Drug & Drop is a manga written and drawn by CLAMP. Originally titled Legal Drug when it began serialization in Monthly Asuka in 2000, it went into hiatus in 2003, and came back in 2011 under the title Drug & Drop in the seinen magazine Young Ace. And it went into a hiatus again in 2013.
The story follows Kazahaya Kudo, a young man who collapses in the snow after running away from home and thinks that he doesn't want to die. He is found by Rikuo Himura, who takes him to the Green Drugstore, where he gets a job from Kakei, the eccentric owner. Since both guys have supernatural powers, they take on "special" cases on the side that never go as smoothly as they'd hoped. There's also the beginnings of a Myth Arc in play, with Kazahaya hiding from his twin sister, Kei, Rikuo searching for a mysterious woman named Tsukiko, and Kakei and his lover, Saiga, preparing for something that's looming over the horizon. And it all comes with the boatloads of subtext and Ho Yay that you'd expect from most of CLAMP's work.
Formerly available from Tokyopop as Legal Drug.
Not to be confused with the use of legal drugs in a work; that's a G-Rated Drug.
Contains Examples of:
- Animal Motif: Kazahaya is often compared with a cat, and he himself said that his sister is very "cat-like".
- Apathetic Citizens: On the night Kazahaya almost almost dies, it’s Christmas and it’s snowing. He’s lying in the middle of a plaza on surrounded by people going about their business, and no one gives him a second glance. Even Rikuo, who ultimately saves Kazahaya, initially turned away as well before deciding to help him.
- Bloodbath Villain Origin: Kei was kidnapped when the two siblings sneaked away from their cult's surveillance. After a month they found her and brought her back; Kazahaya then saw her covered with the blood of the kidnappers she killed because they were keeping her away from him. After that everything went downhill.
- Blood-Splattered Wedding Dress: Kei's kimono is splattered with Rikuo's blood after she "gathered some information" about Kazahaya from him.
- Cain and Abel:
We're not really sure what their deal is, but it's implied that Kazahaya ran away from home in order to avoid something that would have eventually pitted him and Kei against each other...maybe. It's later revealed that he ran away because the cult that kept them locked up was planning to kill one of them; as he's not planning to die, escaping was the only option to save himself and Kei. - Cast Full of Pretty Boys: The main cast are four very attractive men.
- Chains of Love: In the official artwork.
- Chekhov M.I.A.: Tsukiko, who disappeared without a trace and left a blood-splattered room behind her. Rikuo's convinced that she is alive and still out there somewhere, but we probably won't be learning her official status anytime soon.
- Continuity Nod: Besides Kazahaya and Rikou making cameos in ×××HOLiC, characters from other CLAMP series have shown up in this series.
- In the 2nd CCS movie Touya is seen wearing the Wish bunny mascot suit for work. Guess which store the mascot is for.
- In the second chapter of Drug & Drop, Watanuki appears as owner of Yuuko's shop, tying into the end of ×××HOLiC. Incidentally, given that there is a reference made about the urn that was retrieved back when the series was Legal Drug, one must wonder how much time had passed since then in both series up until the point where they met again.
- In chapter 9 of Legal Drug, Kazahaya meets Hina at her high school graduation and gives her a new outfit from recurring CLAMP brand name Piffle Princess in exchange for her school uniform. When Hina tells Shirou about it shortly afterward, he isn't too thrilled with how she blithely accepted some random stranger's request for her uniform, no questions asked.
- In chapter 9 of Drug & Drop Kazahaya meets Kohaku, the clumsy angel from Wish who, somehow, awakened early from his/her 100 years of slumber. It's then revealed that Kazahaya is related to Kohaku's human lover, Shuichiro Kudo.
- Cooldown Hug: Kakei gives one to Kazahaya while the latter is upset over Rikuo's injuries. It's very reminiscent of Hisui comforting Kohaku, and for good reason.
- Creepy Crows: Kazahaya's sister Kei uses crows to spy on him.
- Creepy Twins: Kazahaya is not one, but Kei has enough creepy for both.
- Crossover: subtly with ×××HOLiC, and more blatantly with Wish.
- Cute Kitten: A shapeshifting one is the MacGuffin for one of the boys' jobs.
- The Dreaded: After she proved that she's very comfortable with killing Kei becomes this. Nobody is bold enough to go against her will.
- Expy: Similar to claims made surrounding Wish, it is believed that Kazahaya and Rikuo are expies of Jotaro and Kakyoin. This is corroborated by evidence of a page formerly on CLAMP's website dubbed "Green Drug", containing multiple pieces of artwork depicting Jotaro and Kakyoin as drug dealers.
- Identical Stranger: In chapter 10 of Drug & Drop, Kakei and Saiga were compared to Hisui and Kokuyou by Kazahaya. Subverted.
- Inexplicably Awesome: So far, the nature and origin of Kazahaya's and Rikuo's psychic skills have not been explained. They share a universe with wizards and angels, but it's apparent they are none of the two.
- Kimono Is Traditional: Kei is always wearing kimono. Also a young Kazahaya in flashbacks.
- Like Cannot Cut Like: Kazahaya and Kei couldn't see each others' past and future as their powers are very alike.
- MacGuffin: Kei’s hair-clip. It is seen in her hair in a flashback,and it is later seen in Tsukiko’s blood-splattered apartment in a vision Kazahaya briefly sees. The significance of this though has yet to be explained.
- No Social Skills: Kazahaya.
- Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Kakei grows his hair out to reveal that he's really Hisui.
- The Promise: Kakei and Saiga (i.e. Hisui and Kokuyo) are revealed to have made two promises. ”To stay on this Earth until Kohaku awakens. And to protect Kohaku, along with the ones that child holds dear.” As it turns out, this promise extends to one other person; Kazahaya.
- Psychic Powers: All the main characters (and some others) have them in some form.
- Mind over Matter: Rikuo.
- The Empath: Kazahaya.
- Seers: Kakei. Also, after an encounter with a vampire-like creature that can tell the future, Kazahaya apparently gains this ability. Chapter 12 reveals that he always was a seer but he only could see pictures of the past out of persons or objects. On the other hand, Kei is a straight example, since she sees pictures of the future out of persons or objects.
- Astral Projection: Nayuki.
- Red String of Fate: Kakei reveals to Saiga that Kazahaya and Rikuo both believe their string of fate is bound to their respective last surviving family members. However, their string of fate is really bound to other people; each other.
- The Reveal: Saiga and Kakei are Kokuyo and Hisui.
- Situational Sexuality: The entire student body of the boarding school in the third volume. As Nayuki explains, they're horny teenage boys completely cut off from female contact, so who else are they going to turn to?
- Sleepyhead: Saiga spends half his scenes asleep on Kakei's sofa (and sometimes while resting his head in Kakei's lap.) Fans have speculated that it's because he can psychically search for things or people--like Tsukiko--in his sleep.
- Snow Means Death: Subverted, in that Kazahaya almost dies in snowy weather, but Rikuo saves him.
- Spider-Sense: Kakei.
- Stepford Smiler: Nayuki, to the point where his soul manifests outside of his body to let his true feelings be known.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Rikuo and Saiga.
