#lilie (cardcaptor Sakura)

[meimi-haneoka]

I was reading the Eng. version of Clear Card, and I wanted to ask for a clarification. When Nadeshiko surprises Kaito at the Parents' Day and triggers his memories of Lilie, the way the English version worded it, it sounds like he'd forgotten Lilie until Nadeshiko reminded him. ("I called forth memories ... dormant inside you." / "Then... I've met her before." / "She was your friend. A dear friend.") Did he forget about Lilie before joining Akiho, or was Lilie part of his reason for it? Thanks!

Hello anon!!

Thanks for sending this ask, because this is one of those translation mistakes that completely skewed the understanding of that scene for the English readers (or, at the very least, those who didn't come across my post back then), and I'm always available to clarify on it, especially because it concerns Kaito and Lilie.

For everyone else reading this reply, we're talking about chapter 41 of Clear Card.

No, Kaito's memories of Lilie were never "dormant" inside of him. That's entirely an unnecessary word added by the ENG translation that misleads the readers to believe something that wasn't really expressed in the JP text. In the JP text, Nadeshiko merely told him "I called forth the memories inside of you". They weren't neither "dormant" nor "suppressed". And she did that because she wanted to show him that she knew Lilie too. And here we get to the other big mistake that ended up instilling in the English readers the idea that Lilie was for Kaito "a very dear friend", when in the story it's actually never mentioned, not even once, a definition of the relationship between young Kaito and Lilie.

In the JP text, Kaito actually said "You've met her (lit. "that person") before, right?" - this is because Nadeshiko's "trick" was actually successful: thanks to that "vision", he understood that Nadeshiko knew Lilie too. And then.... Nadeshiko: "She's my friend. A very dear one" Of course here Nadeshiko is talking about her own relationship with Lilie. She wouldn't be so arrogant to define for someone else what degree of closeness they had with another person. Kaito never forgot about Lilie (related to your ask, anon: yes, among the storm of feelings inside of Kaito's heart that are driving his wish, I believe there's also a bit of regret for causing grief to the daughter of the only person who treated him like a human being, before Akiho of course), and he certainly didn't need a complete stranger to tell him what she meant to him. This was merely a fancy way for Nadeshiko to show Kaito that she knew Lilie too, and for CLAMP to show us how Lilie and Kaito met back then through a flashback.

I hope I clarified things up, anon!! 💜

[magical-grrrl-mavis]

Friendly note that quite a few magical girl anime that weren’t fucked up grimdark pain-trains have come out in the wake of Modoka.

(list in tags in order of gifs)

[aliceinclockland]

Cardcaptor Magicians and their Ceremonial Clothings

Welcome to Episode one of my random Cardcaptor Blabberings (or blabblecaptor— it's a working tag title), a "series" where I talk about random Cardcaptor things without doing that much deep diving because I hate too much research.

Since I'm notorious for starting things and not being consistent to the point of not even continuing what I started, let's see how this one goes. 😆 I'm also bad at words so wish me luck.

I'd like to start this off by saying 2 things:

this all started because I saw Sakura's pointy hat and got reminded by Kaito's ceremonial robe... then got reminded of Eriol's robe right after.

this isn't a serious analyzation of their outfits, given the reason i wanted to blabber about this is their pointy hats. also I'm more of a Nadeshiko when it comes to fashion: so far from the word 💀

Lastly, take this as a silly post while I try to learn how Tumblr works. I don't want people to use this as a source (or anything similar) because at the end of the day, this is all just silly typings of someone who excels in associating the most random stuff with each other without being able to explain why.

With all of that out of the way, Let's get started!

lold what i said earlier, the moment i saw Sakura's color page in Chapter 74 my mind went straight into Kaito's robe, and when my brain went to remind me of Kaito's ceremonial robe colored page, it immediately went to Eriol, and then started to compare the three, asking myself about their similarities aside from the initial idea of this entire post, the pointy hats.

starting off with the robes, all 3 of them have their attires in the color black. idk why it's like that, but it makes the gold in their clothing shine more i guess 😆

the patterns the clothings have also are (mostly. just in case if there's a part where it's not) symmetrical, visibly seen within the designs on the torso parts (in this case, Eriol & Sakura's chest (?) part, and Yuna D. Kaito's back). I could say it's the magicians' insignia but just in case it's not I'll just say symmetrical symbols 😅

but, surely that's not the only similarities, right?

well, aside from the pointy hats™ and the color scheme & patterns their robes have, I also realized that they're also all powerful magicians~

Eriol is Clow's reincarnation, and according to various Cardcaptor characters, he (Clow) was the most powerful magician to ever exist (but also the most fucked up one as well, i guess.)

Given that Clow's reincarnation were 2 people (he thought he could divide his magical abilities between them), Eriol still (unfortunately) got all of the magic, and most of Clow's memories, literally passing down his title of being the most powerful magician onto Eriol.

This manchild can do lots of things, and his memory of his past life helps him excel in some of everyday skills a "normal child" would struggle with (ie. baking, drawing, sewing, speaking a language, etc). But, no one knows that— not even Sakura until he told her that himself.

also I'd like to point out the fact that despite a lot of his robe's designs were in gold (color, who knows if it's really gold? I don't.), the lining of his outfit is in red.

not sure if Clow's robe is similar (if not the same) or anything but if it is, has his robe been passed down from generations before him? and if so, which side of Clow's family was the robe from?

Yuna D. Kaito is also a powerful magician— in fact, one of (if not the) highest ranks in the Magical Association. (that's the D. in his name— it wasn't his middle name and in fact, Yuna D. Kaito probably isn't his real name) He can do lots of things, but he specializes in Time Magic... which is considered a taboo since you'll get a fucked up alternative world when YOU fucked up using that kind of magic... and also a shorter life-span but let's not delve much into that so this post won't go to the depressing direction 😁

And in regards of his robe, one can argue that the robe isn't really exclusively HIS, since you can see in the picture I've used that there are other people with him wearing the same clothing (assuming it's his clan's) so i suggest burning their headquarters down to ashes to make it YDK's own robe 😆😆

note: a kind friend in the comments pointed out my mistake of associating Yuna D. Kaito and Lilie Shinomoto's clans as one: their clans differ from each other. Yuna D. Kaito's in particular are a congregation of magicians that aren't blood-related and are officially referred to as "Magic Association".

i have no idea what to call his or Lilie's clans yet, but for now I'll refer to those as their respective clans 😅

Now onto the main Protagonist of the series: Sakura Kinomoto. In Tomoyo's words, "The only Cardcaptor in the world"

Started as a girl that had little magic that managed to grew stronger and stronger, then now having one of the abilities Clow had— creating cards (or new magic) on her own.

Though one can argue that she won't be able to do that if Yuna D. Kaito wasn't pulling the strings in the background, keep in mind that Momo said she saw right past Eriol's magic protection [to contain Sakura's magic]. Plus, in the Sakura Arc (where she technically created new cards but under a "template"), Eriol was pulling the strings as well and yet her powers still managed to grow, probably beyond people's expectations.

Her ever-growing power might be hard to control for her, but she's doing her best to utilize it in protecting the ones she cherishes the most.

Now the upcoming argument about Sakura's"ceremonial attire"... well, technically Sakura doesn't have one, and you can't really call that outfit a robe, but most of the details in a ceremonial robe (at least CLAMP's robes) present: the neutral color, the symmetrical design, and the gold lining/design.

I like to consider it her own ceremonial robe— made in a very fitting and unique image of Sakura, that only she will wear.

speaking of different, there are other powerful magicians that doesn't follow the same "ceremonial outfit" pattern so I thought I'd show them too!

here we have the Shinomoto Ceremonial Outfit, worn by the beautiful Akiho Shinomoto in this color page!

sorry about the picture if it's not clean... i tried so hard to find a textless one (same as yuna d. kaito) but unfortunately I couldn't.

now about the details aside from the pointy hat: the neutral color + gold lining & symmetrical detail scheme is there, but the difference with the 1st three and their robe is that the neutral color used with the Shinomotos' were white, as opposed to the first three who used black.

i know you've seen this already but since I'm talking about Lilie here in specifics I'd like to put this here are well: a kind friend in the comments pointed out my mistake of associating Yuna D. Kaito and Lilie Shinomoto's clans as one: their clans differ from each other, and that Lilie's (though only officially referred to as "most ancient magician clan in Europe") clan is blood-related, as opposed to Yuna D. Kaito's.

again, no idea what I'll call their respective clans separately yet, so I'll probably refer to them as their respective clans for now— though i have a few ideas xd

another difference is that the hat may be a bit pointy, but it's not as pointy as the three, and that the hat has three pointy things instead of just one.... okay, maybe not that pointy, but, still pointy 😅

okay that's too many pointy, let's get back on track 😁

the difference is blatantly obvious about this one, and I really can't cross Lilie Shinomoto out from one of the most powerful magicians CCS has ever introduced, since she had strong premonition powers and she was also considered a very powerful magician that's feared within Yuna D. Kaito's Clan. I mean it would take lots of powerful magic to be even able to cross time and dreams for that long just to tell Sakura about the truth in their (now fabricated) timeline?

but i wonder why is their robe different than the others?

we'll get back to that later, if i remember it. 😆

speaking of pointy hats™, you know a magician who doesn't have a pointy hat?

He's none other than Li Clan's next leader and Sakura's most important person, Syaoran Li!

one can never talk about ceremonial outfits without remembering Syaoran's iconic ceremonial outfits! with S because he has two— 1st one (in the pictures) being the original clothing he has, and the 2nd one Tomoyo made for him that was inspired by the one he used to have.

our little wolf is special~ from being Sakura's rival in the Clow Card Arc to being Sakura's most important person? He has learned so much and grew stronger along the way.

now about the details: his clothing doesn't really follow the usual attire pattern: the dominant color of his robe is green, the designs are indeed symmetrical, but the linings are both orange and yellow instead of the usual neutral pallete... his hat also doesn't have a pointy thing on it and instead has a hanging detail on the back.

"what about the attire Tomoyo made for him? it has 2 pointy things!" yeah well you're right, and as much as I gave the effort to add his Clear Card arc ceremonial outfit, I'm realizing now that it's not really an official robe now, is it...

about the clear card ceremonial attire, one can argue the same thing as they thought about Sakura while reading this blabber (if anyone has gotten though this far), "That isn't even a ceremonial ROBE". and you're right, it isn't... since it was Tomoyo's work, inspired from the original one. 😅

so think of it the same way as Sakura— made in the fitting and unique image of Syaoran, that only he could wear.

I guess the main couple of the series have that one as a similarity in regards to this random topic I've thought about. 💚

sooooooo what does this mean? why is his so different than the others?

is he not as powerful as the ones listed?

well. probably.

but he's not entirely powerless— his entire bloodline is directly related to Clow, and in addition, his mother Yelan Li is also a powerful sorceress. So they're powerful.

I mean would the Li Clan even let someone not as powerful as Yelan to be the next in line to lead? Of course not, since being able to have magic and to be able to properly control it are probably some basic requirements to be even considered as a candidate.

But in CCS at the moment, his magic wasn't enough to turn all of the Sakura Cards into those little orbs he kept on his compass. He's even having a hard time converting just one. And if I remember this correctly, he was aided by her mother (by casting the magic he needed in the bears) when he snatched the Sakura Cards from their master.

I'd say he's not as powerful NOW probably because everything happened too fast, and that he didn't have much time to make his magic stronger to get at least within Sakura's power level. Besides, he has lots of potential, and we all know he's a strong one so it's about just a matter of time until he reach his full power.

Now this entire post got me thinking about things as I was typing it.

Mostly they're questions I had to ask, like "okay, now what?" "Why did I do this?" especially because the original plan i had was to only have Eriol, Yuna D. Kaito & Sakura here but I thought I'd be unfair to the Lilie & Akiho, and Syaoran since they both have their own as well...

I really didn't think that one through when I started typing, but the more I think of things to type, the more I asked myself, is the ceremonial clothing an indicator of how powerful you are?

and it's probably a "duh." moment, since the ones who have robes are part of clans AND are also powerful.

(note that Clow was from a union of a European Magician AND an Asian Magician so imo- technically he's still part of BOTH clans, if each of his parents were part of one)

it's probably more of "if you're in an association with lots of other magicians", considering the fact that some of the ceremonial clothings were passed down to the living blood-relative of the family— hence why Sakura doesn't have one and the rest has.

though eriol with that ceremonial outfit can be a bit questionable since he's a reincarnation n stuff, and so far I don't remember ERIOL (capitalized bc I've been linking him to Clow, but I'm talking abt him as JUST him) being part of a clan since he worked independently (as far as I can remember), from what I can recall it was mentioned in the anime that the ceremonial clothing resembled Clow's... correct me if I'm wrong, though.

with the additional input i got from Cinzia (the friend who also pointed out the difference between Akiho's & Yuna D. Kaito's clans),

I also now wonder if the colors used in their robes reflect their intentions? or, since Lilie & Akiho's clan has been around for ages, how long their bloodline has existed?

because if it's the former, then it really won't make sense for Sakura & Eriol (though Eriol is once again, questionable... since his previous body as Clow isn't particularly... good nor he is also evil— at least from my perspective), and the latter makes more sense in general.

another one question i have is the explanation for Meiling's ceremonial clothing? like do they give different styles of ceremonial clothes in the Li Clan based on your gender? your magical abilities? or how closely-related you are to whoever leads the clan? i mean, i know she's an anime-exclusive character but I still want to know because I'm curious...

lastly, i wonder if Nadeshiko has one... since she is also a powerful person (she really doesn't do much sorcery stuff as far as i can remember), though the extent of her magic is unclear like Lilie, it's clear that she's also powerful because she can still do lots of things even after life.

IF you're one of the few people who finished reading this i just want to say thank you, and i hope everything made sense since i am very bad at explaining my thoughts 😭.

I think that's it, my brain is tired now and i want to go back to sleep again so good day to everyone and until next time, if there will ever be a next time 😆

and, cut! 🎬

[xbuster]

[bonescribes]

                            can you see me ?

                                                                                              ( can you see me ? )

⸻ BONESCRIBES : an indie , semi - selective multimuse feat . light field of 999 + muses from CLAMP , yu yu hakusho , && more ! (C)

[lilover131]

I’m working on the analysis for both chapter 73 and 74 right now and should have it done hopefully tomorrow! In the meantime, please enjoy this drawing of Lilie that I did! It felt good to draw something after over a month of not being able to! 

[lucky-1582]

[landofanimes]

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Arc

Countdown to the 16th and final volume!

March 21st, 2024: 11 Days

20: From Volume 12, Chapter 55

19, 18: From Volume 12, Chapter 56

17, 16: From Volume 12, Chapter 58

15: From Volume 13, Chapter 60

14: From Volume 13, Chapter 61

13: From Volume 13, Chapter 62

12: From Volume 13, Chapter 64

11: From Volume 13, Chapter 65

[opinated-user]

Still really fucking weird to me that in Lily's mind, Tomoyo (an 11-year-old) from Cardcaptor Sakura having a crush on her friend makes her "a predatory lesbian!!" ... but in her mind, it's also perfectly reasonable for Bonnie the toddler to already be a lesbian.

Tomoyo in fact doesn't even actually pursue Sakura and values their friendship more, respecting that Sakura has crushes on other characters... Oh wait, there it is. Tomoyo respecting her friends' boundaries. Lily projecting and telling on herself again.

that part was frankly insulting. there are many things to criticize about Sakura Card Captor. tomoyo is literally the last of them. tomoyo basically just has two roles: being the provider of cute outfits so Sakura still can "transform" like any respecting magical girl and be the best friend of Sakura who offers emotional support and company. at the absolute worst you could say that Tomoyo sometimes is too pushy about having Sakura wear the pretty outfits, but that is as far as she ever goes. it does really feel like she's heavily projecting.

[thisbelongsto-nohbodys]

Lily taking her little sister trick or treating (Lily as the Dread Pirate Roberts so she can have her sword, and Maddi as Cardcaptor Sakura because obviously Marcy is going to make her daughter cute anime girl cosplays)

[meimi-haneoka]

Do you know where Cosmos flowers get their peculiar name from?

Yes, it's a reference to the other type of cosmos...

Spanish priests found this flower in Mexico and were struck by their beautiful & orderly arranged petals, reminding them of the beauty found in the order of the cosmos.

...And of course, I can't help but think about the reason why Lilie named her daughter like that.

The most obvious reason is of course the meaning that the name takes when written in Japanese. 秋桜, a "cherry blossom of autumn".

As to indicate the inevitability of Akiho and Sakura's meeting, the power of hitsuzen, and how much they would influence each other's lives, as each other's counterparts. Spring and Autumn. Similar warmth, and yet distinct.

Lilie of course knew all of this, so she didn't miss the chance to name her daughter after the most distinctive flower in autumn. (Curious fact, Akiho is born on September 18th, when technically in the northern hemisphere it's still summer for 3/4 days! But going by meteorological seasons it's already autumn)

And yet, I also want to think that Lilie chose that name for its intrinsic meaning too.

I'm pretty sure that the moment Lilie saw her, she knew the baby girl would've never developed any magical power. Lilie was that powerful, she certainly knew. She might have already known from her foretelling dreams, although I'm not inclined to follow this theory.

So I like to think that she, actually both her parents wanted to bestow on her a name that could tell her in every moment of her life "you are beautiful and perfect as you are, to us. Everything in you is orderly and exactly as it's meant to be", exactly like the universe and the flowers that were named after it.

Cosmos are also resilient flowers that can grow beautifully everywhere, in most conditions with little care and little water. They grow very tall and if you cut the spent flowers they re-bloom stronger than before. The only thing that can kill them is frost. And I can't help but associate it with the ice cold brought by the loss of the most important person, indicated in the story itself with the final part set in winter. (Clamp themselves confirmed that the change of the seasons in Clear Card follow a certain change in the plot itself)

I honestly can't think of a more perfect flower for Akiho.✨🌼

(top images courtesy of ポムの蒼。@ pomu_iyashi on Twitter)

[thewickedlorchqueen]

Given Lily's pattern of hating works made by women creators (SU, FMA, TOH, Dungeon Meshi kinda) I wouldn't be surprised if she hates on Witch Hat Atelier, which was written by a woman, once the anime comes out. The creator is friends with Dana Terrace and the manga advocates against voyeurism and sexual abuse, which is probably reason enough for her to hate it.

Also, I wonder what she thinks of Rumiko Takahashi? I bet she hates Ranma with a burning passion for its admittedly outdated portrayal of gender. She'd probably group it with Rocky Horror and RuPaul. I think I remember she said she liked Cardcaptor Sakura once, which was made by four women, but called Tomoyo a creepy lesbian for her constant filming of Sakura. Then again I bet she secretly gets off to it because they're cousins and underage. It's performative, just like her hatred of Elsanna and Andy and Leyley.

Not gonna lie, I have no idea when it comes to Lily. I truly think it depends on how popular the show gets, but yeah I can see her finding something nitpicky to complain about. I will have to check it out it looks good!

As for Rumiko Takahashi, yeah she probably hates her, I mean a popular Japanese manga artist that has not only written four popular manga (Ranma, Inuyasha, Urusei yatsura, maison Ikkoku) all aimed at women with her attempts at gender being outdated (but to be fair she wrote Ranma in the nineties? when even her fav sitcom friends had the same level of questionable takes. I love friends but Chandlers parents), and is well beloved in the anime community? Wouldn't be surprised if she tries to pull another Rebecca Sugar.

Yeah I say that as well and like Lily, the same person that will have one sister wrap her arm around another, cuddling her in the moonlight while listening to the radio and gives her sister a kiss on the cheek, for a valentines day special,

OG post https://www.tumblr.com/lilyvalerieorchard/758382305961181184/rise-my-minions-we-have-another-post-to-report?source=share

is going to say a elementary school girl filming her best friend fight bad guys is predatory? K

[best-yandere-tournament]

Propaganda:

Karuto and Lily; I say zombifying your best friend and crush so the two of you can stay together forever is fucked up.

Rika Sasaki and Yoshiyuki Terada: Unfortunately this is a canon ship. Rika's an elementary school girl (so like, 10), while Mr. Terada is her class's teacher, who appears to be in his twenties at least. They apparently got together sometime before the series even started, and have secretly promised to marry each other once Rika is of age. Sakura, who is one of Rika's friends and classmates, knows that Rika has an older boyfriend and speculates that that might be why Rika's so "mature". This relationship is treated as being as sweet and wholesome and pure and loving as any of the other romantic relationships during the series, being basically considered true love.

[irkimatsu]

picked ten characters that make my brain go eeee. Tried to keep it to one character per series, though Hazbin and Helluva are different shows made by different studios so they totally count as separate and so there

tagged by @nerochinchin, you can do it if you want

[rules-have-been-broken]

Magical Girl Anime Rec’s

I figured since my first mahou shoujo recommendation list still gets notes from time to time, I’d make a new version since I’ve found a much wider/better assortment. ⌒°ʚ(ෆ❛ั ᴗ ❛ัʃƪ)ɞ♡°⌒

madoka magica series* [pmmm, rebellion, magia record]

tokyo mew mew new / original

sailor moon [literally any of the series/movies]

magical girl site*

magical girl raising project*

granbelm

katana maidens

precure

Honourable mentions:

little witch academy

daybreak illusion

[gif limit]

wonder egg priority*

beyond the boundary* (sorta)

assault lily bouquet

cardcaptor sakura

mahou shoujo magical destroyers**

starred* for the dark mahou shoujo fans

**bruh idk even know how to describe. proceed w research

[lilover131]

Clear Card Chapter 72 Analysis

Sorry for the delay y’all! Still dealing with some real life stuff, but I’m in a much better place emotionally! I’ll try to make sure I’m not so late next month!

In this chapter, not a lot actually physically happened, but we DID get answers, some of which I’m not sure how I feel about. Enjoy my “gif of the month” above (trademark from Cinzia. Hahahaha) and my thoughts below under the cut! I apologize again in advance for the crappy red page screenshots from youtube. I currently have no way to get good quality English scans, so this is how it’s gotta be for now! 

The color spread is GORGEOUS as always, but has a rather lonely and somber feeling to it. Sakura has an expression like she is empty and missing something, and maybe the ‘jewels’ in front of her represent the memories she has lost as a result of the timeline change. Beautiful, sparkling memories, and she absentmindedly reaches towards one with such a gentle looking cradle. The crystal she reaches for reminds me quite a bit actually of the crystals that actually showed memories in Clockland. I could be overthinking it, but honestly when you’ve read CLAMP mangas as long as I have, you find yourself doing it a lot. Hahahaha.

 The chapter itself starts off with Lilie and Sakura meeting in the dream world, right where we left off in the last chapter. Sakura remarks about how Lilie looks just like Akiho, and Lilie seems overjoyed by this. But of course she would be, she’s her mother! However, the tone shifts not long after when Sakura asks her if she knows Akiho, and the look on Lilie’s face is so painful. She’s clearly saddened to never know her own daughter, and to know in this timeline that she’s not even her daughter at all anymore must be heartwrenching. To make matters worse, this version of Lilie is still only a child, so it must have been so difficult for her growing up just knowing everything that would happen after. She probably had to grow up faster than most children, and especially with so much pressure from her clan on top of things!

Lilie explains that she had tried many times before to talk with Sakura directly, but she seemed to get mixed up in her premonitions instead and was unable to say anything. Flashes of dreams Sakura has had in the past show, such as the beginning where her key was being pulled, the dream with the dragon, and all of these were apparently intended to never have a cloaked figure at all. Every dream with a Cloaked Figure appearance was literally just Lilie trying to talk to Sakura. LOL. 

 We then finally get an answer to a big question, and that is regarding the Cloaked Figure Syaoran. Turns out Sakura was having a dream of Kaito pretending to be Syaoran, and Lilie got mixed up in this one too, so it blended together to make what we saw as Cloaked Figure Syaoran. I’m glad we have answers, but I’m also somewhat…frustrated? It feels awfully anticlimactic in the end and turned out to be a Lilie oopsie, but I’m also frustrated cuz’ I made like a BAJILLION THEORIES ABOUT THIS AND ALL OF THEM ARE WROOOONNGGGGG!!!! -huffs- I give up. Clearly trying to theorize about CLAMP series is futile and they will always, always trick you.

 -deep breath-

 I was kinda hoping for a slight Syaoran brainwashing for funsies and drama, but alas it seems that is not the sort of story CLAMP is going for, and that is all right. I have seen plenty of amazing Syaoran moments in Clear Card (WHICH WE GET TO SEE ANIMATED NOOOWW), so I really can’t complain.

 Lilie also clears up another question we’ve had by stating the cards Sakura made in the previous timeline no longer exist, but her connection to the Sakura cards are stronger than ever. She also mentions that the power of the forbidden magic can only rewrite history so far back and cannot go beyond the time the caster was born (aka Kaito). Because of this, there are parts of Lilie’s past he could not rewrite due to her being older than him. This is also why Lilie is reaching out to her at this age, since this is a time before Kaito is born and could not be touched by the magic.

 She tells Sakura that she has a message for her, and when asked if she’s able to see the future, she advises that she can, and even the future beyond her death. Sakura, being the caring person she is, seems worried about her. Surely she’s heard stories from Eriol about how tough it was for Clow to always see the future, and he never wanted that for Sakura. She asks Lilie if it hurts to always know what is to come, and Lilie, although seeming sad about it, has a absolutely beautiful response. “The things I can do…and the things I can’t…make me the person I am”.

 Honestly, what a wonderful thing to say. I feel like this can really be taken to heart for nearly all situations in life. You are you. Do what you can, and don’t distress over what you cannot. You are still you, and these are all pieces of the puzzle that makes you.

 Lilie then gets to brass tax and tells her exactly what she needs to hear. She tells her straight up that her memories and life have been rewritten. Sakura is obviously very surprised by this, and Lilie goes on to state that Kaito even mislead Momo into thinking his intention was to swap Sakura and Akiho (now I feel much less bad for thinking the same, considering even Momo was fooled, but it also confirms that this is exactly what CLAMP wanted us to believe). He deceived Momo so she would not know his true intention was to take on the artifact himself, because clearly she would’ve absolutely smacked the shit out of him and talked him out of it. Because Momo believed he intended to switch the girls, she tried to give hints to his ‘motives’, but because she too was deceived, she was off the mark in her warnings. Lilie even calls him an idiot basically in a whisper, and I just find this hilarious. He’s just going to be marked ‘idiot’ for eternity. But one thing Momo said still reigns true even though she was wrong about his intentions, and that is the question of “What is Happiness to you?”. Lilie tells her that her answer and the ‘other Alice by her side’, are one in the same. And we all know very well what this is about. Obviously happiness to Sakura and Akiho is to have the ones they love by their side, and dammit that includes Kaito!! Lilie confirms this by stating that what happiness could there possibly be in a world where the people you hold dear are gone (I’M LOOKING AT YOU KAITO).

 It's at this moment that the dream starts to break, and Lilie advises that she likely will not remember the conversation they had after she wakes due to the forbidden magic being able to reach her, however Lilie is safe due to existing in a time it cannot touch. Before Sakura is kicked out of the dream, Lilie tells her she believes in her, and goes on to elaborate the both of them, which includes Akiho.

 With that, Sakura wakes up in Syaoran’s arms, and he is clearly very worried about her. But one very interesting and telling thing is how Syaoran responds to her here. Sakura says “huh..?” and he says “Don’t you ‘huh’ me!”, which very much reminds me of the somewhat snarky Syaoran we knew and loved from the original series. 

Cinzia very graciously confirmed that the Japanese speech isn’t much different here, and that it has the same tone. So what this tells me is that Syaoran never actually changed at all. The version we have seen of him in Clear Card so far was him essentially constantly worried and trying his best to protect Sakura. But in this timeline, where none of this has happened, he is far more at ease and can be his true self, like Yue once spoke of. He mentioned Syaoran was always honest in his feelings and how he expressed them, and he has been hiding that. This is a flash of Syaoran’s true real self!! So to all the people who said they didn’t like Syaoran the way he is now and how he’s changed, I leave you with this.

 Sakura says she had a dream about someone who looked like Akiho, and even Syaoran teases her a bit and says something about a “sister complex”, and honestly I find that really funny. Syaoran legit thinks Sakura is just dreaming about her own twin sister. Hahahaha. But he quickly realizes this is different and that she might’ve had a premonition. Sakura states she can’t remember, but she  does remember that whatever it was that was said to her was important, not just for her, but for everyone. She seems determined, so I’m sure she’ll figure it out.

 The chapter ends there, and I think in the next chapter, it will likely have a lot more Akiho, perhaps something to do with the watch she’s been left by Kaito, and I think this will help trigger Sakura breaking through the forbidden magic. What happens from there, I have no idea…but it should be fun!

 Until next time!