English Dub Review: Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card “Sakura Feels a Pull at the Flower Viewing”

Or, Sakura Meets the Tree from Evil Dead.

Overview (Spoilers)

It’s the weekend, and Sakura and her friends are going out for a cherry blossom viewing. Would that mean that Sakura would be looking at herself? Anyways, since it’s a picnic they each bring their own bento, so Sakura has to make her own. She also makes one for Syaoran because, well, that’s what girls do when they like a boy. As she cooks with her father’s help, her brother comes by needing a lunch for his and Yukito’s work, since it won’t provide one. She asks Toya about Yuki’s appetite. He’s been eating less lately, and that worries her. Yuki eats more to make up for the energy Yue draws from him. If he isn’t eating as much, that might mean the changes to the Sakura Cards are having an effect on him. She finishes cooking and joins her friends for the viewing party. They invited Akiho and Rika, but Rika couldn’t come, and Syaoran is running late. Chiharu brings the drinks and snacks for everyone, while Takashi made food for her. Just more evidence of their relationship blossoming.

Suddenly, an invisible force begins yanking at Sakura, pulling her away from the group. She barely has time to get her shoes on before she finds herself flying through the forest at a massive cherry tree… with tentacles? Yikes. She summons Siege, using it as a barrier to slow her flight at the monstrous tree. After taking this beat to collect herself, she finds the core of this masterless force and seals it. This is the Gravitation card, with the power to draw in remote objects. The party moves the picnic to this new, enormous tree, just in time for Syaoran to arrive, and he said he already ate. He notices Sakura looks a bit depressed. She tries to play it off, but he insists. Realizing she made him a lunch, he begs her to let him try it. Not because he’s hungry, but because she made it. The two share a moment as he enjoys her cooking… and Takashi ruins it with more of his bogus stories. Quick! Tomoyo! Sing us a song before he rots our brains!

Our Take

This was a tough episode to look at critically. On the whole, it feels like little actually happened. Sure, the grabbed Gravitation, but did we have the plot push forward at all? It’s hard to tell, but I think this episode was more about poking and prodding at what is really going on, giving us little hints without giving us answers. On one hand, we have the hint about Yukito/Yue. He’s eating less. This could mean that they are disconnecting from each other and the cards, or that the magical power that Yue needs is increasing. Either this is a good thing for Yuki, or a horrible thing for Sakura, Yue, and Kero. We also get to see the new girl a bit more and are told that she lives with a caretaker for whom she has fond feelings. Hmmm. Someone Sakura’s age who travels the world with a caretaker. We’ve seen this before. More fuel for the fire that she is the mysterious cloaked figure from Sakura’s dreams. It doesn’t seem likely that she’s doing this knowingly or willfully. Akiho seems like such a sweet girl. On the other hand, that’s the first person you should suspect when evil is afoot.

Lastly, we see the development of relationships. This isn’t as much about the overall plot of the show and universe, but it is important character growth as these kids age into adulthood. Syaoran’s response to her depression was gentle, reassuring, and intimate. He used so few words, but with all their history wrapped up in it, volumes were spoken to her. The writing here has depth for days, and I’d expect that from Clamp. With these two being a massive part of the manga team’s larger multiverse, they’ve had plenty of time to get a handle on how these two feel, both on the surface and under. They can write dialogue that is pumped with love and affection but doesn’t come off as camp.

So, that tree. Yeah, that gave me a bad feeling. I’ve been noticing more and more lately, the Clear Cards seemed to have tendrils as a theme. At first, this made sense. Gale and Aqua were using the elements to lash out in concentrated bursts. However, Siege has vine-y tendrils wrapping around it as markings, and this tree had thin, purple tentacles. It was something I could overlook as a simple design choice, a way of marking that this tree had a card in it. Then we saw Sakura’s reaction to it. She panicked and had to shake thoughts out of her head. Now, I would never expect Clamp to go anywhere with this. It’s been too long since Miyuki-Chan in Wonderland, and they haven’t really delved in that direction since. However, I can’t help but think there is a meaning to the tendril theme. Not only that the adventure is getting darker, and slightly more mature, but as a hint to the nature of the Clear Cards, and maybe the Clow/Sakura cards as well. I just have bad expectations when a tree starts grabbing a girl by the ankles…

I enjoyed the animation, though. We got some great cinematography during the battle, and there were honest attempts to infuse life into the picnic scenes. The voice actors were fine through most of it, but Monica Rial (Sakura) and Jason Liebrecht (Syaoran) shined best during their little scene. They softened their tones considerably, not just because the characters were talking quietly, but to charge the air with uncertainty. The two may know how each other feel, but there is still a little ways to go before they define their relationship, and they aren’t sure how far is too far. So, they are timid. Great job. I only wish Tomoyo’s singing was a bit better. Natalie Hoover tried her best. She really did. I’d bet she has a lovely singing voice normally, but doing so in Tomoyo’s weak falsetto voice is trying for her.