Sakura Kinomoto

Sakura Kinomoto (木之本 桜, Kinomoto Sakura?) is a fictional character, the heroine of Clamp's anime and manga series Cardcaptor Sakura. She is known as Sakura Avalon in the English anime adaptation Cardcaptors. For all Japanese-language productions of the anime (including movies, audio CDs, and video games), Sakura is voiced by Sakura Tange. For English-language productions, she is voiced by Carly McKillip through Cardcaptors and the first movie. She is voiced in the second movie by Kari Wahlgren.
Sakura is also a main character in Clamp's later work, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. In its anime adaptation, she is voiced by Yui Makino in Japanese and Monica Rial in English.
She is also appears in another Clamp title xxxHolic and briefly cameos in chapters 7, 8, and 133.

Name

Sakura's given name (桜) means cherry blossom. Her surname, Kinomoto (木之本), literally means the origin of wood.

In Cardcaptors, Sakura was originally going to be called "Nikki," but Nelvana kept her given name because of fan demand and the difficulty and expense of editing out numerous appearances of her name in rōmaji in the series. Her family name was changed to "Avalon." The pronunciation of her given name changed, as stress is put on the middle syllable ku, while in Japanese, the accent is on Sa. Nelvana purposefully changed the pronunciation of the name since many English names have stress on the middle syllable.

Cardcaptor Sakura

Character
At the start of the series, Sakura is ten years old and living in a fictional town called Tomoeda in Japan. On the afternoon after her first day of fourth grade at Tomoeda Elementary School (Reedington Elementary School in Cardcaptors), Sakura hears a mysterious sound coming from her father's library in the basement. She, nervously armed with her cheerleading baton, goes downstairs and finds a mysterious book named The Clow. She opens the book to find the Clow Cards, a set of fifty-two cards that contain powerful magic. Picking up the top card, Sakura reads its name aloud, "Windy." This activates the Card, summoning a large wind that blows the remaining Cards out of the house and into the distance. The guardian of the Cards, Keroberos, then emerges from the book and recruits Sakura to become the Cardcaptor to retrieve the Cards. In return, she gains the right to use the Cards' power herself. It is later revealed that Keroberos also refers to Sakura as his appointed Candidate, as he is also searching for a new Master of the Clow Cards.

Sakura is an extremely energetic and cheerful character. She is very athletic, being a member of her school's cheerleading squad and an excellent runner. Her "invincible spell", "Everything will surely be all right." (「絶対大丈夫だよ。」, "Zettai daijōbu da yo."?), has carried her through innumerable trials and obstacles as she masters her magical skills. She often comes across as naïve, clumsy, and clueless, but she has her perceptive moments on occasion.

Sakura's optimistic and trustworthy character allows her to befriend virtually everybody, and the series focuses on the friendships she creates with people, whether strangers, loose acquaintances, or rivals.

Sakura lives with her older brother, Toya Kinomoto (Tori Avalon), and her father, Fujitaka Kinomoto (Aiden Avalon). The three help manage their home together, often rotating cooking and cleaning chores. Sakura's mother, Nadeshiko Kinomoto (Natasha Avalon), died when Sakura was three years old. Sakura and her family moved to Tomoeda about three years before the start of the series, when Toya was in eighth grade and Sakura was in first grade.

Sakura's character designs for the manga were originally developed by Mokona of Clamp. She was designed to capture the image of Mokona's then two-year-old niece Kawaji. Kawaji wore short hair in pigtails much like Sakura does in the anime and manga.

Magic
Throughout the series, Sakura's magical powers get progressively stronger. This is mostly verified by Cerberus at random points in the series, as Sakura would otherwise appear to have equal expertise in each episode when she summons Clow Cards. Through the first two seasons, Cerberus's comments seem to imply that Sakura's magic grows as she battles and captures more Cards. In the third season, Sakura's inexperience is noted in Yue's criticism and Sakura's weariness after a single Card transformation. However, as she grows progressively proficient in transforming Clow Cards into Sakura Cards, she becomes less tired and more aware of Clow Reed's presence. She also remembers more details about her prophetic dreams. During the last of Eriol's trials, she is able to transform several cards at once.

Phrases
To summon her sealing wand:
CCS
Key that conseals the powers of darkness, show your true nature to me.I command you, as your master..Release!
闇の力を秘めし鍵よ。真の姿を我の前に示せ。契約のもとさくらが命じる。レリーズ!
CC
Key of Clow, power of magic, power of light,surrender the wand, the force ignite! Release!
To capture a Clow Card:
CCS
Return to the guise you were meant to be in, Clow Card!
汝のあるべき姿に戻れ、クロウカード！
CC
[I command you to] return to your power confined... !
To summon her star wand:
CCS
Key that hides the power of the stars, show your true form before me.I, Sakura, command you under our contract...Release!
星の力を秘めし鍵よ。真の姿を我の前に示せ。契約のもとさくらが命じる。レリーズ!
CC
Key of the Star, with powers burning bright,Reveal the staff and shine your light! Release!
To transform a Clow Card into a Sakura Card:
CCS
The Card created by Clow, abandon your old form and reincarnate!Under the name of your new master, Sakura...!
クロウの創りしカ－ドよ、古き姿を捨て生まれかわれ。新たな主さくらの名のもとに!!
CC
I call upon the powers of my star, ancient forces near and far.Clow Card transform all your might and draw your power from my light.Release! !
Sometimes (most likely to save time in the anime) the phrase to summon her wand is simply, "Release!" When the summoning occurs off-screen, the phrase is often omitted entirely, and a bright flickering light is seen to indicate the summoning.
If Sakura did not know the name of the Card during capture, her incantations would refer to it simply as "Clow Card."

Relationships

Syaoran Li

Syaoran and Sakura with teddy bears
Sakura's relationship with Syaoran Li (Li Showron) is the most recognized relationship in the series, mostly because the second half of the series is heavily devoted to its development.

Most significant to the development of their relationship is Syaoran's changing opinion of Sakura, mostly because of Sakura's own heart-warming personality. In the beginning of the series, Syaoran immediately considers Sakura a rival when he finds out she is the Cardcaptor and concludes her unworthy of bearing the responsibility of the Clow Cards. Sakura is constantly intimidated by his glares and brash attitude both at school and while capturing Clow Cards. However Sakura never gives back any negative responses or behavior. Most of the time, despite Syaoran's aggression, she thanks him for his help and effort. This eventually becomes very confusing to Syaoran, whose gentler side soon causes him to be more humble than arrogant.

Though Syaoran gradually becomes more committed to liking Sakura, she still remains completely clueless of his feelings. Syaoran's blushes become more frequent, and there are some occasions where he would suddenly become clumsy when in her presence, but Sakura will either keep an innocent smile on her face or look confused and worried at Syaoran whenever he trips and falls.

In episode 57, Tomoyo, Syaoran, Eriol, Sakura (and Kero) take a visit to a teddy bear museum. The journey through the museum is accompanied by the song Ki Ni Naru Aitsu or That Girl I Can't Ignore , sung by the voice of Kero, Hisakawa Aya (Cardcaptor Sakura Character Single: Syaoran). This is followed by a very sweet scene in an elevator between Syaoran and Sakura.

Following the Final Judgment when Syaoran makes a permanent change from rival to ally, Sakura begins viewing Syaoran as a very close friend, often thinking of including him when there are school or community events. She is very happy to become able to call him "Syaoran-kun" instead of the more neutral "Li-kun" when he (in a more desperate moment) calls her "Sakura."

When Sakura confesses her feelings to Yukito, only to have them essentially rejected, Syaoran is there to comfort her in the park afterwards. It is a very emotional period in the series, but she is able to recover, thanks to Syaoran. In the anime, Sakura returns the favor by spending several nights in a row knitting him a scarf, which he accepts after a surprised pause. Similarly, in the manga, Sakura returns the favor by spending a week making him a yukata.

Sakura is finally made aware of Syaoran's feelings when he personally confesses them after the final battle with Eriol Hiiragizawa (Eli Moon). The news comes as a complete shock to her, and it is ever present in her thoughts over the next few days. In the manga, after talking to her friends about why she is upset and confused about her feelings, those feelings lead her to conclude that Syaoran is her true "number one person," and she confesses her newfound feelings as Syaoran suddenly leaves for Hong Kong (though only temporarily). The anime stretches out the suspense, with Sakura not yet answering Syaoran in the last episode of the series. Instead, her confession comes at the end of the second movie, after several failed attempts throughout the film.

The teddy bears (seen in the above picture) are named Sakura and Syaoran, respectively, referring to a fictional tradition where if two people make teddy bears for each other and the recipients name them after their donors, the two will be a couple forever. In the manga, Sakura and Syaoran name their bears after each other after she confesses her love to him. In the anime, Syaoran gives Sakura his bear (she asks to have it) in Episode 70, but Sakura never gives him one, having already given it to Yukito earlier in the series.[citation needed]

In the second movie, Syaoran returns to Japan with his cousin Meiling Li (anime only character) who was having secret phone calls with Tomoyo Daidouji who helped plan their return. Tomoyo and Meiling attempted to organise outings for Sakura to tell Syaoran about how she feels but, rather amusingly, she gets interrupted until the end of the movie where Sakura confesses her love believing that Syaoran had forgotten his most important feeling. She begins to cry but Syaoran surprisingly replies "Me too, Sakura". The song Ashita e no Merodi plays with the sunrise clear in the background to symbolize happiness and victory.

Sakura and Syaoran continue to be widely recognized in fandom to the present day. They are also likely Clamp's most famous fictional couple, as they make a lead appearance in their crossover manga series, Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE.

Yukito Tsukishiro

Sakura and Yukito
In the first half of the series, before any hint of a relationship with Syaoran, Sakura's primary romantic focus was on the older Yukito Tsukishiro (Julian Star). The origin of the relationship is unclear, but Yukito's presence always causes a significant effect on Sakura's feelings, commonly provoking her "floaty" exclamation, "Hanyaan~" (はにゃあん～).

Sakura always does her best to impress Yukito, on rare occasions even competing with Syaoran to give the better compliment or gift. She often looks forward to going to school with Yukito each day, and she is worried when he is not there. Most times when her brother, Toya, is present, Sakura is often provoked to raise her voice or else act "unladylike" at Toya, which immediately elicits her embarrassment when she realizes Yukito is also there watching her.

Late in the series, Sakura finally decides to confess her love to Yukito instead of forever skirting around the issue. However, Yukito does not return the feelings, admitting that he loves her also but only in a platonic way. He asks her to reevaluate her feelings towards him and suggests that she feels attached to him more because he resembles her father. Sakura agrees with Yukito after some thought, and he continues to reassure her by saying that the real "number one person" for her is still out there somewhere, and she should not give up searching for him.

After an emotional afternoon in the park, Sakura is able to get over Yukito but still remaining a close friend through the end of the series. She, in a rare perceptive moment, also realizes that Yukito's feelings have always been aimed towards her brother, Toya. She accepts that fact, also, and wishes them the best.

Interestingly, in episode 70, Eriol reveals to Yue that when Clow chose Sakura as the future new Master of the Clow Cards and their guardians, he had expected that in the future Yukito would love Sakura more than anyone else and vice versa. Yukito's attraction to Toya and Sakura's to Syaoran are the unforeseen occurrences, the deviations from Clow's plan, that Eriol mentions to Sakura and friends at the party in Clow's mansion.

Tomoyo Daidouji

Clamp's "almost kiss" drawing of Tomoyo and Sakura
Though non-romantic, Sakura's close relationship with Tomoyo Daidouji (Madison Taylor) is likely the second most significant relationship in the series. Sakura and Tomoyo are best friends (and second cousins as their mothers were cousins), meeting randomly for the first time in the third grade when Sakura offered Tomoyo one of her erasers. Since then, Tomoyo has been very attentive to everything that Sakura does, including finding a passion for filming her throughout her daily activities.

Sakura holds a lot of trust in Tomoyo, often allowing her to take lots of measurements for the multitude of battle costumes and dresses that are made for her. Tomoyo is also one of the few keepers of Sakura's secret as the Cardcaptor, often accompanying Sakura in many of her adventures for filming and costume-testing opportunities. In the second half of the series, when Sakura gets a new wand and mission, Tomoyo is responsible for choreographing Sakura's new action poses.

Tomoyo holds a special, arguably romantic attachment, to Sakura, of which Sakura is completely oblivious. In both the manga and anime, Tomoyo admits that she loves Sakura, but Sakura replies innocently, "I love you, too," in the platonic sense. The manga takes the scene further where Tomoyo comments that her love is more than what she is thinking it is. Sakura gives a confused look, but Tomoyo drops the topic, adding, "I'll tell you when you're older." Throughout the series, Sakura never realizes this deeper attachment, simply remaining Tomoyo's best friend. Tomoyo, however, selflessly does not mind this at all and even helps Sakura most times in setting up situations with Yukito and Syaoran, as Tomoyo understands they are the ones who would make Sakura the happiest.

Because Tomoyo lacks magical powers, Sakura takes on a protective responsibility most times when capturing or transforming cards. If Tomoyo is ever in danger (or missing), Sakura will be the one concerned for her most, and her focus changes from that of the Card at hand to Tomoyo's safety. Fortunately, Sakura has always succeeded and hugs Tomoyo warmly whenever she reunites with her.

xxxHolic

While Sakura does not have a direct role in xxxHolic, Yūko Ichihara mentions her on several occasions and has a replica of her first sealing wand. She also states there is a Sakura living in her current world with her boyfriend, hinting of Sakura Kinomoto (and Syaoran Li) from Cardcaptor Sakura. Sakura appears once in Chapter 12 of the manga, however in an unconscious state, held by Syaoran, and again in chapter 133 when Watanuki's dream connects him to the world her 'soul' resides in .

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle

Princess Sakura, pictured here in this cover art from Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE.
Sakura also appears in Clamp's crossover series, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and Tsubasa Chronicle. Her character is similar only in looks and personality to her Cardcaptor Sakura counterpart. Tsubasa Chronicle takes on a new story with new histories for each of its characters.

Sakura as seen in Tsubasa Chronicle
At the start of the series, Sakura is the princess of the Kingdom of Clow who has feelings for Syaoran, her childhood friend. When she is about to confess her feelings, a mysterious force causes her own dormant magical powers to manifest in the form of feathered wings. When her feathers are scattered across time and space, Syaoran vows to recover all of them because each feather represents a memory Sakura has had since birth and are connected to her heart; without the feathers, she will die. Fei-Wong Reed (the mysterious villain in the series) reflects on the ability of people like the High Priest Yukito, Princess Tomoyo of Nihon, and Yūko to cross dimensions and comments that the power concealed within Sakura and the ruins in Clow surpasses them all.

She pays Yuko in an indirect way. Her price is pretty much the same as Syaoran - her memories of him. When she awakes in the Hanshin Republic the first person she sees is Syaoran. He is taken back when she asks, "Who are you?"

At times, such as in Outo, Sakura comes extremely close to remembering Syaoran but it is quickly erased once more from her memory. Syaoran, having known this would happen previously, will never tell her anything about their previous relationship. At most, all Sakura knows about Syaoran is what she has relearned from the adventures together with Mokona, Fay, and Kurogane, although she knows she knew him previously and he was very important to her. It is also clear that she is falling in love with him once more.

Sakura possesses unnaturally good luck; both Chun Hyang and Yūko call her "a favored daughter of the gods". This is what allowed her to travel dimensions safely until Yūko asks for her good luck as a price. According to Yukito and Syaoran, Sakura also has the ability to "hear" the voices of those who cannot be heard, such as spirits of nature, and to see ghosts. She can also see the future in visions, though this ability is unreliable and nothing she has control over.

In the anime, at some points when she is asleep, she will unknowingly go out and search for her feathers. She will seem to be awake, talking and interacting with others and her surroundings, yet is actually completely out of it, like she is unconsciously searching for her own feathers.

In Tsubasa, Sakura's personality is passive and weary, weary because she's exhausted from her loss of memories. However as the series goes on she becomes stronger and independent.

Syaoran states, even though she's lost most of her memories, she'll never change. She helps the group whenever she can, whether it's washing dishes or saving their lives.

In the later chapters, she is shown with a much darker personality, accompanied with gothic clothing. In the Infinity Arc, the group spent a few months fighting in a tournament, supposedly wanting to use the prize money to restore a world the Clone Syaoran destroyed. But she was after the real prize - a robot (who is identical to Freya from Chobits) who can let one person and one person alone travel across dimensions. It is later revealed that Fay is under a curse that forces him to kill if he ever meets a person that is stronger than him (In volume one you can see that Yuuko was not hit by the rain, nor did she touch and of the people directly because she was in another dimension to prevent Fay's curse activating). But when Sakura receives two feathers in Infinity, she was made stronger than Fay's halved magic and so he stabbed her, seemingly possessed. Sakura had a vision that after killing her, he would go insane and kill everyone else, eventually committing suicide, but she used the robot to transport her soul to a dream world, thus saving herself and stopping Fay from going insane. It is later revealed that she was not the original target of the curse, the real Syaoran was.

Later it's learned that Sakura didn't die, although she did. By this Yuko meant that Sakura still can be saved and the two places where her body and her soul went contains two feathers, and her soul will be aided by the other Syaoran in the world of dreams, so the real Syaoran, Fai, Moknona and Kuragane went to Celes Country to rescue the body of Sakura, as Yuko told them it's the body they should rescue first then the soul.