Sakura Card Arc: 47-59

Timeline: September (first day of school)

Characters Introduced:

• Eriol Hiiragizawa
• Nakuru Akizuki

Characters Emphasized: Sakura

Key plot points and revelations:

• The plot skips several months from May to August, and Cerberus states that he and Sakura have not done anything (magically significant) in all that time.
• Sakura writes a letter to Kaho, who is in England again. This is the start of Sakura's frequent exchange of correspondence with Kaho, who has become a mentor and possible substitute mother figure.
• Sakura meets Yukito on her way to school. The long slow descent of Yukito's deteriorating health begins, starting innocently enough with a simple yawn. He is carrying two loaded grocery bags and explains to Sakura that he is always hungry lately. Privately, Sakura reminds herself that this is actually Yue, but she is still in love with Yukito.
• Sakura asks Syaoran if he will return to Hong Kong soon, and she is crestfallen when he says yes. He quickly promises that they will see each other again.
• Terada becomes the new homeroom teacher after Kaho's leave.
• Terada introduces another new student, Eriol Hiiragizawa. Sakura is immediately curious, and the two share eye contact in a way that makes Syaoran snarl, particularly when Eriol singles Sakura out in the middle of class for a greeting. They talk briefly and he asks to call her "Sakura-san."
• Syaoran changes his mind and decides he will stay in Japan, certainly because of the troubling appearance of Eriol. Tomoyo guesses his reason and begins the trend of mercilessly teasing him about it. Syaoran denies her guesses and has yet to admit to anyone or himself that he has fallen in love with Sakura.
• At the high school, Toya and Yukito have a new classmate named Nakuru Akizuki. She seems to have a mad crush on Toya, and a trend begins with her jumping on him and squeezing him whenever she has the chance. She also directs particularly malicious smirks at Yukito. Toya looks wary about Nakuru.
• At Sakura's home, the Clow Book glows with such a strong light that it spills out of the drawer. When Sakura opens the book, Cerberus and her room disappear and Sakura hears Clow's voice warning her that he will be causing a little trouble. Afterwards, she sees the book has changed from red to pink, from bearing a sun to a star, and now reads "SAKURA" instead of "CLOW".
• At the park, Cerberus senses a strong presence, even though all the Cards have been captured.
• Sakura cannot use her magic to transform her necklace into a wand.

Timeline: early September

Characters Emphasized: Sakura

Key plot points and revelations:

• Sakura tells Syaoran what happened the night before, and he predicts that someone with more power than either of them could be the culprit.
• In the high school, Toya tries to tell Yukito something but is interrupted by Nakuru. This is the first of very many attempts for Toya to try and tell Yukito about his true nature as Yue, but he is always prevented by Nakuru. The writers of the series purposefully phrased Toya's stumbling attempts, however, to sound a lot like a confession of love.
• Nakuru informs Yukito that she will "take him," probably meaning Toya.
• Cerberus asks Yue to come out, for the first time since the Final Judgment. It is shown that Yukito remembers nothing of the moments prior to his transformation to Yue, so he often finds himself in awkward places when he wakes up again. Yukito also feels that he is missing out on large chunks of time, but he cannot figure out why.
• When Sakura quizzes Yue, she discovers that Yue sees everything that happens to Yukito.
• Cerberus suggests to Yue that this new presence feels like Clow.
• Desperate to save her friends' lives, Sakura summons up a powerful strength that uses her own star-sun-moon symbol. She figures out a new chant to transform her star wand, and she realizes that the Clow Cards must be changed to match the new book and new wand. The Firey changes from red to pink, and Sakura is able to use it to save her friends.
• The process exhausts Sakura so much that she passes out and sleeps well into the next day.
• At the end of the ordeal, three shadowed figures are shown as having watched the entire thing.

Timeline: September

Characters Emphasized: Sakura, Tomoyo

Key plot points and revelations:

• Cerberus becomes truly worried that Toya has caught onto him, after Toya directs a malevolent glare his way.
• When Toya and Yukito watch Nakuru annhilate the varsity basketball team, Toya comments that she is like Yukito. Yukito thinks it is because Nakuru is very athletic but is not on any team, but Toya mutters that that is not all.
• Cerberus explains to Sakura and Tomoyo that Sakura has been using Clow's magic all this time, but last night she used magic of her own to create a new Card. This was the cause of her exhaustion. Tomoyo points out that this is no longer a Clow Card, but a Sakura Card.
• Cerberus adds that, during that night, he and Yue were beaten to a standstill, which only Clow Reed could do.
• Sakura catches Eriol playing the piano, which he can do very well. Eriol is seen actually casting a spell for the first time, turning the piano keys red while Tomoyo sings.

Timeline: mid-September

Characters Introduced:

• Spinel Sun
• Ruby Moon

Characters Emphasized: Syaoran, Eriol

Key plot points and revelations:

• Rika works on sewing her teddy bear, beginning the motif of teddy bears that will last for most of the season. Tomoyo brings up a legend that says a maker and recipient of a teddy bear will fall in love. Rika gives her bear to Terada.
• The students are in their winter uniforms again.
• Eriol takes notice of Syaoran and starts a season-long campaign of toying with him, beginning with causing him to fall out of the tree and later forcing him to his will through magical thread.
• Tomoyo delivers her famous speech to Sakura in the crafts shop, telling Sakura that she does not mind if the person she loves feels the same way toward her. She only needs to know that person is happy for Tomoyo to be happy, and Sakura decides that the person Tomoyo loves must be very happy. Sakura is obviously clueless about whom Tomoyo is really describing.
• Syaoran has to begin re-evaluating his contribution to the mission, when he asks Sakura to always call him for help but Cerberus disdains his usefulness. In a marked change from his entrance in Episode 8, Syaoran's only concern seems to be protecting Sakura.
• Tomoyo's video camera is broken when she tries to protect Sakura from Syaoran's attack.
• Eriol is seen watching the entire fight from the comfort of a big red chair, through some kind of magical television-like window.
• Eriol speaks to a black cat with wings reading a book on the couch, and he addresses him as Spinel. Spinel says the book is one that Eriol left behind "long ago."
• Nakuru enters the room and speaks eagerly about "something good" at the school that she will eat, presumably Toya. Spinel asks if she should not be wearing a boy's uniform, and she points out that she is not human, so gender does not matter.
• Eriol displays a key similar to Sakura's, though decorated with sun and moon, and recites the same chant that she always used in the first two seasons. The key is transformed into a long staff. He transforms Nakuru and Spinel into two beings that resemble Cerberus and Yue, but in darker colors with butterfly wings. He calls them Spinel Sun and Ruby Moon.
• Spinel announces that Eriol is the reincarnation of Clow Reed.

Timeline: late September

Characters Emphasized: Sakura, Eriol

Key plot points and revelations:

• Eriol and Sakura talk, and he smiles when he sees her hide the Cards. They talk about Kaho, and Eriol remarks he would have liked to meet her. He then helps her finish the teddy bear she has sewn for Yukito. When she offers him anything he wants as a thank you, he kneels and kisses her hand, then tells her he is jealous of the bear recipient. She blushes a deep red.
• Chiharu gives Yamazaki her own bear, and tries to tell him about the legend of naming one's bear the giver's name. However, Yamazaki likes the name Suama, named after a food. Chiharu tackles him in anger and yells that if they're going to "stay together," then he needs to name it Chiharu. Laughingly he obliges.
• Syaoran is shown looking at his own completed teddy bear, and Yukito catches him in the act. They share lunch, and Yukito asks if he is going to give the bear to someone. An image of Sakura flashes through Syaoran's mind, and he panics, bolting from the scene. He is still in denial that he loves her. Yue cuts him off and informs him that Syaoran has only liked Yukito all this time because he was attracted to the innate moon magic. He should be thinking about the one he really loves.
• Tomoyo uses a brand-new digital video camera from this point on.
• Yue's wings are stolen mid-flight, and when he crashes, Sakura shows him her nurturing, loving self when she tries to take care of him. He seems surprised at such emotion.
• Sakura transforms The Fly, in a manner that puts the wings on her back instead of the staff. Though it also changes her outfit this time, in future uses, her clothes remain the same.
• When Sakura cuts off the "infected" part of the bear, she finds a scrap of paper bearing Clow's symbol.

Timeline: October

Characters Emphasized: Sakura, Yukito

Key plot points and revelations:

• Sakura passes out in class, and it is Syaoran who jumps out of his chair to catch her before she falls.
• Tomoyo produces new phones and, this time, gives one to Syaoran in addition to Sakura and Cerberus, thus explicitly including him in their inner circle.
• Yukito is secretly beginning to worry about his growing sleepiness, hunger, and the missing chunks of time he cannot remember. Toya again tries to tell the truth to Yukito in an extremely suggestive pose.
• Sakura shows Cerberus the Clow symbol recovered from the giant teddy bear.
• Cerberus and Yue talk, and for the first time it is revealed that Cerberus's magic is self-sustaining (being based on the sun) while Yue's, more dependent on the moon, must depend more on his master. Sakura's magic is only barely able to keep up with transforming the Cards, and cannot adequately support Yue's existence. He mentions someone else might be suited for helping.
• When Syaoran realizes Sakura has been cut off from everyone else, he tries to break through the barrier with bare fists, demonstrating his desperation for Sakura's safety.

Timeline: October

Characters Emphasized: Sakura

Key plot points and revelations:

• Fujitaka and Eriol meet, which is totally insignificant in the series, unlike the manga.
• Toya spots his magically trapped bike, which Sakura does not even sense. He warns her not to go near it.
• Sakura notices that the Clow Cards feel cold, and Cerberus explains that since they cannot be used as they are, and they cannot nourish themselves on Sakura's magic, they will soon dry up and turn into ordinary cards. Sakura panics at the notion, demonstrating her love for them, and attempts to change several at once.
• Sakura learns it is not a good idea to transform, or ever call upon a Card at all, unless she has a specific task for it.
• Sakura calls Syaoran on his new phone, specifically asking for his help, which is a change from Syaoran always showing up uninvited.

Timeline: November

Characters Emphasized: Fujitaka, Grandfather Amamiya

Key plot points and revelations:

• When Yamazaki starts feeding a big lie about calendars to Sakura and Syaoran, Eriol jumps in and helps complete the tale. Yamazaki and Eriol start to become good friends from this point on.
• Through Toya's memory it is seen that Nadeshiko once played the organ and taught Toya to play it at a very young age. This is the first time it is seen that any of the Kinomotos are musical, and the presence of the organ in Fujitaka's room is finally explained.
• When Sakura realizes that November 1 is her great-grandfather's birthday, she asks Fujitaka about him. Fujitaka explains that they only met once, because the older man loved Nadeshiko so much and Fujitaka took her away. Sakura is aghast and sets about to clear this up.
• Sonomi collects Sakura's present, remembering that Nadeshiko also gave homemade presents with a letter and a bouquet of flowers. She is a little hostile to Fujitaka, but she promises to get it to her grandfather. Sakura witnesses this, knowing Sonomi is also the grandchild of her great-grandfather, but it does not seem to occur to her to question Tomoyo about whether she has ever met the man.
• Fujitaka and Amamiya meet in the park. The only time they ever met before was when Fujitaka gave him their wedding invitation, a day that evidently went badly if they never spoke again. He apologizes for treating Fujitaka like he did, and he cries because he was so lonely for Nadeshiko. He admits that Fujitaka was a good husband and is a good father, and they come to a truce. Nadeshiko is seen hovering over them with a happy smile.
• Amamiya sends gifts for Sakura and Toya home with Fujitaka. Sakura does notice their resemblance to the dress he gave her in episode 16, but she does not make the connection. She hopes she will meet him someday, and Fujitaka assures her she will.

Timeline: November

Characters Emphasized: Sakura

Key plot points and revelations:

• When Eriol finds Sakura reading Alice in Wonderland, he proposes to take her to Alice's Kingdom. Tomoyo assumes he means he will take her to England, which sparks a jealous rage in Syaoran.
• Terada makes a point to say that Rika's chosen book for her report was one he loved as a boy, which makes her very happy.
• While Syaoran has to use a dictionary to read Japanese books, Sakura notices that Eriol can do it with no trouble at all. He says he grew up around people speaking it, but also says he does not know any Japanese people in England.
• In Wonderland, Sakura converses with Cheshire Eriol, who drops a basketful of hints about what he's been doing to her and that she and Syaoran are both so slow to catch on.
• Tweedle Li quizzes Sakura about whether he likes someone. She says yes, which is correct. He then asks if the person is taller or shorter than he is, and when Sakura guesses taller, thinking Yukito, Li tells her that is incorrect. For the first time she wonders if Syaoran likes someone else other than Yukito now.

Timeline: November

Characters Emphasized: Cerberus, Spinel

Key plot points and revelations:

• Toya senses Eriol's presence and sits up straight and alarmed, but Eriol realizes what happened and hides himself. He is impressed and realizes that Sakura's brother is stronger (and more perceptive) than he suspected.
• Cerberus and Spinel meet. He happily believes that Spinel is a goblin, sensing none of Clow's presence, and offers chocolate in the spirit of friendship.
• Spinel displays a very strange addictive relationship to sugary treats, much like an alcoholic. He becomes quite violent.
• Eriol rescues Spinel from the fight, and no one else sees Spinel. Cerberus tries to convince Sakura what happened, but she refuses to believe it.

Timeline: November

Characters Emphasized: Syaoran

Key plot points and revelations:

• The episode is told entirely from Syaoran's perspective; it is the only one of its kind in the entire series. Up until this point Syaoran has been in denial about his feelings for Sakura, and the episode covers his internal conflict over whether he really can change and adapt to his new circumstances. He was raised and bred to take the Clow Cards for himself, so to fall in love with the girl that got them instead is a huge leap for his character. His internal struggle against change is highlighted by the heavy autumn motif that the artists employ for the episode.
• Eriol prods this process along, taking careful note of how Syaoran reacts to Sakura and then questioning him on it. Syaoran runs away rather than deal with facing the truth, so Eriol apparently decides to preclude running as an option and force Syaoran into facing his feelings. Although Eriol's primary concern is Sakura, he seems to exhibit a paternal (or at least brotherly) interest in Syaoran's well-being and character development.
• Other people have begun to notice Syaoran's feelings as well. Tomoyo has known for a long time, Toya has begun to suspect, and when Syaoran and Yukito converse, Yukito mentions it too.
• Yukito had given Sakura and Toya a big bag of teddy-bear-shaped cookies the night before, and she had just one left. In spite of her feelings for Yukito, she offers it to Syaoran. Syaoran refuses out of pride, so she splits it.
• When Sakura falls into the darkness, Syaoran thinks she has died and panics. Pushed to the emotional edge, he cries out her first name for the first time in the entire series. When she returns on The Float, he hugs her, the first time he has ever initiated personal contact.
• Sakura calls him later to tell him she heard him call out her name, and that it made her happy. She asks for permission to call him Syaoran, to which he agrees. It is at this point that Syaoran gives up the last of his mental defenses and surrenders--he really does love Sakura.

Timeline: November

Characters Emphasized: Cerberus, Yue

Key plot points and revelations:

• Starting with Episode 57, several episodes in a row take turns exploring the relationship Sakura has with various other characters. Episode 57 features Syaoran, while this episode is for Cerberus and Yue. When Sakura is forced to spend a whole day with the pair in their true forms, under one roof, she gets the chance to get to know both of them a lot better.
• Cerberus tells her about living with Clow in the past, when he instructs her on use of The Bubbles.
• Sakura has time to get to know Yue, who has always been cold and aloof and frightening to her. By the end of the ordeal, she feels much more comfortable with him than she did before. In conversation, she comes to understand just how much Yue loves Clow.
• Eriol observes that The Shield's strength is fueled by the wielder's desire to protect, and since Sakura's shield was so strong, this is proof that she has come to love Cerberus and Yue very much.

Timeline: December

Characters Emphasized: Tomoyo

Key plot points and revelations:

• Eriol and Syaoran are paired off against each other for basketball, and Eriol offers some more of his big brother advice to Syaoran during the duel. He advises Syaoran to calm down and concentrate, helping Syaoran to win but also flustering and making him nervous about Eriol.
• Yukito and Eriol make eye contact on the school grounds, and Yue emerges. He address Eriol as Clow, clearly shocked and dismayed, but when he demands some answers Eriol waves a hand and causes him to pass out.
• When Toya comes along later, he watches Eriol with a very suspicious glare.
• Syaoran and Tomoyo discuss his feelings over tea at her house. He mutters that he cannot confess to her because she likes other people, and when he mentions Eriol, Tomoyo observes that Eriol's interest in Sakura seems purely platonic. Tomoyo adds that some feelings are best left in the heart, surely referring to herself, but asks Syaoran if he is all right with that. She points out Sakura will never guess if he does not tell her.
• Syaoran confirms his ability to see and sense ghosts, which was implied in Season 1.
• Syaoran has an ability to find people if he has an object that belongs to that person.
• After Sakura finds Tomoyo, she feels Eriol's gaze for the first time and almost catches him when she turns around to look.
• Sakura thanks Syaoran for always being a good partner and helping her to think clearly, and for the first time he tries to tell her the way he feels. It will become a theme for the rest of the season, just like Toya's attempts to tell Yukito about Yue, in which he tries to bring it up but either finds an excuse not to or is interrupted somehow.