Watch Durkoala explore the Magical Girl Genre! Part 1: Card Captor Sakura

[Reddish Mage]

Right. Thread resurrection, take two!
Really hoping this falls inside the necro limit.


EPISODE 25: Two Sakuras

Spoiler: I'm really sorry this took so long

Show

Episode 25

Today we open with Sakura finishing her shopping in a little grocery store. For some reason, she’s wearing a red hat with bunny ears, which is very strange. I think Tomoyo’s had a hand in this. She pauses outside the shop before walking out of frame. Then she comes back a moment later to look at something in the window.

Title card! Two Sakuras. OK, maybe Sakura didn’t come back to the shop and it was Sukura, her mysterious twin.

Sakura finds that Yuki’s at her home when she gets back. He’s cutting Toya’s hair, apparently because Toya’s trying to save money. Somewhere, thousands of yaoi fans are cheering.

Right here, though, Sakura throws a private anime tantrum because She isn’t under the scissors. *Somehow*, Yuki picks up on this desire and offers to do her next. So, we have a (probable) powerful wizard, the main character and hair is often used to make spells centred on a single person... This is looking very bad. And he’s got Toya’s hair as well, who may be more powerful than Sakura.

Yuki does ask if she would rather go to a proper hairdresser, but Sakura would have to held at gunpoint before she considered missing out on an opportunity to be with Yukito. Toya also reminds them that they’ll be cleaning up the house before Sakura goes into her own private universe filled with roses and petals and looking a lot like other anime universes when a character is in an infatuated stupor.

And we change the scene. Now we’re looking out into the street through a bridal shop window, with the camera framed by two wedding dresses. Shaoran and Meilin are walking past and of course Meilin stops to look at the dresses. Shaoran keeps on going and she has to run after him.

She catches up to find that he’s stopped to look at Sakura, who’s knocking over a stand of plush penguins. They chase after her for a bit, but stop in front of the wedding shop. Meilin wonders why Sakura’s gone delinquent, but Shaoran is just looking at her; He can probably sense that she’s a Card.

‘Sakura’ stops in front of another shop, with two globes in the window. Inside, Chiharu and Naoko walk into view. ‘Sakura’ pulls a big cattish smile, quickly runs into the shop, overturns a bookshelf, picks up one of the globes and throws it into the ceiling as she runs out. Chiharu and Naoko are understandably utterly undone by this behaviour. OK, they stand there in shock and watch Not-Sakura make her escape. The Card’s actual name is probably Twin or Clone or Double or Mirror, I’m guessing. There’s actually a lot of ways you can describe the power of duplication, come to think of it. Doppelganger is an obvious choice, but I think it’s a little too long to fit on a Card.

And we’re with Kerbie now, who is sitting in Sakura’s room playing video games, as usual. Sakura bursts in through the door and looks at her new haircut. When she asks Kerbie for his opinion, he tells it like it is: she hasn’t changed a bit. When Toya calls for Sakura to come and help and she rushes off, Kerbie comments that he doesn’t understand girls in love.
As Sakura does ... something with the carpet and a roller (I think that she’s cleaning the fluff out of it), Yuki takes the opportunity to compliment her on her cleaning skills. Toya naturally says that Sakura’s not normally good at cleaning and often breaking things (all together now: like a monster), then he dodges Sakura’s attempt to kick him so she stubs her toe. I don’t usually advocate injury to Sakura, but since she’s distracted from Yukito’s manipulation now, good job, Toya. Or not, since she offers to help cook with Yuki immediately after.

While Sakura and Yuki cause chaos in the kitchen, Not-Sakura, who I now dub Arukas on account of being a reflection of Sakura, runs past on the road outside. Toya does a double-take as he can clearly hear Sakura in the kitchen, but then something falls over and he closes the curtains.

Next morning, Sakura meets Tomoyo outside the school and starts telling her all about her great time yesterday and complaining about Kerbie saying that her hair looks the same. Tomoyo says that she watches Sakura enough to be able to tell when she cuts her toenails. I’m going to ignore that, because yikes.

In the classroom, Naoko, Chiharu and Rika apprehensively greet Sakura. They’re reluctant to talk about Arukas’s actions, and Sakura has no idea why they’re all upset. Then Meilin marches up behind her and starts telling her off for knocking over the penguins. She calls on Shaoran to back her up, but he’s doing his usual death glare, which probably counts. Chiharu asks Sakura if she was at the stationary store the day before, and is very relieved (along with her friends) when Sakura denies it. Meilin isn’t happy with this easy acquittal, but Shaoran doesn’t acknowledge her, so she gives up. Also, Shaoran seems to have got taller: he’s looking down on Meilin and Sakura, and we have a bit where Sakura is fixed by his glare and she’s clearly looking up, and up.

Disappointingly, after communicating with glare code for Sakura to wait in the hall, Shaoran’s advice is just ‘be careful’. No intel on the Card, no hint that anything magic’s happening, just telling her to be careful. Worst mentor ever!!

And we cut to PE. Sakura’s so busy wondering about Shaoran’s terrible warning, she clocks herself on the head with the baton again. It’s as the lesson ends and the class starts to head back, that Sakura’s friends start to talk about Arukas. After the usual “fact” about there being two people in the world who look exactly like you, Naoko starts telling Sakura about doppelgangers and how if you see one it means that you’re going to die soon. Arukas is actually Sakura’s godmother, escaped from magic prison and checking up on her goddaughter while planning to murder somebody!

We cut to Arukas doing things like messing up hedges and demolishing Sandcastles. She runs into Chiharu and Naoko, then runs off and they chase after her. OK, it must be the end of school now, as they’re all in their school uniforms. Come to think of it, Arukas has always had the same clothes on that Sakura does; she also lost the rabbit hat at about the same time Sakura did.

Sakura and Tomoyo are sitting on a bench with ice cream while Sakura frets about the Grim doppelganger. Tomoyo calmly tells her that it’s just a myth, but Sakura is less than convinced. Just then, Arukas runs across the road a little distance away and aims a smile at Sakura. Sakura goes into a panic and clings onto Tomoyo, which is where Chiharu and Naoko find her. While they initially think that Sakura is the Sakura they’ve been chasing, Tomoyo tells them that she’s been here the whole time. The would-be investigators are confused that Arukas was wearing their school uniform, making Sakura privately realise they’re talking about her double she just saw cross the street. Between this and Shaoran’s useless warning, it’s safe to say that the Director of Character Intelligence was not in the building.

Finally, talk-to-Kerbie time! Maybe we’ll get some answers now. As an aside, I like the way the ‘camera’ is positioned: Kerbie sits on Sakura’s desk and we can see Sakura’s face in the table mirror beside him. Naturally, Sakura is afraid that Arukas’s antics are going to ruin her and that seeing a doppelganger means she’s marked for death. Kerbie actually implies that doppelgangers are a real occurrence, but doesn’t think that Arukas is one because Sakura didn’t feel any forebodings. Sakura finally brings up the idea that her double is the work of a Clow Card. Really, girl, have you met anything that wasn’t a Clow Card? Your mother’s spirit doesn’t count because you didn’t actually meet her.

Apparently, the Clow Cards can be used for fortune-telling, which makes sense since they’re based on the Tarot cards. Still, it does seem to be a bit late to be introducing this useful application: the last magic skill Sakura was working on was the sixth sense and she pretty much mastered that a few episodes ago.

Right, fortune-telling time. Start at a desk, with the Cards in a deck and the book at hand. Shuffle the cards with your left hand, then cut the deck into three, again with the left hand. Put them back together in any order, then draw ten cards and place them in a diamond pattern. Close your eyes, recite the incantation, miss the special effects because you have your eyes closed, then open your eyes and turn over the card at the top of the diamond. I really like this sequence and the way everything is presented so smoothly, with no odd camera angles or nondiegetic tints. It really feels like a subtle intrusion of some power into this normal room. The alternating between the subdued cards on the desk and Sakura’s rather pink room spoils the mood slightly, though.

The revealed Card is the Windy, associated with communication and information. This means that the Cards are aware that Sakura is hunting them down now, which is a pretty big jump in difficulty. Sakura connects the dots and realises that Arukas is a Clow Card that is specifically targeting her, which is actually a bit worrying as I assumed that it was just being a chaotic card.

The three central cards are related to the Arukas Card somehow: they are Shadow, Watery and Illusion. Kerbie skips over these and instructs Sakura to draw the card at the bottom of the deck, which will show what the Card is after. It’s the Flower. So, Arukas could be looking for any of the cast then. Sakura has a brief vision of peach blossoms, which means that Toya is the Card’s actual target. Oh, dear. Actually, this could show us the extent of his powers and knowledge, so bring it on, Arukas!

Presumably, it’s the next morning, and Toya sees the Card walking down the street alone, looking like Sakura in her full uniform. He cycles up to it, and is a bit unnerved when it just smiles emptily at him, which is very understandable.

My mistake, it’s still the same evening, as we cut to Sakura running out of the house to find Toya. Kerbie notes that Sakura’s sensing abilities have got much stronger as she’s able to home in on Toya. Also, it looks like the Card doesn’t have to copy Sakura’s current clothes: it’s in the school uniform and hat, whereas she’s in her pink and yellow dress.

The Card can talk! I think that’s the first Card we’ve see that’s tried to communicate in some way. It asks him to follow it down some stairs as Sakura finds his abandoned bike by another flight of stairs. I think we’re near to the forest and cliff where we saw the Illusion.

The Card has Toya hunting around in the bushes for something, leading him further into the woods. Something invisible hurts his wrist, but he doesn’t say anything. Sakura is hot on their trail, when suddenly she loses the signal, saying that while she can’t sense the card, she can sense but not see a lot of people. Kerberos cuts himself off saying that they’re ghosts blocking the Card’s presence, and just says that the Card is awakening bad stuff.

Toya is confused and suspicious, but isn’t suspicious enough and suddenly falls down a hole. I hope it’s just a hole, and not a cliff edge.

Appropriately, Sakura is curled up with no idea what to do. Kerbie flies around cursing his powerlessness, but stops when he sees that Sakura is crying. ‘What if something happens to onii-chan?’ Oh, Sakura...

Hooray! The Spoiler of All Good Things is here, and he’s brought his compass! That Card is a very Good Thing, Shaoran, so make sure it’s spoiled properly. He asks Sakura why she’s curled up, and she tearfully begs him to use the compass. Not the cute puppy eyes begging, the shouty desperate kind; I need to turn the volume down.

The good news is that Toya hasn’t fallen off the cliff that the Illusion nearly lured Sakura off of. The bad news is that he’s fallen off a different cliff... somehow, as there were trees all over the place when we were with him before. He clings to the edge with one hand, the Card standing over him. Then the cliffside crumbles and he falls. Well, that fall looked survivable, if very nasty...

Back with Sakura, Shaoran and Kerbie, the compass points out the direction of the Card. Sakura immediately takes off and the boys hurry after her. Does Kerbie count as a boy? He certainly acts like it.

Toya’s alive, but he’s not in good shape. The Card slowly walks up to him at the bottom of the cliff. He tells her that he’ll help her find what she’s lost... as long as she stops pretending to be Sakura. Oooh....

So much good stuff here. Toya’s intent on helping the Card, but he thinks that it’s a ghost looking for a lost possession and doesn’t realise that it’s goal is to harm him. He tells it to stop looking like Sakura because he doesn’t want to see his sister as a ghost and that he knew it wasn’t Sakura shortly after he looked at it closely. The Card shows that it’s capable of having an actual conversation and is moved by his compassion. When he tells it to go home (as in, to the afterlife), it starts quietly crying, seemingly at a loss for what to do. Then Toya slumps over.

Sakura chases after the compass line, following it to the cliff edge before pulling out the Fly Card without hesitation and following it down. She checks on Toya, then turns to the Card when Kerbie tells her he’s just unconscious. Arukas just stands there, crying gently. Sakura moves to seal it, but the Windy passes right through it. At Kerberos’s advice she tries the Watery, but that’s just as ineffective. This is a Special Card, Shaoran explains, it can’t be caught with other cards, but must instead be bound by calling its name. As Sakura tries to think, the Card glances shamefully at Toya. Seeing that the Card isn’t being aggressive, Sakura walks towards it against Shaoran’s advice. The Card addresses her as the little sister, and Sakura hotly say that it hurt Toya, making it hang its head. As Sakura tries to think of its name, she notices that the Card is mimicking her movements... oh.

I really want to express what’s happening here. This isn’t a reflex or something on the Card’s part. It’s only following her a second after she moves, and it isn’t copying her expressions at all, but has a sad smile with a touch of resignation. It’s actually deliberately giving her hints. Of course, it’s the MIRROR Card. Its true form is a green shrine maiden with mirror in her arms and a purple marking on its forehead. Mirror kisses Toya on the hair, then returns to Sakura to be sealed.

Later, Sakura and Kerbie are talking about the Card in the kitchen while cooking for Toya, but it’s basically recounting the last two paragraphs. Toya is stuck in bed with a cast on his leg, insisting that he can get his own meals. From upstairs. He notices Kerbie riding on Sakura’s shoulder, but she quickly goes to answer the doorbell. She stops at the door to say sorry, but I’m not sure why, unless she thinks that he thinks that she was the Mirror. Or maybe she’s apologising for releasing the Cards and bringing this down on him. Toya is just as confused and wonders if she’s put something in his food.

At the door are Tomoyo (hooray!) and Yukito (boo!). In Toya’s room, he and Yukito have a conversation about how Toya overreaches himself helping “them”. There’s no clue if they’re talking about Cards or ghosts. Also, Toya is feeding his meal to Yukito on his fork. I’m about ready to declare these two as actual boyfriends, but maybe it’s different in Japan?

After a few bright seconds, the Cardcaptors Co meeting in the kitchen takes a darker turn as Sakura worries about other Cards specifically targeting her. She then asks Kerbie about what he meant all that time ago when he said that releasing the Cards would bring a catastrophe. He denies that the world will explode and says that for the right kind of person it may not be a catastrophe at all. Sakura vows to catch all the cards and leaves with tea for the two boys. Kerberos’s smile fades as he watches her walk away and he adds to himself that for some kinds of people, the catastrophe may be worse than the world exploding.

We cut to outside, and the camera zooms down to a woman with long, red hair and sunglasses looking at the house.

There were also a lot of other things in this episode. Sakura apparently still can’t see ghosts even though her powers have advanced dramatically since the start of the series, so either Toya is super powerful or ghost-spotting is more like a talent than a measure of power. There was also the divination with the Cards, which I would like to see more of in the future. And of course the biggest information is that the Cards are now aware of Sakura and some of them are going to go on the offensive. Hopefully the anticipation will be enough for me to resume a proper schedule.

Wow, that is interesting. Makes me wonder about rewatching the show myself from this point.

[A.Shinohara]

Right. Thread resurrection, take two!
Really hoping this falls inside the necro limit.


EPISODE 25: Two Sakuras

Spoiler: I'm really sorry this took so long

Show

Episode 25

Today we open with Sakura finishing her shopping in a little grocery store. For some reason, she’s wearing a red hat with bunny ears, which is very strange. I think Tomoyo’s had a hand in this. She pauses outside the shop before walking out of frame. Then she comes back a moment later to look at something in the window.

Title card! Two Sakuras. OK, maybe Sakura didn’t come back to the shop and it was Sukura, her mysterious twin.

Sakura finds that Yuki’s at her home when she gets back. He’s cutting Toya’s hair, apparently because Toya’s trying to save money. Somewhere, thousands of yaoi fans are cheering.

Right here, though, Sakura throws a private anime tantrum because She isn’t under the scissors. *Somehow*, Yuki picks up on this desire and offers to do her next. So, we have a (probable) powerful wizard, the main character and hair is often used to make spells centred on a single person... This is looking very bad. And he’s got Toya’s hair as well, who may be more powerful than Sakura.

Yuki does ask if she would rather go to a proper hairdresser, but Sakura would have to held at gunpoint before she considered missing out on an opportunity to be with Yukito. Toya also reminds them that they’ll be cleaning up the house before Sakura goes into her own private universe filled with roses and petals and looking a lot like other anime universes when a character is in an infatuated stupor.

And we change the scene. Now we’re looking out into the street through a bridal shop window, with the camera framed by two wedding dresses. Shaoran and Meilin are walking past and of course Meilin stops to look at the dresses. Shaoran keeps on going and she has to run after him.

She catches up to find that he’s stopped to look at Sakura, who’s knocking over a stand of plush penguins. They chase after her for a bit, but stop in front of the wedding shop. Meilin wonders why Sakura’s gone delinquent, but Shaoran is just looking at her; He can probably sense that she’s a Card.

‘Sakura’ stops in front of another shop, with two globes in the window. Inside, Chiharu and Naoko walk into view. ‘Sakura’ pulls a big cattish smile, quickly runs into the shop, overturns a bookshelf, picks up one of the globes and throws it into the ceiling as she runs out. Chiharu and Naoko are understandably utterly undone by this behaviour. OK, they stand there in shock and watch Not-Sakura make her escape. The Card’s actual name is probably Twin or Clone or Double or Mirror, I’m guessing. There’s actually a lot of ways you can describe the power of duplication, come to think of it. Doppelganger is an obvious choice, but I think it’s a little too long to fit on a Card.

And we’re with Kerbie now, who is sitting in Sakura’s room playing video games, as usual. Sakura bursts in through the door and looks at her new haircut. When she asks Kerbie for his opinion, he tells it like it is: she hasn’t changed a bit. When Toya calls for Sakura to come and help and she rushes off, Kerbie comments that he doesn’t understand girls in love.
As Sakura does ... something with the carpet and a roller (I think that she’s cleaning the fluff out of it), Yuki takes the opportunity to compliment her on her cleaning skills. Toya naturally says that Sakura’s not normally good at cleaning and often breaking things (all together now: like a monster), then he dodges Sakura’s attempt to kick him so she stubs her toe. I don’t usually advocate injury to Sakura, but since she’s distracted from Yukito’s manipulation now, good job, Toya. Or not, since she offers to help cook with Yuki immediately after.

While Sakura and Yuki cause chaos in the kitchen, Not-Sakura, who I now dub Arukas on account of being a reflection of Sakura, runs past on the road outside. Toya does a double-take as he can clearly hear Sakura in the kitchen, but then something falls over and he closes the curtains.

Next morning, Sakura meets Tomoyo outside the school and starts telling her all about her great time yesterday and complaining about Kerbie saying that her hair looks the same. Tomoyo says that she watches Sakura enough to be able to tell when she cuts her toenails. I’m going to ignore that, because yikes.

In the classroom, Naoko, Chiharu and Rika apprehensively greet Sakura. They’re reluctant to talk about Arukas’s actions, and Sakura has no idea why they’re all upset. Then Meilin marches up behind her and starts telling her off for knocking over the penguins. She calls on Shaoran to back her up, but he’s doing his usual death glare, which probably counts. Chiharu asks Sakura if she was at the stationary store the day before, and is very relieved (along with her friends) when Sakura denies it. Meilin isn’t happy with this easy acquittal, but Shaoran doesn’t acknowledge her, so she gives up. Also, Shaoran seems to have got taller: he’s looking down on Meilin and Sakura, and we have a bit where Sakura is fixed by his glare and she’s clearly looking up, and up.

Disappointingly, after communicating with glare code for Sakura to wait in the hall, Shaoran’s advice is just ‘be careful’. No intel on the Card, no hint that anything magic’s happening, just telling her to be careful. Worst mentor ever!!

And we cut to PE. Sakura’s so busy wondering about Shaoran’s terrible warning, she clocks herself on the head with the baton again. It’s as the lesson ends and the class starts to head back, that Sakura’s friends start to talk about Arukas. After the usual “fact” about there being two people in the world who look exactly like you, Naoko starts telling Sakura about doppelgangers and how if you see one it means that you’re going to die soon. Arukas is actually Sakura’s godmother, escaped from magic prison and checking up on her goddaughter while planning to murder somebody!

We cut to Arukas doing things like messing up hedges and demolishing Sandcastles. She runs into Chiharu and Naoko, then runs off and they chase after her. OK, it must be the end of school now, as they’re all in their school uniforms. Come to think of it, Arukas has always had the same clothes on that Sakura does; she also lost the rabbit hat at about the same time Sakura did.

Sakura and Tomoyo are sitting on a bench with ice cream while Sakura frets about the Grim doppelganger. Tomoyo calmly tells her that it’s just a myth, but Sakura is less than convinced. Just then, Arukas runs across the road a little distance away and aims a smile at Sakura. Sakura goes into a panic and clings onto Tomoyo, which is where Chiharu and Naoko find her. While they initially think that Sakura is the Sakura they’ve been chasing, Tomoyo tells them that she’s been here the whole time. The would-be investigators are confused that Arukas was wearing their school uniform, making Sakura privately realise they’re talking about her double she just saw cross the street. Between this and Shaoran’s useless warning, it’s safe to say that the Director of Character Intelligence was not in the building.

Finally, talk-to-Kerbie time! Maybe we’ll get some answers now. As an aside, I like the way the ‘camera’ is positioned: Kerbie sits on Sakura’s desk and we can see Sakura’s face in the table mirror beside him. Naturally, Sakura is afraid that Arukas’s antics are going to ruin her and that seeing a doppelganger means she’s marked for death. Kerbie actually implies that doppelgangers are a real occurrence, but doesn’t think that Arukas is one because Sakura didn’t feel any forebodings. Sakura finally brings up the idea that her double is the work of a Clow Card. Really, girl, have you met anything that wasn’t a Clow Card? Your mother’s spirit doesn’t count because you didn’t actually meet her.

Apparently, the Clow Cards can be used for fortune-telling, which makes sense since they’re based on the Tarot cards. Still, it does seem to be a bit late to be introducing this useful application: the last magic skill Sakura was working on was the sixth sense and she pretty much mastered that a few episodes ago.

Right, fortune-telling time. Start at a desk, with the Cards in a deck and the book at hand. Shuffle the cards with your left hand, then cut the deck into three, again with the left hand. Put them back together in any order, then draw ten cards and place them in a diamond pattern. Close your eyes, recite the incantation, miss the special effects because you have your eyes closed, then open your eyes and turn over the card at the top of the diamond. I really like this sequence and the way everything is presented so smoothly, with no odd camera angles or nondiegetic tints. It really feels like a subtle intrusion of some power into this normal room. The alternating between the subdued cards on the desk and Sakura’s rather pink room spoils the mood slightly, though.

The revealed Card is the Windy, associated with communication and information. This means that the Cards are aware that Sakura is hunting them down now, which is a pretty big jump in difficulty. Sakura connects the dots and realises that Arukas is a Clow Card that is specifically targeting her, which is actually a bit worrying as I assumed that it was just being a chaotic card.

The three central cards are related to the Arukas Card somehow: they are Shadow, Watery and Illusion. Kerbie skips over these and instructs Sakura to draw the card at the bottom of the deck, which will show what the Card is after. It’s the Flower. So, Arukas could be looking for any of the cast then. Sakura has a brief vision of peach blossoms, which means that Toya is the Card’s actual target. Oh, dear. Actually, this could show us the extent of his powers and knowledge, so bring it on, Arukas!

Presumably, it’s the next morning, and Toya sees the Card walking down the street alone, looking like Sakura in her full uniform. He cycles up to it, and is a bit unnerved when it just smiles emptily at him, which is very understandable.

My mistake, it’s still the same evening, as we cut to Sakura running out of the house to find Toya. Kerbie notes that Sakura’s sensing abilities have got much stronger as she’s able to home in on Toya. Also, it looks like the Card doesn’t have to copy Sakura’s current clothes: it’s in the school uniform and hat, whereas she’s in her pink and yellow dress.

The Card can talk! I think that’s the first Card we’ve see that’s tried to communicate in some way. It asks him to follow it down some stairs as Sakura finds his abandoned bike by another flight of stairs. I think we’re near to the forest and cliff where we saw the Illusion.

The Card has Toya hunting around in the bushes for something, leading him further into the woods. Something invisible hurts his wrist, but he doesn’t say anything. Sakura is hot on their trail, when suddenly she loses the signal, saying that while she can’t sense the card, she can sense but not see a lot of people. Kerberos cuts himself off saying that they’re ghosts blocking the Card’s presence, and just says that the Card is awakening bad stuff.

Toya is confused and suspicious, but isn’t suspicious enough and suddenly falls down a hole. I hope it’s just a hole, and not a cliff edge.

Appropriately, Sakura is curled up with no idea what to do. Kerbie flies around cursing his powerlessness, but stops when he sees that Sakura is crying. ‘What if something happens to onii-chan?’ Oh, Sakura...

Hooray! The Spoiler of All Good Things is here, and he’s brought his compass! That Card is a very Good Thing, Shaoran, so make sure it’s spoiled properly. He asks Sakura why she’s curled up, and she tearfully begs him to use the compass. Not the cute puppy eyes begging, the shouty desperate kind; I need to turn the volume down.

The good news is that Toya hasn’t fallen off the cliff that the Illusion nearly lured Sakura off of. The bad news is that he’s fallen off a different cliff... somehow, as there were trees all over the place when we were with him before. He clings to the edge with one hand, the Card standing over him. Then the cliffside crumbles and he falls. Well, that fall looked survivable, if very nasty...

Back with Sakura, Shaoran and Kerbie, the compass points out the direction of the Card. Sakura immediately takes off and the boys hurry after her. Does Kerbie count as a boy? He certainly acts like it.

Toya’s alive, but he’s not in good shape. The Card slowly walks up to him at the bottom of the cliff. He tells her that he’ll help her find what she’s lost... as long as she stops pretending to be Sakura. Oooh....

So much good stuff here. Toya’s intent on helping the Card, but he thinks that it’s a ghost looking for a lost possession and doesn’t realise that it’s goal is to harm him. He tells it to stop looking like Sakura because he doesn’t want to see his sister as a ghost and that he knew it wasn’t Sakura shortly after he looked at it closely. The Card shows that it’s capable of having an actual conversation and is moved by his compassion. When he tells it to go home (as in, to the afterlife), it starts quietly crying, seemingly at a loss for what to do. Then Toya slumps over.

Sakura chases after the compass line, following it to the cliff edge before pulling out the Fly Card without hesitation and following it down. She checks on Toya, then turns to the Card when Kerbie tells her he’s just unconscious. Arukas just stands there, crying gently. Sakura moves to seal it, but the Windy passes right through it. At Kerberos’s advice she tries the Watery, but that’s just as ineffective. This is a Special Card, Shaoran explains, it can’t be caught with other cards, but must instead be bound by calling its name. As Sakura tries to think, the Card glances shamefully at Toya. Seeing that the Card isn’t being aggressive, Sakura walks towards it against Shaoran’s advice. The Card addresses her as the little sister, and Sakura hotly say that it hurt Toya, making it hang its head. As Sakura tries to think of its name, she notices that the Card is mimicking her movements... oh.

I really want to express what’s happening here. This isn’t a reflex or something on the Card’s part. It’s only following her a second after she moves, and it isn’t copying her expressions at all, but has a sad smile with a touch of resignation. It’s actually deliberately giving her hints. Of course, it’s the MIRROR Card. Its true form is a green shrine maiden with mirror in her arms and a purple marking on its forehead. Mirror kisses Toya on the hair, then returns to Sakura to be sealed.

Later, Sakura and Kerbie are talking about the Card in the kitchen while cooking for Toya, but it’s basically recounting the last two paragraphs. Toya is stuck in bed with a cast on his leg, insisting that he can get his own meals. From upstairs. He notices Kerbie riding on Sakura’s shoulder, but she quickly goes to answer the doorbell. She stops at the door to say sorry, but I’m not sure why, unless she thinks that he thinks that she was the Mirror. Or maybe she’s apologising for releasing the Cards and bringing this down on him. Toya is just as confused and wonders if she’s put something in his food.

At the door are Tomoyo (hooray!) and Yukito (boo!). In Toya’s room, he and Yukito have a conversation about how Toya overreaches himself helping “them”. There’s no clue if they’re talking about Cards or ghosts. Also, Toya is feeding his meal to Yukito on his fork. I’m about ready to declare these two as actual boyfriends, but maybe it’s different in Japan?

After a few bright seconds, the Cardcaptors Co meeting in the kitchen takes a darker turn as Sakura worries about other Cards specifically targeting her. She then asks Kerbie about what he meant all that time ago when he said that releasing the Cards would bring a catastrophe. He denies that the world will explode and says that for the right kind of person it may not be a catastrophe at all. Sakura vows to catch all the cards and leaves with tea for the two boys. Kerberos’s smile fades as he watches her walk away and he adds to himself that for some kinds of people, the catastrophe may be worse than the world exploding.

We cut to outside, and the camera zooms down to a woman with long, red hair and sunglasses looking at the house.

And that’s it. This was a really good episode. There was more exposition and world-building, some focus on Toya, a Card unlike any seen so far, a feeling that things are going to get nastier soon and a slightly ominous new character, who I will call Sharon until her name is revealed.

I mostly want to talk about Toya, whose presence was an unexpected pleasure. Despite his gruff exterior, he really is Sakura’s brother, willing to help a supernatural creature impersonating his sister even if he got its motives wrong. Given how he treats the Mirror as a ghost, I’m going to say that he’s unaware of the Cards, which I can see getting him into trouble later. Yukito does seem to know what’s going on with the Cards and for some reason he hasn’t told his partner-in-crime about it, which is very interesting.

The Card was also good. It’s only real downside was that it was another humanoid design. It’s easily the most intelligent Card, with a goal in mind, capable of carrying a conversation, regrets it actions, can communicate its name in charades and can empathise with others. It was also really interesting how it didn’t seem to be able to seal itself like the Wood Card, which may be part of being a special card. It clearly wanted to be sealed, as it made no attempt to avoid or block Sakura’s first attempts to seal it and then did its best to help her when she needed its name. I’m not sure about the idea of special cards, but the name of something giving command of it is a well-established fantasy trope. It just coming out of nowhere for this one Card that’s immune to the normal methods of capture is the annoying bit. Overall, though, it was a very entertaining Card that acted very differently to the other Cards we’ve seen.

There were also a lot of other things in this episode. Sakura apparently still can’t see ghosts even though her powers have advanced dramatically since the start of the series, so either Toya is super powerful or ghost-spotting is more like a talent than a measure of power. There was also the divination with the Cards, which I would like to see more of in the future. And of course the biggest information is that the Cards are now aware of Sakura and some of them are going to go on the offensive. Hopefully the anticipation will be enough for me to resume a proper schedule.

Yeah, This episode is actually one of the highlight of the 1st season, including being one of the most beloved episode among CCS fandom as well. Not so surprise at all considering that this episode is based on the manga, which IMO, mostly produce stronger episodes by nature. (the last manga based episodes are 16 - 18, If I remember correctly)

Also I'd like to argue that having one of better episode like this comes at the right time and in the right place too. Given plots go nowhere in the last few eppys which everything seems to slow down, It's nice for audiences to know that the series still has a lot to offer. I also like that almost every characters in the show (aside from Meilin and the dad?) has something to do in this episode, and we get to see other side of characters that we never see before. As you already mentioned Touya and Yukito, I think this chapter portrays Syaoran in a good light as well. We finally start to see that perhaps … he’s not that bad as some of us initially thought. Although maybe rude and cold towards Sakura at times, whenever she got some troubles, he has no hesitation to help her to make sure nothing bad happens.

Your take on Yukito is …. interesting to say at least. I’d rather not to say more due to spoiler. Anyway regarding relationship between Touya and Yukito, hehe, well, unless we live in the Greek or Roman era, feeding to friend in that particular fashion is a bit too much even for bff right?:mallbiggrin:, also remember this scene from episode 14? …

Spoiler: not spoiler anymore after ep.14

Show

I can guarantee that you'd know more about them soon though.

It seems to me that my English language gets crappier and more gibberish lately so I better stop posting now. Also as a fan who doesn't care much about magical stuff, I'd like to leave that issue to other posters. Your writing is very much enjoyable as usual, I have a great time reading it. cheers.

Ps The next episode is all about introduction of 'Sharon' or Mizuki sensei, the only legitimate smoking hot character from ccs, unless anyone is into classic loli or clingy lesbian cousin, that's another matter I suppose.

[Durkoala]

Yeah, This episode is actually one of the highlight of the 1st season, including being one of the most beloved episode among CCS fandom as well. Not so surprise at all considering that this episode is based on the manga, which IMO, mostly produce stronger episodes by nature. (the last manga based episodes are 16 - 18, If I remember correctly)

Also I'd like to argue that having one of better episode like this comes at the right time and in the right place too. Given plots go nowhere in the last few eppys which everything seems to slow down, It's nice for audiences to know that the series still has a lot to offer. I also like that almost every characters in the show (aside from Meilin and the dad?) has something to do in this episode, and we get to see other side of characters that we never see before. As you already mentioned Touya and Yukito, I think this chapter portrays Syaoran in a good light as well. We finally start to see that perhaps … he’s not that bad as some of us initially thought. Although maybe rude and cold towards Sakura at times, whenever she got some troubles, he has no hesitation to help her to make sure nothing bad happens.

Your take on Yukito is …. interesting to say at least. I’d rather not to say more due to spoiler. Anyway regarding relationship between Touya and Yukito, hehe, well, unless we live in the Greek or Roman era, feeding to friend in that particular fashion is a bit too much even for bff right?, also remember this scene from episode 14? …

Spoiler: not spoiler anymore after ep.14

Show

I can guarantee that you'd know more about them soon though.

It seems to me that my English language gets crappier and more gibberish lately so I better stop posting now. Also as a fan who doesn't care much about magical stuff, I'd like to leave that issue to other posters. Your writing is very much enjoyable as usual, I have a great time reading it. cheers.

Ps The next episode is all about introduction of 'Sharon' or Mizuki sensei, the only legitimate smoking hot character from ccs, unless you're into classic loli or clingy lesbian cousin, that's another matter I suppose.

Yes, people replying! It's good to see some of the old gang again, though new faces are just as appreciated. In general, this was a fantastic episode, slightly undercut by the heavy hints about Yuki and Toya, but I'll address that later.

Shaoran has been on Sakura's side pretty much since the Erase episode. If anything, he slid backwards slightly by shouting at Sakura for approaching the Card when she was reading the situation better than he was. It is an understandable reaction, though, given that she was walking towards it with her guard down.

Like you said, this episode is a change in pace compared to the last few, which were just about catching a few stray cards. Now, we have another mysterious stranger, a bit more information about the Cards, the hidden villain having power over two of the heroes and a guarantee that the Cards are stepping up their game to look forward to. The episode itself had focus on Toya beyond being Sakura's mysterious older brother, a threatening Card rather than a mostly harmless prankster and a Card so intelligent that it was arguably a character. A lot of my little assumptions (like the magic people being the sole target of the Cards, Cards being incapable of conversation or self-organisation, Sakura learning to ghost-sense as her powers grew) have been rewritten and I'm looking forward to the coming episodes.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by my take on Yuki. Do you mean my theory that he's Clow or a descendant? That he's the main villian? That he's building up his power over the Kinomoto siblings?

He definitely is trying to manipulate Sakura by feeding her crush on him, and it looks a lot like he's doing the same with Shaoran. This is why I'm a bit wary now that it's been practically confirmed that he's in a relationship (I don't really want to say 'dating' because it feels like it's a bit beyond that; they seem a bit married): Yuki already has two of the series' best mages like putty in his hands, and Toya is much, much closer to him than they are. He's also obviously keeping some things from Toya, like the fact that his little sister has been caught up in a very powerful group of magic artefacts that are now starting to actively target her, so I don't trust him to not try to control Toya. OK, I'm 60% sure that he is controlling Toya.

I am a little confused if Toya and Yuki's relationship is considered a "serious" one. Earlier in the thread, the Tomoyo and Sakura was explained as being something "kiddy" that they are expected to grow out of and move into hetrosexual relationships later in life (and that Tomoyo's mum's lack of doing so points towards her not really growing up), but Yuki and Toya are pretty independent, mature young men, and the "practice romance" was a girls-only thing, iirc, so this would suggest that this isn't a phase that they're expected to grow out of.

Also, the ancient Greeks were a bunch of nihlistic, warlike, culturally bisexual tribes. Very few of their values match up with the modern world. Romans, on the other hand...

Also also, your english is practically perfect. Don't worry so much.

[cobaltstarfire]

It's really hard to answer your most of your queries about Yuki in general because answering them at all is kind of spoilers that you have specifically said you don't want to see.

You'll get a more direct/clearer picture on Yuki and Toya in the finishing half of the series.

[A.Shinohara]

Actually, I did mean your overall theory about him as a character, all I can say at this point is you'll get the clearer picture soon. It's pretty difficult to discuss about him more with no spoiling.

Anyway on 'Touya got manipulated by Yukito' thing. After this episode, we should already get the impression that Touya is kinda a tough cookie, I don't think he could be controlled or manipulated by anyone else that easily.

[Reddish Mage]

I am a little confused if Toya and Yuki's relationship is considered a "serious" one. Earlier in the thread, the Tomoyo and Sakura was explained as being something "kiddy" that they are expected to grow out of and move into hetrosexual relationships later in life (and that Tomoyo's mum's lack of doing so points towards her not really growing up), but Yuki and Toya are pretty independent, mature young men, and the "practice romance" was a girls-only thing, iirc, so this would suggest that this isn't a phase that they're expected to grow out of.

Also, the ancient Greeks were a bunch of nihlistic, warlike, culturally bisexual tribes. Very few of their values match up with the modern world. Romans, on the other hand...

Also also, your english is practically perfect. Don't worry so much.

Like to get more information on those ancient Greeks...I've read first hand accounts of condemnation from Aristotle and Plato...but then I found this which goes into a great amount of detail on Greek writings and its pretty varied....that's all to say about that.

Japanese culturally tend to avoid expressing desire and to stress politeness and good behavior. Cardcaptor reflects how Japanese children actually act a lot better than most anime. I'm not sure how either of that connects up to anything Western, ancient or modern.

[Durkoala]

Still not dead yet!

EPISODE 26: Sakura and the Wonderful Teacher

Spoiler: Not that she does much teaching...

Show

Today opens with Sakura skating in a panic because it’s her turn to cook dinner and she forgot. As she turns a corner, she sees two men carrying a sofa across the footpath in front of her. However, after about five or six months of battling cards, no sofa is going to defeat Sakura and she barely ducks under it and just recovers her balance before a cat runs out and trips her. As she stumbles, a hand catches her and sets her right. It’s the woman from the end of the last episode, who I’ve named Sharon due to the fact that the last person to do the mysterious stranger entrance was Shaoran. Unlike our magical kung-fu kid, she’s dressed in a modern (as in nineties) business suit with sunglasses and long red hair. She’s also got a blue crystal necklace, which is probably her weapon if she’s a sorceress.

There’s a long pause before Sharon removes her sunglasses, revealing orange eyes, and askes if Sakura’s alright. When Sakura answers in the affirmative, Sharon says that she’ll see her tomorrow and walks off.

Title Card! Sakura and the Wonderful Teacher. Well, we know why Sharon knows that they’ll be seeing more of each other. I still think she’s a sorceress.

Sakura and Kerbie talk over why the mysterious woman knows that Sakura will see her later while Sakura does her homework. Sakura is unable to give a better description than ‘she was really pretty!’. She looked exactly like any other woman in this show with a red wig and orange contacts, Sakura. The conversation is interrupted by Toya bringing up a jelly from Fujitaka. He stares at Kerbie for a long time before slowly withdrawing, making the griffin wonder if he’s worked out his nature.

Sakura wakes up late and has to guzzle down her breakfast and skate after Yuki and Toya at top speed. When she finally runs into the classroom, her four friends give her a round of applause for getting away with it: the teacher isn’t here yet. Then he walks up right behind her. Oops.

We don’t get to find out if Sakura got away with it or not because we cut to the teacher making an announcement that their current maths teacher is taking a break and that there will be a substitute. On cue, the door slides open to reveal... a pair of black shoes because we’re doing that teasing anime thing where you don’t get to see what it is yet. Of course, it’s Sharon, properly known as Minazuki-sensei. Apparently she’s very pretty, but she just looks like any other woman seen so far. She does have nice hair though. Shaoran just turns his glare up a few notches.

At break, Sakura and Tomoyo question Shaoran about Sharon. He starts off with the usual unhelpful ‘You didn’t feel it?’ which is annoying because Sakura’s supposed to be halfway decent at this sort of thing by now. Then Meilin interrupts to drag him away to have lunch with her. However, Shaoran seems to have been working on his habit of withholding useful information and tells her that this is a serious conversation about Mizuki, which Meilin takes completely the wrong way. Shaoran resolves this by shoving her back and quickly talking about presences and how Mizuki is very strong and that Sakura should stay away from her. Mizuki tells them that’s not going to be an easy task; she’s suddenly standing next to them!

For some reason, Sakura isn’t fazed by the way Mizuki addresses them all by their full name. Tomoyo isn’t either, but that’s Tomoyo for you. If she’s trying to sound kind and reasonable, she’s definitely failing.

Later, Sakura, Tomoyo, Chiharu, Naoko and Rika are cleaning up after school and talking about Mizuki. It’s the same old guff: she’s pretty and wonderful and Sakura’s new idol who she wants to be when she grows up. Naoko says that Sakura should get a charm from a local shrine, as they apparently grant wishes, especially romantic ones. Meilin jumps in from out of nowhere at this bit, then tries to play it off, claiming that her romance with Shaoran is already perfect. Meilin, do you even... actually, I don’t have the heart. Let her enjoy her delusions for as long as the writers let her.

Tomoyo and Sakura go to the shrine, of course. Obviously, Sakura hopes that this will help her with getting Yuki’s attention, but her daydreams are interrupted by a foreboding feeling. Being a muggle, Tomoyo can’t feel anything and points out the shop where the charms are sold. Her interruption of the interruption of Sakura’s daydream is itself interrupted by the sight of Meilin trying to drag Shaoran to the charm shop. Meiling is very embarrassed by being caught in this position, doesn’t have the time to come up with an excuse before Sakura is asking Shaoran about whether he also felt the feeling.

A gong rings out from the shrine gateposts three times, and suddenly everything’s a swirling green mess and they’re trapped in a maze. I have no idea where things are going now, but this is probably the MAZE Card.

Yep, it’s the Maze card. Shaoran explains the details: it tries to get people lost and the mazes it creates only disappear if you find the exit. Since I’m pretty sure this isn’t going to pull a Harry Potter and be filled with dangerous animals, it looks like we’re going to see how our heroes get along with each other. Well, see how Meilin gets along with the rest. Oh, I’m also guessing that Mizuki is going to rescue them somehow.

The maze turns out to not follow the normal rules of mazes: following one wall just leads you around in a circle, Shaoran’s compass is useless because it only detects cards and everything looks the same. Sakura finally realises that she can fly, but the walls grow to preposterous heights.

Meilin kicks the wall out of frustration. Sakura has an idea. If she can’t fly out, she’ll cut her way out! The maze reforms the cut, then begins distorting before Sakura can try any of the other Cards. It tries to separate them, but Shaoran uses his wind powers to pull Tomoyo back.

And the maze is now an Escher imitation, with stairs and archways leading into each other in all directions. Meilin is stranded sideways and Shaoran finds that the twisted space means that he can’t retrieve her with his magic. They’re going to have to walk to her.

Meanwhile, we cut to the Kinomoto household. It’s eight O’clock, so the men are worrying that Sakura isn’t home yet, especially as the chore board says that she’ll be back early. Toya takes his bike out while Fujitaka waits at home.

The Meilin rescue mission has hit a slight snag in the form of a tunnel. If they go through it, they’ll lose sight of her. Shaoran’s solution is for her to keep calling so they can find her when they leave the tunnel. This is too simple, something’s going to go wrong.

Meilin disappears when they’re halfway through the tunnel. Shaoran is very upset that he’s failed her, but Sakura convinces him to keep looking. Then they hear the three gongs/cymbals again. Either Meilin’s found the exit, or somebody else (Mizuki...) has entered the maze, I suppose?

Yep, it’s bloomin’ Sharon here. She has saved Meilin, though, so I’ll give her thanks for that. Shaoran is less than enthusiastic about Meilin’s hug. Man up, boy. Who needs air in your lungs when you have love?

OK, so that ringing sound was actually of a bell, a bell which Mizuki’s carrying. Apparently her father runs the shrine, but given that she’s apparently really powerful it’s a bit odd that she hasn’t shown up before. And by really powerful, I mean that she’s able to smash through the walls of the maze and stop them from reforming again, which Shaoran is impressed and slightly scared by. Given that Sakura is apparently already in the higher tiers of power in this universe and the maze fixed itself when she attacked it, I’m wondering where Mizuki lies.

On exiting the maze, the whole structure starts to twist. Shaoran tells Sakura to seal it before another Maze is formed, but she’s reluctant to do so in front of Mizuki. The teacher obligingly turns her back and, with some ‘encouragement’ from Meilin, Sakura whips her wand out and gets to work. I should be sorry but I ain’t.

We get a different perspective for the sealing this time, which is nice. However the Card flies to Mizuki because she did all the work here. After a small pause to make me worry, she gives it to Sakura. She probably doesn’t need it herself with her kind of power.

Toya arrives. As Sakura tries to explain in technically truthfully, Mizuki interrupts and asks him not to be too hard on his sister. He’s awestruck by her beauty, which is odd because I thought he was gay. Maybe he’s bisexual, or just being a teenager? Or maybe he’s met her before! That was unexpected, and their relationship is left unexplained as Sakura and Meilin have realised that the charm stall has closed for the day. Mizuki is there to save the day again with some charms that she just happens to have on her. When questioned, she just says she had a hunch. Great, another mind-reader.

As Cardcaptors Inc split up, Shaoran once again warns Sakura to watch out for Mizuki. She asks Toya if he knows her, but her brother doesn’t reply and just stares after the teacher with his usual unreadable scowl as she walks away.

And that’s the episode. This was another good one, with an intriguing new character, a decent Card and lots of interaction between the major characters (minus Kerbie). There’s also the little scene showing that Toya is starting to get closer to Sakura’s adventures, which I look forward to seeing.

Of course, the big thing this week is Faro Mizuki. As you may have guessed, she hit a lot of my Yuki buttons: Enigmatic, adored by the heroes, implied to be extremely powerful, never not in control of the situation, always perfectly nice and smiling and keeping secrets. While she says that she rang the bell as a warning and followed them into the maze to rescue them, there’s nothing to say that she didn’t defeat the card previously and unleash it on Cardcaptors Inc to gain their trust. She’s certainly powerful enough to have no excuse not to have stopped the Maze before it caught somebody, or at least had the area blocked off from the public.
In spite of this, I do trust her more than Yuki, partly because she’s shown more emotional range and partly because she’s been open with the fact that she’s a sorceress instead of taking advantage of people for her own ends. She does raise some questions about the power levels, though. She’s clearly more powerful than Sakura and Shaoran, who haven’t truly overpowered a Card (the Thunder was downed by Shaoran but it wasn’t defeated), but she seems to be weaker than our enigmatic young men. Granted, Toya fighting off one of the strongest Cards barehanded was filler, but Shaoran’s reaction when he met Yukito was fleeing in a blind panic, instead of putting the glare up a few notches as he did here. However, if our heroes are already stronger than the average mage, this puts Mizuki at a really high level, and the boys, possibly, at an even higher one.
Anyway, she’s an intriguing character and I look forward to seeing what happens next with her.

As for this episode’s Card, it was also pretty good. Its powers were the simple, yet effective conjuring of a maze and preventing of any ways of cheating through it. It would have been nice to see how it dealt with some of Sakura’s other powers, such as the Erase, or using the Flower to leave behind a trail. I’m not sure how intelligent or malicious it was: while it did apparently stop Tomoyo from following the walls and upped the difficulty when Sakura tried to break through, it didn’t do much to stop Shaoran from pulling the group back together after it separated them. It also seems not to have a humanoid form, as the card depicts a maze.

I would like to see how Sakura uses it. It could be a useful way to slow down an enemy, or a last resort escape. I think that the best use would be as a way to limit collateral damage by enclosing the fights in the pocket dimension. Also, if there’s no limit to how long it can remain and the caster can overrule its disappearing when the ‘victims’ leave, it could be a useful base of operations. Honestly, though, I don’t expect it to have much screentime.

[cobaltstarfire]

Hmm, I thought certain things were explained more in this episode, but maybe I'm misremembering.

Just keep in mind Sakura's power is only growing. She has a lot of potential, but she doesn't necessarily have a lot of power at this time.

[A.Shinohara]

Let me put it this way, Sakura is not only one on earth who is drooling over Mizuki sensei. I so used to have a crush on her back then too. (and still do). Guys, look at her ...

Spoiler: Clamp art (no spoiler)

Show

What a (smokin hot) lady. Obviously, don't mind to have her as my math teacher at all.

It'd be very interesting to see what would you think of her over the course of the series. Like everyone else, she'd have a part to play in the story. As for me, frankly, can't say that I like her much as a character bar her looks which is so easy on the eyes. Always felt that Clamps and Madhouse should put a bit more thought into creating her character, especially considering the length of the show. She should do more interesting stuff than what she does here. We'll see.

Few thoughts on ep.25

I am a little confused if Toya and Yuki's relationship is considered a "serious" one. Earlier in the thread, the Tomoyo and Sakura was explained as being something "kiddy" that they are expected to grow out of and move into hetrosexual relationships later in life (and that Tomoyo's mum's lack of doing so points towards her not really growing up), but Yuki and Toya are pretty independent, mature young men, and the "practice romance" was a girls-only thing, iirc, so this would suggest that this isn't a phase that they're expected to grow out of.

Given their history, Clamps is quite (in) famous for taking romance of their character pretty seriously (RG Veda, Tokyo Babylon, X 1999 etc.) It'd be quite interesting to see if Tomoyo can actually grow up and get over Sakura so easily when she hits puberty in the next few years after this.
Also, because there is no mention of Tomoyo's dad anymore after this, as if he doesn't exist or something. I always have a personal theory that actually, Sonomi has never been married so Tomoyo is not her own biological daughter but was adopted since very young, that's why Tomoyo has no clue about her own father and no mention of him at all in Daidouji household. Sounds so stupid right?

[cobaltstarfire]

My pet theory has always been that Tomoyo was conceived via artificial insemination. In part because I've always felt Sonomi to be a lesbian. Maybe she isn't and she's just married to her work, but that's just the feeling I've always had.

[BWR]

My pet theory has always been that Tomoyo was conceived via artificial insemination. In part because I've always felt Sonomi to be a lesbian. Maybe she isn't and she's just married to her work, but that's just the feeling I've always had.

The manga we have mentions Tomoyo's father is the head of some big corporation. I figured Sonomi was something like "Lie back and think of England Nadeshiko".

[A.Shinohara]

The manga we have mentions Tomoyo's father is the head of some big corporation. I figured Sonomi was something like "Lie back and think of England Nadeshiko".

I'm just browsing the manga to recheck this. All I can find about Tomoyo's father by now is from volume 2 Ch.8 (Flower card) which he got mentioned just once:

Spoiler: not spoiler.

Show

Sakura "This will be the fist time I meet her mom. That's why it's fun. I haven't heard Tomoyo chans father's story. He didn't die but I don't know what happened. There are a few problems."

Are there any mentions of him left anywhere else in the manga? I haven't read it in so long. Oh gosh, feeling so old right now. Anyway massive thanks for posting this, makes me really want reread the manga again.

[Talya]

I don't really understand how "Magical Girl" is specific enough to comprise a genre. The anime side of it was inspired by the American show "Bewitched," and "girls who use magic" is almost ubiquitous throughout fantasy in all forms.

[Durkoala]

Sorry that this has been taking so long. I've actually seen the episode and written up most of it, but since there's a lot of things to talk about, the wrap up has taken forever. I'm hoping to have it up some time tomorrow, though.

Let me put it this way, Sakura is not only one on earth who is drooling over Mizuki sensei. I so used to have a crush on her back then too. (and still do). Guys, look at her ...

Spoiler: Clamp art (no spoiler)

Show

What a (smokin hot) lady. Obviously, don't mind to have her as my math teacher at all.

It'd be very interesting to see what would you think of her over the course of the series. Like everyone else, she'd have a part to play in the story. As for me, frankly, can't say that I like her much as a character bar her looks which is so easy on the eyes. Always felt that Clamps and Madhouse should put a bit more thought into creating her character, especially considering the length of the show. She should do more interesting stuff than what she does here. We'll see.

Few thoughts on ep.25

Given their history, Clamps is quite (in) famous for taking romance of their character pretty seriously (RG Veda, Tokyo Babylon, X 1999 etc.) It'd be quite interesting to see if Tomoyo can actually grow up and get over Sakura so easily when she hits puberty in the next few years after this.
Also, because there is no mention of Tomoyo's dad anymore after this, as if he doesn't exist or something. I always have a personal theory that actually, Sonomi has never been married so Tomoyo is not her own biological daughter but was adopted since very young, that's why Tomoyo has no clue about her own father and no mention of him at all in Daidouji household. Sounds so stupid right?

Congratulations on your new position of art guy! I hope that your tenure is a long and productive one.

I'm not that sold on Mizuki really. While she does look more exotic and elegant than most other women so far, she's still pretty much the same in the face and body shape, and the way she's always smiling immediately makes me distrust her. You can blame Yukito for that.

As for the 'Tomoyo is adopted' theory, it was brought up earlier in the thread. While it certainly isn't inconceivable, if you'll pardon the pun, they do have the exact same eye colour. I also sort-of prefer the idea that they are mother-daughter, because it means that Tomoyo is getting the chance to do better at her mother's regrets, both in getting another chance with her close friend, and in being able to move past losing love. The downside is that Sakura and Tomoyo are some kind of cousins if this is true, though.

My pet theory has always been that Tomoyo was conceived via artificial insemination. In part because I've always felt Sonomi to be a lesbian. Maybe she isn't and she's just married to her work, but that's just the feeling I've always had.

Given the events of episode 27, I'm not sure that people can only be attracted to one gender in this show. Sonomi is the last person I'd expect to have a child, if it wasn't for the fact that she's got one. I could see Tomoyo being the result of a drunken party aftermath, though. Sonomi seems like the type to enjoy a few nights out when her work is(n't) pressing her too much.

I don't really understand how "Magical Girl" is specific enough to comprise a genre. The anime side of it was inspired by the American show "Bewitched," and "girls who use magic" is almost ubiquitous throughout fantasy in all forms.

To be honest, it's still better defined than steampunk, which leads news fans into a thicket of confusion when they try to find a definition beyond 'Goggles and cogs and coal'. As far as I can see, MG also often involves an urban setting, a coming of age plot, a secret identity or alter-ego and some kind of small creature that is the source of their powers. Despite the name, it's a bit more specific than 'girls with magic'.

[Qwertystop]

To be honest, it's still better defined than steampunk, which leads news fans into a thicket of confusion when they try to find a definition beyond 'Goggles and cogs and coal'. As far as I can see, MG also often involves an urban setting, a coming of age plot, a secret identity or alter-ego and some kind of small creature that is the source of their powers. Despite the name, it's a bit more specific than 'girls with magic'.

Sometimes it's a magic item instead (or, frequently, an item given by a creature).

And frankly, even if it was just "girls with magic," that's still more specific than "fantasy" which is definitely a genre.

[Reddish Mage]

I don't really understand how "Magical Girl" is specific enough to comprise a genre. The anime side of it was inspired by the American show "Bewitched," and "girls who use magic" is almost ubiquitous throughout fantasy in all forms.

Really, I think "Magical Girl" as the genre evolved, has a lot more in common with shows like Cutie Honey and particularly Sailor Moon, than "Bewitched." There was an animation in Japan (I hesitate to call what they had in 50's/60's "anime" simply because plot structure has much more in common with American shows and only in the 70's did anime get really wild) based on Bewitched, but Magical Girl shows today are not at all like Bewitched!

There are now a ton of shows (you can literally take the plastic dvd cases and weigh them) that are called Magical Girl and all follow a pretty set theme - A (usually modern) young (teenaged or preteen) girl is granted magical powers, which she uses to fight evil. In addition, the girl lives a double-life, and she usually has magical friends, a crime fighting team, and/or a (talking!) animal companion

There are additional genre tropes such as magical transformation sequences (usually requiring an object) but the above describes what can be considered in "genre."

I think its relatively straightforward, on the order of the "super sentai" genre, and considerably better defined than say "harem anime."

By my criteria its clear girls like Lum, despite having powers, is not a magical girl. I'm not entirely sure we should classify someone like Louise the Zero and, to be perfectly clear about where I am heading, I think its quite clear that Lina Inverse is not a magical girl.

What we do have is endless numbers of anime that follow the magical girl theme to a T. Cardcaptor Sakura, despite being very early and popular, has a very different tone and is much more lighthearted (and I would say higher quality and more enjoyable to adults/kids and probably less so to teenagers). It is still a magical girl show, however, because it really hits all the bases.

[A.Shinohara]

Really, I think "Magical Girl" as the genre evolved, has a lot more in common with shows like Cutie Honey and particularly Sailor Moon, than "Bewitched." There was an animation in Japan (I hesitate to call what they had in 50's/60's "anime" simply because plot structure has much more in common with American shows and only in the 70's did anime get really wild) based on Bewitched, but Magical Girl shows today are not at all like Bewitched!

There are now a ton of shows (you can literally take the plastic dvd cases and weigh them) that are called Magical Girl and all follow a pretty set theme - A (usually modern) young (teenaged or preteen) girl is granted magical powers, which she uses to fight evil. In addition, the girl lives a double-life, and she usually has magical friends, a crime fighting team, and/or a (talking!) animal companion

There are additional genre tropes such as magical transformation sequences (usually requiring an object) but the above describes what can be considered in "genre."

I think its relatively straightforward, on the order of the "super sentai" genre, and considerably better defined than say "harem anime."

By my criteria its clear girls like Lum, despite having powers, is not a magical girl. I'm not entirely sure we should classify someone like Louise the Zero and, to be perfectly clear about where I am heading, I think its quite clear that Lina Inverse is not a magical girl.

What we do have is endless numbers of anime that follow the magical girl theme to a T. Cardcaptor Sakura, despite being very early and popular, has a very different tone and is much more lighthearted (and I would say higher quality and more enjoyable to adults/kids and probably less so to teenagers). It is still a magical girl show, however, because it really hits all the bases.

very good post, love it. would like to see you post more often on this thread though.

[Durkoala]

Have a compressed wall of text!

EPISODE 27:Sakura and the Shrine of Memories

Spoiler: Episode

Show

Today’s episode opens with the Tokyo tower dream again. You know, the one with Sakura in the pink cape surrounded by cherry blossoms? This time, two things are different. Firstly, Sakura’s in a different costume, with yellow shorts and leggings and a few other pieces, and secondly, there’s a shadowed woman facing her across the gap. It’s pretty clearly Mizuki in a big coat, which flaps very dramatically in the wind, as does her hair. Sakura doesn’t recognise her, and asks who she is as she (Sakura) steps up to the parapet, but before she steps off we cut to...

The Title Card! Sakura and the Shrine of memories. It looks like we’re off to visit Mizuki today.

And Sakura wakes up. After failing to identify the figure in her dream, she checks the time and is surprised to find that it’s only six o’clock. If I were her, I’d just go back to sleep, but I don’t know what time she has to get into school.

Sakura’s head is nearly the same size as her fuku. Also, Kerbie has an adorable little nightcap.

It’s amazing how much difference the music makes to the tone of a scene. The same shots of Sakura skating down the street have been used so much for when she’s in a hurry, but now there’s calm and content music playing, if feels almost serene. Because a new intern wants to animate something different and the Director of Fresh Animation beat the Director of Stock Footage at darts, Sakura turns around and starts skating backwards to enjoy being on time for once. Then she starts flashing back (flashbacking?) to her previous experiences with this dream and realises that it was Mizuki she saw. She slows to a stop and finds herself at the gate of the shrine. It’s a really nice moment, which I am going to spoil by saying that she certainly solved that mystery quickly. I was afraid we’d have to wait through half the episode before Tomoyo found the answer for her.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Mizuki does her silent teleport to surprise Sakura, dressed in her shrine maiden clothes and with her hair tied back. Sakura decides to help her with cleaning the grounds and oh no Yuki’s turned up as well.

As the three of them work, Sakura remembers Shaoran’s warning to be wary of Mizuki. While she acknowledges that she should probably listen to him, she’s too captivated by Mizuki to do so. I have a bad feeling that this was brought up. Maybe Mizuki really is up to no good, which will be a shame.

Mizuki rewards her helpers with some home-grown chestnuts, and Yuki asks Sakura to accompany him to school. I still don’t trust you, Yukito. Remember that As soon as he leaves, Mizuki looks at Sakura sadly, but says it’s nothing, thinking to herself that Sakura will find out soon enough. Sakura is confused.

At school, Sakura is talking about her morning and showing off her reward, but Shaoran is very unhappy. Of course, before he can elaborate, Meilin comes charging in and interrupts the conversation. Sakura offers her some chestnuts and Meilin shows them how to open them while Shaoran scowls in his corner desk. It’s really weird seeing how quickly Meilin has adjusted to the girls after how long it took Shaoran to warm up.

In the evening, it’s Fujitaka’s turn to give out the exposition. Unless Mizuki’s been messing with the entire neighbourhood’s memories, she really did use to live on the shrine, but went away for a time. She used to teach Toya when he was at school, so this isn’t too long ago. When Sakura says that Toya met Mizuki last episode (she doesn’t say how long it’s been though), Fujitaka looks surprised, then has the same expression of sadness that Mizuki had earlier. He asks if Toya said anything to Mizuki, but doesn’t comment further.

We then have a scene with Mizuki standing in the grounds of the shrine by a tree, staring at the moon. The wind picks up and blows leaves in front of it and she smiles. Above the tree, a spinning disc of dark cloud appears, spits out several wads of itself, then fades away. I don’t know what to say to this. Unless you’ve all been trolling me by pretending she’s a good guy, she’s suddenly switched to using some nasty-looking powers.

A helpful clock tells us it’s five to ten as Sakura and Kerbie head out in response to the Card. At the entrance to Tsuminime Shrine, Sakura questions why two cards would appear at the same place in succession. Kerbie hints that he thinks that the mystery teacher is to blame, which is good sense as she is a powerful sorceress who’s just arrived in the area and has wrapped Sakura around her little finger. This does raise the question of why he isn’t suspicious of the impossibly capable and wonderful Yukito, but maybe he’s just tuning out all the times Sakura mentions him. Also, Sakura mentions that she caught the Maze yesterday.

Shaoran appears to have gone Super Saiyan. Oh, it’s just the lighting from his compass, which doesn’t make sense because it glows blue and his hair is now very yellow. He tells Sakura that the Card is a powerful one and, when Sakura asks, that Meilin is doing homework so he left her behind. I do wish that Sakura brought Tomoyo, because she’s usually fun to have around, but Sakura thought it was too late to call her. Are you blind, girl? Tomoyo would walk through Mordor if you needed her help; I don’t think an unexpected night-time trip would put her out. Also, Sakura uses Meilin’s (given!) name, but Shaoran just asks about ‘the girl with the camera’, which is a bit cold given that he’s known her for months now.

Unsurprisingly, the Shrine is dark and quiet at night. Shaoran, Sakura and Kerberos have found the tree where the Card materialised, but they can’t track it any more even with the compass. Kerbie declares he’s tired and wants something to drink, so Sakura gives him her purse so he can find a vending machine, telling him to get something for Shaoran as well. Now that the party’s been split, I expect that the Card’s going to attack very shortly.

Instead, the sorcerers decide to climb the tree for some reason. While Sakura speculates about the Card, Shaoran begins talking about Mizuki. When Sakura is completely trusting of her, Shaoran tells her that powerful magic users are often attracted to each other, which is ... disquieting, and explains a lot about Yuki. Sakura says that Mizuki doesn’t feel scary, but Shaoran replies that scary things don’t always show scary faces.

... Look, I know you’re both ten, but how did you not realise that you both have crushes on Yukito? You’re both constantly blushing when around him and you got into a volleyball match over his affections once.

Sakura talks about how she first fell for Yuki: he transferred to her brother’s school in tenth year, they hit it off and he brought him home and it was love at first sight, which describes both Toya and herself although she clearly doesn’t know about Toya and Yuki’s real relationship. Shaoran says that it was on the day he transferred to the school before shutting up out of embarrassment. Sakura tells him that she’s aware of the age gap, but that neither of them can help the way they feel towards Yukito. Shaoran vigorously shakes his head in denial before jumping from the tree and running away.

Sakura goes to follow him, but the tree suddenly glows and dark tentacles catch her and start to pull her into a portal of shadow. I honestly have no idea what Card this is. I’d guess shadow, but we already have that one.

Kerbie returns, showing off his skills at balancing three drinks while flying. He isn’t good enough to cope with sudden loud noises though, and gets hit on the head when he drops them. He races towards Sakura, but is just in time to see her disappear before Shaoran can reach her. With the Chinese wunderkind in a panic, Kerberos looks towards the moon and declares that this is the RETURN Card.

Sakura awakens in a version of the shrine where everything, including herself, is tinted purple. After remembering what happened, she looks at the tree, but it’s completely whole. Then the moon comes out from behind the clouds, and the tree is revealed as a sakura (possible) in full bossom (which it certainly wasn’t). She sees an approaching figure in the distance, much too tall to be Shaoran, and uses the Jump to hide in the tree branches. To her surprise, it’s Toya. OK, I’m guessing that the Card shows images of the past, and that we’re going to see what’s between Toya and Mizuki.

Toya puts his hand on the tree and tells it that he moved here, so maybe they’ll be able to see each other. Suddenly Mizuki is there, standing a polite distance away. She tells him that he knows what is dwelling inside the tree, and that he sees things that others can’t. He characteristically tells her that he’s used to it. She asks his name and age: he’s in eighth grade. Right, so this is before he met Yuki and he’s clearly meeting Mizuki for the first time. Sakura immediately twigs that she’s in the past, and is confused. I’m confused about what was inside the tree three years ago, because it can’t be the Card, and why Toya looks the same at thirteen as he does at sixteen so I empathise completely.

Kerberos explains the Card’s powers: it sends you into the past, but it costs a huge amount of power to do so. However, the tree is a major part of the shrine and contains a lot of it’s own power, so the Card is probably borrowing that, on top of there being a full moon. He also says it can only send one person back, so I’m not sure what happened to Mizuki.

There’s another vision of Toya and Mizuki, the day after we last saw them. He asks about how she knew he would be in her class, and she replies that it is hard to describe, much like how he would have difficulty explaining how he sees things that most people don’t. He understands and is suspicious when she says that they’ll be good friends. They shake hands, which is a bit more contact than the usual mutual bow.

Kerbie explains that they have to wait until Sakura’s time catches up to their time, which doesn’t make much sense. Maybe he means until one of Sakura’s flashes happens at a time when they’re watching? At Shaoran’s question, he admits that there is another way...

In the past, there’s a festival happening. And Toya and Mizuki are on a date. What?
They stop away from the crowds, and he isn’t happy when she tells him that she’s leaving for overseas studies. She says that she didn’t want him brooding at the end of a year’s relationship; next time they meet they’ll both have somebody else. It’s pretty clear that this is Yuki for Toya, but we don’t know who Mizuki’s partner is. If it’s Sakura, you’re becoming the next Spoiler of All Good Things, Faro.

Sakura can’t hear what Toya and Mizuki are saying, but it’s a sad and touching scene. Mizuki moves away from Toya and admires the moon. She says that it is time for a great catastrophe to befall the world, then turns and smiles at Sakura as a blinding white glow springs up everywhere. ‘I’m sure that...’ she says, but Sakura is pulled away before she can finish and is suddenly in front of Kerbie in the normal world.

Kerberos starts to say that this time Shaoran saved the day, but the Card bursts out of the tree and forms into a huge whirlwind of smoke. Sakura seals it, then sees Shaoran crouched by the tree, and he collapses.

As Sakura helps Shaoran, Kerbie explains that to get her back, the Time had to be used to counter the Return which makes sense except that I thought that the Time was a filler Card and this episode is very heavy on the plot, which is confusing.

Sakura hugs Shaoran out of thanks and he blushes (very) bright pink and goes back into unconsciousness while Sakura starts worrying all over again. I’ll return to this later. Kerbie looks out at the full moon and mutters ‘Yue...’ and the camera cuts back to reveal that Mizuki is watching them all. She has her usual smile, but the music is suddenly full of danger and mystery.

Spoiler: My thoughts

Show

And that’s it. Whoaly smokes, a lot happened here! We get some more world-building, some character history, some future developments brewing and some more questions! What stands out the most is the idea that magic is like emotional gravity, where more power means that you are more attractive, and attracted, to powerful mages. It’s actually pretty frightening how much influence this has over people as Shaoran goes from running in terror to offering presents in the space of hours.

While I liked the Mizuki/Toya story in general, I really don’t like that it’s another example of a relationship between a student and teacher. The age gap is OK-ish (as is the fact that this is lot more reasonable because they don’t immediately get married), but the fact remains that she’s been given authority and responsibility over him, and is compromising this by starting a relationship with him.. This is softened by the fact that their initial bonding is over their supernatural powers and implied isolation from most normal people, unlike Sakura’s parents. That aside, it was a nice and touching piece of backstory for two characters I like (albeit one much more than the other). Fahro’s clairvoyance and the perspective it gives her on how her time with Toya is going to end is rather poignant, as instead of putting their relationship on hold she knows that if she leaves to continue her career they will both find other people before she returns.

Now, it looks pretty likely that we’re going to see Shaoran and Sakura become a couple, as Shaoran’s little moment there is a hint obvious demonstration that he’s interested in Sakura as well as Yuki. Sakura hasn’t shown anything for him beyond her usual goodwill and (initially unwanted) platonic closeness stemming from the fact that he’s the only other kung-fu mage in the area that she knows of, but since she’ll almost certainly be maturing over the story she’s going to have a boyfriend or girlfriend at some point and Shaoran, the stranger who has appeared as a result of the surfacing of her magic, fits this role better than Tomoyo, a lifelong friend who has always been supportive of Sakura and is comfortable fixture in her life. On the other hand, I won’t rule out the possibility that Sakura takes an interest in another character and Shaoran is left pining after two people who are infuriatingly nice to him but don’t return his feelings.
The obvious question here is what will Yuki’s next move be if he loses these two pawns be Meilin’s reaction to this development? The poor girl is going to be heartbroken and will likely revert back to her antagonistic self. She also has no known friends besides Shaoran, Wei and Sakura, so I expect the butler is going to have to do a lot of agony aunting. Beyond that, I really don’t know. While Tomoyo is gracious enough to let Sakura pursue whoever she wishes, Meilin is very possessive and hot-tempered, but doesn’t have the brains to manipulate Shaoran or the power to force him to be with her, and I honestly doubt that she would truly want that (I wouldn’t put it past her to try before coming to a realisation, though). I expect her to move on eventually, but that could be in a week’s time or as part of the final finale where she renounces her place as a villain.
And of course, Kerbie and, especially, Toya are going to oppose this. While I can see Kerbie being persuaded to give Shaoran a chance, Toya is going to be dead against it and I can’t see that changing any time soon.

Anyway, enough about the romances, let’s talk about the Card! The Return was pretty much a plot device here. While it does have an explanation for its existence and will probably make a future appearance, it had no personality or reason for acting as it did. It just appeared to teach Sakura some of the history of Mizuki and Toya, and let us develop and flesh out Sakura and Shaoran a little. That said, I liked its appearances as a creepy cloud and a Tardis-tree, and it had some pretty cool powers as well. Instead of the Christmas Carol rules I initially assumed, where the past cannot be interacted with, it seems like Sakura was actually sent into the past and could have accidently changed it if she had moved from the tree. Naturally, this is a powerful ability with a huge magic cost to balance it out a bit, but I expect it to make at least one reappearance. It would be interesting to see if you have to return to the time when you cast it or if you can just go to a certain point and carry on from there, and also what happens if you change the timeline.
There’s one last puzzle it’s left behind. It’s said that only one person can be returned, but the Card clearly activated when Mizuki was nearby and she doesn’t show again up until the end, which implies that she was caught, but it takes Sakura anyway. Did Mizuki escape it and wait for Sakura to fall into its clutches? Did she defeat it and leave it there to test Sakura or keep the timeline stable because she’d already seen her in the past? Was she commanding it the whole time and deliberately baited Sakura for some reason?

Aside from those questions, there’s plenty more that this episode raised. What was it that drew Toya to the shrine in the first place? It was apparently powerful enough for him to be able to sense it while far enough that he’d never tried to visit until he moved there, and was centred in the tree, which probably rules out it being Mizuki. Kerbie did say that the tree was the focus of the shrine’s considerable power, but that doesn’t give any idea if that’s what Toya felt.

Once again, I’m wondering how much the other characters know, especially Fujitaka. While his initial surprise at hearing that Mizuki has returned could easily be dismay that his son’s old girlfriend is back (imagine how upset Toya must have been after that breakup.), his look of sorrow, identical to Mizuki’s earlier, is less easily placed. Maybe he knows about some of the hidden supernatural things around his family?

Lastly, there’s what Mizuki is up to. That final sequence was very ominous, and it is a bit strange that two Cards have appeared on the shrine, in succession, two days in a row, with her knowledge, that have been a challenge to Sakura. Mizuki clearly has the power to fight Cards head on, but she hasn’t attempted to challenge two fairly dangerous Cards that appeared in her garden and potentially endangered the public. At the moment I’m guessing that she’s actually controlling the Cards she’s personally defeated to test Sakura for some reason. She’s certainly got the power and clairvoyance to easily hunt down and defeat a couple of Cards, but I have no idea what her goals are, except maybe to help train up Sakura for the coming catastrophe. Whatever the answers to these questions, I am very excited to see where this is going to go.

[cobaltstarfire]

... Look, I know you’re both ten, but how did you not realise that you both have crushes on Yukito? You’re both constantly blushing when around him and you got into a volleyball match over his affections once.

Have you met ten year olds? Pre-teens are like the most confused and disoriented little creatures in existence. I think they've always both been somewhat aware though, especially Shaoran who has sometimes acted like a rival for Yuki's attention.

Aside from those questions, there’s plenty more that this episode raised. What was it that drew Toya to the shrine in the first place? It was apparently powerful enough for him to be able to sense it while far enough that he’d never tried to visit until he moved there, and was centred in the tree, which probably rules out it being Mizuki. Kerbie did say that the tree was the focus of the shrine’s considerable power, but that doesn’t give any idea if that’s what Toya felt.

Typically trees like the one at the shrine or other large prominent features of the land are believed to have a huge amount of spiritual power for one reason or another. Either because of something residing within the tree, or haunting it, or because the tree itself is a being itself. You can think of it as a minor god, or a spirit or simply a huge well of power, they are all things that would be attractive to spirits and people in tune with those sorts of things.

[BWR]

I'm just browsing the manga to recheck this. All I can find about Tomoyo's father by now is from volume 2 Ch.8 (Flower card) which he got mentioned just once:

Spoiler: not spoiler.

Show

Sakura "This will be the fist time I meet her mom. That's why it's fun. I haven't heard Tomoyo chans father's story. He didn't die but I don't know what happened. There are a few problems."

Hmmm.
Our manga mentions him in the first volume, during Tomoyo's introduction. It could be a mistranslation, I suppose, and it really reads that her mother is the head of a big corporation. That would fit with what we learn later.

[Durkoala]

Typically trees like the one at the shrine or other large prominent features of the land are believed to have a huge amount of spiritual power for one reason or another. Either because of something residing within the tree, or haunting it, or because the tree itself is a being itself. You can think of it as a minor god, or a spirit or simply a huge well of power, they are all things that would be attractive to spirits and people in tune with those sorts of things.

So the answer is a resouding 'Whatever'? My semi-serious theory was that Yuki or the real Clow Reed was sealed inside like Merlin, but it could have been just about anything, even another Card sent back by the Return. Anyway, thank you for the education. I am wondering if there's a difference between a minor god and a powerful spirit in Japanese tradition?

[cobaltstarfire]

I can't give a concrete answer on that because what little I do know leaves me feeling that the line is an extremely blurry one.

I don't think there is a difference between a god and a powerful spirit in Japanese tradition, but I could be quite wrong with that.

There's also the matter of meaning, there are many different words for all those sorts of beings, "kami" for example doesn't really mean "god" in the same sense as we mean when we say "god" And a god-like being may stop being a god because of something like losing their power or purity.

[Reddish Mage]

There is no distinction. Kami literally means spirit and that is the word is usually translated as "god" or even "God."

[cobaltstarfire]

You can say that kami literally means spirit/god, and you'd be really seriously oversimplifying. Kami encompasses a lot of things, and it isn't just spirits. Nor does it describe a "god" in the western sense, all things can potentially be Kami regardless of divinity or lack thereof.

Most spirits are not described as Kami either, because there are lots of different words to specifically describe a spirit based on its nature. One could argue that they're all kami, just as anything else can be kami, but in many cases it would be a misuse of the word.

[A.Shinohara]

EPISODE 27:Sakura and the Shrine of Memories

What a lengthy post. Yeah, another big episode, a lot happened right here. As said earlier, this show has been such a good run lately.

Sakura’s head is nearly the same size as her fuku. Also, Kerbie has an adorable little nightcap.

This scene is gif worthy. Sakura is so freaking cute. Anyone has a gif on this?

It’s amazing how much difference the music makes to the tone of a scene. The same shots of Sakura skating down the street have been used so much for when she’s in a hurry, but now there’s calm and content music playing, if feels almost serene. Because a new intern wants to animate something different and the Director of Fresh Animation beat the Director of Stock Footage at darts, Sakura turns around and starts skating backwards to enjoy being on time for once. Then she starts flashing back (flashbacking?) to her previous experiences with this dream and realises that it was Mizuki she saw. She slows to a stop and finds herself at the gate of the shrine. It’s a really nice moment, which I am going to spoil by saying that she certainly solved that mystery quickly. I was afraid we’d have to wait through half the episode before Tomoyo found the answer for her.

Can’t say that I’m a die hard fan of score of this show. Still, I like many tracks though. Many are pretty darn good but some do not aged well or sound too 90-ish for my liking. Anyway we could definitely say that ccs music score is good in general.

Shaoran appears to have gone Super Saiyan. Oh, it’s just the lighting from his compass, which doesn’t make sense because it glows blue and his hair is now very yellow. He tells Sakura that the Card is a powerful one and, when Sakura asks, that Meilin is doing homework so he left her behind. I do wish that Sakura brought Tomoyo, because she’s usually fun to have around, but Sakura thought it was too late to call her. Are you blind, girl? Tomoyo would walk through Mordor if you needed her help; I don’t think an unexpected night-time trip would put her out. Also, Sakura uses Meilin’s (given!) name, but Shaoran just asks about ‘the girl with the camera’, which is a bit cold given that he’s known her for months now.

Well, Syaoran just being himself, supposedly. Also, I’m quite sure you might have already noticed that he has rarely called anyone outside his family by name, let alone first name at all. Even with Sakura whom he now seems to be a lot more familiar with than Tomoyo, he rarely calls her ‘Kinomoto’ but keeps calling her ‘you’ instead. Therefore not much really surprised if he doesn’t bother to call Tomoyo by name. They’re not that close yet.... for now.

Sakura talks about how she first fell for Yuki: he transferred to her brother’s school in tenth year, they hit it off and he brought him home and it was love at first sight, which describes both Toya and herself although she clearly doesn’t know about Toya and Yuki’s real relationship. Shaoran says that it was on the day he transferred to the school before shutting up out of embarrassment. Sakura tells him that she’s aware of the age gap, but that neither of them can help the way they feel towards Yukito. Shaoran vigorously shakes his head in denial before jumping from the tree and running away.

They look a bit awkward together without the usual cheerleaders around. If I’m correct this is also probably the first time since Erase Card that these two have a nice and quiet bonding time together. But for the bold above, I think he just simply can’t deal with her cuteness, not due to an embarrassment of having a crush on the same person. In that moment his face looked pretty normal and then getting red suddenly after seeing she was beaming at him. No one can’t resist Sakura’s kawaii, you included, Syaoran.

Spoiler: ep 27 Screen Caps - Syaoran just can't with this.

Show

Sakura hugs Shaoran out of thanks and he blushes (very) bright pink and goes back into unconsciousness while Sakura starts worrying all over again. I’ll return to this later. Kerbie looks out at the full moon and mutters ‘Yue...’ and the camera cuts back to reveal that Mizuki is watching them all. She has her usual smile, but the music is suddenly full of danger and mystery.

You could called this ‘Oh thank god, actually I do like girl" moment. Poor him, has to be the most sexually confused kid on the planet right now. Anyway shipping them together or not, undeniable that they look so adorable together in this scene. It’s like Mad House is trying to make them look cute together right here as much as possible, which they’re very successful in my book.

Spoiler: ep 27 Screen Caps II - Poor Syaoran.

Show

Once again, I’m wondering how much the other characters know, especially Fujitaka. While his initial surprise at hearing that Mizuki has returned could easily be dismay that his son’s old girlfriend is back (imagine how upset Toya must have been after that breakup.), his look of sorrow, identical to Mizuki’s earlier, is less easily placed. Maybe he knows about some of the hidden supernatural things around his family?

Hmmm, I think right now it’s quite obvious that Touya has some sort of magic or sixth sense to see ghost is a well known matter to every member of Kinomoto household but I think Fujitaka does not know about Sakura’s extra activity yet. The more interesting question to me is how well does he know about Touya and Mizuki’s past relationship? Being a nice and understanding father he is, I bet he knows pretty much everything and presumably didn't really object their relationship considering his own past history with Touya and Sakura’s mother. I suppose he couldn’t do anything but trying to be supportive and giving an encouragement to Touya as much as he could.

Speaking of Touya, in these recent episodes he comes across as a lonely person to me. Always get the impression that he’s a quiet and reserved person but with the flash back in this episode this adds a lot of layer to his character. From What I see, he looked a bit melancholy or gloomy in the past. I don’t think he has much a social life outside his own family and spending time with his yaoi buddy Yukito. Maybe losing mother since very young then having a big responsibility to take care little sister not to mention a painful looking break up with the first girlfriend which all of these weren’t easy at all for a normal teen probably have a lot of effect to his personality until nowadays? It’d be nice to see his character got some development or exploration more than merely being a Triple B - big bisexual bully brother - which is basically what they’re giving us at this point.

Now, it looks pretty likely that we’re going to see Shaoran and Sakura become a couple, as Shaoran’s little moment there is a *hint* obvious demonstration that he’s interested in Sakura as well as Yuki. Sakura hasn’t shown anything for him beyond her usual goodwill and (initially unwanted) platonic closeness stemming from the fact that he’s the only other kung-fu mage in the area that she knows of, but since she’ll almost certainly be maturing over the story she’s going to have a boyfriend or girlfriend at some point and Shaoran, the stranger who has appeared as a result of the surfacing of her magic, fits this role better than Tomoyo, a lifelong friend who has always been supportive of Sakura and is comfortable fixture in her life. On the other hand, I won’t rule out the possibility that Sakura takes an interest in another character and Shaoran is left pining after two people who are infuriatingly nice to him but don’t return his feelings

So you’re thinking that Sakura x Tomoyo or Sakura x Yukito are no way possible then? Who knows, this is Clamp, everything is absolutely possible.

Well, most of the time kids show don’t really want to go there when it comes to romance. Normally, they simply dance around it with the concept of ‘best friends forever’or maybe occasionally crossing the line a bit with undertones but in general nothing fruitful eventually happens in the end. For the sake of discussion, Do you think how serious are they on romance subplot? Will it continue being marginal or becoming an integral part of the story line?

If you’re asking me up until then or more specifically, after episode 27. I think Tomoyo is still very much in the race, certainly not out of it at all. She has an advantage of being not only a bff but also a cousin. They’re very close and genuinely care for each other. Almost everything looks good on this front except only one thing: Sakura herself happens to like boys.

Personally, I like Tomoyo but never see her as a saint who gives Sakura unrequited love as many thought. I think she’s still trying her best as much as the other suitors (if there’re any) to get any attention from Sakura in her own way and want her feeling to be returned eventually. She's the same as everyone else to me on that regard. Considering nobody in this story takes Sakura’s crush on Yukito seriously so Tomoyo doesn’t need to give up on that yet and if they continue being a close friend like this until they both get a bit more mature then their relationship could definitely evolve into something else. I could surely see this happening and think that this is the best case scenario she could hope for thus far as long as Sakura has yet to find a boy or girl she can really like.

Then again. Perhaps Yukito might turn out to be straight and then ends up with Sakura in the end, who knows.

As for Syoran, poor boy. If your presumption is correct. Having a crush on Sakura is the last thing he should do at Tomoeda. This is not a good thing for him at all given what his mission at this town supposed to be and having a jealous fiancé around as well absolutely makes things messier. Also don’t forget that this is a very stubborn kid who needs to take 20 episodes or so to warm up to the girl. Hence If he’s indeed falling for her, life won’t be easy anymore for him after this. We’ll get to see how far this development goes later.

Anyway, enough about the romances, let’s talk about the Card! The Return was pretty much a plot device here. While it does have an explanation for its existence and will probably make a future appearance, it had no personality or reason for acting as it did. It just appeared to teach Sakura some of the history of Mizuki and Toya, and let us develop and flesh out Sakura and Shaoran a little. That said, I liked its appearances as a creepy cloud and a Tardis-tree, and it had some pretty cool powers as well. Instead of the Christmas Carol rules I initially assumed, where the past cannot be interacted with, it seems like Sakura was actually sent into the past and could have accidently changed it if she had moved from the tree. Naturally, this is a powerful ability with a huge magic cost to balance it out a bit, but I expect it to make at least one reappearance. It would be interesting to see if you have to return to the time when you cast it or if you can just go to a certain point and carry on from there, and also what happens if you change the timeline.

If no rules or whatsoever limits, the Return is basically a wet dream for history nerds*. I mean who doesn't want to know the truth of some of the most relevant events over the course of human history such as who killed the poor princes in the tower, Did Tsarina Catherine really prefer horse over men ? or how much booze did George IV take per day? so many important questions left unanswered.

*including me.

[Reddish Mage]

You can say that kami literally means spirit/god, and you'd be really seriously oversimplifying. Kami encompasses a lot of things, and it isn't just spirits. Nor does it describe a "god" in the western sense, all things can potentially be Kami regardless of divinity or lack thereof.

Most spirits are not described as Kami either, because there are lots of different words to specifically describe a spirit based on its nature. One could argue that they're all kami, just as anything else can be kami, but in many cases it would be a misuse of the word.

Aren't "kami" often contrasted with "yokai" in anime? The former is usually translated with "god" while that latter "demons" however, I think "yokai" are better translated as "fey, elves, fairies" or just "strange" or "weird" folk. I thought the distinction can be made that kami are more distant from humans, less physical, less base, and more likely to side with humans than yokai.

[Durkoala]

I'll reply to the other stuff later, in the interests of getting something like a regular schedule running.

EPISODE 28: Sakura and the Enchanted Cards

Spoiler: Not to be confused with the enchanted cards we've been chasing for the entire series

Show

Episode 28

Today, Sakura’s in cookery class. The teacher looks a lot like an adult Akane and they all have to wear headscarves. Chiharu is talking about the latest thing: enchanted cards! Er, what? Apparently they’re basically lucky charms and carrying one with you will make you better at certain things. Of course, romance is one of those things, and of course Meilin overhears this. I do like what the animators have done, distorting her face and having her ears expand as she listens in. Definitely a gif-able moment here.

Sakura is afraid of the way her... project thing keeps hissing when she tries to fry it. She takes so long, the stove starts to burn! While everybody panics, Meilin runs over and turns off the gas. Akane asks if everything is alright and tells the class to be careful with the temperature of their stoves. I suppose she knows from experience.

Sakura thanks Meilin for acting so quickly, but the Chinese girl is as cold as ever – until she quickly asks where Maki’s shop (that sells the cards) is. It looks like we’re going to pay a visit to one of the better bits of the worst episode.

Title Card! Sakura and the Enchanted Cards! I’m hoping that these are susceptible to Sakura’s sealing spell.

Maki’s shop is very busy. Meilin hides around the corner and only approaches when Maki notices her. She stammers out that she wants a card, but flees before she can complete her request.

Back at home, Sakura’s trying again at cooking the whatevers. Once again, the sizzle make her jump backwards and this time she falls off her step. Fujitaka turns the gas off and goes to see if she’s alright. He tells her that she’ll get it in time, but Sakura isn’t convinced. Toya lightens the mood by walking in and taking a fried thing, saying that it’s safe if dad cooked it.

Next morning, Sakura confesses her fears at being a bad cook. Tomoyo tells her that she’s sure Sakura will get better at it. Before the conversation can go any further, they’re joined by Naoko, who isn’t looking forward to today’s P.E lesson because they’re doing box jumping.

Sakura and Meilin ace the box jump, but the rest of the class aren’t as agile. Naoko hesitates but the cheers of her friends reminding her that she has her card makes her step forward. She makes the jump perfectly, but doesn’t manage to strike a pose when she lands.

Ah. Naoko’s showing off her magic card, and it’s very much like a copy of the Jump. The picture is of a rabbit-like silhouette on a green background, but the rest of the design looks like the classic Clow Cards. Tomoyo and Sakura are rightly worried, even more so when it turns out that Chiharu and Rika also have their own cards. There’s a copy of the Flower and the Song, but there’s also a Piano card, so it seems like these copy-cards don’t have to be linked to the Clow Cards. Seeing Meilin, Sakura offers to let her see the cards, but the other girl badly denies liking these cards and makes her excuses. Oh, Meilin.

Sakura and Tomoyo pay a visit to Twin Bells and are surprised at how crowded the place is. They also see Meilin leaving the shop. Wait, you want to buy a copy-card, Sakura? Why? Haven’t you learned anything in the last few months about magic Cards? Meilin tries to deny getting a card, but given that she pulls it out and waves it around, I don’t think even Sakura believes her. Then the wind convieniently blows it away to land at Shaoran’s feet. He has time to comment on its similarity to a Clow Card before Meilin snatches it back and starts talking about how she doesn’t doubt his feelings before dragging him away. Poor Meilin. If only you knew...

In her room Sakura tells Kerbie about the copy-cards. He’s intrigued, but before he can respond to Sakura’s plans to go back to the shop tomorrow, her dad brings up a snack for her. Really, is this going to be how we keep information from Sakura this week? There’s no reason he can’t tell her later.

And now it’s lunchtime. Shaoran is accosted by Meilin and dragged outside, while Sakura and Tomoyo are invited to join Toya and Yukito. As the Li-s pass them, Yukito asks if Shaoran wants to join them and Sakura formally introduces Meilin, who insists that she’s Shaoran’s fiancée. I’m happy that Toya and Yukito are surprised at this declaration. Finally, a bit of sanity! The Spoiler of all Good Things tries to talk his way out, but he gives up and hastily retreats, pulling Meillin behind him.

Outside Twin Bells, Sakura and Tomoyo meets Chiharu and Naoko, who have just bought some new cards. They greet each other, then S&T head inside to get some cards themselves. While Tomoyo quickly finds a cooking card, Sakura detects the presence of an actual capital-C Card and begins hunting around the shop to find it. It turns out that the Card is no longer here; Maki confirms that one of Sakura’s classmates bought it, but she can’t remember who. She does remember that it was the SHOT card. Sakura has a little trouble with the English but Tomoyo “helps” her. It’s not ‘to shoot’, Tomoyo, it’s ‘has been shot’. It’s a past participle.

And we cut to somebody playing a video game about an aerial dogfight. It’s Kerbie, and his loss makes him pretty irritable when Sakura phones him up. He’s not happy when he learns that they’ve got a Clow Card to deal with, and even less so that it’s Shot. He explains that it’s an offensive card with a hair trigger: if it hears something that sounds like an order to attack, it will. Sakura promises to find it right away... by having her and Tomoyo run around to find Chiharu and Naoko. You have a sixth sense, a friend with a Card detector and a familiar who isn’t doing anything. Still, this is a bad situation, and when plan A fails, she gets out the Fly and starts searching from the skies. Kerbie rendezvous with them in midair and starts telling them to find the Card when Sakura spots Naoko.

Meanwhile, Shaoran is grumbling to himself about Meilin saying she’s engaged to him in front of Yukito, when he feels a Card’s presence.

Naoko only has the false Jump and a false Piano. She’s a bit puzzled by Sakura asking to look at her cards in the middle of the street, but when she follows Sakura after she leaves to find Chiharu, there’s only an empty alley.

Chiharu is found much too quickly for her to have the Card. Nope, she doesn’t. She does have quite a few copy-cards, though. She remembers that Meilin was also buying cards, so Cardcaptors Co leaves to find the girl from China. Tomoyo heads to the Li residence, while Sakura and Kerberos search the local area.

They find Shaoran, hunting down the Card. He’s shocked when Sakura tells him that it’s with Meilin, and loses his composure when Kerbie tells him that it’s Shot. Sakura calls on the Fly and tells him to get on board when they look for Meilin.

Far above the city, Shaoran uses his compass to track down the Card. To Sakura’s surprise, it and Meilin are at the school. She’s leaning on the fence, admiring her new Card in the sunset when they fly in. Naturally, she takes umbrage at the fact that they’ve arrived together and refuses to believe Sakura telling her she’s holding a real Clow Card. Then she ignores Shaoran. Either the Li clan is really bad at teaching their kids basic magical safety, or she’s just really thick. Real Clow Card. Two experienced and powerful mage’s testimony. Very dangerous. Savvy?

Apparently not: Shaoran is having to wrestle the Card off her. She says that she can’t give this up as it’s going to let her make ‘an aimed shot at Shaoran’s heart.’ That’s a bit of a stretch both in unleashing the Card and in its intended use, really.

And the Card is either a pink comic-style impact star or deformed hedgehog/sea urchin. Naturally, it can also shoot laser bullet things at Shaoran, but he’s doing pretty well at dodging them. Sakura uses the shield to keep him protected, but the Card is apparently too fast and erratic to seal. Shaoran abandons his cover to make it stop circling and give Sakura an opportunity to catch it, but it’s still too fast. Kerbie tells her to seal it quickly as its aim is improving, landing a few glancing hits. Inspired by the sun in her eyes, Sakura signals to Shaoran that she’s going to use the Mirror. He changes direction to run at her and dodges its shot so Sakura can reflect it back.

The Shot’s true form is a vaguely punk-ish girl with spiky pink and black hair. We don’t get a good look at her before Sakura seals it away. Tomoyo turns out to have been here the whole time, filming. She helps Meilin up until Shaoran takes over. I’m pretty sure that he’s the one who’s been wounded, Meilin.

At home, Sakura finally manages to cook the fried thing I’ve forgotten the name of already. She asks Kerbie if her copy-card helped. He says he thinks that it’s just her efforts that did the work.

The next day, Meilin is using Shaoran’s wounds as an excuse to feed him, despite his protests. Sakura and Tomoyo stop by to ask how he’s doing and he says they aren’t enough to trouble him before getting up and leaving. Meilin stops to give Sakura a Card, but promising that Team Li will win the next even though they’re now less antagonistic than Team Rocket. I don’t know why she has the Clow Card, because Sakura did all the work and Meilin just sat there.

Oh, it’s just a copy-card, the cooking one to be precise. Tomoyo says that she doesn’t need it because she can already cook croquettes now, but Sakura says she’ll keep hold of it because she wants to become even better and because Meilin gave it to her. SakuraxMeiling OTP!!!

And that is it. This was decent, but it wasn’t as good as the last two episodes. It did teach me what croquettes were, though. While I liked most of the episode, I am disappointed at how little attention was paid to the copy-cards appearing out of nowhere and how Meilin refused to believe that she was holding a dangerous magical item despite being part of an old family of mages. Love-struck or not, she should know far better than to try and keep hold of a potential powerful and malevolent artefact. It’s also a bit dissonant that neither Kerbie or Tomoyo think of looking further into these imitations of an actual magical deck of cards that have been hidden away for at least thirty years. Who knows enough about what has so far been described as the most recent great magical wonder (which has been unobtainable for until a few months ago) to create imitations to sell for money? My best guess is Mizuki, who is strong enough to collect a few cards herself to sketch, but it could easily be Clow/a relation trolling the Cardcaptor, or an unknown mage or muggle who found or defeated a Card (through luck, perhaps?). Speaking of that, I'm sure that in some way Clow will appear, even if it's only a memory or recorded message of some kind (my first guess is still that he's Yukito, because the boy knows far too much about the Cards and hasn't indicated how he found out about them, but I like to be open-minded).

The Card was pretty good. I liked its design, in a retro way (it had sideburns!), and an agressive, yet technically obedient Card is a variation I don't think that we've seen before. Its powers were a little too unintuitive: I would have prefered it to have improved the aim and power of mundane shots, like pinged rubber bands or thrown balls, and turned Meilin into some kind of mysterious sniper without her knowledge, but that may have made the episode too long. Still, it lived up to its reputation by trying to do a Freeza impression on the unfortunate Shaoran, which is good because I hate being told that something is awesome/scary/beautiful by the writer and having it fail to live up.

As a last note, it was nice to see Maki again in a decent episode. I like all the toy designs in her little shop, which have a nice blend of cute and quirky.

[cobaltstarfire]

It can be pretty scary making fried foods that have so much oil. Not too much of this episode other than yeah, I like how it involves Meilin and in a way teaches a lesson too.

Aren't "kami" often contrasted with "yokai" in anime? The former is usually translated with "god" while that latter "demons" however, I think "yokai" are better translated as "fey, elves, fairies" or just "strange" or "weird" folk. I thought the distinction can be made that kami are more distant from humans, less physical, less base, and more likely to side with humans than yokai.

They often are, but there are actually some beings that can be called both. Inugami for example may be refereed to as either yokai or kami. Kitsune may be maleficent, or they may be the favored envoys for Inari and guardian of his shrines. You wouldn't call the latter fox a yokai, but you certainly would the former.


It's really that we're both right, because "kami" is such a vague concept where what it means is strongly dependent on context and in what way you're talking about particular beings.

[Reddish Mage]

Kitsune may be maleficent, or they may be the favored envoys for Inari and guardian of his shrines. You wouldn't call the latter fox a yokai, but you certainly would the former.

maleficent?

[BWR]

Considering that character is pretty much the biggest case of Nominative Determinism since well before Dr. Evil, I think it's a good choice of word.