#Since Syaoran was his mirror

[completeoveranalysis]

[3]

PLEASE RESUME HURLING ME OUT THE WINDOW THIS IS TOO MUCH

Fai tenderly letting his magic fall to his hand, not as if its his, but gently, as if holding the last remaining memento of Syaoran. Adding the -kun to his name to make their bond clear, despite everything that's happened

(And how, if he takes the magic back, this part of Syaoran will be gone - but then maybe, this part of Syaoran will always be with him too)

And Kurogane picking up his sword (in his remaining hand), as HIS final piece of Syaoran. The sword that they went shopping for together in Outo. The sword that he trained Syaoran how to use. The sword with his iconic flame on the hilt. 

AND HIM ASKING WHY HE COULDN’T HAVE USED HIS ENERGY TO STAY ALIVE INSTEAD OF APOLOGISING

BECAUSE THEN HE’D STILL BE HERE

Oh I'm BROKEN. Both of Syaoran's dads holding the piece of him that they shared one way or another. Kurogane taught Syaoran his swordplay, that central part of Kurogane's identity that means so much to him, and Fai's magic was used by Syaoran directly - the magic that has been THE defining feature of Fai's life, and this is the part of it that they BOTH used.

AND IT'S NOT ENOUGH. THEY DON'T WANT THESE THINGS BACK.

THEY'D RATHER HAVE THEIR SON.

[meimi-haneoka]

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Chapter 67: Comments + JP-ENG translation differences

CCS fans!! Welcome back for another episode of “CLAMP are messing with my brain and I don’t like it”, aka Clear Card Arc! 😂We’ve reached Chapter 67, can you believe… For those who still don’t know, here’s a small reminder of the most important info we found out since last chapter: At the beginning of October (formalized on October 13th) we’ve got the confirmation that Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc will end with volume 14. In a Twitter Space of last week, CLAMP revealed that volume 14 will be a bit bigger (therefore, with more pages) than volume 13, which is already bigger than the standard. They haven’t announced exactly what will be the last chapter, so all we have left to do is enjoying these last chapters of the Clear Card saga, where we’ll find all the answers we’re looking for, as Ohkawa and Nekoi themselves reassured us in the same Space. In this chapter, for example, we start getting some answers about the current situation (I’m glad to see I was right on most things 😁)

Without further ado, let’s start this analysis/translation comparison thread, cause I feel there’ll be a lot to point out.

Gif of the month! 😂

The Color Page

Chapter 67 sees on the cover the spirits of two Cards that turned out to be absolutely crucial in this climax: Sakura Card Mirror and Clear Card Mirror, in a very “ying and yang” representation. The Japanese text over it quotes the words of the Card True or False back some chapters ago:

“You’ll have to ascertain… Is it a Lie (dream)? Or the Truth (reality)?

It’s interesting to note how Clear Mirror keeps the typical hair color that’s always been associated with Mirror, while the Sakura Card Mirror got this pinkish-purpleish tint to it. Was it always like this? We are used to the colors the anime canon sets as “official”, but as the manga canon sometimes switches things around (and this is seemingly the first time we have the spirit of a Card appearing on a color page), it might be a change done to distinguish the two Cards better.

The Cards Love Syaoran

We open the chapter with Syaoran waking up to the sound of someone calling him. It’s the Sakura Card Mirror, who confirms to him they’re at the edge of the world they’re currently all in. And lol, my readers, I already have to point out a translation mistake, since it’s important to understand why Syaoran is still inside this world…

ENG: You came to...just before you were driven out.

JP: You managed to stay here without being knocked off this world because [you realized] (the deceit).

So apparently, the fact Syaoran realized the deceit behind Mirror’s disguise (thanks to the absence of the shock, courtesy of Yelan) is what allowed him to stay here. It seems clear by now that if he kept believing the one he grabbed was Sakura, he would’ve been sent flying off this world and bye bye any remote chance to bring the real Sakura back. So again, a reiteration that Yelan’s spell ended up saving her son, one way or another. I think it was particularly brilliant because, even in the chance Kaito might have noticed the spell on him, he would’ve paid no mind, as apparently it was a spell with a “negative” connotation to the kids (and so, hard for Kaito to realize it would’ve actually helped Syaoran in this way). Syaoran realizes the spell is finally broken, and therefore he realizes it was his mother’s doing all along (for those wondering how, well, I can only imagine her son knows her and her methods that much). So we also got the confirmation that there’s no more “no-touch spell” and next time Sakura and Syaoran will be able to touch without any danger!

But the surprises are not over, as Syaoran realizes he’s got Flight on his back helping him staying “afloat” in the void.

And here we go again clarifying a part that’s pretty confusing in the ENG version in my opinion, it doesn’t explain exactly what Flight did here, beside mentioning something that is incorrect canon-wise.

ENG: I am Clow’s Mirror… Even if I look just like Sakura’s. The other Mirror copied the power of the Flight Card...so it remembered me. It saved me.

JP: I, Mirror (鏡), and (the other)Mirror (鏡像) have the same appearance. (The other) Mirror (鏡像) has copied Flight’s power before, so Flight remembered it and decided to help us out.

Sooooo. First of all. I get quite irked whenever the “old” Cards still get called “Clow Cards”, since the Clow Cards don’t exist anymore. It is factually wrong to call them as such because Sakura spent the entirety of the Sakura Card Arc making them be reborn under her name. The old incantation recited “Discard your old appearance and be reborn under your new Master’s name, Sakura”, after all. The Cards have all discarded their existence as Clow Cards and became Sakura Cards so long ago. Calling Mirror “Clow’s” here adds only confusion over confusion (before understanding what was happening, I really thought some shenanigan happened that nullified Sakura’s work on the Cards and somehow a Clow Card was able to come back!! WTF). If their intent was to distinguish Mirror (old) from Mirror (new), since they have the same name and we can’t use the kanji like the Japanese readers can do, they could’ve used any other trick. Call it “the other Mirror”, call it “the new Mirror” if you can’t use “Clear Card” because basically anyone has yet to call those cards “Clear Cards”, in the story. But if you say “I look like Sakura’s Card”, I will immediately think about all the Sakura Cards that are with Syaoran now, not the Clear Cards that Sakura is creating.

After this premise to point out that confusing mistake, this is what happened as I understood it: Flight and (Sakura)Mirror are from 2 different decks, so in theory they shouldn’t know eachother. But Sakura used the Mirror from the Clear deck on Flight before, so it is acquaintaned with that Card. Flight, seeing (Sakura)Mirror in that World, recognized her as having the same appearance as the Mirror from its own deck, made 2+2 (“this must be the Card our Master created Mirror from, since we’re all coming from her past experiences”) and decided to help her by preventing Syaoran to fall after passing out.

As we have all seen extensively throughout the series, Mirror confirms Flight loves Sakura very much, and apparently it loves Syaoran too, since Sakura means so much to him. Flight was also part of that special moment in the sky back in chapter 23, so it’s only normal it has come to know what’s really in Syaoran’s heart. Syaoran is very moved by all this trust in him and pats Flight in a very sweet way. I found this as a “convoluted” but probably necessary explanation as to why Flight would collaborate with Mirror to save Syaoran, despite supposedly not being acquainted with eachother. And then, Mirror apologizes profusely for deceiving Syaoran like that. If you pay attention, we reached a panel with Kaito, so do you think we escaped a translation mistake? Of course not, in fact: (yessir, I’ll call this ‘mistake’ because I’m tired to see him called as what NO one has ever called him in the series, perpetrating this misconception)

ENG: I let that man use me...to deceive you. JP: I let someone else use me to deceive you…

Yes, I am beyond done with the use of “that man” in relation to Kaito. Mirror here uses “someone else”. Besides, the ひと (hito) in 別のひと is written in hiragana. You might have heard me say this before, but apparently the use of hiragana instead of the kanji version for “hito” 人 represents warmth, a lack of animosity toward the person you’re talking about. When Syaoran talks about Kaito, he uses the same pattern. It’s not exclusive to them, as Kaito himself has used two different “ano hito” in relation to other people: with kanji (cold and detached) when talking about the Squids, and in hiragana (warm) when talking about Lilie. I saw my Japanese mutuals discussing about it more than once before, and I noticed it is a thing inside the story. So that “that man” that gives away so much bitterness is not only incorrect on a translation level, but also on an interpretation level. But, alas, we always have to make Kaito look worse than he is, right?(and I don’t think this chapter needed it, as he’s already behaving in the way he’s behaving. It’s like adding fuel to the fire).

Rant aside (it’s not over as there’ll be another instance shortly ahead), Syaoran reassured Mirror it’s not her fault, but rather his responsability for still being inexperienced. He goes to check for the Sakura Cards and….they’re not there in his pocket! Alas, Mirror confirms that the only Sakura Card allowed into this world is her, because Kaito brought her in. Again, we have the ENG translation using “that man”, but here in JP Mirror uses “the magician” instead (another name the people on Sakura’s team use very often to refer to Kaito). Mirror says that the new Cards that Sakura has been making are in this World too, but not all of them might move in Sakura’s interest like Flight did (“moving for her” rather than “answer to her”, as the ENG decided to translate it). We see an example of Shade, which has indeed moved in Kaito’s interest by destroying the scene with Tomoyo/Repair and bringing him and Sakura to the Red Queen, just like I had pointed out last time. Syaoran at this point doesn’t even know if his magic will work at all in this world, but he decides he has to carry on anyway, and Mirror pleads him to take her with him. Flight is absolutely wanting to be a part of this too, and Syaoran officially starts the “let’s go to Sakura” rescue operation!

All My Memories are Here

Right, where did we leave our “Sakura” last time? Alice is in the presence of the Red Queen, and as soon as she sees her, she’s about to shout her real name! It seems Sakura was about to recognize Akiho, but a strong headache messes with her head and she loses that glimpse of memory she was about to regain. The Cat, with a stern expression behind her, reminds her that she’s Alice, and so she introduces herself once again to the Red Queen. Again, Alice starts asking questions upon seeing the two people on the sides of the room. The Cat explains they are “The one who loves with kindness” and “The one who decides”. Interesting the choice in the ENG version where they translated 慈しむ者 with “the one who brings comforts”, as the verb 慈しむ expresses a very tender kind of love and affection (typical of parents for children). That same kanji is also present in the kanji name of the Kindness Card, so I would’ve appreciated the effort to include that nuance more. Alice, as she’s always been doing ever since she stepped foot into this World (guys, Sakura’s intuition is just that crazy good), asks the Cat: “For the Red Queen?” The Cat doesn’t answer (as usual), but his expression is once again very pensive. All these pressuring questions about the Queen...are pricking him where it’s needed to? We’ll see. The Red Queen welcomes Alice and, using the Transfer Card, teleports to Sakura, offering to be her guide throughout the castle. Another translation mistake: The Queen doesn’t say “take my hand” (do you actually see Alice taking the Queen’s hand, afterwards? Nope, indeed), but actually “touch it”, referring to Transfer’s target symbol. I want to remind you that Transfer was the one Card that Kaito commented “A pity. We were almost there” on. Transfer went very close, maybe even closer than the much more famous Rewind, to the Card Kaito wanted. We western fans don’t have much knowledge of it because the ENG translation back then translated his comment as just “oh well”. Back to us, Alice and the Red Queen get transported outside the Castle, to a place we have seen before….hehehe. Yes, this is the infamous botanical garden (would have it k1lled them to actually spell ‘botanical garden’ so it was clearer to everyone? We haven’t seen much of it back then so it might not be immediately recognizable to everyone)

The spread, of course, is absolutely stunning, as Mokona sensei got us accustomed to in this climax. The flowers are made of glass, and the Red Queen comments, while elegantly descending the stairs, that this place is very important, because it’s where all the memories are stored. Whose memories?, asks Alice, and the Queen cryptically answers “Someone’s”. Alice asks her if her memories are here too, to which the Queen replies affirmatively. Hence, I have to infer, the first person she was referring to wasn’t herself. Reflected in the big crystals, in the meantime, we see glimpses of the botanical garden we saw back in chapter 53.

Alice got the feeling she already knows this place.

ENG: Something tells me I’ve been here before...with someone very special to me. And I met someone very dear to me...and someone very dear to them. JP: I have the feeling I already know this “botanical garden”. I went there together with someone very special to me. Once there, I met someone very dear to me...along with that someone’s special person.

Cinzia, why being so nitpicky? Isn’t the meaning the same? No, it isn’t. Ohkawa tried to do something very clear here, and the way they translated it buried it under the sand. I just hope it’s carelessness and not a deliberate attempt at muddling something in the light of the finale. Basically, when Sakura was speaking, she made very clear the level of feelings between the two pairs, by using 2 distinctive adjectives: 特別なひと ("special person") to indicate the person Sakura is in love with

大切なひと ("important person") to indicate the feelings of someone being very dear to her

Sakura used "special person" to indicate Syaoran, but she used it ALSO when talking about Akiho's special person, Kaito. When talking about Akiho, instead, she used "important person". It was very very clear Ohkawa's intent here. "Kaito is to Akiho what Syaoran is to Sakura". Parallelism and such. So using “important person” in this context threw that subtle but important parallelism out of the window and watered down Akiho’s feelings as just the same level of friendship there is between her and Sakura. You should know by now that I wouldn’t tolerate that. 😂

Moving on (phew, so long), the two girls change location again. But we immediately realize the Cat was watching them from a distanced location and didn’t follow them suit. A voice starts talking…..and with absolute joy (from me) we realize it’s actually MOMO!! We only hear her voice and we don’t actually see her, but she tells him “Move them around, interfere with them, it’s all useless. This world, after all, is made by all the memories of Akiho, the one who calls me Momo and named this book ‘Alice in Clockland’...the memories of the girl who’s lost right now...and YOURS too, the one who activated the magic using this book” Basically here Momo is reprimanding Kaito because these little places made of memories that will “trigger” Sakura’s own memories will keep popping up, no matter how much he interferes, tries to steer Sakura’s attention or drags her away. So here we find out that not only Kaito’s subconscious is intertwined with this world, but Sakura’s and Akiho’s memories too. In that regard, we could say the rose garden appearing in last chapter might have been coming also from Akiho’s memories, in addition to Kaito’s. One curious thing I have to point out regarding the botanical garden is that, in theory, the two girls aren’t supposed to remember about it. Cause Kaito rewound the events of the botanical garden. While we might argue that Sakura, due to her powers, might have traces of these memories hidden down her subconscious, I still wonder if once again the place popped up from Kaito’s memories. After all, he’s the only one with clear memories of it and this was the place where Akiho went out of her way to invite him to. It must mean something to him too.

And here we basically get the confirmation of the thing I’ve been quite sure about since a couple of chapters ago, that is…..behind the Cat, there’s actually Kaito in disguise!!😂😂This rascal!! 😂 I mean, last chapter with some reactions of his he really let himself be caught, though 😝 Kaito answers to Momo that he’s been lucky the role of the Cat called for a calm and detached demeanor, and here Momo’s answers made me crack up big time!! 😂 “It would’ve been so much funnier if you had to play a spoiled brat….or a silly role” Kaito answers, with his usual demeanor between defiance and deference “I would’ve made an effort as far as possible” 😂😂😂NOW I want to see spoiled brat Kaito...no, wait...he already is one 😂

We find out from Momo that he used the Clear Mirror Card (note: Momo doesn’t say he stole that too, only that he used it…) to take the appearance of the next head of the Li family, but… Momo: “You can’t hide” Kaito: “What, my wickedness?” ( the JP didn’t use exactly “cruelty”) Momo: “No, your true nature” (I think the use of ‘nature’ here is important. It implies it’s the very opposite of “wicked”).

This is, I believe, a remark that pricked Kaito where he’s most vulnerable, as he gets up and he doesn’t even let Momo finish what she’s saying (something about even a little spell possibly doing damages to him, in the state he’s in right now?), stating he must be back to Alice’s side, as his role requires. We get the last confirmation that we’re currently inside Momo’s book, under the effect of a spell, and that the story is inexorably going towards “the beginning of the end”.

Back to the “outside world”, to Yukito & company, we see his barrier starting to deteriorate. Yukito is very tired and so is Touya. To avoid the spell from breaking, Yue talks to his “other self” and tells him:

JP: “Let’s swap. You and me are the same being, so I can keep this spell alive” "Ah, that's right. There's still my other's self power left" I've put the JP version here because that “traces” used by the ENG version might trick some people into getting a wrong interpretation, that is, that Yue was supposedly gone but there were actually still traces of him inside Yukito. None of this is really suggested in the JP version and the Spanish translation actually suggest Yukito was simply forgetting he could count on Yue as well. And so, Yue takes over and asks Nakuru to turn into Ruby Moon and act as a “battery”, to boost Yukito’s magic spell together...I found this a beautiful moment of collaboration and friendship beyween the two guardians!! They’ve come such a long way!! 🥲

The chapter ends with a BOOM: Yue threatens Syaoran to punch him if he doesn’t make it unscathed, and Touya agrees, saying “Hurry up and come back along with her...SYAORAN LI”.

GUYS GUYS TOUYA KINOMOTO CALLED SYAORAN WITH HIS FULL NAME 😂😂😂 Can you hear the wedding bells in the distance??? 😂This is like the “Big Brother” approval mark 😂

In this general climate of putting aside the differences, the animosity, to embrace others, I can’t help but yearning to see this climate extended to all the characters of Clear Card. I know this is what CCS is about, so I’ll just keep having faith and wait for that moment. It'll be a beautiful moment, I'm sure.

I have to run to bed but I wanted to get this thing out as soon as possible due to all the confusing things, so for now I'll just leave it here and as usual I'm available for more comments and theories in asks or comments! A quick reminder of the dates for the next chapter, chapter 68 (we're so close!!): November 28th, on Bookwalker/Azuki (digital, ENG) November 29th, on Clamp-fans (digital, JP and other languages) December 1st, on Comic-days (digital, JP ) and Nakayoshi (paper and digital, JP)

[yououui]

Ofc kurofai + 28 💕

kiss prompt 28: ...as a lie

"...You okay?"

It's a dumb question. It might be the most tone deaf thing he's ever asked because of course the mage isn't okay. Kurogane heard the bathroom sink run for at least thirty minutes as Fai scrubbed the blood from his hands before he finally accepted that burning his hands under scalding water wouldn't wash away the memory of the girl's life spilling over him. He's found now in the room he and the Princess shared before. He's dressed once again the clothes he wore when they all first met, a sweeping fur coat embroidered with deep blue sigils. He's skinnier now than when they first met. Paler, too. His hair is longer and of course, the black patch covering one eye serves as a reminder of just how much has changed since then.

Still, Kurogane doesn't know what else to say. While the kid and manjuu get changed, he leans against the doorway and watches Fai, who stares at himself in a mirror on the wall.

After a moment, Fai turns to face Kurogane properly. Kurogane can't quite read the expression on that pale face. He doesn't look as guarded as usual but there's still an invisible wall that keeps Kurogane at a distance.

Then, without a word, Fai walks over to him. He stands before Kurogane, his head tilted back slightly to maintain eye contact and even with the height Kurogane has on the mage, he feels so incredibly small under that icy gaze.

Kurogane only breaks the eye contact when a gloved hand lifts and slender fingers gently brush against his cheek. His eyes flick down, trying to see the source of the sudden touch, and in that moment Fai leans closer, lifts himself on his toes, and presses a soft kiss against the corner of Kurogane's lips.

Kurogane jerks back then, too surprised to feign indifference as he looks at Fai in blatant shock. Fai takes a step back, puts back the distance they've maintained for so long. His expression is blank, his eye heavy with exhaustion and something else. Kurogane resists the urge to touch the spot where soft lips just were. The skin there tingles as if imbued with ancient magic.

"I'm okay," Fai finally answers. Kurogane blinks, the shock and confusion melting away as he regards Fai. Fai's gaze lowers slightly and he nods as if to reassure himself. "Everything will be okay."

He turns his back on Kurogane. "You should go check on Mokona and Syaoran. I'll be there soon."

Kurogane knows he won't get any more answers, he knows he won't get an explanation for this lie until it's probably too late. So he turns to leave, closing the door behind him to give Fai some privacy, and hopes for once that Fai is right.

[lilover131]

Chapter 68 Analysis

It’s new chapter time!! And boy, was this a good one! I haven’t been this excited about the next chapter in quite some time, but that’s how you know for sure that we’re definitely in the climax of the story!

Also, this gif totally was my vibe while reading this chapter. 

Without further ado, let’s delve in! 

Call it Tsubasa PTSD if you wish, but seeing a absolutely adorable color page always has me worried that something bad is about to happen. Lmao! CLAMP has a tendency to give us these really heart warming pictures before crushing our hearts, but I’m going to have faith that there is a different meaning here. Perhaps this is to remind us of Syaoran’s promise to not let Sakura become unhappy. Or perhaps it is also a reminder of what Sakura said when she made the new Mirror card. She said she wished she could look in the mirror and see herself the way everyone else does. And in a way, Syaoran becomes her mirror in this chapter, but I’ll delve into that a bit more further into this analysis.

 The chapter starts off very similarly to the ending of chapter 50 where Momo narrates and asks what happiness is to her, and how it is that she can always believe everything will be all right even during times of hardship. ‘Alice’ comes to on a gondola-like boat moving down a calm stream between two huuuuuuge shelves containing thousands of books (I wish I had a library like that). I love CLAMP’s landscape designs once again, but the incorporation of the trees is quite nice here. It gives the vibe that this library is not just full of books but is alive.

The Red Queen asks ‘Alice’ whose voice she heard and asked if it was something important. Something flashes across her face that indicates that perhaps for a moment, a brief moment, Sakura is starting to remember who she is. The smile in particular feels much more like herself than the character of ‘Alice’. And it seems practically confirmed that she did have a brief glimpse of self recognition based on ‘Mr. Cat’/Kaito’s brooding expression and clenched fists. Lol!

 Kaito seems most displeased and doesn’t hesitate to let Momo know he doesn’t appreciate it by asking her not to give Sakura any more hints. He also reminds her that she’s supposed to not assist the characters in the book. Momo explains that it’s ‘narration’ she’s helping move things along by facilitating and not assisting in any way. Lol. Kaito gives his usual smile at her scolding, which is so weird on Syaoran’s face, and I feel this is his way of covering up how irritated he actually is by this. Hahahaha. He lets Momo know he’s still not particularly happy about it, but decides to let it go for now so they can continue following them.

 ‘Alice’ comments on all the books surrounding them, and the Red Queen states that books are incredibly important in this land, and that they have always been there for her. As we know, it was shown many many chapters ago (our first glimpse of Akiho’s past) how she had no friends as a child, and books were her only friends, so it seems almost like a flash of the real Akiho here. She’s still in there, though not out quite yet.

 However, these books in this library are no ordinary books. The Red Queen explains that each book holds a person’s memories and serves as a record. They contain a person’s feelings, hopes, and even the magic they created. I am totally creeped out by this because we know Akiho’s Clan (aka the Squid Clan or Asshats), performed a spell on Akiho so that she would absorb the contents of all grimoires that pass before her and engrave them on her very soul. She is an artifact meant to absorb magic, so all of these books….are potentially magic and memories she’s stolen (unconsciously I’m sure) from people. And that’s absolutely horrifying to think about. I figured she had absorbed a lot of magic from people, but that is way more than I ever imagined, so it’s no wonder why she’s so close to breaking!

 This also brings another theory to mind. Since we know they are in the Alice in Clockland book, I find this fascinating how when Akiho tried to absorb Sakura before in the pool chapter, it was pages of a book that sprung from her feet to capture her to ‘bring her magic inside the book’. And now that we know what else the Alice in Clockland book contains (memories), this leads me to believe that the book isn’t just something that Akiho owns, but is a reflection of her own soul. And currently, it is writing Sakura’s story within it to ‘record’ it too (this is a theory, so I’m not stating anything definitively here).  This might explain why Akiho can read the book when no one else can, why she dreams of the stories within its pages, why Kaito seems to be so invested in Sakura’s life and history, and even why Momo said before that they were synchronizing. What if Sakura’s story and magic are being written inside of the book that is Akiho’s soul? The one that was considered a ‘blank book’ by her clan before. What if they actually turned her soul into a book so it could literally be written upon?

Sakura seems confused by the name of the book, as she still is recognizing herself as ‘Alice’ and asks Akiho if she is the Red Queen. She states she does not remember who she was before she came to Clockland, but that she remembers she had a very special person and that ‘Alice’ has a name more befitting of who she is. The Red Queen begins to lift her veil, and it seems in that moment that she has returned to being Akiho and is bringing Sakura back to remembering her own self. @meimi-haneoka​ also mentions in the Japanese version that the font changes in her speech, which collaborates with Akiho coming back to herself (strong girl!).

 However, it seems it wasn’t needed as Syaoran comes to the rescue, shouting her name loudly and cutting through the world to get to her (I love how the cuts reveal book pages. Guess Syaoran skipped a few chapters. Hahaha). Kaito is quick to respond to this interruption and he applauds him for managing to not get kicked out of the world by the trickery he pulled earlier using Mirror. He states that only one cat can be here right now, and he lunges forward to try and grab Syaoran. But suddenly, Syaoran seems to vanish in his grip and the light left behind zooms behind Kaito to..Syaoran? That’s right everyone, Syaoran fooled Kaito using Mirror, and I am absolutely living for it. Like, I am so proud of my boy, I can’t even. What a freaking 1000 IQ move.

Sakura calls out his name, indicating she is fully herself now, and Syaoran apologizes for his late appearance (not that he needed to, since he totally made up for everything in that moment). Sakura shakes her head and gets emotional (man, I would too) about how she couldn’t remember who she was until he called her name (which is exactly why Kaito wanted him to stay away!). Syaoran continues being cool af by telling her that she will only ever be Sakura to him and no one else, which seems to reassure Sakura that everything will be okay. It’s almost like he was telling her “I will always help you find your way back”.

Kaito returns to his usual form, but potentially not by his own doing? He states that Syaoran didn’t just retrieve the Sakura card version of Mirror, but that he also dispelled the illusion created by the new Mirror. It’s unclear if Syaoran forced this change on his own or if just happened by default due to Kaito’s ‘attack’ on him. Momo had mentioned before that even the slightest of magic tricks could ruin his disguise, so it’s possible.

 Syaoran is looking up at him rather intensely, and Kaito starts to analyze Syaoran again, praising him for a moment at his magical growth, before stating personal details about him. I swear to god, Kaito get so chatty when he’s around Syaoran, and I find it so fascinating to observe. I speak a lot more on this particular subject in my post titled “Syaoran and Kaito Analysis” which you can find here.  It has definitely been observed by me and others that Kaito particularly likes to bring up details about Syaoran’s life to him, and it’s unclear exactly why he does this, but it’s entirely different from how he interacts with other people, and I love it.

 Technically, he mentioned Syaoran’s mother and her divination skills once before, but since time was turned back the last time they fought, Syaoran actually doesn’t remember this conversation, so it is a bit of a repeat now. However, he does actually say something not entirely confirmed before but now is. He confirms for us that Akiho’s clan (the Asshats) takes particular interest in the Li clan and despises them due to their connections to Clow Reed. Now, this was implied before in Akiho’s first backstory chapter where the clan was ranting about Syaoran’s birth and how they felt they were being beat by the Li Clan due to Akiho being the only child of the same age and having no magic of her own. It was very likely this anger over Syaoran is what stirred them to do what they did to Akiho, but having Kaito confirm this just gives it another creepy factor. I mean, in a nutshell he just told Syaoran “I know this information about you because this magical family who hates your family stalks the ever living shit out of you”. Being “famous” to a clan that hates you is not a good thing at all. Not good indeed….

 But Kaito doesn’t say much more and flashes his pocket watch, claiming that Syaoran cannot stay here. His pocket watch looks more broken than ever, a metaphor for his life, and it really seems he doesn’t have much time left. Syaoran, not sure of what is coming, uses Mirror to copy Flight, and OMG THE RESULTS ARE SO FREAKING COOL. SYAORAN, WHY ARE YOU SO COOL IN THIS CHAPTER?!! He forms really cool looking wings made of glass, which resemble the glass pieces that stem from the Mirror card’s back, and Flight respectfully goes to both Sakura and Akiho. I was seriously wondering how much Mirror would be able to help him last chapter, but holy moly is he making amazing use of her.

The chapter ends with an intense stare down between the boys and Syaoran making a declaration that he will definitely bring Sakura (and Akiho implied too in the Japanese version) back with him, which obviously goes against Kaito’s master plan. It seems obvious the next chapter is going to include an epic fight between these two again, and I cannot wait!!!

I also cannot forget to mention Akiho’s sudden quietness once Syaoran appears. Her lack of reaction and the fact that CLAMP specifically keeps her face concealed has me incredibly concerned that she’s gone into ‘book-mode’ and that will certainly complicate matters in the next chapter if so. GOD, I’M SO EXCITED.

 Anyways, I’m very much looking forward to the Christmas chapter, and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!!

[hoshinochikara]

Tsubasa Chronicle Month | Day 7

Baby Fever

“Well, well, well,” said Fai brightly. “So that’s what the numbers on the archway meant.”

Kurogane clambered to his feet, clutching his head. The blast of energy must have knocked him out. “What numbers?”

He clapped a hand to his mouth. The voice that came out of his throat was octaves higher than his usual baritone. He glared up at Mokona nestled in Fai’s hair before allowing himself another outburst.

“What the fuck is happening? Where are the kids?”

“Kuro-gaki, meet Syaoran-kun and Sakura-chan,” said Fai. In his arms were two sleeping babies that looked exactly like the princess and the kid. “The five of us have magically become younger by fourteen years.”

Fourteen. By walking into the wrong room, they had came dangerously close to wiping their younger companions out of existence.

Kurogane scrutinised each of them in turn. He had suspected the mage could be anything from thirty years to three centuries old. The kid had mentioned he shared the same birthday as the princess, but he looked at least half a year older than her. Mokona though, had no excuse looking exactly the same.

“Great,” he grumbled as he folded up the hem of his pants and kicked off his boots. “Even the fucking pork bun is older than me.”

Mokona preened from the top of Fai’s head. “Mokona is the eldest child!”

“Here, grab a baby,” said Fai, handing a fidgeting Syaoran to the ninja. “I’m no Syaoran-kun, but give it time I might just figure out these runes.”

Now with one hand free and Sakura tucked close to his chest, Fai was able to ruffle the young ninja’s hair. “Always wanted to do this.”

“Fuck off!”

At that, Syaoran let out a groan and tossed in Kurogane’s arms, squinting up at the ninja. Kurogane cursed again, this time under his breath. Fai held his index finger up to his lips, before returning his attention to the archway.

It seemed like this Syaoran was a restless sleeper, just like his regular-sized self. Syaoran blinked his deep amber eyes at Kurogane, eyebrows knitted together as though mirroring the ninja’s expression.

He adjusted Syaoran’s clothes to swaddle him properly and began to rock him gently as he paced the perimeter of the room, careful to avoid stepping on debris from the blast. If the mage managed to undo this, Kurogane might finally be able to dissuade the kid from wandering into every single crumbling ruin he came across.

A few short moments later Syaoran began to nod off, but not before curling a tiny hand around Kurogane’s thumb. A lump rose in his throat as he found himself admiring how perfectly formed the boy’s little fingernails were.

“Knew you’d be good with kids,” said Fai.

Kurogane couldn’t remember how long it was since he had last held a child. No one in their right mind would hand a baby to someone like him but someone like Fai.

“... Had a lot of cousins.”

[haro-hawayu]

CCS: Clear Card Ch. 53

New chapter time~~

Chapter 53 is currently available on the CLAMP-net’s YouTube Channel. Do check out @meimi-haneoka‘s chapter comparing Japanese vs English versions because "lost in translation" can be a thing sometimes.

Links for previous chapter reactions can be found here.

Chapter reactions:

We are blessed with the beautiful Yelan Li aka Mama Li aka 李媽媽 (Li-mama, my inner Chinese will speak first) for the cover, in color, and IT! IS! GLORIOUS!

I know this info was probably available before, but this is the first time I'm reading her Chinese name. It's Night Orchid.

Now I vaguely remember all of Syaoran's sisters has some flower or another in each of their names too XD

Lol, Kero-chan and Suppi are each their own MOOD.

I wish I had more dreams about food, lol.

Awwww Sakura packing bento for their dateeeee <3

Lol for some reason, Sakura making extra for the two... I immediately thought (1) these are test batches for new food items, (2) she made extra so Kero-chan has no reason to sneak into her bento bag for foods, when it's most likely that (3) she's just being sweet and thoughtful XD

Suppi being the responsible one. As always.

Ahhh!! Looks like Akiho's getting ready for a date too <33 she's so cute <33

BOLD AKIHO! I SUPPORT THIS!! GO GO GO!!!

I just realized Sakura has braid in her hair too... not a coincidence I guess...??

LOL Syaoran is red XD

AHHHH SYAOSAKU ARE SO CUTE. I'm... melting from this wholesome cuteness.

A part of me fears what's ahead though... T^T

Run-in with Akiho!

Even their clothes... kind of match.

Momo in her true form, just watching~she thinks something might be up too.

Dang, my unease levels are cranking up...

Momo, munching away at the chocolates and warning Kaito ^_^

Now it's... Syaoran and Kaito's turns to matchy match with matching smiles... lol?

Awwww, it's so cute that the guardians are having their own video chat time together. More wholesomeness I say!

LOL OF COURSE TOUYA IS PART-TIMING AT THE SAME LOCATION XD

Although... I feel like it's been a while since Sakura had a run-in with her brother on his jobs... can't recall the last time but... hmmm =/

Why did Sakura get a bad (??) feeling the end when Akiho recognized Touya?? ovo

Dang... apparently in the Japanese version, Akiho says "Oniisama" oof.

~~~~

Thoughts, theories, and other things:

Okay, so first is first... is it possible that Kaito used Time Magic again or something to manipulate this meet-up? I hope not, but if it's not Kaito, what are the chances that he's unaware of Sakura's newly created Time Card?? And if it's not Kaito... I'm fearful of what's causing all this cosmic... synchronicity happening with the girls here.

Next, this synchronicity thing is really freaking me out because get this: Sakura going to be feel A. LOT. OF. FEELS. Like, she's still confused about what in the world was happening to her last time when she got whisked to that alternative universe where her loved ones don't recognize her! Her confusion, fear, unease, and anxiety will just cause her to unconsciously create another card. We don't know how disastrous things will be, especially with Kaito around. He's just ready to make things worse (for others) for his goals. I sense more pain in the horizon...

And we have Touya and a... forced-to-smile Syaoran. Lol. I hope Touya sees through this because if THAT'S not going to cause alarm or red flags, I don't know what. We still have Touya's "restored, new powers" still hanging around like Doumeki's dreaded egg in the air and we still have a "MISSING" MIRROR CARD. If all that's not enough, there's Akiho going "Oniisama" at him. One of those things has to set off his senses... I hope.

We've reached their awaited date... but now there's all this impending doom and drama... whyyyy?? T^T

[mikkeneko]

7, 22 + Missing Worlds?

Ooh, The Missing Worlds! It's been ages since I thought about that one :)

7 - Were there any ideas you had for 'The Missing Worlds' that you couldn’t make work? What were they?

Surprisingly, not really! I think I did just about everything I wanted to do with this fic!

If anything, I think I would have liked to do more with Yuuko and Watanuki -- but I got snagged by canon there; Yuuko can't appear before Fai in anything except an illusion (there's mirrors again, hah) without triggering his curse. So she couldn't show up except in chapters where Fai was not present, which made interacting with her difficult.

22 - Have you used any symbolism in 'The Missing Worlds?' What does it represent?

Each of the four main characters had their own symbol, which was prominent in their own arc -- but if there was one symbol that sort of overarches the whole series, it's probably mirrors. In Water World, they can't make any progress until they 'go through the mirror' - that is, go under the surface in the water, and let themselves see what's really there instead of the flat empty surface.

In both Middle Earth and Castle in the Air, Fai and Syaoran's alters are both using mirrors as methods of deception -- Xiao Lang by showing his marks what they expect to see, and Fane by covering the apocalyptic tragedy of his world up with pretty, shiny illusions. Fane is the best at this, to the point where he can walk into and move between mirrors -- he has mastered the deception to the point where it has literally become him.

And in Firelands, of course, we see only the wreckage of the mirror that The Beast smashed when he lost the last of his humanity; he's given up any illusions that he is anything other than what he is, but at the same time, that means he's given up all hope of things ever changing or improving. And then Fane again with the mirror at the end, of course.

I'd say taken overall, the mirrors in this story represents the promise of progress -- which may be a real hope or may just be an illusion, just as the progress they were making throughout the actual series was largely an illusion -- but either way you have to try.

Fic ask game

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Ayesha Liveblogs Cardcaptor Sakura S2-S3

“If you had called me, I would have fixed it for you” Get u a man who wants to fix ur bike’s flat tires

“I wonder which teacher will be in charge of us this year” I’m going to hazard a guess that it’s the one that you keep having prophetic dreams about battling in the moonlight

“Ms. Mizuki is kind, is pretty and she makes me all dreamy” lmao @ this criteria for justifying whether ur sensei is up to no good

U know, Sakura melting like 10 feet of snow bc she lost a present from her crush is exactly the type of emotions I expect from these preteens

Syaoran liking Sakura is also very funny because she’s very observant of other people so it’s like [Syaoran blushing and glancing at Sakura] [Sakura glancing back in befuddlement]

“But when you do, it means you’ll see him as well” WILL U STOP THIS OMINOUS MOONSHADOWING 

Does EVERYTHING Mizuki says have to be some kind of prophecy

Syaoran is really just becoming progressively more infatuated and embarrassed with every scene

“You’re always watching over Sakura, aren’t you?” Tomoyo doesn’t need a voice to call people out LOL

You see this is exactly my point what is the reason for having a voice card if you have a song card or vice versa what’s your logic Clow

LMAO I SHOULD’VE KNOWN:

Sakura: Why r u both here

Toya: It’s Take Your Boyfriend to Work Day

“Sakura is cheerful as usual today” “That’s all she has going for her” Very older brother kind of statement

That shot of Syaoran showing his strawberries to Yukito (and Sakura, by extension) cutting to Toya, cutting to Ms. Mizuki.... the interpersonal dynamics at play here

“You know her from before, right?” THAT’S ONE WAY TO PUT IT

**Go to jail Mizuki

“I’ll tell you in a little while” Toya is not prepared to have discussion about his Relationship History at this time

I mean I’m not an expert but isn’t Sakura’s main magical item a key wouldn’t that help with this Lock situation

YFDHSKHFKJSHFK Mizuki could you be more threatening

I assume the wind will cover up the noise of this loud magical chant

“Don’t tell dad I have a fever” 😭😭😭😭😭 Sakura you’re so little someone needs to take care of you

“If I do [stay home], I’ll trouble everyone else” SAKURAAAA 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

“It was about Sakura” TOYA’S BIG BROTHER MODE ACTIVATED

LOL TOYA’S SUSPICIOUS GLANCES ARE EVERYTHING JHDJKHFKJ HE CAN SENSE THE “GHOST” IN KERO

Well if the living plush toy didn’t give it away, the fact that Toya has already met and identified Mirror as a ghost will

Ddfhjkdhfkj Toya didn’t even pause he was just like [Sigh] ‘Guess I’m gonna feed a ghost now’

“I have a vague idea of what she’s up to” OH MY GOD TOYAAAAAA

Awww Meilin holding Sakura up to capture the Clow Card you know what that is? Growth

This kind of domestic shopping nonsense is the shenanigans I NEED

Syaoran is physically winded from running away from his feelings

OMG STOP THESE PRE-TEEN DREAMS ARE SO CORNY AND GREAT LMAO @ SYAORAN FANTASIZING ABOUT HIM AND SAKURA BEING THE LEADS IN A MOVIE TOGETHER WITH HIM GIVING THE CLOW CARDS AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR A WEDDING RING

Gljlgkdjlkgjlkf I still cannot believe they let 11-year-olds roam this freely they don’t need an adult to BOARD A TRAIN??

“They’re foretelling dreams” So if we believe this, here are the future facts:

1. Sakura’s gonna do a fashion show for Tomoyo 

2. Syaoran is going to give Sakura all the Clow Cards and maybe propose 

3. Yukito and Toya will definitely know Kero is a living creature and they’re gonna be chill with it

4. Normal battle prophecy stuff

“Seeing Ms. Mizuki... it makes me all dreamy”

*Sakura really only crushes on people that her older brother had feelings for first this is like when I was into Yugioh and Beyblade bc my brother was into them first 

**Go to jail Mizuki

“I don’t want to be the prince” Will u want to if it’s u and Sakura tho

This was pointed foreshadowing I could not have predicted

[Chanting] ALL DRAG FAIRSTYLES ALWAYS

“I just woke up” u LIAR Toya you wanted to make your baby sister breakfast

SYAORAN WHERE WERE YOU EVEN KEEPING THAT BIG OLE MAGICAL SWORD TASSLE

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS TEAMWORK COMBO ATTACK WE LOVE A PARTNERSHIP OF POWERS

“Isn’t that a guy playing the Queen” are you in any place to make a judgment Toya

“Please, seal us together” Light and Dark confirmed as Lesbian Icons

“The final decision rests with Yue, but please do your best” LMAO IS THE REASON THAT YUKITO IS ALWAYS CHILL HANGING OUT WITH HIS FIFTH GRADE BEST FRIENDS IS THAT HE IS SCOUTING THEM OUT FOR YUKITO’S NEXT DRAG SUPERHERO

U know if I did not have very hazy memories of who Yue is I could be tricked into thinking it was Mizuki lol (but then again TSUKIshiro soooooo maybe it’s obvious always lol)

“That bath sponge” “Kero is at Tomoyo’s house” ‘BATHSPONGE’ MEILIN PLS

AW rescuing lost birds turns out Syaoran has always been a sweetheart

Meilin finally gets to use her martial arts skills and help again!! Good for her

“I’m your fiancee until you find the girl you like the most” Not to put a damper on ur cousin marriage dream (stop) but that ship has sailed twice over Meilin 

“There’s another person” WELL WELL WELL HOW THE TURN TABLES MOON MAN

“Being with you is rather useful when capturing Clow Cards” is Syaoran’s way of saying “<3 <3 <3″

Syaoran is really conflicted bc he likes Yukito and he likes Sakura but when Sakura likes Yukito he wants her to like him instead this is truly a broad range of emotions for Fifth Grade Romance

Ddfjhdskfhk Kero looks so serious scouting out the intentions of the Toya’s Magical Exes Club but his face is like “>:[”

“You’re the one that uses the powers of the moon” What does this MEAN that’s supposed to be Yukito???? I am confused

“There’s no such thing as a coincidence...” “...There’s only inevitability” So now Toya’s joining the prophecy game? This is A Lot

Omg I do love the big lion version of Kero I forgot what he looked like

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BIIIIIIIIIIIITCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

“Too lenient as always” “And your personality is as bad as always” I don’t think I care for Magical Yukito he’s being a little harsh

“He completely cuts all ties between his disguise and his consciousness, so that the candidate doesn’t sense him until the Last Judgment” so his subconscious just happened to feel like being a 17-year-old boy who wanted to date Sakura’s brother LOL

DON’T BE A BITCH YUE YOU’RE FIGHTING AN ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD WHO PERCEIVES YOU AS SOMEONE SHE CARES ABOUT

Oh my god NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I DON’T WANT ANYONE TO FORGET WHO THEY LOVE

This is so fucked up kjhgkfhdg Sakura’s family forgetting her mother, Sakura and Toya forgetting Yukito, Tomoyo forgetting about caring about Sakura, Syaoran forgetting about caring about Sakura ahhhhhhhhhhh

WELL WELL WELL MS. MIZUKI CAME THRU THANKS WEIRDO

**Still jail tho

OH SHIT NEW MAGICAL STAFF I LOVE THIS AHHHHHHHHH

“I want you to be friends with me, nothing like Masters or stuff like that” SAKURAAAAAA

“You knew that Mr. Tsukishiro wasn’t a human” “Yeah” TOYA WHAT!!!

The fact that Yukito doesn’t know his other half is kind of a bitch has very Yami Bakura energy I can’t believe what I needed in my life was Yugioh but less Heterosexual

iii

“If you leave that early, Yuki won’t be there yet” So... is Toya just chill with the fact his boyfriend is the moon

I don’t want Syaoran to leave!!! He is a sweetheart and I love him

“He seems like a nice boy” is thiiis the rude boy I remember from watching this when I was a kid bc ngl I was confused when Syaoran was nice bc I remember someone being a little shit

“I didn’t mean to surprise you” said Eriol, after popping out suddenly from behind a tree

Syaoran said ‘I will only share Sakura’s affection with one (1) boy and that is Yukito’ 

“I’m not going back. I’ll be here for a while.” I can’t tell if this is a New Magical Person thing or a ‘I love my friends and don’t want them to forget me’ thing

DHJKGHKJHG this random girl just clinging to Toya’s back and eyeing Yukito like “WHATCHA GONNA DO ABOUT IT MISTER”

I guess since Meilin’s gone Nakuru’s going to fulfill the role of Unrequited Crush Gal Who Cannot Read The Emotional Room

Clow Reed really appearing to just throw Sakura’s entire life in disarray

“This is the first chance to film you in a while!” Tomoyo you have filmed Sakura going strawberry-picking and playing whack-a-mole since when do u need an excuse lmao

“I don’t think we made plans like that” again Toya since when do u and Yukito need plans aren’t you together like 22/7

Syaoran refuses to show Sakura that he’s feeling anything beyond blushing and yet he gets mad when other people are more forthright with their emotions and honestly what a teen mood

“I.. you” rude I can’t tell if Nakuru interrupted a love confession or a I Know You’re the Moon confession but either way rude 

“You don’t know? Then I’ll take him” WHAT DO U MEAANNN THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS

“Eriol is a kind person” [Thor meme voice] Is he though?

As much as the jury is still out on Yue I really do love these magical girl transformations

These group meet ups have gotten even less subtle you might be able to hide some cosplay and a plush toy but a full grown man and a lion with wings??? Gjkghkjdhgk how did they get to Penguin Park with no one noticing

There is some satisfaction in there finally being an adult (or at least a kind-of-18-year-old) on their team

Oh my god??? OH MY GOD? WHAT A POWER-UP I LOVE IT SAKURA GETTING HER OWN CHANTS AND CARDS GOOD FOR HERRRR

Poor Toya it’s worrisome when ur baby sis is a magical superhero

It’s interesting and hilarious that Yukito’s appetite is proportional to his alter ego’s use of magic

“Because she’s like you” Toya IS trying to tell Yuki that he’s a moon person awwwwwwww

If we’ve learned anything from Tomoyo’s choir recitals it’s just that perhaps singing is more dangerous than any of these kids would prefer it to be

Nakuru aside from the fact I’m pretty sure you’re a new Big Bad leave Toya alone he doesn’t want to be touched and he’s with someone already

I like that no matter how many times Yamazaki lies, Sakura always takes it in good faith

I have given up on this show having anyone have a normal relationship with their teacher (except Wei who has done nothing wrong ever in his life)

“I’m sure that the person you like is happy” shout-out to Tomoyo for being semi-well-adjusted I guess 

“The kid is being controlled by something” GUESS WHO JUST BOUGHT STRINGS FOR PUPPETS IT’S SUSPICIOUS NEW KID 

If I know my shojo manga tropes it seems like this Friend vs. Friend battle is going to lead to a Hug of Passionate Restraint

Psych it was a Hug of We Are Tired From Magical Force

Who are you British Bitch Boy with your Bitch Cat haven’t they been through enough

“I’m surprised you’ve held out this long without a single bite” do NOT eat TOYA

“And I’m not a human in the first place, so gender doesn’t really matter” I am so tired of anime creating non-binary characters only to make them evil and/or inhuman blah

I DON’T CARE FOR ANY OF THIS WE DON’T NEEEED AN EVIL ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD AND AN EVIL KERO AND AN EVIL YUE NOBODY ASKED

“Why did I buy this thing anyway” u know why Syaoran 

LMAO YUKITO DRINKING OUT OF A FULL SIZE MILK CARTON KILLS ME

“The only times I turn red or feel like my heart will explode is when I see him” Incredible it has taken Syaoran like... 18 episodes to realize his feelings for Sakura. Bisexuality be like that sometimes

SCREAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM DID YUE COME OUT JUST TO GIVE SYAORAN BACK HIS TEDDY BEAR

“The reason why you are confused when you see Yukito is because of the magic powers from the Moon that you feel from Yukito” did Yue just say ‘ur not bi ur just confused’ kjhkjdhdgkj Yue confirmed for biphobic

Really how many things does Eriol have to ruin before Sakura realizes he’s evil? The piano.... thread... a teddy bear

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG SAKURA HAS WINGS IT’S A REAL MAGICAL GIRL TRANSFORMATION AFTER ALL

You know if Elementary School Clow is NOT evil this is a really fucked up way to be teaching a lesson

Toya come help ur boy Yukito is exhausted and he doesn’t know why :(

Ahhhhhhhh this tree leaning scene is the exact and only thing I remembered about the interactions between these two before watching this now

“I don’t want you to disappear” THE ROMANCE RETURNS

“Are you doing this on purpose” Toya has had it up to here with his confessions being interrupted

BOOO Toya was right I don’t want Yue-kito to disappear either

“There is someone suited to this, but Yukito...” KJHGKJDHGJHDKJ IS TOYA GONNA BECOME THE SOURCE OF YUE’S MAGICAL POWER I’D DIE

“You knew this would happen if you called Tomoyo” I mean... Kero’s right

I don’t know that Erase in particular was necessary for the sheep but it does make me giggle to see Sakura lift playground structures

I was gonna say I’d wager ten dollars something happens to that bike after Eriol touches it but then I remembered this episode is called “Sakura and the Panicky Bike” so it’s not really even worth betting

Of course your family members are going to worry if you suddenly develop magical narcolepsy Sakura 

I LOVE that Toya’s magical powers seem to be developing more as well

I feel like not enough people are giving Sakura credit for the fact she is like 11? She hasn’t had a lot of time to work on this stuff

“I can’t let [the cards becoming ordinary] happen! I finally got to be friends with all of them” 😭😭😭😭😭 Sakura’s good heart always gets me

“What are you going to do?” SHE’S GONNA PUT HERSELF IN A MAGICAL COMA 

Cell phones are a hilarious addition to the plot and I love that they are like top of the line bc it’s the 90s lmao and that Li is include in the phone tree 

“If you collapse, I’ll catch you” KERO NO. 1 SAKURA STAN (tied with Tomoyo and Syaoran)

Lmao these siblings would be born on a Leap Day and April Fool’s respectively

SCREAM at least it’s on brand for Eriol to be a pathological liar (also RIP Sakura and Syaoran for their gullibility still)

TOYA PLAYING HIS MOTHER’S SONG REST IN PIECES MY HEART

Sdkhkhkjdhkd Toya failed confession count: 4 this time feat emotional piano ballad

Also also I will say it’s not like Yuki doesn’t come to your house VERY frequently Toya couldn’t you just tell him what you need to say the numerous times he is visiting or going with you to school

Oh hey! I share a birthday with Sakura’s great-grandfather that’s funny

“Nadeshiko was only 16 years old” YEAH SO WHY ARE YOU APOLOGIZING GRANDPA UR NOT THE ONE TRYING TO DATE TEENS U R TEACHING

I know Kero being seen on the TV is for giggles but the implication that magic makes you playable on VCR... incredible

I want to know what Toya’s gift was!!! 

Hahaha I guess that the Alice and Wonderland size-shifting would have more of an impact on Sakura’s empathy than most people 

“Two-thirds of all cats on earth right now are aliens” I mean... if we go by the cats we have met in this show.... Yamazaki’s right

“Actually, I have a rather mischievous personality” NO KIDDING ERIOL

“Where are you going” “To where the queen is” I will DIE if the Queen is Toya but I assume the Queen of Hearts will be Sakura’s mother actually since that’s the kind of anime trope that u should expect

Yue dropping Sakura like a hot potato is a little funny he can stay 

What is more ridiculous Syaoran hiding the sword behind his back or the fact it worked

“Then... it’s not Yukito?” that was one whole crush ago keep up Sakura

“I am the Queen” WELL THAT’S NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING AT ALL KJFHGKJHGJHGJKFHG

Current list of things that Eriol has ruined: Pianos, threads, teddy bears, sheep plushies, bikes, leaves, 

The transition to Eriol’s deep adult voice always trips me up

“Don’t hug me” “I’m going to hug you” Respect! Toya’s! Boundaries! Nakuru!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL @ Spinel’s drunken tirades I won’t lie I love this erratic behaviour

Guess Syaoran is over his Yukito crush for real but boy cannot stop running away from his feelings for Sakura poor guy

AWWWW THIS TEDDY BEAR MONTAGE OF SYAORAN BEING AT PEACE WITH HOW HE FEELS NOW

LMAO DID ERIOL JUST TRAP THESE TWO IN AN ELEVATOR TO WORK OUT THEIR INTERPERSONAL PROBLEMS THIS SHOW IS IN SUCH A WEIRD EMOTIONAL PLACE

“I’m glad for you,” said Eriol/Clow, who has repeatedly mildly traumatized these kids but seems to be like ‘it all evens out if I do some preteen matchmaking’

“Hey, can I call you Syaoran too?” Awwwwwwwwwwww that’s cute also it’s wild that in the pacing of this show despite like probably at least thirty episodes of them being friends THIS is the first ep (Ep 57!!!) that they address each other by first name

HJGJHGDHGFHJG AMAZING HOW IS SAKURA GOING TO HIDE A FULL GROWN MAN (WHO SHARES A BODY WITH THE PERSONALITY HER BROTHER LIKES!) AND A WINGED LION IN HER BEDROOM

OHJFKJSDHFKJSHDKJFHKJHFKJHKJHDKJHF I CANNOT CONVEY THE COMEDY OF THIS MOMENT IN WORDS SO:

“So that even if [my dad] was reincarnated, he would still fall in love with [my mom]” Interesting reveal that Yue was actually in love with Clow (makes sense; he’s the ‘I’m gay I’m homophobic we exist’ meme) but the only romance I will accept for Yue is if he ends up in a Greedlingfan-esque triad with Yukito and Toya and that’s that on that

Poor Yukito he must think he’s going nuts he just appears places with no memories 

Well this is hardly a fair match up Syaoran can’t be expected compete with a reincarnated ancient wizard

GOOOOOD WHY DOES ERIOL DELIVER HIS CRYPTIC MESSAGES OF ADVICE THROUGH SPORTS GAMES

“It feels more like [Eriol] is watching over someone very dear to him” Tomoyo correctly discerns that Eriol is the bearer of fucked up magic lessons

Wow Tomoyo is really here to talk Syaoran through a whole journey of emotions 

“I.. you...” OH MY GOD SYAORAN AND TOYA START THEIR CONFESSIONS IN THE SAME WAY JHHJSGFDSGJH WOW 

It’s okay Syaoran you did your best no one in your immediate social group can finish a confession it seems

“You were trying so hard so hard to confess your love for Sakura last night” Tomoyo really doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to her romantic pep talks huh

Awww Syaoran wants to tell Meilin how he feels about Sakura first 

Uh oh post-battle Meilin has taken note of Syaoran and Sakura’s use of each other’s first names

“If something happens, please think of me” AWWW Tomoyo looking out for Meilin’s feelings that’s my girl

“What makes me even madder is that I still can’t grow to hate Ms. Kinomoto” awww Meilin  

“You’re a tardy little monster” suspicious Toya is one of the best parts of this show   

The fact that Sakura doesn’t think Toya knows because he’s not making fun of her... tru sibling energy

Failed confession count: 

Toya: 5...6

Syaoran: 2

TOYA IS SUCH A SWEETHEART BUYING PRESENTS FOR THE CARD THAT PROTECTS SAKURA AHHHHHHHHH AND OMG HOW DOES HE KNOW WHAT MIRROR LOOKS LIKE

Sakura loves the cards and the cards love her I love one (1) Cardcaptor

“But now, he helps me out a lot” “That’s why I don’t like him” AWWW TOYA 

“I will see you again in your dreams tonight” could you be a bit less creepy Eriol

OH NO CURSE OF THE DISAPPEARING BOYFRIEND TOYA YOU GOTTA HUG THE MAGIC BACK INTO YUKI

Tomoyo is an impeccable wingman for Syaoran she has had his back at every step

WE LOVE A POOL PARTY EP YEEHAW 

"I don’t ever want you to disappear” Toya’s declarations are getting more passionate with each failed confession (also I see that when he grabs Yuki’s wrist he stops fading)

“If you use magic in here, you don’t know who might see you” so they’ll notice her hiding behind a half rock wall but somehow a glowing waterslide will escape their notice???

“If Sakura had used her card any later than when she did, you were going to stop your magic” I feel like that is the LEAST Eriol could do

“Do you dislike swimming now” OH HOW NICE TO CHECK IN WITH RIKA AFTER YOU ALMOST DROWN HER

“You’re just lacking experience now. I’m sure that you will be able to do it. Skiing... and other things.” “You said that before! What does that MEAN” Syaoran is tired of Eriol’s Cryptic Sports Advice too

Dghgfjdgfjhg Sakura crossing herself in preparation for hearing a scary story lmao

Current failed confession counts:

Toya: 7

Syaoran: 3

Eriol confirms he will not kill preteens in an avalanche just to teach them magic I guess they had to draw the line somewhere

“I know the truth... that in reality you are...” Does it count as a failed confession if it’s for a scene?? Also are they the leads of this student film bc if so wow

“I know what’s really going on. That you are...” Well we’re definitely up to 8 now

:(((((((((((( It really hurts Toya to see Yukito like this SAVE HIIIIIIIIM

“At this rate, Toya’s important thing will be taken away” like what his love virginity LMAO

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IT’S HAPPENING THE FACE TOUCHING THE REVEAL HFDUHFKJHFJDHFKJHDJGHJKHGJHG

“If I don’t see you, I can’t give you what I want to give you” a kiss?? LOL

“I want you to protect Sakura, and also protect yourself” OH OH OH 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH TOYA YOU’RE SO SELF-SACRIFICING THIS IS SO SWEET U WANT TO PROTECT UR SISTER AND THE LOVE OF UR LIFE SO UR GIVING UP SOMETHING THAT’S A PART OF YOU THE MELANCHOLY THE INTIMACY I’M WEEPING

“It’s obvious that you, a child, can’t support all of it” Ahhhhhhhhhh so many reveals at once poor Sakura, Toya was only helping

In truth I did not think the power exchange would happen all at once I thought it would be like recurring boyfriend whack-a-mole:

Yukito, sleepy: I’m off to battle

Toya: K bye Yuki [intimate embrace]

Yue: [Catches sleepy Toya]

“I want Yukito to know my true feelings” I mean I’m gonna tell you right now Sakura I think he’s in love with your brother and also you’re like 11 but u do u I guess

“It doesn’t matter what you are. As long as you don’t disappear and are at my side, I don’t care about anything else” Toya ur so romantic

“I’m all right. Just a little sleepy.” Oh how the narcolepsy turntables.....

I know all I want to talk about is Toya right now but he is so PATIENT and GENTLE with his sister’s feelings god

“But the person that you like the most isn’t me, Sakura” why do both halves of Yukito feel the need to moonsplain people’s feelings to them jkhfgkjjhfjhfjkh

HAHAHAH I was wondering how Yuki was going to handle this preteen love confession and he just went ‘No. Family-zoned.’

“You realized this because you have someone you like the most as well, Yukito?” 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

“Is it my big brother?” “Yeah, it is” AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

“Though I think that Toya is my number one, I’m not sure of his feelings” HE GAVE UP HIS MAGICAL POWERS FOR YOU TO BE AROUND HIM FOREVER YUKITO HOW MUCH MORE REASSURANCE DO YOU NEED

Omg the vowing to yell at each other’s future boyfriends khkdhfkdhfs I love this friendship good for them 

Eriol really DOES trap people in enclosed spaces to work out their interpersonal problems this reincarnated 11-year-old relationship therapist my god

“But if I cry or make a sad face, I’m sure Yukito would be troubled” poor sad Sakura but also I’m kind of glad she didn’t abide by Yukito like... telling her how she felt? It would’ve felt a little insincere to walk ALL of it back but I think she was mostly doing it so Yukito and Toya could be together in peace

“It’s all right. I’m sure you will find him” SYAORAAAAAAAAAAANNN

Awww Syaoran is so happy about this Grand Gesture scarf <33333333

“I knew that Sakura’s feelings for me weren’t completely the same as her feelings for her father... But I can’t delay her finding her true number one because of her feelings towards me” no shit Yuki but also maybe it was an okay call it gave Sakura a simple out

Toya’s gentle head touch as he gives Yukito reassurance aaaaaah

“He’s going to steal away something that I’ve been cherishing all this time” this is Toya’s weird way of saying he gives Syaoran and Sakura his blessing lol (lot of these blessing going around lately)

Toya’s love language is touching Yuki somewhere from the shoulders up

“I feel like he’s still alive and he’ll come to make fun of us at any moment” ur not wrong Kero

“But I’m still not you, Mr. Clow” U JUST BE URSELF SAKURA!!

What we have learned from this trip to the past so far is that Mr. Clow has always loved to give people cryptic messages and then disappear

I DID NOT EXPECT A MONTAGE OF BLOOMING FLOWERS TO BE WHAT MADE ME SHED A TEAR IN THIS ANIME BUT THE SYMBOLISM - CLOW’S WORDS - SAKURA UR SO GOOD THIS IS A NICE SHOW

“It’s Clow Reed’s fault,” said Clow Reed, eleven years old, about himself

“Why did he have to trouble Sakura so much?!” Kero said FRIENDSHIP ENDED WITH CLOW REED SAKURA IS MY NEW BEST FRIEND

I appreciate that Yue was like, ‘Gotta bring Toya with me to the battle I can’t just leave him in the street’ 

Sidenote: What made them start running in the first place was it the loss of light or was it just Yukito/Yue going ‘MY SAKURA SENSES ARE TINGLING’

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FINAL BATTLE KERO VS. SPINNEL, YUE VS. RUBY MOON, SAKURA VS. CLOW???

OH SHIT TRANSFORMING EIGHT CARDS AT ONCE WHAT A POWER UP 

Make that six cards but STILL

“Light and Dark are the first cards under our jurisdiction” I AM RIVETED 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

SCREAM THE TEAM SUN MOON STARS GROUP HUG MY CHEST WILL BURST

OH FINAL WAND!!!!!!!!! MAGICAL FRIENDS EDITION

SYAORAN HELPING HER TRANSFORM THE CARDS TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAMWORK

“We are friends with you, right Sakura?” KEROOOOOOOO YUEEEEEEEEE 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

“I like you” [Cut to classroom] Oh awkward seems like Sakura kind of verbally left Syaoran on read for that one

“Wouldn’t conversation be more pleasant when there are tasty sweets around” Sdfhkjshfkjshfkj unbelievable Eriol-Clow wants to have his final words of wisdom delivered via tea party

“There were a couple of things that happened that weren’t expected by myself or Clow Reed” LOL he means Syaoran and Sakura and also probably Yukito and Toya jhjhdfjkh fair it’s just the never-ending charisma of these siblings 

Oh hey Ms. Mizuki what are you doing at this weird tea party (go to jail)

If Mizuki was in college when she met him he was what???? A baby??? How old ARE you Eriol

“You’re not going inside, Yue?” I was WONDERING why Yue wasn’t part of this ridiculous gathering lmao

“But I can talk of old memories... If it suits your fancy, I will talk whenever you want me to” Ahh Eriol trying to provide Yue some closure 😬

WOW ERIOL EXPLICITLY EXPLAINING THAT HE DID NOT EXPECT THE ROMANTIC DYNAMICS AT PLAY JDHJHFDGHKDHGKHDKFJ 

Omggg Sakura created a new card for Syaoran ahhhh they’re really very cute

“That bear... Can I have it?” The way these confessions were written is really VERY GOOD

What a WEIRD SHOW but u know it did something to my heart 

[chiiwifruit]

TCM Day 11: SyaoSaku

Sakura stood at the mirror while her mother hovered behind her, adjusting Sakura’s gown and pinning flowers to her cape. When the task was complete, Nadeshiko put her hands on Sakura’s shoulders and smiled at her reflection in the mirror. “Beautiful,” Nadeshiko declared.

Sakura smiled. She was pleased with the effect of the gown, flowers, and cosmetics. She hadn’t expected to be nervous. She had waited for this day for years. But there was something about the fuss of a wedding that brought out her nerves.

Nadeshiko always seemed to know what Sakura was thinking. She kissed Sakura’s hair. “Relax. It’s just a ceremony where you make a promise, and a party to celebrate. And everyone who loves you is here to celebrate with you,” Nadeshiko said.

“Yes,” Sakura said, smiling. Syaoran was here, finally to stay. Since there was no longer any need for Syaoran to continue his journey, there was no need for Fai, Kurogane, and Mokona to journey either. They were all here for the wedding.

Sakura knew Fai and Kurogane were discussing where they wanted to settle. Sakura hoped they would choose to stay right here, and she made sure to tell them they were both welcome.

She knew Syaoran hoped for the same thing, but that he couldn’t bring himself to ask. Fai and Kurogane had already accompanied him on his long journey when they didn’t have to. If they decided they wanted to return to Japan, Kurogane’s home country, Syaoran did not want to guilt them for that choice.

The door behind Sakura opened and Touya stuck his head in. “You ready yet, Squirt? Everyone’s seated,” he said.

“Just one minute,” Nadeshiko replied. She fussed over some final touches, then smiled and took a step back. “Yes, I think you’re ready.”

Sakura’s gown and cape rustled as she stood and turned to face her brother. Touya looked sad, but all he said was, “Not bad for a monster.”

Sakura frowned at him, but Nadeshiko continued to smile as she steered Sakura to the door. “Now, Touya-kun,” she chided. “Not today of all days.”

Touya huffed, but followed his mother and sister to the room where Fujitaka was waiting. His eyes teared up at the sight up his daughter in her wedding finery. He took her hands and held them for a long moment, gazing at Sakura until she began to blush and squirm.

Fujitaka laughed and released her. “I’m sorry, Sakura-san. It’s just that you look so beautiful and grown up. It feels like I’m losing you.”

Sakura smiled and placed a hand on her father’s cheek. “But Dad, I’m not going anywhere,” she said. “Syaoran and I will be staying right here.”

“Indeed,” Nadeshiko said, coming over to lay a hand on her husband’s arm. “And we’re keeping him waiting.”

Touya had to leave to join Yukito, who would be performing the ceremony itself while Touya acted as the member of the royal family signing the marriage into law.

As they approached the wedding hall, Sakura’s heart began to pound with anticipation. It had actually been days since she had spoken to Syaoran. In accordance with Clow Country’s customs for royal weddings, the couple had been kept separate for the seven days prior to the wedding while each underwent their own cleansing ritual in the ruins. Sakura was required to be in the ruins for purification from sunrise to sundown, accompanied by her mother who acted as priestess. Syaoran took her place from sunset to sunrise, accompanied by Yukito acting as priest.

During the last seven days the only time Syaoran and Sakura had seen each other was when they were hustled past each other when they swapped places at the ruins. Now all their longing and waiting would finally pay off.

One of the servants handed Sakura a garland of flowers as she arrived at the hall where the wedding was going to be held. At some unseen signal, music began to play softly inside. The servants opened the doors wide and Sakura stepped inside.

There was an appreciative murmur as Sakura made her way to the centre of the room in all her finery, flanked by her parents. But Sakura didn’t register the faces of her guests. All she could see was Syaoran.

As Sakura advanced from one side of the room with her parents on either side of her, Syaoran approached from the other side. He looked so handsome in his green and white robes. But the most beautiful thing was his smile when their eyes met.

Since Syaoran didn’t have parents to escort him, he was flanked by Fai and Kurogane. Oh, and there was Mokona, tucked into the front of Kurogane’s loose black robes.

They met in the middle, Syaoran and Sakura both blushing and beaming like idiots. Syaoran bent his head so that Sakura could put the flower garland over his head, and then she held still while Syaoran placed the flower crown he was holding carefully on her head. It was so reminiscent of when they first met, when Sakura had been undergoing her purification ceremony and they weren’t allowed to touch.

She just knew he was thinking about it too. But this time, they could touch each other. As one, they reached out and clasped hands.

Sakura barely heard the words Yukito spoke for the ceremony, she was too busy gazing as the face she loved best in all the worlds. But she managed to follow her cues and parrot the words she was supposed to. She and Syaoran pledged their eternal love and devotion to each other as if they hadn’t already done so years ago. They fed each other bits of bread and apple to conclude the ceremony.

As part of Clow Country’s wedding tradition, the newly wedded couple was welcomed into each other’s family. Sakura released Syaoran and held her hands out to Fai, who pulled her into a hug.

“You look radiant,” he whispered in her ear. Sakura laughed and tried not to cry, but managed to stammer out a thank you.

She intended to give Kurogane a kiss on the cheek, and was surprised when he pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. She squeaked, then laughed as Mokona kissed her. “Congratulations, Sakura!” Mokona said.

“About fucking time, huh?” Kurogane rumbled. And then she really did cry, burying her face in Kurogane’s robes next to Mokona. Kurogane held her hard and Mokona cuddled against her cheek to murmur soothingly. Fai came over and rubbed her back.

“Yes, you two had to wait much too long for this,” Fai said.

Embarrassed, Sakura pulled back a little to swipe at her damp cheeks with her long, flowing sleeves. Mokona decided to help by kissing the tears off her cheeks, punctuating each kiss with a loud “Mwah!” It was impossible not to giggle, and by the time Sakura pulled away she felt much better.

She looked behind her and found that Nadeshiko was refusing to let Syaoran go so that Fujitaka could greet him. She kept her arms clasped tightly around Syaoran’s neck and laughed as Fujitaka tried to wiggle his way in. In defeat, Fujitaka wrapped his arms around both of them.

Touya caught Sakura’s eye and rolled his in feigned disgust. But he did go over to ruffle Syaoran’s hair and tease him.

And Syaoran smiled and smiled and smiled.

Sakura had never been so happy in her life.

[completeoveranalysis]

[2]

NEW FAVOURITE COVER?

NEW FAVOURITE COVER!

Chapitre 201 - The Truth from within the Ruins

Oh this is just beyond gorgeous. Who can stand against the pure concentrated adorable that is Tsubasa Babies Family Photo? Now with all four of them!

I’m in love with all the tiny details that they clearly spent so long on - all the lovely folds of Sakura’s dress, the intricate detailing on Fai’s robe and staff. Lava Lamp is in his ceremonial garb, and tiny Kurogane IN HIS FANCY LITTLE OUTFIT. (AND HIS POSTURE? GET OUT. Incredible)

 Kurogane doesn’t have Ginryuu yet (since this is Happy Childhood AU, so his father will still have it. Still has the moon though!) but Lava Lamp has the Syaoran Family Sword all ready to go. His outfit would be incomplete without it - they’re all wearing clothing from their home worlds, or maybe their families? I’m technically not sure which world Lava Lamp comes from, but his outfit is Family Legacy all the way down. I’m dying to know if Fai’s outfit is in the style of Seresu or Valeria - I don’t think they’re all that different, but I think I would put my money on Valeria based on the position of the fur and the curl motif. In which case it’s fun for me that his Happy Family AU is in Valeria instead of with Ashura. (sorry not sorry Ashura get fucked)

I suppose in this version he never had reason to leave Valeria in the first place, so it’s a very nice touch that the outfit doesn’t immediately resemble the clothing he wore in his backstory, since that’s all so closely linked to the death of his twin, who would be alive here. Very nice visual choices all around, especially with each of them in their own unique colour pallette. Oh, and even with the colour differences they all have bits of yellow somewhere on them, showing their connection.

The left/right split between them is really fun too - sword wielders on one side, phenomenally powerful magic users on the other, cats vs dogs, unique child/parent pairings, etc. It’s very funny to me that they found a super fancy chair for Sakura and a cushion for Kurogane, but nothing for the other two. But Fai draping himself over the chair is such an incredible piece of character flair, which I am in love with, but also, the TOUCH? The little touch of tiny hands? Sakura reaching back to put her hand on the back of Fai’s? Tiny Lava Lamp’s little grip on Kurogane’s arm? OH it’s so touching. 

And behind them all? THAT WINDOW. Such a clear symbol positioned directly in the centre frame. At first I thought it might be an eye, but this is Happy Family AU so there should be no Evil Wolverine to spy on them. What I’m voting on instead is CLAMP playing with Tarot symbols again and this being the Wheel of Fortune, or a similar idea of a wheel of destiny. They use the latter idea a lot in their earlier works (RG Veda and X/1999 say hi), but I think the tarot symbol in particular really shines through with the ideas they’re playing with in Tsubasa/xxxHolic, and has a very strong parallel to the idea of hitsuzen. 

After some much safer googling it looks like the “Wheel of Fortune” in Tarot can mean change or cycles or inevitable fate, but on the flipside could also be lacking control. I think the reversed meaning of the card really speaks to me the most about their situation in general, as it describes bad luck and misfortunes thrust upon you from external forces, that you are fighting to take control back from an unwinnable situation. That fighting it is impossible, that continuing to fight it can only bring more suffering, and that the only option is to let it go. To stop blaming yourself for the thing you did wrong, or the thing that you think was your fault. To forgive yourself, to accept it all, to let yourself move on, to accept that change is inevitable, and to finally be able to move forward and just let everything happen. 

Because if that’s not exactly the whole situation we are in I don’t know what is. It’s a mirror for the things that Fai and Kurogane have already been through, and for what Lava Lamp Guy is still currently fighting, and CLAMP love to do drop these symbols all the time. 

And this is a bit of a tangent but who’s gonna stop me? Clamp LOVE their tragic destiny pairs, especially in their early works - the couples deeply love but also cursed by fate, like Kendappa and Souma, Ashura and Yasha (flavoured differently in RG Veda, but still fitting this cycle again in Tsubasa), Subaru and Seishirou, Sorata and Arashi (unfinished), Kamui and Fuuma, etc. The characters who are so different from each other, so diametrically opposed, but in love still, and it burns so strong that they either have to kill each other or let the world burn around them - or both! They’re always fighting destiny, just like the reversed wheel of fortune, and they fight it to the point of obliteration. 

AND THEN we have Tsubasa, and I think it’s so endlessly interesting that they took the same pattern and turned it around. Syaoran and Sakura definitely fit the theme (and wild that they took the Cardcaptor Sakura happy couple deliberately to make the most universe shattering tragedy out of it, but I still haven’t seen how their story ends, whether one will have to tragically die to save everything or whether they’ll get out somehow). But what I mostly want to talk about (surprise surprise) Kurogane and Fai, who fit the pattern exactly. Complete opposites, diametrically opposed, set up as antagonists and destined to kill each other but fall in love instead. That they both fight against the tragic pasts that defined them and eventually change their mind. Eventually, slowly, they accept love again and realise that they can actually live with themselves and each other if they let it all go. 

And I think what really gets me is that if this was an earlier Clamp work they absolutely would have tragically died - they would have killed each other in the climax of Seresu and it would have been beautiful and terrible and no-one ever would have ever emotionally recovered from the complete and utter devastation. 

BUT THEY DIDN’T. 

CLAMP spend all of Tsubasa revisiting all their old works, taking us through a parade of the various tragedies they’ve sung across the years, all leading up to them ultimately breaking their own pattern and letting Fai and Kurogane save each other from the same Clamp fate that claimed every tragic pair before them. They choose each other and get out alive. They stop blaming themselves for the unchangeable parts of destiny and finally forgive themselves. And it’s just very emotional to me that it’s these two that make it, these two that get to recover and choose each other and live their lives inseparable from this point on. The two that had arguably the most tragic backstories also get to face their trauma, survive, and live. 

And it’s just so beautiful to see how the CLAMP storytelling method has changed over the years, and to find out that after all these years, the big destiny story they really wanted to tell in their longest and most detailed work was about the two men who fell in love, against all odds and saved each other. Despite absolutely everything saying that it should be impossible, it’s Kurogane and Fai that finally flip the tarot card back around and live. 

And I’m extremely interested in what this means for Lava Lamp and Not!Sakura.

[meimi-haneoka]

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Chapter 68: Comments + JP-ENG translation differences

Hello hello everyone!! Here we are again, one month later, for the third chapter of the future volume 14, chapter 68!! Maaaan I gotta say I got pretty excited with this chapter, at some point I’ve started screaming while I was reading it (thank god I was alone) and I believe it’s been quite some time since that last happened 😂 This chapter is heavily focused on my four favorite characters, which I had predicted they’d be the focus of the “final confrontation”, so I guess that’s only normal. God, I love them all so much and I notice that even more with chapters like these. I also found myself to wish even more desperately for season 2 of the anime, because maaan, the scenery of this chapter is particularly breathtaking. I dunno, it might be because I imagined all of that animated, and my breath caught in my throat, but it would really be so wonderful to see all of that moving with pretty lights and sounds someday. I can definitely, definitely feel we came to the crunch of this story with this chapter.

Curious to know why? Follow me under the cut, but not before taking a look at the gif of the month! 😂

The Color page

Ladies & gentlemen, the third SyaoSaku color page in the span of 6 chapters 😂Is somebody trying to make up for something? 😂 Aww, I have to admit that when I saw this color page for the first time some hours before the chapter release, it made my heart all warm and fuzzy 🥰it’s really nice CLAMP decided to revive that beautiful scene of chapter 23 in a color page, it’s such a sweet and important memory for these two. It was a very happy moment, and here CLAMP decided to bring this one step forward by allowing Sakura and Syaoran to hold hands in a lover’s hold, with their fingers intertwined. 🥰 But this was also the scene where we’ve heard for the first time how unwavering Syaoran was in his resolution to not let Sakura feel any sorrow. Yes, sorrow, 不幸. A word that would become so crucial and important later on, and which is recalled even in this chapter through Momo’s words. This color page is also connected to what happened in last chapter, when Mirror was explaining why Flight decided to help them, and recalled precisely this scene. Lastly, I think this color page illustrates perfectly the strong bond that connects Sakura and Syaoran together, which gets once more reiterated in this chapter. It’s interesting to note how the color palette of the outfits they are wearing here is different from the one used in the anime! I find both versions charming, to be honest! Pink is my favorite color but I appreciate the anime’s attempt at making Sakura wear something that’s not pink 😁 The JP text here says “Sakura-chan and Syaoran-kun’s date in the sky….with Mirror and Flight!”.

What is happiness to you?

The chapter starts with Sakura, seemingly asleep in the void, hearing a voice asking her what is happiness to her and why she’s always been able to say that “everything will surely be alright”.

By now, we already know whose voice it is. Reminds you of something? Of course it does! Not only it is the "mirror" of how Chapter 65 started, kicking off this “story” inside Clockland (that time it asked about sorrow, this time about happiness), but it is also a recall to how Momo introduced Sakura to her “hint” back in chapter 50. Everything keeps reconnecting and going full circle, folks.

Turns out, Alice briefly fell asleep and wakes up, finding herself on a gondola, together with the Red Queen. As she opens her eyes, we’re made partakers of the beautiful scenery that unfolds before her: on both banks of the river they’re navigating, there are huge shelves full of books, and the wood of the shelves morphs into tall trees. Little black & white roses, seemingly the Queen’s crest, are nestled into small lamps, illuminating the way. Alice wonders about the voice she believes she just heard, and although she’s sure to have heard it before, she can’t quite recall who it is.

First translation difference here:

ENG: “I don’t know. But...I can’t shake the feeling I’ve heard it before” JP: “I don’t know. But...I have the feeling I’ve been asked the same thing before”

The difference here is given by the word 聞かれた. It is true that the verb 聞く means both “to listen” or “to ask”, but when used in this way, it definitely means “been asked”. After all, Momo was indeed asking her something. I found this part a bit confusing because all Alice was talking about in the ENG was “hearing a voice”, not that it spoke to her. So the Queen asking her if it was important felt a bit weird. What’s important, the voice? No, she’s indeed asking about what the voice asked to her.

And here I ask you to pay particular attention to the font of the Japanese version, as I predicted in my last post. Because here, for a moment, we see a “magic effect” around Sakura, and then she replies “Yes. Something very important.” WITH A REGULAR FONT. This means Sakura is talking as her real self here!! Again, triggered by important matters, she regained conscience of her true self. But unfortunately that lasts shortly, as she looks up to the Cat, standing on a bridge between shelves, looking down on her in a very…..pissed off way.

I mean, look at his clenched fists here! 😂 That unfortunately sends Sakura back to her Alice role. As the two girls continue navigating the river, Kaito talks to Momo, who keeps appearing only as a voice and not physically. I want to point out that not only here, but throughout the chapter, the ENG translation put a lot of “filler words” that skew the perception of the tone of certain characters. Of course, if you’ve been following this blog for a while, I don’t even need to point out who these changes affect the most.

ENG: “Perhaps I can convince you not to give Alice here any hints? Here I thought the guardian of the book wasn’t to assist the players”

JP: “I would like you to refrain from giving any hint to Alice. I thought the guardian of the Book couldn’t help any of the characters?”

In the ENG version, with that “I can convince you”, Kaito sounds vaguely threatening. Like “if you don’t do as I say, I’ll convince you by force”. In the JP version, there’s none of that. Kaito still speaks with his usual polite tone to Momo, while still being clearly annoyed at her. Annoyed doesn’t mean he has to suddenly become an as*hole to her. And even when Momo replies, explaining that her line was said merely as a “facilitator” (this very same English word is included in the furigana of the 進行役 word) of the Book, she doesn’t use neither “boy” nor the overly salty tone she’s got in the ENG version. Yes, sure, I was highly amused by the way these two bickered in the ENG translation, but I have to be impartial and say when things aren’t really as they are presented. STILL, the scene is so hilarious because Kaito is beyond pissed 😂(for his standards) and he replies “I beg to differ” but decides to prioritize following the girls, as he can’t lose sight of them.

Books are "Our Story"

Alice looks at the immense library that stretches along the banks of the river, and notices how many books are there. The Queen says that books are very important in this country, and Alice asks her if she likes books too. I would like to think Alice was instinctively brought to pose this question because Sakura’s subconscious knows this is Akiho. Of course the Queen answers she does, because books were always by her side. Just like the real Akiho. Meanwhile, the gondola enters a part of the river where the trees above are interwoven more and more, until it looks as if the girls are entering some kind of “tunnel” or “cavern”. I found that eerily beautiful too (I need to see this animated!!!!!). While the two girls get off the gondola and reach a shelf, the Queen explains that books are people’s “memories”. And they serve as a “record” too. Seeing as “record” (記録) is indicated between brackets, I can’t help but think about the relative Record Card. But what these books “record” in them? The Queen says: “Somebody’s feelings. Their hopes. And the magic they’ve weaved. Many [stories] are recorded in them”. Alice utters the word “record”, probably as if it reminded her of something…. Then she asks the Queen if the book she’s holding is her favorite one. Try to zoom in and pay attention to the magic circle depicted on the cover of this book. Looks familiar? Yes, because you have seen it before.

The version on the cover of this book seems slightly more elaborated, but there’s no doubt it’s the magic circle belonging to the members of the most ancient magical clan of Europe, collectively called by me as the “Squid Clan”. It is kinda surprising the Queen grabbed specifically this book, and with some friends I was musing on which underlying meaning this library could have. Does it store the records, the stories of all the people who tried to use Momo’s book? After all, we’ve been told that her book records the life of the owner. If that’s true, then maybe we could infer someone from Akiho’s clan tried to use it, at some point? Regardless, the Queen replies that this is not her favorite book. Her favorite book is Alice in Clockland. And here pay attention, dear readers, because as she utters the name of the book, the font in the Queen’s speech bubble is back to normal!!

This is not the Queen anymore, AKIHO is regaining control of her consciousness! With nonchalance she lets go of the book she was holding, which goes back to its place in the shelf. Alice points out:

ENG: “That’s my name…” “Perhaps. But it is the title of your story” JP: “That’s my name...and yet, it’s the title of a book you have”

As you can see, the ENG translation completely misunderstood who was talking in the second bubble of this panel. It is not Akiho, despite the bubble being close to her (there’s no tail pointing at her, indeed), but actually still Alice. Alice is confused because a book belonging to the Queen is titled with her name. So this brings Alice to question her own identity. And the true identity of the Red Queen in front of her. Akiho replies that she doesn’t know, because she’s forgotten her previous name when she entered Clockland. But there’s one thing she remembers. It’s the one thing no magic could ever make her forget. Before entering Clockland, she had a [special person]. Here it is again. That 特別なひと I fussed so much about during last chapter. It seemed such a trivial thing and yet I knew it wasn’t, because this is a specific term with which the story is indicating the person someone loves. That’s why it was important to me, I think this is going to be very important to understand the story, and fortunately this time around they translated it correctly. Akiho, talking with a regular font and all, seems to regain a hold of herself more and more. Thanks to a mutual on Twitter I even realized that her pronoun changes from 私 (watashi, in kanji) to わたし (watashi, in hiragana), which is the usual way her pronoun is written when she speaks as Akiho. THERE IS a difference there!! She remembers about the girl she’s got in front of her, too. She tells her that she had a name more befitting of who she is, actually, Akiho says that she’s just the embodiment of the thing she was named after. (This part was translated in ENG as merely “it was your name” and I don’t think they really got the beautiful praise she was giving to Sakura). “Just like a flower that blooms in spring”

Catfight part 2?

A shriek echoes in the library, it’s our Syaoran, the REAL Syaoran, yelling Sakura’s name!!!

He cut through the fake environment created by the book with his own sword, but Kaito wastes no time in appearing in front of him, out of nowhere, praising him for managing to stay inside the book, but affirming that having two Cats is really inconvenient for him (taken literally from the JP text, as opposed to the more arrogant way the ENG decided to translate it with). Kaito tries to grab Syaoran, but as he does so, we find out it was the Mirror Card who had taken Syaoran’s appearance, and it’s now back in the hands of the real one!! Sakura FINALLY recognizes her Syaoran, regaining her own identity once and for all, thanks to her beloved one. As some of my japanese mutuals have pointed out in their own reviews of the chapter, it’s really beautiful that the trigger for both girls waking up from the role they were playing is the person they’re in love with. Syaoran apologizes for being late, and Sakura can’t contain the tears, realizing she couldn’t remember who she was, but she was able to free herself of the spell when he called her name! Syaoran says something really important and poignant, and Mokona sensei gives the entire page to Syaoran to indicate how fundamental this is:

JP: “The only Sakura there'll ever be for me is [Kinomoto Sakura]”

Kinomoto Sakura, with her full name in kanji and all (he usually calls her in hiragana, but here the moment is solemn, you know!). He might have been put under stress and been tested with the whole Mirror thing, but Syaoran will always find his way back to his Sakura. No matter what. Sakura is so very comforted by that. But someone else is just not as comforted…. Syaoran regained control of the Mirror Sakura Card (again with that “Mirror Clow Card” in the ENG translation!! THE CLOW CARDS DON’T EXIST ANYMORE, FFFFF--!!) and even dispelled the Mirror new card, effectively undoing Kaito’s disguise, who goes back to his real self. At this point, we should have all four protagonists of this story with their true selves, no one is playing a role anymore. But Akiho is suspiciously quiet and unresponsive to all of this mess, and Mokona sensei avoided drawing any expression on her, covered by the veil. What is going on with her? I hope everything is fine, but I have the feeling something….might be going on with her….something related to the Squid Clan. Kaito notices that Syaoran managed to bring a sword in this place, storing it inside of his body, and it is likely a skill he acquired during his time back in Hong Kong (not, as the ENG translated, “You’ve grown during your time back in Hong Kong”, that could refer to his physical growth but this is not what Kaito is talking about here). He wonders if it was thanks to his mother’s gift, the divination, or if it was just his own good fortune. Of course Syaoran has to wonder how Kaito knows about all of that. He replies that Syaoran is...quite famous in the circles he runs in (that “young man” was merely added to fill in that bubble, Kaito isn’t being arrogant with Syaoran here. None of the condescending “boy” or “young man” you ever see in this chapter in English is truly said by the characters in Japanese). He says that “the most ancient European magicians” are particularly interested in the Li Clan’s movements. After all, the Li Clan’s got family lineage in common with that of Clow Reed, and indeed that European Clan is particularly spiteful towards them. So, if we ever needed it, we got confirmation that the Squid clan is particularly spiteful towards the Li Clan due to their connections to Clow Reed. When I’ve read this confirmation spelled out like this, I couldn’t avoid going back to think about my theory that the Squid Clan is actually the Reed family (noticed how they never reveal the Clan’s name?), the other branch of Clow’s family on his father’s side. It would kinda make sense if you consider the natural competition there might be between the two families, which have such a famous magician in common in their lineage. It’s still a theory at this stage, but I admit I did let out a shriek or two 😂.

Kaito’s watch suddenly cracks some more, and as he witnesses that, he says he really needs to make Syaoran leave, because he’s got no more time. Again, the ENG translation made Kaito sound condescending and arrogant with his “I have no time for this, you see”, when actually he was merely hinting that his life span is almost over. This is also why you see Syaoran startled by his affirmation, cause it seems he might be having a hunch about it. Syaoran realizes that Kaito is about to start something, so he summons Mirror and uses it on Flight (which was there with them on its own) to prepare “doubles” of it to give to both Sakura and Akiho. Apparently the interaction of Mirror with Flight gave also Syaoran a pair of beautiful crystal wings that just looks like the ones on Mirror’s back.

Syaoran sternly affirms that “I will take them back with me” (again, the ENG unnecessarily specified that he would bring Sakura with him, but the truth is that there’s no subject in the JP text and Syaoran gave a copy of Flight to Akiho too, so he’s very intent on bringing her outside along with Sakura. Therefore, why infering that he’s only focused on his girlfriend and doesn’t care about what happens to Akiho? Excuse me, but that’s not our Syaoran. He would never discard an innocent girl like that, and it makes sense because he doesn’t know about Kaito’s real intentions yet). Kaito confidently replies “I won’t allow it” (the ENG here made him say the more arrogant “No, boy. I’m afraid you aren’t”).

And with this huuuuuuge cliffhanger, chapter 68 ends here, in anticipation for the confrontation we were all expecting! I don’t think it will last for long, if they ever manage to start it, that is, cause Akiho’s behavior is kinda sketchy and I’m afraid a certain clan will soon “enter the chat” in their own way.

This chapter was really exciting for me, I enjoyed it from the first to the last page, and I feel it really reiterated how “identity” is a HUGE thematic in Clear Card. It’s very important to not lose sight of who you truly are, and our loved ones can help us remembering that at all times. In fact, both Akiho and Sakura “wake up” from their roles thanks to the memories of their loved ones. I applaude both girls for escaping the influence of this powerful spell, it must have not been easy. Particularly, I commend Sakura because despite being under the influence of it, she never stopped making questions. THAT was the indication that her real essence, her soul, was fighting tooth and nails to regain control of her own reality. She wasn't merely accepting and taking in everything that was in front of her. And I congratulate Akiho too, because she got herself freed from the spell without having any magical powers, only with the strength of her feelings and memories. The physical and metaphorical lifting of the veil was a super powerful image to me. I found it absolutely beautiful and it spoke to me more than a million words. Bravo Mokona sensei. Under that veil that kept her "in her role", there wasn't the somber Queen anymore, but the sweet and warm Akiho we always knew.

Syaoran was super cool and I think CLAMP delivered what they promised in their Space of some months ago. I’m sure his role isn’t over yet and we’ll see more of him. Please remember that, under his fired up appearance, Syaoran is a very loving and caring child too. He knows what compassion is and I’m sure he’ll give an evidence of it in the last chapters of this arc. While being of course annoyed at Kaito’s behavior, I reaaaally can’t bring myself to be mad at him, seeing how tired and desperate he looks (and sounds) in this chapter. The pocket watch, at this point a symbol of what he’s got left to live, breaks even further and that must have cornered him even more. I once said “Kaito looks like a wounded animal to me”, and wounded animals tend to become really aggressive when they feel under threat. This is what scares me a little bit about him. It’s evident that “failure” is not an option for him, so he has to complete his mission before he dies.

At this point, the only one who can truly stop him is Akiho, and I’m praying that she eventually can gain control of the situation before it’s too late. Sakura can help, of course, but I’m sure the only one who can weaken Kaito is Akiho. The one he’s doing all of this for.

Of course, there’s Momo too. Although she’s clearly got her hands tied, she’s resorting to any kind of tricks to steer this in the direction that will avoid a tragedy from happening. At this point she’s doing it in Kaito’s face too (and he’s not stupid, he notices that but doesn’t want to argue about it right now) and I find that so hilarious, among the seriousness of the situation. She really seemed to me like a mother who was trying to hide spinach in her son’s meatballs, denying that she’s put any of it in them. 😂 All of these characters are so lovable and they’re doing their best for someone else, just like CLAMP said in their latest Spaces.

Another small thing I want to point out is that we still have no “last chapter in 2 issues!” or anything like that announced on the color page. Maybe they want to wait for the very second-to-last chapter before announcing it? We’ll see.

Well, this post is already quite late by my standards so I will leave you here for now, and as usual I await your asks in my inbox to talk about this or that aspect in particular! As usual, a quick reminder of the dates for the next chapter, chapter 69: December 25th, on Bookwalker and Azuki(digital, ENG) December 26th, on Clamp-fans (digital, JP and other languages) December 28th, on Nakayoshi (paper and digital, JP) January 1st 2023, on Comic Days (digital, JP) <- if they don't modify this I'll probably be late again with my chapter post 😭

Let’s hope we’ll get an extraordinary chapter as a Christmas present!! See you on Christmas day!! 🌸

[duxarcana]

Clear Card Chapter 40 Review

Looks like the fandom has kind of died down; there was no hype about the new chapter, and no one is talking about it. Since it seems no one else has uploaded a review of the new chapter, I’ll do so here (not that anyone will ever read it). 

So let’s start off with the GLORIOUS cover artwork. I’ll admit I let out a rather loud squeal when I first saw the video thumbnail. This is one of the most beautiful outfits Syaoran has worn, and the similarity of its style and color scheme to his previous outfits makes me hope that we may one day see this as a battle costume. Kaito looks stunning here as well, and it’s nice to see his staff in colour. The image of these two enemy magicians who both hold the power of the Moon and are connected to time, depicted together, wielding their magical artefacts among clock gears with a full moon in the background--this image is simply ethereal.

Now, moving on to the content of the chapter:

We start off with Sakura recounting to Tomoyo the circumstances of The Mirror attending school in her place. I’m always down for some good Tomoyo content (which seems to be kind of lacking in Clear Card), so this chapter was off to a great start.

We also find out that because of all this, poor Syaoran was late to class. Since he seems to have quite a serious concern for punctuality, I hope he wasn’t too stressed out about the situation. I feel bad for the poor card, too. Accidentally coming to class without the homework was scary enough for me back when I was in secondary school, even without attempting to impersonate someone else on top of it! At least Sakura apologizes for putting her through that.

Sakura then gives the outfit she wore back to Tomoyo, and explains that she repaired it with Repair. Tomoyo comments on how much the card resembles her. I find it kind of funny that although she had seen it earlier in Chapter 34, she didn’t notice it looked like her because she was too busy fangirling over the adorableness of Rewind (weren’t we all?). 

She then asks Sakura to not use the card except in emergencies, and to bring all other items to be repaired to her instead (she even makes a pun on the card’s name by saying “repair” in English, which was cute). I also find Tomoyo’s protectiveness of the dresses she made to be really cute. I hope at some point CLAMP allows her to tell Sakura how she feels, as it would not only continue their trend of LGBTQ+ inclusiveness (another aspect which seems to be lacking in Clear Card), but would be an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how much Sakura has matured in the supportive answer she would surely give to her dear friend.

Suddenly, enter Syaoran! He apologizes for being late and talks about his conversation with the teacher. We are also blessed with this precious image:

Anyway, something interesting is that since Japanese typically doesn’t require pronouns if they’re implied, the gender of his teacher is never revealed, but in other languages, these pronouns are necessary. The Spanish and French translations both chose female, but the English translation chose male. 

Syaoran mentions how the teacher was worried about him taking care of himself when he’s living alone. I agree with your teacher (and Yue, and Sakura, and Eriol...), Syaoran! Please make sure you’re taking good care of yourself!

Then poor Syaoran goes on to do what he always does: doubt his own abilities and claim to not be able to do anything. As much as I hate it when he does this, I can honestly relate to him a lot. I hope he learns to develop more self-confidence and realizes how important his contributions are!

Sakura does her best to reassure him a bit, but it doesn’t look like it did much. Another thing I am hoping for in the series is for Sakura to at some point attempt to help Syaoran with his anxiety, instead of just commenting about it to others. I get that she’s trying her best, but I wish she would realize the extent of Syaoran’s insecurities and actively help him to overcome some of them. 

Thankfully, Tomoyo brightens the mood a bit by starting to film them, leading them to start quickly opening their bentô in embarrassment, where we are graced with another beautiful picture of Syaoran:

Syaoran informs the two that the teacher also told him that on Saturday, their school will be having a zyugyôsankan, an event in Japanese culture where parental figures visit the school to observe their child in class for a day. And that’s the last we see of Syaoran in this chapter...

Sakura brings home the information, worried that her father will be unable to attend due to work. Tôya begins to offer to go in his place, but Fujitaka interrupts and excitedly declares that he can go, calling the university to arrange for him to not work that day. It feels like Fujitaka has been shown to be very cheerful and innocent in Clear Card. Sakura’s personality is often compared to Nadeshiko, but it is nice to see that she gets some of it from her father as well. 

We then see that Akiho is having a similar conversation with Kaito. She talks about how she told the teacher that no one could come to observe her, as all her family is living overseas. She also mentions that there were other students who didn’t have any family members who could come, one of which would obviously be Syaoran. Since we don’t see him at school at all on Saturday, I wonder if he went about his school day alone or just stayed home. I just wish someone (like one of his friends, maybe? Looking at you, Sakura and Tomoyo) had remembered him that day and made sure he wasn’t lonely :(

But anyway, enough about my favorite character, since CLAMP clearly doesn’t feel the same way.

Kaito slyly remarks that he could go to the school as her parental figure, if Akiho so desired. Akiho, blissfully ignorant of Kaito’s evident malicious intent, says she would be very happy if he did so. I must admit that while I wish Akiho were a bit more perceptive, her elation is very cute. I hope Kaito listens to Momo and realizes how much Akiho cares about him before he decides to do any evil stuff around her--or worse, continue to use his time magic and sever his soul beyond repair.

After Akiho is safely out of earshot, Momo asks Kaito if he intends to “do something”; i.e., attempt to cause the creation of another Clear Card. Kaito says that he would like to if he has an opportunity, but explains that his real reason for wanting to go is that there is a person he assumes will be there whom he would like to meet. 

The day comes, the parents see the children in class, et cetera. The topic of Sakura and Tomoyo resembling their parents comes up, and Sakura asks Akiho if she looks like any of her family members. Akiho says she doesn’t know, as she has rarely seen the faces of any of her family members, and she was told her parents passed away right after she was born. This is very interesting information. While the depiction of the person assumed to be Akiho’s mother on the cover of Chapter 37 having angel wings did suggest that she was not alive, it has now been more or less confirmed. However, Akiho’s phrasing unnerves me a bit. The creepy and clearly evil Clan to which she belongs, which has always valued the gaining of more power above even the lives of its members, informed Akiho that right after she was born, her parents “passed away”? I wonder what terrible fate befell the two of them after their failure to bear a magical child...

Sakura, being kind as always, takes Akiho’s hand and tells her with a smile that she is the first person whom Akiho resembles. An innocent comment that, with the knowledge of the forced magical synchronization of Sakura and Akiho, becomes slightly less cutesy.

Kaito comes in to watch the choir practice, and Fujitaka seems quite startled--I wonder if, with half of Clow’s power, he can sense Kaito’s presence?

We find out that the person Kaito wanted to meet was indeed Fujitaka. Here lies another bit of discrepancy between translations. In the Japanese and Spanish versions, Kaito says that the vessel they have created (i.e. Akiho) holds even greater magic potential than Fujitaka, half of the reincarnation of Clow Reed. In the English version, however, he says that Fujitaka himself is a vessel, and that he is an even bigger one than Akiho. (I did not finish the chapter in French, and it seems CLAMP has taken down the video now, so I unfortunately do not know how the French version translated this scene.) The quality of the official English translations for Cardcaptor Sakura, whether the original manga or the Clear Card chapters, is just pathetic. It’s no wonder I spend half my time in the fandom answering basic questions for English fans--the garbage translations can’t even bother to properly translate essential plot points. Just how is it that the unofficial fan translations people produce are more accurately translated than all of the OFFICIAL English translations? Alright, I’m done being salty. Back to the chapter.

Kaito is all ready to start causing mischief in order to inspire the creation of a new card, when who should appear...but NADESHIKO. Oh my god. The intensity of her expression, the mild fear in Kaito’s eyes...I am entirely ready to see Nadeshiko protect her husband and the two little Alices in Chapter 41!

If you read this far, thank you so much for taking the time to hear my thoughts!

[lilover131]

Clear Card Chapter 61 Analysis

Here we go again! Another chapter, and seemingly like always, I have more and more questions! CLAMP, CUT ME SOME SLACK HERE!!

We also got 3 whole panels of Syaoran, which is not enough, but I’ll  honestly take it at this point. Lmao!  But we do get some juicy Kaito development, and I’m living for it! My full thoughts on this chapter are under the cut due to length and spoilers!

I feel like this cover page is a perfect choice for CLAMP since introducing us officially to Lillie (I say officially since we now know her name), and seeing as what goes on later in this chapter, it is also fitting to have both mothers on the cover. I absolutely love the dress designs and it only just now occurred to me seeing this image that both Nadeshiko and Lillie have flower names! They are wearing dresses designed after their respective flowers, and I can never get over just how creative Mokona-sensei is with her designs. Seriously, no matter how hard I try to design an outfit myself, it always looks so bland in comparison (which also makes me realize I have no sense of fashion), but Mokona is just never lacking in genius. Just amazing.

 The chapter itself starts off with another Cloaked Figure dream, and it seems Sakura is pressing more and more for answers each time she has these. They don’t seem to really startle her anymore or cause her distress. In fact, she only seems to become more calm and calculating with her questions, and it really shows how she’s grown. She even starts to answer a bit of her own questions while she goes. She knows that at some point she will meet this cloaked figure, and as part of her outfit changes for a brief moment (just the sleeve showing as to not spoil for us her official Alice costume), she also identifies that she will meet the cloaked figure while wearing this particular outfit.

 Although it doesn’t tell us much at first glance, I think might be confirming that the moment we see that sleeve again, it will be when the plot really gets turned on its head, and it seems more and more likely that this play will be the center of this major event. Surprisingly, the cloaked figure actually lowers part of their cloak to speak, but of course not enough to reveal who they really are. And naturally, with it being a manga, we cannot identify the voice of who is speaking to determine this either, but the words stated are quite alarming. They state that when they meet, it will be “the beginning of the end”. What’s alarming about this is that we don’t know where the ‘end’ leads to. Because this is Cardcaptor Sakura, I’m sure it will have a happy ending overall, but what will they go through first to achieve that happy ending this time? This is also a callback to the very first words in Clear Card, which were “When all the cards have gathered together, it is not the end, but rather, the beginning. The beginning of the end”.

 Because this line specifically mentions ‘when the cards have gathered together’, this leads me to believe that for sure we have at least three parties involved, which would  unsurprisingly be Sakura (with the Clear Cards of course), Syaoran (with the Sakura cards), and Kaito (who currently has Mirror).

 The dream ends when Sakura wakes up, appearing to have fallen asleep at the dining room table while practicing her lines for the Twin Alices play. Her father is there with a blanket and tells her that he understands that she’s working hard but to not push herself. Sakura of course understands and appreciates the sentiment, but she states that she simply wants to do her best since Akiho is working so hard herself. Syaoran has also mentioned wanting to do his best in his roles since everyone is doing their best, so it seems that they are motivating each other all around for this play!

 Sakura looks to the table where her mother’s picture always is and asks her father what she was like. It’s natural for Sakura to be curious about her mother as a person when she never really knew her, and I’m sure she’s even had this conversation before but still wants to know more (as any child would). I have to say, the way Fujitaka talks about her doesn’t really say much about how she actually was as a person, but it shows a lot about how much he loved her. He really seems to adore her and sees her as an angel fallen from heaven who gave him the most precious gifts that anyone could give a person. It’s honestly so pure, it makes me even more sad that Nadeshiko passed away. I can’t imagine how Fujitaka felt when he loved someone that much, who showed him so much love in return, and then lost them.

 The scene changes to Akiho, who had fallen asleep doing the same thing Sakura was. And just like Fujitaka was doing for Sakura, Kaito is standing nearby with a blanket for Akiho. The same words are spoken to Akiho, asking her not to push herself, and she responds in exactly the same manner as Sakura by stating that she wants to work hard since Sakura is working so hard. However, Kaito’s reaction to this is a bit different than Fujitaka’s, and he seems to show a bit more concern before his hand seems to one again reach out unconsciously (Cinzia fondly calls this action ‘the hand’ -insert trademark-. Hahahaha).

 I think this might be the third time in about 4 chapters that he has done this, so the mask he’s been wearing is most definitely starting to break. Kaito’s true feelings cannot stay buried much longer, and this consistent action of his hand reaching out to Akiho is proof of this. But time and time again, he keeps fighting himself and pulling the hand (-insert trademark-) back before putting the mask back up and simply telling her that she will do wonderfully. Now, I can’t help but wonder why he looked so serious when Akiho was simply talking about doing her best, and I can only assume that it is because he knows that this play is likely going to be ruined by what happens next; that maybe her hard work will go to waste. Or maybe he is just hoping to live long enough to see it and still feels like he had so much to say to her before he’s gone. There are honestly so many different things that could be going through his head right now, but it’s increasingly more obvious how much he cares about her.

 Akiho glances backwards at an empty spot, as if looking for something, and Kaito picks up on this before asking her what she was looking for. She says that she wanted to see a photo, but then finds it strange as she never had any photos of her mother to begin with. It seems after observation that this is perhaps a result of the synchronization going on between her and Sakura. Kaito’s face looks a bit grim when she says this, perhaps because he realizes the synchronization is getting stronger, but also it is a reminder of Lillie being gone.

 Poor Akiho mentions how her parents never left her a single photo, which is certainly sad on its own, but then she tells a story from her childhood that just makes everything about her life seem so...much...worse. She tells us how her mother was the strongest magician in her clan and could see the future in dreams as well as perform just about any spell with ease, and that her father was the second strongest. It’s nice to hear her officially talking about this, because it shows that she really is aware of the magical world in its entirety. The clan was thrilled when her parents got engaged, but only because of their hopes for the production of a exceptionally gifted magical child. Akiho, as we know, was born without magic, but she tragically tells us more about her parents demise by stating that it was an accident in which they died to protect her.

 So…I can’t even imagine losing both of my parents at the same time, let alone at that young an age, but to also know that they died protecting me? I feel like that would make any child feel unworthy of such an immense sacrifice, despite it really showing how much they were loved. But to make things even worse, she recalled a time, back when she was old enough to understand words, that her clan frequently spoke of how unfortunate it was that Lillie could not forsee her own demise and that since she left behind a child with no power, it would have been better if Akiho’s parents never met at all. So this poor child who likely already felt unworthy of her parents sacrifice, was overhearing her own family say with her right there that she was better off not being born due to her lack of magic and the loss of their two strongest magicians. I did not think I could hate this family any more than I already did, but they just went up to Fei Wang Reed level of hate in my book (and that’s a lot of hate). The emotional abuse here is just so incredibly fucked up, and it’s honestly the darkest story to enter CCS thus far.

 What also angers me so much is how they stated that Lillie did not forsee her own demise, when in reality, she very likely (like 99.9% based on what she said in the last chapter) did know that she would not live much longer. What these fuckers don’t understand (pardon my language, but this clan makes my blood boil), is that if there was no other way, Lillie would make this decision every single time because her love for her daughter is that strong. But as we’ve seen before, the clan doesn’t understand love at all. They couldn’t possibly understand how a magicless child could be loved so unconditionally.

 As I am fuming about this, it seems Kaito shares that feeling of anger, and for the first time, we see him clench his fists as he fights to restrain himself from speaking out. But eventually, it becomes too much, and he has a bit of an outburst (a rather extreme one for Kaito). He tells Akiho that this is not true, and that even though she can’t use magic, there are things she can do that those fools could never dream of doing. The English translation uses the word ‘fools’, which I absolutely love in this context, and though the original Japanese doesn’t translate exactly to that, @meimi-haneoka​ with her glorious translation notes has confirmed that the feelings behind it are still there. Because we know that Kaito is actually a bit more rude and sassy than he allows anyone to see (as Cinzia calls his ‘Ore’ side), I translated this in my mind as “AKIHO, DON’T LISTEN TO THOSE FUCKING IDIOTS, THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT!”. XDDDD

Akiho seems a bit surprised by the rude language Kaito uses (which is really tame, but far different from his usual polite façade), and he recovers quickly, realizing he lost control of himself once again and apologizes for his rudeness. I honestly love this side of Kaito and want to see a lot more of it, but he’s so damn stubborn that he won’t let his true self come out! Come on, I want the sassy Kaito who speaks his mind, regardless of how one might feel about what he’s saying! Akiho shakes her head at his apology and then thanks him. It must have felt good to actually have someone stick up for her for once and tell her that she means something, regardless of whether she has magic or not.

 She changes the subject a bit and speaks of how she asked over and over again what her parents were like, but that she was only ever told that they both loved chocolate mint. And because she too loves chocolate mint, this makes her feel like she has a connection to her parents. This is really sweet, but I also am even more furious thinking that the clan couldn’t even bother to divulge more information to her about her own parents other than this one thing. 

But....

 CLAMP. I have questions…

 In chapter 36, when the whole chocolate mint thing was introduced, Nadeshiko mentioned that Lillie had told her the one she loved most did not like chocolate mint. In fact, it wasn’t just said once but twice. Lillie was also travelling the world with the one she loved most, which we can only assume must be Akiho’s father. Initially, I thought “Okay, this has to be a translation error, because Kodansha fucks up all the time”, but I was incredibly surprised to hear from Cinzia that this was actually not a translation error.

Now, I can’t rule out this not being a continuity error on CLAMP’s part (I spent 10 years on a story myself and know how hard it is to keep continuity with some things when you’ve been writing for that long), but CLAMP has always done a really good job of keeping things consistent, so I have a hard time believing that this is an error. It’s especially hard to believe considering how much focus they have put on the chocolate mint topic in particular. The subject of chocolate mint has always come across as CLAMP’s subtle way of drawing connections to some characters, but it’s hard to say exactly which connection in particular they want us to pay attention to.

 So, if we go based on the idea that this was not a mistake, then why would Akiho say this?

 When I thought about it, I remembered who she had gotten this information from. Her clan had told her this, and honestly what the fuck do they really know about Lillie and Akidad personally? So after discussion with some friends on discord, we came to a bit of a shared conclusion that the clan might have thought Akidad liked chocolate mint, but that he didn’t actually like it at all. In chapter 36, it was mentioned that Syaoran doesn’t like chocolate mint either, but he seemed disappointed when Sakura didn’t make him any. Tomoyo pointed out that even if he didn’t like the flavor, if it was made by Sakura, he would have eaten it. I think the same idea would have applied to Akidad. Although he wouldn’t actually like it, he likely pretended to or at least ate it because he loved how happy it made Lillie. And as a result of seeing this, the clan might be lead to believe he actually liked chocolate mint. This is an idea I can get behind that is both heartwarming but also shows how absolutely disconnected the clan is from the feelings of their own members.

 While Akiho expresses her happiness in having this supposed connection to her parents (or at least one of them), Kaito can’t help but see her mother, and this is the first time we see him making a direct comparison between Akiho and Lillie. Of course we already knew they resembled each other quite a bit, but it’s refreshing to see if finally come from Kaito.

 However, he starts to think back on that moment where he was asked to review Akiho for magical power and how he had described her as being like a blank book. I had thought for quite some time that he might have felt guilt over his description of her, because it seemed clear that the clan got the idea to turn her into a tool as a result of these words. It appears this theory was correct, but it is even more tragic when we find out that Kaito had only described her in such a way because he thought that with her having no magic and her parents being gone, that they would simply exile her and allow her to live a normal life. This shows how he had actually intended kindness and wanted her to have a good and happy life, but she was robbed of this because of his words. This brings a lot more context to why he might be doing all of this.

I mentioned before that I felt the magic Kaito wanted to do was to bring back a life or change a specific moment in time, but this chapter has now I feel shown plausible motives for both of those reasons. I could see him wanting to bring back Akiho’s parents so Akiho can live with a happy family, but I can also see him wanting to go back to that moment and change what he stated in a way that would ensure Akiho had a better life than being used as a tool. He clearly has guilt over he situation and even very openly blames himself as the reason that Akiho is on the verge of losing her soul. This is absolutely heartbreaking, and Kaito desperately needs someone to tell him that he is not responsible for the choices of others. Yes, our words are powerful and impact the world around us, but our words do not completely control the actions of others, and this was a choice made by the clan, not him.

 Kaito tells Akiho that he has a feeling that she and her mother have a lot in common, which rather proves to me that Kaito has probably not ever told Akiho that he knew her mother well. If she knew after all, I’m sure she would have asked him all sorts of questions about her. I hope he can tell her more about her someday.

 The scene changes to show Fujitaka stating the same thing to Sakura; that she too is a lot like her mother. Fujitaka tells Sakura not to stay up too late, and right after leaving the room, Sakura creates two cards rather abruptly. Immediately, after she creates them, she calls Syaoran, and we FINALLY get our first Syaoran appearance in like 3 months (thank god, I would’ve lost it if we went another full chapter without even one panel of him). Sakura apologizes for calling him so late, but he tells her he was already up (undoubtedly practicing his own part in the play), and she tells him how she believes she created two new cards in a dream. Syaoran asks about the details of these two new cards, and Sakura smiles and responds that they are very kind. The last page shows the two cards, which show what appear to be card versions of Touya (CHOICE) and Fujitaka (KINDNESS). I believe the Touya one stemmed from the conversation she had with him recently about choosing her own future and the Fujitaka one clearly from the kindness her father always shows her every day. I’m not sure what kind of ability these cards would have or if they have any significance at all later on, but it’ll be interesting to find out!

 I’m hoping this is the last chapter of the ‘calm before the storm’ and that we’ll actually have some escalation in the next chapter, but we shall see! Until next month!

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card episode 18 was pretty good. As usual, we open on really cute and fun slice of life stuff that I adored, everyone talking about the picture book Rika gave Sakura and stuff. But in this episode specifically, Sakura has her usual dream thing happen like in school, and so Akiho’s started to worry about her, cause she doesn’t think Sakura’s sick or anything so she has no idea what the cause is. Sweet seeing her worry so much about her friend. Also, the reverse happens too, in that Akiho also nearly passes out for her own dream thing in her library, though Kaito’s there to look after her instead. We’re in the last few episodes so like obviously Sakura and dream Akiho’s fated meeting is coming soon, but it’s neat to show them both having the dream thing really soon after one another.

We also fight the Blaze Clear Card, a gigantic fire bird that has a kaiju battle and even a beam struggle with Sakura’s Aqua, plus Syaoran gets to use his magic to subdue the bird as well. It’s a fun fight, it takes place in the same place that the first episode of Cardcaptor Sakura happened, but this time when they get nostalgic about it it’s more of Sakura being like “wow Kero-chan you sure put me in serious danger huh?” and she’s kinda mad and it’s cute and fun. Also her outfit’s really incredible this episode, as per usual.

There’s like a pan-up shot of this outfit that’d make for a better photo but I can’t be bothered trying my hand at stitching it so this’ll do. Great outfit, love the harem pants, it’s so poofy and cute, great outfit for fighting a fire bird.

And then we get some weirdness with Touya and Yue. See, Touya’s powers are coming back well enough, and Sakura is strong enough, to where he can detect her presence somewhat again. And so when he thinks Sakura’s out, he goes into her room to check, and she’s not there, instead she’s just put like a pillow under the covers or something to make it look like she’s there sleeping. And Touya actually calls out that why would she do that rather than “use that power of hers”, referring to the Mirror Sakura Card he’s gotten so accustomed to. So I think that’s a cool moment, Touya’s lack of knowledge about the situation versus our own uh, knowledge, is played for some nice dramatic irony, Where it gets weird though is when he starts talking to Yue. Because he opens up with “I got Yuki to tell me your name by the way, since it felt weird knowing you for so long but not knowing what you’re called” and uh, excuse me? Sorry but the first time Touya met Yue, he immediately asked “what’s your name?” which I thought was a really nice touch and great character moment for him, meeting the mysterious strange entity inside of Yukito and immediately treating it with enough respect and human decency to want, first and foremost, to get to know him. But here that just, didn’t happen I guess? And then after that he and Yue start talking about how his powers are returning, but the entire time, Touya comes across as weirdly standoffish. He’s all “protecting Sakura and my family comes first and foremost” and “you’ll learn my power when the time comes” but also he’s all “I can tell when you’re angry or sad, I can see it in your face” and he just seems like weirdly into keeping Yue really distant. If he was more “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you my power right now” I’d maybe buy it, but it’s more “can’t tell you, I can see that you’re upset, whatever” and like, I didn’t really like that. So a weird scene to close out an otherwise solid episode.

[cardcaptorcoconut]

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Arc Chapter 27 Translation

Happy (almost) Halloween!  Here is the new chapter. :)

☆★Translations Notes Reminder★☆

Disclaimer: These are just fan translations. Please support the official release.

Chapter 27

Cover Page: “Thanks for your support, everyone! ♡ (This is the) 2nd consecutive issue with a color splash page!♪”

P1 Yue: …(Brace yourself).

[Lit: Grit your teeth. / Note: 歯をくいしばる is kind of like saying to grit your teeth in preparation for pain]

<Yue raises his fist>

P2 <Syaoran braces himself, but Yue simply touches his face> Yue:  …So that’s why you were always “smiling.”

P3 Syaoran: …What? Yue:  Our mistress was saying you’ve been smiling (ever) since you came back here.

[Lit:  …smiling all the time since…]

Yue:  She said you’re always laughing so that she’ll feel more at ease. Yue:  There was a slight sadness in her eyes as she said that…

[Lit/Alt: As she said that, Mistress’ eyes seemed slightly sad.]

Yue:  I thought that you’ve become more mature. And I knew your powers had also gotten exceptionally stronger.  (I’m sure) a lot happened while you were away. Yue:  But the you from before…

P4 Yue:  …had more freedom to (experience) frustration or joy.

[Note:  悔しい（くやしい / kuyashii） means frustrating or annoying, so I wonder if this isn’t a typo for 苦しい（くるしい / kurushii）or “suffering” – I think “suffering or joy” would make more sense here, but I left it as “frustration” as per the original text]

Yue:  (Being genuine) is your true nature. Yue:  You were (smiling) to “cover things up.”

P5 Yue:  …But we (did the same thing) too.

[Alt: But we were the same too.]

The Dark:  That’s right. The Light:  (Our mistress) is slightly (reckless) and can be hasty…

[Lit:  …is a little dangerous and can be…]

The Dark:  But she is able to treasure people’s hearts more than anyone else can. The Cards:  We love (her)!

P6 Yue:  That’s why (we) understand wanting to protect (her).

[Note:  Yue may mean “I” instead of “we” but the subject isn’t specified.]

Yue:  But don’t forget that you’re also one of the things that (she) cherishes.

[Lit: …things that our mistress cherishes.]

Yue:  (How do you think she would feel) if she found out that you were sacrificing yourself to protect her?

[Lit/Alt:  What do you think would happen to her if she found out…]

Yue:  You should think about that first.

[Alt:  You should think about that before anything else.]

P7 Yue:  If you don’t want to make her cry, then protect yourself in addition to protecting her. Yue:  You must. Syaoran:  …Okay.

P8 <Scene changes to Sakura & Akiho> Sakura:  Who are you?!  Are you the one always appearing in my dreams? Voice:  You know whose voice this is, don’t you? Sakura:  Huh!? <Akiho pushes Sakura away>

P9 Sakura:  Akiho-chan…?

P10 The Dark:  We’re glad you talked with Yue, but… The Light:  But, that’s right.  Why (did you say) “(Brace yourself)?”

[Lit:  Grit your teeth]

Yue:  Because touching him out of the blue might’ve startled him and he could’ve bitten his tongue (in surprise). The Light & The Dark:  What?? The Light:  So overprotective! The Dark:  But Yue is even more so towards our mistress. Yue:  Shut up.

P11 <Syaoran gives a genuine laugh> Yue:  You should show that (kind of) smile to our mistress more.  Don’t isolate yourself. <Syaoran nods as a message come up on the computer>

P12 Kero:  Brat and Yue are both there, right?! Yue:  Keep it down.  [Alt: You’re so noisy.] Kero:  (It sounded like Sakura was panicking) a minute ago, so I (tried to go to them).

[Lit:  I heard Sakura’s voice and she sounded panicked somehow, so I thought I’d go near to them.]

Kero:  But I can’t get out of the room!

P13 Yue:  It’s faster if (we fly).  [Lit:  From the sky is faster.] Syaoran:  But I can’t use flight magic… Yue:  You have something that can do that.

[Lit:  Something that can do that is here, right?]

Syaoran:  …Will you come with me?  For Sakura?

P14 The Light & The Dark:  And for you too. Right? Syaoran:  “FLY!”

P15 <Just a really awesome page of Syaoran>

P16 <Syaoran and Yue fly to Sakura’s home> Syaoran:  <thinking>  Sakura…! Sakura:  Akiho-chan!

P17 Sakura:  <thinking>  I can’t move!? Akiho?? (Voice 1):  This is certainly strong magic. Akiho?? (Voice 2):  Isn’t it a bit too strong? Akiho?? (Voice 3):  It’s only natural of a blood relative of Clow Reed.

[Note:  Each of Akiho’s speech bubbles here are in different fonts. This seems to indicate that multiple people are perhaps speaking through her.]

Sakura:  <thinking>  Akiho…chan?

P18 Akiho?? (Voice 3):  Let’s (put) this child’s power into this vessel too.

[Note:  The verb is left off, so it could be “Let’s put/absorb/take/etc…]

<Something tries to absorb Sakura’s power into Akiho>

P19 Sakura:  “Release!!” Sakura:  “Gale!” <Gale breaks the force around Akiho>

P20 Sakura:  “Fly!” Sakura:  “Mirror!”

P21 <Sakura rescues Akiho>

P22 <The door opens and Sakura & Akiho come crashing through> Kero:  Sakura!

P23 Kero:  Kero-chan, you get outside too! Kero:  Right! <Syaoran and Yue arrive> Syaoran:  Sakura!! Sakura:  Akiho-chan is-!!

P24 & P25 <The atmosphere around them shifts drastically>

P26 Kaito:  So, everyone is here.

P27 Kaito:  You’ve done well. Narration:  The strongest magician – Kaito – (descends).

[Alt:  …appears.]

<To be continued in the December issue of Nakayoshi, on sale in November>

[haro-hawayu]

CCS Clear Card Anime - 21

I knew I could count on the anime to supplement the stuff we got from the manga!

Anime Reviews:  Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 | Episode 9 | Episode 10 | Episode 11 | Episode 12 | Episode 13 | Episode 14 | Episode 15 | Episode 16 | Episode 17 | Episode 18 | Episode 19 | Episode 20 | Episode 21

Manga Reviews:  Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 |  Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Chapter 23

This episode corresponds with chapters 22 and 23 of the manga~

Episode 21 - Sakura, the Mirror, and the Key of Memories

Episode Review: I’m glad that through the anime, we’re able to get all these extra details that weren’t covered in the manga, and once again, we’re getting answers to our burning questions lol. Now, the mystery behind Clow’s mansion has been addressed. So the events of the Sealed Card movie regarding the amusement park replacing Clow’s mansion did happen, but that has then been replaced with the current Shinomoto residence. I also liked that they added the little tidbits of including Yelan’s involvement too (was sad we didn’t get to see-see her, but there is hope). The SyaoSaku Flight scene at the end was just so lovely, and we had that really heart-felt moment with Syaoran’s inner thoughts too. 

With anime, sometimes certain things are sacrificed--be it art, story, and whatnot, but animation really brings life to those scenes. With CCS, watching and hearing words being said helps to give me a better understanding since spoken words have their own nuances to them. I don’t always read from the Japanese RAWs because my reading skills have deteriorated considerably (it’d take be forever to read and process it), so I appreciate hearing what’s being said because it just helps. It’s also nice to hear Kumai’s voicing of Syaoran, she’s so amazing~~~she makes Syaoran so amazing~~

The downside to this episode was that they didn’t give much else about Nadeshiko aside from what’s already mentioned in the manga. One change is that in the manga, it was a watch, but in the anime, they made it into a key. They call it “key of memories” in the title and I was hoping they would give more information about it, but I guess that will be saved for another time (or another season?). I’m wondering what kind of direction this will take since they changed the item---or perhaps it doesn’t make a difference?

Theories (major manga spoilers): Kaito & everything around him (BMS, Clear Cards, Alice in Clockland), Nadeshiko---a little messy on organization cuz everything is bleeding into each other.

1. Kaito & etc.: Nothing new, but I do want to summarize all the information that we’ve been presented with so far so I don’t have to go back and forth looking for things. So: Kaito was once part of the BMS, and a very high ranking magician who has the title of “D” which is a super big deal. A year prior, he was excommunicated because he “lost” an important relic. That in itself is the story that’s being told to outsiders, and from the Li Clan/Yelan’s sources, it’s not that Kaito has lost the relic, he took it with him. However, the BMS hasn’t taken any action to get it back from him for two reasons--one being that he’s too powerful, and two being that they feared Kaito would use the relic (and it’s considered taboo, be it the nature of the magic or the relic itself). The other thing is that Kaito needs these Clear Cards that Sakura has been making with her own powers in order to activate the magic of the relic. Also, we know from his conversations with Momo is that he wants to “stop time” for the Alice in Clockland book (but he doesn’t have enough power to do so), but I need to either check back on my previous theories to rewatch/reread because I thought he wanted things to progress (maybe he was referring to Sakura’s/Akiho’s dreams, I forgot ><). 

I once theorized (and it’s still in the back of my mind) that the dragon that Sakura sees in her dream is Kaito. In this episode, there was a symbol at the back of Kaito’s BMS robe that they kinda focused on (or I just REALLY noticed it this time) and I thought it looked like the pattern around the dragon’s head, but when I checked, it wasn’t THAT similar. I still think of the dragon from time to time though, so there’s still no confirmation of who/what it is, yet, so we’ll see~~ EDIT: OMGSH I just realized why it looked familiar... the symbol is the same shape as Nadeshiko’s key in the manga!!!!! The key in the anime doesn’t look as obviously similar, but there are SOME similarities (this will get it’s own theory section).

2. Nadeshiko: Alright, so Nadeshiko too had the ability to see things that couldn’t be seen, similar to Touya’s abilities. When this information was revealed to us, I had a theory that perhaps there’s something more to the Amamiya family, that they also have some kind of magical lineage. I’m wondering if the Amamiya family’s cursed or perhaps there’s something more to their lineage that affects those who have magical abilities because Nadeshiko died young, and I’m assuming this was probably the same for Nadeshiko’s mother, and grandmother (Masaki’s wife) too. I also just realized that her watch (in the anime it’s a key) has the same shape as the symbol on Kaito’s BMS robe, and it’s so funny that I just noticed it because I did also theorize that perhaps Masaki’s wife was a Shinomoto (and it’s not the Amamiya side of the family with magic). It would make sense as to why Masaki and his wife would bring back something for Nadeshiko that just happens to resemble the symbols on the BMS robe. I mean, it’s definitely not a coincidence that this key/watch (anime vs manga) was from England---even Syaoran’s getting red flag signals from it being mentioned---so it is very very very likely that there’s SOME connectiong between Nadeshiko or her grandmother to the BMS. 

Soo.... just one more episode left and I’m very curious as to how they will wrap this season up with that crazy ending we got in the recent manga chapter... lol.