This chapter is available for free at CLAMP-FANS.com.
DISCLAIMER: If you enjoyed reading this story, please support CLAMP by purchasing the original or licensed material available in your country.
Card Captor Sakura is available for purchase at CD Japan and Amazon Japan with worldwide shipping.
Lovely extreme close-up for the color spread. The crown motif in their clothes is really cute.
I was a little disappointed that we didn’t learn who was trying to steal the cards, but I guess I should have know better that they wouldn’t reveal that on this chapter…
The fact that Sakura tried to stop the cards by using SIEGE but didn’t work makes me think that this was not caused by Sakura, even though she herself wonders if that was the case. Syaoran also thinks this was not caused by her.
Once again we have The Mirror getting itself in some sort of trouble. It’s always that card! xD Whoever tried to steal the cards, are they going to make new attempts? Are more cards going to be stolen? Or were they looking specifically for The Mirror? If so, why bother trying to steal all of them and, if so, what for? Do they plan on using it for something?
I wanna mention the fact that the Sakura Cards also look clear. This happened before and we all thought it was a mistake. However it seems like this was not fixed for the tankoubon (I have to confess I am trusting my friend’s Sakura84-chan’s word for it since I haven’t checked that myself yet) and we see them clear again on this chapter again. This makes me think it’s a conscious decision by CLAMP to make them look clear, specially since in the beginning of the story they all went clear indeed.
After that, everyone at the school that was frozen in time was back to normal. It’s unclear to me what triggered the time to resume flowing: Syaoran getting all cards back or something else.
It’s a little strange how Tomoyo asked to form a pair with Chiharu instead of Sakura, but then again, Tomoyo is this high level, otherworldly wise creature so she probably feels so damn confident about her friendship with Sakura that nothing bothers her. I understand CLAMP needed an opportunity to Sakura and Akiho to interact.
Akiho revisits the night before to Sakura, the one which she confessed her feelings to Kaito in that unusual manner. She goes about how they revisited old memories from their travelings and the fact that Kaito remembered every little detail seemed to make Akiho happy. I totally get her. Isn’t it nice when someone special remembers all the special moments you shared together? It means they care.
Memories are very important to CLAMP. Memories can’t be recreated and they rank high in Yuuko/Watanuki’s shop price table. Upon talking with my friend Sakura84-chan, we both agreed that this scene felt a little ominous. If you analyse Ohkawa-sensei’s writing style, you will notice that when she makes her characters revisit good memories it is usually followed by a setback. We’ll see what awaits Kaito and Akiho…
The panel with all the persons dear to Sakura is very pretty. Hawk-eyed and fellow Brazilian reader Solemar Junior pointed out to me an interesting fact: the flowers that appear near each character is their favorite flower. Such a nice detail for that page composition!
Sakura makes Akiho feel very emotional and vulnerable by just being Sakura, who tells Akiho things that basically every human being seeks to hear, and yet somehow no one had ever told her. We see Akiho crying. It’s a really moving scene and definitely there is character development happening here.
This moment of vulnerability triggers something in Akiho, which causes the “book” inside her to suddenly appear again and attempt to swallow Sakura once again, just like previous attempts that have been blocked by Kaito turning back time.
Except that Kaito is not around this time….
The next scene is a little hard to understand and I think that’s on purpose. We will probably understand better in the coming chapters, but it seems that this event triggered another event, which made Nadeshiko’s pocket watch to be activated and, from the book pages (or was it from thin air?) a rose appeared and shielded Sakura.
Momo freaks out seeing Akiho that way and ends up revealing she’s no ordinary plush toy to Sakura. She believed it had been Kaito who had stopped time, but after she sees Nadeshiko’s watch, she seems to understand what happened, confirming it wasn’t Kaito who stopped time this time.
Clearly Nadeshiko’s watch was given to Sakura in order to protect her, but somehow Momo was not affected by its magic too, which makes me think that Akiho’s mother is involved. Could it be that the ring she gave Momo (which is now in one of her ears) is allowing Momo to move freely?
I am seeing this watch as one of the many last resources devices we have seen in previous CLAMP stories, such as Mizuki’s bell in the Final Judgment, or Soel’s earring in Tsubasa. Until now, we always had Kaito to save the day and prevent whatever shit is happening now, from happening. Now, Kaito is too weak to turn back time so the watch came into action.
I am still a little confused as to what triggered what. In Chapter 48 we see one of the watch’s clock-hand moving right before time stopped and everybody froze. Did the watch made time stop?
Then, time moved again after Syaoran got all the cards except for The Mirror.
Later, the “book” inside Akiho came out and that moved the clock-hand again and caused the time to stop again, except for Sakura and Momo.
I don’t know if this is the right sequence of things but this is how I am interpreting things right now….
Whatever this spell is doing to protect Sakura, it’s probably not going to last very long and Momo and Sakura will have to figure out together their next moves. I’m really glad Sakura finally knows about Momo, I’m very curious to read what they will talk!! The “Nadeshiko’s watch” card is finally played. Some other cards left to be played are: Touya’s new power, Tsukimine Shrine, Eriol (?), Yelan (?), Momo’s earring… what else?
The updated list of cards secured so far:
- GALE
- SIEGE
- AQUA
- ACTION
- REFLECT
- RECORD
- FLIGHT
- LUCID
- SPIRAL
- SNOOZE
- LABYRINTH
- APPEAR
- BLAZE
- MIRROR
- BLADE
- REPAIR
- REWIND
- SHADE
- BREAK
- TRANSFER
- PROMISE
- MIRAGE
- DREAMING
Anime-only cards:
- GRAVITATION
- HAIL
- REVERSAL
- SWING
- STRUGGLE
30 pages for this chapter, closing volume 10 with 139 pages. The next chapter shall be the first chapter of volume 11, and will be published on February 1st, which means we are going to have a break in the next issue of Nakayoshi before we see the continuation of the story, unfortunately!
11 thoughts on “Card Captor Sakura – Clear Card arc – Chapter 49”
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Chibi Yuuto's CHRoNiCLEs 
So much happened that I’m still not sure i got everything right – lol. I guess Kaito wanted to steal only the Mirror Card and ended up using the others as a distraction. I might be overthinking things, but i feel Kaito will use Mirror as a reverse spell on Akiho when he finally gets his hands on the card that he really wants. And I’m pretty sure Momo will “stab Kaito in the back” : she’ll betray him so as to save him.
LikeLike
So do you think Kaito is evil?
LikeLike
Not evil, just so confused that he can’t see straight. So Momo will plot against him with Sakura’s help to make his dream come true without his losing himself.
LikeLike
What a beautiful splash page this month!
The structure of this chapter was strange. Nadeshiko’s clock activated, we got a dramatic action scene, Mirror disappeared…and then time resumed, the kids went to art class, and we suddenly got another dramatic action scene triggered by the clock activating. Sakura and Syaoran’s dedication to staying in school is a little unnerving, ahaha.
Akiho’s conversation with Sakura was heartbreaking, even if it feels like a spiritual repeat of the scene in Fujitaka’s library back in Vol. 6. It’s interesting that each time Sakura brought Akiho to tears, the book activated. Was it Sakura hugging Akiho that led her seal to break, or was it Akiho realizing how emotionally deprived and abused she was, yanking the lid off her childhood trauma?
I’d personally find the clock pendant being just another Moon Bell a disappointment. Ohkawa spent ten volumes slowly and carefully building up this story only to bring in one of her most rehashed ideas to try and resolve it? (The novelty of Nadeshiko and Akiho’s mom working together to charm the clock doesn’t sell it for me, since I never really bought into the value of their two-day friendship in the first place.)
The clock has been acting way more erratically than CLAMP’s other MacGuffin artifacts, though, as you pointed out. It first activated when Sakura told Akiho she was happy they were the same, which led to time stopping and the Cards flying away. Was the clock buying Sakura and Syaoran time to ward off an attack from an outsider who targeted their school just at that very moment? Or was the clock connected to the attempted theft of the Cards?
You could argue that someone was trying to protect Sakura by keeping her main potential power source (the Sakura Cards) even farther away from her. (This might also explain why Sakura suddenly couldn’t touch Syaoran—he had the Cards inside him!) But if that’s the case, why did the clock allow time to resume right after Syaoran got all the Cards back except for Mirror? Does someone specifically want Mirror for something?
The second time the clock activated was more straightforward, since it’s clear it was preventing Sakura from getting absorbed into the book. (You can see the clock’s arms in the background of that two-page spread with the rose.) It’s weird that it never activated earlier—unless it was designed to activate only after Kaito had exhausted his power, which makes you wonder how much juice this clock actually has.
It’s up to Momo to set things right and hopefully give us some answers. We’re also missing a lot of information on Akiho’s parents, such as why they returned to the Squid headquarters and how they died. We still don’t know a lot about Momo’s book, either, or why Sakura and Akihi began “synchronizing” in the first place.
LikeLiked by 1 person
*Akiho, I just pulled off a Kodansha USA in that last sentence. 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sakura and Syaoran’s dedication to staying in school is a little unnerving, ahaha.
LOL!
Was it Sakura hugging Akiho that led her seal to break, or was it Akiho realizing how emotionally deprived and abused she was, yanking the lid off her childhood trauma?
To me it felt like it was the latter. But I can see how it could be a combination of both.
I’d personally find the clock pendant being just another Moon Bell a disappointment. Ohkawa spent ten volumes slowly and carefully building up this story only to bring in one of her most rehashed ideas to try and resolve it? (The novelty of Nadeshiko and Akiho’s mom working together to charm the clock doesn’t sell it for me, since I never really bought into the value of their two-day friendship in the first place.)
I think we will learn more about it in the next chapters (of course, duh), but with so many “tricks” on their sleeves, it’s about time they start using them in the story. It makes sense that an object from Sakura’s mother would serve to protect Sakura.
Was the clock buying Sakura and Syaoran time to ward off an attack from an outsider who targeted their school just at that very moment? Or was the clock connected to the attempted theft of the Cards?
And the outsider was not affected by the magic, it appears. Which, granted, is possible if we’re talking about some very powerful magician.
This might also explain why Sakura suddenly couldn’t touch Syaoran—he had the Cards inside him!
Interesting… so he doesn’t have them physically… that also explains their transparent appearance…
unless it was designed to activate only after Kaito had exhausted his power, which makes you wonder how much juice this clock actually has.
LOL yes. I guess what triggers it is the amount of “doom” coming out of Akiho. When Kaito was around, he acted faster.
It’s up to Momo to set things right and hopefully give us some answers. We’re also missing a lot of information on Akiho’s parents, such as why they returned to the Squid headquarters and how they died. We still don’t know a lot about Momo’s book, either, or why Sakura and Akihi began “synchronizing” in the first place.
A 1000x yes. I am very curious to know the circumstances that Akiho’s parents died. I hope Momo/CLAMP will spill the beans next chapter.
LikeLike
hmmmm, for the stealing of the cards, for me, it seems that the pocket watch did it consciously … stopped time, then did what it wanted to do (steal the cards Sakura, at least, Mirror), then, left time flow again … I mean, whoever has a mirror card, this one did it with the permission of that pocket watch. which means it’s someone of interest to Akiho’s mom.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It makes sense, considering that whoever it was, they were not affected by time being stopped — but then again, Syaoran wasn’t either.
LikeLike
And here I am, for another chapter that made me once again very emotional (but you already know that)
Here’s some more comments I want to make to your post, among all those we’ve told eachother in the last days:
It’s a little strange how Tomoyo asked to form a pair with Chiharu instead of Sakura, but then again, Tomoyo is this high level, otherworldly wise creature
I agree, Tomoyo is really so perceptive that I believe she needed just one look to understand that Akiho needed to “vent” something, and she knows how similar those two are, Sakura was the best choice for her to do so. So she “set up” the pairing by automatically making herself unavailable.
Isn’t it nice when someone special remembers all the special moments you shared together? It means they care.
What I found particularly surprising is how Kaito doesn’t seem aware of many things, he considered bothersome a whole lot of stuff, but somehow, when it comes to Akiho, he remembers every single moment they shared together, he always knows where she is, what she’s doing, what she needs (well…maybe not everything), he’s very *present* with her, if you know what I mean.
and, from the book pages (or was it from thin air?) a rose appeared and shielded Sakura.
From the book pages. The clock shielded Sakura, and from inside the book, it destroyed the pages.
She believed it had been Kaito who had stopped time
Which also means, she doesn’t actually know where Kaito is at the moment and what he is doing. She doesn’t have some kind of weird “radar” for him, so the guy might actually be totally a loose cannon at the moment. Concerning.
but somehow Momo was not affected by its magic too, which makes me think that Akiho’s mother is involved.
One way or another, Akimom is involved for sure. After all, she was the one casting a spell on that watch, so it makes sense that the spell would facilitate Momo 😉
Whatever this spell is doing to protect Sakura, it’s probably not going to last very long and Momo and Sakura will have to figure out together their next moves
I want to remind everyone that the spell, preventing Sakura from being swallowed by Akiho, is protecting Akiho herself, too! If she absorb’s Sakura’s powers, she’s done for! So yes they definitely need to work this out, to save both girls.
And once again, I wonder where Kaito is. Because he was always there when Akiho lost consciousness, he didn’t think twice to sabotage his own plans of bothering Sakura to produce a Card, when the priority for him was of course to restore Akiho back to normal. Where and what the hell is he doing, at such time of emergency?
February feels so far away….dammit….I hope something exciting comes out of this new break!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree, Tomoyo is really so perceptive that I believe she needed just one look to understand that Akiho needed to “vent” something, and she knows how similar those two are, Sakura was the best choice for her to do so. So she “set up” the pairing by automatically making herself unavailable.
I knew you would comment something about this and I also knew that you were going to convince me that that was the most natural thing for Tomoyo to do, LOL
What I found particularly surprising is how Kaito doesn’t seem aware of many things, he considered bothersome a whole lot of stuff, but somehow, when it comes to Akiho, he remembers every single moment they shared together, he always knows where she is, what she’s doing, what she needs (well…maybe not everything), he’s very *present* with her, if you know what I mean.
This says a lot about how he treasures their relationship.
From the book pages. The clock shielded Sakura, and from inside the book, it destroyed the pages.
Thank you. I guess I associated the book with “evil” and the rose with “good” and how these two things couldn’t possibly be connected xD But looking at the panels the rose definitely comes straight out of the book pages. Is the book destroyed then, you reckon?
so the guy might actually be totally a loose cannon at the moment. Concerning.
*nods* he seems very “at loose”
One way or another, Akimom is involved for sure. After all, she was the one casting a spell on that watch, so it makes sense that the spell would facilitate Momo 😉
Who forgot that Akiho’s mother put a spell in the watch? Me of course! =)
I want to remind everyone that the spell, preventing Sakura from being swallowed by Akiho, is protecting Akiho herself, too! If she absorb’s Sakura’s powers, she’s done for! So yes they definitely need to work this out, to save both girls.
Very well reminded! The moms here are doing the best jobs ♡
LikeLike
I also knew that you were going to convince me that that was the most natural thing for Tomoyo to do, LOL
LMAO but that’s what I immediately thought, I didn’t even need to think about it twice. XD If Tomoyo was any slightly possessive about Sakura she wouldn’t have helped Syaoran either 😉
Is the book destroyed then, you reckon?
Pppffft I wish. But no, I think the rose only managed to destroy the pages for this one time….but once time flows again, it’ll be the same mess all over again, that’s why Sakura and Momo have to find a solution.
Who forgot that Akiho’s mother put a spell in the watch? Me of course! =)
*with Momo’s voice* This guy’s clumsiness never heals! HAHAH just kidding, this is what I am here for, right? XD
Very well reminded! The moms here are doing the best jobs ♡
TEAM MOMS TO THE RESCUE! hahahaah
LikeLiked by 1 person