© CLAMP・ST/講談社・NEP・NHK
Episode 17 – Sakura and the Crazy Sweets
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So we’re back to following the manga more closely with this episode.
Rika-chan! Wow, her voice sounds a lot more mature!
I’m gonna skip the whole cooking class part because, well, cute.
What really matters now: Momo finally spoke! I really like her voice. It is a bit softer than I expected, and kind lazy too, but I think it fits her. I think they could have introduced her speaking before, I feel like Momo is a true attention grabber whenever she is on scene. Also, I love how when she “opens” her eyes, she doesn’t really open them LOL
The battle scene with APPEAR was a real mess. This episode’s animation quality was a mess to begin with, but the battle scene itself was even messier. For a second I forgot I was watching CCS and it seemed like an episode of BLOOD-C xD (not good) This battle scene looked when better in the manga.
Now that we know that the clear cards are being created by Sakura herself, in hindsight we can tell the clues that CLAMP were giving, like when she secures APPEAR and realizes that she just learned the kanjis from its title.
The scene with Akiho and Kaito was interesting. There was a portion of the dialog that was never in the manga. The part after Akiho faints and Kaito tells “her” that the mere fact that she was asking him to laugh made him very happy. I wonder if that will turn out to be an anime-only subplot or it was editted out of the manga for other reasons. Somehow, it made me think that Akiho wasn’t always like this, like we are seeing her. Her reaction surprised Kaito is a very alarming way.
Then, it appears that Kaito is looking into Akiho’s mind and watching the dream sequence that happened earlier on that day with Sakura. Is he rewinding back her memories again? Or simply watching them? The pointer of the clock in his magic circle was indeed running backwards.
I’ve said this earlier but I’ll say it again: the animation quality in this episode was a big let down. I can’t think of any episode worst than this one. The faces looked weird and out of proportion in many shots, not even Sakura, whose design is always flawless and on point, was safe this time. Eagle eyed fans spotted the wrong card (AQUA) when Sakura was casting SPIRAL. I sure hope these will get fixed for the DVD/BD release.
Next episode BLAZE will finally appear! Only 5 episodes left, guys.
20 thoughts on “Review: Card Captor Sakura Clear Card arc TV Anime – Episode 17”
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Chibi Yuuto's CHRoNiCLEs 
Hi Alex ❤
"Rika-chan! Wow, her voice sounds a lot more mature!"
I thought the same. I guess the fact that her seiyuu is the only different one from the original series, her voice sounds different and more mature than the rest of the cast and it suits her. I love her, I wish we could see her again and know a bit more about her current life (though I don't think it'll ever happen).
Terrible animation was terrible. Such a pity since this chapter was particularly well drawn. The roll monster was a mess. Sakura's classmates looked horrible. The cooking part with that chibi style felt more like an excuse than "cute".
Momo ❤ I was looking forward to seeing her. She's a total diva, I love her! All sparkly and chocolate enthusiast. The way she was handled throughout the series was a letdown though. It wasn't as impactful as it could have been due to the various "close-ups" in previous episodes and the fact that she was moving and laughing on the OP/ED before she actually talked in the series. I know it was obvious from the beginning, but talking with people who doesn't follow the manga, it was a bit disappointing. This is just me being picky though xD I already knew everything, I just wished it would have been a more shocking revelation!
Is it just me, did I just read it incorrectly in the manga, or is it that Kaito was much more affectionate here? I remember reading the chapter and thinking he wasn't particularly impressed by Akiho's cake and I even felt sorry for her! LOL I was surprised when I watched this scene, kinda shocked TBH. When she explained she intended to do a better looking clock, he kinda acknowledged her design wasn't as good due to the lack of ingredients after the incident, but in the anime he just said how cute it looked nonetheless. I probably sucked at reading the mood from the chapter though xD It was an impactful scene, I don't know what to even think about him, or rather about what he feels about her, he even stopped Momo's movements. Is he "sending" Sakura and Akiho that dream? Is he only watching it? Is he just showing off and trying to look cool to us? What the fuck is he doing!!!? xD
Long post is long agaaaaaain, sorry! As alaways, I was really looking forward to your review ❤
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“The way she was handled throughout the series was a letdown though. It wasn’t as impactful as it could have been due to the various “close-ups” in previous episodes and the fact that she was moving and laughing on the OP/ED before she actually talked in the series.”
You know I have seen a lot of these comments about Momo and then after the preview with Touya, I was laughing so hard because I think that they, in a way, were putting us in a situation similar to Touya with Kero, specially with all those close ups, maybe that is the way Touya felt about Kero: it was so obvious that he wasn´t a normal toy yet the have to keep the act. XD ; well I want to believe that.
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“The way she was handled throughout the series was a letdown though. It wasn’t as impactful as it could have been due to the various “close-ups” in previous episodes and the fact that she was moving and laughing on the OP/ED before she actually talked in the series. I know it was obvious from the beginning, but talking with people who doesn’t follow the manga, it was a bit disappointing. This is just me being picky though xD I already knew everything, I just wished it would have been a more shocking revelation!”
I kinda agree, especially since I felt they better hid Syaoran seeming all-knowing from the beginning than how he was portrayed in the manga. The opening and ending was a real spoiler. Also kinda spoiled that Kaito and Momo were the good guys with how Momo was playing and hanging out with Kero and Suppi (though I don’t think there was much doubt).
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The cooking part with that chibi style felt more like an excuse than “cute”.
THIS! Yes. I felt the same while watching it. Like “enough!”
is it that Kaito was much more affectionate here?
Maybe anime!Kaito, or rather, the relationship between Kaito and Akiho will be slightly different in the anime.
Love Momo as well! Diva indeed xD
Love your comments too! Thanks for coming back!
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After sleeping a couple of times over this episode, I’m way less “angry” about the less than perfect animation, somehow I took into consideration a lot of things, and I still think it’s going good and we’re lucky. At least they kept the effort and budget of this episode for the really important parts, which were also the ones pulling the plot forward. I hope, like you, that they will fix them in the Bluray/DVD release.
Think about it: it’s somehow “wise” to let the quality drop in the second half of the season, if they really had to due to budget/time reasons, because if they had to redraw a lot of scenes for the first couple of bluray releases, it would probably overlap with their job for the last episode to air on TV, and they can’t have that, right? In fact, the first 6 episodes all look very good and pleasant, art-wise. I don’t think there will be re-drawn frames. Instead, when it’ll be time to fix this episode 17, they’ll have plenty of time to work on it on a more relaxed schedule.
On to the episode!! Since I’ve already talked about what I think of the technical side, I’ll go straight to the story!!
I appreciated “The Dream” sequence being presented again, it’s probably my favorite part. Sakura seems to be loosing her temper the more she gets this dream, and they did a good job at that: she’s having it way more often than in the manga, and I could guess anyone, even little precious Sakura, could start lose their patience in a situation like that. She’s wondering if she’s having a foretelling dream, and then Dragon-chan appears again. This time Sakura is falling into the void, though. I wonder if this has got more than one meaning. If this is a foretelling dream like the previous arcs, it should be starting getting clearer very soon.
I also will skip the cake roll part because honestly it didn’t interest me enough, not even in the manga, the whole procedure was cute though and at this point I bet they’ll release a cooking book with all the recipes of the show XD
The card capture was ok in my opinion, and you know what? That abomination was hideous but I LOVED that they decided to create such a yucky monster for CCS! I mean, the concept alone is exciting. Revolting creatures in my CCS? When has this ever happened? XD All joking aside, this goes to show once again that they’re raising the bar. They definitely are, the roll cakes put up an angry face in the manga but they didn’t inspire dread like this….thing….
And now the scene at Shinomoto’s house. It was well made, the tension between Akiho and Kaito was cute, but thing got really interesting only when she said that simple “please laugh like this again” and triggered Kaito. I mean. He had a powerful reaction!! We never saw him like that, it’s almost as if she said something like this, before…….before everything changed…….
As I said somewhere else, this scene with Akiho fainting after rambling about how she often says illogical things reminded me of when Sakura-hime fainted when she was about to remember her relationship with Syaoran in Tsubasa. In that case, her “price” would get in between and zap!, make her faint and erase her memories. In Akiho’s case, the clock appearing in her eyes might be the one causing the disconnect.
What Kaito told her before fainting seems to be pointing out strongly at him being a character with good intentions, at least towards Akiho. He seems to stop at nothing to achieve his goal, which is probably to save Akiho, and he’ll use all the methods he has to. Even lying/hiding things/hurting the person he’s trying to save. Sounds familiar? Oh yes.
Momo finally talked and moved! I expected her voice to be a bit more bitchy, but it’s ok like this as well. It’s just that it’s too similar to another character, but I can’t quite point out who, maybe Suppy? It feels like I’ve heard her before.
Next episode! The staff in charge is the same of episode 9 so we should be safe, quality-wise, and the capture of the card is very interesting, I look forward to this episode!! ^__^
….5 episodes left, tho…. T___T
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After sleeping a couple of times over this episode, I’m way less “angry” about the less than perfect animation, somehow I took into consideration a lot of things, and I still think it’s going good and we’re lucky.
Here is the TC!Cinzia, she is back XD Noooo dear, this was badly animated, for Madhouse standards I mean. You are just being light towards it because of your love for this anime ❤
Instead, when it’ll be time to fix this episode 17, they’ll have plenty of time to work on it on a more relaxed schedule.
I hope you’re right. Frankly, I think it’s really unfair this whole “we will fix it in the BD” business. It’s sad that the anime industry has come to this point. But of course, this isn’t applied to CCS only.
The card capture was ok in my opinion, and you know what? That abomination was hideous but I LOVED that they decided to create such a yucky monster for CCS! I mean, the concept alone is exciting. Revolting creatures in my CCS? When has this ever happened? XD All joking aside, this goes to show once again that they’re raising the bar. They definitely are, the roll cakes put up an angry face in the manga but they didn’t inspire dread like this….thing….
hahaha there she is again, always seeing the bright side ❤ Okay, you are right *eyeroll*
it’s almost as if she said something like this, before…….before everything changed…….
Yeah, like he had a glimpse of the old Akiho.
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“Here is the TC!Cinzia, she is back XD Noooo dear, this was badly animated, for Madhouse standards I mean. You are just being light towards it because of your love for this anime ❤”
You..!! Who said it’s well animated XD Of course I still see it’s badly animated, I just chose to not get mad about it because I took into consideration a lot of things! It’s that honestly I’ve seen a lot of complaints and after a while it gets tiring, people saying they even felt “insulted” by Madhouse, like the remaining 16 episodes were shit, you know? No, I just chose to detach myself and see things from a level headed point of view 😛 And, didn’t here happened the exact opposite of the TC days?XD I got mad right away, but after 2 days it boiled down. At that time I was blind and said it was fine right away, but when realization hit me……….XD
“I hope you’re right. Frankly, I think it’s really unfair this whole “we will fix it in the BD” business. ”
Ah babe, if they ain’t gonna fix it I’ll be the first one to get mad. I can excuse the hectic anime production schedule, the budget, whatever you want, but after they took FIVE THOUSAND YEN from me for 3 episodes, they need to fix this shit. Like, immediately XD
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people saying they even felt “insulted” by Madhouse
get a life, people!
but after they took FIVE THOUSAND YEN from me for 3 episodes, they need to fix this shit. Like, immediately XD
you go girl!
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I mentioned this on the Discord server, but I think CLAMP and Madhouse dodged a bullet by deciding to make a new story arc rather than re-animate the original. Here we can at least judge “Clear Card” on its own merits–the animation industry of 2018 is very different from the one of the late 1990s, and while CCS has always been a popular series, it’s competing for budget funds with two other big Madhouse shows this season. It’s totally understandable that we’d get one or two really off-model episodes. But if we were getting a remake of the Clow Card arc with the original stellar animation and art design replaced with the kind of sloppiness and carelessness we just got here, well…
The cake monster was utterly disgusting and wonderfully creative. If you think about these new cards along with the monsters from the opening of the second movie as Sakura’s creations, she’s got, um…a really different aesthetic from Clow? (No wonder Ohkawa threw in that bit about Sakura volunteering to read to little kids in the hospital–we need reassurance that she’s still a good kid, no matter how freaky her imagination may be, ahaha.)
Momo’s voice was a nice surprise! To be honest, I was hoping for an elegant older woman’s voice, but I still appreciated how gentle she sounds. It’s like “snobby rich girl” combined with “your first stuffed bunny.”
The Kaito scene felt like an apology for his shady behavior near the end of the last episode. It was as if Ohkawa and Asaka realized that some viewers would come away with the impression that he was abusing Akiho, so they wanted to drive home the fact that he’s devoted to her well-being. It seems like they’re going to hold onto the mystery of Akiho’s background until the very end.
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“It’s totally understandable that we’d get one or two really off-model episodes. But if we were getting a remake of the Clow Card arc with the original stellar animation and art design replaced with the kind of sloppiness and carelessness we just got here, well…”
EH, even the old anime had less than perfect episodes, the first one coming to mind is episode 50 (mostly because it’s a SyaoSaku one and the art is SO unpretty), a bit of episode 2, episode 25, or episode 54 (with Sakura’s huge off-model eyes), or episode 66 in the first part…
But you’re totally right, Asaka said he wanted to re-do Clow Card arc with the current technology because it would look spectacular, if they would make it look any less good than the original, we would all be at his throat in this moment…the director takes all the blame, after all.
“she’s got, um…a really different aesthetic from Clow? (No wonder Ohkawa threw in that bit about Sakura volunteering to read to little kids in the hospital–we need reassurance that she’s still a good kid, no matter how freaky her imagination may be, ahaha.)”
uhahahah you killed me here XD Yes, if you stop thinking about it for a moment, it definitely makes you wonder “Sakura….are you ok?” because, to give birth to such monstrosity……
” It was as if Ohkawa and Asaka realized that some viewers would come away with the impression that he was abusing Akiho”
Mh, right, in fact I had the same impression. Glad that they balanced things, somehow. Because, I want to like Kaito, in the end. I also have the impression that Asaka and Ohkawa are teasing the audience: one day they show something, the other they throw you off showing something else. They are doing the same with Sakura and Syaoran: they show them close, then make Syaoran disappear and acting shady, then a surprise hug that reassures everyone, save for making him disappear in the shadow, doing whatever he’s doing, once again. It’s ok, I like when they make things interesting in this way.
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I am glad overall that out of 22 episode we got only 1 really bad animated episode, with the potential of getting fixed for the BD/DVD (even though I hate that business model).
The cake monster was utterly disgusting and wonderfully creative. If you think about these new cards along with the monsters from the opening of the second movie as Sakura’s creations, she’s got, um…a really different aesthetic from Clow? (No wonder Ohkawa threw in that bit about Sakura volunteering to read to little kids in the hospital–we need reassurance that she’s still a good kid, no matter how freaky her imagination may be, ahaha.)
LOL! I never made the connection until you mentioned it. Sakura has such dark secrets.
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So normally I don’t really notice animation or the technical aspects of any show, but I certainly noticed it this time. The jump in animation when they were cutting the roll cakes took me aback; I thought my computer was getting old and slowing down, but after replaying it a few times, nope, that was the episode itself. And Sakura’s face when she’s turned to talk with Akiho in cooking class… just, wow… they made her look so much older the way they drew her, and not in a good way. The expressions she was making looked really odd. I hope alongside everyone that these will be fixed later. It’s my first time watching a show at the same time as it’s coming out, and while I already knew that sometimes backgrounds and effects could be touched up or expanded, I didn’t know the character models would also sometimes be lackluster in their first run-through. It makes me appreciate buying the DVDs even more now!
The scene where Sakura forgets her apron and runs back home and to school was hilarious. I was laughing out loud. I can forgive the cheap animation for that part because it’s very fitting.
Wow, CCS has really gone in a more moe cooking/food show direction, and not just with this episode… I don’t know if I care all that much for that, or at least, the amount of time devoted to that… It’s cute and all, but it just feels very different from the original anime. I hate to keep bringing up the differences between the two, and want to judge the new series on its own merits, but it really can’t be helped. That genre has never been much my cup of tea. If there are scenes that help with showing character development, and it happens to be cute and revolve around cooking, that’s fine, but if a scene is just there to be cute and nothing else, then I’m like “OK, yeah, I get it, she’s cute and we love her already, and now you’re MAKING ME HUNGRY!!!” ^_^;
I was surprised that EVERYONE in the school, not just those in the room where SNOOZE was cast was put to sleep. Sakura has really gotten strong.
I like the sweets monster and the way they expanded its chaos, although I’m still wondering how its magic is different from ACTION.
Momo has finally spoken! I like her voice, a nice blend of elegance and sophistication with a touch of ojo-sama arrogance. I couldn’t help but imagine how she must have reacted when Akiho tore her scarf but was forced to not openly react. I’d imagine she was quite upset and had to struggle not to cry out lol.
It has been a long time since I’ve read this chapter in the manga, so I was really surprised by the Kaito scene at the end. There was a lot of hinting at Akiho’s condition and Kaito’s motives that I had completely forgotten had been mentioned already in the manga when I went back to check. It’s strange because I feel in the manga, the Alice of the “Alice in the Land of Clocks” is more ambiguous in whether it refers to Akiho or Sakura, but the anime seems to lean more toward referring to Sakura (with the episode with everyone turning into animals especially). Yet, Kaito wants to stop or at least delay time? Is it because “Alice’s” life in the book will soon end and he wants to prevent that? It would make sense if Alice was Akiho in that case.
This scene between Kaito and Akiho was expanded a little from the manga, and gave a sweeter, perhaps more heartwrenching moment between the two, which hey, I’m all for! I’m sucker for such things.
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Or perhaps rather than her life ending, Akiho will lose her personality for the one we know and see at school and revert to the one we see in Sakura’s dreams. Kinda like what we’ve seen happen in Tsubasa. Which would make Kaito’s reaction to her wishing to see him smile more make a little more sense, if he knew what other personality she may harbor in her.
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“Or perhaps rather than her life ending, Akiho will lose her personality for the one we know and see at school and revert to the one we see in Sakura’s dreams. Kinda like what we’ve seen happen in Tsubasa.”
*NODS. Yep i thought that after seeing this episode. i instantly thought akihos condition is like a blend of c!sakura with memory loss and c!syaoran with personality loss. and kaito is like fai, where he’s doing everything to keep akiho safe and happy, whilst doing some shady dealings in the process.
“The scene where Sakura forgets her apron and runs back home and to school was hilarious. I was laughing out loud.”
LOL! yes! i loved the added sound of a race car just to show how fast she was running. i think sakura should be in the Olympics! now that would be awesome! the fact she was still able to stand AND form a conversation after that speedy run was just epic!
“So normally I don’t really notice animation or the technical aspects of any show, but I certainly noticed it this time.”
i too have to admit i haven’t noticed much the difference in animation for clear card. BUT this episode was very obviously dipping in quality. i was like “….wow, ok, that is a big change.” in the original 90’s series the animation quality was all over the place, and it ranged from gorgeous,to awkward, to weird then back to gorgeous. but certainly this series the animation is more on a level so the difference in animation style and quality isnt so noticeable. having said that i will have to watch this series again with this in mind though, since waited till i could binge watch the first 8 episodes.
“although I’m still wondering how its magic is different from ACTION.”
i just think of ACTION as the move card, and APPEAR as the create card.
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mmm, this episode surprised me somehow. for the first time perhaps i really noticed the dip in animation. they really did look awkward at times. and sakura looked… somewhat different (?) maybe she looked older, or maybe it was her expressions. she looked determined more often in this episode (?)
that dream caught me off guard! i cant remember that scene in the manga… maybe it didn’t happen in the roll cake chapter…. but either way i LOVED that scene where sakura fell out of bed then continued to be affected once she came to. that was creepy! i do think the animation team are doing a great job of animating subtly creepy scenes in this series. first kaito, now sakura! i never expected to use the words sakura was creep in a sentence! perhaps cause i watched this episode late at night added to it but wow! it creeped me out! i think sakura just carrying on as if nothing happened added to the powerful weirdness of that moment.
i am so so happy with rikas scene! she’s definitely a stand out side character. and i loved their choice of voice actress. her mature voice went wonderfully with rikas maturing.
mmm so the cooking scene was waaaayyyy too long, but nicely realistic with their team work and conversations.
i did like the cake monster. i think it shows just where sakuras mind is at after what happened at the shrine with the mirage card. the monster reminded me of that crab/spider monster from blood c. urgh i dont want to think about that anime ^^; it also reminded me of no face from spirited away when he turns into a rampaging monster! coincidentally spirited away is based on alice in wonderland, which is the theme for clear card ^^
syaoran and sakura scene was just pure LOVE for me! oh so sweet!
waaaahhhh! BLAZE is next episode! The fiery card is my favourite! and the fiery episode was one of my favourites in the original so i really really hope that the capture of BLAZE has more risk/action. it would be more fitting for a card so dangerous as BLAZE. plus touya and yue scenes are always welcome in my world!! LOVE THOSE TWO!
something i need clearing up… i thought yukito was volunteering at a pre school, but sakura says in this episode she’s helping at a hospital… which is it? is it both or a translation mistake with the english subs?
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*sakura was creepy.
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Sakura agreed to help Yukito reading for the child, so they’ll probably go together.
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Hi everyone, a Spanish reader here! I’ve been reading Chibi’s posts since the livejournal days (It’s been centuries, hasn’t it? XD), but this is the first time I leave a reply, so first of all I’d like to congratulate you on this wonderful site!
Now, the reason I’m writing this is because I have a theory I’d like to share with you all. Manga spoilers ahead ^^’.
As we all know by now, Sakura herself is the creator of the new cards. Some people also have pointed out that most of the Clear Cards have a non-human appearance. As for now, we only have three cards with a humanoid form: APPEAR, MIRROR (manga) and STRUGGLE (anime). In the manga, Shaoran has already remarked that MIRROR has the aspect of his Clow/Sakura counterpart, which makes sense, but what about the other two?
Is it just me, or has APPEAR some sort of resemblance to Rika? When I came to think of it, I realised that maybe Sakura is creating cards based not only on her own thoughts and wishes, but also on the people around her. Like, the happiness she experienced when Rika APPEARed in her life again after some time, does that have any sense? XDDD (Though I don’t really remember if in the manga she had met Rika right before capturing APPEAR too, can someone verify that?)
Also, since I saw that, I can’t help thinking that STRUGGLE looks a bit like Meiling too, both in the looks and the type of power they have. So the thing is; non-human cards would be based on Sakura’s own ideas, whereas maybe human cards would be based on the “Sakura’s version” of the people around her, like… the way she sees her friends, or the things she thinks or knows about them, materializes in the card, or something like that.
So, if this turns out to be true, can we expect a Tomoyo-based or a Shaoran-based card? I’d definitely love to see that happening XDDDD
Anyway, this is just my little crazy theory, but I wanted to share it with you guys. Sorry for the long post (and any possible gramatical mistake xDU).
Gran trabajo, Chibi! Keep up the good work! 😀
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“Though I don’t really remember if in the manga she had met Rika right before capturing APPEAR too, can someone verify that?”
Yes, episode 17 was pretty much compliant with half of chapter 16 and 17! Sakura did meet Rika before the capture of Appear.
You’re definitely not the only one having noticed those resemblances with Rika and Meiling, it’s not weird at all! After the revelation of chapter 23 the realization came to me as well, and I felt trolled because we’ve had chapter 16 under our nose all this time, and didn’t think about this possibility! ^^
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Hi Celes! Nice to meet you! Thank you for reading my site all this time, since the LJ days is indeed a long time xD Please come back always!
I really like your theory! It makes a lot of sense, actually! =)
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