Tsubasa Chronicle/The Afternoon Piano

The Afternoon Piano
Season 1, Episode 20
Airdate	September 3, 2005
Written by	Hiroyuki Kawasaki
Directed by	Koichi Mashimo
ADR Writer(s)	Eric Vale
ADR Director(s)	Colleen Clinkenbeard
← 1x19 The Resolution to Live	1x21 → The Ghost Child's Face
Tsubasa Chronicle — Season One

The Afternoon Piano is the twentieth episode of the first season of Tsubasa Chronicle, and the twentieth episode overall. Syaoran begins training with Kurogane, while Oruha pays a visit to Sakura.

Guest Stars:

Plot Overview

Kurogane and Syaoran eat breakfast at the café, then go out to train. After they leave, Fai pulls out the bento (box) lunches he forgot to give them. Sakura runs downstairs, having overslept. She ends up running (with Mokona on her shoulder) after Syaoran to give him the lunches. She asks why they got up so early, but Syaoran doesn't say. However, Mokona is only too happy to explain that Syaoran is learning how to sword fight so he can get Sakura's feather. Seeing the look on her face, Syaoran says he's also doing it for himself.

Kurogane and Syaoran arrive at a weapons shop. When they enter and ask for swords, the elderly owner asks if they are registered as oni hunters. When they say yes, he gives Kurogane a sword named "Souhi". The old man then says a fire burns within Syaoran, and calls his assistant, who turns out to be a boy named Sang Yung. Of course, the boy looks familiar to Syaoran and Kurogane - he is actually that world's Masayoshi. He hands a sword called "Hien" to Syaoran. The old man demands payment.

Outside, Kurogane complains about the cost while Syaoran compliments the blade he has. Kurogane ties up the sword, telling Syaoran he must not unsheathe it until he is skilled with the blade.

A delivery truck brings a giant package to the cafe, brought by this world's equivalent to the punk gang in the Hanshin Republic. The leader thinks Sakura looks familiar. After they leave, Fai reveals the delivery was a piano. When Sakura and Mokona ask Fai to play, he sits down... and doesn't actually know how to play. He thinks it'll improve the mood in the cafe, though.

Kurogane throws some rocks at Syaoran as he stands above a pond. One of them causes Syaoran to over-react and fall in. Kurogane says Syaoran's peripheral vision on the left (his good eye) is messed up.

Oruha is sitting in the empty Clover bar, and apparently she senses another power, one similiar to the power threatening the world.

The café is packed, and Sakura is working hard. Touya and Yukito are eating there, and Sakura comes up to them, asking questions about mysterious occurrences and legends in Ōto. Fai notes she is making the best of her time there, finding her own mission to complete.

Kurogane is still throwing rocks at Syaoran, who avoids most but gets hit by one, knocking him into the water again. Kurogane tells him he needs to stop depending on his sight.

Back at the café, Fai leaves for City Hall to replace the electronic wallet he broke in last episode's fight with the oni. He is still injured, but says he just saw the doctor and will be fine.

The café is completely empty near sunset, and Mokona feels sleepy. Sakura walks over to the piano and presses a key, commenting on how pretty it sounds. Just then, Oruha walks in. She has tea at the counter while composing some music on a piece of paper. She then asks to use the piano. Oruha asks Sakura for her name - her real name, and says she wants to hear Sakura's song. She starts asking Sakura questions about where she came from, and Sakura enters a sort of trance. Oruha sits down and starts to play. Sakura sings. While she sings, we see a montage of all of the flashbacks from her and Syaoran's childhood. There is also a brief shot of a long-haired woman staring at a giant computer screen.

Computer code seems to flicker briefly across Oruha's eyes. We see the scene when Sakura woke up with Syaoran holding her hand. The song ends, and Sakura is crying. She falls asleep, and Oruha leaves.

That night, Fai and Mokona are cleaning up. Kurogane and Syaoran come back, and Syaoran is looking pretty roughed-up. He goes upstairs to change. Sakura and Mokona follow him upstairs, only to find him passed out on the bed. Fai and Kurogane come to check on them, but see that Sakura and Mokona have fallen asleep as well.

The long-haired woman from before is entering information into a computer about Sakura, saying that Sakura has yet to notice that their agent is interfering in her journey. The room is full of glowing eggs with people inside of them, and the one directly in front of the woman looks like Sakura...

Notes

Locations

• Ōto

Character History

• Kurogane's sword has "water" in its name, while Syaoran's sword has "flame" in its name. These are the same elemental assignments as their Kudans back in the Hanshin Republic.

• Fai does not know how to play piano, much to Sakura's and Mokona's dismay.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• The Cat's Eye Café gets a piano, as well as a lot of customers.

• The café is visited by Oruha, the singer from Clover. She is there to secretly gather data on Sakura.

Characters

• Kurogane gets a new sword, Souhi (Blue Water). It is a long sword, since that is what he was accustomed to fighting with.

• Syaoran receives his first sword, Hien (Scarlet Flame). Kurogane will not let him draw it yet.

• Kurogane starts formally training Syaoran. Syaoran relies on his left eye too much, which is a weakness that he must overcome.

Referbacks

• Fai is still injured from the battle in 1x19.

Trivia

Bumper

• Sakura

Nicknames

• Mokona calls Kurogane "Kuro-rin" and "Kuro-pon"

• Fai calls Kurogane "Kuro-puppy". Mokona later repeats it.

Allusions and References

CLAMP References

• Magic Knight Rayearth: Qiang Ang is the owner of the weapons store here, and his assistant is Sang Yung. Of course, Sang Yung is known to Kurogane and Syaoran as Masayoshi, from the Hanshin Republic (1x03). His Kudan dressed like Sang Yung, though Masayoshi himself was seen only in a black school uniform.

• X: The swords, Souhi and Hien, are the names of the swords used by Kamui and Fuma.

• Cardcaptor Sakura: Touya and Yukito are customers at the café. This is a reversal from what usually happens on Cardcaptor Sakura, where Sakura would go to different places (café, fast-food, aquarium) only to find Touya and Yukito working part-time there.

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