Tsubasa Chronicle – 23

Short Summary:
Having finally met, Fye quickly deduces that Seishirou also uses magic, but has a limited number of times he can jump worlds. Seishirou uses his feather to summon two demons and has them attack Fye. Their strength is too much for Fye, and he’s swallowed up in their darkness. The feather then resonates a light that makes almost everyone in town disappear. Syaoran and Kurogane rush back to find only Mokona who tells them that Fye is dead and Sakura is gone. With no other choice, Syaoran tracks down and challenges Seishirou. He remembers when they first met: Seishirou beat up some thugs after a book Syaoran had. Syaoran decided to trust Seishirou and let him read the book about vampires. But Seishirou couldn’t read the script, so Syaoran offered to do so in exchange for learning how to fight. Back in the present, Seishirou sends some minions after Syaoran, but then gathers them up into a sword arm. One quick attack later, Syaoran is finished. Sakura arrives in time to see him get speared, so she rushes forward to help him. She holds him as he disappears, but ends up vanishing with him.

It’s not supposed to happen like this!
Ok ok, I actually like this way better, but it is different from how the manga happens. The animated version has Sakura seeing Syaoran get killed, and then she holds him as he disappears (and she disappears with him). The manga version doesn’t have her own “disappearance” until Kurogane and the rest do, never mind that she never saw him fight Seishirou. This way is more dramatic, and shows more of how far their relationship has developed. One of the biggest concerns I have with the manga is that Syaoran is THE main character with Sakura playing a much more passive role. She’s still like that here, but they are giving her more and bigger parts. Aside from that, this is pretty much what I expected: this episode covers chapter 45 added with the Fye parts of chapter 44 and Syaoran’s flashback from chapter 42. Again, these are all moves that make the story more coherent.
Anyway, Syaoran is dead! And so is Fye! For those of you who haven’t read the manga (I know there’s some of you), you’re probably wondering what the heck is going on. I know I that’s what I was thinking when I read the corresponding chapters. Suffice to say this is a great cliffhanger. And next episode should clear it all up, plus give us some good Kurogane fighting scenes to boot.