tomoyo makes a "sakura's attack is reducing syaoran's hp to zero" joke that feels weirdly modern for a show like cardcaptor sakura, and I gotta say: i'm not convinced tomoyo is a gamer
what happened this episode
sakura practices for a storybook reading for kids that she'll be performing alongside yukito at the local hospital. she invites akiho and syaoran, the latter of which she has to convince by pouting and convincing him he can play piano instead of reading. syaoran calls wei and his relatives back home and is relatively terse, with wei intuiting from meiling that he's made his choice (tm). syaoran's sisters show up demanding a video call. akiho prepares for the storybook reading and throws a "daisuki" at kaito, then clarifies she means the book. 2000s shoujo moment.
storytime takes over half the episode, with the story being about a baby fox who goes to town to buy mittens. the fox is coached by its parent to present as a human as to not scare the town, and although it forgets to do this at a crucial moment, the humans react with understanding and care despite their initial concerns. syaoran strikes up the band (on the piano) to keep the mood at the hospital light during the dark moments of the story. akiho starts singing to really add to everything. sakura secretly used record to capture her storytelling, but when she tries to replay it, it shows the same location decades in the past. kero turns serious for once and goes directly to yue to discuss whether sakura's power levels are a concern
liveblog
I can't really understate how loooooong storytime is, especially this late in the season. it's long enough that you're like "ok, this has to be foreshadowing for something in the story, right" but it's not immediately clear what that foreshadowing is for. personally, I could see it as something involving akiho or more specifically kaito, who has been deceiving a lot of people and may be worried about earning a comeuppance (in any other show!). plus I mean he'd fit in fox ears
honestly this story is stretching my japanese ability and I'm starting to worry my comprehension of the show is dipping below safe levels, to the point of like "I get the overall vibes but I wonder if I'm missing the nuance", so I'll have to start double-checking things and making sure I'm not missing anything