First Impressions / Tsubasa Chronicle

Summary:
While Ashura and Yasha are staring at each other across the battlefield, Sakura is having a dream of their past. In it, she sees the two fighting and Ashura injuring Yasha’s face. The scene then changes to sometime after that when Yasha suddenly appeared in front of Ashura when they weren’t on the battlefield. Ashura saw the scar that was now across Yasha’s eye, and the two had kissed under the moonlight. Sakura then sees something streak across the sky – one of her feathers. In the present, the two sides have to stop battle again and Ashura and Syaoran return to her land. Sakura wakes up the next morning knowing that she had a dream but unable to remember it was about. She sees Syaoran returning with all of his wounds. Sakura asks him not to hide his pain from her because she wants him to at least let her worry about him. She gives him a treatment taught to her by her father that uses touch backed up by one’s feelings to help soothe a pain. Syaoran thanks her and then tells her about meeting Kurogane and Fye at the castle in the sky. He thinks that they’re not the same Kurogane and Fye mainly because their eyes were black instead of their normal colors.
In Fei Wong Reed’s lair, his assistant is reporting that Syaoran and company have gone to a world outside the ones he wanted them to go to. It seems that Fei Wong Reed has been controlling where they have been going, sending them to relatively safe worlds. He can’t have them die yet, and his plans ultimately hope to get to the thing beneath the ruins in Clow Country. He’s well aware that one of his biggest problems it the Dimensional Witch (Yuuko). Even his ancestor Clow Reed recognized her power to travel the worlds and send others to different dimensions. However, he’s also confident that he’ll grasp that power soon. Back in Shura, Syaoran’s eye starts to hurt. Sakura leans in and kisses it before she realizes what she’s doing. Mokona suggests that his was a memory of her body as opposed to a memory of her heart – even though Sakura has lost the memories of her heart because of the scattering of the feathers, Mokona says that her body still remembers.
While Syaoran is off in town inquiring about Kurogane and Fye, Ashura is sitting with Sakura and notices how worried she is about Syaoran. Ashura thinks that people with strong desires act with disregard to their own safety – that’s why they are strong. But this can also hurt the people they’re protecting. Sakura doesn’t quite seem to understand what Ashura said, so Ashura changes the subject and sends Sakura off to the bath. Ashura thinks to herself that if Sakura hasn’t noticed, then there’s no need for Ashura to tell her. She turns around and faces Yuuko, who has appeared in the pool behind her. The jar that Mokona swallowed up last time was actually a payment – a wine of eternal youth – for a wish that Ashura made. That wish was for Mokona to send Syaoran and company to Shura. What’s more, it messed up Fei Wong Reed’s arrangements to send them to ideal worlds, breaking his control. Yuuko, however, also says that the price of Ashura’s true wish is too high. Which means that Ashura has to take care of certain things herself.
In town, Syaoran suddenly starts to experience more pain in his eye. In a nearby mirror, he once again sees multiple copies of himself reflected over and over. That night, before the battle, Ashura decides not to take any troops with her. She was going to go with just herself and Syaoran, but Kumara convinces her to take him too. They transport onto the surface of the castle in the sky and find only Yasha, Kurogane, and Fye waiting for them. Kurogane immediately resumes his fight with Syaoran, but Syaoran is able to knock him back. However, he was able to do so only because his arms started moving on their own, mirroring the movements of the boy in the tube back in Fei Wong Reed’s lair. Ashura, meanwhile, heads straight for Yasha. She says that she can fulfill his wish, and then drives her flaming sword straight through his body. The two embrace each other, and the scar reappears on Yasha’s eye. As she kisses the scar, he disappears in a bright light that forms into one of Sakura’s feathers.

Preview:

Well all the criticisms I had last week about the animation were righted this week. In comparison to then, I don’t have any complaints about how the characters were drawn. What’s more, this is another episode where I think they’re developing the story better than the manga did. Sakura’s dreams about Ashura and Yasha’s past served to flesh those stories out a little better. The general story seems to expand onto a bigger scale than before, because now the people in certain worlds (Ashura in this case) are working with Yuuko to help fight the control that Fei Wong Reed had. And it doesn’t seem like too far into the future that the Syaoran in the tube will come to life.
I think my only problem is that the preview is spoiling a bit too much, particularly that second screencap above. Other than that, I was quite happy with the way this episode turned out. Especially with the inclusion of the part where Sakura kisses Syaoran’s eye; for whatever reason, I had thought they might cut that out. Anyway, next week should be the end of the Shara/Shura arc.

26 Comments

  4. awww but watanuki just is just like sayoran, that is boring. Well they are alike, but not the same. :spoiler for xxholic: Watanuki looses his right eye like sayoran. They have the same birthday. :end spoiler: Personally, I just like watanuki as a cook, rather then the major part he plays in xxxholic

    Saruko
    Reply

  6. People who doesn’t follow the mangas (TRC and XXXHOLiC) and is not familiar with CCS won’t really get who the hell Clow Reed is. They might go “…Sakura-hime’s daddy knew the witch?!”

    (Why did they give Clow Reed the King of Clow’s robes? Whyyyy?)

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Kirisame
    Reply

  11. If I’m not wrong, Ashura is a man in TC, in RG Vega He does not have a gender, but in this He does, anyway, I love this paring, no matter what, thanks for the pictures.

    Yersi Fanel
    Reply

  12. Ashura has a gender in the anime? In RG Veda manga, they described him as “the only son who wanted to continue his bloodline was born without gender” – and goes on talking about Show Spoiler ▼

    So Ashura being strictly male was a bit surprising – may I ask for the reference, manga or anime-wise?

    becky
    Reply

  14. Ashura is MALE? Oh goodness gracious. My jaw dropped there. Sorry, I don’t read TC or RG Veda manga…

    Well, now I know why Ashura’s missing certain assets which anime producers love to use on female characters with such smoky, mysterious features. XD

    krazy
    Reply

  15. Fo those who ask for the reference of Ashura as male in Tsubasa, well, his way to talk is proper for a male and he is refer always as “king”, “lord” and “He”, and well, is CLAMP and if we know CLAMP, is kind of normal XD http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/8819/tsubasa060017ds.png

    It’s true that in RG Veda He does not have gender, but in the omake of that volumen of TC said that is not the same just like… Show Spoiler ▼

    HO! and in the manga Ashura does not look SO female, just very elegant, normal for clamp 😛

    Yersi Fanel
    Reply

  16. Ilove when Sakura kisses Syoaran because that means that Sakura is starting to love again for Syoran
    also when Ashura and Yasha kisses each ohter

    I LOVE KISSES I JUST THINK THEY ARE GREAT

    Narita Hatsumi
    Reply

  18. Sayoran’s fake eye is the right but why does he have a patch over his left eye like his other self in that tube??

    Kirisame says he has a seal in his right eye but whats the deal with the left eye then?? I hope they explain this soon..!!

    ctjanus
    Reply

  19. “Sayoran’s fake eye is the right but why does he have a patch over his left eye like his other self in that tube??”

    Row 7 column 1 is Sayoran’s reflection in a mirror (while he covers his right eye) and the one in row 8 is his other self in the tube.

    Zen
    Reply

  20. You know it wasn’t exactly clear that Yasha got stabbed so I was a bit confused at first then I watched that scene again and the overhead shot clearly shows the sword went through his body.

    sealouse
    Reply

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