Grandpa is back and Sakura’s magic is growing
What They Say:
“Sakura and Akiho’s Lullaby” and “Sakura, Rainbows, and Grandpa”
Sakura is finally about to go and read to children with Yukito, and she invites Akiho, Syaoran, and Tomoyo to come along. Sakura’s enthusiasm convinces Akiho to join her for the reading, while Syaoran agrees to contribute a piano accompaniment. Also, Sakura is spending her Sunday morning making rolled omelettes for the homemade lunches she’s taking for her outing with Syaoran.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Sakura is going to be reading to children with Yukito. She convinced Akiho and Syaoran to join them but Syaoran agrees to play the background music for the story. Syaoran calls Wei later and Akiho practices her reading Japanese at home. Kaito comes in to bring her tea and chocolates, which Momo mentions internally are hers as well. The day comes where they are in the hospital with Yukito and he’s reading to the kids. He’s really good and it makes Sakura and Akiho nervous. Syaoran reassures them they will be fine and Tomoyo has outfits for them. They read beautifully to the children and the story is told to the audience watching as well. Afterwards, Kero and Sakura talk about the experience and Sakura mentions wishing she could have watched it herself. Kero reminds her that Tomoyo was filming the whole thing but Sakura summons the key and the Record cards saying she recorded it herself. When they try and look at what the card recorded, however, it takes them to a past version of that same hospital with nurses in uniforms seen in a picture on the wall in the room they read in. This concerns Kero and he consults Yue about this, showing him his findings on the images he saw with her. Only Clow Reed himself and three other magicians have been able to show the past as Sakura did and they believe that her magic has become very strong. They concede to contact Eriol no matter what it takes.
In episode 20, Sakura is making rolled omelettes for her and Syaoran during their day out. However, Sonomi calls and tells her that her grandfather (Sakura’s great-grandfather) has something to give her before he leaves the country for a while. She tells Syaoran but Tomoyo messages them implying that she tells them to go together. They arrive and meet the Oldman at a table overlooking the sea. Sakura runs off to get them more tea, giving Grandpa and Syaoran time alone. They talk about Sakura and how she is so much like her mother. Kero is with Yukito eating the lunches Sakura prepared for them and talk about Toya’s dedication to paying his own tuition. Yukito transforms and then Yue and Kero wonder if Toy’as magic returning could be the cause of Sakura’s immense power. No word has come from England other than a magic circle. Sakura can’t find the maids to help her get more tea but in her exploration, she finds her mother’s old room. She uses the record card to play out things that happened in the room and show her mother. After watching a younger version of her mother hang around in the room the figure of her mother stops and tells her that if she goes any further she won’t be able to come back. She has the dream again and so does Akiho who is reading the Clockland book. Sakura wakes up with Syaoran and her grandfather, and Akiho with Kaito. Kaito asks her about the dream and she talks about hearing a clock before everything went black and reveals that the robe she wears in the dream is one that’s traditional in her family; she even has one herself. Great- Grandpa calls for a doctor and Li notices her key. Akiho now asleep, Momo and Kaito speak about Akiho “synchronizing”. Yue and Kero make projections of themselves with magic to Eriol to talk then find that what is happening is what he has always feared and that he will finally explain.
Whoa, that was a lot to unpack, but here we go. Sakura’s magic is getting stronger and she doesn’t realize it. This is a theme that was brought up at the end of the of Clow Card arc in the original series when she met Clow Reed and turned her Sealing staff into the Star Wand. She changed it herself with her own magic, as Clow said, and her magic seems to have grown immensely since then. My main gripe with this is that she’s unaware of this and I personally do not understand why she is always kept in the dark. In the original series it was so that she could figure it out herself, but if it involves her this much, she should know. We’ll see how episode 21 plays out. I hope that whatever Eriol says to Kero and Yue will be relayed to Sakura, if not, I wonder how she will find out. Another thing is Toya’s position in all of this and how Sakura knows nothing of it either. I doubt she ever knew about her brother having powers and giving them to Yue in the original series. I feel like she should know about this too because then she could talk to him about it in a similar way that she does Tomoyo and Syaoran, but Toya is different from them. Toya is more the guy who will watch from a distance and help her without her knowing he’s doing so while continuing to be the annoying older brother she knows and loves. It could be that he doesn’t want their father worrying about any of this because he has enough to deal with in general as it is.
I found it a very random reveal that the robe that Akiho has worn in the dream she shares with Sakura is one that is passed down in her family as traditional garb. This is one thing that came out of nowhere for me and felt a bit underwhelming though this feeling could change. I think since it came out at the end of the episode it just felt weird to me. All first impressions aside, the fact itself is interesting, mostly because we know nothing of her family other than the fact that they move a lot and have a butler that happens to be a magician, unbeknownst to her. I think she is part of a magical family line that she does not know about and will know during the endgame of this arc. It would be weird for her to be the pawn in all of this if magic is a thing in her family. I’m still on the fence about Kaito regarding this and everything he’s been seen doing these past few episodes. At one point I had a hunch that he cared a great deal about Akiho and feels guilty about her part in the process of the clock book and the dreams.
Sakura continues to claim in episode 20 that she knows who the robed person is but with how she is around Akiho, I doubt she truly knows or even realises who she knows it is. If she does, there’s no indication of it yet. She also gets pulled into the dream during the day once again and it leaves her feeling dizzy and tired afterwards. I think these dreams might also be an extension of her growing power and that could be the reason she felt so tired after she woke up.
I thought it was very cool during the reading scene in episode 19 that they read out the whole book and told us, the watchers, the whole story as well. It was a cute children’s story that seems to teach a good lesson about judging people after one bad experience. I’m very glad we were taken on that journey as well instead of cutting away to another scene.
I loved the scene where Sakura asks Akiho and Syaoran to read with her at the hospital. She uses her adorable charm to win them both over in about the same way. With Syaoran, she appeals to her feelings for him and his as well, and with Akiho, she happily jumps at her to join them. Since this is Sakura we’re talking about, it’s not at all manipulative when she does this, it’s just her purely wanting to bring her two friends along with her and Tomoyo on this experience that she herself is nervous to do.
Syaoran’s conversation with Wei was quite revealing as well. We met his sisters for the first time, that I’m aware of since I don’t remember seeing them before this episode but again, I haven’t finished the original series yet. It was cute how they wanted to send him stuff and keep in contact with him while he’s away and the little smile he puts on after he tells them to stop is priceless. We also learn a little bit about Syaoran’s experiences before he went back to Japan. His mother put him through some rather rigorous training while he was there which I assume has to do with the stronger magic he has used recently. Once again, I hope he can tell Sakura about this sooner rather than later. It was also just sweet to see him speaking to Wei in general since Wei worries a lot about him being on his own. I also hope that we meet more of Syaoran’s family someday.
There was also no card capturing in either episode and it was a bit refreshing but I also expected one nonetheless. It’s getting close to the end so I’m assuming they will point out that one card is the last but we have yet to hear that so I’m still expecting at least one more. It was nice just to see things unfold and watch the characters, well be characters, without worrying about a disaster that they have to deal with.
In Summary:
Both episodes had interesting things happen to them that broke the mould by not having a card involved in either. Sakura’s magic growing seems like a bad thing but I’m sure it will help her someday. It was nice to see the Great Grandpa character again even if just for a little while and just for nostalgia as well. The little fox book was adorable. Sakura bringing Syaoran’s HP to zero, as Tomoyo said, was a great scene as well. Still on the fence about Kaito and I suspect I will be until he finally shows his true colours.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
