Release date: April 13th, 2001
Word count: 11,131
Thoughts: Split-personality Syaoran lives on. He's acting so aloof that it's impossible to believe that the night before's revelation even happened.
Asuma and Arima are so cute. I loved the scene when he was comforting her after her horse got sick and how he convinced her to use Midnight Star.
When Midnight Star was going too fast, I really admired Sakura's decision to use The Loop to scoop Arima out from the track.
While Arima was on the unstoppable horse, she was thinking about how Asuma was always there for her. I loved the line about how she would get Asuma involved in the various plots and schemes to bag the ever unattainable Touya in order to work them into canon.
I love how Wish-chan is laying this chapter thick with romance. It's a great outlet after always having to curb S&S's true feelings for one another.
The Unicorn is revealed when Midnight Star spouts wings and a horn as soon as Arima is safe. Technically, unicorns don't have wings. Like in Sailor Moon, the winged-horse is Pegasus. But I'll let it slide.
The Five Force Scroll entry is read about The Unicorn, but there's no info about how it's the Reed patron animal. I wonder how a Dark Force can double as a patron animal.
Sakura uses reason instead of force to capture The Unicorn. I'm sure this can't be the first time, but it must be rare enough of an event for me not to think of one example.
Arima asked Sakura if she ever thought if one day her prince would come a Sakura visualizes something very close to how Syaoran was while she was overtaken by The Fantasy (unless I'm making things up and he didn't have a horse and cape).
The scene where Asuma and Arima admitted their true feelings was beautiful! And of course Sakura used Flower and Bubble to contribute to the ambiance. I'm really happy that this isn't the last we'll see of them.
This chapter announces The Best Couple Contest. I'm reallt looking forward to that!!! I did forget that it was Arima who begged S&S to enter so that Aki would have a less chance of winning even if he's still entering with Erika.
Fanart spotlight: Crazedfan's Darkthorn by fearnandfire is the fanart that I used to create The Unicorn. It's a stallion from a completely different origin, but the similarities to Midnight Star after his transformation is spot on!
Oh no! I should have put my comments on Midnight Star here and not the other chapter! He's supposed to be a pegasus? Would there be a mix of both? I wonder if the Dark Ones got control through their dark magic or the patron animals just don't mind.
ReplyDeleteAsuma and Arima <3 I like how we also see Aki and Arima interact. They used to argue but we see their relationship and how they really love each other.
I remembered there being romance in this chapter but not to this amount. I loved it! Especially because now it's more innocent and full of fluff compared to the longer more angsty/dramatic later chapters.
Super funny:
From the other side came Erika’s clear voice. “Aki-kun and my most romantic moment was one starry evening, as we were walking down the sandy shores of the beach. The only sound was the distant cries of seagulls and the crashing of powerful waves…”
Eron was trying his best to write it out, while Aki kept on adding unnecessary details out of the top of his head. “Her beautiful golden eyes were lit by the moonlight, and her thick, wavy hair blew gently into my face…”
Dryly, Eron commented, “Will you two tone down your romantic fantasies a bit? It’s obvious someone has been reading too much shoujo manga for ideas.”
I think that back then Wish-chan probably didn't realize that unicorns had a horn and no wings while the Pegasus had a horn and wings. I used to interchange the two as well. Patron animals are pretty special. I remember Kara being able to summon the Unicorn that one time because she was the direct member of the Reed line.
DeleteI feel that Arima and Asuma were Wish-chan's outlet to write full on romance because goodness know how stubborn S&S are with their feelings. I think that's why Meilin and Kai have so many wonderful kissing scenes (that I mostly remember because of the fanart relating to it).
Hahaha, Erika and Aki's fake love story reminds me of an episode from Friends when Rachel had to make up a night that never happened and it just got more elaborate with every re-telling.