MISC. MANGA, *RG Veda

Every anime empire had to start somewhere, and the manga studio powerhouse known as CLAMP began as doujinshi makers comprised of about a dozen artists which eventually went down to four. CLAMP's first professional release was the fantasy epic titled RG Veda inspired by Hindu mythology. This is what got them going on a winning streak of Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa, and Chobits, even though their original title had an influence on future works like X/1999 and Magic Knight Rayearth.

Set in a mix of the human world and that of the heavens, the rebellious thunder god Taishakuten takes over the realm. Centuries later, the tyrant learns of a prophecy of an entity reborn as a child who would be the last of the demonic Ashura clan. Taishakuten sends his hefty swordsman Yasha to find and kill the child, but the noble warrior instead becomes Ashura's protector which makes him branded a traitor and causes the slaughter of his own village. Ashura begins to mature into a young kid pretty fast due to his supernatural creation and keeps slipping into his demon half as he keeps threatening to be the end of the world. Yasha shrugs this off to collect the rest of their party called the Six Stars which are destined to liberate the land from strife.

For CLAMP's initial mainstream manga, you can see the dynamic fantasy setting filled with numerous pretty boys which probably made it enticing to female readers. There is some stunning imagery, although some of the bishounen characters seem to blend together that is hard to tell them apart. There was a 2-episode OVA series that adapted the manga, but it drops you right in the middle of the saga giving you little context to know what is going on in the plot. The manga itself was first printed in English through Tokyopop which was printed in a lower resolution making it difficult to follow the narrative, so if you have a choice then get the rerelease in omnibus format for a better reading experience.