Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Episode 19 Review: Sakura and Akiho’s Lullaby

This Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card review contains spoilers.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Episode 19

All I want is a wacky comedy starring the Cardcaptor Sakura characters. Forget Kaito’s creepy clock. Forget the time traveling camera. All I want is Tomoyo low key sassing Syaoran, Sakura flirting with Akiho, and Syaoran’s sister giving him crap.

Clear Card’s over arching plot is fairly lackluster so it was a welcome relief that this episode was legit just eight non-stop minutes of Sakura and Akiho reading a kid’s picture book. It was so cute! Write Kaito out of the show, give me Sakura and Akiho’s storytime. Or even better, give me Yukito’s story time!

Seriously, the dude reads to kids in hospitals on the regular? Swoon! No wonder Toya loves this man so much, Yukito is the sweetest guy on the planet!

I know the show is called Cardcaptor Sakura but what if we just… dropped the card part? Yeah, let’s just have a spin off where we just follow these characters around. It wouldn’t be that hard! Most of the episodes barely have card battles in them anyway and if they do they’re only a few minutes. Ditch those and give us Syaoran speaking in English for another three minutes. This is the content we really need.

The card stuff feels so tacked on. Even the sudden reveal at the end of this episode that there’s some mystery about time or whatever feels out of place. Clear Card succeeds at just showing daily life, not big magical mysteries.

That’s basically my main point for the episode so let’s just discuss how NOT STRAIGHT Sakura. Girl is hella bi. Look at her with Akiho, LOOK AT HER. Her interactions with the girl are framed in very much the same way as her interactions with Syaoran. Sakura makes everybody swoon and boy, Tomoyo knows it.

Tomoyo ain’t even mad that Sakura is slowly discovering her inner love of women! She’s just delighted her friend is gonna land two cute people! This is why we all need a friend like Tomoyo. Sure, she’s megalomaniacal and will destroy anyone in her path but as long as we play by her rules she’ll have our backs whenever we need her.

I’m sure it’ll eventually be revealed Akiho’s really from a book; the past or she’s an alternate universe version of Sakura. While this is inevitable I don’t want it. We don’t need so many magical twists and turns! I just want Sakura to realize how bisexual she is! Come on now, figure it out girl! 

Just let these characters be cute! Let them hold hands, sass on each other, cry, bake, and just be generally adorable. I know fans will say that about most TV shows and movies but here it would actually work. Especially because it’s clearly what the show is more interested in.

Shamus Kelley is a pop culture/television writer and official Power Rangers expert. This show needs more Yukito ALWAYS. Follow him on Twitter!