It's here, finally!!
My post for this chapter took so long and I'm sorry for it but man....the mess they made with the releases AND the content of the chapter certain didn't help with the writing and posting of this commentary!! đ
I haven't been able to focus for most of today and yesterday, took some time to elaborate....man, I KNEW chapter 70 was going to be special because it's a round number and because it's going to be (at this point almost certainly) the last chapter of volume 14, but was I prepared for this storm of feels?
No, I really wasnât. I think no matter how much I wouldâve tried to prepare myself, I would still be in the mess I am right now. đ
After all, I love Kaito very much. And I think I can say with confidence I wasnât the only one, I pretty much saw everyone around me being completely shocked by what happened, as it was mostly unexpected (some people knew and actually believed in this outcome till the very end, and my love and greatest appreciation goes to them â you know who you are)
Therefore, youâll forgive me if this post will be particularly long, but I feel like I need to analyze a lot of things and I would like to include them in my analysis of the script and translation. This chapter has been focused on Kaito for a good half of it, but due to the magnitude of the revelations, it felt like it's mostly about him. It's ok, these things needed to be addressed at some point.
This month we had few translation mistakes, but quite annoying, especially about a translation that ended up suggesting an incorrect interpretation of what happened in the chapter, so I definitely suggest to check it out!
Letâs start with the usual tradition that I hope to include till the very end, the gif of the month!
And now, follow me under the cut to find out why chapter 70 shocked everyone!
The Color page
What a pretty Sakura in kimono!!
Yes, sheâs sad, probably the saddest and melancholic sheâs ever been in the color pages of Cardcaptor Sakura, but she looks...so mature, so grown up, I canât help but think about how beautiful she looks.
I know this color page made many people worry when it appeared online before the actual chapter was released, but in the end we found out that the sadness of this chapter isnât directed at her at all.
The JP text here says âExchange, the Card that was born out of Sakura's wish. With the [magic] that is here, one story ends and beginsâ
The Two Alice
Sakura opens her eyes.
Weâre back to the play, the real play. Itâs the moment of the meeting between the Red Queen and Alice, andâŠâŠ..Akiho and Sakura switched roles.
Sakura is now playing the role of the Red Queen, wearing a cute dress that honestly itâs really reminding of a more classic Red Queen, while Akiho is Alice, wearing a very Alice-like outfit too.
Can you recognize these two outfits? Yes, they are the costumes Tomoyo originally worked on, before changing her mind and re-doing them completely:
When Tomoyo made Sakura and Akiho try them on, they were still pretty much in tacking stage, while we can see that now they have âcoloredâ parts and details/accessories added, but theyâre the very same outfits.
The lines they say are those we know well by now, Sakura says sheâs the Queen of this land and Akiho asks her name, to which Sakura replies âThey call me the Red Queenâ.
The font, something we became used to check in the last 5/6 chapters, is indeed that used when Akiho and Sakura speak in their roles of the play.
Akiho makes a curtsy and introduces herself as âAlice in Clocklandâ.
And here we get the second surprise of the chapter: Syaoran, behind the curtains, is voicing the Cat, exactly like he intended to do initially.
The Cat welcomes Alice to this land, and she realizes the one whoâs talking is her beloved cat from her home â and here we get our first little translation difference:
ENG: Didnât you promise me youâd come with me to the world I wanted to show you?
JP: I did promise to escort you to the world I wanted to show you.
In all the instances where weâve seen the kids reharsing or talking about the play, we always got only to the point when Alice meets the Red Queen. Even in the play itself (the first time around), the story was pretty much interrupted by Kaito sending them all into the *real* Clockland.
Now we finally find out how the story continues.
The Cat asks Alice if she met the Red Queen and what she thought about her. Akiho replies âShe looks like meâ.
Choir comes back on stage, singing again the iconic song that was composed by Yamazaki:
JP: This is the story that Alice chooses (for herself). A story for Alice. The [Cat] guides her, and her wish is waiting for her at the end of the road. The wish Alice had forgotten is waiting for her. Remember, Alice.
I wanted to put the JP as the ENG changed/omitted some words, but nothing serious.
Alice asks the Red Queen if sheâs always been in this land. The Queen replies that maybe yes, maybe not, she canât really remember anything aside from her name being the Red Queen and the name of this land. She canât even remember why she became Queen in the first place. Alice reiterates that theyâre very similar.
So she tells the Queen something. An anecdote from her own family. Theyâre 3 people in her family, but at their table thereâs always a fourth chair. She always wondered who that chair was for, and why they never put it away. So she wondered if that chair was meant for someone very dear to them.
The Cat, projected on the curtain and with Syaoranâs voice, tells Akiho to touch the person sheâs thinking she wants to touch right now...because when she does, sheâll remember something she forgot. And so Alice touches the Queenâs hands.
The scene here is really beautiful, loaded with emotion, and a huge callback to this other scene here that happened precisely during the reharsals of the play:
Alice finally remembers. She wasnât born as an only child, but had a twin. That twin sister disappeared to another world, and with her all the memories she and her parents had of her.
Here thereâs a small difference between the ENG and the JP: the ENG says not all of their memories disappeared, while the JP uses a different word that got a slightly different meaning - æłă, which means âthoughtâ and even more often âfeelingsâ. So the memories of the lost sister disappeared, but the FEELINGS survived the loss. Remember this. Remember it well, Iâm telling you now, as I suspect this play will also work as a parallel with another situation.
Thatâs the reason why they never removed the 4th chair. For the other âAliceâ that had disappeared. The Red Queen finally understands, shocked. Alice says:
JP: Guided by the Cat, Iâve come to take you back home. You, the other âAliceâ.
On the top of the school building, Kaito observes from afar the play coming to its final moments.
Momo is with him, in her full form.
She asks him how heâs feeling right now.
Kaito answers âI suppose Iâm relieved...because the Exchange Card was createdâ.
But pay attention to his face and the background of that panel. Thereâs the usual âsmoke effectâ they use when the character is distressed or *not* having happy thoughts. Kaito seems indeed relieved here at first glance, but if you look at him better, thereâs a streak of sadness to his expression. And whatâs that âI suppose Iâm relievedâ? Heâs not even sure himself of what heâs feeling right now.
Momo frowns at him after hearing his reply. She *knows* thereâs something heâs not saying.
She continues saying that the Card has indeed changed things. First of all, by Sakuraâs wish, the Card changed her role with that of Akiho, making her the Red Queen.
I gave you all of me
And then, finally, Kaitoâs wish.
In a shocking revelation, we find out that Kaitoâs wish and intended use of the Exchange Card was NOT what everyone thought.
Kaito says it himself: he wished to exchange his own magic artifact -the pocket watch that we learned to identify him with- for the artifact inside Akihoâs body -the infamous book that is currently hosting magic from a multitude of books that her Clan forced her to record on herself.
And thanks to Exchange, that swap succeeded.
Kaito is once again using âoreâ as a pronoun here, while still talking in keigo. He will keep using it freely till the end of the chapter. A sign that at this point he doesnât have to pretend to be the perfect and polite butler anymore, but he still holds lots of respect for Momo, hence the use of keigo. The panel where he explains his intended exchange takes an entire page, and the fact they used a portrayal of Akiho when she started travelling with Kaito (the outfit is the same of the flashback featured in chapter 39) makes things even more bittersweet. This has always been his goal all along. Taking onto himself what he mistakenly caused to be engraved into her when they both were just small children. But more on this later, at the end of the post.
Momo points out that Kaitoâs watch is all broken, and Akiho doesnât have magic (remember this well, she STILL doesnât have magic! Cause giving her magic was never Kaitoâs goal to begin with) so she wonât be able to use it. Kaito comments âThereâs no reason for her to use it, right? Because with the Transparent Cards that Sakura-san had created, along with all I could give of me, I was able to activate the forbidden magic of the Book of Time, which you watch overâ.
Momo keeps frowning at him, while he says so.
The infamous play is finally over, everyone in the audience is clapping their hands enthusiastically. Sakura and Akiho go backstage where Naoko, Chiharu and Tomoyo await to congratulate them! Chiharu even says she teared up a little when the two Alice made it back home!
We see that Yamazaki is still his usual self, praising/teasing Syaoran over his meowing skills (to which he yells that it's not true), and Naoko joins the kids in congratulating the girls, saying how happy she is that she casted Sakura and Akiho as Alice and the Red Queen. Then, nonchalantly, she delivers the second surprise of this chapter:
JP: Youâre twins, and it shows!
BOOM.
Kaito explains that inside Momoâs book it is possible to record the events of someoneâs life, and with the use of the Forbidden Magic, it is also possible to rewrite them.
Therefore, he wished to record the memories of Akiho and Sakura into that book, and then change them to make them twins born on the same day, who spent their life together.
In the beginning, I thought Kaito changed to a very deep level the events that happened in Akihoâs and Sakuraâs life, but thanks to a follower on Twitter Iâve actually re-read better the JP text and it seems Kaito changed only the memories of the people. Sure, that also brought substantial, concrete changes to their reality (I suppose Akiho lives with Sakura and so there surely will be a bed for her, all her stuff etc) to accomodate Akiho into the ânewâ version of their lives.
The ENG translation in this sense is quite deceiving because Kaito talks about rewriting the lives, but in the JP itâs clearly written èšæ¶, âmemoriesâ.
Iâm not sure to what level we should consider this change to take place (like, did Nadeshiko actually gave birth to both of them or itâs just a collective hallucination the forbidden spell put all of them under?), but Iâm sure weâll understand better with next chapters.
We can clearly see how everything else in Sakuraâs life seems to be exactly as it was before, Kero and Suppy are still there, Nakuru too, even her relationship with Syaoran seems to be still the same (for a small detail at the very end of the chapter, that I will point out later, but you can stop freaking out about that). The only difference is that Akiho has been included in Sakuraâs family.
Kaito observes thatâs something else that successfully changed.
Momo points out that every successful ârewritingâ leads to some kind of discrepancy.
However, Kaito answers that thanks to this change, Akiho wonât be harassed by the Clan and the Association anymore, and she would be protected by the Kinomoto family and all their kin.
(I know, Iâll leave my comments for last, as I said).
Momo asks the question. She always asks the questions.
JP: What about you?
For how formidable he can be, Momo hints that itâs impossible for him to deal with the huge amount of magics that were written onto Akiho (just imagine how magically battered her body was), especially in the state heâs in now.
And thatâs when it happens.
We all more or less imagined that we might end up seeing a tragedy happening in front of our eyes, but being this CCS, we probably didnât believe it 100%.
The Seal of D.
Kaito doesnât reply to Momoâs question, but keeps his usual enigmatic smile, that at this point is more a weak smile of acceptance of his destiny. A book appears under him, the huge book that used to spread at Akihoâs feet whenever the artifact was going to overcome her.
The effect Mokona sensei used on these pages, like blots of ink, looks actually like itâs blood. Itâs terrifying to see that in CCS.
A flashback. The Association headquarters. There are both representatives of the Association and of the Squids Clan.
Kaito looks like a child, a teenager at best. He really looks like heâs the same age as Syaoran, or one year older.
And yet, the ENG translation stubbornly keeps making the same mistake over and over again.
Because Kaito IS A MAN in their heads, even when heâs clearly a kid.
Below the JP version which stays more true to the original meaning:
JP: Letting this magician travel along with the artifact⊠is too dangerous. If he uses time magic, he might exploit the magic artifact. Letâs cast the âSeal of Dâ on him.
Thereâs a sealing spell that can be casted only on magicians of rank D. If you engrave this spell onto your body, weâll let you travel (with her).
Alright, on top of being already emotionally compromised by the sheer cruelty of this scene, there are also two mistakes in the ENG translation that make me see red.
The first, as I said, is the use of the word âmanâ instead of âmagicianâ, which is the word used in the JP version. It doesnât make sense to use âmanâ, since Kaito here is a kid, because this is a flashback of when he offered himself to go travelling with Akiho.
The ENG translation criminally contributes to the misconception that Kaito was already an adult when he decided to accompany Akiho, when in fact itâs not true. Do you find it hard to believe that a teenager could escort a little child around the world? Then how do you believe that a ten years old could live all alone in a foreign country? Come on folks, these people have magic.
Moreover, Iâve seen some fans genuinely confused due to this mistake, and they had to re-read twice to understand exactly who the members of the Association were talking about in that moment.
Not only that, but they also translated the fact that Kaito couldâve exploited the artifact with âsuppose he uses the artifact for evil?â, paradoxically making them look like theyâre wary of Kaito using the artifact for evil!! THEM! THE SOURCE OF ALL EVIL OF THIS STORY!
Like, this is completely ridiculous. Of course they wouldnât give a damn about that, they donât have morals, they were only worried about Kaito misusing the artifact however he wanted, and not in their interest.
My grievances with the translation aside, I would like to bring attention to the use of the word ć°é fuusa, which can be meaning âblock, seal-off, lockdown, sequestrationâ.
I wanted to point it out because it might be useful to guess what will happen to Kaito after a couple of pages.
Kaito agrees without hesitation to that demand.
To my bafflement, the members of the Association and the Clan ask Kaito if he knows what heâs agreeing to. Because not even someone with the level of magic heâs got can remove that spell. And if he dares doing anything to the artifact, that spell will be put into execution at once.
And when it activates, he wonât be able to come back.
Here it is!
âOmae wa mou modorenaiâ. The phrase Sakura kept hearing from an ominous voice in her dreams. Iâm positive this is the final source of that phrase, because in fandom weâve been wondering for years who couldâve used âomaeâ while talking to Sakura, since there arenât many characters that use that kind of pronoun for âyouâ. And it totally makes sense that the Association uses that with a younger member.
Turns out, the âwarningâ wasnât directed at Sakura at all, but actually at young Kaito.
Sakura, thanks to her magic power, has been hearing the warning that hinted at Kaitoâs destiny this whole time.
And now, the scene that tore apart the heart of so many fans.
JP: âI...am glad I was able to successfully complete a magic Iâve sincerely wanted to use for the first timeâ
Kaito uses a particular verb here, ç·šăżç”ăăăăŠ, which caught my attention and literally translates to âfinishing knitting, weavingâ. The verb ç·šă amu, âknittingâ, gets associated a lot with creating magic spells. Iâm not really sure if itâs a use of that verb that only CLAMP makes in this sense, or if itâs common to refer to the creation of magic spells as if you were knitting a sweater, but I think itâs kinda...warm? Cute? In this specific case I get really emotional about it, because I canât help but feel that the magic Kaito created was like a warm blanket he knitted for Akiho with all of his love, to protect her, cherish her and give her the happy life she deserved when he'd be gone. I know, Iâm probably projecting on a simple verb but I donât think Iâm far from the truth.
Anyway, with these last words, the Seal of D. activates on Yuna D. Kaito, engulfing him.
Momo, the only one who is able to witness his departure, canât contain her emotions anymore.
A tear mixed with anger, frustration and sorrow appears at the corner of her eyes, and she yells with all that sheâs got âThis...blockhead!!!â.
Itâs like Momoâs shriek reaches Sakuraâs ears.
She turns around towards the top of the school building, with a strange feeling.
Syaoran immediately noticed her unrest, and rushes to her side to ask whatâs happening (I told you, this is the most evident proof they still have the same relationship. He does that all the time with his girl).
Sakura answersâŠ
JP: I...thought I felt something...but now itâs gone.
In front of Sakura, the top of the school building is empty.
And just like that, the chapter (and probably volume 14) ends.
Alright, now that the technical part with the analysis of the text/translation is over, let me express my feelings on this chapter.
Oh, I have so much to say. So much.
Starting from the fact that yes, Iâm not ashamed to admit it, this chapter made me cry. Like, real tears, not figuratively. Yes, I love Kaito just that much.
My general feeling he was a good person all along has been confirmed at last, but also the heartbreaking smile he embraced his âendâ with, that really did it for me.
I always knew Kaito was a kind soul. I was sure of that. I was just scared that his self-loathing, his desperate situation while being driven to a corner would have lead him to a dark place, where he might have crossed whatâs morally considered acceptable. When Exchange appeared, I fell into CLAMPâs trap. And I really have to commend them, because they were able to lead the fans to think something for 70 chapters (alright, a bit less) while in the end it turned out to be something completely different, and everything STILL makes perfect sense.
But letâs start from the beginning.
The play finally got to its conclusion, one way or another. We finally witnessed the whole story for how it was intended by Naoko, and it was a simple, but cute story with a happy ending.
And we found out that this is basically a reality where everything seems to be exactly like before, but the memories of the characters have been rewritten to accomodate for Akiho becoming Sakuraâs twin sister. Certainly the memories werenât the only thing that was changed, as I was saying above, but it probably doesnât entail a complete rewriting of history like the ENG translation suggested? Therefore, itâs a less drastic change that will be easier to rewind? Weâll see with next chapters, especially Iâm curious to know if Sakura still got her problem with the rampant powers.
Akiho becomes Sakuraâs twin sister, then. Iâm pretty sure nothing changed about her, weâll still see her with her passion for books, her singing skills, her friends are all still there, her best friend actually became her sister, now sheâs got a lovely family who can protect her (how is Touya going to interact with her? I...suspect he wonât tease her), but most importantly, she doesnât have that ticking bomb of an artifact that was about to annihilate her soul. And, she stays magicless.
Kaito never wanted to give magic to Akiho. He never showed any sign of it, not with words, nor with his actions.
On one side, Iâm glad to see this development just as a âwhat ifâ, provided that...it goes back to normal, in the end. Because I always envisioned Akihoâs family to be Kaito and Momo, and I always wanted to see them living together as a funny household, with Momo finally dropping her secrecy and walking around in all her glory while spoiling Akiho with love and scolding Kaito till kingdom come đI think Akiho would be very happy. They are her most beloved people, after all.
Sure, the idea of the Kinomoto family adopting her is sweet and all, but who has always been by her side? It was Momo and Kaito. Momo, in particular, I feel like she deserves her quality time with Akiho, after watching over her ever since she was born, in complete secrecy. Unable to reply to all the lovely chats Akiho had with her, thinking she was just a plushie.
Oh, donât get me started on Momo in this chapter.
How I sympathized with her. I always have, but in this chapter we finally see her losing all composure and crying her tears for how UNFAIR everything is. Once again she's the spokeperson of a good chunk of the fandom. Kaitoâs goal was noble and all, but it was at the cost of his life (?) and he ended up sacrificing himself without even acknowledging why he did all of this.
Her angry âinsultâ, ăăăăă literally means âsomeone who doesnât understand and listens to reason, no matter how much you try to persuade themâ.
And for Momo that is a huge failure, in itself. She witnessed another tragedy happening. Still, I remind you she left some help behind, precisely at Kinomotoâs home (probably something that would stay even after the activation of the forbidden magic) so sheâll probably be waiting for the girls to realize it.
And then, Kaito. My beloved Kaito.
I know many people might be shocked at this turn of events, as they didnât see it coming.
CLAMP have carefully laid down a pretty game with us, where they tricked us on purpose into believing that Kaito had ill intentions till the very end. But at the same time, carefully leaving all the hints that he actually was a kind soul and he wouldnât have hurted Sakura to give Akiho the happiness she deserved. It all clicks perfectly. One of the simplest hints is that he always spoke very politely of Sakura, using keigo and praising her skills multiple times (not only hers, but Syaoranâs too), while for the Association he always had a spiteful speech pattern. He hated them, for what theyâve done to Akiho.
Kaito ensured that the forbidden spell wouldâve influenced Sakuraâs life at the minimum, so she would still have all of her friends, her most beloved person, her family, her happy memories. The only different thing is that now sheâs got a sister (I still have to wrap my head around this, even though Iâm pretty sure itâll be momentary. Itâs too big a change to keep it permanent).
As I said previously, Iâve wavered multiple times on the way he wouldâve brought to completion his plan, while I never had a doubt about what his goal was. Never.
I never even thought he wanted to give magic to Akiho, as he unfortunately knows very well how magic can lead to unhappiness. It certainly did, in their case. I knew Kaito had a kind soul, because kind people seem to be the ones who suffer the most. And Kaito suffered too. A lot. Not only physically, due to the time rewinds.
Heâs grown up completely alone, never experiencing love from anyone. Feeding on energy bars, till Lilie tried to make him change habits. Lilie planted a seed in him that bloomed only now.
Itâs just that, it didnât bloom in the correct way. We will certainly learn whatâs behind his persistence in not understanding that he did all of this for Akiho because he cared for her, cherished her. And so he shouldâve asked her what kind of happiness she wanted.
Is it fear? Did he purposely keep himself distanced from her, forcefully stopped his hand that everytime was going towards her, because he knew that he soon would be gone? Iâve theorized about that many times, here. Whatâs the point of creating a connection with someone if you know youâre gonna leave them? Moreover, would he deserve creating that connection with the very person he contributed to condemn to a tragic destiny?
Kaitoâs self-loathing goes to those lengths and way beyond.
But in that last page, before he disappears engulfed by the book, he looks soâŠ.satisfied with the result he achieved. He *really* gave all of himself to ensure that Akiho would have a happy ending.
He villainized himself in the eyes of her friends, dispelled all the attacks from the Association along the years, suffered the consequences of the time rewindings on himself, all while knowing that he was carrying upon himself a horrible curse.
Touch the âartifactâ and we seal you off forever.
When I found out, I was livid. I kept saying âI shouldâve known, they are stupid but *not* that stupidâ. They imposed a curse like that on such a young boy. For Kaito to accept it without a second thought, it either means he was so disillusioned with life that he didnât care about dying, or that he wanted to make things right at all costs.
Judging by the word used in the JP version, Kaito might not be exactly dead in this moment, but just sealed off somewhere. Since the book appeared at his feet, he might have been sealed inside the artifact itself.
Iâm just picturing what wouldâve happened if Kaito tried to remove the artifact while it was still inside AkihoâŠ.and I shiver, because she wouldâve absorbed him, sealing him and all his power inside herself. Such huge power wouldâve annihilated her soul at once, destroying all that Akiho was. Exactly what Iâve imagined as a âbad endingâ in one of my angsty moments.
But the problem is, how do you reach him there? And how do you bring him back, while heâs harboring in himself all those damn magic spells? Because he deserves another chance. Another chance at life where he can experience happiness too.
The fact he thought of taking into himself the artifact that was engraved in Akiho because of what he said is honestly so heart-wrenching. He took full responsability for a thing that wasnât even really his fault. And also goes to show the lenghts he would go for her.
Ironically, the fact he was sealed off might be precisely the thing thatâs saving him, for the moment, because those spells will certainly kill him for the state heâs in right now. But while being sealed, maybe they wonât have effect on him.
This is going to be a tough task, for Akiho. Yes, because I know she will remember at some point and will go out there to save him. And thatâs why we have our wonderful heroine Sakura with her, whom for the first time might get to use her immense power not to play with a deck of cards but actually to save someoneâs life. The bar has been raised quite a bit, right?
Kaitoâs idea to exchange the book with his pocket watch was very clever. But also...it left with Akiho an object that will certainly lead her back to him.
The watch will be âthe chairâ of the âTwo Aliceâ play. An object left behind by someone dear. Whose watch it is? Why does she have it with her? Why is it all broken? Akiho used to associate that watch so much to Kaito, she recognized that it must have been something very important to him, so Iâm CERTAIN that it will trigger a memory in her.
Ohkawa in one of her Spaces at the end of December said clearly that Akiho will work very hard in the finale of Clear Card, and honestly I canât wait to see it.
Sheâs been accused by the fandom of literally doing ânothingâ for the whole series, so the time has come for her to show what sheâs capable of. Without magic. Heh, when Kaito said âshe wonât need to use it (that watch), right?â my heart squeezed because he was so resigned to the fact that she would forget about him and go on with her lifeâŠ.little does he know, that watch is going to lead her back to him.
The final scene with Sakura feeling a glimpse of something before it disappeared was another smack to my face. Itâs really worthy of the most tragic scenes, when someone can feel that someone else is gone.
I think next chapter we might get a glimpse of the life of Sakura and Akiho as sisters, and Iâm very curious about that...curious to see if Akiho knows that her sister got magical powers, how Akiho interacts in the new familyâŠ.for me itâs like witnessing a temporary AU.
But as I said, I want things to go back to normal because somehow I feel thatâs the right thing for both girls. Hopefully the discrepancies Momo mentioned will start showing up right away, so we can move to the final big task quicker.
And then itâs hopefully icha-icha time for everyone, as Mokona sensei wished.
Well well, this post has been infinite and I DEFINITELY didn't say everything I wanted to say over the big revelation of this chapter, but I can create another post for that. So, a quick reminder of the dates for the next chapter, chapter 71:
March 1st, on CLAMP's Youtube channel (digital, JP and other languages)
March 3rd, on Nakayoshi (paper and digital, JP)
As you can see, I can only give you these two dates as the situation with the digital releases of the ENG and JP version is still very chaotic. We'll see if anything changes till March.