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floofiestboy · 1 month

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Translation of the PASH interview with M27's Director

I translated the interview with M27 Director Nakaoka Chika in PASH's April issue, as well as a few of the questions from the Scriptwriter Ookura Takahiro's interview. (Raw from the DCEN Discord.)

Key new information:

There's a scene that reveals why Kudo Shinichi and Kaito Kid look similar.

They decided to save Hakodate's best nightscape for an "important scene" (that isn't the Kid vs. Heiji swordfight). Additionally, Heiji will be saying an impactful line, and Nakaoka would like everyone to pay attention to Heiji's feelings leading up to him saying that line.

Per Nakaoka, Aoyama said that Okita and Kazuha know each other's faces, but aren't any closer than that. (Also, they have a conversation in the movie.)

Ookura is fond of Ran's role because of the way Ran enthusiastically supports Kazuha in the movie.

Translation under cut.

Preparing For Battle

What will be the plot of Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram, which will be released next month…?

Gather hints from Director Nagaoka and scriptwriter Ookura’s stories!

A new truth regarding Kid, not yet shown in the original series, will be revealed.

As the release date of The Million-Dollar Pentagram draws ever nearer, new information drops by the day. What no doubt drew everyone’s attention the most was the tagline on the main visual- “At last, it will be revealed. ‘The truth regarding Kid.’” It appears as though in this movie, a “secret” that has yet to be shown in the original series will be revealed.

Please also draw your attention to Hattori Heiji, who stars in a movie for the first time in seven years, and how his confession to Kazuha will turn out. We hope you look forward to the release! ♪

Staff Interview 01: Director Nakaoka Chika

Q. When did you receive the offer to be the director of Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram?

It was after The Scarlet Bullet (Detective Conan Movie 24) ended. Aoyama-sensei was the one to nominate me- it was already decided that Kid would appear at that time, and as he quite enjoyed The Fist of Blue Sapphire (Detective Conan Movie 23), he likely nominated me thinking “Well, it’s a Kid movie, so better go with Nakaoka!” I definitely felt the pressure, but I was also determined to do my best.

Q. In this movie, Hattori will be part of the main cast along with Kaito Kid, correct?

I learnt that Heiji would be a main cast member at the same time I learnt that Kid would appear, but my first thought was- “So they meet at last!” In the original manga and the anime series, Kid and Heiji have shared the stage in Fairy Lips (Anime Ep. 983-984 Kid vs. Koumei: The Targeted Lips). But in the movies, even if they’ve appeared in the same one, they’ve never met without Kid being in disguise. So I realized that this would be the first time they would actually talk.

Q. Their swordfight, as shown in the currently-revealed previews, left quite the impression on me.

As the movie takes place in Hakodate, and Hijikata Toshizō appears as an original character, we decided fairly early on to include a swordfight. Aside from the Kid vs. Heiji swordfight revealed in the PVs, there’s actually so many swordfights you might think- isn’t this a bit much?! We did decide, “Let’s go with something related to katanas,” but honestly I never thought we’d show so many katanas in the end (lol).

Q. Please tell us the inside scoop on the Kaito Kid vs. Hattori swordfight scene.

We decided we wanted to have an action scene somewhere where you could see Hakodate’s nightscape, but we wanted to save the well-known nightscape for an “important scene”. So, we had Kid and Heiji fight with a lesser-known nightscape as their backdrop.

Q. As the movie takes place in Hakodate, Hokkaido, did you go visit in person?

Yes! It was my first time in Hokkaido, so I was very excited for it. And when I arrived, I truly felt once again that Hakodate valued history deeply, from the way they kept old buildings in great repair. I understood at a glance why Hijikata-san valued the land so deeply. It also felt rather special that Mount Hakodate was visible no matter where you were.

Q. What are you keeping in mind with this movie as you bring Edogawa Conan to life?

I keep in mind that it’s always Edogawa Conan who discovers the important things when it comes to mysteries. While Kid and Heiji are the main cast in this movie, I’d still like the protagonist to play a big part. Also, this is just related to Conan, but the way Takayama Minami-san would act out Conan’s expressions left a big impression on me. She would question my lines and ask things like, “What is Conan feeling in this scene?” And her feedback was all amazingly sharp- it made me think, “I’d expect no less from Conan-kun!” (lol). Sometimes my heart would thump as I answered.

Q. Could you tell us what you think we should focus on in the movie?

Definitely the katanas. As the main motif, they appear quite a bit, and I investigated them quite a bit- I put lots of care into it. There’s also a scene where Heiji says a line I’d want everyone who loves Detective Conan to hear. His entire atmosphere changes when he says that line- it was so amazing, I couldn’t stop smiling after the recording. Please look forward to it! I’d also appreciate it if you’d pay attention to Heiji’s feelings until that point.

Aside from that, there’s a scene in the PV where Heiji is shocked at Kaito’s bare face- please don’t miss the scene that reveals why, “Hey, don’t Shinichi and Kid look kinda similar?”

Q. Please tell us what left an impression on you during your interactions with the movie staff.

It was my first time meeting Kanno (Yugo)-san, but I truly felt that all of the songs he composed for the movie were superb. The Million-Dollar Pentagram has aspects to it that resemble a period drama, so I requested that he include taiko drums in his pieces. Then, he created music reminiscent of a festival that hadn’t appeared much in Detective Conan before. It felt very fresh to me when I heard it for the first time.

Q. Did your experience with The Fist of Blue Sapphire and The Scarlet Bullet help you with this movie?

When it comes to the Detective Conan movies, the usual suspects are always present on the production crew. So I feel as though I’ve gotten the hang of things like everyone’s areas of expertise, such as what scenes would be best drawn by which person. So I always made sure to give the storyboarders and animators scenes that would allow them to bring out their own unique talents. I also think the way the Detective Conan movies use a surprising amount of CGI is also one of its unique points. We use so much, it makes me think- “I don’t think a normal series would use so much?” But it’s because it’s been used for so many years that when we join CGI with animation, we can judge that, “Ah, this much is alright.” I believe that The Million-Dollar Pentagram has managed that balance as well.

Q. On the flip side, what did you do for the first time?

We had a designer named Hama Yuuto-san join us for this movie. When I met him on a different project, I thought that he drew designs that made a big impression. He’s produced various designs in a superb manner for The Million-Dollar Pentagram as well. For example, I consulted with Hama-san regarding things such as the stained glass and Higashikubo Eitatsu’s katana’s [scabbard(?)]. I think it’s best to consult a professional designer when designing something rather than an amateur trying it, and as a large number of katanas appear in this movie, it also allowed us to differentiate them.

Q. Who would you like us to focus our attention on in this movie?

Among the guest characters, I would say Kawazoe. He’s a bit clumsy and scatterbrained, but he’s skilled at information gathering despite that. He was a fun character to bring to life. Among the main cast, I would say Heiji and Kazuha. What will happen with their love story? I’m sure there’s plenty wondering about that!

Q. On a side note, when the teaser visual was revealed, Okita went trending on X (formerly Twitter.) I think many look forward to his part in the movie.

We decided to include Okita as the movie takes place in Hakodate and includes Hijikata, but he’s certainly a super cool character. Though I can’t say much as it’s before release, there is a scene where Okita and Kazuha talk to each other. But I think in the original series they haven’t talked properly before, so I didn’t know how close they were- that’s why I asked Aoyama-sensei for information on what their relationship is like. He responded, “They would recognize each other, but that’s all.” I kept that in mind while having them talk.

Q. Finally, please leave a message to our readers waiting with anticipation for the release.

I believe you’ll see the movie in different ways if you watch it from a different perspective each time- for example, first from Kid’s perspective, then from Heiji’s, then again from Kazuha’s. Also, you’ll only be able to experience the mystery of where the treasure is the first time you see the movie, so I would appreciate it if you played the part of one of the detectives and tried to solve the mystery as you watch.

Staff Interview 02: Scriptwriter Ookura Takahiro

T/N: I was too lazy to translate the whole thing by the time I got to this point, but have a few of the questions I was actually interested in.

[...]

Q. So that’s why Okita will be appearing in the movies for the first time?

While I can’t speak in detail about it, in the end I appreciated that Okita was part of the movie cast. Please look forward to it.

Q. Speaking of first appearances, Detective Kawazoe will be appearing as an original character in this movie. How did you create his character?

As the movie takes place in Hakodate, we decided to have Inspector Nishimura appear- that’s when we realized that he would have a subordinate, something like what Detective Takagi is to Inspector Megure. Since we couldn’t make Inspector Nakamori into his subordinate, we created Detective Kawazoe.

Also, before we decided on the treasure-finding plot, we initially had him as a spy that Public Safety had placed into their ranks. There were some characters we created because we’d need more police officers if Public Safety made an appearance as well. But even after the plot changed and Public Safety no longer played a part, Detective Kawagoe remained. This is the inside scoop on his character creation.

[...]

Q. What other characters would you like us to focus on in this movie?

While Heiji and Kazuha are the main cast, personally I’d choose Ran. I must apologize, but I haven’t been able to make Ran shine in the scripts I’ve been in charge of until now. But in this movie, I felt it was easy to bring Ran to life. She supports Kazuha full steam ahead. I personally was a big fan of that (lol).

[...]

#detective conan #dcmk #detective conan movie 27 #meitantei conan #detco #the million-dollar pentagram #hyakumandoru no michishirube #detective conan m27 #honestly given the focus on hijikata toshizou my money is on shinichi and kaito and okita all having a shared bakumatsu era ancestor #my translations

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weeb-polls-with-pip · 3 months

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Autistic Anime Boys Side B Round 1 Match 15

Propaganda:

Kaito -

"Can we please vote for the blue man and his cool scarf. Please.

Look at this man's face. He has autism swag, AND he's blue AND he sings! He's friends with Hatsune Miku, and he lives in your computer!! (Maybe).

He's the first male Vocaloid to be developed, and when first released he was considered a 'failure' due to the fact that he was not as popular as his female counterpart. This has changed since, and he is now more popular!!"

Ranpo -

"He's a narcissistic man-child, but you can't help but love him anyway. He really grows on you after you start getting into his tragic backstory of being an orphan at 14, then getting kicked out of the police academy for being too smart. The anime all but says he's autistic, with his adopted father figure acknowledging that Ranpo is much more intelligent than most people, and sees the world very differently."

#tumblr polls #autistic anime boys poll #kaito #vocaloid #ranpo edogawa #edogawa ranpo #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs #bsd ranpo #ranpo bsd #rampo edogawa #edogawa rampo #project sekai #vocaloid kaito #kaito vocaloid

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kaito-pictures · 5 months

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Assorted Diamond Dust in celebration of his debut song turning into a novel !! (link below)

#halyosy #snowman #voca news #kaito #vocaloid #diamond dust #kaito blue is best blue #vocaloid screenshots #vocaloid kaito #kaito vocaloid #screenshots #vocaloid screanshots #project diva #kaito tuesday

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animeyanderelover · 3 months

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Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy relationship, possessive behavior, obsession, overprotective behavior, jealousy, paranoia, slight non-con, abduction, violence, death

Tags: @saiyara05 @shellofthewell @sadsaidthesadthing @luna-in-love-with-you

Words: 6.5k

The CEO and her bodyguard: Pt.3

Pt.2

It was raining. It was raining as dark clouds covered up the sky as far as you vould see, hiding the beautiful blue sky from your view. You huffed out some air as you sat in the small lobby of your house. Well, it was actually a small hostel designed with some additional room for up to 10 guests but visits on this island were so rare that most of the time it was only you and your parents in here anyways. You were so bored! When was this rain going to stop?

As you sat on one of the chairs on the table whilst gazing outside the window, your head abruptly turned around when you heard the only phone in the entire house ring. You pulled both of your brows up to your forehead. It was quite rare to have some call. Nevertheless, you stood up as you walked quickly to the wooden counter and lifted the handset. Hopefully it would be someone interesting so that you could waste some time whilst waiting for this rain to stop.

"Hello?"

"(y/n)? That's you, right?"

"Oh! Aki-chan! Why are you calling? I thought that you were busy working in Tokyo for their compa...Aki-chan?"

You stopped your excited rambling due to your best friend's unexpected call. Ever since she had moved over to Tokyo in order to work for the Ito Company and you had stayed here, both of you hadn't been able to see each other as often. You had so much you wanted to tell her and had so much you wanted to ask her. But you heard just now over the telephone Aki-chan's troubled and heavy breathing. You knew that sound. Aki always took such deep and strained breaths when she was panicking. And Aki wasn't a person who panicked very easily.

"Hey...What happened, Aki? Try to take deep and long breaths."

You spoke more seriously into the telephone as your mind started racing with reasons why she would call you all of a sudden. If she sounded like this then that was a clear indicator that she hadn't just called to chat with you about how your life was going.

You heard her trying to breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth for a few moments as if to gather her composure again and as desperately as you wanted to ask her what was going on, you knew better than to pressure her. Aki needed a bit time to collect herself and would most likely snap at you if you would be even a bit too pushy.

"H-Have Kaito-san and Daisuke-san arrived?" She finally managed to ask when she had calmed down a little bit although her voice still betrayed her with a hint of nervousness. You furrowed your eyebrows instantly when you heard her mentioning their names as you felt a mixture of confusion and irritation stir up somewhere inside your chest.

"What?! They wanted to come back here again? Oh my god, I thought I already made myself clear, especially to Daisuke, that I have no interest in moving over to Tokyo and working for their com-“

"Have they come or haven't they?" Aki repeated herself as the urgency and the fear in her voice became more audible. You paused when you caught on to this as you fell quiet for a while. Aki sounded scared...

"No, they haven't. I didn't even know that they were planning to visit our island." You eventually answered as you glanced outside the window.

You heard Aki's breath stutter over the phone when she heard your words.

"T-they didn't even contact you?"

"No?" You answered her as your confusion only grew.

"Aki...what is going on?" You asked shortly after as you wondered what had gotten into your normally composed and sharp friend. If she sounded that desperate that most likely meant that something really bad had happened and slowly you started feeling a heavy dread sitting in the pit of your stomach by listening to her silent emotional meltdown.

"...I-It's alright. It probably is nothing. Just...don't worry yourself with this. I'm sorry for calling you so suddenly. I don't know what suddenly came over me." Aki eventually replied as you could hear how she tried her hardest to return to her normally detached and rational tone, although you could still sense the stress even if both of you were only talking over the telephone.

"Aki! You are clearly not alright. What happened? Did...did something happen to Daisuke and his father or-"

"I have to end this call right now. Something just came up. I'm really sorry. Goodbye."

You had a perplexed and confused look on your face as Aki just hung up like this and you were left standing in the hostel, your mind reeling as you tried to understand what had just happened.

"What the heck?" You mumbled as you put the telephone down and just stared at it for a while before you let out a long sigh and walked back to the table.

Aki's words were still on your mind though as your gaze focused on the window and what you could see from it, precisely on the ocean you could see from here.

Daisuke and Kaito-san...

As you continued watching the storm and the rain unfold outside, the heaviness in your stomach only increased.

You had a very bad feeling.

~~~

"...oji? Toji! Hey, Toji!"

Green eyes zoomed in on you as he stirred awake from whatever haze his mind had suddenly taken him to. You were sitting on your office desk, a dreadful amount of files piled up on it and no less than 3 telephones placed on the already cramped space. The window behind you revealed a black sky, the lights of the city cutting through the darkness with their brightness.

His eyes darted over to the clock hanging on the wall and he let out a slight groan when he noticed the time.

01:34

“Don’t you space out on me! Your work isn’t over until I am in bed! Also, please stop staring at me.”

A look of mild surprise fell across his face when he heard your words.

“I’ve been staring at you?” He asked you as you saw wrinkles appear on his forehead as he tried to remember where he had been with his mind.

“For nearly 3 minutes. Did I do something? Is something wrong with my face?”

Toji quickly shook his head, grumbling as he tried to remember what had even gone on in his mind prior to your voice waking him up from his trance. He'd just been watching you typing, signing and talking away if he remembered correctly and then the next thing he knew, you had called him out for staring at you. He'd been staring at you again before getting lost in the sight of you, hadn't he? How many times had that happened by now?

"May I ask when the lady plans to head back home?" Toji eventually asked as he decided to switch topics before you could dig any deeper. You took a look at the watch and your eyebrows pulled up to your forehead when you caught a glimpse of the time. Quickly shock turned into embarrassment as you realised how long you had been letting him wait in here for you already.

"Oh...Give me 10 minutes." You mumbled with a sheepish smile that had his heart skip a beat when he saw you directing it to him. He let out a sigh before he leaned back into the couch, throwing his head back although his eyes were still looking at you. You continued scribbling stuff down for a while before you noticed his green eyes still focused on you.

"I'm sorry, I'll try to hurry up! Just-just play on your Nintendo until I'm finished!"

"Can't do that. The battery is empty." Toji replied casually as he lifted his hand slightly up, holding the device with its black screens up for you to see.

Great. Your shoulders slumped as you just gave him a nod. He really had nothing to entertain himself with anymore besides watching you and that made you feel a tad bit guilty. On the other hand you really had to cleanse all those schedules and appointments from your schedule to be able to take some days off. It had been years after all since you had last seen them after all.

~~~

"Your perception of 10 minutes seems to be quite different from my definition." Toji spoke up half-amused as his eyes darted back to the clock.

02:17

"I'm nearly finished. Only 5 more minutes." You muttered out as he could see how your eyes at this point were for longer periods closed than they were open as you sat hunched over your desk, reading through some files.

Your head was resting in one of your hands as it almost seemed like your head was too heavy for you to support only by your neck. You were clearly at your limit now.

"I don't think you'll last 5 minutes." Toji remarked with a grin on his face as he watched you struggling to stay awake. You gave him a tired groan as you desperately tried to focus on the words in front of you, although your sleep-addled brain couldn't grasp the bigger meaning of the sentences anymore. It felt like trying to grab smoke with your hands as you attempted to make sense of those documents. "Not yet..."

~~~

02:36

Soft breaths escaped your lips as your head was laying on the surface of your table. He wasn’t surprised by this sight. You’d been working far too long now for your standards already but for some reason you’d been too stubborn to listen to him. Normally you’d only do what you had to do before eagerly calling it a day. Those last 2 weeks you had worked suspiciously hard though and he was sure you had an ulterior motive for it. Toji did not believe you to just work for work’s sake.

He stood up from the couch and stepped quietly over to you. He bent slightly down, observing your peaceful face. He watched your eyelashes fluttering gently when one of his hands placed itself on your shoulder and carefully shook you.

“(y/n), let’s get you home.”

He whispered in a low voice as he tried to shake you awake. All he got from you was a sleepy grumble as you lifted your head the tiniest bit, your eyes squeezed tightly together as if they were a seal you refused to open.

In only a mere few seconds your head dropped back onto the table as you went back to sleeping, leaving Toji just standing over you. Honestly, he was used to you having a bit more of an irregular sleep schedule since you were a fairly energetic person but the countless hours of works had really drained you. It was rather cute though, watching you sleeping so calmly.

“Fine then.” He mumbled as he heaved you out of your chair before he lifted you up in his arms. His one hand roughly pushed everything into your handbag that you had taken with you from home before walking out of the office, switching the light off before walking down the corridors. Since it was fairly late, there were barely any people left. Strangely enough he didn’t know if he should have been disappointed or relieved about this.

A part of him somehow almost wanted the people who worked for you to see him carrying you around like he did. When his eyes laid on your resting form in his hold though, another part of him felt a biting heat somewhere in his heart that only got worse when he considered others seeing you in such a vulnerable and precious state. He didn’t want them to see you right now as you slumbered away so blissfully in his arms.

Maybe it was for the best that he really didn’t see anybody else as he headed to the car with you. He carefully placed you on the passenger seat and buckled your seatbelt on for you. His body brushed against yours as he did so and he could feel your warmth even through your clothes. His heart reacted to those brushes of body against body as he felt the organ pounding faster and harder against his rib cage. He swallowed heavier than he had expected as the scent of your faint and fruity perfume filled his brain.

Dark pupils dilated a bit as your scent invaded his nostrils and he took in the sleepy and innocent sight he had in front of him. Vulnerable, defenseless and solely relying on his protection. You really were trusting him a lot, weren’t you?

His breath deepened a tad bit as his heartbeat increased and he could feel his own blood rushing through his body. Green eyes were zooming in on your face as he drank in the sight of you. From your fluttering eyelashes to your softly parted lips glistening with your lipstick before his eyes traveled further down to your chest, your stomach and your thighs.

His mind started spinning as images filled his head and he was pretty sure that if Yukimaru would have known of any of them, she would have fired him. He abruptly pulled away from you, taking a few steps backwards as he let out a deep breaths through his lips. One of his hands ran through his black locks as he tried to clear all thoughts out of his head. You didn’t stir awake as you continued to sleep blissfully and he couldn’t help the spark of arousal he felt upon seeing you so deeply asleep.

He paced back and forth for a few minutes, his heart pounding with thrill and his blood rushing through his body before Toji felt capable enough to also sit down in the car to drive you to your apartment.

~~~

Yukimaru wasn’t waiting in the lobby when he walked into the building with you peacefully asleep on his bag. Toji was pleasantly surprised when he spotted her nowhere but then again, it was 03:13 am already so perhaps even she had already fallen asleep by now. He could have called her and Toji had no doubt that she would have answered his call and would have hurried down within 5 minutes whilst decently dressed to bring you to the 4th floor.

But was that really neccessary when he could just do the same?

He had only been in your apartment once when he had first signed the contract to be your bodyguard and he was sure that you wouldn't hold it against him. You weren't Yukimaru after all who still had a vendetta against him for not having told him about the accident a few months ago when you had invited him into the izakaya where both of you had met for the first time and had been followed on the way home. Yukimaru would just make everything unneccesarily complicated.

He rummaged through your handbag before fishing the key out amongst all of the content stuffed inside and headed with you to the lift. Honestly, you had a lot of random things just stuffed inside of your handbag that it honestly took him a while to find the small key. You had some KitKat inside there with a lot of different flavors, some cute clingers you had probably just bought on impulse whilst wandering around outside, your flip phone and some files that you were probably planning to go through whilst in the comfort of your apartment. There was also a picture of what he assumed was an island there, somewhat wrinkled around the edges already as it looked to be older than all of the other stuff you had in your bag.

As he turned the key around and pressed the now activated button to allow the lift to go to the highest floor, he wondered when he would also receive one of those keys. He was the only one who lived in this building who didn't have a key and that despite having worked for you since more than a year. Admittedly, the only people living here were Sone, Yukimaru and you but it was still strange. Wasn't he doing a good job? Weren't you trusting him? Or was it Yukimaru who just prevented you from giving him also a key because she didn't trust him yet?

He squeezed his eyes shut to silence all of those thoughts as he brought you to your apartment, unlocking this door too after having found the right device to do in your handbag. His eyes couldn't help but briefly dart around the interior as he hadn't been here since over a year ago although he didn't admire your home for too long before he started looking for your bedroom. After 3 failed attempts by walking into the wrong room because you had too many of them, he finally found your bedroom.

He carefully placed you onto the mattress. And then he just looked at you. He should have left your apartment right now because his job was done. But instead he just stood there over your form sprawled on the bed, green eyes slowly moving up and down your body before landing on your face. There was something very serene about your sleeping face. There was something very beautiful about you.

He swallowed as he felt his heart pounding against his ribcage again as the desire from earlier returned. It felt like with every heartbeat heat slowly spread through his veins as his eyes trailed greedily down your body, focusing on the sliver of skin he could see through your black blouse that was slightly pushed up your stomach. His hands twitched before they slowly moved up and grabbed your hip. Green eyes were glued to your face, ready to pull back and disappear if you should give him any sign that you were about to wake up. Yet nothing happened as your exhaustion had gifted you with a deep sleep.

One of his hands slowly pushed itself underneath your blouse, his fingers massaging the warm skin and flesh on your stomach whilst his other hand trailed up and down your form, feeling every curve on your body. He could feel the heat in his body increasing as he savored the warmth of your skin, his fingers slowly creeping up further until he brushed against the material of your bra.

This was wrong.

He knew that this could get him easily fired if anyone would find out about this. He knew that he should stop this. He knew that he should have probably felt bad about molesting you whilst you were asleep from a hard and long day at work.

Yet besides a very tiny amount of guilt, Toji didn't feel bad. No, he enjoyed this.

His lips met your own as he leaned down to your face. At first it was still in a more careful manner but as soon as the feeling of your soft lips filled his senses, he got more frisky as the kiss got rougher and more heated. Hands started grabbing your body in a tighter hold, squeezing your warm flesh and Toji couldn't help the groan when he felt his cock tightening against his pants.

Fuck...He really wanted to...

The moment a grumble left your lips, his thoughts stopped. He instantly removed himself from you, slightly-alarmed and still half-aroused. You turned to the other side of the bed, your back now facing him as you continued grumbling for a while until you had found a comfortable position. Only then did you stop squirming around. Toji didn't move, focusing on your still body and your even breath before he slowly started to move again.

His own breath was much more irregular than your own as he still felt his blood rushing through his veins in excitement.

You were still asleep. You hadn't woken up. He could still-

He abruptly turned around and left your bedroom, hurrying down the floor before leaving your apartment entirely, quietly shutting the door behind him. He didn't stop though as he walked with fast and long footsteps down the corridor until he stepped into the lift and pressed the button to the third floor.

His mind was racing as he pressed himself against the wall of the elevator. There were so many things he would have needed to comprehend yet the time in the lift was too short for him to even begin to grasp what had just happened. A few seconds just passed with him staring outside the lift before he finally pushed himself away from the wall. His eyes quickly landed on Yukimaru's door as soon as he stepped outside the elevator because the last thing he would have needed right now would have been getting stuck in a one-sided conversation with her where she would most likely belittle and scold him again for something. Yet he couldn't hear any steps from behind her door.

So even Yukimaru Aki wasn't working all the time whils simultanously acting like a mild helicopter parent when it came to you, huh?

He still made an effort to silently unlock the door to his apartment and silently closing it behind him just in case. He took his shoes off and then he just stood there in the floor of his apartment, staring at the space in front of him.

Logically speaking he should have just headed to bed to get a whiff of sleep before standing up again in about 2 hours. However, he doubted that he could. Not with his heart beating so loudly against his chest. Not with his blood and arousal pumping through his body. Not with the racing thoughts he could barely manage to organise.

Toji let out a sigh as he ran his hand through his slightly tousled hair. His eyes wandered down his own body as he examined his own erection before his eyes darted to the bathroom. A shower was out of question unless he wanted to risk waking Yukimaru up but he supposed taking a bath wouldn't be so bad right now.

He discarded his shirt carelessly on the ground as soon as he stepped inside the bathroom and quickly turned on the faucet, turning it around until the water was steaming as it poured inside the bathtub. He watched the process with only half of his mind there as the other one drifted elsewhere.

He pursed his lips as they started tingling when he recalled what he had just done with you in an attempt to get rid of the sensation of your warm lips pressed against his own.

He felt his heart picking up its speed again as an unfamiliar feeling started filling him, something that surpassed the simple physical desires even if a part of him would have wanted to just let those sensations stay at nothing more than sexual needs.

It was a genuine yearning for you. A genuine yearning to have you pressed underneath his own body, to feel your every inch against him and to never let go of your warmth. He wanted to keep you inside his arms, never let another man near you, never let anyone keep him away from you...

When he felt a hot sensation sloshing against his fingers, his green eyes regained their focus. The bathtub was nearly filled to the brim with steaming hot water and he hadn't even realised until now. He quickly turned the faucet off before the water could spill on the floor even more and was forced to drain a bit of the liquid in the bathtub unless he wanted to spill half of it as soon as he would step inside.

He removed the last few pieces of clothing from his body before he finally got inside and he had to swallow the tiniest groan that he wanted to let out when the hot water engulfed his still erect and much more sensitive member. Toji tried to ignore the throbbing sensation though as he tilted his head back, his eyelids partially closed as he stared at the white ceiling.

He was trying to will his heartbeat to slow down yet the more he tried to relax, the worse it got. Thoughts of you kept on popping up, some memories of his and some images that only made him more aware of his aching erection.

He wouldn't have really cared about jerking off in the bathtub normally but it was the fact that he couldn't pin this down to mere sexual lust that had him hesitate. His eyes narrowed when he tried to recall when exactly his feelings for you who should have just been another source for money had changed so drastically. This wasn't like him.

The last woman he had had a thing with, he couldn't even remember her face nor her name, had exactly been what he had thought you to be when he had initially accepted your job offer. She had been a little fountain of money for him to get by for a while and she had been only loved for her money and her usefulness when it came to sexually pleasing him. Now that he thought about it, he faintly remembered something else about her. Didn't that woman also have a child of her own? Had they been a girl or a boy? Toji just couldn't remember.

Yet he could remember everything about you so clearly. He remembered your addiction to KitKat and all the weird flavors this country thought the people would enjoy as well as your addiction to coffee since you couldn't properly work without at least one cup of this liquid in the early morning. He remembered how you had one time bought him multiple boxes of beer just for him to prove to you that he really couldn't get drunk and even the one ridiculous time where you had asked him to squeeze an apple in his hands with all of his strength. He could still recall the look of amazement when the fruit had turned into puree in his hand and he even remembered the one time where Aki had to hold you back from buying a watermelon because you had wanted him to squish that thing with his biceps. Sometimes you really had just such spontanous and silly ideas, didn't you?

You were different from the last woman he had hooked up with solely for money and sexual relief. You weren't just another source of money or pleasure. You...you were something more, weren't you?

This was a problem.

He had never even expected in the slightest to develop feelings for one of his clients. He hadn't loved any woman since...

"Take care of Megumi for me."

He all but ripped the small hand shower attached to the bathtub out of its hold and turned the faucet on. His one hand abruptly turned the handle around until the water pouring out of the hand shower was almost scorching hot. His skin flushed as he just poured the hot water over his head, his neck, his shoulders and the little bit of his chest that was peeking out from the water that was already in the bathtub.

When he turned the faucet off again, his skin had turned red from the exposure to the very hot water. Wet strands of hair were covering his eyes but he didn't care enough to slick them back. He didn't want to care about anything.

He didn't want to remember...

~~~

Aki stirred only half-awake from her sleep. Not enough to sit up, not even enough to open her heavy eyelids. Just enough to be faintly aware that she was awake and cuddled up in her blanket.

She let out a tired grunt as she managed to gather the strength to turn around to the other side of her bed, determined to use every minute she had left before her alarm clock would wake her up and she would start her routine of taking a quick and lukewarm shower, dressing up, taking a quick breakfast and applying her makeup before driving with either Sone-san or (y/n) to the company to work.

Speaking of (y/n), had she actually already returned by now. Aki hoped so because as much as she appreciated your new fervor of working as hard as you did, she didn't want you to overwork yourself too many nights in a row. Although Aki probably wasn't the best person to scold you for this as she herself had been often guilty for that. She knew that this zealousy would end in only a few days though as soon as you had emptied your schedule enough to deserve a few days off. You'd been working so hard in order to make time to travel back there after all.

How long had it been since Aki had last been there? 4 years? Yes, that sounded about right. The last time the both of you had been there had been after the death of Kaito-san and Daisuke-san when Sone-san had told you that you had been appointed the new CEO of the Ito company. It had been Daisuke's last wish before he had died in the hospital after all...

Aki had been that close to drifting back to sleep again when she heard a muffled groan which she assumed was coming from Fushiguro's apartment. She tiredly lifted her head, her eyes half-closed as she stared at the wall separating her and Fushiguro's apartment as she blearily tried to listen for another one of those sounds. What had that sound been in the first place? There were no animals that he kept as far as she knew next to the fact that pets were forbidden in this building anyways.

She waited for a minute or two before the muscles in her neck grew sore and she let her head flop back on the pillow again. She was not willing to stay awake and listen to what her neighbour was doing in his apartment if she hadn't just imagined that sound altogether.

~~~

"Waiting for (y/n) down here?" Sone asked him as him and Yukimaru left the elevator together, both of them about to drive to the company. Toji was sitting on the small couch in the lobby, already dressed up. Green eyes cracked open when he heard the older man's voice and instead of saying anything, he just gave a nod before tilting his head back again.

"You look a bit tired. When exactly did (y/n) and you arrive here last night?" This time he didn't look back up when it was this time Yukimaru asking him the question. Instead he just answered in a few short sentences.

"Don't know exactly. After 3am."

"She really is turning more like you now, wouldn't you agree?" Sone spoke up again, amused as he directed his question at Yukimaru.

"She is working quite hard now but that definitely won't be a permanent thing. We all know that she'll go back to her old ways as soon as she has cleared out her schedule."

"You're probably right but I think it's better that way."

"I agree with you...I wonder if I should call her again to ask where she is."

"There is no need to call her again. I'm sure she'll come any moment now. Why don't we already drive to the company. (y/n) is under professional protection after all."

"...Fine. Let's go. Fushiguro-san, you should probably start packing your stuff slowly. We'll most likely leave in only a few more days if (y/n) keeps up her work like this."

What?

What did that mean? Was there some unannounced business trip he hadn't been told about yet? He wanted to ask Yukimaru what she meant by that but both of them had already left the building at that point and he ultimately didn't care enough to stand up and follow them. He would just ask you about this.

It took you probably about 5 minutes more before you finally came out of the lift with slow steps, your makeup unable to hide your tired expression. Toji stood up as soon as he saw you, taking in your exhausted form. You blinked a few times in a comedically tired way before you looked up to see his face.

"Toji, we need to stop by at a convenience store before driving to work. I need at least 2 more cups coffee if I want to function today."

"Sure. We can do that." He simply answered you, waiting for you as you trudged off to the parking lot before following you. Like that you didn't realise how he was scrutinizing you. It didn't seem like you could remember anything from last night. This was good. He didn't know what had come over him only a few hours ago but those feelings for you were still there. He could feel them rushing through his body as he looked how you dragged yourself to the car before opening the door and flopping down into the passenger seat.

"Thank you for bringing me to my apartment after work by the way. It was you who brought me there, right?"

You asked in a lazy voice as soon as he sat down in the car as well. He gave you a short nod as he started the engine. So you really weren't aware of anything that had happened.

Your head was turned around as your gaze was half-focused on the scenery you could see outside the window as the car left the parking lot.

"You know, I had a really weird dream." You suddenly spoke up out of the blue whilst he was driving, the earlier tiredness and laziness in your voice suddenly gone. Your head was still turned away but as Toji dared to quickly dart his eyes to your side, he realised that you were looking at him through the reflection of the window. You were observing his reactions.

"Really? What dream?" He asked as casually as possible whilst focusing on the streets.

"I don't really remember too clearly. I think you were inside my dream." You answered with a slight hum to your tone that told him that you couldn't clearly recall clearly what had happened but the way your eyes gazed at his reflection in the window told him everything he needed to know. You were suspecting him.

"I was in your dream? Hope it was a nice one then." He replied as the streets outside the car started filling with people as both of you drove into the parts of the city that were always full.

"I haven't made up my mind yet whether I should consider it as a nice dream or not."

There was tension. He could sense it even if neither of you were looking at each other. He had to stop himself from gripping the wheel any tighter in his hands as he kept his posture as relaxed and casual as possible.

"Aki woke me up this morning by giving me a call to remind me kindly to get the fuck up. I nearly overslept there so I'm grateful at least. Whilst we were talking a bit on the phone though, she mentioned to me that she thought that she heard a few weird noises from your apartment. She was not even half-awake though so she just brushed it off as unimportant and went back to sleep."

Fuck.

"Didn't you go directly to sleep after you brought me to my apartment? You know that Aki wouldn't like knowing that my bodyguard isn't in the best condition whilst protection me."

He couldn't answer too quick nor could he take too long. So Toji just decided to answer your question with a little bit of truth.

"I couldn't really sleep last night so I just took a bath instead."

"...A bath?"

That's when you turned your head to him again, your eyelids apparently still quite heavy but your gaze still somewhat sharp.

"You fit into the bathtub?"

He let out an airy chuckle when he heard your question.

"I'm not an actual giant, you know?"

"You're taller and broader than the average Japanese men by a few good measurements. And to some people you definitely are a real life giant. I know that Aki sometimes thinks of you that way at least."

"It isn't hard to be taller than Aki."

"Hey, don't just say that so casually. I know people who are even tinier than Aki. I think both of us are just spoiled by being taller than the average Japanese men and women. And even I feel small when standing next to you."

Both of you were currently definitely dabbling into a lighter conversation but Toji was still sensing your gaze glued to him. He was thinking more carefully now whether or not he should say something next or if he should wait for you to continue the conversation.

Luckily for him though the closest convenience store he could find just came into his vision as he quickly steered the car to the small parking lot in front of it.

You quickly stumbled out of the car as soon as he had stopped the engine, desperate for more caffeine. Toji was quick to follow you. It didn't seem like you planned to speak up again which normally was the case but you were tired after all so you weren't yourself right now. When both of you entered the store though, he remembered a question that he had been meaning to ask you since his earlier encounter with Sone and Yukimaru.

"Talking about weird things Aki mentions, she told me something interesting earlier too."

"Really? What did she tell you?"

"She mentioned that I should start packing my things. We going somewhere or what? I don't know about anything upcoming where we have to leave."

You shortly slowed down even further with your steps.

"Dang it. That's right. I completely forgot to tell you."

Your voice finally shifted somewhat back to your normal tone even if you still sounded tired.

"So we are leaving Tokyo for something?"

"You bet we do. I haven't worked my butt off for all those days without something to motivate me."

"I assume that it isn't anything related to business then." Toji guessed as he heard your words because he knew that you rarely worked with work as your one and only motive.

"It definitely isn't."

"So where are we going?"

"Oshima Island."

"...Never heard of it."

"I don't blame you. It's an island close to Tokyo."

"Why are we going there of all places?"

"...I never told you, did I?" You asked as you tilted your head to look at him whilst finally finding the section where this store sold all the coffee. Toji narrowed his eyes when he heard your question. Your tone was quite light now but he could somehow sense that you were about to tell him something important.

"Aki and I grew up on this island. I'm visiting my parents there."

#yandere jujutsu kaisen #yandere jjk #yandere toji #yandere fushiguro toji

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cyndraws · 4 months

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Kaishin secret santa 2023

This is a Kaishin roleswap au for @blueamphibians! I hope you enjoy this art + my ramblings on the au underneath. Because of course, I couldn't just leave it as one piece of art haha (ehem please buckle in for preparation)

Many thanks to @dcmkkaishinevents / Mack for hosting this event, it was super fun participating and interacting with the community <3 <3 As a side note, I would absolutely recommend it to others who are considering signing up next year. Everyone is very friendly!

(Hey Blue, I had more art planned but unfortunately many things came up. But I hope you enjoy this anyways! I might draw some more for you later ^-^ Thanks so much for this prompt <3 <3)

Edit: I have decided that now you will receive a completed arts + ramblings + some WIPs behind the scene hahahaha https://www.tumblr.com/cyndraws/737208478471487488/kaishin-secret-santa-2023-extras-basically-wips?source=share

AU ramblings under the cut (ngl it's a lot):

Random details and notes that don't really fit anywhere. Mostly about the fanart:

Kaito is 1 year older than Shin and is taller than him

This scene is set over the Haido City hotel. In the distance you can see Shiriyomi Trust Hotel (can't full recognise it behind Kaito but I assure you I drew it lol), Tokyo tower (easy to spot) and Roppongi Hills Mori Tower (Just behind Shin on the right, the one with the lights in a --u-- shape) Main reference: https://www.detectiveconanworld.com/wiki/Haido_City_Hotel

I was also screaming at the Kaishin pic in ED70 throughout this LMAO.

Kaito breaks through Shinichi's mysterious KID persona in this drawing and Shinichi shyly reveals his face behind the mask. Kaito then produces a blue flower, claiming it matches Shinichi's beautiful eyes (he's also the one who bred it)

Kaito has extra pockets sewn into his uniform to carry more tricks. This wasn't really necessary in canon, but here, Kaito has to be prepared to investigate at any moment.

Lmao help me render hair *stares at Kaito's* Cool effect but not quite right. I need to go experiment later.

Kaito/Shin getting shrunk (aka Conan situation) never happens in this au. But Haibara and the other victims are still around. Haibara still lives at the professor's.

Background:

Yusaku was much more entangled and involved with Toichi and his fight with the Black Org. Side note but in this au, Snake is from a division of the Black Org

As a result, they both end up being killed during the fateful accident. Yes, both Shinichi and Kaito are there for it. They were going to be introduced to each other on that day, but well,,, we can see the way it ended.

It wasn't well known that the Kuroba and Kudo family were close at all. Extra vigilance was taken after the funerals to ensure their safety. Their families parted ways for the better or worse after thsi event.

Yusaku's and Toichi's friendship/rivalry included collaborating for some heists, having a second secret base in the Kudo mansion, and Yusaku donning the Night Baron costume... even if he was just hidden in a car and sending information to Toichi via an earpiece lol.

After their husbands' deaths, Yukiko and Chikage meet up occasionally and travel together in secret.

Shinichi:

Shinichi never became a famous detective. The years after Yusaku died in the tragic accident, Yukiko and him tried their best to move on with varying success. Shinichi's dream to become a famous detective never came to fruition.

This was because for various reasons including not having Yusaku's guiding hand to develop Shin's detective skills, was only being taken to crime scenes for a year, and of course the trauma.

After avoiding detective work as much as he could (well considering that he's still a corpse magnet), Shinichi finally starts to dig through his memories. From then, he uncovered a strange inconsistency with the logic of his father's death and starts to obsess over the idea that it was a murder.

Shin painstakingly and slowly investigates in the shadows with his *ehem* admittedly rusty detective skills and chases after the very little crumbs left by the organisation. What he uncovers is that the accident wasn't one at all, but premeditated murder by an encompassing third party.

Shinichi finally finds a lead to,,, Jii Konosuke. This takes quite a few years, and Shinichi is 15 when he confronts Jii.

Jii reveals everything after Shinichi's deduction and also mistaking him for Kaito. And such Shinichi is brought into the fold. Shinichi also makes up his mind to take on the KID mantle, greatly sympathising with the fellow teen whose father was also involved.

The years after Shinichi uncovers the truth, he learns many skills such as disguise, acting and magic from Jii and Chikage. However, his magic skills will never be on par with Kaito's.

Shinichi in this au has more acting and disguise skills from living with his mother. She passed this skills onto him, and they bonded over it to recover from their grief.

When Shinichi is 17, he officially takes on the role of KID. Chikage permanently locked the KID cave in the Kuroba house, and the KID cave settled in its new home in the Kudo mansion. Inside the second base previously used by Toichi and Yusaku.

Shinichi as KID:

Well, he's just as dramatic as Kaito in canon, but it's a different kind of dramatic. Shin is more of a mysterious and cryptic phantom thief and wears a menacing Night Baron mask. He overall speaks less, and when he does, he says a lot of dramatic lines. Like in theatre almost, with plenty of double meanings.

He takes on a lot of aspects from the Phantom Lady and Jii's interpretation of KID.

And also, I was inspired by the Black Knight, Shiragami in canon, and AngelicSentinel's fantastic fic, Heart of Eternity. I guess you could describe it as more theatrely, cool and princely. He's still very athletic (laughing at Shinichi being Tarzan as Shiragami)

Unlike Kaito, Shin's notices often involve cryptic riddles. It satisfies Shinichi's puzzle loving side and adds to his mysterious reputation.

It's funny to me how Akako's 'Demon of Light' moniker is still accurate haha

Shinichi investigates a little in the shadows and is overall a touch more hot-headed than Kaito KID

He uses a lot more gadgets to cover for his lesser magic skills. He's still learning though! A lot of them are references to Conan's and KID's in canon. Between Jii and Agasa, he gets a lot of them haha. This includes:

Mask/monocle -> voice changer, mask to cover for poker face, zoom and night vision, tracker, microphone and radio, gas mask.

Transmitter/microphone -> button stickers, bugs in general, cufflinks. In some cases, a camera but it must be asked for first. Shin uses these to cover for Kaito's doves in canon.

Wristwatch -> Clock of course for his heist times, tranquilliser, emergency flashbomb (KID has one in canon too)

Shoes -> jet powered rollerskates (equivalent to skateboard). Of course, Shin still kicks things but it looks more to take down the occasional criminal, trigger emergency traps, and more. He doesn't kick often because it doesn't really suit the image of KID + it's a unique skill to have.

+ other usual KID gadgets -> smoke, flash, sleeping bombs, grapple gun, hang glider, etc.

Kaito:

He's still an aspiring magician

Since there's a rising amount of cases in Beika, Kaito gets recommended by Nakamori because of his magic skills. The idea is that his knowledge of magic tricks will help uncover the criminals' tricks... Well this includes basically all cases lol. It works though! And the news of Meitantei Kaito starts to spread.

Kaito falls in love with the dramatics and triumphs of figuring out a criminal's trick. He starts to get called into Beika every time a case is discovered. One different to Shin is that Kai gets called to the cases instead of the cases coming to him.

His detective persona is like KID's in canon - flirty, dramatic, confident, charming, a bit of a pervert, and a classic showman's personality. Aoko is sick of it hahaha.

Kai's deduction show is very dramatic. He uses flashy magic tricks to reveal evidence and tricks, and uses his magic to take down criminals.

This includes his acrobatics, trusty card gun and traps he set beforehand. I like to headcanon that Kaito invented his cardgun first before integrating into KID. Kaito's cardgun includes the normal sharp cards (Kaito uses it to pin down criminals with their clothes, cut ropes, etc), tranquilliser laced cards, smoke and flash bombs. And also sleeping bombs but he uses it vary sparingly because even that toes the law a little too much... Megure is exasperated but the criminals are taken down quickly without much harm so he lets it slide

Kaito also follows in the spirit of dubious investigation. He changes his voice, uses his doves to spy on others, uses disguises (very very rarely), and is noisy overall.

Kaito and Hakuba:

Has a detective rivalry with Hakuba.

Hakuba still thinks, even in this au, that Kaito is KID. After all, Shin's profile is very similar to Kaito's. Kaito vehemently denies it but acts like a KID fan around Hakuba to annoy him. He isn't really though, citing KID's magic to be third rate, but he is still intrigued.

Hakuba offhandedly slips in wording and insinuations to Kaito's huge annoyance. You can imagine them bickering at a crime scene while Megure is just Too Used to this.

Much later on, when Kaito learns Shinichi's identity, Kaito tells Shinichi's about Hakuba's warnings. So Kaito is kinda a messenger between the two. Despite Hakuba being annoying, Kaito knows he can trust him.

~ Other character interactions:

Shinichi and Kaito:

Shinichi is still a corpse magnet. So he encounters a case, calls the police, and escapes as fast as he can after giving a witness statement. This is partly to avoid the awkwardness of meeting Megure and the police officers (he hasn't met them since his father died), as well as his new night job.

This results in the most frustrating yet amusing situation where Shin and Kaito miss meeting each other for quite a few years. Shinichi is busy hurrying off while Kaito is called to the scene and busy listening to the details.

Quick sketch I may/may not fully finish in the future:

Description: Set in suburban Beika. Shinichi is at the foreground, looking at his watch and worrying about meeting Jii on time. Meanwhile, next to a police car, Megure merrily discusses case details to Kaito. Kaito is glancing over to Shinichi in curiosity while keeping an ear open. He has his hands in his pockets. Behind Megure, the scene has police tape barring entrance.

Kaito thinks KID is a third rate magician but can appreciate the dramatics and mysteriousness. He is Intrigued. This leads to a meeting later on. Kaito uses his connection to Nakamori.

Shinichi is of course startled by Kaito's namedrop.

... Sorry no more details/plan about their meeting. It's definitely a dramatic face off though.

Regarding Shinichi's identity reveal, I was playing around with the idea that Snake is there, threatening the two at gunpoint and sneering over the '"lovely family reunion between father and son". It would definitely spur Kaito to grill Shin for more details

Shinichi and Hattori:

Hattori hears about the "Meitantei of the East" and goes off to meet him and challenge him to a deduction battle. He doesn't know how to contact him, so he goes with the strat of wandering around Beika until he runs into a case. He figured that with the high rate of cases being reported, he's eventually run into Kuroba ,,, yeah hahahaha Thats his entire plan

Luckily for Hattori, his detective luck exponentially multiplies with Shin's and a scream runs out. As Shinichi is reporting the crime and tried to head off, Hattori slings an arm around his shoulders to stop him from sneaking off.

Hattori loudly greets him as Kuroba despite Shinichi's insistence that "No, I am NOT Kuroba, please get your arm off me". Insert much scepticism from Hattori.

Even after they part ways, this isn't the last they see of each other. Hattori keeps wandering around Beika while running into Shinichi. They eventually become friends huhu.

Shinichi and the Detective Boys:

The Detective Boys admire Kaito a lot. Obviously they've watched the news reports on TV. So when they see him at the park playing soccer, they glomp him HAHAH Poor Shinichi

At this point I think people mistaking Shinichi as Kaito can be a running gag. The Detective Boys keep annoying Shinichi and even attempt breaking into the 'Edo house' to see the ghosts... Shinichi is still not happy. And also, when they visit Haibara, they're basically next doors so Shinichi's never going to get them out of his life.

Despite the annoyance, he eventually becomes fond of them and takes on the big brother sort of role.

When Kaito and Shinichi get acquainted, they take the DB on outings a lot. The DB is very fond of Kaito-nii-san and Shinichi-nii-san.

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meimi-haneoka · 5 months

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Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Chapter 80 (FINAL): Comments + JP-ENG translation differences

CCS Faaaans!!! Welcome to our last (?) monthly appointment with the analysis, commentary and list of translation differences for THE FINAL chapter of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card!!! 🥹🥹🥹

Aaaaaah, I can't believe that after seven years and a half of serialization, we're finally here!!

I still remember the strong emotions I felt when I had seen the pages of Nakayoshi for chapter 1 in advance, back in June 2016....it seemed like a miracle, to me. Like a "mirage". And back then I still didn't know just HOW MUCH of a precious miracle this sequel would've become to me!

So it's with shaky hands and a trembling, emotional heart that I write this post to you...I hope you can excuse the length of it (maybe take a break in between?), I'll do my best to highlight the translation differences (unfortunately we definitely got some for this finale, one in particular made me quite mad) so you can spot them immediately among the sea of words and feels I will inevitably pour into my writing...

The "Beaver Moon" was big and shiny just a few days ago, and like all the full moons at the end of the month, it brought us a chapter, a very special finale for this series.

And as I usually do, I really cannot skip this silly moment that accompanied me for so many commentary posts, so here you go, my dear readers, the last Gif Of The Month!!!

I had already decided that, no matter the content of the chapter, I would've used this, because it is my intention to give my congratulations to CLAMP for reaching the end of this wonderful story and also thank them for giving me a multitude of emotions over the years. I've been happy, angry, excited, teary-eyed, frustrated, confused, hopeful, in pain, in love. I'll always be grateful to them for changing their mind and deciding to give us a sequel of this beloved series, after so many years of dreaming of it, and for making me fall in love with the new characters, none excluded!

So, off we go, under the cut for this commentary of the finale!!

The Color Page

Oh my heart 😭😭😭 I really wondered if they would go for it, if they would shoot us with feels right from the first pages and they did, they paid homage to the color page of chapter 50 of the old manga!! ❤️ We can see the same bluebirds that were featured back then, still holding in their little beaks lots of ribbons coming from the pink roses bouquet that Sakura is preciously holding... And that also made me realize that these are the same birds that were featured last month for Akiho and Kaito's color page too!!! ✨ They definitely, definitely wanted us to get the message that all of them will be truly happy from now on. ❤️I actually appreciate even more that Mokona-sensei took care in including those birds for the color page of Akiho/Kaito too.

Back in the old manga, CLAMP had given a comment for the illustration of chapter 50, saying that it was created that way to give a sense of looking forward to the future, and the absence of the Star Wand here was a precise request from Ohkawa to Mokona, because Sakura would've tried her best from now on, without necessarily relying on her magic.

Here, in chapter 80, we can somehow see the same theme but Sakura isn't proceeding "forward" towards a specific direction, it seems more like she's floating comfortably, assisted by her loyal Flight Card, embellished for the occasion (it makes it look kind of "upgraded", right?). I get a sense of Sakura feeling way more comfortable with her natural gift than she's ever been.

The blue sky, the ribbons, the bluebirds, the bouquet of pink flowers, the presence of a flying Card, Sakura's bare feet and her beautiful smile are definitely elements common to both illustrations.

Here Sakura wears a longer outfit, more elegant, which of course makes her look more grown up, as it should!

The editorial text on this last page doesn't carry words of thanks like in the color page of the final chapter of the old manga (those this time around were printed directly on the cover of Nakayoshi), but actually "My invincible spell is....'Everything is surely going to be alright' "! I think it was a very nice choice to feature the Invincible Spell in the front page of this final chapter. ✨

Between this and the absolutely divine Sakura on the cover of Nakayoshi, I can feel my heart softening and filling up with lots of hope and comfort, helping me to cope with the imminent "loss" that I'm going to experience.

BUT! It's not time to let us be caught by those mischievous feelings that want us to cry at all costs, and so we're gonna proceed for the actual chapter!!

The Books In Fujitaka's Library

The final chapter starts with Sakura chatting with Eriol and Kaho in a videocall over the phone!! The thing that immediately stands out is that Sakura is still wearing the full-winter uniform, so it's apparent right from the first panel that rather than turning back, the events are proceeding forward from where we left them, exactly as Sakura wished.

It's still winter, spring is almost here and we're almost towards the end of the 1st year of middle school for Sakura & co.

Another thing that I, as a foreigner, couldn't help but doing is calculating what time should've been for Eriol and Kaho, since they live in Europe like me! 😂😂😂 Having followers and friends all over the world, it's just normal for me. Well, if this is early morning, it should be night for the Europeans, so maybe that background at the window should be black?? 😂😆 Who knows if sensei will fix it, in the tankobon?

But enough with the silly things, let's see what Sakura is discussing with these two.

The very first thing we hear is quite shocking: Sakura slept four entire days to recuperate from the insane fatigue after the last battle!!

When I've heard that, my immediate thought was going towards all kinds of realistic, very practical issues like "did they keep her hydrated, in these four days? What about the bladder? 😱" but come on, way crazier things happened in this finale and this is the last thing we should worry about 😂

Eriol sweetly says that everyone waited impatiently for Sakura to wake up (I can imagine that!! Syaoran and Akiho must have died of anxiety). In Japanese, his sentence is somehow left trailing off, it gives me the impression that he wanted her to know that she's cared for, but in a very polite manner and avoiding to make her feel guilty for it. Sakura, as the good girl she is, tries to apologize for making them worry, apologies that Eriol doesn't need, so she ends up thanking both him and Kaho for what they did for her (and we can see Kaho peeking in the videocall! I'm glad she recovered too! As usual she's wearing nice outfits, the transparent veil over the skirt is interesting!).

Kaho, with her usual "maternal" aura, says that seeing her in good shape and hearing her cheerful voice over the phone is more than enough to her, which makes Sakura happy.

Eriol then proceeds to ask a question about the books he saw flying away at full speed after Sakura removed all the spells and the graphics from the artifact (the huge book), which then transformed into said smaller books: he wants to know where they ended up to, and lo and behold, they're nowhere other than in Fujitaka's library, in the basement of Sakura's house! 😱

So we can see a flashback depicting a scene right after Sakura woke up (she's still in her PJs), and her father shows her a pile of ancient-looking books sitting on his desk and on the floor.

Yes, those are all the magical books that Akiho had read and (unknowingly) engraved on herself, which were about to crush her soul. There's really a lot of them, so I don't have a hard time believing that she was really on the verge of losing her soul forever.

As Fujitaka tries to explain himself, it seems Sakura worked so hard and in the end those books ended up landing right at their house!

And then, in a very moving scene, we see Fujitaka being just so happy because finally, after so many years (since 4th grade) of just watching over his daughter going through several hurdles and not being able to be helpful in any concrete way (because he didn't have magical powers, and even when magic was passed onto him, he didn't know how to use it), NOW he can finally be of assistance to her.

He then tells her not to worry, because he already got several "weird" books in his collection (hell we knew, the Cthulhu books were surely a surprise 😂), and that anything goes where it's supposed to go, when its due time comes. He believes these books, too, will reach their new fated destination one day, so until then, he will take care of them. ✨

By the way, you all saw it, right?? YES, it's there again. Fay's tattoo on that book! 😂CLAMP REALLY wanted us to see it, didn't they?

Is this insistence in featuring elements coming from Tsubasa a sign of something in the future...? Or are they just messing with us....?

I bet even this book one day will find its way to Celes country, to have that tattoo used in the way we all know.

Anyway, I REALLY loved this scene because it just shows CLAMP's firm intention to involve *all* the main and side characters in this collective effort to help Sakura solving Akiho and Kaito's situation (Fujitaka was indeed the one missing from the support group!).

It's just so good to know that a tiny frustration that Fujitaka expressed in this arc (how he couldn't be of help to his own daughter) was finally put to rest too, with this new task he took upon himself.

I strongly believe that Sakura, once again guided by her infallible instinct and empathy, subconsciously wished those books into her father's library, because she just knew that her father would be the perfect person to guard them and keep them safe for the time due.

The Cards

Back to the present, Eriol comments that Sakura's father is really dependable, and she can only warmly agree!

But Sakura's got questions of her own, for Eriol. She asks what happened to the transparent cards (note: even this time, Sakura keeps calling them with the japanese term 透明, "transparent", and never calls those cards クリアカード, the English term that gives name to the arc).

Eriol gives his own explanation: the transparent Cards were probably bound into the book of the guardian Sakura met (and not "befriended" like the ENG wrote), and as such, they became magical power used to activate the "forbidden magic".

About the newly created Remind and Blank Cards, Eriol guesses that the last magic that Sakura summoned thanks to those two Cards was so "violent" (the term used 凄烈 means "violent, intense, fierce") that it ended up exhausting completely the Cards' magical power.

Sakura says "so...they're gone", confirming that yes, even those two disappeared after being used.

Eriol asks about the Cards Sakura had from before, our dear Sakura Cards, and she releases them in the room to show to Eriol their current appearance: it seems like they have taken up some elements from the transparent cards, mixing up their designs! They look really cool and empowered, like this! Eriol attempts to explain this occurence as an influence of the fact that Sakura used some of them with her new Dream Staff, hence why their new appearance!

It seems like she'll be able to use all of them with that staff from now on, so this is a first hint to something that will be referenced in a stronger way in a few pages.....

Kaho gets closer to Eriol's computer and says "Don't worry, I can see they still love you all the same, Sakura-chan, there's no problem about it!" and then she spots Flight among the deck. Sakura confirms happily that it's still here and Eriol says "it's a testament to its perseverance!".

And then, Sakura wants to talk to Eriol about Akiho and Kaito too......but we're not allowed to hear it yet, because we only see Sakura nodding and "uh-uh"-ing at the phone and then Kero warns her that she's going to be late for school, so our girl hurriedly hangs up with her friends abroad.

Her dear small glutton guardian tells her to not push herself since she barely woke up yesterday, and when Sakura goes to pick the pin she wants to use today in the jewelry box (it's the pin Yukito gave her as a present in chapter 1!), she picks up the Star Key. And here, unfortunately, I have to point out the first concrete translation difference of this chapter in a scene that many were waiting for:

ENG: "This key....I wonder if it'll leave someday, too. To go to where it should be, to the side of the person it chooses to be with"

JP: "This key, too...I wonder if one day it'll go...to the side of the person it should be with"

Now, what irritates me here is that in their usual need to embellish the translation, they added an unnecessary "the person it chooses to be with", which is something they made up because there's no mention of the verb "choosing" or anything like that in Japanese, and so it makes it seem like the key will one day just go away on its own, on its own volition.

Now, this is a VERY important scene because we all know what this is foreshadowing, the transition of the Star Wand from Sakura Kinomoto to the Reborn Sakura Clone in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle through a dream, that cameo that made us scream all over the world in 2009. That scene was accompanied by a very beautiful and mature speech by Sakura Kinomoto herself, a sign that this "handover" was totally a well pondered choice of Sakura herself, not the key's.

The translation of this scene here in Clear Card tampers with the understanding of the events we got from Tsubasa and it really makes me wonder if the translator knows of this reference at all.....

Continuing on, Sakura goes downstairs and meets Touya having breakfast (and omg Kero goes to him!!! I still can't get used to these two interacting in the open), as usual Touya teases her calling her "monster", to which Sakura stiffens, but she shakes it off to thank her brother, to which he answers "no snacks for four days"!

Sakura at that point gets angry asking why, but he diverts her attention pointing out that she's gonna be late, so the girl bolts out of the door......not hearing her brother saying "that's the amount of days you haven't woken up, you silly!" (and Kero goes along with it).

Now, the ENG translation here interpreted this as a "payback", like Touya isn't going to make her snacks for 4 more days as a "payback" for making him worry like that, and initially I interpreted it like that too. But as I checked the Spanish translation, they interpreted it differently, as if Touya wasn't talking about the snacks that he won't prepare for the next 4 days, but actually the ones Sakura didn't eat during the period in which she was sleeping, and I think they're right because Touya calls Sakura "dummy, silly" so he might be referencing the fact that she misunderstood, here! Anyway, it's not a serious difference but I wanted to report it here anyway.

Sakura finds Syaoran out of her house waiting for her, and we see him all happy and embarrassed to go pick his girl up right outside her house to go to school together 🥰Syaoran got contacted yesterday from her (I don't know why in the ENG there's "last night", it's just "yesterday"), telling him that she was ok now, but of course that wasn't enough for our worrywart prince charming, so he's here this morning to escort her to school! Sakura can't avoid commenting "aw, you were worried about me!" and Syaoran honestly but embarassedly answers "that, and I wanted to see you as soon as possible". Omg these two...flirting like crazy in front of the audience even in the finale!! 😂(well of course!!). As one of my friends reminded me, this line was already said by Syaoran before, when he was revealing the whole truth about the Sakura Cards and was explaining to Sakura that he came back to Japan earlier than scheduled also because he wanted to see her sooner.

After a good dose of blushing which is always good for the health in the early morning, Sakura thanks Syaoran not only for walking her to school, but also for all the rest that he's done. She's clearly referencing the events of 4 days ago, and Syaoran answers that if he helped her even just a little, then he's happy. This vague reference to the events of 4 days ago seems lost in the ENG, as Syaoran casually answers that he's happy if he can help her sometimes (?). 少しでも means "even just a little", not "sometimes".

On the way to school, Sakura says that she already contacted everyone to say that she woke up and to thank them, but she seems to be wanting to go thanking Yukito directly at his house later, also because Nakuru and Suppi are there! As Syaoran adds, Sakura can see Tomoyo and Akiho later at school. Sakura says "...yes" with a slightly sad face because she already knows something about one of them.....

We switch to Yukito's house for the last look at our "snow bunny", still in Nakuru's company (when are they going back to England???) and wondering what kind of sweets should he offer to Sakura today, while Nakuru is hellbent on finally having Sakura call her "Nakuru-chan" today (I told you, she's like a 5 years old girl, she sees herself as a kid like Sakura 😂).

Then, turning suddenly serious, she says to Yukito: "Don't you dare doing anything else that requires a 'payment', understood?", which immediately made me realize that Nakuru remembers about Yukito's pact with the Tsukimine Shrine!! Then, they didn't just recover the memories strictly relating to Akiho!!!

Yukito, with a big smile, says "well...I can't promise you that" which understandably triggers in Nakuru a "Yukito, you're really stubborn!!" from the bottom of her heart! 😂

But there's a kitty sleeping on a cushion (or feigning to?), our dear Suppi who thinks to himself "All of you moon-aligned types are stubborn!!" and let me tell you, this arc showed us ALL the proofs of that! 😂(Yes, Kaito, we're looking at you! 😂😂😂).

Brand New World With You

Homeroom is starting in Sakura's class and Tomoyo makes sure that Sakura will take it easy since this is her first day back at school.

The teacher comes in, and she's already got a news for everyone (and here my heart already knew what it was): Akiho Shinomoto will be transferring away in one month! (Yes! it's Shinomoto again!)

The class is shocked, as Tomoyo is, but Sakura smiles and doesn't look surprised at all...

At lunch, everyone is so sad about Akiho transferring and Chiharu expresses how much she'll miss her, but also Naoko who loses a precious advisor for her scripts and a great actress since she wanted to cast her for the next play, seeing how wonderful she was in "Alice in Clockland". Tomoyo says that the chorus club will miss her too, and Yamazaki comments that Akiho lived in Hong Kong before transferring to Japan, so he asks her if she's still going abroad, even this time around. Akiho confirms, and then remembers that she needs to go to the teacher's room. Sakura insists to accompany her even if Akiho knows the way by now (and here we have a sweet, nostalgic recall to the same scene of the first chapter Akiho appeared in, chapter 7! Even the lines are almost the same). Of course, Sakura insisted because she wants to have a private chat with her....on their way there, she says she heard from Eriol that morning that she would be transferring abroad, but she would like to ask the reason why to Akiho herself.

Akiho says that, after all that happened, that same night she talked to Eriol (she calls him "Hiiragizawa-san" ❤️) for the first time.

He told her that he would be supporting her in any choice or anything she'd want to do from now on (the "anything I would choose" is missing from the ENG translation), and support her even with Kaito's circumstances.

Akiho was told by Eriol that Kaito kept hurting himself the more he used time magic, and that he shouldn't have been in a good condition after messing even with the "forbidden magic"....but apparently, Sakura managed to work a little miracle when she used Rewind on him.

When Sakura brought Kaito back to his original appearance, the pocket watch she used was almost completely repaired and its time stopped, and thanks to that, Kaito's time is stopped too.

I had already noticed that Kaito's life seems to be strictly connected to that pocket watch, as the more damage he took on his body, the more the watch broke. Sooooo in this scene we have some important information:

1- Eriol mentions the time magic Kaito used, how he kept using it and also the effect it would have on him, so it's legit to think that even him recovered the memories of the unrewritten timeline, not only the stuff strictly concerning Akiho.

2- Kaito's life is in a halted state (reminds you of someone?) and this means that his life is not flowing like other people's: he won't age, but his physical condition won't also get worse, as Sakura infers right after. The ENG translation suggests that Kaito won't be feeling any pain at all, but that's not the case: Sakura uses the words もっと辛かったり痛かったり, "more in pain and have a rough time (than this)", so he's still going to feel not so well from time to time, but at least his condition won't get worse than this.

Akiho confirms, and explains that because of this, they're going to look for a magic that will be able to heal Kaito and, in addition to that, a magic that would be able to make his stopped time move forward again. This won't certainly take short time and it won't be easy....but Akiho smiles beautifully while saying that she's sure that there is a book that carries those spells she's looking for.

And then....with a sad smile, she says there's another reason.

And here my heart sinked because I wanted to see her so badly and I got the confirmation she wasn't with them.......😭

I'm talking about Momo, of course, and Akiho agrees with me because the other reason they'll travel around is that she wants to see her beloved Momo and even the "Alice in Clockland" book.

This indeed sounds a lot like the resolutions of the characters of Tsubasa in their own finale, but after all, we've been saying for long time that Kaito and Akiho had many situations paralleling those of the SyaoSaku in TRC.

Akiho, with the most radiant and beautiful smile she's ever had, says that she's sure she'll find so many other books she's never read, beside the ones she'll be looking for.

"Because now I can go wherever I want, whenever I want, all by my own volition. Together with Kaito-san"

Sakura points out that books are, indeed, really special and important to her.

And really, Akiho's smile on this beatiful spread was enough to heal my heart from the disappointment of knowing that Momo wasn't with them, because Akiho really looks happy to start this journey with Kaito...she feels free for the first time ever.

No more clan dictating where she should go or what she should read, at her own expense at that, but also the situation between her and her beloved Kaito found its solution, with her stating loud and clear that even if he's her most important person and he did all of that for her, she's the only one who can decide her own happiness and change her own life. Akiho is finally free from all constraints, both from evil and from love, and honestly it's so comforting to see her so confident and happy.

My True Name Is....

And talking about Kaito, we switch to the Shinomoto mansion, where we see him in bed (he's still recovering - also we see his room for the first time!) and Akiho is telling him of how her friends took the news of her transferring abroad.

She was happy to hear that they're going to miss her, I bet this was the first time that people took any interest in her, so much to get to the point of saying "I'll miss you".....which totally explains why she's glad to hear that. She finally made true friends, here in Tomoeda.

Kaito is pleased to see her happy.

Akiho says that she's going to prepare dinner (my heart got warm thinking that now it's her the one cooking for him and he doesn't protest or anything) and she's going to make the no-fry croquettes that Sakura taught her (remember??? They had dedicated a chapter to that, and they were so important because Akiho learned them precisely for Kaito).

But Kaito kind of "interrupts" her, saying the thing WE ALL were waiting for him to say:

Kaito, JP (lit.): "I'm sorry. For having thought (all that plan) on my own and decided things without your permission. Even though I know that you're someone perfectly capable of writing her own chosen future on her own blank book"

Oooooooh. The feeling of puzzle pieces going to their right place, the sense of accomplishment, the satisfaction in reading these words from him. HE FINALLY UNDERSTOOD. And it took almost k*lling himself and causing to the very person he was trying to make happy an indescribable grief, to come to this point.

What a lack of self-esteem and underlying depression can do.

But thankfully, they all managed to save things at last minute and now he's learned his lesson. So the first thing he does when he's able to, is apologizing to Akiho. But not only that.

Akiho says Kaito's name, probably wanting to answer something in return, but he interrupts her again, saying something I've been dying to hear him say (lately I expressed here and on Twitter my wish to see precisely this scene in the finale):

"That's my alias"

Akiho is shocked at hearing that, and he says, with a serious face, "Can I tell you my true name?"

At this point, I was hollering, I won't really hide it or anything.

If you're CLAMP fans, you probably know how IMPORTANT and VITAL is an information like one's true name, especially for a magician. Yuuko in Holic said that if you give someone your true name, they can take your soul.

And I'm 100% sure that even Akiho knows how important true names are in the magic world, this is something that Momo already mentioned in one of the Drama CDs but here she confirms it herself, saying hesitantly: "Are you sure I should be hearing something so important?"

With the next thing Kaito says, I was almost calling an ambulance.

Heh, I know, this is me, what can I do? Their story got me by the throat and coming to this point is such an achievement, for me. 😅

"I want you to know it"

That あなた between brackets is so powerful. "You, above all".

In that "you" there's all the things he's not saying aloud, how unique and important she is to him. How much he trusts her with the most vulnerable part of himself. How much he's willing to give his entire soul, his everything to her, but this time in the correct way, without damaging anyone.

Akiho must be noticing all of this, because Mokona doesn't allow us to see her face, only her closed hand rising up, but from her ".....okay" I'm sure here she was quite touched.

So Kaito finally proceeds to reveal this secret that everyone was wondering about ever since chapter 51:

"Cristaux. That's my true name".

Cristaux is written with the katakana クリスト (pronounced kurisuto) which has already been misunderstood by many for "Christ" 😂, but thankfully CLAMP have put in the furigana the correct spelling in romaji.

Cristaux is a french word used to indicate crystals. Yes, plural.

So our crazy magician was named after crystals at his birth.

Of course, of course. Isn't crystals the overwhelming theme of this arc, after all? CLAMP made sure to feature some in many many color illustration they've done.

Also, while talking to a friend, I realized that now we might understand a bit better why Kaito made a very pensive face, disguised as Syaoran, when Sakura pointed out in Clockland (ch. 66) that the castle of the Queen had foundations made of crystal........

As usual with CLAMP, we've had the solution to the mystery under our nose the whole time! 😂This feels like Tsubasa 2.0, for real! 😂

It is surely an inusual name, but I mean, it seems many of the names CLAMP choose for their characters aren't that common, after all.

With this reveal, Kaito decided to start anew with Akiho, this time around from a basis of honesty and trust. He's never going to put up masks with her ever again (and even though it's confirmed they still talk in keigo to one another -which is something I've always imagined-, we've seen him using his true pronoun "ore" with her in chapter 78). This is the perfect foundation for a relationship based on communication and trust. Bravo Kaito, you did your homeworks.

Akiho places a hand over her chest, as if the precious name entered her heart, and says something that made me completely melt:

"I've written it on the most important page of my book. So I can never forget it".

This line makes me particularly emotional not only because it sounds SO SWEET, on the verge of flirting, but also because it seems to me like a callback to something that was said in a sadder situation.

Back in chapter 35, when Sakura ended up trapped into Akiho's artifact, she experienced Akiho's past on her skin. The day of the magic ceremony that turned Akiho into an artifact, some people from the clan/Association said "let's engrave all the magical books we can find into this girl's body, so she can never forget them. Just like a blank book".

Back then, these horrible words were used to abuse a poor child, but that child today turned them into the power to choose for herself.

She appropriates the same "book" analogy to turn it into a way for her to choose on her own. Kaito's name is a precious information that she chooses to write on her heart so she can never forget it.

It is a way for her to cope and have a catharsis for her trauma.

I honestly keep getting such wonderful messages from the story of these two characters, and I'll never thank CLAMP enough for creating them.

Kaito smiles softly at Akiho's words.

Then we go back to Sakura, Syaoran and Tomoyo, the "fab 3" who are going back home together, and we get some more information: it seems Eriol called Syaoran too (man, this guy called half the world to give explanations left and right 😂) and told him that he's going to buy Akiho and Kaito's house and look after it for them.

Sakura is really glad to hear that because it means that Akiho's huge collection of books will be safe and guarded in its library.

Tomoyo asks what they're going to do about Akiho's room at the Kinomoto house: in fact, if you look at the first panel of this chapter, you'll see that the additional portion that sprouted on Kinomoto house is still there: this means that Sakura gave everyone back their memories, but that magic didn't affect the discrepancies that arised from the rewriting of their world, hence why Akiho's room is still there.

Sakura talked about it with her dad and they decided they're gonna leave it untouched, as it is, so Akiho can always go back to it at any time. Did I cry at this? Yes, a little, because this is a sign that the Kinomotos will still keep considering her one of the family even if she'll be away, even if she'll have her life with Kaito, and I couldn't ask for anything better, for my sweet Akiho. It is so important for her to keep the bonds she created over time and know that now she's also got a network of people there for her. A second family where to turn to.

Sakura's having a real hard time accepting that Akiho will go away, and her smile becomes sad, before hugging Tomoyo and crying out "But I'll still miss her so much!!" 🥹poor Sakura 🥹I know, it's always so sad when someone that important to you leaves...

You'll Be Together Forever!!

One month passes by, and we can see some sakura flowers starting to bloom, this means we're at the end of March (and so we were in February before, just like I imagined). School year must be over pretty soon.

It's the big day, the day of departure for Akiho and Kaito, and Sakura+Syaoran went to see them off. Have you spotted it, on Sakura's scarf? Yes, that's the pin shaped like a teddy bear, the same Kaho gave her as a present and that she was wearing in the OG manga during the run at the bus stop to tell her feelings to Syaoran!

Akiho thanks Sakura for coming so early in the morning, and Sakura says she absolutely wanted to be there to see them off, actually she apologizes for making them delay their departure due to this meeting. Akiho is dressed with a cute outfit that is very remiscent of the one she's wearing in the color page of chapter 79.

A little separated from them to give their privacy, we see Kaito and his big suitcase, standing next to Syaoran. OMG it's so inusual to see them like that!!

Then, Kaito says "Time magic....I can teach it to you, if you ever want to use it". Syaoran is very surprised to hear that, and Kaito says that when he was still in the dragon form, he heard him apologizing to Sakura for not being able to use that magic because he hadn't learned it yet, remember?? 🥹

And Kaito just offered himself as a teacher, surely as a way to thank him for everything he's done to save him and Akiho.

But not only that: in a very sweet panel, he says he knows Syaoran won't use it in an inappropriate way, and I can totally hear that implied "as opposed to me". Oh yes I hear it loud and clear by the way this is phrased in Japanese. 😁

Then, he happily takes out his phone and asks him to exchange contact numbers, because they can be convenient for any occurrence! I feel like that was a good idea because they're surrounded by magic matters so much, it's always good to be able to count on the experience and knowledge of other magicians.

We see Syaoran being a bit perplexed at the request, but then reluctanctly (?) takes out his phone 😂oh lord his reaction is so funny....and this is also another proof that the characters remember what happened before, because Syaoran could have this reaction only for that reason 😂😂😂

While looking at them interacting so funnily, Akiho takes the chance to get closer to Sakura and whisper a very important information to her (it came!!! it came for her too!! I KNEW IT!! It's not WHAT I imagined but I've been saying forever that this would come 😂):

Akiho, JP & ENG: "My real name...is Cosmos"

What you guys can't see if you're reading the ENG version or any other language, is the duality of Akiho's true name here.

It's actually written in Japanese kanji, but the furigana that tells how to pronounce it are katakana for "Cosmos".

So it's like this:

Japanese name: 秋桜 (pronounced Akizakura, it's how Cosmos are called in Japanese)

Furigana (reading): コスモス (Cosmos)

It's not uncommon to find the Cosmos flowers being called directly with their katakana spelling, in Japanese.

All of this makes total sense for Akiho because her favorite flower is a specific type of Cosmos, the Chocolate Cosmos! They say they really smell like chocolate! So, just like Sakura, she's got the same name of her favorite flower.

But this duality of her name also allows Akiho to say what she's about to say:

Akiho, JP: "When we met for the first time, I was happy to learn I had one same character in my name as yours!"

I'm glad to see that more or less all the foreign translations did their best to explain the trick of the kanji, adding an explanation in the bubbles (they were big enough, thankfully). The ENG for example talked about "sharing a name" but Akiho here is meaning more "sharing a character" of the japanese name.

Sakura is of course really honored and happy to hear that, and thanks her for sharing such an important detail about herself.

And now, hahaha.....comes the part where I laughed SO, so much, because while to some it might sound strange for Akiho to do something like this, to me it isn't strange at all! Cause she's like that, her personality is far stronger than most think...

Our little mischievous Akiho here reveals to Sakura, still whispering, that she isn't going to share her real name with Kaito yet, because she's still a bit upset with him!! 😂😂😂

Oh lord, Akiho....oh dear....you have all the right to still be a bit upset, make him work hard to get such an important information from you!! 😂 I can't believe right now we have Kaito basically in Akiho's hands while Akiho, the one who seemed the most in love out of the two, is actually still withholding that from him! 😂😂😂 aaaaahhh trust CLAMP to always give you something interesting....this is totally in line with how I perceived her personality. 🤭I loved it!

Kaito needs to be really, really careful from now on! She's not gonna take any crap from him! 😂

And now I have to warn you because precisely as we reach the very last line Sakura will say in this arc, there is going to be another translation mistake, which I consider far worse than the other one I pointed out. I think getting it wrong precisely at the most important emotional point ruined a job that wasn't overall so bad, with this chapter (compared to others....).

Sakura, smiling, supports Akiho's idea, saying "Sounds good!", and then, utters the very last line of the arc:

ENG: "After all, we have a long future together ahead of us!"

JP: "After all, you'll be together forever from now on!"

I think you can easily guess why this translation mistake irritated me so much. I've checked the other translations and the Spanish one, the one I trust the most, agrees with me, just like the French one.

This translation is a failure for two reasons:

it failed to convey the fact that Sakura here is using almost exactly the same words she used in the OG manga at the end of volume 12, when she ran into Syaoran's arms, saying that they would be together forever from that moment on. I think iconic lines like these should be translated in the way the readers know them from the previous work, otherwise it's useless. You don't get the reference. In Japanese, back in volume 12 of the OG manga, it was "kore kara wa zutto issho da yo!" while here it is "kore kara wa zutto issho nandakara". And there is a reason for that.

this translation inexplicably made it about all of them, when Sakura was talking specifically about Akiho and Kaito instead. That "nandakara" at the end suggests that this sentence is strictly related to the one that came right before, "sounds good", as an answer to Akiho's plan to withhold her true name from Kaito for a while. Sakura here is simply saying that Akiho's idea sounds ok to her because those two will be together forever from now on, so she'll have all the time of this world to tell him eventually her true name, when she feels ready. Also, in Sakura's words, there's a deeper meaning: it's the last wish of happiness for those two, which comes from her own lived experience. At the end of volume 12 we saw Sakura uttering those same words, in her happiest moment of reunion with Syaoran...Sakura knows that happiness, the happiness of reuniting and be able to stay all the time with the person you love the most. This is the same thing she's wishing for those two right now, with these words. To be together forever and savor that same happiness she's living herself everyday. But if the translation makes it about all four of them, or even just about Sakura and Akiho, this underlying message, this last parallel between the two pairs is completely gone. Also, what's the sense in saying "we have a long future together ahead" if Kaito and Akiho are leaving?? It doesn't make sense to me. They once again managed to remove any hint of Kaito and Akiho being destined to be together for life, and bent the phrase to include everyone, just because they could. I find that quite disrespectful in my opinion.

Anyway, if you made it this far in reading the post, you now know how that line should actually be. I feel so embittered and disappointed that this happened precisely at the end...

But this time, as opposed to the OG manga, there's one more page to bring this arc to a closure: we can see the back of the new empowered Sakura Card (on the Card there's a mix of both the Star circle and the Dream circle), and the text reads:

JP, lit.: "When all the Cards are gathered, that's the beginning that comes from an end. A beginning to move on"

You have surely recognized it , this is exactly the same page that appeared at the very beginning of this arc, it's just that back then we had a Sakura Card's back, a more unsettling background, and lots of blank cards floating. Right now we have the back of the empowered Sakura Cards, a more serene background and instead of the blank cards, we have cherry blossom petals! ❤️

But most importantly, the sentence slightly changed too, communicating to all the readers that from the end of all the tribulations that our characters went through in this Clear Card Arc, they finally managed to move onto a happier life.

I think it's very beautiful how CLAMP decided to conclude this story, with a message of hope that not all endings are necessarily something bad, but they can simply hide behind them the beginning of something new and more positive.

Lord knows how much I needed to be reminded of this, in this moment of my life.

And surely this is also true for the end of this beloved series for many people around the world: after 7 years and half it's so hard to say goodbye to such a beloved story, but CLAMP want to give us one last present before saying goodbye to it for an indefinite period!

On the right side of the Japanese last page (this was not translated in the ENG one) we find the announcement that the April issue of Nakayoshi on sale on March 1st 2024 will bring us a special chapter of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card! Precisely one month before the release of volume 16! There's no info about how long it's gonna be, but anything is strongly welcome to say goodbye in a more gradual way...I wonder what it'll be about? This can be literally anything!! I would love for them to feature a situation in the future, rather than in the past....

Beware, because I've heard that Anime News Network translated this as a "special arc" in their news and that caused a ruckus...I've already tried to warn people on Twitter that's not correct, "tokubetsuhen" is the same term they used for the special short chapters they have published till now.

And so...it ends. We've reached the end!! Omg! I still can't register it fully....🙈

I will write some short additional comments about the chapter here but you'll have to wait for another, separate post to have my impressions and commentary on the entire Clear Card Arc.

I just want to say that this finale didn't feature everything I hoped/wanted to see, but other things were definitely granted.

It's just impossible to make everyone happy so I completely understand that.

And even though I'm truly disappointed about Momo and the choice to make her leave her two kids like that, I feel overall this disappointment doesn't stain my appreciation for this finale.

The things I wanted to see and got, the general happy and relaxed atmosphere, seeing all four of them so friendly with eachother, Sakura's final blessing with those words are enough to make me feel still quite satisfied with the finale.

Also, this feels so much more open than the OG manga. A lot more open. There are tons of elements one could grasp to in case they wanted to make a spin-off, or feature some of these plot threads as a cameo in another work. Akiho and Kaito's situation in particular, with their travels around the world, seems to be screaming "you'll see us again soon". I don't know if I'm just delusional but I've seen so many people saying the same.

And I have to say that despite my first choice was for Akiho and Kaito to stay in Tomoeda, they gave me enough good reasons to justify them departing again. I did, in fact, predict that an eventual resume of their travels could be plot related (if they had to continue escaping the Squids' radar or if they had to find a way to fix Kaito's situation).

Plus, Akiho seems so happy and free. How can I rebel against that, when they depict her so happy of her choice?

Also, nice of Eriol to step up and help those two. He's the other poweful and experienced magician who can put at their service all of his knowledge.

And then, Kaito's character development. Even here, I felt like I would've wanted him to say more, but then I remembered that Ohkawa in a Space long time ago had already said "I would want the readers, once it's over, to re-read this trying to understand 'why this character acted in this way?' " and it was clear that she was referring to Kaito. So, not exposing in detail Kaito's heart and the motivations that brought him to this point is totally intentional. She wants us to get there on our own. After all, she gave us another huge hint in this chapter, by making him reveal his true name to Akiho. I can only be grateful for that, especially for how he worded it.

Cristaux and Cosmos...while I'm really happy they have the same initials, I'm still trying to get used to those new names! 😂even though I know they'll keep using their aliases so it's not a big problem, we'll keep calling them Kaito and Akiho!

(And yes, I'm a bit disappointed that Akiho's true name isn't Alice! 😂)

It was nice to see SyaoSaku blushing and flirting in this finale, especially now that Touya gave his blessing to Syaoran, he can go pick her up for school when he wants!! 😂 I'm sure we'll get more SyaoSaku fluff in the special chapter, as this finale was mostly used to wrap up other stuff.

As I said, I adored the few panels of interaction between the two Moon Boys, Akiho's mischievous prank to Kaito....yes, I still have lots to be grateful for, in this finale.

I think this post just won the record for the longest one, so let me just take this space really quick before wrapping up to thank all of you who have read my posts, shared them, supported me, chatted with me about the story, and overall contributed with interesting discussions in this little personal corner. I would've never imagined, not even in my wildest dreams, that the existence and content of this blog one day would've reached even CLAMP, and this will stay as one of my biggest gratifications, especially cause they seemed to appreciate the effort. I just wish their story was treated better by some official translations.

I tried to do whatever I could to spread warnings about heavy translation mistakes, in addition to my interpretation of the story as I was reading it and analyzing it, since I've seen it helped many people understanding the story better and coming to terms with frustrations they had about it.

Clear Card Arc is undoubtedly more complex and requires a lot more of attention than the OG manga.

But I'm positive that re-reading everything in one go might help A LOT in that regard, maybe keeping my translation posts beside you....so I urge everyone to re-read the story when you have time, because it's worth it. Really.

That said, I'm not going anywhere for the foreseeable future: of course I'll comment the special chapter, but I also have in store the "Clear Card Trivia" series of posts, a post with the timeline of the events and a master post about my own review of the entire Clear Card Arc. And then, there's the season 2 of the anime too! You can bet I'll be here to comment on it every week!!

In the meantime, I want to thank all of you again for your patience, for reading me till now, and I also want to thank once again CLAMP-sensei for the wonderful sequel they brought to us in these past 7 years. ありがとうございます 🙏

See you soon!!

#card captor sakura #cardcaptor sakura #clear card arc #ccsakura #ccs spoilers #clamp #sakura card captor #sakura kinomoto #syaoran li #akiho shinomoto #yuna d. kaito #chapter 80 #translation differences

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