#in which CLAMP plan even their plot parallels right from the start

[meimi-haneoka]

Clear Card Trivia 2 ~ Alice in Clockland and its meaning in Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card

"But in the end...what the heck was that 'Clockland' ?"

Raise your hand if you have thought so at least once! If you did, then welcome to one of the posts of my Clear Card trivia series, an unexpected one I have to say, because I had scheduled to write other posts before tackling this one, but today I suddenly realized, thanks to a conversation in a community, that probably this aspect of the series takes precedence over other things.

I've seen countless of people confused over this matter ever since the play started in the plot, and everybody knows that usually when things get unexpectedly complex, they are quick to be labeled as "useless" and "nonsense".

No, Alice in Clockland isn't just a flex on CLAMP's outstanding drawing skills, it isn't useless, it is very much connected to the plot and DOES have a meaning.

Now that the main story is over, I would like to tackle this issue. I don't presume to have the Big Truth in my pocket, especially cause Ohkawa-sensei was quite eloquent in her recent public speeches: a motto she's going by is "If you think so, then it's surely true....for you", but I feel like the way I understood and reconnected the whole play and the consequent events inside Momo's book do work out pretty well, so I'll just do what I usually do: I'll write my own interpretation out here, hoping that people reading it will find it useful, will find the right angle to look at all this part of the story, and have some of their frustrations with this arc sedated. And maybe share it around to help other people too.

I just want to get my voice out there so that no one can say "no one understood it".

Of course the text below is full of spoilers if you haven't read the chapters from 64-ish / volume 13, also I will talk assuming you know what is Kaito's plan and what feelings moved him to think such plan.

Then, if you're ready, let's proceed to see in details what this is all about, starting from the play.

The Alice In Clockland Play

Let's start from the fact that the play is based on Alice Through The Looking Glass, and that is because….well, Alice in Wonderland is Ohkawa's most beloved book, so she really feels connected to it (and as you might know, this isn't CLAMP's first title inspired in Alice in Wonderland). It's just a preference, but for example many other books are referenced in this arc (as you might know from my other post in the Clear Card Trivia series) particularly "Momo" by Michael Ende (yeah, Akiho chose Momo's name from that book!).

The play (first called "The Two Alice" and then at last minute "Alice in Clockland") is undoubtedly the focal point of the second half of Clear Card. It's during the play that Kaito starts the final stage of his plan (and succeeds). But not only that, the plot of the play itself offers a good foreshadowing to what's going to happen to a certain someone later on. CLAMP used the "parallels" structure a lot in this arc, because it enhances the feeling of interconnection between the characters. "I understand what you're going through because the same happened to me". Sakura is an extremely empathetic character so that fits her and her world perfectly.

So the plot of the play Naoko wrote is quite simple: there are these two twin sisters who get separated by supernatural reasons and one of them ends up lost in another world, becoming Queen of it and forgetting completely about her family of origin. In the play they're both called Alice because of the imagery that twins are initially one same being that gets divided in two… Even the family of origin forgets about the lost daughter, but somehow their feelings for her never get erased, and they keep a chair (which stays empty) at their table. It's like they're feeling that someone is missing and are waiting for her to return, even if they don't really know it. One day, a magical black cat gets to meet the Alice who stayed in her world and ends up guiding her to a magical land: his goal is to lead her to meet her lost sister and reunite them. After wandering for a while. Alice finds her sister/Queen of that land, and touching her hands she suddenly remembers who she is, and what she herself came here for, which is to bring her back home. The two go back home together and we reach the happy ending of the play (which we could only see in the rewritten world, but surely followed the scenario Naoko had written). The most important message of the play is that even if we forget about someone, feelings cannot be erased and those will lead us back to the person we forgot and to remember about them. (Does this ring a bell..?)

The Actual Clockland

It might be useful to remind you that we're currently dealing with two major magical tools shaped like books, at this point of the story: one is the Book of Time Momo is guarding (to which Akiho gave the title "Alice in Clockland" and which will inspire the title of the play), a magical book capable of recording someone's life and, activating the so-called "Forbidden Magic", rewrite it completely. Another one is the magical artifact, shaped like a book, that was engraved into Akiho's body by her Clan and the Association of Magicians, where any magical book that Akiho reads gets "written down" , to store its magical power for use and consumption of those criminals. There's just one "tiny" problem: the more magic gets written on it, the more the book consumes and suffocates Akiho's soul, till the point of no return where the soul will get destroyed. The Clan and Association prefer this outcome as it would be easier for them to manipulate Akiho as an artifact, devoid of any conscience.

In the middle of the school play, Kaito brings Sakura and Akiho to Clockland, which is a "dimension" existing inside Momo's book, to prepare them for the rewriting of the world that he's going to perform afterwards. This world is built using Sakura, Akiho and Kaito's memories (you can see many elements that appeared in past chapters and that come from their memories, like the botanical garden where they had a double date, or the rose garden where Kaito met Akiho the first time). Another thing to be noted is that Hitsuzen (the force of inevitability that rules CLAMP's manga) facilitated Kaito enormously, so much that many things went exactly as he wished and how it was convenient for him (which isn't a good thing, since this led to a big big mess). So following the school play's roles, here Akiho is the Queen of this land, she's the most important character and it makes sense seeing who Kaito is doing all of this for. Sakura keeps being Alice, just like in the play.

In Clockland, Kaito removes Sakura and Akiho's memories and stores them in the botanical garden. He needs to do that for two reasons:

‐ just like the play, he hopes that Sakura and Akiho will follow along their roles and recognize eachother as sisters ‐ as such, this Clockland works as some kind of "primer" for their brain; ‐ he needs to change and rewrite those memories to make them become sisters later on, so he needs to have them collected in one place.

It is to be noted that Syaoran here is an intruder, Kaito didn't initially account for him to join in, and wanted to take on the role of the cat himself. In the play the cat is the one who leads one of the Alices to find the other one and make them recognize eachother as sisters, so this is the one thing Kaito wants to do and the role he wants to take on for himself. While it's true he takes Syaoran's appearance during the first part, his only goal the whole time was to take on the role of the Cat of the play. If the role had gone to, say, Yamazaki, he would've taken his appearance instead. This is clarified by Momo's "I wish I could've seen you interpret a funny character" line, instead of the cold and serious behavior of the Cat. And his reply, "I would've worked hard, as far as I could" is further confirmation that he would've played any type of personality as long as it was the Cat. This doesn't even affect Sakura, because while being under the effect of his spell, she doesn't recognize Syaoran in him (as she should, since it's not really him). So fundamentally it is to be excluded any intention to "manipulate her" or ease her in with Syaoran's appearance (as I had erroneusly written in a previous version of this post). Realizing the real Syaoran got in, and not wanting to be hindered in his plan, Kaito uses the Mirror Sakura Card as a red herring for the boy. Syaoran, in that regard, even as an intruder ends up achieving a result very in line with his "Cat role", which is to make someone remember (Sakura remembers her identity when he shouts her name). The Clear Cards are inside Clockland because Kaito soon will need to use them to power the forbidden spell. As we know from later events, not all of them are there, and some follow his orders (like Shade), some don't (like all the Cards with appearances of Sakura's loved ones, which are trying to give her hints along the way to wake her subconscious up ‐ this is exactly their role and it worked well because Sakura starts to free herself from the spell Kaito casted to keep her subconscious dormant and to keep her in her "in role", symbolized in the manga by a change of fonts used in the dialogues, a thing that those who have read it in English couldn't recognize because they didn't respect that aspect in the translation).

Another thing that Kaito hopes for, while the two girls interact in this "fairytale" (it is very much considered a fairytale by Kaito, since he calls all of them "characters"), is that Sakura will end up creating the Card he needs to operate the exchange of artifacts between him and Akiho (exchanging his pocket watch for the artifact book inside of her). As we said above, Hitsuzen shamelessly favors him and Sakura does end up creating Exchange at the last minute. Once that is done, Kaito doesn't need to keep them in this Clockland anymore, and by the contract they have, Momo starts to activate the forbidden spell on his request, rewriting everyone's memories to satisfy Kaito's wish to turn Akiho into Sakura's sister after he removed the artifact from her with Exchange.

Now, we know what happened after Kaito activated the forbidden spell. Everyone's memories were rewritten following his wish, and he was turned into a dragon and imprisoned by effect of the Seal of D., which was imposed on him by the Association like some sort of "trap", should he ever mess with Akiho's artifact.

But it's here that the play from above comes back in from the "backdoor", to bring the unexpected parallel: Kaito ends up being the character who's lost in another world and whose existence is totally forgotten by a loved one.

But that loved one got a "memento" of him (the pocket watch, which parallels the role of the chair in the play) and that object causes Akiho to feel strange, to feel like she has to fix it, she's extremely attracted to this pocket watch even if she doesn't know why. In the end, just like in the play, Akiho and Kaito reunite and despite not remembering anything about him, and not even having his true appearance in front of her (cause she meets him as a dragon first), Akiho knows perfectly well that that is the person she loves the most, because her feelings weren't erased (just like in the play).

Sakura's role in the finale ends up being similar to the one of the black cat, making everyone remember who they really are and their connections.

So this is roughly the "significance" of both the play and Clockland in this story. It is to be noted that what happens in Clockland is extremely abstract and full of riddles because Alice in Wonderland + Through The Looking Glass are exactly like that. Have you tried to read the originals by Lewis Carrol? It's quite difficult to follow along and nothing seems to make sense….when actually, with a different reading key, it does. I've had to pause my reading of Through The Looking Glass (that I had started in hope to understand the Clear Card story better) multiple times because it's quite difficult for me to stay focused and understand what's going on. I guess Ohkawa‐sensei wanted to go all out on the references to this story, and give the same narrative vibe. The references of course don't stop at the narrative structure, you can read the others in my post about the literary references that I had linked at the beginning of this post, in the section about Alice in Wonderland.

Kaito's True Feelings

Another thing to be noted about Clockland is that since it's playing a lot with the subconscious of the characters, Kaito's true feelings end up appearing here and there. The Queen's Castle, the most important place, is built on crystals, a reference to his true name (something that Sakura points out immediately and Kaito doesn't reply to, while showing a pensive face). Their memories together are protected and stored inside the botanical garden, once again made of crystals. Sakura hits the bull's eye particularly when she says that the rose garden (where Kaito met Akiho for the first time) feels extremely important to someone (that someone is Kaito, of course), and Kaito (disguised as Syaoran) looks away and urges her to move forward. The "someone" could be interpreted as Akiho too, of course, but the Cat/Kaito's reaction and the fact that the Cards told Sakura that this place is strictly interconnected with someone's "wish", makes me lean more toward Kaito. The garden pavillion appearing with the Repair card is another important place because it's where Lilie told him "you'll find something/someone you'll like, one day". It's quite telling that Sakura, despite not even remembering who she is, is guided by her infinite empathy and recognizes immediately those parts of this land that reveal Kaito's true heart and the core of this whole matter, through the continuous questions she keeps posing to everyone, in a desperate attempt to make sense of what's happening and subconsciously fight the spell that's keeping her in her "role" (she'll do that with Akiho too, later).

It's interesting to note also just how much Hitsuzen played on Kaito's side, guiding Tomoyo's instinct to re-do the outfits for the two Alices and ending up giving to Akiho a serious, dark outfit with a black veil. I remember how me and some friends commented that more than a queen, she looked like a mourning bride. Considering what happened afterwards, the imagery CLAMP chose was pretty spot on. Not only that, but the black veil also served as a metaphor for Kaito keeping Akiho's subconscious dormant, making her act like the role of the play required her to. Needless to say, Akiho was able to slip away from the grasp of that spell basically on her own, without even needing magic, only relying on her strong feelings for Kaito (she didn't even remember her name, but lifting the veil up - a very powerful imagery - she remembered that she had someone she loved, and also Sakura's name. This gets once again conveyed in the Japanese version by the change of fonts in the script). The rose headpiece is also another quite interesting part of the outfit, as Sakura asks to the Cat/Kaito why the roses in the garden are all white, despite being this the Red Queen's land... For sure, that place was referencing the real rose garden where Kaito and Akiho met the first time, where the roses were all white, but that also means that the only Red Rose in that land is....Akiho. I also remind you that the rose headpiece was featured in the color page of chapter 69, with Kaito cradling it in his arms with a sweet smile, as if he were holding something very precious....we could read the color illustration as "that's the only thing he got left of Akiho".

This is the reason why Momo, in a moment where the Alices are on their own, tells Kaito that no matter how much he tries to hide himself behind the Syaoran disguise, his true nature shows up anyway. The whole place is full of elements making reference to very important things in his heart, and his true wish. That is only normal because the whole place is made up of their memories. This is also why Momo says that Kaito gave "all of himself" for the activation of the spell.

Another very interesting part is when Sakura, before meeting the Cat/Kaito, meets her friends Rika, Chiharu, Yamazaki and Naoko in the shape of the corresponding Cards (Appear, Synchronize and True & False). The Cards tell her that what appears in this world depends on what Sakura wishes, but her reply is "This is the Red Queen's land. Shouldn't she be the one to decide what appears here in this world?" which works wonderfully on a metaphorical level to point at how Akiho should be the one deciding what happens from now on, since this place is hers and was built for her alone. Seeing how mad Akiho got at Kaito afterwards for deciding her happiness on her behalf, yes, Sakura's question was pretty legit.

In Clockland we have also lots of meaningful interactions between Sakura and Akiho and words said in conversation that will become absolutely essential to help Sakura reaching the truth in the rewritten world (especially the whole discussion about "memories" and "records"), since they stayed in her heart even with the activation of the forbidden spell.

And I believe this is everything regarding these two parts of the Clear Card plot, a way for CLAMP to undoubtedly experiment with a different kind of storytelling, and to ask their readers to dedicate a little bit more of attention to the story, trying to get out of the logical approach to things, and thinking on a more abstract and metaphorical level.

[completeoveranalysis]

[6]

This is a cute moment between Lava Lamp and Mokona that I appreciate very greatly, because Lava Lamp deserves friends and any step that leads to him having his own unique connections with his new family is fantastic amazing content. 

But this also rings as an intentional parallel that CLAMP are using on purpose.

Mokona had a dream where she communicated with the other Mokona at the same exact moment that Lava Lamp had a dream where he communicated with Watanuki. 

This thematically implies the connection between the Mokonas is very similar to the connection between Lava Lamp and Watanuki, if not exactly the same. 

But in true CLAMP fashion the Mokona are mysterious enough that the specifics of this are still vague enough that you can’t be sure what that answer is unless you know it already. Because all the possible answers ARE still possible. 

Is it that they’re copies of the same person? Both Mokona are copies of the Original Mokona. 

Is it that they’re family? The Mokona are siblings. 

Is it that they’re alternate world versions of the same person? The Mokona have the same name but look different, so they could technically be different world versions of the same being. 

So we’re no closer to figuring out what the true answer is BUT we know that it’s THERE and that the Mokona are a clear and direct parallel on purpose. 

[quillsandtypos]

Pretzels, Popcorn, and Winners

Summary: Peter simply won't leave you alone to watch a movie till you finally turn the tables. But can you keep the tables turned?

Warnings: none but this fic is basically just a tickle fight

Words: 1.8k

Pairings: none but could definitely be read as Peter Parker x reader

...........................................

You quickly took your seat next to your best friend on the large sectional in the middle of the Avenger’s living room. Peter and you had decided to watch a move on one of your days off of school and hero work.

“Peter, did you grab my popcorn?” you called out as Peter messed with something in the kitchen behind you.

A large popcorn bowl quickly appeared overhead. “Thank you!” You gladly took the popcorn bowl and immediately started munching on it.

“Wait, you can’t eat it yet, the movie hasn't started!” He attempted to pull the popcorn bowl out of his hands, but you held it out of his reach.

“Then play the movie then!” you argued, as you still protected the bowl.

“Fine, but you’re no fun,” Peter said with a faux irritated eye roll. You chose to ignore it in favor of watching the movie.

But apparently, Peter had other plans. You probably hadn’t even got five minutes into your movie when Peter reached for your popcorn.

“Peter, you have your own snack!” you pointed out as you held it above your head.

Peter’s mischievous face matched your amused one. “I know, but I want your’s,” he pleaded, as he still reached for your popcorn.

“Well you’re not getting it,” you said as you stretched it further out of reach.

Peter's eyes seemed to glitter as a sly grin formed on his face. “You do know I could stand up to get it right?”

You cocked your head, you knew your best friend well enough to know that you were going to win this argument. “Are you going to bother to stand up?”

He thought for a moment as he considered his options before giving up with a shrug. “Mhmm, probably not.”

“That’s what I thought,” you said smugly.

After another five minutes had passed you found that Peter’s mood had somehow infected you. You waited until he was fully engrossed in the movie before slowly snaking your arm over to his pretzel bowl, but just as you were about to pull your arm away with a handful of pretzels, Peter’s hand grabbed a hold of your wrists.

Peter raised an eyebrow. “What exactly do you think you’re doing with that?”

You perfectly matched his body language. “You tried to take my popcorn, I think this is perfectly fair.”

“But I didn’t take it,” Peter pointed out.

“That’s because you’re,” you poked his chest with your free hand, “way too short to,” you scoffed.

“I’m not even that much shorter than you!” Peter released your wrist to throw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

“It’s okay, I still love you Lil Petey,” you teased as you happily ate your stolen pretzels.

If it was possible Peter glarred more, but you noted the smile he was trying to fight off. “I hate you.”

“You wish,” you laughed.

Peter shook his head but he turned back to watch the movie. You soon found yourself engrossed in the movie. Now that you were getting into the plot of it, it was actually fairly interesting. But just as you were on the edge of your seat you felt someone squeeze your side.

You didn’t bother to let your eyes leave the tv screen. “Peter, don’t start shit you can’t finish,” you sang.

“What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything.” You didn’t have to look over at him to know that he was lying, or that he was trying to look innocent and failing miserably. You chose not to give him the satisfaction of answering him. That was until you felt another squeeze at your side.

“Peter,” you warned. This time your eyes drifted over to his.

“What?” His grin grew wider, but so did the devious glance in your eyes.

“I will beat you at this,” you smirked.

“You’re joking, right? I would wreck you,” he gloated.

“Maybe,” you shrugged. To Peter’s surprise, you turned back to the movie. He eyed you curiously, he was certain that you were going to try to do something, but you didn’t seem to be up to anything. He cautiously went back to watching tv, but just as he did you jumped on top of him, successfully pinning him to the couch.

“But I’d wreck you first,” you whispered as you squeezed his sides in unison.

“Whahahahit y/n nohohoh!” he giggled. Peter was desperately trying to pull your hands off his sides, but to no avail, he was laughing too hard to use his strength.

“You know you’re too short to get away, right? You’re stuck here Pete,” you teased as you noted his failing attempts.

“Liahahar,” he retorted. Even in his unfortunate state he still wouldn’t give in. You weren’t in the slightest bit surprised, but you decided to play along.

You held one hand up to your heart. “Peter I am honestly offend-” you had started to say, but removing your other hand had given Peter the opportunity to flip the tables.

He immediately started squeezing right at your hip bones, which he knew killed you.

“Peter!” you screeched. It felt like your nervous system was being played like a piano. All you could do was laugh, you couldn’t even tame your reactions.

“What, does it tickle y/n?” he asked. Though you both knew it wasn’t really a question.

You managed to wheeze out a response. “Shuhuht uhuhp!”

“Aw, I bet your face is so warm right now,” Peter taunted.

You couldn’t answer from all of the screams and laughter coming out of your mouth, but you could feel your cheeks heating up. But that evidently wasn’t enough for Peter, considering that he was still teasing you.

“I bet you couldn’t wipe the smile off your face if you tried.” If he hadn’t pinned you, you would’ve had him on the ground screaming in that moment. You sincerely wished you could wipe the evil smirk off of Peter’s face but he was not giving your hips a break.

“Oh, I have an idea!” he suddenly blurted out. His hands finally moved away from your hips, but just as he did, his face tucked down to blow on your stomach. You screeched as your feet kicked out at the air.

After your third raspberry, you had decided that you need to turn the tables somehow. So just as he pulled away from another raspberry you took your chance to dance your fingers around his neck. Peter practically ducked and rolled to get away from your hand, and you had pinned him again in a second.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait-NO!” Peter screeched as you scuttled your hands across his neck.

“See, all it takes is one poke to your neck and you’re done for,” you grinned.

“Fuhuhuck ohohff,” Peter giggled.

“Oh, and you can’t forget the saying about people who have really ticklish necks,” you said ominously.

“Whahaht?” Peter asked, as he unknowingly played right into master plan.

You bent down so your mouth was parallel to his ear. “Everywhere else is worse,” you whispered. Before he could figure out what you were doing, your hands darted down to claw at his ribcage, and Peter practically screamed.

“Sthohohop!” Peter barely squeaked out.

“What? I thought you’ve told me that teasing doesn’t affect you?” you asked smugly.

“Youhoho are so dead!” he yelled.

“That was so intimidating with your eyes all scrunched up because you’re totally not the most ticklish person ever,” you said, sarcastically as ever.

“Shut up!” he screeched like a pterodactyl.

“What was that you said earlier? Right! I have an idea!” You quickly reminded him of his earlier torture of you by blowing a raspberry right on his neck.

Peter’s laughter went silent, but his body did not. His arms desperately tried to push away your head as his legs twisted from side to side.

You paused for a moment to look at him. “Aww, Peter are you blushing?”

His face turned an even brighter red at your mention, but pausing to take it in was your first mistake.

You were once again underneath him, but this time you noted that you couldn’t move your arms. He had webbed your hands to the floor, which left you with no way to escape, until he decided you were done.

“Now, for the real tickling to begin,” he paused, “after you tell me your worst spot,” Peter instructed.

You raised your eyebrows in surprise. “I’m not telling you that.” You subconsciously looked down to where Peter was sitting for a split second, but the second was long enough for Peter.

“Ahh, so it’s your thighs,” Peter concluded.

You bit your lip in anticipation. Peter’s hands hovered just above them, and you couldn’t help but let a few nervous giggles slip out.

“I have a deal,” he started as his hands neared closer to your legs. “If you admit defeat, I won’t tickle you anymore.”

You stubbornly shook your head and you clamped your mouth down more.

“That’s what I thought you’d say.” Based on Peter’s smile, you were certain that you had given him the exact answer he wanted.

His hands hovered just centimeters away from your thighs and they began to wiggle as he counted down. He was counting painfully slow, but you wouldn’t look away.

“3…...2….-” His hands latched onto your thighs before he hit one.

You would’ve yelled at him for cheating, but your belly laughter was using too much of your air. It was loud, and it seemed to fill the whole space with a sort of light, a light that Peter couldn’t help but grin at too.

He squeezed up and down your thighs just as you had done to his sides. “If you admit that I won, then I’ll stop,” Peter sang. You knew he was taunting you, but you weren’t willing to give in just yet.

“Fine, if that’s how you want it.” His hands moved down to squeeze just above your kneecap and your laughter went silent.

“Fine!” you screamed. Peter stopped and looked at you.

“You win,” you admitted quietly.

He smiled in satisfaction, but he cupped his hand to his ear. “What was that?”

You would’ve crossed your arms if you could’ve. “Peter you have super hearing, I know you heard that.”

Peter squeezed above your knees again.

“Fine, you won!” you yelled.

“That’s what I thought,” he laughed.

Peter finally released you from his web fluid and offered you a hand up. You each took your spots on the couch again, but this time you made sure to stay a safe distance from him.

“I hate you,” you joked as you finally got your blankets situated again.

Peter returned your grin. “You wish.”

The two of you peacefully existed for the rest of the day, happily enjoying one another's presence. Or at least you did till Tony questioned why he could hear your laughter from five floors down, and then Peter and you took off again.

[completeoveranalysis]

The Princess of the Birdcage Kingdom and FUN THEMES FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

BUCKLE UP GUYS WE’RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE ONE TIME I LIVEBLOGGED THAT MOVIE FOREVER

As with pretty much anything there are quite a number of themes running through the Birdcage Kindgom and quite a few fun things you could latch onto, but the one that stands out to me the most right now is the idea of SACRIFICE.

BECAUSE HELLO YES CLAMP HAS CALLED AND THEY WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE GETTING A TASTE OF THE FULL TSUBASA EXPERIENCE

And when I say “sacrifice” in this context I mean it as shorthand for “being forced to part permanently with something extremely important to who you are as a person for the good of everyone”. This will lead to a “better” outcome than the one that would have happened otherwise, but not necessarily a completely good outcome. So like, better than oh god everything is terrible why is everything on fire but still not something you would have wanted to happen otherwise. Ever.

Because Tsubasa.

[Spoilers for The Princess in the Birdcage Kingdom within, just in case you wanted to go watch that]

[Spoilers for Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle NOT within, but guesses are made]

[But also like, do not confirm or deny said guesses]

[Okay cool]

SO. SACRIFICE.

The first place the idea shows up is right at the very start in the opening scene.

It’s a scene we’re all very familiar with, and I absolutely love how it works on an artistic level, but it also serves as an instant reminder/introduction of sacrifice and just how central it is to Tsubasa’s story as a whole. When paired with the movie’s ending, this bookends the entire experience with the inescapable vision of these characters needing to give up important parts of themselves in order to stop the world ending as they know it.

The inclusion of the scene at all is interesting. It frames the story within the narrative that we already know but it doesn’t present any new information if the viewer is even passingly familiar with the series they just walked into the theatre to watch. Moreover, for a viewer that WASN’T familiar with Tsubasa, would the scene make sense? Does it present any information they desperately need in order to make sense of the movie that follows?

The answer is no. 

The importance of the deal made to Yuuko is never brought up again. The movie doesn’t play with the idea of Sakura’s missing memory, or Syaoran’s role in fixing it, or even the importance of the feather beyond the fact that they (probably) want it back. The film doesn’t need to explain the feather any further, so it doesn’t, and we don’t even see Sakura benefit from its retrieval. The film doesn’t even tell us what these shots mean:

We know if we’ve read the beginning of the manga already, and the movie banks on that, because it’s not immediately relevant to anything else they want to show you.

So, if you were new to the series, the scene probably wasn’t all that necessary.

But those things ARE still there regardless, so the scene quite deliberately establishes an idea of personal sacrifice that becomes quite important by the end of the film. Thematically, more than anything else, the scene paves the way towards what to expect from the storyline, and HOT DAMN DOES IT DELIVER.

AND LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT.

Here we are in the Birdcage Country, which is, perhaps unsurprisingly, nestled safely within a giant birdcage.

Notable unique features of this land include: said birdcage, small birds for every one, giant glowing birds, people dressed as birds, and also bird motifs.

Given the title of the movie, none of this is probably a surprise.

We sadly don’t get a lot of world building beyond what you can glimpse from a few establishing shots, but unsurprisingly, birds are important. They do, in fact, make a very big deal about the fact that the Terrible Awful Villain has been separating people from their birds and that this is a very, very bad thing (and also maybe brainwashing people too, but that isn’t actually mentioned ever again)

So when the ending happens and, in exchange for saving everyone’s souls from the forces of darkness (which, also, aren’t really established or explained and are very vague but are Bad ™) everyone in the country has to give up their bird companions, which means they lose everything that is unique to them. The lose their closest friends, their cultural identity, and end up ensuring the one thing they’ve been fighting against all this time.

Admittedly I was very pissed when this happened. Not just because I liked the birds, and that their sacrifice was handled very quickly and with little exploration of the emotional impact, but also because the threat this was supposed to counter was never properly explained to us. We don’t know WHY this is the only option, or why the price is worth it, what exactly this is supposed to solve, or why the birds would all just choose to leave like they do.

But on the other hand all of these questions come down to a question of time. There were answers to these questions that the storytellers just plain didn’t get the time to tell us, and given more time I’m sure the impact of the birds leaving would have been handled with more care.

So if we stray away from exactly what happens in the film and try to read what they wanted to happen, the sacrifice of the bird companions becomes an irreversible tragedy - but one that was necessary to save the lives of everyone in the kingdom. Despite the fact that the birds all leave “for some reason”, the fact remains that the humans and birds that used to live together happily were all in danger of losing their souls, and living permanently apart was the only way to prevent this. The lives of everyone involved are marred with loss and pain in the process, but their souls survive, and that is better than the alternative.

When paired with the movie’s introduction this kind of sacrifice isn’t anything new to us - especially within the main cast, and especially in regards to the deals they made with Yuuko. Syaoran and Sakura paid the price of their relationship in order to save Sakura’s soul – they can never live “together” in the way they were previously going to, but they’re both alive, and that is better than the alternative. Obviously I can’t say much about any parallel’s in Fai’s past, but in Kurogane’s at least we have a small mirror to this as well. The alternative to him going on this journey was (as far as Tomoyo was convinced) him losing his soul to the bloodlust (and poor manners?) that consumed him, and so again, they pay the price of their togetherness to avoid that fate. They all lose a large part of something important to how they define themselves, but they live on, and aim to improve the lives of their loved ones in the process.

The sacrifice that started the film inspires the sacrifice that ends it, but that’s not the end of the parallel altogether. While I can’t say for sure what happens in the rest of Tsubasa from this point onwards, the importance of this kind of sacrifice is an idea that will (PROBABLY?) be central to the way the plot develops . After all, even though Sakura’s feathers aren’t properly discussed in the film, we already have a mirror to her in Tomoyo.

(Are we really surprised that I found an excuse to talk about Tomoyo I mean come on)

We have a princess (Sakura/Tomoyo) of an isolated kingdom (Birdcage/Clow) with a strong feather motif (Soul feathers/Soul birds) which is then put in danger from some powerful dick (Evil Wolverine/Movie Villain) with a hunger for power and the ability to render the princess powerless (Sakura’s memory/Tomoyo’s voice) by separating them from their power source (Sakura’ feathers/Laifan) and reducing the princess to an object (Sakura’s Tsubasa Thing/Tomoyo becoming a literal key) so that they can claim that power for themselves and potentially rule the world/s. Regardless of how awkward that sentence is to read (I’m so sorry), there is enough of a pattern that the resolution of the plot could easily follow the same pattern. Even when/if the villain is gone the threat he began is still present and active and can only be reversed through another personal sacrifice of huge magnitude. In the film, Tomoyo is forced (I’m being generous with “forced”) to sacrifice the heart and soul of her kingdom in order to save everyone. In Tsubasa… well, who knows what will happen.

In this way the plotline of The Princess of the Birdcage Kingdom almost becomes shorthand for the plot of Tsubasa as a whole, if condensed and minimalised. IMPORTANT things will happen, the safety of everyone will be put into danger, and our main characters will (again) sacrifice important things to keep it from happening. There is, after all, no guarantee that everyone will survive this journey, and more than one of our cast members has expressed their willingness to sacrifice their own well-being to save the people closest to them. After all, nothing worth doing is free of a heavy price.

But let’s backtrack to the villain of the film for a moment.

Because this villain guy is interesting, but not in his own right. He’s not characterised in any way that stands out and I’m still convinced that they never speak his actual name – which means that, either by design or coincidence, you’re not going to think about him much. How are you going to bring him up in conversation? How do you have lingering thoughts over an empty title with no particular traits or explainable motivations?

You don’t. Because you’re not really meant to.

The villain serves as a type of stand in for Evil Wolverine in the same way that the storyline of this movie stands as a parallel for the events of Tsubasa. The villain is always there. We are shown from the very start that he is watching our main cast, has vague yet undoubtedly terrible plans, is in a position of clear power, and is willing and able to send other characters in to influence events towards the outcome he desires (which he does at least three times). The movie villain isn’t as good at it as Evil Wolverine is in that last respect, but that’s to be expected. He only gets a few minutes to establish himself as a threat and then quickly die, when Evil Wolverine has years of our time to do the same thing. (Or at least, “years” if you were reading the series as it came out, or if you’re like me and are a ridiculous human being in all possible ways) In that vein of thought, Movie Villain accomplishes things on the micro level that we can probably expect Evil Wolverine to do on the macro level later; Movie Villain poses a powerful and evil threat to this one single kingdom, whereas Evil Wolverine is a threat to multiple worlds, if not the multiverse as a whole. Both have plans involving the feathers, both want to be in charge of whatever new world order they will usher in, and both have rather ridiculous facial hair.

(NB: no offence to anyone with similar facial hair. I’m sure it looks lovely on you! As long as you aren’t trying to rule the universe I will A+ guarantee that I adore your facial hair WELL DONE ON YOUR FACE IT’S AMAZING)

To further this, the ending of the final battle visually reminds us that Evil Wolverine is still a thing.

While Movie Villain is down for the count, the bat is a sign that we still exist within Evil Wolverine’s sphere of influence. He’s still out there in his position of power, he’s still watching us, and as long as the feather plot continues on its way things are still working towards his advantage. Again, this was a really interesting touch to the movie. Without those few seconds the narrative would have been more complete, a kind of standalone story that entirely wrapped itself up, but with Evil Wolverine’s influence directly referenced the story instead becomes part of the bigger picture. The story isn’t over yet, because Tsubasa isn’t over yet, and you are lured in to consider what happens after this.

Because what will happen after this? If the theme of the movie stands true, the pattern of sacrifice will be there waiting for us.

Evil Wolverine will aim to introduce a terrible fate to as much of the universe as he possibly can. Through the Tsubasa, his success is pretty much a guarantee unless the main cast do something about it.

And the “doing something” will cost them heavily. They will lose a lot to stop him. It will hurt them to stop him, and their lives will never quite be the same, but they will do it willingly because it means a better future for the people they’re leaving behind.

Like with Yuuko’s store at the beginning, everything has a price. The more important the exchange, the higher the price is. Stopping Evil Wolverine’s threat could quite possibly be the most important exchange of all – but our Tsubasa family has already proven themselves quite willing to pay extraordinary prices, and are willing sacrifice pieces of themselves (or themselves as whole) in the process of saving what they need to save.