Well, hey! I am back (again), from the grave! For good reason, too. As a way to celebrate Pride Month, I went back into writing something I love the most.
So, a couple of weeks ago, I finally was able to fully marathon Card Captor Sakura: Clear Card anime without the fan noise and after so long of avoiding some key spoilers. Due to the immense hype and the return of an “O.G. magical girl series,” I knew that people would be talking about it for a long time. So I avoided it and waited. The wait was worth it. I enjoyed it to its full glory, and I wanted more.
Now also, as of this writing, the first Card Captor Sakura anime is now available for streaming on Netflix. Honestly, this write-up isn’t entirely a review about the anime series (I’ll probably make a separate one for this). This review, however, will be focused on two particular characters—the two specific people that got me into this beautiful genre of loving and shipping two-dimensional girls: Sakura Kinomoto and Tomoyo Daidouji.
Previously, I made a feature of Sakura and Tomoyo. I decided to go back into talking about them here because, God, I just love these two very much!
While watching Clear Card, I am just wholly hands down to how very loyal and caring Tomoyo is to Sakura. Although her comedic moments were a bit too cheesy for me (I guess CLAMP wanted her to make part of the comedic relief aside from Keroberos), I am happy to know that we got to see more of Tomoyo being ahead and doing whatever it takes to help Sakura. Not missing an opportunity to get footage on all her heroic acts (though some of them didn’t go well as planned.)
Every time Sakura and Tomoyo had a “moment,” it always makes me want to fangirl and giggle. These two were just completely cute together. Also, let’s give props to Tomoyo y’all—she was there for Sakura all the way when Syaoran wasn’t around for a while. Imagine if Sakura didn’t have Tomoyo, and she had to deal with the pain of not having her date because he left for Hong Kong. She was there for Sakura when no one never did.
Also, it amazes me that because of wanting to capture almost all of Sakura’s heroic moments, Tomoyo upped her game. She let her mother (the President of Daidouji Toys, mind you) create better gadgets so she could get better footage of Sakura. Imagine that dedication. Never have you seen someone from anime go into this level just for the person they care about the most.
Aside from watching Clear Card, I also took the time to do a small rewatch of Card Captor Sakura the Movie. Oh, Lord! How I loved this movie—in fact, watching both the CCS movies have become a tradition of sorts for me every New Year’s Eve.
In the first movie, Sakura and the gang won a trip to Hong Kong and encountered a mysterious person calling for Sakura. When Sakura finally got to meet the said person (which appeared to someone from Clow Reed’s past), this person took all of Sakura’s friends, and our heroine Cardcaptor would have to defeat her if she wants them back. Sakura wasn’t able to rescue everyone with the magic she had (and time was ticking), but she was able to successfully rescue Tomoyo. This scene is probably one of my favorites as it shows how Sakura really cared for Tomoyo.
Okay, now we go back to Clear Card. Same as the first anime, Clear Card Tomoyo still plays the best friend-sidekick role. There was no hint of borderline romantic moves from her because, well, Sakura had Syaoran already. A lot of people would revolt if ever there was a hint that Tomoyo DID make a move on her.
As much as how I wish there was a hint of more romance between the two girls, but I think we would just end up having the CLAMP-flavored subtext that we have always gotten over the years. Regardless, I will always be proud enough to say that I got to love this genre (and writing Yuri-related stuff) because of the Tomoyo and Sakura ship. I would probably not stop talking about them anytime soon. In fact, I even talked about it a recent podcast with Jay Agonoy (keepsakes.).
I still look forward to what’s to come with the Card Captor Sakura franchise. Although the franchise itself isn’t really yuri, the subtext and the characters were my gateways into getting into this beautiful genre.
This is definitely one great comeback into writing Yuri-related stuff again after almost a month of no updates whatsoever here on the site. Hey, there’s definitely more to come. As always, Sakura and Tomoyo will always be one of my favorite Yuri ships of all time.
Now, to formally end this post, I would like to share one of my recent favorite Sakura and Tomoyo fan art created by @neko_cer on Twitter. Still can’t get enough of this, really. Come on, CLAMP! Give Tomoyo some love, please?
— 江戸屋 犬八@FANBOX始めました (@neko_cer) May 6, 2020
So, Lily Cat you would love to know that there are A LOT of cute moments between them in the manga of Clear Card. One of Sakura stating that Tomoyo is her magician (Tomoyo was saying that she doesn’t have powers to aid Sakura and all). Sakura shows a lot of affection towards Tomoyo and that if Tomoyo wasn’t there making the costumes, she wouldn’t always be giving her best. She does her best because Tomoyo’s effort makes her want to succeed.
Tomoyo is by far my fav character together with Mei Lin. Both had amazing growth in the original series, where Tomoyo states – multiple times – that she just wants Sakura to be happy and she does EVERYTHING she can for it. To the point, she realizes everything going around, that Li will break Mei Lin’s heart and is there for her because she knows that it can be hard to deal.
When Yue makes everyone not feel love anymore as the ordeal Sakura had to go through, the HUGE difference on Tomoyo shows how much love there is in their relationship. Tomoyo is by far the most mature and best character in the series!
Thanks for the heads up on the manga, Pedro. I guess I have to catch up on it now. It’s nice to know that Tomoyo shows more love and affection in the manga than in the anime adaptation. Looking forward to catching up on the series. Hopefully this weekend. I wonder when will there be a season 2 of the anime though. I guess there are still waiting for manga to have at least a lot of chapters before they start animating it.