Release date: August 31st, 2001
Word count: 17,169
Word count: 17,169
Thoughts: Out of the five events in the contest (sandcastle building contest, the obstacle course, the talent show, the scavenger hunt, and the questionnaire) I remember the talent show the most and have no recollection of the obstacle course
Erika and Aki stole S&S's sandcastle by switching numbers and 2003 me was absolutely furious as I saw in an email I sent Wish-chan ("GRR!! Stupid Erika and Aki! THEY SHOULD BE PUNISHED!!").
Erika's saboteur ways continue with her tampering the obstacle course's bridge with oil. I'm surprised that Aki is putting up with her schemes. Instead he devises additional ways of cheating.
After reading about that gruelling obstacle course, no wonder I blocked it out of my mind. Maybe I would have remembered if there was a fanart of Syaoran carrying Sakura across the finish line.
Tomoyo's a great manager but she really dropped the ball when springing the violin performances for the talent show at the last minute. She had their instruments since she arrived to Kusakou, after all.
Wish-chan's descriptions of the acts: "Some sang, some played the piano, some performed skits, some danced, some made fools of themselves." Savage!!
I absolutely adored Takashi and Chiharu's skit to pieces! So glad that Wish-chan fleshed it out.
The way Wish-chan described S&S's talent show performance is so beautiful. It's moments like these that I wish NT was animated.
The way Wish-chan described S&S's talent show performance is so beautiful. It's moments like these that I wish NT was animated.
T&C's squabble on the island breaks my heart! I'm glad that this was their only turbulence in NT. Ah, the joys of shipping a drama free couple.
Hmmm, a bunch of boy-girl pairs running around a contained space to reach an objective with hidden cameras planted all over. Sounds like the precursor to The Hunger Games to me! Thank goodness the storm knocked out the tech.
I remember Chiharu finding Takashi lying in the woods, but I forgot that it was their long awaited love confession. It was so dramatic and beautiful!!
This is the first time Sakura's friends let her know that they know that there was a lot more to her that met the eye. I think it's important to know that they are at least aware that Sakura isn't like them even if they don't know the whole story.
The way that Sakura refused to use an attack card on The Wolf is very similar to her actions in Clear Card episode 7. Ultimately Syaoran was the one who battled it and became its new owner. This is very important to keep in mind with what's coming up at the end of Arc 3.
That was really, really low of the Dark Ones to use Sakura's embroidery.
Syaoran converting The Wolf's dark energy to light was such a wonderful thing to do. Welcome to the family, Wolfie-chan!
Fanart spotlight: The T&C love continues! Though this is one of my favourite scenes, I only drew Takashi and Chiharu's skit because when I searched for the word "Twilight" in NT, this was the only thing that popped up. So it was a pleasure to use this scene as inspiration for the 100 Themes Challenge prompt! I worked really hard to get all of the elements in place. While the sea looks abstract, I'm a huge fan of the detail work I did for Chiharu's ribbons and the fact that they both match.
Hello! I haven't done this in 3 years (rereading, annotating, and rereading). Good thing I had some things annotated from a few years ago and that your lovely summaries exist! I was surprised to find that younger me didn't annotate much for this chapter.
ReplyDeleteLike you, the first time I read this chapter, I was frustrated by Aki's and Erika's schemes. It still bothers me but not as much because a) I know the outcome and b) I love these sweeter, fluffier, and shoujo moments of the earlier arcs. I remember reading this chapter the first time and having so much fun reading about all the challenges. I love the the Chiharu and Takashi moment in which she worries about him and he cracks a joke rather than have her worry. Their moments are gold because they are a wholesome couple that doesn't get a lot of screentime (maybe because they are drama-free).
Spoilers:
Wolfie-chan was made into a Dark Force (by the Dark Ones) and then he was converted into the light. If I remember correctly, it is stated in a later chapter that Wolfie-chan is the son of Amamiya Hayashi's patron animal. So I'm a little confused about Wolfie'chan's true origins. (I think he was also mentioned in another special chapter and the G5... but I haven't checked). Also, his demise and conversion made me think of Byakko-chan, because wasn't Leiyun trying to do the same? Heal a corrupted force and convert it into the light? And wasn't that what Chang Risa tried doing with Moonie-chan but couldn't so Ruichi had to? Is this something everyone has to do to capture a patron animal?
Looking forward to commenting on the next chapter :)