Clow Book

Clow Book
Clow Reed Sakura Kinomoto
Japanese:	クロウカードの本 さくらカードの本
Romaji:	Kurou Kādo no Hon Sakura Kādo no Hon
User(s):	Clow Reed Sakura Kinomoto
Used with:	Clow Cards Sakura Cards
First Appearance (Manga):	Volume 1, Chapter 1
First Appearance (Anime):	Episode 1

The Clow Book is a book containing a collection of mysterious and powerful magic cards titled "Clow Cards", originally owned by Clow Reed. It eventually becomes the Sakura Book after Sakura Kinomoto becomes Mistress of the Clow Cards.

Appearance

Front

The book is a red color, with small golden jeweled ornaments on the corners. The right edge features a metallic triangular lock with the kanji for "seal" (封), which connects to the back of the book and keeps it closed. On the top center of the cover, a ribbon can be seen where the name of the book, "THE CLOW", is engraved in capital letters, with a small waxing crescent moon below it.

The book's cover features the golden winged lion, Cerberus the beast of the seal, with a gold-chained sun around his neck. Cerberus is the guardian of the Clow Cards and symbolizes the sun. Once he awakens and leaves the book, the image of the lion disappears, leaving only the chain and sun symbol behind.

After Sakura becomes the Mistress of the cards, the book turns pink and is rebranded with the name "SAKURA" instead of "THE CLOW." A small crescent moon to the right and a small star to the left can also be seen on the front, with Sakura's winged star emblem sits just beneath the "SAKURA" banner. The simple triangular gold lock is also replaced with a curled white wing.

Back

Like the cover, the back is red with golden jewel corners. The left edge features the back of the metallic triangular with the kanji for "judgment" (判), which connects to the book's front.

The top half of the back features Clow Reed's magic circle eclipsing an smaller version of itself, featuring a 12-pointed star, a sun in its center, and a crescent moon next to the sun. Below the circle lies a winged moon, signifying the other guardian of the book, the judge Yue, and below it another ribbon engraved with the book's title. When Sakura first finds the Clow book, the winged moon was already missing as Yue had already awoken as Yukito without Cerberus realizing it.

After the book becomes the Sakura book, Clow's magic circle is replaced by Sakura's magic circle, featuring a 10-pointed star with a big 5-pointed star on its center, surrounded by the sun and the moon, and small zodiac symbols on the edges. Above the magic circle, Sakura's winged star emblem also appears.

Spine

The book's spine is red, has a golden frame with two six-pointed stars, and reads "THE CLOW". When it becomes the Sakura book, the red changes to pink and the spine reads "SAKURA".

Early manga artwork shows the book's spine being very slim, likely owing the fact that in the manga, the book only contains 19 cards. In the anime and in several physical releases, where it contains 52 cards, the spine is wider.

Contents

The inside of the book has glued pages cut out in the center, forming a space for the Clow Cards to be stored. When Sakura Kinomoto found the book, the first card on this space was The Windy. The physical edition puts both The Light and the The Dark before The Windy.

The back of the front cover features decorative illustrations of a Sun, lunar phases, and stars at the top, and a waxing crescent moon at the bottom, with a message written by Clow Reed in the middle. Its translation was never revealed in the series.

In the anime, the message is written in an unknown language presumably used by Clow in other magical texts, as it can also be seen in a separate book that Spinel Sun finds at Clow's house. The message is retained when the Clow book transforms into the Sakura Book, as seen in episode 53 of the anime.

In the physical Clow Book released by Kodansha and authored by CLAMP, the back cover message is written in Japanese and gives a brief explanation on what the Cards are and how to seal and use them, stating the following:

Clow Book

Japanese	English translation
カードを創ったのはクロウ・リード クロウカードは、魔術師クロウ・リードが 創った魔力を持ったカードである。 東洋魔術と西洋魔術の両方を網羅した その魔術体系は、クロウ自身が編み出したもの。 しかし、クロウがいつの時代の どんな人物だったのかは、謎のままだ。	The Cards were created by Clow Reed Clow Cards are magical cards created by the magician Clow Reed. Covering both Eastern and Western magic, their magic system was devised by Clow himself. However, what era Clow lived in and what kind of person Clow was remains a mystery.
実体化したカードの精霊はいたずら物！？ カードから飛び出して実体化した精霊たちは、 それぞれ、名づけられた名前にちなんだ魔力を発揮する。 攻撃をしかけでくちょっと怖いカードや、 声や姿を盗んでまれするふしざなカード、 なかにはいただらするだけで、あまり害のないカードなどもいる。	Materialized Card spirits are mischievous!? Each of the spirits that materialize out of a Card manifests the magical power of their given name. There are somewhat scary Cards that can attack, bothersome Cards that steal your voice and appearance, and Cards that are merely careless and harmless.
封印したカードを使うためには 封印のしかたもカードによって近い、てこずるものあり、 あっさり捕獲されるものありで、さまざま。 封印した後、カードに名前を書いでおくと、 その人物の言うことしか聞かなくなる。 使うときには杖を使って封印を解除。 カードは精霊の姿に戻り、魔力を発揮する。	To use a sealed Card The method of sealing depends on the Card, some are difficult, some are easily captured, and some vary. If a person writes their name on the Card after sealing it, it will only listen to what that person says. When using a Card, use a wand to release the seal. The Card shall return to its spirit form and exert its magical powers.

History

Pre-series

Before his death, Clow Reed created the book to keep all the Clow Cards sealed, minus The Nothing card, and arranged for Cerberus and Yue to guard the seal that protects them. Cerberus was represented by the beast on the front, while Yue was represented by the moon with wings on the back.

Yue somehow escapes the book, and adopts the alter-ego of Yukito Tsukishiro, having no memory of the cards or his master.

Later, the book spent some time in the city of Osaka (leading to its guardian picking up the accent of that location.) As more time passed, the book falls into the hands of Fujitaka Kinomoto, Sakura's father, where he keeps it in the basement library. While unconfirmed, it is likely the book was found during a mining exhibition and subsequently kept in the basement, as Fujitaka was unable to open it.

Clow Card Arc

Home alone after school, Sakura goes to investigate the basement after hearing a loud noise coming from its direction. When Sakura opened the book, she first saw The Windy card. Reading its name aloud, she causes the cards awaken and escape the Clow Book; scattering all over the city.

Cerberus then takes material-form in his disguise of a plush toy. After awakening from his deep sleep and realizing what's happening, he appoints Sakura as the new Cardcaptor.

Sakura Card Arc

After all the Clow Cards have been recaptured, the Clow Book loses its original appearance and turns pink.

The pink book now houses the Clow Cards as Sakura transforms them into the Sakura Cards. The book is eventually filled with all fifty-two of the new Sakura Cards, plus The Nameless Card created by Sakura's feelings towards Syaoran.

The Sealed Card

The book continues to hold the Sakura Cards, as well as The Hope card after Sakura captures it at the end of the film.

Clear Card Arc

The cards held within the book became completely clear, although the book itself did not undergo any noticeable changes.

Physical editions

Several physical editions of the Clow Book, as well as its Sakura Book variant, have been released.

• Kodansha's Clow Book has CLAMP's artwork for all 52 Clow Cards (except for The Nothing), with the seal drawn is an a decoration and not a functional closing mechanism. This version has been rereleased for the series' anniversary in different occasions.
• Bandai's Clow Book is anime-styled, with simpler artwork for both the book and the 52 Clow cards. It features a metallic clasp with a cloth ribbon as the seal.
• Trendmaster's Clow Book is very similar to Bandai's Blow Book, and is the only version so far to have been released outside of Japan. It was released in North America to coincide with the airing of Nelvana's Cardcaptors dub.
• Bandai's Sakura Book Game is also anime-styled and contains 53 Sakura Cards, including the final The Nameless Card. This version is a battery-operated toy with a special slot to insert the cards to play games with the talking Cerberus on the cover.
• Takara Tomy's Clow and Sakura Card Books are anime-styled and serve as storage for the Takara Tomy Card sets, sold separately. These cards are thicker than all other renditions due to their interactive features, making these versions the widest of all editions. The books also feature a battery-operated talking Cerberus and integrate with Takara Tomy's respective Sealing Wand toys.

Gallery

• Clow Book
• Sakura Book
• Manga

Clow Book Front

Clow Book Back

The Fly in Sakura Card Form in the Clow Book.

The Firey in Sakura Card Form in the Sakura Book.

The Sakura Book with the Star Key.