CLAMP

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CLAMP is an all-female Japanese manga artist group that formed in the mid-1980s. It consists of leader Nanase Ohkawa, and three artists who shift roles for each series: Mokona (もこな), Tsubaki Nekoi, and Satsuki Igarashi (いがらし寒月). Almost 100 million CLAMP tankōbon copies have been sold worldwide as of October 2007.

In general, Ohkawa gets her inspiration for the group from everyday events such as dreams or the news. Unlike most manga artists who specialize in a single genre, CLAMP has created a diverse body of work. CLAMP's genres vary widely, from childish and comedic (<i>Cardcaptor Sakura, Clamp School Detectives</i>) to more dramatic and teen-rated (<i>xxxHolic, X</i>) series. Furthermore, drawing from the idea of Osamu Tezuka's <i>Star System</i> as they did in <i>Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle</i>, CLAMP often crossover characters from their own series into their other works, which gives rise to a loosely defined "Clamp Universe".