Ice Candy and Chivalry: Suoh Takamura/Nokoru Imonoyama
Title: Ice Candy and Chivalry: The Suoh/Nokoru Manifesto
Author: VonQuestenberg
Fandom: CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan and several other CLAMP series
Pairing: Suoh Takamura/Nokoru Imonoyama
Disclaimer: I don't own them. The kind ladies of CLAMP do.
Warning: Spoilers for CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan, 20 Mensou ni Onegai, CLAMP Gakuen Tokkei Duklyon, X, Tsubasa RESERvoir CHRoNiCLE, and Magic Knight Rayearth.
Background Information:
Nokoru Imonoyama and Suoh Takamura are popular CLAMP characters and have appeared in several series done by the four Japanese ladies. The series for which these two are most popular (and which revolves around them and their friend and colleague Akira Ijuuin) is CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan, released by TokyoPop as CLAMP School Detectives.
The setting for CGT, CLAMP Gakuen (known in English as CLAMP Academy, CLAMP School, and sometimes CLAMP Campus) is a huge school in the middle of Tokyo. A city within a city, it is owned by the Imonoyama Zaibatsu, the largest family corporation in Japan, said to have more money than the Japanese government. It includes a kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school, and university. More than ten thousand students, staff, faculty, and their families live on the campus. The school will accept as a student any one with a certain amount of talent, regardless of money and status.
There are three or four series considered to belong to the CLAMP Gakuen universe, with CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan being the most well-known of the four. They also include:
20 Mensou ni Onegai (released in English as Man of Many Faces: tells the story of Akira Ijuuin (Suoh and Nokoru's friend) and his secret identity as the thief 20 Mensou (20 Masks)),
CLAMP Gakuen Tokkei Duklyon (released in English as Duklyon: CLAMP School Defenders: a parody of the tokusatsu (costumed superheroes) genre, featuring Nokoru as the mysterious ‘unknown’ Boss of the Duklyon Defense Force protecting CLAMP Gakuen from alien invasion)
CLAMP Gakuen Kaiki Gensho Kenkyukai Jiken File (released in English as CLAMP School Paranormal Investigators: about five students investigating supernatural phenomena on CLAMP Gakuen a la X Files; it includes a cousin of Suoh’s. They are not manga, but three novels illustrated by CLAMP and written by someone else.)
TokyoPop has released translations of all four series.
There is also a twenty-six episode anime series of CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan, which takes the main story of the CGT manga and adds significant portions of 20 Mensou ni Onegai and CLAMP Gakuen Tokkei Duklyon, along with new material and characters. There is an ancient licensed subtitled release of the anime series, but it is no longer in print and was only released on VHS.
While those four series are called the CLAMP Gakuen universe, the universe is by no means limited just to those series. CLAMP are obsessed with are the undefeated masters of crossing over their own series and characters. Our trio also show up as young adults in X* (released as X/1999 by Viz). X and the CLAMP Gakuen series also take place in the same universe as most of CLAMP's others series. Oh, and to make it even more fun, most of the basis of Tsubasa RESERvoir CHRoNiCLE is a crossover with the same universe, and -also- involves alternate universe versions of Nokoru, Suoh, and Akira.
(**Note: whereas in the X manga the threesome show up, in the X anime a man who looks nothing like Nokoru shows up in the position Nokoru occupied in X. Although the man’s name is never mentioned, the man is not clearly not Nokoru and therefore none of the three show up in the anime. Because really, Nokoru would NEVER wear a mustache.)
The Characters
Nokoru Imonoyama
Nokoru is sweet, forgiving, obscenely intelligent, kind, mischievous, rather spoiled, and incredibly over-privileged. He has a lazy and manipulative streak, and is a huge flirt. Many of the girls on CLAMP Gakuen have large crushes on him; he has a huge fanclub (as all bishounen do in these school-centric series). Nokoru is quirky and loves to tease the few people he lets close to him. He constantly is carrying around at least one fan on which he will write strange little messages emphasizing what he is saying and doing. The fans seem to come from nowhere. Nokoru is also very klutzy and very bad at sports, except for when a lady is in danger.
Little is known about his family except that he has at least two older brothers (named Tsuzuku and Owaru) and is somehow related to the current Chairwoman of CLAMP Gakuen. Nokoru is often shown talking to her rather intimately, but her face is never shown, usually being covered by a fan which she also carries. (The fans are some sort of Imonoyama family tradition therefore, and not just a quirk of Nokoru’s.) Whether the Chairwoman is Nokoru’s mother, aunt, cousin, grandmother, or mother’s sister’s niece’s former roommate is unknown. Nokoru is deeply attached to CLAMP Gakuen, and eventually takes over as the Chairman.
As a young boy he is obsessed with women, and starts the CLAMP Campus Detectives, a group consisting of himself, Suoh, and Akira, in order to better help women. He has a sixth sense for damsels in distress and is uncannily good at sensing when a woman is in trouble.
All that given, honestly, Nokoru is not truly romantically attracted to women. His infatuation with women is an infatuation with the idea of women rather than with any particular woman- he treats all of them exactly the same, as a traditional gentleman would. None is ‘special’ to him. He never has a crush on a woman or shows any real interest in pursuing women romantically.
Despite Nokoru’s kindness, Nokoru is highly disconnected from other people. Nokoru has what I would term a ‘Fairy Godmother’ complex. He swoops in when he sees someone (especially a woman) in trouble, solves the problem, then swoops back out again, but never deeply connects with the many people he helps. Having spent his entire life under burden of responsibility and the threat of being kidnapped, he has pushed all his peers away for their own safety. Everyone, that is, except for Suoh, and, to a lesser extent, Akira.
Suoh Takamura
Suoh was originally a character in an early unfinished CLAMP work, Hagun Seisenki, along with his other love interest Nagisa and another CLAMP character, Yuuto Kigai.
Suoh is a defender and fighter, born and bred. Suoh is a member of the Takamura clan, an ancient clan of ninja bodyguards. The Takamura clan members are so in demand as bodyguards that they pick and choose who they wish to protect at will. Suoh has chosen Nokoru as his One to protect.
As the heir to the Takamura clan, he has spent his whole life training in the martial arts, and it shows in his incredible skill. He is extremely kind, unselfish, and dedicated to his work, with a strong sense of responsibility and duty.
However, he is rather wtihdrawn as well, and is uncomfortable when he is attracted to someone. He shows his emotions far more in his actions than in words. Perhaps his biggest fault is that he is so wrapped up in protecting his loved ones he forgets to simply talk and spend time together. He forgets to be selfish, he is so wrapped up in protecting his loved ones.
While he is trusting, he is not naïve and usually sees right through Nokoru’s plots. But Nokoru has him wrapped around his little finger. He takes on the position of stick-in-the-mud to keep Nokoru focused and on task. Suoh also has his share of fangirls at CLAMP Gakuen, but that fact makes him very uncomfortable and he is very cold to his fan club. It is said to take a lot of patience to be a Suoh fan.
The Relationship
The Suoh/Nokoru relationships is the kind of frustratingly canon relationship CLAMP is infamous for- containing an absurd amount of subtext and hints that screams out loud to anyone who reads the story with a mind open to male/male relationships, but little actual proof. However, for me the evidence is strong enough that I treat Suoh/Nokoru as canon. I have divided my relationship examination into three parts: the relationship in CGT, 20 Mensou and Duklyon, the relationship in X, and the relationship in Tsubasa RESERvoir CHRoNiCLE. Since Suoh and Nokoru are the main characters of CGT, this will, of course, focus mainly on that series.
CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan
Their relationship begins three years before CGT begins, when Nokoru was in third grade and Suoh had just transferred to CLAMP Gakuen. This story is told in a flashback chapter in the manga and in two flashback episodes in the anime. (They are some of the best episodes of the anime and one of the best chapters of the manga.)
Suoh and Nokoru are first introduced to each other when a group of girls asks them to let the girls take a picture of the two together, since they are the biggest idols on campus. Nokoru says yes immediately, but Suoh only sullenly agrees. Suoh glares while the picture is taken.
Rather disturbed by Suoh’s antipathy for him (especially since they have never met before), Nokoru does a little investigation into Suoh’s past and discovers his great skill at martial arts; Nokoru comments that even among the geniuses and prodigies of CLAMP Gakuen, Suoh stands above the rest. The name Takamura rings a bell in Nokoru’s head, but he can’t remember the meaning of the name.
Suoh goes home that afternoon and during tea with his mother tells her that he doesn’t get along well with the President of the Elementary Division Student Council; he finds the boy ‘hard to deal with.’ When questioned by his mother further, Suoh says that, for some reason, it bothers him that Nokoru treats all women equally. He can’t exactly explain why this bothers him, either. Suoh’s mother then says that it is rare for Suoh to take interest in another person, and even rarer for Suoh to feel uneasy around another person; something about Nokoru has clearly intrigued Suoh. Suoh is confused by his mother’s comments, but she just smiles again and tells him that he must keep practicing martial arts for the sake of ‘the One’ he would meet that would determine his destiny. (Well, actually, she says the last bit after a sneak attack which Suoh expertly and exasperatedly dodges. But yeah. His mom’s crazy.)
The next day, showing even more out-of-character interest, Nokoru seeks out Suoh and they go to the park to eat popsicles. Suoh reflects more on his confusion and inability to deal with Nokoru. (While making googly eyes at Nokoru.)
While Suoh makes googly eyes at Nokoru eats his popsicle, threatening men surround Nokoru, and it quickly becomes obvious that Nokoru has been caught in a kidnapping plot. Suoh rushes over and attempts to save Nokoru, but is taken by surprise and overpowered. Both Nokoru and Suoh are seized.
Nokoru is brought to a safe, comfortable room while Suoh is locked up far away in a cell in the basement. The kidnapper, a 'lady' named Casablanca, then plays on the obvious connection between the two of them, using Suoh to threaten Nokoru. She comments that Nokoru does not have friends, and it is extremely odd for Nokoru to put anyone else in danger by getting close to them. She asks Nokoru if Suoh is ‘special’ to him. Nokoru too cheerfully denies it.
Meanwhile, down in the basement dungeon, Suoh awakens, and his very first thought is to worry about Nokoru. Suoh remembers his mother telling him to always carry a weapon and be ready to fight, because he could meet with his One at any time. Suoh then uses a hidden weapon to break out of the cell. This is almost certainly when Suoh decided that Nokoru is his One.
Upstairs, Nokoru seems about to give in to Casablanca’s demands in order to save Suoh (after giving her a SCARY look). (It should be noted that this is the one time Nokoru ever dares get angry with a ‘lady’- when Suoh is threatened.) Suoh bursts into the room, having escaped and defeated many of the underlings. Nokoru, shocked by Suoh’s skill, watches Suoh defeat more underlings and realizes the meaning of Suoh’s family name, that Suoh is a member of the famous Takamura clan.
Nokoru and Suoh manage to escape (on a penguin float…) but only after Nokoru is grazed by a bullet for Suoh. As they leave on the float, Nokoru apologizes to Suoh for putting him in danger and tells Suoh that he plans on staying far from Suoh from then on.
Suoh then tells Nokoru that instead, he will stay by Nokoru’s side, because Nokoru seems to be the One he was meant to meet, the One who will determine his destiny. He promises to protect Nokoru for the rest of his life. After this incident, Suoh then quietly starts serving as Nokoru’s bodyguard and joins the Student Council as the secretary. Akira joins later on, and CGT begins with all three serving together.
Three years after he and Nokoru first met, Suoh meets a girl named Nagisa and begins dating her. The girls of CLAMP Gakuen are broken-hearted that two of the three idols of CLAMP Gakuen, Suoh and Akira, now have girlfriends. They wonder among themselves why Nokoru, the one remaining idol, is single and refuses to tell them who he likes the most.
This story holds more than surface-level meaning. When they first meet, Suoh is obviously immediately confused and embarrassed by Nokoru; he himself says he has never felt about anyone else like he does Nokoru. Suoh is clearly attracted to Nokoru, but interprets his emotions as dislike, believing and deciding himself to be repulsed by the boy. These feelings are so strong that, even three years later when he has gotten over this nervousness, he still blushes and stutters when Nokoru teases him about when they first met.
When they start working together on the Student Council, Nokoru is very fun-loving, and has a special joy in teasing Suoh more than anyone else. He often drags the naïve and trusting Akira into his plots to frustrate Suoh. He avoids doing the Student Council paperwork whenever possible, concocting complex plans that take more time and energy than the actual paperwork would have taken, mostly simply for the joy of driving Suoh mad. This frustrates Suoh to no end, and Suoh sometimes ends up resorting to desperate plans to get Nokoru to complete the paperwork.
Yet no one knows Nokoru like Suoh: Suoh can predict exactly where Nokoru lost things, and goes along with Nokoru’s plans no matter what. Even when the plans are apparently insane and/or worthless, Suoh will simply sigh and trust Nokoru. Nokoru, in return, also trusts Suoh like none other of his peers. Suoh has a deep respect and love for Nokoru, but is far from blind to his many faults and is unafraid to call Nokoru on it when he is being selfish or lazy. The last thing Nokoru needs is another person telling him how great and wonderful he is; Suoh, with his honesty and his commitment, is exactly what Nokoru needs. In the same way, Nokoru is exactly what Suoh needs to make him wind down and relax a bit.
X
And now I move on to X. In X, it is the year 1999, and a battle to decide the fate of the Earth and humanity is underway. Humans have so abused and polluted the Earth that it is dying. The goal of the Seven Angels, also known as the Dragons of Earth, is to destroy humanity and thereby save the Earth. The goal of the Seven Seals, or the Dragons of Heaven, is to protect and save humanity, possibly letting the Earth die for the sake of keeping humanity alive. Into this comes Kamui Shirou, the one destined to decide fate by choosing either to become either the seventh Angel or the seventh Seal. Eventually, Kamui decides that the Earth is not worth saving if the people he loves, his childhood friends, siblings Kotori and Fuuma Monou, are not alive. He chooses then to become a Seal and protect humanity for their sake. Following this decision, however, it is revealed that Fuuma is Kamui’s ‘Twin Star,’ the other ‘Kamui.’ Whichever side Kamui chose, Fuuma would then join the other side and fill the empty spot. Fuuma’s first act as a Dragon of Earth is to kill his sister Kotori, devastating Kamui by his betrayal.
Thrown into this love triangle mess are the adult Nokoru, Suoh, and Akira. Nokoru, as the Chairman of CLAMP Gakuen, is an ally of the Seals and Kamui, giving help and allowing several of the Seals to live in a house together on the campus. CLAMP Gakuen is also revealed as a place of great spiritual power, and serves as the hiding place for the Holy Sword that Kamui will use in the final battle against Fuuma.
When Nokoru, Suoh, and Akira show up in X, there is little to no information given on them. All we know is that it is years after they have graduated; Nokoru has taken over as the Chairman of the CLAMP Gakuen and both Suoh and Akira still work for him. We don’t know if Suoh married his official love interest Nagisa; she never shows up and is never mentioned, and the trio are barely shown themselves. It would have been nice to see a bit more of them in X or to see a bit of how they got from CGT to X, but it’s not their series, so I won’t complain.
Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE
And now Tsubasa: RESERvoir CHRoNiCLE, a new CLAMP series currently running weekly. TRC is the mother of all CLAMP crossovers, with Syaoran and Sakura (alternate universe versions of the characters from Cardcaptor Sakura) along with two original characters, the wizard Fai D. Flowright and the ninja Kurogane, traveling from alternate universe to alternate universe in order to save Sakura’s life by finding the feather fragments of her lost memories.
So far alternate universe versions of Nokoru, Suoh, and Akira have shown up twice in the TRC manga and anime. The trio shows up first in Koryo, a world loosely based on ancient Korea. They only make a quick cameo as Amenosa, government officials that travel around the country investigating claims of local lords abusing power. There’s no real subtext between Suoh and Nokoru in this world, save for the fact that since they are all three together again, a connection between the three of them seems to have some amount of inevitability, or hitsuzen, surrounding it. Of course, since this hitsuzen also included Akira, it’s certainly not conclusive proof of a romantic relationship between Suoh and Nokoru. But it does indicate the strength of the bonds among the three of them.
They later show up in Piffle Country and we see more of them. There is some slight Suoh/Nokoru subtext in Piffle, such as when the group gets drunk and Nokoru sleeps with his head in Suoh’s lap. (Aww… <3)
The Best Friend: Akira
Throughout all these worlds, there is always a third person with Suoh and Nokoru- Akira Ijuuin. So what, then, about Akira? The three obviously share a deep bond with each other, one which transcends into alternate universes. Yet there is a huge difference in the relationship Suoh and Nokoru share with each other and the relationship they share with Akira. Akira hero-worships Suoh and Nokoru; he never sees or recognizes failings in either, unlike the relationship Suoh and Nokoru share, where both recognize the other’s weaknesses. While the three boys share an undeniably strong bond of ‘hitsuzen,’ or ‘inevitability,’ Suoh and Nokoru share a bond different from the one they have with Akira. In much of the artwork with the three boys together, Suoh is almost always closer to Nokoru, with Akira set back and off to the side slightly. The splash page for File 11 in CGT, the Suoh/Nokoru flashback chapter, reads, “The CLAMP School Elementary Division Student Council members are inseparable… but there is one case they’ve kept secret from their Student Body Treasurer.” Akira will always be close to the two of them, but he will never break or share the special bond.
Why Ship Suoh/Nokoru?
To answer this question, we must first discuss the main reason not to ship Suoh/Nokoru: Nagisa, Suoh’s overt canon love interest. Nagisa is a good friend of Utako, the President of the Student Council Kindergarten Division and Akira’s girlfriend. (Yes, a fifth grader and a fourth grader are both dating kindergarteners.) An accomplished flautist, she is a sweet-tempered, beautiful girl. She was also Suoh’s love interest in Hagun Seisenki, and was some kind of demon. (Details about Hagun Seisenki are hard to come upon, because the work is so old, out of print, and was never finished. If anyone could give me more info on Hagun Seisenki I’d be mightily pleased.)
I personally vastly prefer Suoh/Nokoru to Suoh/Nagisa, because honestly, I find Nagisa boring. She doesn’t show up enough for her to have a strong, interesting personality, and when she does show up it is usually mainly as a tag-along friend of Utako’s. (Utako, I should say, has a far stronger, more interesting and developed personality.) Since Nagisa lacks depth, Suoh/Nagisa also lacks depth. Suoh sees her one day playing her flute among the wisteria trees and BAM, he’s completely in love with her. There’s no development or depth to the relationship, not even in the anime where Nagisa shows up proportionally far more than in the manga.
To me, also, the idea of a fifth grader having a relationship with a kindergartener is somewhat creepy and not likely to work very well. Despite CLAMP’s semi-pedophilia complex, it’s just not realistic to create a good relationship with such a large difference in age, especially at such young ages. Suoh is often embarrassed and uncomfortable around Nagisa, and I view this discomfort as coming both from Suoh’s discomfort with his attraction to another person and with cheating on Nokoru the age difference. Akira and Utako work as a couple despite the age difference because Akira is extremely naïve and childlike, and Utako is in some ways very mature for her age.
Comparing the relationships of Suoh and Nokoru and Suoh and Nagisa, the difference is not hard to see. Not only is Nokoru Suoh’s One (oh the monogamous insinuations), Nokoru and Suoh have more physical contact than any other couple in the series. Nokoru is always hugging and otherwise touching Suoh, and Suoh never seems very uncomfortable with this contact, sometimes returning the contact. This is obviously in direct contrast with his discomfort with close contact with Nagisa throughout the series and with Nokoru at the beginning of their relationship. This comfort implies that Suoh has gone past the stage of embarrassment with his emotions concerning Nokoru. He is never shown to reach this level with Nagisa.
To sum my view of the Suoh/Nokoru/Nagisa relationship, I’ll quote the commentary of Hikekazu Katoh in CLAMP no Kiseki Volume 5*:
“The world of CLAMP School Detectives is nothing short of a utopia for women. In order for this utopia to work, the members of the Detectives can’t all have a ‘special someone.’ Suoh has Nagisa, and Akira has Utako, but Nokoru doesn’t seem to have a romantic interest. That the Detectives can devote themselves to helping all women without discrimination is only possible because their leader, Nokoru, remains single. But what would happen if Nokoru should find his special someone? Which would he choose, his special someone or the happiness of all women?
“This isn’t the only time a CLAMP character faces this question. In Magic Knight Rayearth, Princess Emeraude must choose between supporting her world as Pillar and loving her special someone, Zagato. As much as it pains her, she can’t help but love Zagato. As a result, Cephiro [her world] becomes a wasteland filled with monsters until Emeraude reaches her tragic end. If I apply this model to Detectives, the women’s utopia would be destroyed like Cephiro should Nokoru find his special someone.
“It seems CLAMP knew this as well. In File 11, ‘Escape to Victory,’ Nokoru says that he stays alone for a reason- so that he won’t hurt the people around him. It shows Nokoru’s noble personality and the loneliness that hides behind his smile. Nokoru is the ‘Pillar’ that supports the utopian world of Detectives.
“But if so, what about Nokoru’s happiness? Will he ever be happy with some special girl? The answer is also in File 11. Instead of a special girl, CLAMP gave him Suoh, a ‘special friend.’ Suoh is another member of the Detectives who work for all women’s happiness, so, when Suoh spends time with Nokoru, it doesn’t affect how women feel about Nokoru.”
Nokoru has chosen to put his world of CLAMP Gakuen above his own happiness, allowing Suoh and Nagisa to be together without a word. He will always have Suoh, even if not in the way he would prefer. X is about people deciding what exactly they would sacrifice to save the ones they love and what they would sacrifice to be with the one they love, so taking the Suoh/Nokoru relationship in this context, X is a perfect manga to crossover with CGT. I especially find the idea of Suoh and Nokoru being together a lovely idea in X; in such a depressing world, with death, destruction, and heartbreak everywhere, the idea of Suoh and Nokoru finding each other is incredibly beautiful, and the idea of Nokoru being alone so awful.
After Emeraude’s tragic death in Magic Knight Rayearth, the Pillar system in Cephiro is destroyed because the system is too tragic and unfair; no one person, the people of MKR decide, should be asked to bear the load of an entire world by themselves. The responsibility for building and supporting a world should properly belong to all the people in that world. CLAMP never took CGT down that road, but it would be a fascinating possibility to investigate. How would the women - and men - of CLAMP Gakuen handle building their own utopia together?
*Quote taken from the TokyoPop translation.
The Fandom
CGT itself is a wonderful and absurd story. Nobody ever really dies, every pain can be healed by faith and love for yourself and others, there is always a happy ending, and all of the crises are painfully childish and melodramatic. Its cringe-worthy pseudo-feminism and subtle heterosexism also often irk my deeply feminist soul to no end. Yet within this story runs the threads of very serious issues, mirroring the emotional life of children, the complexity of which we often overlook and disregard.
I personally fell in love with Suoh/Nokoru from when I first began reading CGT; from the very first chapter, they stuck out to me as a fantastic couple. At what point exactly I decided they were an OTP of mine is hard to decide, but it was fairly early. Suoh/Nokoru is one of the more popular ships in the CGT fandom; it is, in fact, far more popular than Suoh/Nagisa. The only ship I can think of that is as popular as Suoh/Nokoru is Akira/Utako.
Unfortunately, the CGT fandom is all but dead, hardly surprising for a series that is over ten years old. Much of the fanworks that deal with the trio are very intertwined with the X fandom, which is itself hardly growing quickly, since X has been on hiatus since 2001 or so. I’d actually like to see some Suoh/Nokoru in the TRC fandom, since I’ve yet to see any. (I’m working on some myself.)
The Suoh/Nokoru fanlisting, Ice Candy, hasn't been updated much for a while, due to RL problems. The webmistress is catching up. It still has some useful links (and is very pretty).
Here are few CGT/20 Mensou/Duklyon communities, containing fairly large amounts of Suoh/Nokoru.
clamp_school is dedicated to all things CLAMP Gakuen.
fugusan_library is mainly dedicated to CGT, 20 Mensou, and Duklyon fanfiction.
x1999 is dedicated to all things X, including a few CGT crossovers.
The CLAMP section of fanfiction.net holds a great many Suoh/Nokoru stories of varying quality.
Some recs:
Yes or No
The Language of Fans (Not overtly Suoh/Nokoru, but very good.)
More Fun than a Catered Luncheon and Twice as Yummy
Man on the Moon
Circumstance
First and Last
Meanderings
Shattered Mirrors
Author: VonQuestenberg
Fandom: CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan and several other CLAMP series
Pairing: Suoh Takamura/Nokoru Imonoyama
Disclaimer: I don't own them. The kind ladies of CLAMP do.
Warning: Spoilers for CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan, 20 Mensou ni Onegai, CLAMP Gakuen Tokkei Duklyon, X, Tsubasa RESERvoir CHRoNiCLE, and Magic Knight Rayearth.
Background Information:
Nokoru Imonoyama and Suoh Takamura are popular CLAMP characters and have appeared in several series done by the four Japanese ladies. The series for which these two are most popular (and which revolves around them and their friend and colleague Akira Ijuuin) is CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan, released by TokyoPop as CLAMP School Detectives.
The setting for CGT, CLAMP Gakuen (known in English as CLAMP Academy, CLAMP School, and sometimes CLAMP Campus) is a huge school in the middle of Tokyo. A city within a city, it is owned by the Imonoyama Zaibatsu, the largest family corporation in Japan, said to have more money than the Japanese government. It includes a kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school, and university. More than ten thousand students, staff, faculty, and their families live on the campus. The school will accept as a student any one with a certain amount of talent, regardless of money and status.
There are three or four series considered to belong to the CLAMP Gakuen universe, with CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan being the most well-known of the four. They also include:
20 Mensou ni Onegai (released in English as Man of Many Faces: tells the story of Akira Ijuuin (Suoh and Nokoru's friend) and his secret identity as the thief 20 Mensou (20 Masks)),
CLAMP Gakuen Tokkei Duklyon (released in English as Duklyon: CLAMP School Defenders: a parody of the tokusatsu (costumed superheroes) genre, featuring Nokoru as the mysterious ‘unknown’ Boss of the Duklyon Defense Force protecting CLAMP Gakuen from alien invasion)
CLAMP Gakuen Kaiki Gensho Kenkyukai Jiken File (released in English as CLAMP School Paranormal Investigators: about five students investigating supernatural phenomena on CLAMP Gakuen a la X Files; it includes a cousin of Suoh’s. They are not manga, but three novels illustrated by CLAMP and written by someone else.)
TokyoPop has released translations of all four series.
There is also a twenty-six episode anime series of CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan, which takes the main story of the CGT manga and adds significant portions of 20 Mensou ni Onegai and CLAMP Gakuen Tokkei Duklyon, along with new material and characters. There is an ancient licensed subtitled release of the anime series, but it is no longer in print and was only released on VHS.
While those four series are called the CLAMP Gakuen universe, the universe is by no means limited just to those series. CLAMP are obsessed with are the undefeated masters of crossing over their own series and characters. Our trio also show up as young adults in X* (released as X/1999 by Viz). X and the CLAMP Gakuen series also take place in the same universe as most of CLAMP's others series. Oh, and to make it even more fun, most of the basis of Tsubasa RESERvoir CHRoNiCLE is a crossover with the same universe, and -also- involves alternate universe versions of Nokoru, Suoh, and Akira.
(**Note: whereas in the X manga the threesome show up, in the X anime a man who looks nothing like Nokoru shows up in the position Nokoru occupied in X. Although the man’s name is never mentioned, the man is not clearly not Nokoru and therefore none of the three show up in the anime. Because really, Nokoru would NEVER wear a mustache.)
The Characters
Nokoru Imonoyama
Nokoru is sweet, forgiving, obscenely intelligent, kind, mischievous, rather spoiled, and incredibly over-privileged. He has a lazy and manipulative streak, and is a huge flirt. Many of the girls on CLAMP Gakuen have large crushes on him; he has a huge fanclub (as all bishounen do in these school-centric series). Nokoru is quirky and loves to tease the few people he lets close to him. He constantly is carrying around at least one fan on which he will write strange little messages emphasizing what he is saying and doing. The fans seem to come from nowhere. Nokoru is also very klutzy and very bad at sports, except for when a lady is in danger.
Little is known about his family except that he has at least two older brothers (named Tsuzuku and Owaru) and is somehow related to the current Chairwoman of CLAMP Gakuen. Nokoru is often shown talking to her rather intimately, but her face is never shown, usually being covered by a fan which she also carries. (The fans are some sort of Imonoyama family tradition therefore, and not just a quirk of Nokoru’s.) Whether the Chairwoman is Nokoru’s mother, aunt, cousin, grandmother, or mother’s sister’s niece’s former roommate is unknown. Nokoru is deeply attached to CLAMP Gakuen, and eventually takes over as the Chairman.
As a young boy he is obsessed with women, and starts the CLAMP Campus Detectives, a group consisting of himself, Suoh, and Akira, in order to better help women. He has a sixth sense for damsels in distress and is uncannily good at sensing when a woman is in trouble.
All that given, honestly, Nokoru is not truly romantically attracted to women. His infatuation with women is an infatuation with the idea of women rather than with any particular woman- he treats all of them exactly the same, as a traditional gentleman would. None is ‘special’ to him. He never has a crush on a woman or shows any real interest in pursuing women romantically.
Despite Nokoru’s kindness, Nokoru is highly disconnected from other people. Nokoru has what I would term a ‘Fairy Godmother’ complex. He swoops in when he sees someone (especially a woman) in trouble, solves the problem, then swoops back out again, but never deeply connects with the many people he helps. Having spent his entire life under burden of responsibility and the threat of being kidnapped, he has pushed all his peers away for their own safety. Everyone, that is, except for Suoh, and, to a lesser extent, Akira.
Suoh Takamura
Suoh was originally a character in an early unfinished CLAMP work, Hagun Seisenki, along with his other love interest Nagisa and another CLAMP character, Yuuto Kigai.
Suoh is a defender and fighter, born and bred. Suoh is a member of the Takamura clan, an ancient clan of ninja bodyguards. The Takamura clan members are so in demand as bodyguards that they pick and choose who they wish to protect at will. Suoh has chosen Nokoru as his One to protect.
As the heir to the Takamura clan, he has spent his whole life training in the martial arts, and it shows in his incredible skill. He is extremely kind, unselfish, and dedicated to his work, with a strong sense of responsibility and duty.
However, he is rather wtihdrawn as well, and is uncomfortable when he is attracted to someone. He shows his emotions far more in his actions than in words. Perhaps his biggest fault is that he is so wrapped up in protecting his loved ones he forgets to simply talk and spend time together. He forgets to be selfish, he is so wrapped up in protecting his loved ones.
While he is trusting, he is not naïve and usually sees right through Nokoru’s plots. But Nokoru has him wrapped around his little finger. He takes on the position of stick-in-the-mud to keep Nokoru focused and on task. Suoh also has his share of fangirls at CLAMP Gakuen, but that fact makes him very uncomfortable and he is very cold to his fan club. It is said to take a lot of patience to be a Suoh fan.
The Relationship
The Suoh/Nokoru relationships is the kind of frustratingly canon relationship CLAMP is infamous for- containing an absurd amount of subtext and hints that screams out loud to anyone who reads the story with a mind open to male/male relationships, but little actual proof. However, for me the evidence is strong enough that I treat Suoh/Nokoru as canon. I have divided my relationship examination into three parts: the relationship in CGT, 20 Mensou and Duklyon, the relationship in X, and the relationship in Tsubasa RESERvoir CHRoNiCLE. Since Suoh and Nokoru are the main characters of CGT, this will, of course, focus mainly on that series.
CLAMP Gakuen Tanteidan
Their relationship begins three years before CGT begins, when Nokoru was in third grade and Suoh had just transferred to CLAMP Gakuen. This story is told in a flashback chapter in the manga and in two flashback episodes in the anime. (They are some of the best episodes of the anime and one of the best chapters of the manga.)
Suoh and Nokoru are first introduced to each other when a group of girls asks them to let the girls take a picture of the two together, since they are the biggest idols on campus. Nokoru says yes immediately, but Suoh only sullenly agrees. Suoh glares while the picture is taken.
Rather disturbed by Suoh’s antipathy for him (especially since they have never met before), Nokoru does a little investigation into Suoh’s past and discovers his great skill at martial arts; Nokoru comments that even among the geniuses and prodigies of CLAMP Gakuen, Suoh stands above the rest. The name Takamura rings a bell in Nokoru’s head, but he can’t remember the meaning of the name.
Suoh goes home that afternoon and during tea with his mother tells her that he doesn’t get along well with the President of the Elementary Division Student Council; he finds the boy ‘hard to deal with.’ When questioned by his mother further, Suoh says that, for some reason, it bothers him that Nokoru treats all women equally. He can’t exactly explain why this bothers him, either. Suoh’s mother then says that it is rare for Suoh to take interest in another person, and even rarer for Suoh to feel uneasy around another person; something about Nokoru has clearly intrigued Suoh. Suoh is confused by his mother’s comments, but she just smiles again and tells him that he must keep practicing martial arts for the sake of ‘the One’ he would meet that would determine his destiny. (Well, actually, she says the last bit after a sneak attack which Suoh expertly and exasperatedly dodges. But yeah. His mom’s crazy.)
The next day, showing even more out-of-character interest, Nokoru seeks out Suoh and they go to the park to eat popsicles. Suoh reflects more on his confusion and inability to deal with Nokoru. (While making googly eyes at Nokoru.)
While Suoh makes googly eyes at Nokoru eats his popsicle, threatening men surround Nokoru, and it quickly becomes obvious that Nokoru has been caught in a kidnapping plot. Suoh rushes over and attempts to save Nokoru, but is taken by surprise and overpowered. Both Nokoru and Suoh are seized.
Nokoru is brought to a safe, comfortable room while Suoh is locked up far away in a cell in the basement. The kidnapper, a 'lady' named Casablanca, then plays on the obvious connection between the two of them, using Suoh to threaten Nokoru. She comments that Nokoru does not have friends, and it is extremely odd for Nokoru to put anyone else in danger by getting close to them. She asks Nokoru if Suoh is ‘special’ to him. Nokoru too cheerfully denies it.
Meanwhile, down in the basement dungeon, Suoh awakens, and his very first thought is to worry about Nokoru. Suoh remembers his mother telling him to always carry a weapon and be ready to fight, because he could meet with his One at any time. Suoh then uses a hidden weapon to break out of the cell. This is almost certainly when Suoh decided that Nokoru is his One.
Upstairs, Nokoru seems about to give in to Casablanca’s demands in order to save Suoh (after giving her a SCARY look). (It should be noted that this is the one time Nokoru ever dares get angry with a ‘lady’- when Suoh is threatened.) Suoh bursts into the room, having escaped and defeated many of the underlings. Nokoru, shocked by Suoh’s skill, watches Suoh defeat more underlings and realizes the meaning of Suoh’s family name, that Suoh is a member of the famous Takamura clan.
Nokoru and Suoh manage to escape (on a penguin float…) but only after Nokoru is grazed by a bullet for Suoh. As they leave on the float, Nokoru apologizes to Suoh for putting him in danger and tells Suoh that he plans on staying far from Suoh from then on.
Suoh then tells Nokoru that instead, he will stay by Nokoru’s side, because Nokoru seems to be the One he was meant to meet, the One who will determine his destiny. He promises to protect Nokoru for the rest of his life. After this incident, Suoh then quietly starts serving as Nokoru’s bodyguard and joins the Student Council as the secretary. Akira joins later on, and CGT begins with all three serving together.
Three years after he and Nokoru first met, Suoh meets a girl named Nagisa and begins dating her. The girls of CLAMP Gakuen are broken-hearted that two of the three idols of CLAMP Gakuen, Suoh and Akira, now have girlfriends. They wonder among themselves why Nokoru, the one remaining idol, is single and refuses to tell them who he likes the most.
This story holds more than surface-level meaning. When they first meet, Suoh is obviously immediately confused and embarrassed by Nokoru; he himself says he has never felt about anyone else like he does Nokoru. Suoh is clearly attracted to Nokoru, but interprets his emotions as dislike, believing and deciding himself to be repulsed by the boy. These feelings are so strong that, even three years later when he has gotten over this nervousness, he still blushes and stutters when Nokoru teases him about when they first met.
When they start working together on the Student Council, Nokoru is very fun-loving, and has a special joy in teasing Suoh more than anyone else. He often drags the naïve and trusting Akira into his plots to frustrate Suoh. He avoids doing the Student Council paperwork whenever possible, concocting complex plans that take more time and energy than the actual paperwork would have taken, mostly simply for the joy of driving Suoh mad. This frustrates Suoh to no end, and Suoh sometimes ends up resorting to desperate plans to get Nokoru to complete the paperwork.
Yet no one knows Nokoru like Suoh: Suoh can predict exactly where Nokoru lost things, and goes along with Nokoru’s plans no matter what. Even when the plans are apparently insane and/or worthless, Suoh will simply sigh and trust Nokoru. Nokoru, in return, also trusts Suoh like none other of his peers. Suoh has a deep respect and love for Nokoru, but is far from blind to his many faults and is unafraid to call Nokoru on it when he is being selfish or lazy. The last thing Nokoru needs is another person telling him how great and wonderful he is; Suoh, with his honesty and his commitment, is exactly what Nokoru needs. In the same way, Nokoru is exactly what Suoh needs to make him wind down and relax a bit.
X
And now I move on to X. In X, it is the year 1999, and a battle to decide the fate of the Earth and humanity is underway. Humans have so abused and polluted the Earth that it is dying. The goal of the Seven Angels, also known as the Dragons of Earth, is to destroy humanity and thereby save the Earth. The goal of the Seven Seals, or the Dragons of Heaven, is to protect and save humanity, possibly letting the Earth die for the sake of keeping humanity alive. Into this comes Kamui Shirou, the one destined to decide fate by choosing either to become either the seventh Angel or the seventh Seal. Eventually, Kamui decides that the Earth is not worth saving if the people he loves, his childhood friends, siblings Kotori and Fuuma Monou, are not alive. He chooses then to become a Seal and protect humanity for their sake. Following this decision, however, it is revealed that Fuuma is Kamui’s ‘Twin Star,’ the other ‘Kamui.’ Whichever side Kamui chose, Fuuma would then join the other side and fill the empty spot. Fuuma’s first act as a Dragon of Earth is to kill his sister Kotori, devastating Kamui by his betrayal.
Thrown into this love triangle mess are the adult Nokoru, Suoh, and Akira. Nokoru, as the Chairman of CLAMP Gakuen, is an ally of the Seals and Kamui, giving help and allowing several of the Seals to live in a house together on the campus. CLAMP Gakuen is also revealed as a place of great spiritual power, and serves as the hiding place for the Holy Sword that Kamui will use in the final battle against Fuuma.
When Nokoru, Suoh, and Akira show up in X, there is little to no information given on them. All we know is that it is years after they have graduated; Nokoru has taken over as the Chairman of the CLAMP Gakuen and both Suoh and Akira still work for him. We don’t know if Suoh married his official love interest Nagisa; she never shows up and is never mentioned, and the trio are barely shown themselves. It would have been nice to see a bit more of them in X or to see a bit of how they got from CGT to X, but it’s not their series, so I won’t complain.
Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE
And now Tsubasa: RESERvoir CHRoNiCLE, a new CLAMP series currently running weekly. TRC is the mother of all CLAMP crossovers, with Syaoran and Sakura (alternate universe versions of the characters from Cardcaptor Sakura) along with two original characters, the wizard Fai D. Flowright and the ninja Kurogane, traveling from alternate universe to alternate universe in order to save Sakura’s life by finding the feather fragments of her lost memories.
So far alternate universe versions of Nokoru, Suoh, and Akira have shown up twice in the TRC manga and anime. The trio shows up first in Koryo, a world loosely based on ancient Korea. They only make a quick cameo as Amenosa, government officials that travel around the country investigating claims of local lords abusing power. There’s no real subtext between Suoh and Nokoru in this world, save for the fact that since they are all three together again, a connection between the three of them seems to have some amount of inevitability, or hitsuzen, surrounding it. Of course, since this hitsuzen also included Akira, it’s certainly not conclusive proof of a romantic relationship between Suoh and Nokoru. But it does indicate the strength of the bonds among the three of them.
They later show up in Piffle Country and we see more of them. There is some slight Suoh/Nokoru subtext in Piffle, such as when the group gets drunk and Nokoru sleeps with his head in Suoh’s lap. (Aww… <3)
The Best Friend: Akira
Throughout all these worlds, there is always a third person with Suoh and Nokoru- Akira Ijuuin. So what, then, about Akira? The three obviously share a deep bond with each other, one which transcends into alternate universes. Yet there is a huge difference in the relationship Suoh and Nokoru share with each other and the relationship they share with Akira. Akira hero-worships Suoh and Nokoru; he never sees or recognizes failings in either, unlike the relationship Suoh and Nokoru share, where both recognize the other’s weaknesses. While the three boys share an undeniably strong bond of ‘hitsuzen,’ or ‘inevitability,’ Suoh and Nokoru share a bond different from the one they have with Akira. In much of the artwork with the three boys together, Suoh is almost always closer to Nokoru, with Akira set back and off to the side slightly. The splash page for File 11 in CGT, the Suoh/Nokoru flashback chapter, reads, “The CLAMP School Elementary Division Student Council members are inseparable… but there is one case they’ve kept secret from their Student Body Treasurer.” Akira will always be close to the two of them, but he will never break or share the special bond.
Why Ship Suoh/Nokoru?
To answer this question, we must first discuss the main reason not to ship Suoh/Nokoru: Nagisa, Suoh’s overt canon love interest. Nagisa is a good friend of Utako, the President of the Student Council Kindergarten Division and Akira’s girlfriend. (Yes, a fifth grader and a fourth grader are both dating kindergarteners.) An accomplished flautist, she is a sweet-tempered, beautiful girl. She was also Suoh’s love interest in Hagun Seisenki, and was some kind of demon. (Details about Hagun Seisenki are hard to come upon, because the work is so old, out of print, and was never finished. If anyone could give me more info on Hagun Seisenki I’d be mightily pleased.)
I personally vastly prefer Suoh/Nokoru to Suoh/Nagisa, because honestly, I find Nagisa boring. She doesn’t show up enough for her to have a strong, interesting personality, and when she does show up it is usually mainly as a tag-along friend of Utako’s. (Utako, I should say, has a far stronger, more interesting and developed personality.) Since Nagisa lacks depth, Suoh/Nagisa also lacks depth. Suoh sees her one day playing her flute among the wisteria trees and BAM, he’s completely in love with her. There’s no development or depth to the relationship, not even in the anime where Nagisa shows up proportionally far more than in the manga.
To me, also, the idea of a fifth grader having a relationship with a kindergartener is somewhat creepy and not likely to work very well. Despite CLAMP’s semi-pedophilia complex, it’s just not realistic to create a good relationship with such a large difference in age, especially at such young ages. Suoh is often embarrassed and uncomfortable around Nagisa, and I view this discomfort as coming both from Suoh’s discomfort with his attraction to another person and with cheating on Nokoru the age difference. Akira and Utako work as a couple despite the age difference because Akira is extremely naïve and childlike, and Utako is in some ways very mature for her age.
Comparing the relationships of Suoh and Nokoru and Suoh and Nagisa, the difference is not hard to see. Not only is Nokoru Suoh’s One (oh the monogamous insinuations), Nokoru and Suoh have more physical contact than any other couple in the series. Nokoru is always hugging and otherwise touching Suoh, and Suoh never seems very uncomfortable with this contact, sometimes returning the contact. This is obviously in direct contrast with his discomfort with close contact with Nagisa throughout the series and with Nokoru at the beginning of their relationship. This comfort implies that Suoh has gone past the stage of embarrassment with his emotions concerning Nokoru. He is never shown to reach this level with Nagisa.
To sum my view of the Suoh/Nokoru/Nagisa relationship, I’ll quote the commentary of Hikekazu Katoh in CLAMP no Kiseki Volume 5*:
“The world of CLAMP School Detectives is nothing short of a utopia for women. In order for this utopia to work, the members of the Detectives can’t all have a ‘special someone.’ Suoh has Nagisa, and Akira has Utako, but Nokoru doesn’t seem to have a romantic interest. That the Detectives can devote themselves to helping all women without discrimination is only possible because their leader, Nokoru, remains single. But what would happen if Nokoru should find his special someone? Which would he choose, his special someone or the happiness of all women?
“This isn’t the only time a CLAMP character faces this question. In Magic Knight Rayearth, Princess Emeraude must choose between supporting her world as Pillar and loving her special someone, Zagato. As much as it pains her, she can’t help but love Zagato. As a result, Cephiro [her world] becomes a wasteland filled with monsters until Emeraude reaches her tragic end. If I apply this model to Detectives, the women’s utopia would be destroyed like Cephiro should Nokoru find his special someone.
“It seems CLAMP knew this as well. In File 11, ‘Escape to Victory,’ Nokoru says that he stays alone for a reason- so that he won’t hurt the people around him. It shows Nokoru’s noble personality and the loneliness that hides behind his smile. Nokoru is the ‘Pillar’ that supports the utopian world of Detectives.
“But if so, what about Nokoru’s happiness? Will he ever be happy with some special girl? The answer is also in File 11. Instead of a special girl, CLAMP gave him Suoh, a ‘special friend.’ Suoh is another member of the Detectives who work for all women’s happiness, so, when Suoh spends time with Nokoru, it doesn’t affect how women feel about Nokoru.”
Nokoru has chosen to put his world of CLAMP Gakuen above his own happiness, allowing Suoh and Nagisa to be together without a word. He will always have Suoh, even if not in the way he would prefer. X is about people deciding what exactly they would sacrifice to save the ones they love and what they would sacrifice to be with the one they love, so taking the Suoh/Nokoru relationship in this context, X is a perfect manga to crossover with CGT. I especially find the idea of Suoh and Nokoru being together a lovely idea in X; in such a depressing world, with death, destruction, and heartbreak everywhere, the idea of Suoh and Nokoru finding each other is incredibly beautiful, and the idea of Nokoru being alone so awful.
After Emeraude’s tragic death in Magic Knight Rayearth, the Pillar system in Cephiro is destroyed because the system is too tragic and unfair; no one person, the people of MKR decide, should be asked to bear the load of an entire world by themselves. The responsibility for building and supporting a world should properly belong to all the people in that world. CLAMP never took CGT down that road, but it would be a fascinating possibility to investigate. How would the women - and men - of CLAMP Gakuen handle building their own utopia together?
*Quote taken from the TokyoPop translation.
The Fandom
CGT itself is a wonderful and absurd story. Nobody ever really dies, every pain can be healed by faith and love for yourself and others, there is always a happy ending, and all of the crises are painfully childish and melodramatic. Its cringe-worthy pseudo-feminism and subtle heterosexism also often irk my deeply feminist soul to no end. Yet within this story runs the threads of very serious issues, mirroring the emotional life of children, the complexity of which we often overlook and disregard.
I personally fell in love with Suoh/Nokoru from when I first began reading CGT; from the very first chapter, they stuck out to me as a fantastic couple. At what point exactly I decided they were an OTP of mine is hard to decide, but it was fairly early. Suoh/Nokoru is one of the more popular ships in the CGT fandom; it is, in fact, far more popular than Suoh/Nagisa. The only ship I can think of that is as popular as Suoh/Nokoru is Akira/Utako.
Unfortunately, the CGT fandom is all but dead, hardly surprising for a series that is over ten years old. Much of the fanworks that deal with the trio are very intertwined with the X fandom, which is itself hardly growing quickly, since X has been on hiatus since 2001 or so. I’d actually like to see some Suoh/Nokoru in the TRC fandom, since I’ve yet to see any. (I’m working on some myself.)
The Suoh/Nokoru fanlisting, Ice Candy, hasn't been updated much for a while, due to RL problems. The webmistress is catching up. It still has some useful links (and is very pretty).
Here are few CGT/20 Mensou/Duklyon communities, containing fairly large amounts of Suoh/Nokoru.
clamp_school is dedicated to all things CLAMP Gakuen.
fugusan_library is mainly dedicated to CGT, 20 Mensou, and Duklyon fanfiction.
x1999 is dedicated to all things X, including a few CGT crossovers.
The CLAMP section of fanfiction.net holds a great many Suoh/Nokoru stories of varying quality.
Some recs:
Yes or No
The Language of Fans (Not overtly Suoh/Nokoru, but very good.)
More Fun than a Catered Luncheon and Twice as Yummy
Man on the Moon
Circumstance
First and Last
Meanderings
Shattered Mirrors