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★ ~ kinomoto sakura | info
★ KINOMOTO SAKURA
SEELIE
A fifth grader, a little sister, and Mistress of the Clow Cards.
Two years ago, Sakura accidentally released a book of magical cards into the world. Set free to do as they pleased, these Clow Cards were destined to wreck havoc, and thus the book's guardian beast tasked her with capturing them. Fighting dragons, getting shrunk to the size of a thimble, facing off with elemental spirits, escaping a vengeful sorceress, passing Clow Reed's last judgement -- ever since that day, Sakura's life became a whirlwind of magical mayhem.
I'm usually on between 9 - 10 PST and a few hours between 8:00 - 11:00 PST.
SEELIE
A fifth grader, a little sister, and Mistress of the Clow Cards.
Two years ago, Sakura accidentally released a book of magical cards into the world. Set free to do as they pleased, these Clow Cards were destined to wreck havoc, and thus the book's guardian beast tasked her with capturing them. Fighting dragons, getting shrunk to the size of a thimble, facing off with elemental spirits, escaping a vengeful sorceress, passing Clow Reed's last judgement -- ever since that day, Sakura's life became a whirlwind of magical mayhem.
I'm usually on between 9 - 10 PST and a few hours between 8:00 - 11:00 PST.
( PLAYER ★ INFORMATION )
NAME: Audrey
AGE: 24
CONTACT:
CURRENT CHARACTERS & LATEST AC: none.
( CHARACTER ★ INFORMATION )
DOES THIS CHARACTER MEET SKELETAL BASICS? Yup.
NAME & AGE: Kinomoto Sakura, 12
CANON & CANON POINT: Card Captor Sakura, The second movie, right after The Nothing nullifies the audience at the school play.
CANON INFORMATION: Card Captor Sakura Wiki.
COURT ALLIANCE & REASONING: SEELIE.
DEATH BEFORE DISHONOUR
In the beginning of the series, when Sakura was still unfamiliar with and wary of her duties as card captor, her reasoning for capturing the cards is the promise she made to Kero.
“I promised Kero I’d capture all the cards!”
Sakura’s word is her law. When she says something, she means it. However, she doesn’t have high ideals of chivalry or honor, or really any motivation behind her honesty and commitment to her word. It’s more about not letting people down, and that being untruthful or duplicitous really doesn’t cross her mind. Lies go straight over her head. Perhaps she might tell a white lie here or there, but even then, she wouldn’t be conscious of it.
However, for Sakura, death is never the answer, no matter the promises you break, or the lies you tell. And cowardice -- that’s nothing to be ashamed of, for it’s all right to be scared.
So in this way, she does and doesn’t fit Seelie, but she is more Seelie than Unseelie.
LOVE CONQUERS ALL
As mentioned in her personality section, Sakura’s signature spell -- “everything will be all right” -- is a charm inspired by love for her family and friends. She fights to protect them, to not let Kero down, and to make sure her cards can return home to their family. It’s her love for her family and friends that is most precious to her, as we see in the final judgement. Kero foretold a great disaster if she failed her trials -- that disaster has nothing to do with destruction. It’s about losing her family, slipping into a false world without memories of the ones she loved, and with them not remembering her.
But Sakura’s love for them was enough to penetrate the spell and return her to the present. Truly, a “love conquers all” moment.”
Additionally, it doesn’t take much for her to make more friends, more people to love. But even a stranger would receive her love -- she’d do whatever she could to help them, stranger or not.
• BEAUTY IS LIFE
Beauty isn’t all that important to Sakura, at least not in a poetic, sublime or even aesthetic sense. You could say that she finds everything beautiful, in such that everyone has something about them that is to be cherished and protected. Everyone creates beauty in their own way, and they all deserve to be defended.
• NEVER FORGET A DEBT
She’s not very Seelie-like in this way. Sakura will remember someone’s kindness, but she doesn’t calculate or keep track of favors or curses. The wheels don’t turn for her. It’s much simpler than that. If someone helps her out, she wouldn't return the favor out of a debt -- she’d do it because it’s the right thing to do. The kind thing to do. She’d probably even help someone out who cursed her.
… which brings me to an additional point: even if she’s seelie by affiliation, I forsee her potentially aiding either side if someone was hurting or in trouble. Sakura’s not really the sort of person to take sides so… I’m not sure if this will play into the court decision at all?
PERSONALITY:
You wouldn’t expect Kinomoto Sakura to be anything but a normal girl. She’s a cheerleader, a sport star, and a terrible procrastinator when it comes to schoolwork.
Upon meeting Sakura, you’d also see that she’s outgoing, cheerful, enthusiastic and easily excited. When they go to the beach, for example, Sakura doesn’t just say that she “”[loves] the ocean,” rather she repeats it in excitement-- “The ocean! The ocean! The ocean! The ocean!”
She wears her heart on a sleeve and while Sakura can be creative and clever when it comes to capturing the cards, she’s airheaded at times -- naively missing obvious things, such as Yamazaki lying to her, or Syaoran’s feelings toward her.
It would be easy to paint Kinomoto Sakura with a broad brush, to say that her unwavering optimism and innocence is unrealistic, a product of an environment where no one’s truly bad regardless of the destruction or hurt they cause.
But to do so would be painting a flat picture of Sakura and her world.
“Everything will be all right.”
The trait that defines Sakura is her big heart. Without fail, she treats everyone with the same genuine and unfaltering kindness. And perhaps it seems simplistic, ignorant even, to face the world with that ingenuos a face. However, Sakura’s kindness is more than a surface matter, going beyond that ever-cheerful personality, or sweet gestures and supportive words. It’s a readiness to go out of her way to ensure the happiness of anyone, no matter the cost.
During her adventure to capture and transform the Clow Cards, she regularly faces challenges that put her in danger. Whether it’s being attacked by an ice monster or set on fire by a Clow Card, or being pursued by a vengeful sorceress intent on drowning her, or watching the world around her get erased from existence -- Sakura meets her challenges head on, but not because she’s cocksure or unafraid.
When she says, “everything will be alright,” Sakura isn’t being overly optimistic. She has her fears, her self-doubts, but she knows the stakes if she were to fail. For example, when Sakura fights The Nothing card, the whole situation seems like it’s headed for a bad end. Kero, Yue, her friends -- they’ve been erased from existence, along with half of the city. As for Sakura, she’s running out of cards, for no matter what she summons, The Nothing negates its power and steals it from her.
It’s clear that Sakura’s in distress when she starts to cry. She understands how dire the situation, which is why she has to declare--
Everything will be okay, not because she knows for certain -- but because she can’t give up, no matter what. It’s a mantra she reiterates in order to lend her strength. Because Sakura understands that she’s responsible for capturing the cards. She was the one who accidentally released them, and more importantly, she promised Kero that she would find them all. She has to succeed, no matter what.
And for Sakura, her promises are worth their weight in gold.
In this way, her bravery is not so much a fundamental trait. She didn’t just become a girl who’s immediately able to take on magical forces. Rather, courage is something she cultivates out of experience.
For as much as we see Sakura’s bravery, we also witness her struggles with fear and self-doubt. This is evidenced during her early encounters with Syaoran. In one scene, he’s quick to insult her, putting her down as inept and unworthy to handle the cards. “How could you not know that? And you call yourself a Cardcaptor?” Rather than take offense or defend herself, Sakura takes his criticisms to heart, turning over his words for the truth as she wonders if she should hand the cards over. Is she worthy of this role?
Later in the series, even after she’s captured all the cards and become their master, she still has her doubts. Saying to Clow Reed when they finally meet--
Moreover, she can be frightened by the silliest things-- she can deal with the cards, being chased by giant monsters, falling from miles above the ground, but when it comes to ghosts? She’s an utter mess. On a school trip to a “haunted cave,” she spends most of the time clinging to Tomoyo’s arm and wailing, until THE ERASE takes her away.
Or there’s that time with THE CREATE: the card manifests a giant, fire-breathing dragon, and Sakura spends the majority of the fight screaming and running away from it.
But it’s moments like these in which we see her for the twelve year old she is.
Whether fear, worry, love or self-doubt, Sakura is easily affected by her feelings, resulting in a tendency to act irrationally or impulsively at times. For example -- when THE ILLUSION takes the form of her mother and tries to lure her off a cliff (for the second time), she’s like a donkey after a carrot. A part of her knows it’s a trick, but her love for her dead mother overrides any sort of good judgement. In another episode, upon discovering that the Clow Cards are losing their magic, she reacts in a panic, hastily transforming too many cards for her magic to handle, despite knowing that she shouldn’t.
And yet, Sakura is resilient. Let her have a cry first, because she will snap out of it and come back fighting in full force.
During the first episode, we see Sakura adamantly declare that there's "no way" she can capture THE FLY: a card in the form of a monstrous-sized bird. But despite her initial protests, some quick thinking inspires her to rollerblade up a wall and flip herself onto the bird, allowing her to activate THE WINDY and seal the card.
This is often the case for Sakura-- she may be frightened at first, but she will find a way to overcome her emotions. Once she settles down, she’s capable of thinking quickly in the heat of the moment and coming up with solutions in a pinch. Much of the series is spent depicting this growth, from a girl who resists the responsibility of magic, to worrying if she’s worthy of the cards, to the Master of the Clow who saves her whole town from destruction.
However, Sakura's youth is both a boon and a weakness.
Sakura’s a child. A twelve, almost thirteen year old girl who doesn’t comprehend all the dangers of the world. Big, magical disasters -- sure, she’s got that covered -- but the more subtle deceits of man, lies and backstabbing, murder and manipulation? Sakura may be aware of the concepts, but being aware is not knowing.
Sakura is shielded by youth in the same way that an old man might look back on the escapades of his youth and wonder “what the hell was I thinking?” Life comes with blunter edges for a kid like her. Never seeing anyone die, for example, Sakura isn't familiar the cold, clear reality of what death really feels like. In that sense, it's easier for her to throw herself into daunting situations, whether it’s nearly getting caught in an avalanche or free falling from high up in the air.
But this also means that Sakura can be unaware of how dangerous a situation may be. When THE EARTHY starts tearing up a busy city, she hurries to capture it in order to prevent any further damage. And yet, she doesn’t seem to consider whether anyone’s been hurt in the destruction around her. The series doesn’t even touch on it, and it makes sense. It’s a story conveyed through the perspective of a young girl. However, if you were to take this mind set and plop it in Eachdraidh, what do you get?
Sakura’s innocence sometimes take the shape of ignorance. She’s open-minded and ever-curious, and quick to make friends and put her trust in them. She assumes the best of people, perceiving everybody to be fundamentally good. They are only ‘bad’ in the sense that they are misunderstood. This is due in part to the fact that Sakura comes from a world where antagonists are never really “evil.” The cards, for instance, are chaotic spirits that regardless of the damage or hurt they cause, are simply being mischievous.
Her “final boss” encounter against Yue in second season turns out to be a test to determine whether Sakura is a worthy master of the Clow Cards. The final season’s antagonist is also not an enemy -- he stirs up trouble in order to challenge Sakura to transform the cards under her magic.
There are antagonists in Sakura’s world that others might consider “evil.” But Sakura manages to find the good in them. Madoushi, the spirit of a long-dead sorcerer, lures Sakura into her pocket dimension, mistaking her for Clow Reed himself. Upon discovering Sakura isn’t Clow Reed, she goes on a rampage and starts to attack. Over the course of the movie, Madoushi invades Sakura’s dreams, kidnaps her friends, tries to smash her against buildings and knock her out of the sky, and as a final move, attempts to drown her.
Despite all of that, Sakura sympathizes with Madoushi in the end. She discovers that her rage was born out of a broken heart, out of missing Clow Reed and being sealed away by his magic.
“Villains” are rarely motivated out of pure evil, and Sakura has the patience and empathy to try and understand that. Everyone has the capacity for good. And it’s this mentality that explains Sakura’s willingness to help anyone and everyone. But in a place in Eachdraidh, it opens Sakura up to manipulation. It will be easy to take advantage of her kindness because she isn’t used to discerning duplicity or lies. She can be very gullible, as we see in canon when she’s quick to believe Yamazaki’s made-up stories:
"Really?!" -- Sakura
Sakura knows that he’s got a penchant for lying, but every time she falls for it.
And even though she’s perceptive at noticing other people’s emotions, she still makes naive leaps of logic. For example, when Syaoran talks about his caretaker, Wei, Sakura notices the subtle change in his expression, that talking about Wei makes him seem happier. However, she jumps to the conclusion that “he must be a nice guy,” since he makes Syaoran happy.
ON FRIENDS, FAMILY AND SYAORAN--
To Sakura, family and friends are the most precious things, for whom she would do anything to protect.
Early in the series, Kero warns that a “great tragedy” will occur if the cards aren’t captured. We later learn that this tragedy has nothing to do with death or destruction, but with memories. Should she fail the final judgement, a test to determine her worthy of the cards, Sakura and everyone with knowledge of the cards will forget each other. Tomoyo, Yukito, Syaoran.
The theme is recurrent throughout the series. Madoushi kidnaps her friends, THE ERASE erases her classmates from existence, THE NOTHING nullifies the world and the people around her. In other words, the greatest tragedy in Sakura’s world would be to lose the people close to her.
And during the final judgement, Sakura does in fact fail. She gets trapped in an illusion of a world where everyone’s forgotten each other, but her love for them helps Sakura remember and break the spell. In a way, it’s the support and strength of her friends and family that gives her the power to say “everything will be all right.”
There’s her father, Fujitaka, who can do just about anything. Despite how busy he is, being a single father and college professor, he cooks and cleans, sews and always offers advice to Sakura. This ability to take on so much and do it well inspires her. You could say that Fujitaka is very much her role model.
Kero and Yue serve as Sakura’s guardians. The former has been with her from the beginning, emerging from the book that once held the Clow Cards. He teaches her about the cards and her magic, providing counsel and support on the sidelines. He’s her loudest cheerleader, serving as both a nuisance and a mentor. Meanwhile, Yue… well, that’s complicated.
He’s the one person that didn’t seem to like her. But he’s also the person Sakura loved, or rather, who she thought she loved. Her number #1 person -- his human form, Yukito. Sakura’s relationship with Yue is her first taste of being disliked, of having to prove herself to someone who won’t accept her, who disdains her despite her efforts, on account of not being Clow Reed. No one will ever measure up to his old master, and Sakura recognizes that, once again revealing her astute ability to understand people.
Tomoyo is Sakura’s greatest supporter and closest friend. We see that having her as a confidant makes it easier for Sakura to handle her responsibilities as cardcaptor. With her costumes and filming and theatrics, Tomoyo turns their dangerous escapades into fun adventures. In a way, she’s the one makes Sakura a “magical girl.”
And then there’s Syaoran Li. A rival turned friend turned boyfriend. They’re two halves of a whole, for Sakura relies on him the most, on his magic and fighting skills, and his ability to remain cool-headed while she freaks out. He’s the one who will always fight beside her, giving her the support she needs to come out triumphant-- for everything to “be all right.”
A good example of this is when they capture THE ERASE: After watching as her friends are literally erased, she’s an emotional wreck, all panic and tears, unable to do anything until Syaoran calms her down with gentle reassurances.
Recognizing her feelings for Syaoran at the end of the series is proof of her growing maturity. She starts the series “loving” Yukito, getting all dreamy-eyed and excited whenever they spend time together, to realizing eventually that her love, as earnest and pure as the feeling is, isn’t necessarily true. Love is complicated, and feelings aren’t always straightforward -- they take you to unexpected places, namely to a boy name Syaoran Li.
The question is -- what will she do without her family and friends? How will she handle being alone?
It’s important to keep in mind is that Card Captor Sakura is not just about a girl’s magical journey with frightening monsters and impending doom. It’s a story about the everyday, in which “saving the day” is about facing normal challenges, whether it’s learning to take responsibility for breaking her father’s computer, or facing her fear of ghosts. She’s not even a traditional “magical girl” in the sense that she doesn’t even have a real transformation sequence, besides the spell to release her staff -- all her outfits are handmade. She’s playing a role.
Much of time, she helps people through simple acts. In one instance, she summons a rainbow to remind an old man of his great granddaughter, and in another, uses her magic to to light a festival after a power outage.
No act is too small for Sakura.
ABILITIES:
As Clow Reed explained it, Sakura's magic is fueled from the power of an unnamed star. Her magic gives her various abilities besides her Sakura Cards.
They are:
* Prophetic Dreams
* Magic Sensing
* Fortune Telling
For her to use her cards, Sakura needs her Star Wand to channel her power. Normally, she carries it around as a necklace-like key on her neck and calls upon an incantation when she wants to release it.
With the Clow Cards (now Sakura Cards), she can summon of whole litany of magical entities that each embody a certain power.
INVENTORY:
(1) Key --> Star Staff
Sakura cards, as listed above.
Dress
( WRITING ★ SAMPLES )
NETWORK SAMPLE:
It seems strange... we don't even know each other and now we have to fight? Against each other?
I don't want to fight anyone! I definitely won't!
[a beat, as her sudden, pointed defiance fades into a voice that's wistful and soft. ]
It hasn't been very long. Less than a week, really -- but I already miss them. My father's lunches, Tomoyo's video taping, Syaoran... all of us, all of us must be missing someone from home. We're the same, you know. We're all from different worlds, and I bet we have the same wish. To go home.
So why don't we work together? Figure something out! It's better than fighting!
LOG SAMPLE:
Sakura stood as a stranger in a great, gold-lit hall of the Caer Glaem, her eyes sweeping across the arced ceiling above. They were like the ribs of an indomitable beast, in such that the castle seemed to be more alive than simply stone. She felt warmth as her fingers brushed against stone walls, heated by the sun trapped in the hall, or perhaps even warmed by a pulse of magic.
Sakura couldn’t tell. Her mind was too muddled, too shaken and scattered by panic and disorientation to be of much use.
She ran up to one of the castle’s residents, a courtly lady in a crimson dress, to ask where they were and if the lady knew of a place named Tomoeda. Drabwurld, the lady said, before shooing her away, patience quickly spent. For Sakura, the answer was of no comfort. Feeling her heart beat faster, she knew the truth without saying it. She wasn't home anymore, and she was nowhere near home from the sound of 'Drabwurld.’
The noisy chatter of the residents hummed all around her, and the air felt smothering and thick against her skin.
Any other time, she would’ve been tremendously excited. This was a real castle, not like the mock plaster model of Tokyo Disney or flashing pictures on the television screen. That lady had worn a dress woven from the pages of a storybook, and Sakura could imagine a whole court, of kings and queens with their brilliant crowns, and knights in their shining armor. Even as her imagination spun a fantasy, none of it reached her heart. Fantasy could never make up for being alone.
"Li-kun? Tomoyo-chan? Kero-chan? Anyone?"
It was stupid, calling out to them. But maybe-- maybe it would be like a spell, and suddenly she'd turn around and see someone familiar---
"Father?"
Tears slipped across her cheek and she rubbed them away with a dirty sleeve. Of course they wouldn’t be here—Tomoyo, her brother, her father… they weren’t even home anymore, erased away by the force of a magical tantrum. The Nothing took them away, and the only way to get them back is if find her—if I confront her, and tell her that there’s no reason to be upset, not when we can all be friends. However, what could be done when she was so far away? Kero, Syaoran and Yue could only fight The Nothing off for so long before she took them too. Only Sakura could seal the card and make things right.
Like Hong Kong and its old shadows of magic, this place had a powerful and inscrutable presence. She’d been spirited away to… another part of the world – not Japan, judging by the people. Maybe even another place all together? Sakura knew magic well enough to know that what seemed like an impossibility, being transported to another world, was entirely possible.
But why did she have to be alone?
Sakura’s tears grew into sobs. She reached out to clutch her necklace in comfort, head bowed against her chest. Crying wouldn’t help her save her friends, nor would it bring her home. Stop it, stop it, stop it—she chided herself, attempting to stuff her feelings into some deep, hidden place in her chest. Everything will be alright, remember? But you can’t cry, Sakura—you have to fight, you have to go home and get your family back.
“’cause I’m not alone, am I?” She declared softly, and then a beat. “I’m never alone.”
With tears still in her eyes, Sakura opened her backpack and pulled out those familiar cards. Even if she was in a foreign place, even if she was alone, she was still Mistress of the Cards, and they would always be with her. She pulled the necklace off her neck and gave the Key a reassuring squeeze.
"Release!"
With a flash, the key transformed into its true form, and without missing a beat, Sakura reached to pull a card from the deck. “Shadow, search for an exit—”
Never had Sakura needed to look for a specific card. She simply had to think of the one she wanted, and it would appear on the top of the deck… but something was wrong. The Shadow was missing, and it wasn’t the only one. The deck had been split and quartered, most of them were gone… that’s right, The Nothing had taken them.
“They can’t be gone too,” she whispered.