"Potential Power" by Raikuya

Response to: "Madison magical?" by Kira

Madison's magical?

I think 'crazy' is a little harsh, but the back-up for this argument is very weak.
Judging by the use of the English names, I am assuming that the author of the argument has watched the dub of the anime. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. It only means that the author was not able to see what they included in the original Japanese version. (I'll be using the Japanese names, just because that's what I'm used to.)

Point One: The Doll

It's true the Tomoyo (Madison) made this for Sakura. In the Japanese version, Sakura tells Kero-chan that even before she became Cardcaptor, Tomoyo was always happy to film Sakura in clothes she made herself. I'm assuming Tomoyo dreamed of being able to have Sakura wear more...er...flashy clothes. After all, in episode 2 of the Japanese version, Sakura and her Wonderful Friend, we see an entire trailer-full of odd costumes that Tomoyo has made. She has obviously been hoping for an opportunity like this for quite a while. This hope inspired her to make the Sakura doll in an odd costume.

Point Two: Costumes

How does she make them so fast? Good question. However, it's not as if they find out there's a Clow Card about and she makes an outfit then and there. As stated above, in episode 2 we see an insane amount of costumes that Tomoyo has been working on. We at least see the outfits Sakura wears later that episode, plus in episode 3, Sakura's Heart-racing First Date. A couple times we see Tomoyo sewing a new costume (like in episode 43, Sakura and Farewell to Meiling), or telling Sakura that she's thought of a new idea or working on a new one. She obviously works very long and hard on them in her spare time.

As for the costumes being helpful when fighting, or being related to the card being captured....this doesn't happen as often as one might think. When fighting WATERY, the costume has 'water resistant' material, but as said above, it was made previously. In episode 23, Sakura, Tomoyo, and a Wonderful Song, the outfit has music notes on it, but I wouldn't be surprised if Tomoyo made this previously as well. Tomoyo is in choir, and loves music, so it would be natural to incorporate it in something else she's interested in-like Sakura's costumes.

More outfits are related to the environment, such as being waterproof when it is raining, or with long-sleeves when it is snowing. However, if she could sense what was coming next, she would have done specifying to many more outfits. She would have done something less heavy and bulky when fighting STORM (episode 15, Sakura and Kero's Big Fight) or LITTLE (episode 24, Sakura's Little Adventure) or DASH (episode 30, Sakura and the Injured Card). And the outfit Sakura has during the Final Judgement isn't exactly the greatest fighting outfit.

What happens most often is that Tomoyo thinks of an idea that would be cute and follows through on it. And the designing and creating of costumes is on her side-she's got good fashion sense, she's creative, she's intelligent (she probably doesn't have to spend a lot of time on homework) and she's rich, so she can buy all the materials she wants.

Point Three: The Kero-chan Factor

Yes, Kero-chan would rather spend time with Tomoyo than Syaoran (Li). Kero-chan loves Sakura and is very loyal to her and cares about her. He dislikes Syaoran because he's mean to Sakura and is trying to get the Cards for himself. Tomoyo, on the other hand, is very supportive of the cardcaptor Kero chose. She's also kind and polite to him when they first meet in episode 2, continuing on through the series. (Plus, she gives him sweets all the time.) Maybe he would rather have Tomoyo has a cardcaptor than Syaoran. Her insight, intelligence, and her bravery (which is often overlooked) would be good traits. Unfortunately, we're unable to ask Kero-chan what he thinks.

Kero-chan does sleep over at Tomoyo's house once. This is because Meiling is sleeping over at Sakura's, Kero-chan's usual residency, and Kero-chan and Meiling don't get along. To avoid arguments, Tomoyo takes up Kero-chan for a night.

Point Four: Her Knowledge

Tomoyo's finding out about the cards and Sakura's magic is explained in episode 2. Sakura was using Fly and flying above the city with Kero, as we saw at the end of episode 1. Tomoyo, by chance, is able to film a few seconds of this and shows it to Sakura the next day. Sakura screams when she sees it, and Kero flies out of her backpack asking what's wrong. Tomoyo observes this whole incident, so Kero explains to Tomoyo what's going on. (As a side note, Meiling is actually Syaoran's cousin. They both are from a large magical family in China. Technically, she *should* have magical powers, but for some reason, she doesn't, an apparently rare occurance in her family. She knows about the Cards because the rest of the family does. This was explained in episode 20, Sakura vs. Transfer Student.)

Touya (Tori) does have magical powers. And he does very rarely "use" them, but he does so in episode 3, when he breaks WATERY's hold on the penguin and its trainer in the aquarium. The penguin and trainer are in danger, and he uses his powers to help them. Tomoyo and Sakura are best friends, and Sakura winds up in danger a lot. I'm sure Tomoyo would want to use her powers to try to help Sakura if she could. However, she never tries to help Sakura by any magical means.

As for her being able to sense magic, there is little evidence to suggest she can. There are a few times when she asks Sakura "maybe this is the work of a Clow Card?" However, this is mostly due to her brilliant insight into situations. It's also a matter of common sense. If you know about magic, it's common to suspect it's at work when your box is spitting out a key (episode 11, Sakura, Tomoyo, and a Mansion) or your friend is suddenly sucked into a book (ep 55, Sakura and Sakura from Wonderland).

Point Five: Canon

We're told that Tomoyo doesn't have magical powers. And this is backed up a number of times. In episode 12, Sakura's Never-Ending Day, Tomoyo doesn't notice that the day is repeating itself. In episode 33, Sakura's Freezing Ice Skating, she is frozen by FREEZE, while Sakura, Syaoran, and Kaho are not, because they have magical powers. In episode 42, Sakura and the Blacked-Out School Arts Festival - Tomoyo doesn't notice that Dark attacked during the festival. In episode 69, Sakura and the Return of Clow Reed - Tomoyo falls asleep while all other magical beings aren't. Not to mention the number of times Sakura suddenly notices something, and Tomoyo asks her what's up purely because she doesn't feel what Sakura feels. She could be faking being nonmagical, but why would she?

I'm sure that Tomoyo would like to have magical powers. That way, she'd be able to help Sakura more, and know when there was going to be an odd occurence, so she could 'film Sakura-chan's bravery' to a fuller extent. It appears that Tomoyo will have to rely on Sakura and the others for information, though. Luckily she doesn't really seem to care. As long as Sakura will keep wearing her clothes and continue to film her, Tomoyo will be happy.