Alright, now THIS is more like it! In my last review I was saying I wished Clear Card-hen had a bit more action, and this episode definitely delivered in that department. Two card captures in one episode? Yes please! (I know this isn’t going to be the norm for the series, so I’ll take it when it happens.)
So this episode opens with Sakura filling Tomoyo and Syaoran in on the capture of Seige the night before, and then they all head to their respective classes. However almost immediately after the beginning of the school day, it starts to rain. Hard. Throughout the day it rains harder and harder, leaving many poor students drenched when they leave to walk home because the sunny daily forecast didn’t inspire many students to bring an umbrella to school “just in case.”
Tomoyo and Sakura have though, because they are Smart Girls. The rain hasn’t let up at all, and in fact as Sakura and Tomoyo are walking home the rain starts to come down even harder. Trying to walk home in that kind of downpour would destroy their little umbrellas, so they take refuge in a nearby gazebo, and Sakura finally realizes that the rain might actually be a Clow Card in disguise.
Wearing a new frog-themed outfit from Tomoyo, Sakura transforms her key and uses Seige to capture the Aqua card, which had been controlling the weather from atop the penguin slide in the local park. Sakura makes it home safe afterwards and fills Syaoran in on what happened.
We get a little insert scene with Toya and Yukito, who have just finished their shift at their current part-time job and are getting ready to head home. Yukito gets a text from Sakura informing him about her new card, and Toya teases Yukito because, like Sakura, all of his emotions show on his face. Toya tells Yukito that he knows that his powers, which he previously gave to Yue so that Yukito would live, won’t return, but he’s found “something else” he can do instead. However Toya refuses to tells Yukito what this something is, and only says to himself that Yukito will find out when the time is right. Hmm… now I’m curious!
Back at school the next day, the sunny weather means the Cheerleading Club can finally get started. Practice goes very well, and afterwards Sakura hangs back from Chiharu for a moment so she can tie her shoe. When she stands up again, the field is suddenly empty and the sky is an ominous shade of navy blue. However even after summoning her magic staff, Sakura still can’t see what might be watching her. She uses Gale to pinpoint the new card’s location, but it’s not
an effective technique because the card keeps zipping around the field. She needs something that can blanket the field all at once, which means… Aqua you’re up!
Sakura summons the rainy card and large water droplets fill the field. Because the moving card disturbs the water as it moves, Sakura can now use Seige to capture it. What is this new card? Reflect.
Syaoran finds Sakura right after her capture, but she’s all wet because of the Aqua card. Syaoran gives Sakura his jacket to wear, and we get a cute moment between the two.
Once home, Sakura attempts to take a bath but passes out on her bedroom floor. She has another dream, and sure enough the mysterious robed person is there. They use their power to pull Sakura’s Clow Key towards them, but Sakura won’t let it go. She gets closer than ever before to this creepy person, so close she can almost see into their eyes. When she wakes up, Sakura notes that this person in the robes is just about Sakura’s height. And from outside her window, the robed individual is watching Sakura IRL…!
So what does that tell us? Like Eriol from the Master of the Clow arc in the original series, this villain is likely one of Sakura’s peers, or someone close to her in age. Well, that’s my guess anyways. We can tell that it’s not Syaoran because when he gave her his jacket at school, he is noticeably taller than her. And it’s likely not Tomoyo, because why would Tomoyo go after the girl she has a crush on? Well, the next episode heralds the arrival of a transfer student, so… that’s going to be my guess for now. But again, the whole arc with Eriol already covered that scenario, so going that route again might be a little boring or repetitive no?
Also, on a little side note – another really neat (for me) tidbit of trivia I learned recently was that one of my favourite seiyuu, Tomokazu Seki, voiced Toya Kinomoto both in the original Japanese Cardcaptors anime and now in CCH too! (I first discovered that he voiced Van in Vision of Escaflowne, and later I learned he was also Ryuuki Shi’s seiyuu in Saiunkoku Monogatari. ~ <3 )
One more thing! I apologize for continuously forgetting to mention something important. ^^;; In the opening of the first episode, a female voice warns that the “beginning of the end” will occur when all of the cards have been gathered together. One of Sakura’s pink cards is shown surrounded by clear cards, so is this “prophecy” referring to when all of Sakura’s transformed Clow cards have been gathered together (thus implying that the cards turning clear is part of this end process), or is referring to when all of the clear cards have been gathered together?
Anyways, I really enjoyed this episode and the increase in action. I guess I just like shows with a faster pace. These clear cards are different from the original set of Clow cards, so I’m really interested to see what they all will be. So many questions, and so many answers to look forward to!
