Elegy for Apothecarius Argentum 8

I just finished volume 8, and I am in mourning.  Not just for character X, whose death has been bumming me out every time I think of it all day (poor character X!!!!), but for the fact that I will NEVER FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS. 

Seriously, I'm going to go cry some more about the demise of CMX, the company who published this fine series with its slightly amateurish art and its startling ability to casually go where no manga I've read has gone before.  Euthanasia, abortion, slavery, prostitution: is this really a shojo manga (nothing at all like Banana Fish)? 

And two characters finally got to walk a bit holding hands, and then political chaos breaks out!  And this totally unexpected cliffhanger with a zillion converging loose ends leaves you wanting more NOW, and you can't have it because you are a good, law-abiding citizen (seriously contemplating breaking copyright law to find out what happens because you can't buy what happens next).  A sad, aborted "ending" for another fine series that deserved a full run.

Go read it now before even what we have is out of print.  Oh, my poor character X!  This sucks for us all!

Scratching my head over CLAMP (again)

Ah, CLAMP.

I just read Tsuabasa: Reservoir Chronicle 24 and 25, and wow am I confused.  It's a familiar feeling, this breaks-are-out-but-what-a-view feeling.  (I remember it from parts of X/1999 and, not surprisingly, XXXholic.)  I kind of want a flow chart to show who's who when and where and for how long.  And stuff.

Definitely an enjoyable exercise read, I think Tsubasa will have good re-read value in general, even if it tanks at the end.  :)  I guess I think that just because the roller coaster's last hill isn't as much of a success as the first doesn't mean it's a bad ride.

Do you think a series' ending makes or breaks the series?