for the events of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, which in turn lead to the events of Cardcaptor Sakura. It just so happens Sakura Kinomoto was willing to lend a hand to Princess Sakura to return to Clow Country by any means possible. This means Sakura Kinomoto is no different from any magical girl with past lives. All of this confusion, however, is Fei Wong Reed's fault in the first place. His death seal tearing apart Princess Sakura resulted in Nadeshiko freezing time and dying for it. This resulted in the heroes going on a quest to restore Princess Sakura's memory and uncover her true identity. But this resulted in the creation of many paradoxes. In other words, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle is so confusing that Magical Girl Anime fans have indeed been tricked and bamboozled.

Halo © Microsoft. Red vs Blue © Rooster Teeth.

Clone Ash

One of the biggest fan theories is that the person we call Ash Ketchum is actually a collection of clones with memories (very poorly) implanted into their brains. This could explain why Ash Ketchum remains a 10-year-old. For all we know, Ash Ketchum is being cloned alongside Princess Sakura by Fei Wong Reed, and the real Princess Sakura's name was not Sakura at all. In fact, this cloning began even before Sakura Kinomoto's birth, let alone the start of her magical girl escapades. This means Pokemon could be related more to Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle than Nintendo's franchises. Another major plot twist is that, if the late Takeshi Shudo's proposed series finale for the Pokemon TV series was any indication, Ash Ketchum was all along mentally ill and dying, and the entire Pokemon series was nothing more than a dying dream. How's that for a disappointing series finale?

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle © CLAMP/Kodansha.

Update: The Ash Ketchum Arc has officially ended, and it ended with "Next Time, A New Beginning". It was not the depressing series finale that the late Takeshi Shudo proposed. But we have been left disappointed that we never found Ash's true identity. Perhaps Pokemon Horizons will unravel these mysteries. For all we know, Liko's pendant has something to do with Ash's past, and quite possibly, her real identity...

Respecting Sakurai's Policies

Masahiro Sakurai stated that Super Smash Bros was designed to be from the very first entry in the series, a celebration of Nintendo's video game history. Non-video game characters are therefore not allowed. But there may be reasons that support Masahiro Sakurai's decision. Reasons related to lore, that is.

You may think Sailor Moon cannot join Smash due to the possibility of a panty shot overdose, but that is not the real reason. The real reason is that Sailor Moon has to face villains so ghastly they're worse than the biggest, baddest villains Nintendo has to offer. What's more, Sailor Moon was revealed to be Princess Serenity, which explains why she does not want to engage in mortal combat against her enemies. Then there's Sakura Kinomoto's magical girl escapades. It turns out that this was because of the dark events of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle chapter 200, where Fei Wong Reed's death seal devoured Princess Sakura, resulting in a series of events leading to Clow Reed having to split into two personalities. There are even claims that Akiho from Cardcaptor Sakura's Clear Card Arc has something to do with Clone Sakura. With all that said, Nintendo decided that Lip the Flower Fairy from Panel de Pon should only be a Mii Swordfighter costume in Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and Lip was the closest Nintendo has to a proper magical girl.

At the end of the day, magical girl lore is clearly not compatible with everything Super Smash Bros is all about. Therefore, we should respect Masahiro Sakurai's policies that disallow non-video game characters from taking part in Super Smash Bros. Even Sony's PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale do not allow non-video game characters from taking part in the PlayStation-themed dueling tournament, possibly for the same lore-related reasons. At the end of the day, if licensing issues was not the reason, then it has to be the lore that poses a big problem, because lore plays a huge part in every major franchise, and if the lore is too ghastly, then it is definitely not allowed in dueling tournaments.

Despair by Revelation

The truth will cause people to go into despair and even die from it.

It was revealed that in Chapter 220 of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, Clow Reed actually started the whole ordeal revolving around Princess Sakura's memories. Everything from the Clow Cards to the Clear Cards to the feathers containing Princess Sakura's memories and Fei Wong Reed's death seal are all related to each other. When it comes to magical girls having to deal with past lives, Sakura Kinomoto is no exception...

The animals of Animal Crossing may not be animals at all, but rather, the player character could possibly have a rare mental illness known as lycanthropic intermetamorphosis, where the person diagnosed with the mental illness sees people as transformed into animals. This mental illness, along with clinical lycanthrophy, was made known through a Game Theory video that claims that the animals in Animal Crossing are not animals.

The darkest secret about the Pokemon series that Game Freak never wanted the whole world to know was that the real reason for its creation was because Satoshi Tajiri went down on record that he wanted to create a series that is as popular as anything Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto came up with. No wonder Ash Ketchum's original nemesis Gary Oak was called Shigeru in the Japanese version of the Pokemon TV series, and it makes sense when Ash was also known as Satoshi. From the very beginning, Satoshi Tajiri wanted to surpass Shigeru Miyamoto, but the writers for the TV series, along with Nintendo and Game Freak will make sure this will never become a reality, because if this happens, Mario will drop dead in despair like he did in Dharkon's version of World of Light's Bad Ending. And you think the 31st of March, 2021, was going to be the end of Mario...

Perhaps the real reason behind Nintendo's mistreatment of Waluigi has something to do with Waluigi's name being an anagram for ijiwaru, which means ill-natured. No wonder Nintendo wants Waluigi to continue to wallow in self-pity over everything going right for everybody except him. Waluigi was ill-tempered and ill-natured from the very beginning. This could be the reason why Waluigi was not given an invitation to Mario's tennis tournament in Mario Tennis for the N64.

Ever wondered why hedgehogs are not allowed to be kept as pets in Singapore? That's because hedgehogs spread zoonotic diseases. This means that the villainous Eggman Empire's sworn enemy was not a blue hedgehog, but rather, the zoonotic diseases that Sonic's kind and the animals Dr Eggman had been imprisoning will be a far greater threat than the evil genius that the titular hero had to confront in many of the games in the Sonic series.

Cardcaptor Sakura © CLAMP/Kodansha. Nintendo games and characters © Nintendo. Sonic the Hedgehog © Sega.

How to conclude Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle

Unfortunately, Kodansha does not seem to be in the mood to give the animation side of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle the conclusion it needs and deserves right now, not because nobody wanted a proper conclusion after they found out the truth in Chapter 220, but because the production crews wouldn't dare cover the backstory that reveals one of the manga's biggest plot twists. Remember the time when Veronica Taylor said that the title of "Pokemon Master" was merely a form of spirituality? What if it turns out that Fei Wong Reed's influence went beyond CLAMP's borders and even went into the Pokemon series? Surely this could explain why becoming a Pokemon Master is the moment right before death. For all we know, Ash "Satoshi" Ketchum could have a death seal inside him similar to the one placed on Princess Sakura, and we must remember that Syaoran saying "Happy Birthday" to Princess Sakura was the moment right before the death seal inside her activated.

Of course I would like to have a real conclusion to Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, and they should focus on the manga chapters after the chapters where Princess Sakura got stabbed and disintegrated into petals. It doesn't matter whether it will have another two OVAs or one last movie similar to The Last: Naruto The Movie or get a new anime similar to Inuyasha: The Final Act, anime fans want to see how Kurogane defeated Fei Wong Reed, as well as know the truth behind the biggest plot twists revolving around Princess Sakura.

However, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle was considered to be too violent that NHK had to cancel Season 3, and the remaining chapters may be similarly too violent to have an animated adaptation. This could also be yet another reason Super Smash Bros should remain a celebration of Nintendo's video game history. Not even Ridley's brutal combat debut trailer or Galeem's massacre or the bad endings in Super Smash Bros Ultimate's Campaign mode could match up to the moment the death seal inside Princess Sakura activated. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle is so violent that it would make the Pokemon Adventures manga not as dark as you think. Perhaps it's better that Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle's final chapters do not get an animated adaptation because of the amount of PTSD it would give to anime fans.

Legitimate Reasons

Masahiro Sakurai said that Super Smash Bros should remain a celebration of Nintendo's video game history, which also happens to include third-party video games that appeared on Nintendo platforms before, meaning that non-video game characters are not allowed at all. However, there is another reason non-video game characters are not allowed in Nintendo's crossover dueling tournament series, and it has something to do with universal scale destruction of all life, and possibly worse than what Galeem or Dharkon is capable of.

While Pokemon's Team Galactic was considered as the most sinister criminal syndicate in the history of the Pokemon series, due to their evil plan to destroy the universe and recreating it in their image, their level of success would, however, be nowhere near that of Sailor Moon's Sailor Galaxia, who could have brought all life in the universe to an end, and actually came way closer to accomplishing that than not only Team Galactic, but also just about any Dragon Ball Z villain you can think of. Even if Team Galactic acquired Giratina, who was supposed to be based on the fallen angels from the Bible, Team Galactic would still be nowhere near Sailor Galaxia's level. Compared to Tabuu, Galeem or Dharkon, many of Sailor Moon's enemies are incorporeal, and would be way harder to defeat than these three bosses.

For those who wonder where the stabbing incident that "killed" Princess Sakura at the end of Tsubasa Shunraiki came from, it was actually extracted from chapter 178 of the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle manga. The manga's level of violence is so terrible it would actually make the Pokemon Adventures manga, which contains the darkest version of the Pokemon World known to exist in any official Pokemon canon, not as dark as you think. And that is excluding chapter 200 of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, where Princess Sakura was devoured by a death seal placed on her by Fei Wong Reed. The most tragic part of it was that Princess Sakura had no idea that Fei Wong Reed placed a death seal on her, and she was nowhere near as dumb as Red or Ash Ketchum, both of whom are notoriously dumb protagonists, and yet, Red is in Smash.

When there are anime characters who have the ability to destroy entire planets, or even the entire universe, it's better that Super Smash Bros should remain a video game characters only tournament. Therefore, we should respect Masahiro Sakurai's policies, if it means not having anybody far more destructive than Galeem or Dharkon, both of whom could have possibly killed billions of characters, become a playable character. Otherwise, the game would become almost unplayable...

Anime woes

Forget about #JusticeForWaluigi. We should be supporting #JusticeForAshKetchum instead, because Ash Ketchum was actually named after Pokemon creator Satoshi Tajiri, and he is also a shounen protagonist that is partially owned by Nintendo. Yet Nintendo and the anime studio that made the Pokemon TV series portrayed him as a low intelligence person, and did not even give him a chance to win any Pokemon League that was featured in the Pokemon games other than the Orange Island Pokemon League, which never appeared in the Pokemon games.

However, the Pokemon Adventures manga, which had the darkest incarnation of the Pokemon world, was actually the closest to being the most faithful to the Pokemon world that Satoshi Tajiri originally envisioned, and he actually endorsed it. That could explain Pokemon being a very dangerous series, if the official Pokemon books are any indication. No wonder the Pokemon TV series production crew did not want Ash to win any of the Pokemon Leagues featured in the Pokemon games. But it could have been worse.

Gen Urobuchi, the director of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, does not even care about the sufferings of magical girls, because he did not even watch any magical girl anime at all. Therefore, Nintendo should never hire Gen Urobuchi to be a director of the Pokemon anime at all, because if Urobuchi did become director for the Pokemon TV series, there could be a possible scene where Ash Ketchum finally perishes, with blood being spilled, and this can leave preteen audiences scarred for life. No wonder so many people dislike Gen Urobuchi a lot. In fact, I would like to see Kyubey finally suffer retribution from anime fans worldwide for all the teenage girls that he tricked, because the witches in Puella Magi Madoka Magica were actually magical girls that succumbed to despair.

Speaking of magical girls, Sakura Kinomoto's quest in Cardcaptor Sakura was actually due to the backstory events in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle. It was revealed in chapter 220 that because of Fei Wong Reed's death seal being activated on Princess Sakura and Nadeshiko having to stop time and dying in the process, Clow Reed had to be king of Clow Country, which later on led to his soul splitting in two, and this happened before the events of Cardcaptor Sakura. Of course Sakura Kinomoto actually ended up assisting Clone Sakura in her quest to find Real "Sakura", as seen in Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations and chapters 217 and 224. (Spoilers: Real "Sakura" and Real "Syaoran" turned out to be Princess Tsubasa and Tsubasa Li respectively.)

The Sacred Jewel in Inuyasha turning out to be evil all along that Kagome had to wish for the destruction of the jewel itself actually makes sense, because no good has ever came out of it at all, and it does not even help when Kaede classifies the Sacred Jewel as an unholy jewel that should never have existed.

For those who want anime and manga characters in Super Smash Bros, we should abide to Masahiro Sakurai's policy stating that it is impossible for manga characters to join Super Smash Bros because manga and anime can sometimes be too violent for even a crossover fighting game. Maybe this is why manga and anime studios cannot cooperate with Nintendo, other than licensing issues of course, especially when Super Smash Bros is made possible through the cooperation of all parties involved.

Update 1: Ash Ketchum finally won a Pokemon League at the end of the Alola Arc, ending a 22 year losing streak. The #JusticeForAshKetchum campaign did pay off after all. However, Ash Ketchum's namesake, Satoshi Tajiri, did not give a single congratulatory response to Ash Ketchum winning a Pokemon League, unlike Junichi Masuda and Veronica Taylor, who have already sent their congratulatory responses. Either the Pokemon creator wants to distance himself from the protagonist that was named after him, or he has moved on to other interests, such as Little Town Hero, which could possibly be better than Pokemon Sword and Shield.

Update 2: The Ash Ketchum Arc has officially ended, and it ended with "Next Time, A New Beginning". It's unknown if he will even appear in Pokemon Horizons in any form, including possible flashbacks that Liko will potentially have. Who knows what secrets Liko's pendant contains...

The Origins of Acid Tokyo

Our condolences for the Pancham that got dissolved by the Alolan Muk's Acid Downpour.

The Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations version of Tokyo was often nicknamed "Acid Tokyo" due to the city being reduced to ruins by acid rain. Also, Acid Downpour is a Poison-Type Pokemon's Z-move, so Tokyo turning into Acid Tokyo due to a Poison-Type Pokemon such as Alolan Muk using Acid Downpour just to defeat an enemy Pokemon seems to be a logical origin story that makes sense.

Pokemon Sun and Moon © Nintendo/Game Freak. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle © CLAMP/Kodansha.