Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc 05
カードキャプターさくら クリアカード編 chapter 05

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Sakura and Tomoyo tell Syaoran about the new Clear Card. As such, Sakura is carrying those two cards and the new key with her at all times. The Sakura Cards are still blank and thus unusable. After the girls leave, Syaoran is worried about this latest incident happening in Sakura’s room.

At school, Sakura and Tomoyo discuss joining school clubs when it starts raining unexpectedly. The rain continues all day. After school, Tomoyo and Sakura walk home as the rain falls harder. The two find shelter at a gazebo. There, Tomoyo questions the rain which leads Sakura to activate her key. Thanks to Tomoyo having a frog costume, Sakura gets dressed for the occasion.

The rain becomes rope-like and binds Sakura and Tomoyo. Sakura senses what is driving this rain. She uses Gale to free herself and Siege to bind the source of the water. She then uses her magic to turn the power into the Clear Card named Aqua. Tomoyo laments that she wasn’t able to record Sakura’s actions. However, her camera is safe, thanks to the Daidouji Toy technology.

That night, Sakura tells Syaoran what happened over the phone. After they hang up, Syaoran has his rashinban out and remarks that he has to hurry.

Sakura sends a text to Yukito about the new Clear Card. Touya knows something is going on with Sakura. He confesses that though he no longer has the power he once had, there are new things he can do. Touya assures his friend that it will be clear when the time comes.

Meanwhile, Sakura Sakura hasn’t received a reply from Eriol and her Sakura Cards are still blank. She wonders if the cards are OK and vows to do what she can to see them again.

Thoughts/Review:

I’m finally getting around to reviewing Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc 05 and it is still seeming like a retread of Cardcaptor Sakura.

Following the Anime’s Pattern

When the Cardcaptor Sakura manga started, Sakura had two cards and was shown to be capturing her third card. In the anime, Sakura is shown capturing all of the cards from scratch. As she captures cards, she then needs them to capture additional cards.

That’s what I was reminded of with the story in Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc 05. Sakura had her first two cards, but then needed them to capture her third card. From that aspect, I start getting a “been there, done that” feel. I suppose it is only natural that Sakura would use her cards to capture other cards, but it just isn’t the same.

Clear Cards vs The Sakura Cards

Another thing that is making the new manga series seem repetitive is that two of the Clear Cards seem pretty much like the Sakura Cards. What’s the difference between Gale and The Windy in terms of power? What’s the difference in power between The Watery and Aqua? That remains to be seen.

There are a couple of differences between the Sakura Cards, and the Clear Cards. For starters, the Clear Cards we’ve seen to date are not humanoid or animal spirits when not in card form, at least not in the way the Clow Cards/Sakura Cards were. Indeed, when Sakura thinks back to her Sakura Cards, CLAMP draws seventeen of the nineteen cards (I didn’t see The Maze or The Illusion) in their non-card form. Except for The Sword and The Shield, the Cards feel like living beings who’ve agreed to have Sakura as their master. One could understand why Sakura formed a bond with them.

With the Clear Cards not having a similar, compelling appearance, the cards don’t feel alive. They feel more like things or tools. I don’t know if this is by design, or just a failing by CLAMP to come up with something new and compelling. Either way, Sakura is not forming a bond with these new cards.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

I find myself not having a great deal to discuss, but I do have a few additional thoughts.

• How is Syaoran involved with these Clear Cards.
• What is Touya’s new powers?
• Yamazaki is still up to his old tricks and somewhat held in check by Chiharu. That caused me to smile, but that’s all.
• Did I see Ichiro (Angelic Layer/Chobits) and Chitose (Chobits)? Also, it looked like Shuuko (Angelic Layer) may been been in that shot of the development team from Daidouji Toys.

In the end, Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc 05 shows us a new card, but offers nothing too interesting in terms of story.