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lilover131 · 8 months

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Clear Card Chapter 76 Analysis

HELLO!!!

I am so sorry for the lateness on this chapter review! I was on vacation when chapter 76 came out, and honestly…I completely forgot about my analysis after that. I made a mental note to do it when I returned from vacation, and that mental note obviously did not last (DAMN MY ADHD!!). Anyways, I also found myself busy looking into a lot of big life development things! For example, this week, I am officially adopting this beautiful fur baby and bringing her home!

Her name is Diana, and I hope y’all don’t mind if I spam my social medias a bit with pictures of her once she is home. Here is my gif of the month!

CLAMP never ceases to draw stunning color pages each month, and this one is no exception! I’m not surprised to see Akiho here, but I gotta say, she looks quite nice in green! I love the lily flowers in her design and it seems to be a really nice connection made to her mother, Lillie. Other than that, it seems to be a rather basic portrait of Akiho in elegant clothes.

The chapter starts with the group at Yukito’s house. The video feed from the cameras Tomoyo left them with has unsurprisingly cut out with Sakura and Syaoran entering the space where Kaito is trapped. Tomoyo asks if they just lost reception in there (I honestly find this question pretty funny), but Eriol chimes in and states that this is not the case. He lets everyone know that before the feed cut out, he did manage to see the inside of the space for a brief moment, and based on the sight of those broken clocks, he suspects this place isn’t just one with halted time, but broken time. Now, you might be wondering what this means exactly. My theory is that it means time doesn’t function normally in this space. I imagine events in time are probably twisted together or nonexistent. After all, Kaito essentially had to break time to change it, so this doesn’t really surprise me. It seems to be, from what I can tell, at least isolated to this space, but it’s unclear what kind of damage it could do if it weren’t.

Syaoran looks around at the space and tells Sakura that there doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with the watch itself and that it only looks to be broken in appearance due to the pressure placed upon it. Sakura clutches at her head and seems to wince in pain. Syaoran asks her if she is all right, and she seems to have discomfort in head. He explains to her that the spell around them is strong enough to make an influence on her physically, and when asked, he admits that even he is feeling it (Syaoran I imagine has a much higher pain tolerance and hides it well). However, it seems that without the watch to guide them, they most certainly would have gotten lost. Sakura smiles and claims that this is as if Akiho herself is guiding them.

Sakura takes the watch back now that it has seemingly served its purpose and looks the trapped dragon Kaito. She says to him that she doesn’t know how to address him since she does not know his name, but that she feels the watch in her hand has a connection to him. She tries to ask him if the watch feels connected to him purely because of having the same magic power or if he is the owner of the watch. Dragon Kaito obviously doesn’t respond, but Sakura takes the moment to ask Syaoran, who has impeccable magical senses particularly for moon magic, if the magic that made the false moon is the same magic coming from the watch. Syaoran focuses in on this and advises her that they are not of the same magic and that something is different. I’m honestly really happy to see Sakura utilizing Syaoran’s skills and knowledge here. She herself is very intuitive and able to figure out things naturally, but that can’t entirely replace the level of training and experience Syaoran has, so I’m glad CLAMP has really made use of that here. Sakura deduces that the cage itself around dragon Kaito also feels different from the magic in the watch, so she comes to the correct conclusion that he is not here willingly and is locked up in here by someone else (-cough- Squid Clan -cough-).

Looking into dragon Kaito’s eyes, Sakura senses a familiarity that she recognizes it not simply because she saw him in a dream. Moreover, she recognizes that these eyes once watched over Akiho. Sakura reaches her hand out and tells him that he can’t stay here and to come with her, but before she can proceed further, the warped clocks around them appear to react, and Syaoran is quick to move and protect her with his thunder attack.

Meanwhile, in the Tsukishiro home, everyone is waiting patiently for some sort of update. Akiho seems to be the most focused and determined of the bunch, making sure she’s ready to go in case Sakura calls for them. Everyone smiles and Yukito says that he is happy they have each other.

Back in the fake moon space, Syaoran is fending off the attacks and tells Sakura that he doesn’t think his spells will be able to break the cage around the dragon, but he will protect her while she figures out how to break through. Sakura remembers Momo’s message to her through the RECORD card that there are other cards left behind and waiting for her to call their names. As she looks down at Kaito’s watch, she thinks about her mother’s watch and remembers seeing a card that looked just like it, though she doesn’t remember making it. She calls out for TIME and smiles seeing it, as this was a card she feels she and her mother, Nadeshiko, made together (that’s a sweet way to look at it!).

Sakura calls for the card to break the ‘cage frozen in time’, and this seems to do the trick in breaking it. It makes sense that this cage was built from time considering where they are and the very type of spell that triggered this trap in the first place. So it seems logical that time would be the thing to break it. I think even Kaito himself once said that spells could be broken more easily when you used time magic.

The cage breaks and Kaito spreads his wings in freedom! Sakura and Syaoran quickly look for an exit and starts towards it, but when they look back, they notice that dragon Kaito isn’t following them.

However, before they get much opportunity to think about why, there seems to be an attack coming from above. And OH BOY does this attack look familiar. It actually looks to be exactly the same as chapter 33 when Kaito fended off that attack from the Clan and Association! It would make complete sense to me that this was an attack from them considering how dangerous Kaito is to them. Certainly they don’t want him escaping his punishment.

I think things are really going to ramp up action wise in the next chapter, and I do think as well that Akiho’s part is very near. I have a feeling Kaito wasn’t just staying where he was to avoid attacks from the Association and Clan but also because he doesn’t feel he deserves to. And who of all people but Akiho could convince him of his worth and to come out? I’m looking forward to seeing how this goes and what sort of repercussions will arise from dragon Kaito entering Tomoeda!

I will try to make sure I post the next analysis soon after the next chapter comes out here and won't leave y'all hanging! I can't wait for the next one!

#cardcaptor sakura #clear card #manga #chapter 67 #clamp #analysis #chrissy talks a lot #sakura #syaoran #kaito #akiho #yukito #touya #eriol #kaho #suppi #kero #tomoyo #spoilers

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meimi-haneoka · 1 year

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Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Chapter 67: Comments + JP-ENG translation differences

CCS fans!! Welcome back for another episode of “CLAMP are messing with my brain and I don’t like it”, aka Clear Card Arc! 😂We’ve reached Chapter 67, can you believe… For those who still don’t know, here’s a small reminder of the most important info we found out since last chapter: At the beginning of October (formalized on October 13th) we’ve got the confirmation that Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc will end with volume 14. In a Twitter Space of last week, CLAMP revealed that volume 14 will be a bit bigger (therefore, with more pages) than volume 13, which is already bigger than the standard. They haven’t announced exactly what will be the last chapter, so all we have left to do is enjoying these last chapters of the Clear Card saga, where we’ll find all the answers we’re looking for, as Ohkawa and Nekoi themselves reassured us in the same Space. In this chapter, for example, we start getting some answers about the current situation (I’m glad to see I was right on most things 😁)

Without further ado, let’s start this analysis/translation comparison thread, cause I feel there’ll be a lot to point out.

Gif of the month! 😂

The Color Page

Chapter 67 sees on the cover the spirits of two Cards that turned out to be absolutely crucial in this climax: Sakura Card Mirror and Clear Card Mirror, in a very “ying and yang” representation. The Japanese text over it quotes the words of the Card True or False back some chapters ago:

“You’ll have to ascertain… Is it a Lie (dream)? Or the Truth (reality)?

It’s interesting to note how Clear Mirror keeps the typical hair color that’s always been associated with Mirror, while the Sakura Card Mirror got this pinkish-purpleish tint to it. Was it always like this? We are used to the colors the anime canon sets as “official”, but as the manga canon sometimes switches things around (and this is seemingly the first time we have the spirit of a Card appearing on a color page), it might be a change done to distinguish the two Cards better.

The Cards Love Syaoran

We open the chapter with Syaoran waking up to the sound of someone calling him. It’s the Sakura Card Mirror, who confirms to him they’re at the edge of the world they’re currently all in. And lol, my readers, I already have to point out a translation mistake, since it’s important to understand why Syaoran is still inside this world…

ENG: You came to...just before you were driven out.

JP: You managed to stay here without being knocked off this world because [you realized] (the deceit).

So apparently, the fact Syaoran realized the deceit behind Mirror’s disguise (thanks to the absence of the shock, courtesy of Yelan) is what allowed him to stay here. It seems clear by now that if he kept believing the one he grabbed was Sakura, he would’ve been sent flying off this world and bye bye any remote chance to bring the real Sakura back. So again, a reiteration that Yelan’s spell ended up saving her son, one way or another. I think it was particularly brilliant because, even in the chance Kaito might have noticed the spell on him, he would’ve paid no mind, as apparently it was a spell with a “negative” connotation to the kids (and so, hard for Kaito to realize it would’ve actually helped Syaoran in this way). Syaoran realizes the spell is finally broken, and therefore he realizes it was his mother’s doing all along (for those wondering how, well, I can only imagine her son knows her and her methods that much). So we also got the confirmation that there’s no more “no-touch spell” and next time Sakura and Syaoran will be able to touch without any danger!

But the surprises are not over, as Syaoran realizes he’s got Flight on his back helping him staying “afloat” in the void.

And here we go again clarifying a part that’s pretty confusing in the ENG version in my opinion, it doesn’t explain exactly what Flight did here, beside mentioning something that is incorrect canon-wise.

ENG: I am Clow’s Mirror… Even if I look just like Sakura’s. The other Mirror copied the power of the Flight Card...so it remembered me. It saved me.

JP: I, Mirror (鏡), and (the other)Mirror (鏡像) have the same appearance. (The other) Mirror (鏡像) has copied Flight’s power before, so Flight remembered it and decided to help us out.

Sooooo. First of all. I get quite irked whenever the “old” Cards still get called “Clow Cards”, since the Clow Cards don’t exist anymore. It is factually wrong to call them as such because Sakura spent the entirety of the Sakura Card Arc making them be reborn under her name. The old incantation recited “Discard your old appearance and be reborn under your new Master’s name, Sakura”, after all. The Cards have all discarded their existence as Clow Cards and became Sakura Cards so long ago. Calling Mirror “Clow’s” here adds only confusion over confusion (before understanding what was happening, I really thought some shenanigan happened that nullified Sakura’s work on the Cards and somehow a Clow Card was able to come back!! WTF). If their intent was to distinguish Mirror (old) from Mirror (new), since they have the same name and we can’t use the kanji like the Japanese readers can do, they could’ve used any other trick. Call it “the other Mirror”, call it “the new Mirror” if you can’t use “Clear Card” because basically anyone has yet to call those cards “Clear Cards”, in the story. But if you say “I look like Sakura’s Card”, I will immediately think about all the Sakura Cards that are with Syaoran now, not the Clear Cards that Sakura is creating.

After this premise to point out that confusing mistake, this is what happened as I understood it: Flight and (Sakura)Mirror are from 2 different decks, so in theory they shouldn’t know eachother. But Sakura used the Mirror from the Clear deck on Flight before, so it is acquaintaned with that Card. Flight, seeing (Sakura)Mirror in that World, recognized her as having the same appearance as the Mirror from its own deck, made 2+2 (“this must be the Card our Master created Mirror from, since we’re all coming from her past experiences”) and decided to help her by preventing Syaoran to fall after passing out.

As we have all seen extensively throughout the series, Mirror confirms Flight loves Sakura very much, and apparently it loves Syaoran too, since Sakura means so much to him. Flight was also part of that special moment in the sky back in chapter 23, so it’s only normal it has come to know what’s really in Syaoran’s heart. Syaoran is very moved by all this trust in him and pats Flight in a very sweet way. I found this as a “convoluted” but probably necessary explanation as to why Flight would collaborate with Mirror to save Syaoran, despite supposedly not being acquainted with eachother. And then, Mirror apologizes profusely for deceiving Syaoran like that. If you pay attention, we reached a panel with Kaito, so do you think we escaped a translation mistake? Of course not, in fact: (yessir, I’ll call this ‘mistake’ because I’m tired to see him called as what NO one has ever called him in the series, perpetrating this misconception)

ENG: I let that man use me...to deceive you. JP: I let someone else use me to deceive you…

Yes, I am beyond done with the use of “that man” in relation to Kaito. Mirror here uses “someone else”. Besides, the ひと (hito) in 別のひと is written in hiragana. You might have heard me say this before, but apparently the use of hiragana instead of the kanji version for “hito” 人 represents warmth, a lack of animosity toward the person you’re talking about. When Syaoran talks about Kaito, he uses the same pattern. It’s not exclusive to them, as Kaito himself has used two different “ano hito” in relation to other people: with kanji (cold and detached) when talking about the Squids, and in hiragana (warm) when talking about Lilie. I saw my Japanese mutuals discussing about it more than once before, and I noticed it is a thing inside the story. So that “that man” that gives away so much bitterness is not only incorrect on a translation level, but also on an interpretation level. But, alas, we always have to make Kaito look worse than he is, right?(and I don’t think this chapter needed it, as he’s already behaving in the way he’s behaving. It’s like adding fuel to the fire).

Rant aside (it’s not over as there’ll be another instance shortly ahead), Syaoran reassured Mirror it’s not her fault, but rather his responsability for still being inexperienced. He goes to check for the Sakura Cards and….they’re not there in his pocket! Alas, Mirror confirms that the only Sakura Card allowed into this world is her, because Kaito brought her in. Again, we have the ENG translation using “that man”, but here in JP Mirror uses “the magician” instead (another name the people on Sakura’s team use very often to refer to Kaito). Mirror says that the new Cards that Sakura has been making are in this World too, but not all of them might move in Sakura’s interest like Flight did (“moving for her” rather than “answer to her”, as the ENG decided to translate it). We see an example of Shade, which has indeed moved in Kaito’s interest by destroying the scene with Tomoyo/Repair and bringing him and Sakura to the Red Queen, just like I had pointed out last time. Syaoran at this point doesn’t even know if his magic will work at all in this world, but he decides he has to carry on anyway, and Mirror pleads him to take her with him. Flight is absolutely wanting to be a part of this too, and Syaoran officially starts the “let’s go to Sakura” rescue operation!

All My Memories are Here

Right, where did we leave our “Sakura” last time? Alice is in the presence of the Red Queen, and as soon as she sees her, she’s about to shout her real name! It seems Sakura was about to recognize Akiho, but a strong headache messes with her head and she loses that glimpse of memory she was about to regain. The Cat, with a stern expression behind her, reminds her that she’s Alice, and so she introduces herself once again to the Red Queen. Again, Alice starts asking questions upon seeing the two people on the sides of the room. The Cat explains they are “The one who loves with kindness” and “The one who decides”. Interesting the choice in the ENG version where they translated 慈しむ者 with “the one who brings comforts”, as the verb 慈しむ expresses a very tender kind of love and affection (typical of parents for children). That same kanji is also present in the kanji name of the Kindness Card, so I would’ve appreciated the effort to include that nuance more. Alice, as she’s always been doing ever since she stepped foot into this World (guys, Sakura’s intuition is just that crazy good), asks the Cat: “For the Red Queen?” The Cat doesn’t answer (as usual), but his expression is once again very pensive. All these pressuring questions about the Queen...are pricking him where it’s needed to? We’ll see. The Red Queen welcomes Alice and, using the Transfer Card, teleports to Sakura, offering to be her guide throughout the castle. Another translation mistake: The Queen doesn’t say “take my hand” (do you actually see Alice taking the Queen’s hand, afterwards? Nope, indeed), but actually “touch it”, referring to Transfer’s target symbol. I want to remind you that Transfer was the one Card that Kaito commented “A pity. We were almost there” on. Transfer went very close, maybe even closer than the much more famous Rewind, to the Card Kaito wanted. We western fans don’t have much knowledge of it because the ENG translation back then translated his comment as just “oh well”. Back to us, Alice and the Red Queen get transported outside the Castle, to a place we have seen before….hehehe. Yes, this is the infamous botanical garden (would have it k1lled them to actually spell ‘botanical garden’ so it was clearer to everyone? We haven’t seen much of it back then so it might not be immediately recognizable to everyone)

The spread, of course, is absolutely stunning, as Mokona sensei got us accustomed to in this climax. The flowers are made of glass, and the Red Queen comments, while elegantly descending the stairs, that this place is very important, because it’s where all the memories are stored. Whose memories?, asks Alice, and the Queen cryptically answers “Someone’s”. Alice asks her if her memories are here too, to which the Queen replies affirmatively. Hence, I have to infer, the first person she was referring to wasn’t herself. Reflected in the big crystals, in the meantime, we see glimpses of the botanical garden we saw back in chapter 53.

Alice got the feeling she already knows this place.

ENG: Something tells me I’ve been here before...with someone very special to me. And I met someone very dear to me...and someone very dear to them. JP: I have the feeling I already know this “botanical garden”. I went there together with someone very special to me. Once there, I met someone very dear to me...along with that someone’s special person.

Cinzia, why being so nitpicky? Isn’t the meaning the same? No, it isn’t. Ohkawa tried to do something very clear here, and the way they translated it buried it under the sand. I just hope it’s carelessness and not a deliberate attempt at muddling something in the light of the finale. Basically, when Sakura was speaking, she made very clear the level of feelings between the two pairs, by using 2 distinctive adjectives: 特別なひと ("special person") to indicate the person Sakura is in love with

大切なひと ("important person") to indicate the feelings of someone being very dear to her

Sakura used "special person" to indicate Syaoran, but she used it ALSO when talking about Akiho's special person, Kaito. When talking about Akiho, instead, she used "important person". It was very very clear Ohkawa's intent here. "Kaito is to Akiho what Syaoran is to Sakura". Parallelism and such. So using “important person” in this context threw that subtle but important parallelism out of the window and watered down Akiho’s feelings as just the same level of friendship there is between her and Sakura. You should know by now that I wouldn’t tolerate that. 😂

Moving on (phew, so long), the two girls change location again. But we immediately realize the Cat was watching them from a distanced location and didn’t follow them suit. A voice starts talking…..and with absolute joy (from me) we realize it’s actually MOMO!! We only hear her voice and we don’t actually see her, but she tells him “Move them around, interfere with them, it’s all useless. This world, after all, is made by all the memories of Akiho, the one who calls me Momo and named this book ‘Alice in Clockland’...the memories of the girl who’s lost right now...and YOURS too, the one who activated the magic using this book” Basically here Momo is reprimanding Kaito because these little places made of memories that will “trigger” Sakura’s own memories will keep popping up, no matter how much he interferes, tries to steer Sakura’s attention or drags her away. So here we find out that not only Kaito’s subconscious is intertwined with this world, but Sakura’s and Akiho’s memories too. In that regard, we could say the rose garden appearing in last chapter might have been coming also from Akiho’s memories, in addition to Kaito’s. One curious thing I have to point out regarding the botanical garden is that, in theory, the two girls aren’t supposed to remember about it. Cause Kaito rewound the events of the botanical garden. While we might argue that Sakura, due to her powers, might have traces of these memories hidden down her subconscious, I still wonder if once again the place popped up from Kaito’s memories. After all, he’s the only one with clear memories of it and this was the place where Akiho went out of her way to invite him to. It must mean something to him too.

And here we basically get the confirmation of the thing I’ve been quite sure about since a couple of chapters ago, that is…..behind the Cat, there’s actually Kaito in disguise!!😂😂This rascal!! 😂 I mean, last chapter with some reactions of his he really let himself be caught, though 😝 Kaito answers to Momo that he’s been lucky the role of the Cat called for a calm and detached demeanor, and here Momo’s answers made me crack up big time!! 😂 “It would’ve been so much funnier if you had to play a spoiled brat….or a silly role” Kaito answers, with his usual demeanor between defiance and deference “I would’ve made an effort as far as possible” 😂😂😂NOW I want to see spoiled brat Kaito...no, wait...he already is one 😂

We find out from Momo that he used the Clear Mirror Card (note: Momo doesn’t say he stole that too, only that he used it…) to take the appearance of the next head of the Li family, but… Momo: “You can’t hide” Kaito: “What, my wickedness?” ( the JP didn’t use exactly “cruelty”) Momo: “No, your true nature” (I think the use of ‘nature’ here is important. It implies it’s the very opposite of “wicked”).

This is, I believe, a remark that pricked Kaito where he’s most vulnerable, as he gets up and he doesn’t even let Momo finish what she’s saying (something about even a little spell possibly doing damages to him, in the state he’s in right now?), stating he must be back to Alice’s side, as his role requires. We get the last confirmation that we’re currently inside Momo’s book, under the effect of a spell, and that the story is inexorably going towards “the beginning of the end”.

Back to the “outside world”, to Yukito & company, we see his barrier starting to deteriorate. Yukito is very tired and so is Touya. To avoid the spell from breaking, Yue talks to his “other self” and tells him:

JP: “Let’s swap. You and me are the same being, so I can keep this spell alive” "Ah, that's right. There's still my other's self power left" I've put the JP version here because that “traces” used by the ENG version might trick some people into getting a wrong interpretation, that is, that Yue was supposedly gone but there were actually still traces of him inside Yukito. None of this is really suggested in the JP version and the Spanish translation actually suggest Yukito was simply forgetting he could count on Yue as well. And so, Yue takes over and asks Nakuru to turn into Ruby Moon and act as a “battery”, to boost Yukito’s magic spell together...I found this a beautiful moment of collaboration and friendship beyween the two guardians!! They’ve come such a long way!! 🥲

The chapter ends with a BOOM: Yue threatens Syaoran to punch him if he doesn’t make it unscathed, and Touya agrees, saying “Hurry up and come back along with her...SYAORAN LI”.

GUYS GUYS TOUYA KINOMOTO CALLED SYAORAN WITH HIS FULL NAME 😂😂😂 Can you hear the wedding bells in the distance??? 😂This is like the “Big Brother” approval mark 😂

In this general climate of putting aside the differences, the animosity, to embrace others, I can’t help but yearning to see this climate extended to all the characters of Clear Card. I know this is what CCS is about, so I’ll just keep having faith and wait for that moment. It'll be a beautiful moment, I'm sure.

I have to run to bed but I wanted to get this thing out as soon as possible due to all the confusing things, so for now I'll just leave it here and as usual I'm available for more comments and theories in asks or comments! A quick reminder of the dates for the next chapter, chapter 68 (we're so close!!): November 28th, on Bookwalker/Azuki (digital, ENG) November 29th, on Clamp-fans (digital, JP and other languages) December 1st, on Comic-days (digital, JP ) and Nakayoshi (paper and digital, JP)

#cardcaptor sakura #card captor sakura #ccsakura #clear card arc #ccs spoilers #translation differences #chapter 67 #sakura card captor #sakura kinomoto #akiho shinomoto #yuna d. kaito #syaoran li #...my sis will scold me tomorrow

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