Nadeshiko Kinomoto (木之本 撫子, Kinomoto Nadeshiko?) is a fictional character in Clamp's anime and manga series Cardcaptor Sakura. She is known as Natasha Avalon in the English adaptation Cardcaptors. She is voiced by Yūko Minaguchi in the Japanese version.
Character and role
Nadeshiko is the mother of Sakura Kinomoto (Sakura Avalon in Cardcaptors) and Toya Kinomoto (Tori Avalon). Her husband is Fujitaka Kinomoto (Aiden Avalon). Nadeshiko appears only in memory and in spirit (literally) in the series, as she died (at the age of 27) when Sakura was three years old. However, 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's ghost is a type of presence in the series. When Toya 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 (although she has been able to feel them) and so she never sees Nadeshiko throughout the entire series. Nadeshiko makes her first visible appearance in Episode 6, "Sakura and 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 hand has a distinctive silver ring on the ring finger), 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 a gift, unaware that Nadeshiko's ghost is hovering over her at the time (adorning a set of angel wings). Nadeshiko comments to Toya, 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. Toya 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 Toya does. In Episode 46, "Sakura and the Last Judgement," Sakura is transported into a world where everyone has forgotten their feelings for the person he or she loves most. 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. One of Toya's memories of his mother is when she taught him how to play the organ at home. In Episode 54, when Toya plays on the piano at school, he remembers sitting next to Nadeshiko on the family organ, watching her play and following her example. In high school, Nadeshiko (then Nadeshiko Amamiya) was a student of Fujitaka Kinomoto during his first year as a teacher and also had a job as a model. She married Fujitaka when she was sixteen, much to the displeasure of her various relatives, especially her cousin Sonomi Daidōji (Samantha Taylor) and grandfather/caretaker Masaaki. Fujitaka mentions that he had Nadeshiko for eleven years, from where her death at twenty-seven is concluded. Since Sakura was three, and Toya is seven years older, Nadeshiko presumably gave birth to Toya at seventeen. 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; it's possible that Nadeshiko gave birth few months after graduation. Nadeshiko is 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, as his consistent optimism and kindness make it clear to her why Nadeshiko liked him so much. In volume 5 of the Manga and episode 10 of the anime, it is revealed that her maiden name was Amamiya; Touya tells that to Yukito as he explains the background of his parents' love story. The manga hints that Nadeshiko may have had some magic, as Fujitaka tells Touya that his magic abilities are the same as his mother's. And at the end of the manga, when Fujitaka receives half of Eriol Hiiragizawa's powers since they're both incarnations of Clow Reed, he gains the ability to see Nadeshiko's spirit.
Trivia
- Clamp never revealed the cause of Nadeshiko's death. They only referred to it as an illness, but never really stated which one.
- Nadeshiko's hair color in the anime is brown, however there are colored Clamp pieces that show her hair color as purple.
