Well, that was quite the gentlemanly card.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card
Studio: Madhouse
Genre: Magical Girl

CVoyage: Not really a lot to report, this time.

EvilBob: Yeah. Fairly slow episode. Though it’s good to see that Sakura’s maintained her ability to just ignore physics.

CVoyage: Sadly, this card did not think Tomoyo was best girl.

EvilBob: True. But it was polite. It even let Sakura put on her shoes before dragging her off.

CVoyage: Right? These are the most civil of hell’s minions. So. On to the main course. And how fitting a turn of phrase that is, in hindsight. Because this episode’s all about the food.

CVoyage

You think I’m kidding, but no. This episode fills the first 8 minutes with one long cooking sequence, interrupted with sparse little bits of foreboding dialogue and humor. The interaction between Sakura and her brother helped to make it a bit easier to palate. Her adorable cheerfulness when talking to Yukito also helps a bit, as well as her concern regarding the character’s history. Though the scene otherwise comes across as a bit slow.

What follows is her heading out to a picnic with her friends, including new addition – Akiho “I’m totally not the antagonist. Nope, not me” Shinomoto. With the emphasis they place on this girl, she might as well have a flashing neon sign over her head that reads “I’m important to the plot!” But I’ll give credit where it’s due. I actually think there’s a possibility she isn’t the arc “villain.” But we’ll come back to that.

As to the events, once they get to the park, there’s more food and talking, most of which honestly isn’t all that engrossing. But then Sakura’s dragged off, literally, by the episode’s card. Which, I will again point out, was kind enough to allow her to put on her shoes and come up with an excuse for her friends before trying to kill her. And, make no mistake, this thing was out to kill her. The capture was fine. Albeit riddled with non-logic that I just couldn’t help but laugh aloud at. It was just so amusing.

With the card finally capture, I was a bit saddened that the scene was so brief. But that’s what happens when you spend so much of the episode just… lingering. I get what they’re doing. They’re establishing a sense of comfort and whatnot around Akiho so when stuff really gets going later, you feel it. But they could’ve spared at least a little more time to actually have things going on. In all, not a lot happened in this episode.

But, Sakura and Syaoran continue to be absolutely adorable together. This is fact.

EvilBob

So, let’s review what we’ve learned. Cooking and big brother antics, eating and talking, and a polite murder card, all wrapped up with a happy little ending… for everyone except Tomoyo.

It was weird that this card actually let her keep up her facade. But it sure didn’t let her get away with anything else. Makes me wonder if the card was under specific instructions. “Okay, you can kill her. But make sure her friends don’t know about it.” It’s also oddly convenient that Syaoran was nowhere near any of this. He just happened to be late. In fact, he hasn’t been around for any of these attacks. Makes me wonder if Eriol told him to stay away for some reason.

And am I the only one who thought it was kinda weird that they dedicate so much time to talking about Akiho’s caretaker? Maybe they’re the one behind all of this. Maybe Akiho is the one in the cloak and the caretaker is the dragon. But, hey, that’s just a theory. A-

CVoyage: Don’t you f–king dare.

EvilBob: Shutting up.

Discussion

CVoyage: It’s an interesting thought, though. It’d be a bit of a subversion of how they usually handle things.

EvilBob: You mean by being as idiot obvious as possible?

CVoyage: To be fair, it is still a kids’ show.

EvilBob: So, question.

CVoyage: Shoot.

EvilBob: Why didn’t she just use Seige on the tree, itself?

CVoyage: …holy crap, you’re right. Why didn’t she do that? And come to think of it… the card was just… Gravity, right? It was basically just Force Pull. How did it manage to bring that entire tree to life?

EvilBob: Maybe the Action card is going through its Rebellious phase? Question mark?

CVoyage: …

EvilBob: …Right. There’s the door. I’m going.

CVoyage: Overall, this episode was fine. Not the most exciting thing, but reasonably enjoyable for its humor and some of the character interactions. Not quite as strong as the last few episodes, but it’s certainly Junk Food worthy.

EvilBob: I’d say episode 5 was about as Evil as… a Killer Robot Army (8). It was good, but not really as enjoyable as the other ones we’ve seen. I mean, in one of the last episodes she took on two cards, back-to-back! I was kinda hoping they’d keep things going at the same pace. Not necessarily always multiple cards, but at least keeping things just as exciting. But if you’re looking for something that’s slowly building up to a faster pace, check on his last review of Toji no Miko. It’s been slow til now, but things have really picked up.

CVoyage: But if you’d like to experience more Cardcaptor Sakura, then it’s Simulcast on Crunchyroll, Saturdays at 8:00pm EST.

EvilBob: That’s pretty much all we’ve got for you today. Thanks for letting us waste your time, people.

CVoyage: As always, thanks for reading, folks. Remember to keep up the awesome.

EvilBob: And keep it classy.

CVoyage: Take care.