Shirahime-Syo

This is a great Manga book. I love Clamp so I am always game for anything they try at least once. This one is based on Japanese Folktales of the Snow Goddess. The Snow Goddess is the one who causes it to snow in the mountains. Her tears are the snow coming down. The book contains several stories about the mountains and snow while lost human visitors enter the mysterious world. Wolves, ghosts, spirits and cranes inhabit this mysterious world where humans dare tread. Highly recommended.

this is one of my favorite CLAMP mangas. its four little stories I believe and they are all very good. and the art is amazing because its done apparently in watercolor, though its still in black and white obviously. the first few pasges are in color and they look great

I love manga, especially this book (which acutally really started me on manga... I was more into anime before this). I recieved it as a present last Christmas and read it as soon as I could. It is rather repetitive, I have to admit (namely, the quote about the snowflakes being tears of the snow goddess), but the plots and everything else make up for it by far. All the stories are about love and loss, perfect for shojo lovers like me. Buy it... and probably in hardcover, as you'll read it a lot during the snowy days at home. (Mine personally is a paperback and is bent because I have read it so much.) Highly reccommended. =)

A stunning, wonderfully-painted, atmospheric collection of short stories all focusing on the all-encompassing snow and a few unlucky people caught in it. This book was a thing of beauty, both the stories and the watercolored art would be fantastic on their own, but together, well, it's magical.I will not go into the short stories, but I will say this: When you tire of typical manga fare (martial arts/gunplay), come check out Shirahime-Syo. A wonderfully written, enjoyably depressing, mythology-based anthology that almost made me cry, even at 16.

'Shirahime Syo' is a manga beyond description - one of the best works that CLAMP ever produced. I bought an import two years prior to buying the domestic version, and was blown away by its art. CLAMP, instead of sticking with their G-pen nibs and screentones, decided to go back to the traditional Japanese form of brush art. What you get are elegant brushstrokes and ink washes for shading, which gives 'Shirahime Syo' its atmosphere, its mood, and its wintry splendor in which tragedy exists on so many fronts. There is also the added bonus of color pages in the beginning, which opens up the story in a mysterious way, and entices you to read further.The three stories are quite beautiful and elegant in the old Heian tradition. The first one was heartbreaking, and one must look beyond the superstitions that the villagers believed in. The second one is a tale of unforsaken love even through the years. Unlike the first review above, when the girl describes herself becoming a flower, it's not literal. The girl, in true Japanese sense, wishes to preserve her beauty and youth for her lover - in the sense, being like a delicate ice flower that would never fade. The third story shows that even spirits can be caring, especially for a lost young samurai who pines for his lover.Tokyopop surprised me with their quick claim to the domestic release, and the hardcover treatment deserves merit. What they had accomplished with 'Clover' by emulating the Japanese versions, they did better with 'Shirahime Sho.' Hardcover books are more durable, and the bigger size looks good on the shelf. The translations are very nice, managing to preserve Nanase's script.This is a manga that any CLAMP fan should pick up. The difference in style and technique is unique. CLAMP's older works always hold truer to their stories and art. Unlike what Tokyopop claims, 'Shirahime Syo' wasn't published in Japan in 2001; an earlier version was published in 1992.