Clear Cards

Reader's Guide

The Clear Cards are a new set of cards that appear in Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card. They are created by Sakura Kinomoto as her magical powers grow, after her original Sakura Cards are rendered powerless by a prophetic dream. Sakura captures these new cards using a new and stronger mystical dream key. The cards are not simply found; they are created by Sakura's own magic, often in response to magical incidents that are sometimes deliberately caused by the antagonist Yuna D. Kaito. By the end of the series, all but one of the Clear Cards are placed into the guardian Momo's magical book. The single exception is the Flight card, which Sakura keeps for herself.

Narrative Premise and Setting

The story begins with Sakura Kinomoto starting junior high school alongside her friends and her boyfriend Syaoran Li, who has just returned to Tomoeda. The two start dating after having been in a long-distance relationship since Syaoran's return to Hong Kong a few years earlier. During her first year in junior high school, Sakura encounters several magical incidents in Tomoeda, similar to what she experienced in Elementary School. After having a prophetic dream, the Sakura Cards turn blank and are rendered powerless, thus starting Sakura's quest to find out what is wrong. In the process, Sakura captures new cards using the new and much stronger mystical dream key. Sakura befriends a transfer student named Akiho Shinomoto, who lives with her butler and guardian Yuna D. Kaito. Akiho treasures Momo, what she believes to be a stuffed toy but is actually the guardian of a magical book.

The Antagonist and Central Conflict

The primary antagonist is Yuna D. Kaito, a sorcerer whose magic makes him appear different to his actual, unknown age. Kaito knows about Sakura's ability to create new cards, and has been causing the magical incidents so that Sakura can create a card that he needs for an unknown purpose. Kaito is revealed to have been an orphan who became part of a secret magic society that collaborates with a clan of European magicians seeking to bring all of the world's magic under their command.

After Akiho's birth, members of her clan learnt that Akiho has no magic of her own, and both they and Kaito's society decide to use her as a tool, implanting her with various spells that Kaito knows will cause Akiho to lose her soul. Going against both groups, Kaito hatches a plan to make Sakura create a card that he can use to absorb Akiho's magic into his body and alter everyone's memories into believing that Sakura and Akiho are sisters. Kaito succeeds, but by misusing the magic inside of Akiho a seal that was placed on Kaito is activated, trapping him in a magical prison and wiping out the memories that everyone had of him.

Resolution and Memory Manipulation

Sakura believes Akiho to be her sister, but with the help of Momo and Akiho's late mother (who travels through time to reveal the truth to her) she learns how both her life and memories were rewritten, and finds and frees Kaito from his magical prison. Sakura uses her magic to ensure that most people will have their memories of Kaito and Akiho erased, thereby keeping them safe from their respective organisations. All but one of the Clear Cards become part of Momo's magical book, with the remaining card (Flight) staying with Sakura.

Due to circumstances, time stops still for Kaito, and he and Akiho leave Japan to find a cure for his condition. Kaito tells Syaoran that he will teach him time magic if he wishes. Akiho befriends Eriol while Tomoyo devotes herself to developing her sewing skills, looking forward to designing a wedding dress for Sakura for when Sakura and Syaoran one day get married. Moving to Germany, Kaito and Akiho stay in contact with Sakura and Syaoran, who are about to start their third and final year of junior high school. Momo is no longer with Akiho and Kaito, but assures Sakura when visiting her one day that Akiho will see her again.

Production History and Adaptation

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp. It is a sequel to Clamp's manga Cardcaptor Sakura. The manga was serialized in Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine between the July 2016 and January 2024 issues, with the chapters collected in 16 tankōbon volumes. A 22-episode anime television series adaptation produced by Madhouse, featuring the cast and staff from the original series, aired from January to June 2018, which loosely adapts the first 24 chapters (the source later specifies 28 chapters for the anime adaptation).

A bonus chapter was released in March 2024. Kodansha Comics released the series in English both digitally and in print. An original video animation prequel titled 'Sakura and the Two Bears' had its world premiere at Anime Expo on July 1, 2017, and shipped in Japan as a DVD bundled with the special edition of volume 3 of the manga on September 13, 2017. A sequel was announced at the Sakura Fes event on April 1, 2023, and will adapt the remaining story until its conclusion.