ツバサ・クロニクル 36

SPOILER Summary: With Yasha dead, one of Sakura’s feathers appears. The feather had created a faux Yasha as the real one had died from an illness some time before. That illness is what allowed Ashura to injure Yasha previously and his death allowed Ashura to see him (in solid spirit form) when normally they should only meet on the battlefield. Syaoran getting the feather back for Sakura is his wish and so Ashura sends the feather to him. Ashura, as victor, claims the sky castle and its prize to grant her wish. However, as her wish is for the return of Yasha from the dead, the power within the sky castle is not enough and it disintegrates. As Syaoran reminds Ashura, no one can bring back the dead. So instead, she sends Syaoran to safety where he’s picked up by Kurogane. Ashura makes a wish with Yuuko-san that she and Yasha be made gods to remind future generation of what can and can’t be done.

After Syaoran tells the people to bury Ashura and Yasha together with their possessions, Mokona sends the group back to Shara, the land Sakura and Syaoran originally landed in, only this time there is no war between the followers of Yasha and Ashura. Indeed, Suzuran and Souseki are getting married and the statues of Yasha and Ashura are now together forever as Syaoran changed the future with his request in the past. Mokona retrieves Ashura’s and Yasha’s swords from their statues and sends them to Yuuko-san for payment before sending the group to the next world. With this, Fei Wong marvels at the power that Yuuko-san has.

Thoughts: This was an interesting story-arc in the manga and the anime was no less so. The end dragged a bit because they ran out of story and still had time left, so we get that wonderful Bee Train slow-down solution to kill time.

ツバサ・クロニクル 37

SPOILER Summary: Sakura, Syaoran, Fay, and Kurogane find themselves in a chibi, “super-deformed” form on a weird world but without Mokona. As they look for her, Mokona is actually sleeping elsewhere and a female Storyteller has been using one of Sakura’s feathers as a pen to create stories. As such, in order for Mokona to get the group out of the story, Mokona has to create a story of its own. As such, Mokona changes things so that Kurogane and Fay are teachers at a high school, Syaoran is the new transfer student, and Sakura is the girl he knew from their playground days. Syaoran and Sakura get along well but Fay-sensei needs Syaoran to assist archaeologist Souseki and assistant Suzuran at some ruins that all look like Mokona. There is a warning of a monster being unleashed, which Fay does, turning Kurogane-sensei into a Godzilla-like character. However, a kiss between a holy man and woman (?) will do the trick. Fay convinces Syaoran and Sakura to do it, but they keep getting foiled, leaving it to Souseki and Suzuran. This enables Syaoran and company to return where they discover they don’t remember anything of their adventure. The Storyteller has vanished and Sakura decides Mokona should keep the feather for now. Mokona sends them to the next world and the world they were in disappears.

Thoughts: A comedy, chibi, super-deformed episode, eh? Whatever. And of course it doesn’t play into the continuity story but hey, we need filler, ya’ll. It wasn’t cute enough to make me ever want to watch it again.

ツバサ・クロニクル 38

SPOILER Summary: Mokona deposits them on a world in the middle of a desert road. Mokona immediately attempts to return the pen-feather to Sakura where a passing long-haul truck runs into it and goes on. A “road train” (a fancy bus) picks them up where they encounter a few people like those they’ve met before. When they determine that the truck will make a required pit stop that the bus will also make, they’ll have a 2-minute window to grab the feather, but naturally when the time comes, it doesn’t work out that way. Back on the road, nightfall means that all vehicles have to stop, including the truck. However, it is to far ahead of them to get to it on foot. Meanwhile a road gang on motorcycles attacks the bus and overcomes its defenses. Syaoran decides to face the road gang and Kurogane joins him.

Thoughts: So, Sakura tells Mokona to keep the feather, which Mokona does JUST long enough to get to the next world and spit it out, lose it, so they have to find it again. Ugh. This is why filler is so stupid in this case — a lot of yacking and motions but no meaningful movement or conversation.

ツバサ・クロニクル 39

SPOILER Summary: Syaoran and Kurogane defeat all the road gang and return to the bus. One of the female passengers is an employee of the company that makes the buses and she does some repair work and talks with Syaoran, revealing she’s running from her technician job. The following morning when the bus starts again, they get news of a pop singer with an apparent illness, who of course is on the bus with her manager and they are running away from the pressures of touring and those that would keep them apart. In the end, the technician decides to help them get the feather by putting the bus on manual to speed it up as the truck with the feather got a flat tire. However, it is on one side of a train track and they are on another so Kurogane tosses Syaoran to get it. He gets on the truck just as it leaves and comes under attack from the road gang. The train passed, the bus catches up and the road gang, who can’t shot for crap, get defeated by the bus folk. Syaoran gets the feather, returns it to Sakura, and the trip goes on with everyone changed for the better from the experience.

Thoughts: Yeah, we couldn’t pack this massive story into a single episode, but never fear. Bee Train knows exactly how to stretch a story, ya’ll. I guess the techno music in the 2nd-half was OK…sorta. Whew, only 12 more episodes to slug through.