Sakura Kinomoto
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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, . In its anime adaptation, she is voiced by Yui Makino.
She is also mentioned in another CLAMP title ×××HOLiC.
Name
Sakura's given name (桜) 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 fan demand 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." The pronunciation of her given name changed, as stress is put on the middle syllable ku, while in Japanese there is no stress on any syllable (though it may appear that stress is put on the beginning syllable sa when pronounced this way). Nelvana purposefully changed the pronunciation of the name since many English names have stress on the middle syllable.
Cardcaptor Sakura
Character
At the start of Cardcaptor Sakura, Sakura is a ten-year-old fourth grader at Tomoeda Elementary School (Reedington Elementary School in Cardcaptors). When she opens a book called The Clow and releases the magical Clow Cards contained therein, she is recruited to become the Cardcaptor and retrieve the Cards. In return, she gains the right to use the Cards' power herself.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" () 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.
Sakura's optimistic and trustworthy character allows her to befriend virtually everybody, and the series focuses on the friendships she creates with people, whether strangers, loose acquaintances, or rivals.
Sakura lives with her older brother, Toya 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), died when Sakura was three years old.
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
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 episode when she summons Clow Cards. Through the first two seasons, Cerberus's comments seem to imply that Sakura's magic grows as she battles and captures more Cards. In the third season, Sakura's inexperience is noted in Yue's criticisms and Sakura's weariness after a single Card transformation. During the last of Eriol's trials, she is able to transform several cards at once.Phrases
| To summon her sealing wand: | |
| Key that holds the power of darkness*, show your true form. By the covenent I, Sakura, command you... Release! | 闇の力を秘めし鍵よ。真の姿を我の前に示せ。 契約のもとさくらが命じる。 レリーズ! |
| To capture a Clow Card: | |
| Return to the form you were meant to be..., Clow Card! | 汝のあるべき姿に戻れ、クロウカード！ |
| To transform a Clow Card into a Sakura Card: | |
| The Card created by Clow, abandon your old form and reincarnate! Under the name of your new owner, Sakura... <card name>! | |
- Sometimes (most likely to save time in the anime) the phrase to summon her wand is simply, "Release!"
- In season three, the word "dark" (闇) is replaced with "stars" (星), as Sakura's magic now comes from the stars.
Relationships
Syaoran Li
Sakura's relationship with Syaoran Li (Li Showron) 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.
Though Syaoran gradually becomes more committed to liking Sakura, she still remains completely clueless of his feelings. Syaoran's blushes become more frequent, and there are some occasions where he would suddenly become clumsy when in her presence, but Sakura will either keep an innocent smile on her face or look confused and worried at Syaoran whenever he trips and falls.
Following the Final Judgment when Syaoran makes a permanent change from rival to ally, Sakura begins viewing Syaoran as a very close friend, often thinking of including him when there are school or community events. She is very happy to become able to call him "Syaoran-kun" instead of the more neutral "Li-kun" when he (in more desperate moments) calls her "Sakura." 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. In the anime, Sakura returns the favor by spending several nights in a row knitting him a scarf, which he accepts after a surprised pause. Similarly, in the manga, Sakura returns the favor by spending a week making him a yukata.
Sakura is finally made aware of Syaoran's feelings when he personally confesses them after the final battle with Eriol Hiiragizawa (Eli Moon). The news comes as a complete shock to her, and it is everpresent in her thoughts over the next few days. In the manga, these 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.
Sakura and Syaoran continue to be widely recognized in fandom to the present day. They are also likely CLAMP's most famous fictional couple, as they make a lead appearance in their crossover manga series, .
Yukito Tsukishiro
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 (Julian Star). The origin of the relationship is unclear, but Yukito's presence always causes a significant effect on Sakura's feelings, commonly provoking her "floaty" exclamation, "Hanyaan~" (はにゃああん～).
Sakura always does her best to impress Yukito, on rare occasions even competing with Syaoran to give the better compliment or gift. 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 episode 70, Eriol reveals to Yue that when Clow chose Sakura as the future new Master of the Clow (later the Sakura) Cards and their guardians, he had expected that in the future Yukito would love Sakura more than anyone else and vice versa. Yukito's attraction to Toya and Sakura's to Syaoran are the unforeseen occurences, the deviations from Clow's plan, that Eriol mentions to Sakura and friends at the party in Clow's mansion.
Because Sakura's romantic ties with Yukito end in canon, her appearance with him in fandom and fanfiction are rare. Yukito is instead more popularly paired with Toya.
Tomoyo Daidouji
Though non-romantic, Sakura's close relationship with Tomoyo Daidouji (Madison Taylor) is likely the second most significant relationship in the series. Sakura and Tomoyo are best friends, meeting randomly in the third grade when she 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. 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.
Sakura and Tomoyo are a very popular couple in certain fanfiction and lolicon fandom. However there are very few (if any) cosplayers of the two together, mostly because Tomoyo does not have a unique wardrobe and their romantic relationship is not exactly canon.
Statistics
- Birthday: 1 April
- Age: 10
- Blood Type: A
- Hair color: Brown
- Eye color: Green
- Favorite Subjects: P.E. and music
- Least Favourite Subject: Mathematics
- Extracurricular Activity: Cheerleading and track
- Favorite Colors: Pink and white
- Favorite Flower: Cherry blossom
- Favorite Food: Rice omelets and noodles, fried shrimp
- Least Favorite Food: Konnyaku (taro root)
- Favorite Recipe: Pancakes
- Wish List: A new school bag
- Skilled at: Sports
- Hates: Summer homework
- Loves: Syaoran
- Scared of: Ghosts, scary stories, losing someone dear to her
×××HOLiC
While Sakura does not appear directly in ×××HOLiC, Yūko Ichihara mentions her on several occasions and has a replica of her first sealing wand.Tsubasa Chronicle
Sakura also appears in CLAMP's crossover series, 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.
It is unknown whether or not Sakura retained her surname when she was ported over to the Tsubasa storyline. It has not been mentioned by any of the characters in either the manga or the anime. However, it is unlikely that her surname is Kinomoto, due to the fact that Clow Reed is her father, with the canonical Fujitaka becoming Syaoran's father (by adoption). Therefore, it is logical that Sakura and her brother Toya's surname is Clow.
At the start of the series, 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 (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 surpasses them all.
Sakura appears to possess unnaturally good luck at games of chance; whether she always had this or if it is a result of the mysterious force that awakened within her at the start of the series is unknown. 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.
Sakura in otaku culture
Among otaku in Japan, Sakura is seen as one of the most recognizable moé characters. Even after the end of Cardcaptor Sakura and Tsubasa Chronicle, Sakura fanart, fanfiction and dōjinshi continue to appear at Japanese anime festivals. Current anime conventions are also likely to have Sakura cosplayers.
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