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Nadeshiko Kinomoto
木之本 撫子
'Cardcaptor Sakura
Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card'
character
Nadeshiko Kinomoto
In-universe information
GenderFemale

Nadeshiko Kinomoto (木之本 撫子 Kinomoto Nadeshiko), née Nadeshiko Amamiya (雨宮 撫子 Amamiya Nadeshiko), is a fictional character in CLAMP's anime and manga series Cardcaptor Sakura. She is the wife of Fujitaka Kinomoto and the mother of Sakura Kinomoto and Touya Kinomoto who only appears in memories and a spirit as she died (at the age of 27) when Sakura was three years old and when Touya was ten years old. Despite her death, she still watches over her family from time to time.

Appearance[]

Nadeshiko was a very beautiful snow white-skinned woman of average height with wavy hip-length dark silver hair that has hair strands going on either side, green eyes and she is shown to be a stunning beauty that allowed her to work as a model from a very young age that Sonomi Daidouji (Nadeshiko's cousin) stated that Nadeshiko looked a lot like her grandmother (Masaki Amamiya's (Nadeshiko's grandfather) wife).

She appears as a spirit wearing a flowing white dress (sometimes a green dress or a pink dress) and a pair of white wings.

In certain art pieces by CLAMP, her hair is colored with purple hues. When her hair is purple, combined with her very light skin color, she bears a resemblance to Tomoyo Daidouji (Nadeshiko's niece).

Personality[]

Nadeshiko's personality is revealed through the dialogue of other characters as well as flashbacks; she was a kind, caring and cheerful young lady, but she was extremely clumsy as she would fall down while simply walking down a sidewalk; even physical education classes and sports were impossible for her.

It is also stated that her cooking could never be considered good, even just to be polite.

Despite these flaws, she put her heart into whatever she did as evidenced when she used to give Valentine's Day chocolate to Fujitaka Kinomoto, Sonomi Daidouji, Masaki Amamiya and later Touya Kinomoto.

Plot[]

As a child, Nadeshiko was very happy where she spends the majority of her time with Sonomi Daidouji (Nadeshiko's cousin) and Masaki Amamiya (Nadeshiko's grandfather).

During the humid summers in Tokyo, her grandfather would take her to the countryside of Japan to escape the heat as she clearly came from a wealthy family as seen by her grandfather's estate and the extravagant dresses she would receive from him.

During a trip to England, she became friends with Akiho's Mother. When they said goodbye, she told Nadeshiko that she could not write because she did not want to involve her in her world. The two would not meet again until many years later, when Nadeshiko studied in high school and she traveled the world with the person she loved. At that time, she gave some kind of magic to Nadeshiko's clock, telling her that it was destined for the "two beautiful Alice" that would come to them.

In high school, Nadeshiko was a student of Fujitaka Kinomoto during his first year as a teacher and she was also a part-time model at that time. She married Fujitaka when she was sixteen, much to the displeasure of her various relatives, especially Sonomi and Masaki. Fujitaka mentions that he had Nadeshiko for eleven years, from where her death at twenty-seven is concluded where Sakura Kinomoto was three and Touya Kinomoto was seven years old. How this was accomplished when Sonomi clearly stated that the two would come to the high school together while married (Sonomi mentions in a rant that the two would come with their "nauseatingly-matched" packed lunches, husband and wife) is not mentioned.

Although deceased, she is remembered frequently, and her family continues to love and respect her. Fujitaka keeps her memory alive by keeping a picture of her on the kitchen table and changing the picture every day. Sakura makes an effort to greet it every morning. Nadeshiko was and still is greatly admired by Sonomi, who had feelings for Nadeshiko in high school but never had the chance to pursue them further when Nadeshiko married Fujitaka. Sonomi continues to dislike Fujitaka in the present day for that reason, but she will admit that she cannot entirely hate him because his consistent optimism and kindness make it clear to her why Nadeshiko loved him so much. Sonomi also tells Sakura that Nadeshiko was a klutz, and fell out of a tree while tending to some birds, and landed on Fujitaka, who says,"It looks like an angel has fallen out of the sky."

Clow Cards Arc[]

Nadeshiko's ghost is a type of presence in the series. When Touya was younger, he could see Nadeshiko quite often, but as he got older, she showed up less often. Sakura has never been able to see ghosts, therefore she never sees Nadeshiko throughout the entire series with an exception for "Sakura's Dizzy Fever Day", when Sakura sees her mother's hand on her forehead and greets her as she falls back to sleep.

Nadeshiko makes her first visible appearance in Episode 6, "Sakura and Her Memories of Her Mother." Sakura is tricked by The Illusion and walks off a cliff (in the manga, the card tried to drown her in a pond), losing consciousness during the fall. Her drop, however, is slowed by Nadeshiko's translucent hand catching Sakura's wrist (her left hand has a distinctive silver wedding ring), slowing her fall enough so Yukito Tsukishiro can catch Sakura properly. As she was unconscious, Sakura is unaware of this aid.

The Illusion again tries to trick Sakura later, and Sakura initially falls for it believing that the card is Nadeshiko's ghost and needs her help, but later breaks off her psychological control (more specifically, she remembers Yukito telling her that the ghost of a mother wouldn't hurt her still-living children) and captures the card.

At the end of the episode, Sakura presents Nadeshiko's picture with a birthday gift, unaware that Nadeshiko's ghost is hovering over her at the time (adorning a set of angel wings). Nadeshiko comments to Touya, who is watching from a distance, that she had been a little worried and came down to see how Sakura was. After ensuring that Sakura is okay, Nadeshiko leaves.

Nadeshiko makes an additional appearance at the end of Episode 39 when Sakura is recovering from a fever. While Sakura is half-asleep, Nadeshiko appears as a ghost and places her hand atop Sakura's forehead, appearing to lower her temperature closer to normal. Touya is in the room at the time and witnesses this; Sakura says that it feels like her mother was with her, but she does not actually see her while Touya does. It is said that Sakura never sees her mother, but when she had a frightening fever, she opens her eyes, sees her mother's hand on her head and says hello.

In Episode 46, "Sakura and the Final Judgment," upon being trapped in Wood's veins, Sakura loses consciousness and is transported into a world where the Clow Cards no longer exist and with their disappearance, everyone has forgotten their feelings for the person he or she loves most, resulting in the world becoming a much colder, emotional distant place. In this world, Fujitaka does not have Nadeshiko's picture on the dinner table, surprising Sakura greatly. Even eight years after Nadeshiko died, Fujitaka still loves her dearly.

Sakura Cards arc[]

After Sakura helped Eriol divide his magic with Fujitaka, this one gained the ability to see Nadeshiko's ghost and be reunited with her once again.

Clear Cards Arc[]

In Chapter 19, Sakura is surprised to see his mother's spirit, wondering why she is able to see her.

In Chapter 21, the spirit returns to introduce itself to Sakura while she saw her past through Record's magic. Nadeshiko stops Sakura from continuing to watch because she may no longer return.

Nadeshiko's spirit shows itself before Fujitaka in Chapter 36. He ask why she stop appearing, and she explains that Sakura is now able to see her just like Touya, which can be a bad sign. When talking about mint chocolate, Nadeshiko tells her the story of her friendship with Akiho's Mother and how she gave her watch some magic.

Nadeshiko appears before Yuna D. Kaito in Chapter 41. She awakens memories of Akiho's own late mother that Yuna had suppressed, reminding her that she was an important friend to him. There it is revealed that Nadeshiko is the one who maintains the magical protection that exists in her family's house.

She tries to warn Kaito that the reason he can see her is because he is about to become the same as her, something that Kaito already knew. She also tries to make him understand what Akiho's Mother told them both about loving someone is the greatest happiness of all, but Kaito says he still doesn't understand what that means. Kaito then tries to reverse time, but is interrupted by Syaoran.

Appearances[]

Season One[]

  • Sakura and the Mysterious Magic Book (debut; picture)
  • Sakura and Her Memories of Her Mother (illusion & picture)
  • Sakura and the Rainbow of Memories (picture)

Season Two[]

  • Sakura's Dizzy Fever Day (spirit form & picture)
  • Sakura and Her Kind Father (picture)
  • Sakura and the Final Judgment (dream)

Season Three[]

  • Sakura and the Mysterious Transfer Student (picture)
  • Sakura and the Calendar of Memories (picture & flashback)

Clear Card Arc[]

  • Sakura and the Clear Cards (photograph)
  • Sakura and the Lovely Transfer Student (picture)
  • Sakura, the Rabbit, and the Song of the Moon (picture)
  • Sakura, Rainbows, and Grandpa (flashback; younger self)
  • Sakura, the Mirror and the Key of Memories (flashback; younger self)

Abilities[]

Because Nadeshiko has been long deceased during the beginning of the series, mentions of her early life have been minimal and are still shrouded in mystery. Though, she appears as an angelic-spirit from time to time. 

In the Clear Card ArcFujitaka Kinomoto remarked on how she was able to speak to talk to things that weren't visible and understand things that couldn't speak, while drawing comparisons with Sakura Kinomoto's (Nadeshiko's daughter) unexplained struggles in life and Touya Kinomoto's (Nadeshiko's son) innate supernatural abilities.[2] In Chapter 41, it is revealed that even after her death, Nadeshiko maintains sufficient power to place a magical protection over her family's house.

Quotes[]

Many Years Ago[]

  • "Grandfather, Grandfather!"
  • "Yes. Look! I didn't crush the flower."

Season Two[]

  • "

Clear Card Arc[]

  • "Any further and you won't be able to return."

Nadeshiko in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle[]

During Syaoran Li's flashback, he recalls meeting Sakura Kinomoto's parents and he then recalls meeting Nadeshiko (Sakura's mother) who is the Queen of Clow Country. As in Cardcaptor Sakura, Fujitaka is her husband. She has a rather blank personality in her appearance--sweet and kind, but also motherly. She seems to know a lot about Syaoran and is a dream-seer. She, along with "Syaoran" are the only ones who can see the 'Engraved Seal of Death' placed on Sakura.

On Sakura's fourteenth, everyone gathers in the ruins for Sakura's "coming-of-age" ceremony. Syaoran wishes her a happy birthday. However, at that point, the black wings rip out of her body (revealing her to be in the same dress the clone was wearing in the dream world). Nadeshiko stops time and dies as a result. Her last words to Syaoran were that he must protect Sakura.

Nadeshiko does not appear in the post-rewind Clow Country. Yuuko explained that Nadeshiko had known about the seal, and her destiny had changed, thus she had died in the rewind.

Ultimately, her fate is reversed after the defeat of Fei Wong Reed and the restoring of the majority of the world's logic[3].

In Cardcaptors[]

Nadeshiko (renamed Natasha) has a love for strawberries that she will eat anything with it, especially strawberry shortcake and her being cousins with Sonomi Daidouji is edited out as they are best friends instead and Masaki Amamiya (Nadeshiko's grandfather) is now her father. She also didn't get married at the age of 16, but she fell in love with Aiden at that age.

Etymology[]

  • The name Nadeshiko means "carnation flower" (撫子).
    • In Japanese culture, the word Yamato Nadeshiko is used for a very beautiful and talented women.
      • Nadeshiko's two favorite flowers were cherry blossoms and peach blossoms, in which her two children are named after each of them.
  • Nadeshiko's surname Kinomoto means "tree, wood" (木) (ki), "this" (之) (no) and "base, root, origin" (本) (moto).
    • In Volume 5 and Episode 10, it is revealed that Nadeshiko's maiden name was Amamiya (雨宮) as Touya tells that to Yukito Tsukishiro as Touya explains the background of his parents' love story.
      • Her maiden surname Amamiya means "rain" (雨) (ama) and "temple, shrine, palace" (宮) (miya).

Trivia[]

  • Clamp never revealed the cause of Nadeshiko's death, but the authors referred to it as an illness, but it never really stated which illness she had.
    • It is hinted in the series that her family blamed her getting married at such a young age as the cause of the illness, therefore blaming Fujitaka Kinomoto for her death for seven years.
      • When the timeline of Clow Country is revised in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Nadeshiko is brought back to life. In the original timeline, she died after casting a spell to halt time and in the timeline brought about by "Syaoran's" wish, Nadeshiko dies as she knew about Sakura's death mark. Unwittingly, Nadeshiko's return breaks the rule stated by CLAMP that the dead cannot return to life.

References[]

  1. Cardcaptor Sakura Manga: Chapter 9
  2. Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Arc Manga: Chapter 22
  3. Tsubasa:Reservoir Chronicle epilogue
70px-Wiki.png This article uses content from the Cardcaptor Sakura wiki.
The original article can be found [[w:c:ccsakura:{{{1}}}|here]] and the original contributors here.
The content is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license.
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