Sakura Kinomoto

Sakura Kinomoto
'Cardcaptor Sakura Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle xxxHolic character
Sakura Kinomoto in Cardcaptor Sakura
First appearance	First episode (CCS anime) First episode (Cardcaptors anime) First Chapter (CCS manga) First episode (Tsubasa anime) First chapter (Tsubasa manga) Chapter 7 (xxxHolic)
Last appearance	Cardcaptors Sakura 2nd Movie: The Sealed Card Last chapter (CCS manga)
Created by	Clamp
In-universe information
Alias	Sakura Avalon (Eng Cardcaptors)
Gender	Female
Title	Cardcaptor (CCS) Master of the Clow (CCS) Princess of Clow (Tsubasa)
Occupation	Student (CCS) Princess of Kingdom of Clow (Tsubasa) Waitress (Tsubasa)
Relatives	Toya Kinomoto (Older Brother) Fujitaka Kinomoto (Father in CCS) Nadeshiko Kinomoto (Mother in CCS, deceased) Tomoyo Daidōji (2nd Cousin in CCS) Sonomi Daidōji (1st Cousin in CCS) Syaoran Li (husband in Tsubasa) '(Original) Syaoran' (Mother in Tsubasa)
Nationality	Japanese

Sakura Kinomoto (木之本 桜, Kinomoto Sakura) is a fictional character, the heroine of Clamp's anime and manga series Cardcaptor Sakura. She is known as Sakura Avalon in the English anime adaptation Cardcaptors. For all Japanese-language productions of the anime (including movies, audio CDs, and video games), Sakura is voiced by Sakura Tange. For English-language productions, she is voiced by Carly McKillip through Cardcaptors and the first movie. She is voiced in the second movie by Kari Wahlgren.

Sakura is also a main character in Clamp's later work, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. In its anime adaptation, she is voiced by Yui Makino in Japanese and Monica Rial in English.

She also appears in another Clamp title xxxHolic and briefly cameos in chapters 7, 8, 133, 136, 137, 140, 145, and 146.

She is very popular in Japan as an Anime character. She won the championship by the first time Anime Saimoe tournament in 2002.

Name

Sakura's given name (さくら) means cherry blossom. Her surname, Kinomoto (木之本), literally means the origin of wood.

In Cardcaptors, Sakura was originally going to be called "Nikki," but Nelvana kept her given name because of the reception of the Cardcaptors adaptation and the difficulty and expense of editing out numerous appearances of her name in rōmaji in the series. Her family name was changed to "Avalon."

Cardcaptor Sakura

Character

File:Sakura4.jpg

Sakura and Cerberus

At the start of the series, Sakura is 10 years old and living in a fictional town called Tomoeda in Japan. It is supposedly located not far from Tokyo. One day in early April, shortly after her birthday and only slightly into her fourth grade year at Tomoeda Elementary School (Reedington Middle School in Cardcaptors), young Sakura stumbles across a mysterious old book called The Clow in her father’s study. Instantly upon touching the book, a confused Sakura mistakenly awakens one of the card’s guardians, Cerberus who was sleeping on the front cover where he was supposed to be guarding the Clow Cards: a deck of 19 (52 in the anime) magical cards with incredible powers. Upon emerging from the book, Kerberus admits to having let the cards slip away as he slumbered, and, realizing Sakura’s magical potential, cunningly tricks her into becoming the "Cardcaptor" and duty bound to collect all of the missing cards and return them to the book where they will then be under her control. What is not revealed until much later is that Cerberus, by appointing Sakura this position, was marking her as his one and only chosen candidate to become the next master of the Clow Cards and their guardians. The anime version of the series presents a slightly altered chain of events in which, on the afternoon after her first day of eighth grade, Sakura hears a mysterious sound coming from her father's library in the basement. She, nervously armed with her cheerleading baton, goes downstairs and there discovers the book of the Clow with all of its cards (the anime extends the deck to contain 52 cards) still within it. In this altered version of the story, Sakura picks up the top card and reads its name aloud, "Windy". This activates the Card, summoning a large wind that blows the remaining Cards out of the house and into the distance after which Kerberos emerges and appoints her to retrieve them. This was most likely added to not only give Kerberos a more justifiable reason to send Sakura on her mission, but also to give her an easier time at completing it, as she now begins her adventure with one of the cards, Windy, already under her control, as opposed to starting with no cards at all as in the original manga.

Personality Outline

Sakura is an extremely energetic and cheerful character. She is very athletic, being a member of her school's cheerleading squad and an excellent runner. Her "invincible spell", "Everything will surely be all right." (「絶対大丈夫だよ。」, "Zettai daijōbu da yo."), has carried her through innumerable trials and obstacles as she masters her magical skills. She often comes across as naïve, clumsy, and clueless, but she has her perceptive moments on occasion. Her favorite foods are omelette and noodles with seafood and her favorite recipe is pancakes. Her birthday is on April 1. She hates Mathematics and her blood type is A.

Sakura's optimistic and trustworthy character allows her to be friendly with everybody, and the entire series focuses on the friendships she creates with people, whether strangers, loose acquaintances, or rivals. In fact, her personality is a dominating factor in her relationships, especially with Syaoran.

Family

Sakura lives with her older brother, Touya Kinomoto (Tori Avalon), and her father, Fujitaka Kinomoto (Aiden Avalon). The three help manage their home together, often rotating cooking and cleaning chores. Sakura's mother, Nadeshiko Kinomoto (Natasha Avalon), became seriously ill, and died when Sakura was three years old. In Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, she mothers a son, the original 'Syaoran'.

Creation

Sakura's character designs for the manga were originally developed by Mokona of Clamp. She was designed to capture the image of Mokona's then two-year-old niece Kawaji. Kawaji wore short hair in pigtails much like Sakura does in the anime and manga.

Magic

File:CCS 01.jpg

Sakura, with the Clow Book

Sakura's most sacred and important items are most likely her sealing wand and cards, since they are her main weapons in magic. Throughout the series, Sakura's magical powers get progressively stronger. This is mostly verified by Cerberus at random points in the series, as Sakura would otherwise appear to have equal expertise in each capture, when she summons Clow Cards. Throughout the Clow Card arc, Cerberus's comments seem to imply that Sakura's magic grows as she battles and captures more Cards. This is also implied in the corresponding anime. In contrast of this, in the second half of the series we are reminded of Sakura’s inexperience as she often collapses after transforming the cards. However, as she grows progressively proficient in changing Clow Cards into Sakura Cards, she becomes less tired and more aware of Clow Reed's presence. She also remembers more details about her prophetic dreams. During the last of Eriol's trials, she is able to transform several cards at once. This sequence of events during the second arc is more or less true in the anime version of the series as well, with only a few changes made. The most obvious of these is that Yue (a character who, in the original version of the series is shown as becoming much closer to Sakura throughout Eriol’s trials to the point of accepting her at least as a valued friend ) is shown throwing her a constant stream of criticism as a reminder of Sakura’s lack of experience. Another interesting change made in the anime variation is that, by end of the series, she, unconsciously, manages to create a new Card, the nameless card, which would later serve as a major plot point for the second movie.

After Final Judgement, Clow Reed tells her that her magic seems to be drawn from the power of the stars, which may start small, but are ever-shining with their own brilliant light. However it should be noted that like Clow Reeds magic, Sakura's is a balance of sun and moon magic.

Incantations

Cardcaptors

Key Of Clow Key of Clow, Power of Magic, Power of light, Surrender the Wand, The Force ignite. Release!

Sealing A Clow Card I command you to return to your power confined, <Card Name>. (*If she doesn't know the name of the Clow Card, she would say: Clow Card)

Clow Cards (Fortune Telling) Ancient Cards of Clow, Give me vision now. Show me if you may, Who is standing in my way?

Sakura releasing new Star Wand Key of the Star With powers burning bright Reveal the staff And shine your light! Release!

Sakura Changing a Clow Card into A Star Card I call upon the power of my star Ancient forces, near and far <Card Name> transform all your might and draw your power from my light! Star Card!

Cardcaptor Sakura

The Key (Sealing Wand) The key that hides the powers of the dark, reveal your true form before me! I, Sakura, command you under our contract. Release!

To Seal a Clow Card Return to the guise you were meant to be in, Clow Card!

To do a Divination Cards created by Clow, answer my query. Show me the true form of the one who opposes me.

The Key (Star Wand) The key that hides the powers of the stars, reveal your true form before me! I, Sakura, command you under our contract. Release!

Clow Cards to Sakura Cards Card created by Clow, abandon your old form and reincarnate! Under the name of your new master, Sakura!<Card Name>!

Relationships

Syaoran Li

File:SyaoranSakura01.jpg

Syaoran and Sakura, with teddy bears.

Sakura's relationship with Syaoran Li (Li Syaoran) is the most recognized relationship in the series, mostly because the second half of the series is heavily devoted to its development.

Most significant to the development of their relationship is Syaoran's changing opinion of Sakura, mostly because of Sakura's own heart-warming personality. In the beginning of the series, Syaoran immediately considers Sakura a rival when he finds out she is the Cardcaptor and concludes her unworthy of bearing the responsibility of the Clow Cards. Sakura is constantly intimidated by his glares and brash attitude both at school and while capturing Clow Cards. However Sakura never gives back any negative responses or behavior. Most of the time, despite Syaoran's aggression, she thanks him for his help and effort. This eventually becomes very confusing to Syaoran, whose gentler side soon causes him to be more humble than arrogant.

An important turn in their relationship occurs when the Earthy reveals itself in the manga chapter entitled "The Power of the Elements", where Sakura falls into a deep crevice created by the card. Running to save her, Syaoran yells out to her, calling her by her first name. After being rescued by Cerberus, Sakura returns this by asking if she can start calling him "Syaoran-kun". This is paralleled in the anime where, in episode 57, Tomoyo, Syaoran, Eriol, Sakura take a visit to a teddy bear museum. (The journey through the museum is accompanied by the song Ki Ni Naru Aitsu or That Girl I Can't Ignore , sung by his voice actress, Kumai Motoko [Cardcaptor Sakura Character Single: Syaoran]). This is followed by a scene in an elevator between Syaoran and Sakura where events similar to those centered around the Earth card occur. Syaoran screams out Sakura's name here when she falls into a hole. Sakura later tells him she heard this, and asks if she can call him "Syaoran-kun" instead of the more neutral "Li-kun".

Throughout the series, Syaoran gradually becomes more committed to caring for Sakura romantically, most especially after Yue forces him to confront his feelings early on in the second story arc, but she remains completely oblivious of his feelings. Syaoran's blushes become more frequent, and there are some occasions where he would suddenly become clumsy when in her presence. Sakura will either keep an innocent smile on her face or look confused and worried at Syaoran whenever he trips and falls.

When Sakura confesses her feelings to Yukito, only to have them essentially rejected, Syaoran is there to comfort her in the park afterwards. It is a very emotional period in the series, but she is able to recover, thanks to Syaoran being there to help her get her emotions out. To give thanks, she spends a week making him a scarf. Similarly, in the manga, Sakura returns the favor by spending a week making him a yukata which she gives to him after he agrees to accompany her to a festival. Sakura is finally made aware of Syaoran's feelings when he personally confesses them near the end of the series, after the final battle with Eriol Hiiragizawa. The news comes as a complete shock to her, and it is ever present in her thoughts over the next few days. After talking to her friends about why she is upset and confused about her feelings, those feelings lead her to conclude that Syaoran is her true "number one person," and she confesses her newfound feelings as Syaoran suddenly leaves for Hong Kong (though only temporarily). The anime stretches out the suspense, with Sakura not yet answering Syaoran in the last episode of the series. Instead, her confession comes at the end of the second movie, after several failed attempts throughout the film.

The teddy bears (seen in the above picture) are named Sakura and Syaoran, respectively, referring to a fictional tradition where if two people make teddy bears for each other and the recipients name them after their donors, the two will be a couple forever. In the manga, Sakura and Syaoran name their bears after each other after she confesses her love to him. However this is slightly changed in the anime, where, Syaoran gives Sakura his bear (she asks to have it) in Episode 70, but Sakura never gives him one, having already given it to Yukito earlier in the series.

In the second movie, Syaoran returns to Japan with his cousin Meiling Li (Meilin Rae) (anime only character) who was having secret phone calls with Tomoyo Daidōji who helped plan their return. Tomoyo and Meiling attempted to organise outings for Sakura to tell Syaoran about how she feels but, rather amusingly, she gets interrupted until the end of the movie where Sakura confesses her love believing that Syaoran had forgotten his most important feeling. She begins to cry but Syaoran surprisingly replies "Me too, Sakura." The song Ashita e no Merodi plays with the sunrise clear in the background to symbolize happiness and victory. Sakura is so overjoyed by the revelation, that she recklessly leaps across a large hole in the floor to reach Syaoran. The film ends on a cliffhanger with Sakura halfway through the air, but a still image released with the film shows that she makes the leap, right into Syaoran's arms.

Sakura and Syaoran are likely Clamp's most famous fictional couple, as they make a lead appearance in their crossover manga series, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. The original Syaoran tied to that storyline is revealed to be the son of Syaoran Li and Sakura Kinomoto in Chapitre 189.

Yukito Tsukishiro

File:Yukito Sakura01.jpg

Sakura and Yukito

In the first half of the series, before any hint of a relationship with Syaoran, Sakura's primary romantic focus was on the older Yukito Tsukishiro. On a class trip in the fourth volume, Sakura reveals to Syaoran that her crush on Yukito began when Touya brought Yukito home on the day Yukito transferred to Touya's school. Yukito's presence always causes a significant effect on Sakura's feelings, commonly provoking her "floaty" exclamation, "Hanyaan~" (はにゃあん～). Unlike Syaoran, who is attracted to Yukito because of his power, Sakura is truly in love with Yukito.

Sakura always does her best to impress Yukito, on rare occasions even competing with Syaoran to give the better compliment or gift. She often looks forward to going to school with Yukito each day, and she is worried when he is not there. Most times when her brother, Toya, is present, Sakura is often provoked to raise her voice or else act "unladylike" at Toya, which immediately elicits her embarrassment when she realizes Yukito is also there watching her.

Late in the series, Sakura finally decides to confess her love to Yukito instead of forever skirting around the issue. However, Yukito does not return the feelings, admitting that he loves her also but only in a platonic way. He asks her to reevaluate her feelings towards him and suggests that she feels attached to him more because he resembles her father. Sakura agrees with Yukito after some thought, and he continues to reassure her by saying that the real "number one person" for her is still out there somewhere, and she should not give up searching for him.

After an emotional afternoon in the park, Sakura is able to get over Yukito but still remaining a close friend through the end of the series. She, in a rare perceptive moment, also realizes that Yukito's feelings have always been aimed towards her brother, Toya. She accepts that fact, also, and wishes them the best.

Interestingly, in the last book of the manga (episode 70 of the anime), Eriol reveals to Yue that when Clow chose Sakura as the future new Master of the Clow Cards and their guardians, he had expected that in the future Yukito would love Sakura more than anyone else and vice versa. Yukito's feelings for Touya and Syaoran and Sakura's feelings for each other were the unforeseen occurrences, a few of the deviations from Clow's plan, that Eriol mentions to Sakura and friends at the party in Clow's mansion.

Tomoyo Daidōji

File:Tomoyo Sakura01.jpg

Clamp's "almost kiss" drawing of Tomoyo and Sakura

Though non-romantic, Sakura's close relationship with Tomoyo Daidōji (Madison Taylor) is likely the second most significant relationship in the series. Sakura and Tomoyo are best friends (and second cousins as their mothers were cousins), meeting randomly for the first time in the third grade when Sakura offered Tomoyo one of her erasers. Since then, Tomoyo has been very attentive to everything that Sakura does, including finding a passion for filming her throughout her daily activities.

Sakura holds a lot of trust in Tomoyo, often allowing her to take lots of measurements for the multitude of battle costumes and dresses that are made for her. Tomoyo is also one of the few keepers of Sakura's secret as the Cardcaptor, often accompanying Sakura in many of her adventures for filming and costume-testing opportunities. In the second half of the series, when Sakura gets a new wand and mission, Tomoyo is responsible for choreographing Sakura's new action poses.

Tomoyo holds a special, arguably romantic attachment, to Sakura, of which Sakura is completely oblivious. In both the manga and anime, Tomoyo admits that she loves Sakura, but Sakura replies innocently, "I love you, too," in the platonic sense. (This is emphasized using manga conventions: Tomoyo declares her love against a background of flowers, while Sakura replies against a blank white background). The manga takes the scene further where Tomoyo comments that her love is more than what she is thinking it is. Sakura gives a confused look, but Tomoyo drops the topic, adding, "I'll tell you when you're older." Throughout the series, Sakura never realizes this deeper attachment, simply remaining Tomoyo's best friend. Tomoyo, however, selflessly does not mind this at all and even helps Sakura most times in setting up situations with Yukito and Syaoran, as Tomoyo understands they are the ones who would make Sakura the happiest.

Because Tomoyo lacks magical powers, Sakura takes on a protective responsibility most times when capturing or transforming cards. If Tomoyo is ever in danger (or missing), Sakura will be the one concerned for her most, and her focus changes from that of the Card at hand to Tomoyo's safety. Fortunately, Sakura has always succeeded and hugs Tomoyo warmly whenever she reunites with her.

Clamp has stated that the image to the right is Tomoyo fixing Sakura's hair, however, it is often seen to have a romantic element to it as the expressions and pose resemble two people about to kiss.

xxxHolic

While Sakura does not have a direct role in xxxHolic, Yūko Ichihara mentions her on several occasions and has a replica of her first sealing wand. She also states there is a Sakura, who Yūko explains is related by blood to Clow Reed, living in their world with her boyfriend, hinting of Sakura Kinomoto (and Syaoran Li) from Cardcaptor Sakura.

Sakura (from Tsubasa) first appears in the manga in an unconscious state, held by Syaoran. She next appears when Watanuki's dream connects him to the world her "soul" resides in. She does this several more times, each time holding a short conversation with Watanuki. In one such conversation, she explains that she changed the future in such a way that Syaoran would not be stabbed and so that everyone would still live, including herself. An important occurrence in another dream is the emphasis put on Sakura's, Syaoran's, and Watanuki's birthdays – they are all on April 1st.

After the first of these meetings, Yuko tells Watanuki that if Sakura's soul is separated from her body too long, she will die.

She has also appeared in xxxHolic when Watanuki falls into the Dream world again, and a hand pops out behind of Sakura. The hand belonged to the real Syaoran, then another hand pops out and the cherry blossoms fluttering around are blocking Watanuki's view so he doesn't know who's hand that was (It actually belonged to the clone Syaoran). He then eventually went back to his world.

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

Sakura also appears in Clamp's crossover series, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and Tsubasa Chronicle. Her character is similar only in looks and personality to her Cardcaptor Sakura counterpart. Tsubasa Chronicle takes on a new story with new histories for each of its characters.

File:Sakurachronicle.jpg

Sakura as seen in Tsubasa Chronicle

At the start of the series in both manga and anime, Sakura is the princess of the Kingdom of Clow who has feelings for Syaoran, her childhood friend.

When she is about to confess her feelings, a mysterious force causes her own dormant magical powers to manifest in the form of feathered wings. When her feathers are scattered across time and space, Syaoran vows to recover all of them because each feather represents a memory Sakura has had since birth and are connected to her heart; without the feathers, she will die.

Fei-Wong Reed (the mysterious villain in the series) reflects on the ability of people like the High Priest Yukito, Princess Tomoyo of Nihon, and Yūko to cross dimensions and comments that the power concealed within Sakura and the ruins in Clow Country surpasses them all.

In Tsubasa: Tokyo Revelations, Sakura Kinomoto herself makes a cameo appearance.

A relationship between Sakura, Kimihiro Watanuki (to whom she shares a birthday) and Kohane Tsuyuri has been hinted at, in a similar way to Syaoran's relationship to Watanuki.

Clone Sakura

In order to cross dimensions, Sakura must pay Yūko the thing most important to her and she pays Yūko in an indirect way but her price is pretty much the same as Syaoran - her memories of him. When she awakes in the Hanshin Republic the first person she sees is Syaoran, but she does not remember anything about him, asking "Who are you?"

At times, such as in Ōuto, Sakura comes extremely close to remembering Syaoran but it is quickly erased once more from her memory. Syaoran, having known this would happen previously, will never tell her anything about their previous relationship. At most, all Sakura knows about Syaoran is what she has relearned from the adventures together with Mokona, Fay, and Kurogane, although she knows she knew him previously and he was very important to her. It is also clear that she is falling in love with him once more.

Sakura possesses unnaturally good luck; both Chun Hyang and Yūko call her "a favored daughter of the gods". This is what allowed her to travel dimensions safely until Yūko asks for her good luck as a price. According to Yukito and Syaoran, Sakura also has the ability to "hear" the voices of those who cannot be heard, such as spirits of nature, and to see ghosts. Such as the time in the Country of Jade, she can see Princess Emeraude while others couldn't. She can also see the future in visions, though this ability is unreliable and nothing she has control over.

In the anime, at some points when she is asleep, she will unknowingly go out and search for her feathers. She will seem to be awake, talking and interacting with others and her surroundings, yet is actually completely out of it, like she is unconsciously searching for her own feathers.

In Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle anime, Sakura's personality is passive and weary, exhausted from her loss of memories. However as the series goes on, she becomes stronger and more independent. Syaoran states, even though she's lost most of her memories, she'll never change. She helps the group whenever she can, whether it's washing dishes or saving their lives.

However in the manga, her personality undergoes a change after the clone Syaoran leaves her. As she voices to Fay, no matter how identical the two Syaorans may be, the real Syaoran is still not the one she knows. Subsequent chapters show Sakura with a much darker personality, and wearing gothic clothing.

In the Infinity Arc, the group spent a few months fighting in a tournament, supposedly wanting to use the prize money to restore a world the clone Syaoran destroyed. However, the truth is that she was after the real prize - a robot (who is identical to Freya from Chobits) who can let one person and one person alone travel across dimensions.

It is later revealed that Fay is under a curse that forces him to kill if he ever meets a person that is stronger than him. And in volume one, you can see that Yūko was not hit by the rain, nor did she touch any of the people directly; this was because she was in another dimension to prevent Fay's curse from being activated. But when Sakura receives two feathers in the Infinity Arc, she was made stronger than Fay's halved magic and so he stabbed her, seemingly possessed. Sakura had a vision that after killing her, he would go insane and kill everyone else, eventually committing suicide, but she used the robot to transport her soul to a dream world, thus saving herself and stopping Fay from going insane.

Later, it's revealed that she was not the original target of the curse, as the real Syaoran was. This is explained further in her appearance in xxxHolic; she changed the future so that Syaoran would not be killed. As she explains to Watanuki (Xxxholic chapter 140), her coldness to the real Syaoran was because she was trying to follow the dream as close as possible up to that near fatal event. It's later learned that Sakura can still be saved. The two places where her body and her soul went contains two feathers. Her soul went to the world of dreams, her body to Celes. So the real Syaoran, Fay, Mokona and Kurogane went to Celes Country to rescue the body of Sakura, as Kurogane said they'd get the body first; then the soul. Her body has recently been saved by the group. In chapter 173, Syaoran had gone to the dream world, to try to rescue Sakura. On the final page of this chapter (chapter 173), a hand is seen reaching out towards Sakura in the dream world. In chapter 145 of xxxHolic, while walking to school Watanuki suddenly falls into the dream world and sees the exact same thing. In chapter 146 of xxxHolic it is shown that the hand belongs to Syaoran.

Syaoran, having already retrieved the feather Seishiro had, falls under attack from The Clone, who strikes without care for Sakura's wellbeing. It states it is to retrieve the feathers, no matter the circumstances despite Sakura's pleas for it to stop. The two battle, Syaoran summoning his Jian and The Clone summoning Hien. Syaoran encapsules Sakura in a protective wind barrier right away, and declares that he will personally destroy The Clone. As The Clone starts to overpower Syaoran, Sakura screams out his name in horror as he is surrounded by flames. She does not scream out "Syaoran-kun" though, which is what she called The Clone and Real Syaoran before this event. Instead, she screams out "Syaoran" without the suffix which indicates that she is very close to him. This could mean she thinks of him as a very close friend, or it may have a deeper meaning, such as her realizing he is the Original. She only called The Clone "Syaoran" without the -kun before she lost her memories.

When the Clone advances on her and the fallen Syaoran, she attempts to cradle and protect him, no longer being held back herself by Syaoran's protective spell. When the Clone demands she step aside, she only hugs him tighter and refuses to do so. In response, it stabs her in the shoulder. She weakly says "Syaoran-kun" in an attempt to reach out to him, but it falls on deaf ears as it moves to finish her off upon the orders of Fei Wong. However, it is subconsciously stopped by itself, just as Yūko comments that even if a heart loses its memories, they can still persist within the body.

Sakura then tries to convince The Clone not to kill Syaoran. She said something will end, that includes the Clone Syaoran and the herself. It isn't clear what that means. Syaoran then awakens.

As Syaoran and his Clone jump to deliver their last blows, Sakura interferes, getting stabbed at her heart by the Clone's Hien, even shocking the Clone. Syaoran calls out to her, but she tells him "Your Sakura isn't me" and dissolves into cherry blossom petals. In a flashback sequence, Fei Wang reveals to Xing Huo that Sakura up until now is in fact a clone herself, both body and soul.

From what the real Syaoran said when they were in Tokyo," What treasures *that* Sakura the most isn't 'my heart'! It's yours!" So Sakura had a feeling that the real Syaoran already knew she was a clone and the real Sakura is waiting for him.

Sakura then falls into the arms of the Clone, telling him "Even if we are just creations... we are the same... if those two (real Syaoran and Sakura) keep on living it won't end....I..love y..." and dissolves into cherry blossom petals. The Clone, still shocked, holds in his hand the last petal and screams. While Kyle steals Sakura's body, the real Syaoran manages to move out from the dream, falling flat on his face after Kyle's departure.

Fay confirms the clone Sakura's statement (in which she is made like the clone Syaoran, but a little differently) in explaining that Syaoran only had his body cloned, while Sakura had "both her body and heart" cloned. Yuuko explains further that if the clone Sakura would fail, Fei Wang could keep creating more clones, as long as he had the original (whether Sakura was a clone or not, the feathers would still respond to her). However, Yuuko comments that he is killing innocent lives, even though they are only creations. Though the clone Sakura seems to have died, the real Syaoran requests from Yuuko to grant him another wish for him to pay: the whereabouts of both Sakuras, in order to save them.

Original Sakura

The whereabouts of the true Sakura's body and soul are yet to be found out, although the end of Chapter 178 shows her wearing the outfit Clone Sakura was previously wearing in the dream world (although this image of her was a flashback to after Real Sakura was switched with the clone). It has been slightly hinted that the Original Sakura may be in the Kingdom of Clow, and Fei Wong Reed has her captive there. He is using her to make clones of her when the other clones of her died, he still has the original to make even more clones. But also important to notice is that the body of the original is with Kyle, while the soul is in the glass tube still unconscious. So they have to save her body and soul the same way when the clone had her body and soul were separated.

In chapter 181 of Tsubasa, Sakura's body is with Fei Wong Reed, but it was confirmed that the body was the clone's. Further explaining this, Fei Wong Reed has Sakura's body in his hands. He has told Kyle when he cloned the real Sakura, both the body and soul, it was different from when he cloned Syaoran. So then the real Sakura's body has disappeared, only the soul of the real Sakura was left and the cloned body is used after Sakura gains her wings. What's also confirmed by Yūko is that Fei Wong Reed is in a "cut-off time" Clow Country with Sakura's cloned body and real soul. Yuuko found out his location only recently, in volume five of xxxHolic during the soul stealing incident. By following the souls, which Fei Wang Reed has been stealing; it is possible to discover his location (though, by her discovering his location, Fei Wong also found out Yuuko's location). Syaoran, Fay and Kurogane have recently set off to Clow Country for the "final battle" and to rescue Sakura.

The group arrive in 'cut-off time' in Clow Country, which is revealed to be at a time very close to Sakura's seventh birthday; which is a shock to the group. Syaoran then reveals that the original Sakura has been by his side all the time up until he was captured. He also reveals that he had known Sakura since "seven days before her birthday, right up to the age you see me now." Syaoran explains further that time was reversed by way of a price to Yūko.

Sakura Kinomoto in Tsubasa Chronicle

File:Sakura-in-tokyo.jpg

Sakura Kinomoto in Tokyo Revelations 3

In the third installment of the Tokyo Revelations trilogy Sakura Kinomoto, from Cardcaptor Sakura, makes a cameo appearance as a vision experienced by Princess Sakura of Clow. When Princess Sakura is down on her last limb, Sakura Kinomoto suddenly appears. Kinomoto stops and motions the other Sakura to continue going, before running off and vanishing. As a result, Sakura from Tsubasa makes her way back to Syaoran and the others.

Sakura Kinomoto was not originally in the manga, in which Princess Sakura is guided back to the others by thousands of spirits. The cameo has resulted in the formation of many fan theories. Some theorise this cameo appearance indicates that Sakura Kinomoto is dead. However this is not possible since the Cardcaptor Sakura Sakura Kinomoto is in Yūko's world. This is proven when Yūko explained early on (in volumes 1 and 2 of xxxHolic) that there is another Sakura and Syaoran in her world, and that both are related to Clow Reed by blood. It is likely that Kinomoto was aware of her alternate self's predicament and sent a vision of herself to assist. Though being pushed to do so, Clamp didn't comment on this subject immediately, although fans correctly speculated this appearance is foreshadowing a future event - Sakura Kinomoto is revealed to be the original Syaoran's mother in Chapter 189.

Reception

Sakura has achieved notable popularity in Japan. In both 1999 and 2000 she won the Animage Grand Prix for Best Female Character.

Bibliography

• Clamp (w). "Cardcaptor Sakura" Cardcaptor Sakura, vol. 1-12 (1999). Kodansha.