Tokyo Babylon Manga Volume 5 Keeps Hitting Timeless Chords

Not long after Yen Press started rereleasing the Tokyo Babylon manga as part of the CLAMP Premium Collection, I brought up how the series still feels fresh despite its age due to the timeless nature of its scenarios. The thing is, this isn’t just a fleeting thing where, after reading volume 1 again, you realize how spot-on CLAMP was when incorporating societal concerns into the story. With volume 5, it once again hammers home from the very start that history repeats, we’re always going to experience certain concerns like debt and fleeting dreams of home ownership, and we need to be extremely careful when handling those sorts of stressors.

Editor’s Note: There are spoilers for the the story “Old” in volume 5 of the Tokyo Babylon manga.

So right away, Tokyo Babylon’s “Old” story hit me like a ton of bricks when I started it. Keep in mind, I did read this CLAMP manga years ago. But certain situations when Subaru is dealing with essentially a “monster of the week” can sometimes blend together or fade away when remembering the more broad plot points. But upon revisiting it, there’s so much going on when it comes to issues in society caused by things like housing bubbles, inflation, and other economic issues.

Like many Tokyo Babylon stories that focus on Subaru meeting and assisting people with a situation, he takes more of a backseat and often feels more like a supporting cast member than the star. Instead, the focus is on a struggling family. They’re living in the city in a small, cramped house. Though the husband works full-time and the wife has a part-time job, they’re barely getting by. Their two children are getting older, which means both are more expensive. The couple are also supporting the wife’s father, who is retired and doesn’t have any income of his own. There’s constant shouting. Money is tight. It’s something that, given the struggles after the COVID-19 pandemic started in late 2019, any of us could be experiencing now. 

Image via Yen Press

We even hear about the consequences of other people dealing with that kind of debt and pressure. Subaru’s introduction involves him being called by a real estate company to come in and cleanse a house. A family referenced in the introduction committed suicide due to mounting debts, with a couple and their young daughter being the victims. The head of the company even brings up how he can’t understand how unaffordable things became, and cites how it’s just impossible for people to own homes in Tokyo. That places that do end up being found are overcrowded and overpriced, and many are driven out to equally expensive suburbs and forced to commute.

Now, keep in mind, at this point Tokyo Babylon is over 20 years old. The situations CLAMP reference in the manga are still so applicable, and even more true. Leading into the story of Subaru’s encounter with the grandfather of the family in the introduction, a former Ueno zookeeper, and learning about his life becomes even more poignant. We’re experiencing this still, 20 years later. Things haven’t changed. They aren’t getting better. Stress is still driving people to abuse ones they love, to illness, and to death. 

I’m not going to spoil what happens in “Old” in Tokyo Babylon, but it continues to be a storyline that leaves a strong impression. Especially given how we’re seeing history repeat 20 years later and people now, in 2024, in similar situations. Again, I don’t know how many times I can say it, but CLAMP really crafted a manga that sticks with you and keeps remaining topical with Tokyo Babylon, and it makes it a joy to reread.

Volume 5 of Tokyo Babylon is available now, and Yen Press will release volume 6 of the CLAMP Premium Collection version of the manga on February 18, 2025. 

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