Thoughts: I love how the chapter opens up with the flashback of Eron just before he received Ruichi's power. It reminds us why he got himself in this situation in the first place.
Eron's blatant comment during Shing's Kaitou Magician exhibit about the subject being like the artist's own flesh and blood and the masterpiece his own child is a reference that won't make sense for years to come.
Does anyone else remember Syaoran going missing after he discovered the letter? Sakura briefly thinks he returned to Hong Kong but she pushed that thought aside after reassuring herself that Syaoran would never do that. Wish-chan, you're killing us with the foreshadowing. At least this time he was only at the Li estate near Eitoukou.
It's too bad that CLAMP made Nadeshiko super young when she met Fujitaka. Developing a love story between a 14-year-old and 17-year-old sounds next to impossible so I appreciate the way that Ryuuren sees Nadeshiko as an annoying teenager when she pokes around his home for the first time.
Ryuuren commenting on how he only uses two rooms in the whole mansion so he doesn't clean the rest reminds me of how CCS:CC Syaoran doesn't do much with his apartment space either.
Hmm, at this point I thought there were only three hovering dark forces but that hazy Eriol scene informs us that it's five. The Wave, The Riddle and The Magician come to mind. I don't remember if Fake!Mikai was The Fantasy or something else all together.
In the debate between loosing your sight or your hearing, Sakura is unlucky enough to experience both thanks to Wave and Veil. Personally, I'd rather keep my sight. While I feel sorry for Sakura about losing her hearing, we're finally at the S&S telepathy, which is one of my favourite element of Arc 3.
I love the conversation that Eriol has with Miho to get her to see past the fantasy of having her brother back. It didn't result in anything but it's still the first time we see these two in conflict.
Syaoran dressing up at the fake Kaitou Magician is hilarious.
How The Magician managed to orchestrate Meilin's kidnapping, send out the thugs to steal the locket and going around town smearing real Kaitou's name is beyond me.
The Wave was truly a formidable opponent, as it used water, land and air to terrorize everyone. CLAMP couldn't have told a better story. I think if Wish-chan knew that there was already a Wave card, then she would have called it Vibration.
I think this chapter marks the beginning of the romantic relationship of Kai and Meilin since she's realizing that she is developing feelings for him. I like how Wish-chan also predicted that Meilin would be staying with someone who wasn't Syaoran.
When Wish-chan posted the Updates about the release of this chapter, she introduced me to the fandom for the first time as the maintainer of her FF account after Digidynasty drifted away. New Trials has been a part of my life for 15 years and it's truly been an honour to be one of the pillars of this community.
Fanart spotlight: This fanart of Meilin and Kai by Wish-chan really captures the intimate moment they shared at the end of the chapter beautifully. The fun part of following NT live is that we really appreciate the corresponding art that's posted alongside the chapter even more. I'm slightly annoyed that the locket is included because such a huge part of this chapter was Kai's decision to let that part of him go since The Magician told him that the locket will be sealed and never resurface. But Wish-chan included it because she wanted to and that's that!
I'm so glad you caught onto Eron's foreshadowing at Shing's Kaitou Magician exhibition. I loved writing out all the secrets that have been kept silent for so long in Arc 4. Was it since 2003 you've maintained the ff.net for me? I wonder what happened to Digidynasty, now that I think of it. Hope she somehow stumbles back into the fandom one day.^^
ReplyDeleteNobody knew what was going on when you first planted it so it's so much more fun that we're in on all of the secrets. Keisuke being alive and well all this time was a huge plot twist!! Yup, the spring of 2003 is when I arrived to the fandom and it's grown so much ever since. I think the best way to get in touch with Digidynasty is through a FF review on one of her fics and cross your fingers that the email is still valid.
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