Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Hen – 18

「さくらと炎と水の鳥」 (Sakura to Honoo to Mizu no Tori)
“Sakura and the Fire and Water Birds”

I love how right when the story starts to divulge secrets about Akiho and Kaito, we’re greeted (reminded may be a better word) with even more questions about characters who’ve been rather quiet all this time.

General Impressions

Before diving into all the questions that this episode raised, I must say that something about this episode as a whole felt really good. Maybe it was because Syaoran decided to get a little more serious than normal or maybe it was because of all the embarrassed Sakura faces, but no matter what it was I have to praise the show runners for giving us such a fun episode of Clear Card Hen. If I had one small complaint about anything though, it’d have to be just how easily Syaoran was able to bind the Blaze Card’s material form. Because as much as the story wants to demonstrate that he’s a strong magic user, it kind of rains on Sakura’s parade when she gets shooed away after using a single card.

On that note, can we talk about just how suspicious Syaoran was acting after Sakura captured the Blaze Card? Unable to look Sakura in the eyes as well as cutting the conversation short when the question involved was a genuinely simple one, it’s tough not to assume Syaoran is doing something shady behind the scenes. Knowing the type of person that Syaoran is though, I’m sure it’s nothing inherently bad and if anything is probably something he doesn’t want to involve others due to whatever risks are involved. That said, more often than not we typically see plans like this go up in flames due to the nature of keeping secrets and I’m willing to bet that this won’t be any different somewhere down the road.

Hopping over to Touya and Yue, it’s really interesting to see Touya slowly regaining his magic after giving it away to Yue to save him. What remains to be seen though is whether or not this will affect Yue/Yukito since if I remember correctly, it’s Touya’s magic that was sustaining Yue since Sakura was unable to provide enough of it. Which, if true, raises the question — does this mean Touya’s magic is returning to him if Sakura is powerful enough to provide it herself?

Anyways, another pretty good episode that continues to inch the story closer to the climax. With various plot points all moving together toward an eventual conclusion, I can’t wait to see where this all goes. I’ll catch you guys next week where it looks like the stage is set for something crazy to happen. See you then!

Preview