Clamp is an all-female Japanese mangaka group. Their manga series are often made into anime after release. More than 90 million Clamp tankoubon copies have been sold worldwide.
Clamp originally began in 1989 as a twelve-member doujinshi circle. The former members of Clamp included Tamayo Akiyama, Soushi Hishika, O-Kyon, Kazue Nakamori, Inoue Yuzuru, Sei Nanao, Shinya Ohmi and Leeza Sei. By 1990, the circle had diminished from twelve to seven. Of the remaining seven, Tamayo Akiyama, Sei Nanao, and Leeza Sei left the group over the course of RG Veda's production, leaving the current four members.
According to Clamp, the group's name means "a pile of potatoes".
Current Clamp members
Ageha Ohkawa (Ōkawa Ageha), formerly Nanase Ohkawa
Birth : May 2, 1967 in Ōsaka
Blood Type: A
Ohkawa is the leader of the group and the script writer. She negotiates with their editors and sometime writes the screenplay of the animated version of their manga.
Mokona formerly Mokona Apapa Birth : June 16, 1968 in Kyōto
Blood Type: A
Mokona is the main artist of most stories and was also several times in charge of design. Her art style is the trademark of the studio. She is the namesake of the character Mokona, who appears first in Magic Knight Rayearth and later in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and ×××HOLiC.
Tsubaki Nekoi (Nekoi Tsubaki) formerly Mick Nekoi
Birth : January 21, 1969 in Kyōto
Blood Type: O
Nekoi is mostly Mokona's assistant but she is also the main artist for some series (Watashi no Suki na Hito, Wish, Suki. Dakara Suki, Gōhō Drug). She is in charge of drawing Super Deformed (SD) characters and mascots and is doing the character design in turn with Mokona.
Satsuki Igarashi (Igarashi Satsuki)
Birth : February 8, 1969 in Kyōto
Blood Type: A
Satsuki is assisting Mokona and Nekoi in their works and is also in charge of the design of the tankōbon. She has a monthly column in Kadokawa Newtype Magazine.
These names are recent: In 2004, as part of Clamp's 15th Anniversary, Clamp's members changed their names from Nanase Ohkawa, Mokona Apapa, Mick Nekoi, and Satsuki Igarashi (pronounced the same, but written with different characters), respectively. The August 2004 issue of Newtype USA, a magazine specializing in events of the anime and manga subcultures, reported that the members of Clamp simply wanted to try out new names. A later interview with Ohkawa revealed that initially Mokona wanted to drop her surname because it sounded too immature for her liking, while Nekoi disliked people commenting that her name was the same as Mick Jagger's. Ohkawa and Igarashi, wanting to go with the flow of Nekoi and Mokona's name changes, changed their names as well.
Clamp works
In-progress works
CLOVER
Legal Drug
Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-
X/1999
×××HOLiC
Completed Works
Angelic Layer
Cardcaptor Sakura
Chobits
Clamp no Kiseki
Clamp School Detectives
Duklyon: Clamp School Defenders
The Legend of Chun Hyang
Magic Knight Rayearth
20 Mensō ni Onegai!!/20 Masks, Please!!
Miyuki-chan in Wonderland
The One I Love
RG Veda
Shirahime-Syo: Snow Goddess Tales
Suki Dakara Suki (I like, therefore I like)
Tokyo Babylon
Wish
Short works
These are short works that were only available in monthly magazines; they were never published in manga form.
Tenshi no Bodyguard
Shiawase ni Naritai
Tenku Senki Shurato Original Memory : Dreamer
Koi wa Tenka no Mawarimono
Left Hand
Sohryuden: The Dragon Kings in the city of water
Yumegari
Ano hi wo shiru mono wa saiwai de Aru
Murikuri
Collaborations
Clamp School Paranormal Investigators
Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion
Koi
Night Head
Oshiroi Chouchou
Rex: A Dinosaur Story
Sohryuden: Legend of the Dragon Kings
Shu no Ketsumyaku
Sweet Valerian
Clamp has authored other dōjinshi that are not listed above. Having started as a dōjinshi group, most of Clamp's dōjinshi are from their earlier years. A number of Clamp's earlier works are also not listed above.
Former Clamp members
Tamayo Akiyama (Akiyama Tamayo)
Birth : November 28, 1966 in Ōsaka
Blood Type : B
Officially left in : October 1992
Akiyama was responsible for the script and illustrations in Derayd, a manga based on an original idea by Ohkawa. Then, she started Cluster (original idea, script and art) with the studio and continued to work on it after leaving Clamp in 1992. She worked on 20 Mensō ni Onegai!! and RG Veda with the other artists of the studio. After leaving the group, Akiyama published Hyper Rune, Mouryou Kiden, Secret Chaser, Zyword and Shade.
Leeza Sei (Sei Riiza)
Birth : April 28, 1967 in Ōsaka
Blood Type : B
Officially left in : October 1992
Sei was an assistant artist on RG Veda. She was also in charge of story and illustrations of Combination, a manga based on an original idea of Ohkawa. When Sei left Clamp, she continued this series under her "Clamp name", finishing it in 6 volumes. After leaving the group, she changed her name to Iba Takeo and published her manga (Gilgrim in 2 volumes, Phantom Cognition in 10 volumes and Tasogare no Rakuen 7 volumes and still running) in the Princess Gold magazine. She is still doing some dōjinshi with Nanao Sei, another ex-Clamp member, under the L.S.N. name (Leeza Sei Nanao).
Sei Nanao (Nanao Sei)
Birth : October 29, 1967 in Ōsaka
Blood Type : O
Officially left in : June 1990 (Last mentioned in Shōten 6).
Still does doujinshi with fellow former Clamp member Leeza Sei under the name "L.S.N." (Leeza Sei Nanao).
Sōshi Hishika (Hishika Sōshi)
Birth : ?
Blood Type : ?
Officially left in : Mars 1993 (as mentioned in the Shōten 3).
Kazue Nakamori (Nakamori Kazue)
Birth : ?
Blood Type : ?
Officially left in : Mars 1993 (as mentioned in the Shōten 3).
Shinya Ohmi (Ohmi Shinya)
Birth : ?
Blood Type : ?
Officially left in : Mars 1993 (as mentioned in the Shōten 3). He was the only man in the team and related to Akiyama Tamayo.
O-Kyo
Birth : ?
Blood Type : ?
Officially left in : Mars 1993 (as mentioned in the Shōten 3). She got married on May 27th 1990.
Guests
As many dōjinshi groups, CLAMP did welcome guests in their team from time to time. For exemple, Inōe Yuzuru is often listed as the twelfth member of the group but was only a guest.
