Please tell me there will be another season…
What They Say:
“Sakura, the Mirror, and the Key of Memories”
Cerberus and Yue meet with Eriol via magic to discuss Sakura’s new cards. Eriol has found out that Kaito took something from the magic association he once belonged to, but at that moment, Kaito’s magic severs the trio’s communication link.
“Sakura’s Clear Cards”
Sakura has seen the mysterious robed person in her dreams many times. It turns out Akiho has been having the same dreams herself, and she’s grown worried over their unsettling contents.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Wow. This season has ended way too openly for my taste and of-freaking-course I have something to say about it. But first, the brief summaries.
Toya has come home to his father being home from his trip and on the phone with Masaki/ Great-Grandpa about Sakura and her condition. He will have a car bring her home. He also tells Fujitaka that he plans on giving Sakura his summer home, but he tells Masaki to hold off for now. Toya and his father briefly speak about his and Sakura’s mother as they compare her to her mother. Sakura’s mother was one to talk to things that weren’t there and had this mysterious air to her where that Fujitaka never pried into. We learn that Fujitaka is aware that Sakura has been sneaking out but he knows that she must be doing it for a good cause so he won’t question it. Sakura wakes up at Masaki’s house with Syaoran at her side and Masaki himself worrying about her. She insists she’s fine and he goes out to get the thing he brought her there to give her. Her and Syaoran are left alone and he bids her to tell him whenever she’s in pain and she counters by asking him to do the same. Grandpa comes back with a small box with an ornate key inside that her mother treasured. The fact that this was brought back from England has Syaoran thinking. Eriol explains to Yue and Kero that it is Sakura who is making the new clear cards with her own powerful magic that she cannot yet control. About Kaito, with the help of the Li family, Eriol found that he was cast out from the magical organization for stealing a relic and he is too powerful for them to force him to bring it back. Kaito interrupts the communication which cuts the two guardians off while Eriol fights off the spell; with much strain, I will add. Kaito, after remarking on the encounter, reveals that he is after the cards for the purpose of the relic. Syaoran and Sakura say goodbye to the old man and on the way, Sakura confesses that she doesn’t know who she really is and wished she could have a mirror to show her who she should be. Once they get to the house she notices the image of it is reversed then secures the Mirror card quite easily. She summons fly and uses her new card to replicate the power so that she can fly with Syaoran.
This episode had a lot of reflection on it and it was good to have. We learned more from Sakura’s dad about her mother which was more effective once Sakura was given the key. I get the feeling that somehow, Nadeshiko was a magical girl on her own right, or even a cardcaptor herself (though that could be pushing it). I think that this insight brings some clarity as to how Sakura attained the magic she needed to be a cardcaptor so well and why her power grows to exponentially. It would also explain why the key was so special to her mother and based on its English origin, there’s got to be something magical about it. At this point, if anything in this series comes from England, I’m just going to assume it’s magical. It’s a beautiful key as well which also feeds my theory.
Finally getting a glimpse into Syaoran’s mind when he’s flying with Sakura is great. He remarks on the fact that she mentioned a mirror in the car and the card just happened to appear at her house, proving the notion that she is making the cards herself without knowing it. For so long this season we’ve been in the dark about his thoughts and why he’s acting the way he is around her; mainly just aloof and lost in his own thoughts or just absent altogether. He’s worried about Sakura and the magic she possesses that she can’t know about. He wishes he could tell her about it but he understands that it would become a burden on her when she already has enough to worry about. I just wish that they could tell her at least about who Kaito is and what he’s planning to do. It could take a toll on her and she would want to tell Akiho but it’s getting to me that she’s still in the dark about stuff, as if they don’t think she’s strong enough to deal with it. Sakura is a beautiful person and I believe that she is fully capable of dealing with this and even her immense power if she learns to control it. The scene where they fly together was very sweet, as is any scene they have together. His internal monologue about her power and how he wants to protect her changes the mood of the scene to something different than what it would have been if it was just from Sakura’s point of view. Sakura would have seen it as mystical, romantic, and fun, while Syaoran reminds us of the danger of her power while the magical romance continues as we watch. Since the whole show up until this point has been pretty upbeat/cut and dry, it’s refreshing to see it take a bit of a different tone.
I think it’s very obvious that the relic that Kaito has stolen from the sorcerer’s organization he was a part of is the book Akiho reads so much. He’s using her for whatever endeavours he wants to achieve that involve the book and/ or Sakura’s cards. I’m also willing to bet that Momo is the relic’s guardian spirit, much like Kero and Yue are for the Clow. Unfortunately, we don’t even learn any more about this in the next episode, and I’m going to tell you why.
We also learn in this episode that the house where Eriol lived in Tomoeda was torn down and replaced with an amusement park, though no one remembers that now since the house I back. Eriol also ends up confirming that the house and its location are perfect for harbouring magic. I knew there was significance in the fact that Akiho was living in Eriol’s old house.
In episode 22, we Akiho having a dream where she reaches for Sakura’s key but is unsuccessful while Sakura’s dream seems to be similar. When Akiho recounts the dream to Kaito during breakfast she says that she was in Clockland with Alice. She mentions a mirror that can copy magic, much like what Sakura used. She then heard the ticking of a clock, then glass breaking and a voice telling her “you can never return”. She also explains that Alice looked a lot like Sakura. He reminds Akiho of school starting soon so she goes to get her bag. Momo moves and wonders if the dream will come true and Kaito vows not to let that happen. Sakura is walking to school with Kero in a little bag as usual. Kero is worried about her, which is why he’s with her but wishes he could help her with her dreams. They go through the school day and when club time is around Sakura is at Cheer practice as Tomoyo and Akiho watch from the chorus club room. She wonders if her and Sakura being similar bothers Sakura. Then she explains some of her dreams to Tomoyo where something had caught Alice in her last dream and she’s sure that Alice looked just like Sakura. Once at home she interacts with her family after she gets out of the bath then goes up to her room where Kero offers to dry her hair. We see a scene just before she goes up to her room where Li is unsuccessfully trying to contact Eriol again and vows once again that he will protect Sakura. While Kero is drying her hair Sakura laments about how she met Kero and how she has grown a lot since then after being thrust into this world of magic. She almost becomes enthralled in a dream and sleepwalks a bit before Kero snaps her out of it. She senses something and opens the curtains to see the hooded figure just outside her house. She summons the Flight card to help her but it’s scared. She goes to face it but a barrier bars Kero from following she defends herself from some attacks the figure throws at her. The figure eventually changes the staff back into a key and tries to take it as Sakura keeps holding on and willing Flight to stay. Finally, it disappears and becomes a card again and Sakura falls and the figure does as well revealing herself as Akiho sleepwalking. Time stops and Kaito brings them back in time so Sakura won’t remember any of it. The episode ends with Sakura realizing all the people that have her back.
So that’s it. That’s how this season of the arc ends. No conclusion and all build up while we all sit here scratching our heads; those who haven’t read the manga like me of course. I am really disappointed with this ending and that it never had closure while other arcs on the original series had some closure. The Clow arc ends deep into the series and maybe a couple of anime seasons in, but it picks up where it left off in a new school year. I just expected an ending since this how has lasted two seasons by this point. I guess all this build up is to make us excited for another season, which I have heard no word of as of yet. I hope it comes back because I need to know what the relic does and why Kaito wanted it so badly.
If you never figured out that Akiho was the hooded figure all along by this point, have you ever been paying attention? There have been a lot of hints to this fact and I was so hoping for Sakura to finally find this out but Kaito had to ruin the fun. This scene also makes it clear that he is indeed using Akiho as the hooded figure, even outside her dreams, to achieve his goals. All this happens while she is asleep so it stays in her mind as dreams. Speaking of the time spell he cast, which was pretty substantial, I don’t think Sakura’s memory went back in time as well. Something about the way that she spoke the last line and her realization where she was once she woke up again. I wasn’t fully convinced that the spell had worked on her. My theory is that she’s just that powerful; it’s hard to erase her memory like that.
Akiho mentions Alice (or Sakura) being caught by something in her dream. There was nothing like that in this episode so there could be something dangerous once the show comes back. Could her dreams be premonitions like Sakura’s have been in the past? It’s very possible since everything she describes from the Clockland book is things Sakura has done; this has happened with the events she’s described in the past matching what we’ve already seen. I’m predicting that the book documents event of powerful individuals or even tells the future in someday? It has something to do with Kaito tracking Sakura’s movements and actions so he could keep track of all the cards she attains. If not I’m interested in the show changing my mind once it comes back.
In Summary:
This series was a nice nostalgia train while also being a brand-new thing at the same time. It kept to the same familiar formula of a typical Cardcaptor Sakura episode but with a beautiful new art style that’s similar enough to the original for it to look just like a polished version of it. The overall story was pretty typical Cardcaptor Sakura, with a mysterious side character that has something to do with magic that has a bigger part than you think. It’s not as good as the mysteries seen surrounding Mizuki and Eriol but that could be because I’ve seen this formula before. The content in general was very good and it felt just like coming back to an old franchise I grew up with, which was the intent of the creators I’m sure. The ending could have been better, or even an acknowledgement that a new season could come soon would have been nice. I loved it and I can’t wait to see these mysteries resolved.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
