Chapter 19: Dazzling Countdown

Release date: January 2001

Word count: 8250

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Thoughts: I love fortune telling scenes with the Sakura Cards because Wish-chan is so skillful at foreshadowing. It's been ages since I read the chapter so I only remember how some of the Cards are connected when Sakura pulled out The Shadow, The Haunt, The Mirror, The Illusion and The Erase. 

Eriol reminds Sakura that she doesn't have to bear the Card Mistress on her own when she doesn't tell him about the stalker. Unfortunately this is not advice that she takes when she faces The Plague in Arc 3. 

Eriol gets on Syaoran's case about being distant with Sakura and warns him that, "Someday, she’s going to be so apart from you, you wouldn’t be able to reach her." I wonder if I clocked in on all of the Arc 3 finale foreshadowing the last time I reread the chapter. 

I completely forgot that there was a mini Battle of the Sun and Moon before Sakura shut it down. 

We learn that Mike is 22 so that means there is an eight year age difference between him and Erika, making it the largest age gap (besides Rika and Tereda who I guess are at least 10 years apart) in NT.

Now that I remember that The Invisible was a loose card, The Erase and The Illusion makes sense. The Shadow and The Haunt is a good representation of The Stalker. But what does The Mirror mean? 

I honestly would not have remembered the S&S back hug happened if it wasn't for animefreak999's fanart. What a powerful moment. 

I can never get over how beautifully written the battle scenes are. And they only get better and better!

I don't remember when it was revealed, but Kai was with Miho and company in Times Square as they waited for the new year.

Fanart spotlight: The way that Wish-chan described the cherry blossom firework was so pretty that I'm delighted that Asumei chose to illustrate that scene in her fanart, New Year's in NYC. Sakura's dress is also spot on and she and Syaoran look so adorable together.