laceblade: (Default)
laceblade ([personal profile] laceblade) wrote2007-12-26 04:10 pm

Clamp School Defenders Duklyon

I hope it's okay that I don't worry about spoilers here. The series is only 2 volumes long, and it's so silly that I don't think any of you are going to be reading it anyway.

Clamp School Defenders Duklyon is another 2-volume series by CLAMP that (surprise!) takes place at the Clamp School. As CLAMP reiterates from previous series, the school is home to students from kindergarten through graduate school. But now, CLAMP has more to say in its description of the school:
However, where that many people gather, trouble usually follows....
Given the volume of brilliant and eccentric minds housed in this community, security is of utmost importance. As a result, the school founders established a secret organization. A unit to solve all problems quickly, and to maintain peace - a do-it-all unit, if you will. (Here, two armored, masked men with a gun and a sword appear). This, in short, is the CLAMP School Defenders. Or more commonly known as DUKLYON!



Kentaro and Takeshi are high school freshmen who must periodically don masked helmets and suits of armor to defend their fellow students from various invading foes: Bunny Beasts, Goat Beasts, but more often than not, from the Imonoyama Shopping District Association (An Evil Secret Society!). For most of the series, the main antagonist is a boy with surprisingly terrible 80s-inspired hairstyle, who bears a striking resemblance to the boys' classmate, Kotobuki Sukiyabashi. In addition to having terrible hair, Sukiyabashi has deep, brooding eyes and while randomly hang out on the sides of panels, saying things like, "I wish I had a best friend like you guys!" I am learning that in CLAMP, you do not trust the man who is always smiling and saying nice things about everyone else. IT MEANS HE IS EVIL.

Eri is a sophomore girl who is in charge of the boys (although she's also an alien!), and the boys ultimately receive their orders from a boy in sunglasses - who bears a striking resemblance to Nokoru, President of the Elementary Student Council, and leader of the Clamp School Detectives! (Is there anything that kid doesn't do?!)

Everyone in the series keeps their identities hidden: Kentaro and Takeshi must invent reasons to leave class every time an attack occurs, and despite the fact that Sukiyabashi doesn't wear a mask, they have no idea that he is a villain. Additionally, nobody knows that Nokoru is their fearless general, because he looks completely different when wearing sunglasses!

There are some crossovers with the other Clamp School series, of course. In the first chapter, it is Utako Ōkawa (Man of Many Faces' kindergarten girlfriend) who is kidnapped! Additionally, later in the series, the school puts on a play called "Clamp School Defenders Duklyon vs. Man of Many Faces." Hilarity ensues.

In the end, Sukiyabashi and Eri fall in love, particularly after realizing that they are both aliens. In spite of Sukiyabashi's being betrothed since birth to another girl, his parents acknowledge his feelings (literally, "You have hormones!") and allow him to elope with Eri. Also, in the last chapter, their foe is this giant border collie, and I'm just....not understanding why. I think it's meant to be lol, though.


This series is meant for the humor. When the Sukiyabashi/Eri storyline takes over, CLAMP makes fun of Kentaro and Takeshi for no longer being the main characters. Also, the dialogue is often just ridiculous:
(The enemy is in the cafeteria)
Takeshi: Can't we just seal off the cafeteria?
General: We don't have the right to deprive students of nutrition. Plus, lunch is the happiest time of day. CLAMP SCHOOL DEFENDERS DUKLYON! COMMENCE!
Takeshi and Kentaro: YES, SIR!!


My recommended order for reading these 3 series is Clamp School Detectives, Man of Many Faces, and then Clamp School Defenders Duklyon. I think that MoMF might come before CSD, but CSD gives a nice explanation of Clamp School, etc. Definitely save CSDD until after the other two.

Really, though, I recommend the three series only for people looking to read all of CLAMP's stuff. They're pretty silly, and don't offer much in the way of plot. Because they're so inter-connected, I kind of view them as a 7-volume series, instead of 3 separate ones.

The Internet tells me that Kentarou, Takeshi, and Eri will appear in CLAMP's current series, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.