CARDCAPTOR SAKURA

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MOVIE DramaCardcaptor Sakura Movie: Fuinsareta Card
MANGA AdventureCardcaptor Sakura
MOVIE ComedyCardcaptor Sakura Movie
SPECIAL ComedyCardcaptor Sakura: Kero-chan ni Omakase!
OVA AdventureCardcaptor Sakura: Suteki Desu wa, Sakura-chan! Tomoyo no Cardcaptor Sakura Katsuyaku Video Nikki!
ANIME AdventureTsubasa Chronicle
ANIME AdventureTsubasa Chronicle 2nd Season
MUSIC ActionCLAMP in Wonderland 2
OVA AdventureCardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen - Prologue Sakura to Futatsu no Kuma

REVIEWS

• 

  LIQfilms

  95/100
  A review of the magical girl classic: Cardcaptor Sakura

  Adorned with a glorious outfit, lovingly crafted by her best friend, the Cardcaptor takes her stance in wake of the challenge that lies before her. Illuminated by the pearlescent glow of the moon, the card spins frantically, before eventually grinding to a halt. Silent. Still. Untouched. Suddenly, bursting outwards in a sea of flames, consuming the once night sky and claiming it as its own, the card reveals its true form and surrounds the young girl in a prison of flames. Unaffected at the fiery blaze before her, the Cardcaptor stands her ground, readying her staff to tame the beast which threatens her. It’s time to add another card to the roster…

  Magical girls! I’m pretty sure it goes without saying, but the magical girl genre is a staple of the medium, and certainly has been ever since its inception in the 1960s, with Sally the Witch being widely considered to be the first magical girl anime (albeit the manga for Akko-chan’s secret predates Sally by a good five years!) Over the next thirty or so years, the magical girl genre would slowly mould and take shape into what we see today in many of the more children-oriented magical shows, with the Sailor Moon franchise often being considered as the show to establish the standard formula that many later shows of its genre would follow during the 90s, before seeing an influx of magical girl deconstructions in the early 2000s, with Princess Tutu being the most notorious example of such. When looking at the magical girl shows of today and excluding entries of the ever running Precure series and other similar anime marketed towards children, many try to adopt and replicate the success and popularity of Meduka Meguca (also known as Madoka Magica, the former name of which is a far superior title; screw you, fight me!) a show that placed their cute and adorable young girls and threw nothing but death and misery in their faces! Even if you’re not particularly that well-versed in the genre, as am I, you’re probably familiar with the general conventions and the iconography surrounding said genre, as it’s been parodied time and time again in many shows, and whenever an anime series creates a fictional anime within its world and gets all meta, many-a-time do they opt for a magical girl show, such as in the case of Puru Puru Pururin from Welcome to the NHK or Stardust Witch Meruru from Oreimo. However, for such an influential genre, what would be a good gateway show in getting more seriously invested in the various magical girl shows out there?

  I believe that answer lies in Cardcaptor Sakura, which would not only make for a good starting point into the Mahou Shoujo genre but is also in of itself a delightful show; one that I have fallen in love with so much so that it has broken into my top ten favourite anime! Through its wonderfully charming cast of characters and shining creativity, Sakura is a series I wholeheartedly love and after allowing the series to sit with me for a while before starting up this review, I can honestly say that Sakura is perhaps one of the best experiences I’ve had with not only an anime, but with any piece of media! But, with that all said and done, let’s dive into the numerous reasons why I adore this show!

  Sakura Kinomoto, our protagonist for this tale, is an average happy-go-lucky, fourth grader, who, when coming upon a mysterious book in her home, accidently breaks the seal of said book, causing the contents, that being 52 cards referred to as Clow Cards, to inexplicably scatter all over Japan. But the cards are not the only thing to be released mind you! Awakening from his slumber, Keroberos, an adorable little lion with wings who just so happens to be the guardian of the cards, informs Sakura that she must collect all 52 cards, or a catastrophe will occur as each card contains powerful magic. Realising what she has done, Sakura takes it upon herself to gather the cards, becoming Cardcaptor Sakura, and, along with her best friend, Tomoyo, a girl more concerned with filming Sakura in cute outfits and capturing every one of her moments on film than anything else in life, begin their journey of finding each and every card!

  Cardcaptor Sakura’s narrative is one that is not all too complicated, and things progress in ways you can probably expect, with the first half of the series seeing Sakura collecting each and every card, while the second half of the series sees her transforming each one into Sakura Cards, thus claiming them as her own, while intermixing a heavier focus on romance. What sells Sakura’s narrative is in its simplicity and charisma, all the while emitting a wonderful childlike innocence about itself. Sakura is the type of show I can well imagine me enjoying as a child, and, like Little Witch Academia last year, is also a show that is able to evoke these feelings of childlike nostalgia and wonder in me. It’s a raw, personal kind of feeling I get, and is one that I find hard to properly articulate into words. There’s something wonderfully uplifting about Sakura’s narrative, that with each episode that passed I couldn’t help but inadvertently smile. It’s that complete sense of optimism and incorruptibility about the show that made Sakura such an enjoyable and relaxing time for me, presenting a world filled wonder and excitement in the same way a child growing up looks at the world, which, for as someone who has become cynical of things in my early years of adulthood, helped me remember those feelings I once had about life, especially as Sakura is filled with boat loads of heart. Perhaps I’m being overly dramatic and melancholic here, but that’s how I honestly feel, and Sakura makes me feel this way in ways I can’t quite describe or understand, which is why I feel such admiration about the show.

  Anyway, enough with that sentimental crap (for I am the manliest man you’ll ever meet and I don’t need no cute and innocent show to make me feel better about my life, hmpth!), Cardcaptor Sakura, for the most part, is largely episodic, following a basic formula of introducing a card, Sakura encountering said card, figuring out a way to capture it, and then using the newly captured card in a later episode to catch another one. However, saying that, I don’t mean to insinuate that just because Sakura follows an episodic, “Card-of-the-week” formula, that is it by any means repetitive nor is this a negative. To go on a brief tangent, I’ve never agreed with the sentiment that just because a show employs an episodic narrative structure that it is inherently bad, or of any less value than that of a show that has a continuous on-going story between episodes. While, yes, an episodic narrative structure can mean that the anime can easily get trapped into a formula and become stale, I don’t believe that all shows that utilise this form of story-telling fall into the same trap or should be thought of as having less value because they chose to opt for that kind of narrative. Let’s take Cowboy Bebop for example. While beloved within the anime community still, and often revered as a cult classic, one piece of criticism I see quite often hurled its way from those who are not as fond of the show as others is that Bebop’s episodic narrative structure holds it back and prevents the show from developing its story or cast, and to that I completely disagree. All of the episodes in Bebop centre around establishing and building the world presented to us, adding layers of complexity and characterisation to the cast, and a lot of episodes spend large amounts of time developing each character, going through their mental hang-ups and exploring their past, with enough energy and charisma per episode to keep things interesting. Cardcaptor Sakura works in the same way.

  Like Bebop, Sakura uses each episode to slowly build up its cast of characters. We’re always learning something new about them, and the characters themselves are learning more and more about each other as the show goes on in turn, allowing each member of the cast to form relationships between one another in impactful and well-constructed ways. Every episode builds upon the last, adding new layers of characterisation each time, and the sheer amount of creativity each card brings allows for that much freedom for the writers to experiment and play around with, resulting in a lot of variety and originality each and every episode. It really feels like the people behind this show were having an absolute blast with the production, and it truly does show as each episode is oozing with so much love and personality. This is what makes Sakura such an addicting and memorable watch. One episode Sakura will shrink down to the size of a peanut in pursuit of a card as she manoeuvres around her home running from all of the inherent dangers of being that small; another she’ll grow as big as a building and fight off with an immense dragon reminiscent of a giant monster movie! It’s this constant stream of creativity, intermixed with great character interactions and chemistry that really brought the series to life for me, and it only grows in personality as the series moves along.

  And that’s not to say that Sakura is void of any emotionally affective drama either. Cardcaptor Sakura can be surprisingly emotive at times and it handles its melodrama with care and maturity, and even sometimes in rather beautiful and profound ways. Take, for example, episode 16, “Sakura and the Rainbow of Memories”. In this episode, Sakura and her family spend a small vacation in a cottage located in the countryside of Japan, whereupon, after adventuring out, is invited to tea by an old man in the area, whom she frequents everyday with for the reminder of her stay. The two naturally grow closer, and Sakura finds out that this old man has lost his grand-daughter, after he offers Sakura her clothing to wear. After a teary goodbye, Sakura uses her magic to create a rainbow for the man as a thank you to him and to recreate the painting the man’s grandchild had made for him whilst she was still alive. The episode ends informing us that indeed this old man was in fact Sakura’s great-grandfather, ending the episode with some wonderful cathartic pay-off and making the first seemingly unimportant episode in the grand scheme of the narrative have more emotional weight and meaning. And that’s just one of the many examples of this!

  Sakura is even faced with several moralistic dilemmas regarding the capturing of the cards. The most prolific example of such is in her pursuit of The Dash; an extremely fast card that transforms itself into a small rabbit-like creature. Dash ends up befriending a girl from Sakura’s class, and the two bond together, with Dash helping said girl exceed in her track running, which brightens up her life. Sakura is left with a dilemma however: should she capture Dash as she has been quested to do, but risk the girl losing the race at the national competition as well as losing her newly gained friend? Or should she just leave Dash as is allowing her to win the race, but not from a result of her own abilities but that of the card? This is just one of many examples in the show, and many of the cards are intrinsically linked with several characters in the show who relate their own problems and mental hang-ups, giving each episode a greater sense of emotional pay-off. And it’s not like Sakura is just a series of episodic events either. There are several overarching stories happening simultaneously that slowly build-up in the background that result in their own pay-offs, as is evident in the climax to the first half of the series, which actually had a great plot-twist that I am sure will be a nice surprise (just don’t watch the third opening like I did before then otherwise you’ll ruin it like what happened to me because I am dumb! Learn from papa LIQ’s mistakes!)

  However, as expected of a show with seventy episodes, not every one is as strong as each other, and there are some episodes here and there that I didn’t quite care for, as was the case with episode 55, Sakura in Wonderland; a parody of Alice in Wonderland where Sakura gets dragged into the book. While I did get a few smiles here and there seeing the cast portrayed as the characters from the original novel, I mainly zoned out for much of the duration as I’ve seen this kind of thing done a million times before in countless other shows. However, the episodes in which I found to be lacking were definitely the minority and for a show to have perhaps three or four episodes, that, I didn’t feel were bad, just “meh” is quite an achievement.

  Dependent on your levels of tolerance, you may find yourself somewhat irritated at Sakura’s level of denseness in regards to the premonitions she has nearing the climax of the first half and how long it takes her to put two and two together regarding the identity of the person from her dream, even when it is pretty obvious from the get-go. However, I can generally excuse it on accounts that she is still a child, and because of her good girl personality. Finally, one may have an issue regarding the level of suspension of disbelief you have to endure during your watch, as Sakura flies throughout the city with nobody seeing her at all which would be pretty difficult, and in the episode in which she grows to the size of a building to fight a dragon, not a single person sees her at all, despite the noise and damage to the area. While these are indeed critism somebody could make against the show, I would ultimately argue that they are pretty pedantic and do not take anything away from the show even when you factor them in.

  If I were pinned down to the floor by a group of thugs in the middle of the night in a dark alleyway and under extremely specific circumstances was told to describe Cardcaptor Sakura in a single word otherwise risk getting shot in the face, I would say “charming”.

  Charming. I believe that best sums up Sakura in a single word and is certainly the best way for me to describe the characters presented within it. When I am consuming any piece of fiction, the most important element to me are indeed the characters, as they hold the key, if you will, into whether I am invested in the piece that I am watching. Characters are what I personally value most in any given circumstance, and while I am a guy who likes a good o’ story to go along with my characters, I can generally be more forgiving of a show if the characters have wonderful chemistry. And indeed, the characters of Cardcaptor Sakura have wonderful chemistry. This is what I believe Sakura excels at the most, and that is crafting emotionally rich and charismatic characters the audience can grow easily attached to, and some of my favourite moments in the show, and truly the most delightful, are when the characters are just goofing around together. My jaw has physically hurt after some episodes due to the sheer number of times the characters and their interactions have made me smile, especially Keroberos, nicknamed Kero-chan.

  My love for this tiny guy truly knows no bounds and is easily not only my favourite character in the entire show, but also one of my favourites in the medium. He’s massive ego, insane love of food and strange accent all perfectly worked together to create a character whom made me grin every single time he was on screen, but Kero isn’t just a mascot character however. Aside from dishing out exposition about the cards and the such, there’s genuine level of love for Sakura, his new master, and their relationship actually builds and develops as the series goes on, culminating in a beautiful friendship. The relationship that builds between both characters is one that is completely believable and feels sincere; as if the two had known each other their entire lives. Kero isn’t simply a selfish asshole who sees Sakura as an inconvenience but someone who openly cares for her as a person and her well-being. The two even get into arguments as well, such as in the case of episode 15, “Sakura and Kero’s big fight” where the two argue about petty things for the entire episode but learn to look past them and to appreciate each other for who they truly are, adding emotional weight as well as a real sense of maturity to their relationship.

  While Sakura herself is your typical cheery and optimistic girl you would probably expect from a series such as this, she does go through a substantial amount of development, both in terms of her actual magical power and in her coming of age and growing to realise whom she truly loves in the latter half of the series, eventually concluding that aspect of her character arc in the second movie. However, that’s not to say that Sakura is solely just a cheery innocent girl with no other characteristics or emotions. Sakura frequently has moments of depression and self-doubt whereupon she reflects on herself as both a person and as a magical girl, adding more complexity and introspection into her character, all the while receiving mass amounts of characterisation, moulding her into more of an honest human being rather than an expressionless plank of wood, with her interactions between her and her brother being the best example of such. Sakura is a strong protagonist for this kind of show, so much so that every time she succeeded in whatever task that came her way, did I feel a sincere sense of accomplishment as well, resulting in my once cynical and cold heart being warmed once again. What sells Sakura is in her simplicity and how this simplicity is delivered with boats loads of heart.

  Perhaps the thing I was most impressed by with Sakura’s cast is how subtlety characters grew together. Perhaps this is a pedantic thing to praise Sakura for, but the sheer amount of anime I’ve watched that simply have characters deliver internal monologues about the status of their relationships with other characters, or what they’re feeling about said relationships is astounding, and Sakura does away with such a feature, making the relations that do grow and develop feel all the more grounded in a sense of believability. Much like how I became to grow fonder of the characters as the series developed, the cast themselves warmed up to each other as well. Take Sharon for example, a kid from Hong Kong who locates to Japan in search of the Clow Cards, becoming a rival to Sakura in the process. While starting out cold and distant, adamant about working together with Sakura and generally putting up a barrier between himself and the people around him through his apprehensive attitude, Shaoran eventually begins to warm up to the rest of the cast. He starts to admire Sakura and her abilities, and grows to fully understand her as a person, and opens up the rest of his classmates in the process, to the point that he begins to care for Sakura as a person and her well-being, all the while doing so in a subtle way. With each passing episode, Shaoran’s demeanour slowly changes, and characteristics established in the earlier parts of the series begin to fade away and be replaced, all the while never having to resort to exposition or internal monologues to convey his change in attitude regarding Sakura and everyone else, treating the viewer with respect. The same thing can also be said of Sharon’s cousin, Meiling, who, like Sharon, begins her relationship with Sakura and the rest of the cast rather apprehensively, before eventually seeing Meiling grow to care for Sakura, resulting in a heartfelt letter in which Meiling writes, “to my dear friend”, a clear juxtaposition from the start of the series.

  While there are many other characters in the show, speaking about each one individually would be rather redundant, and would take away from their magic (pun intended) in the show. However, there are some personality quirks and reoccurring gags that you may find to be somewhat lacking. While it is somewhat entertaining, and especially cute when Sakura and Shaoran keep falling for them, Yamazaki’s lies and the gag surrounding that can become somewhat tiering and unfunny for me the more it goes along, and the same thing can be said regarding Tomoyo’s obsessive recording of Sakura (albeit, nowhere near as bad as the former piece of comedy I just mentioned). I can easily see Meiling’s character being rather annoying and hard to put up with for some people, especially with how clingy and whiney she can be at times around Shaoran, even if I didn’t personally find her that grating personally. While I did have maybe one or two slight problems here and there with elements of some character quirks, that’s all they are when you break it down: slight; and don’t really do much to take away from the overall experience and are small things that can be overlooked.

  Cardcaptor’s animation as well has aged pretty well for being twenty-years-old, and there are genuinely some great animation cuts here, with one of my favourites being a moment in which Meling is punching a bunch of penguin statues (I swear, it looks a lot better than how I am describing it here!). The animation and art are damn amiable at times too, with a lot of cartoony pull and stretch as well as a multitude of various reaction shots, adding to the charm of already charming characters and locals, although the art can get somewhat “CLAMP-Y” at times, with Toya and Yukito in some shots appearing as massive NBA players with the thickness of a pencil! Every time Sakura used the cards, it was an absolute treat for the eyes with swooping special effect work and animation, combined with rather attractive and unique designs for the physical forms of each card, with Firey and Watey perhaps being my favourite out of the bunch. Likewise, the soundtrack is handled with just as much care and love as every other element, with every piece being more or less burned into my mind, with the music used to accompany Sakura using a card being my favourite of the series. It’s magical, yet exciting arrangements always managed to make me fervent whenever she would bust out a card. Similarly, the openings and the endings are also a treat, with each one being incredibly memorable and wonderful pieces of music in their own right, with the first ending, one featuring Kero running endlessly across a hill, being one I could watch on repeat forever.

  Moreover, Cardcaptor Sakura also has two movies, both of which I believe are worth checking out. The first of which, taking place at roughly episode 35 of the TV series, sees Sakura win a trip to Hong Kong before running into both Meiling and Shaoron. The film is essentially like watching an extended version of a regular TV episode and contains just the same amount of charm and likeability about itself, so much so that I was smiling the entire time whilst watching it. While this film can be skipped as it doesn’t add anything to the overall canon, I’d ultimately recommend it, not because it’s a good time in of itself, but just because we get to see Shaoran’s family, and can fully understand why he is so adamant about collecting all of the cards and impressing his strict mother.

  The second film however is definitely the one you should prioritise and watch as it is a direct continuation of the TV series, picking up exactly were the last one left off. To put it bluntly, I adore this film! It’s a perfect summarisation of everything I loved about the show, compacted into ninety minutes, and my jaw actually hurt by the time I had finished watching the film as I was doing nothing but smiling during the entire runtime. It wraps up nicely a certain releationship and character arc that I don’t want to specify as I wish to avoid spoilers as much as possible for those who have not watched the show yet, ending the concurrent story on an incredibly satisfying note!

  There exists some other supplementary Sakura material out there, that can be ignored if you so wish, but if you decide to watch them, shouldn’t really take up no more than twenty minutes of your time. There’s a short directed by the same dude who directed Monster, called “Leave it to Kero-chan” which is a fun little ten minute special, as well as a mini three part series in which Tomoyo films various things in Sakura’s life, which I’d recommend checking out the first episode of which at least as it goes all meta as Tomoyo films Sakura recreating the first opening, and even ends with her voice actress, Sakura Tange, performing “Catch You Catch Me”.

  To finally conclude, as if it was not already evident enough, I adore Cardcaptor Sakura. It’s a show that appeals to me on a very raw personal level and is the perfect balance of everything I look for and admire in a show, exceling in the area that matters the most to me: the characters. Sakura is not only a shining example of what the magical girl genre is capable of, but also a shining example of what anime at large is capable of as well. Sakura is just another example of why I stick around in this medium because, every so often, a gem comes along like this one, and profoundly connects with me. Before I die from sucking this show’s dick for over 4,300 words, I think I best resign here! Thanks for taking the time to read what is effectively a fanboy harping on about how much he loves a show about an innocent magical girl that warms his once cold heart!

  And now, onwards to Clear Card!

  

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• 

  biogundam

  62/100
  good Saturday morning fluff for the kids

  Warring this review may contain spoilers.

  First impressions, when looking back as my years as a child.
  I realize that I had actually all ready watching anime.
  Of course at the time I didn't realize that I was watching anime.
  And this show was one of them.
  After getting into anime officially I decided to take a trip down memory lane and finish a show from my childhood.

  Story,5/10

  Are story begans with sakura kimomoto a 10 year old girl who is just liveing for life to the fullest.
  But one day while cleaning her father study.
  She comes across a mysterious book which she opens,
  Which contains a set of magic cards called the clow
  While trying to figure out what they are she accidentally spreads them across the world which a magic wind.
  Awakening the garden kero who tasks Sakura to get the clow cards back before they cause chaos and the worse case scenario the end of the world.

  Now to be honest here my experience with the magical girl genre is kind of limited at best because I Only seen 3 show so far this included.
  But aside that.
  The Main plot is pretty basic and bare bones.
  It's essentially Card of the week adventures.
  with sakura and co finding the cards and stoping them from causing to much chaos as possible,
  While sakura is dressing up In different outfits.

  Which is perfectly fine if your a child or a young adult and you just want to watch this as Saturday morning cartoon fluff.

  Because it pretty straight forward In plot and story telling.
  Because you pretty much guess what going on or what's going to happen.
  Like for example sakura older brother who she kind of doesn't get along with all the time,
  Who Just happens to have a part time jobs near the area of where Sakura and a clow card are in the near by area.

  Of course I am not saying that it's so simple that even an adult can't like this show,
  Because even though it is very painfully simple and pretty predictable
  there is quite a bit of adult context to it.

  Especially when you get into the whole back ground plot that also going On.
  Like for example in one episode we find out that this girl in sakura class who has a crush on a teacher who actually also share those feelings as well.
  Along with a bunch of other weird things the throw In as well,
  which you will probably pick up on very quickly.

  Of corse this being the kind of story it is.
  It takes these kind of mature situations at face value and kind of cherry picks them to make these situations more innocent than they actually seem.
  Which kind of makes the show a bit more interesting.
  Than just your run of the mill kids show
  And it's quite nice for the story to try and maintain its child like innocence while giving slight winks to adult viewers.
  Which should be given credit.

  But there are quite a few issues I did have with the story.

  Even though it has this over arcing plot going down with a bunch of other things in the back ground and even makes you feel it's going to build up to something good.
  But The actual conclusions are pretty week over all and doesn't really manage to build up itself well.
  Although at this point I was watching it more for the kinky romances and the actual core story.
  Because it actually had progression and I was kind of getting bored with the whole card thing.
  It also didn't help that most of the time the where repeating the same thing.
  Over and over again in till it loses most of its punch.
  I thought there would be a bit more variety is what I am trying to say.

  Characters,6/10

  Sakura I thought she was a fine character.
  Because she actually acted like a kid her actual age.
  She was very hopeful and innocent and always wanted to help people.
  Of corse she not best main character.
  But for what she is in she fine.

  The side characters where all fine.
  There really isn't that much special or note worthy
  Especially when compared to other casts I have seen.
  They all have ok personality and I can actually tell the characters apart.
  Although the characters are pretty basic.

  The only thing that actually note worthy is pretty much how none of them gives a fuck about sexuality and if they feel something for someone they go for it no question asked.
  Which I think is actually interesting and a very mature take on that.
  Because they don't actually don't draw much attention to it and they just let it play out as is.
  Also because of this fact the character interactions can get a little weird at times.

  I wasn't bothered by it.
  But it can get kind of get a little to touchy at times.
  Like you have this one scene with this one women who loved the main character dead mother and kind of hates the main character father for giving her the best years of her life before she died.
  And I thought that was pretty intense and something you don't she very often.

  Art,6/10

  The animation looks quite nice actually even though it quite dated by today standards,
  But I think that also a plus because it doesn't look to bright and shiny like you get quite a few magical girl shows,
  Because To be honest some of those shows animation can get a bit to bright for my liking.
  It has this nice cute look to it,
  Which isn't to much in your face and doesn't over step it's welcome,
  It just presented as is and I like that more than something trying to be overly cute,
  Because I can only handle so much kawaii at a time before my power core burns out from to much kawaii.

  I like the character designs,

  Because I quite like this kind of old school shoujo designs.

  Sound, 5/10

  I liked the first op because it was energetic and quite relaxing,
  But the rest didn't really stand out to me.
  Like it not bad because it fits very well with the show,
  But it doesn't really click with me.

  The ost was fine nothing really did stick out,

  It was done by Takayuki Negishi ,

  Who also worked on Tokyo mew mew, Tokyo maijin, card fight vanguard.

  I liked both the dub and the sub,
  Because there ok.

  Enjoyment, 5/10

  I actually enjoyed this show more than I thought I would.
  Because it was relaxing and very light hearted which was kind of something I haven't watched in a while,
  So I enjoyed the change of pace.

  I also enjoyed that it. Handled it's self in a mature way.

  Overall, 6/10

  Now if your looking for a show that you can kick back and relax with the kids then probably check this show out, because it pretty much a standard magical girl show,
  But with more of an adult context to it.

  If you don't like clamp and shoujo type shows then probably stay clear.

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• 

  CyberSage999

  90/100
  A charming series through and through. One of my favorites!

  If there was one way to describe this series, it would be charming. Everything from the comedy, to the characters, to the setting and character interactions, the show is filled to the brim with wit and charm that it’s hard not to get instantly attached to the show. While the setup is inherently formulaic and repetitive, it makes up for it by constantly building up the characters in each scenario. By the end of the show, it’s hard not to just smile through the whole thing. But what is this show about?

  Well, Cardcaptor Sakura is about the titular character Sakura, a plucky and cheerful fourth grade lass who accidentally unleashes the Guardian Beast of the Seal named Keroberos, a weird looking plush toy, from a book she found in her father’s study, as well as the 52 clow cards that were sealed inside it that have various magical powers. Together with Keroberos and her best friend Tomoyo, a rich girl whose entire purpose in life is to dress up her friend and film her daily life, Sakura must rectify her mistake by hunting down and sealing away the clow cards.

  What makes the show special is the characters and their general dynamics with one another. The narrative itself is very simple, with most episodes before episode 46 were about finding and catching the clow cards, almost like Pokémon in that regard, but what makes itself memorable are the characters. Sakura for example is presented as this sort of cheerful and happy go lucky girl who would help anyone at any point, and while this is true, it’s not the full picture. Sakura does have her moments of sadness and self-doubt at various points in the series. She grows throughout the series both magically and matures throughout the series. At first she doesn't want to collect the clow cards, but she begins to believe that it's her responsibility to capture all the clow cards that she released by accident. She also has a crush on Yukito, a friend of her older brother Toya who's in his high school. As the series progresses however, she ends up getting over her initial feelings of Yukito and falls in love with a certain character that would eventually be resolved by the end of the second movie. She has many comical interactions with her older brother and Keroberos, and she works off quite well with those two characters. Her mother passed away soon after she was born, and it somewhat works into her dynamic with her family, such as Sakura unwittingly meeting her great grandfather without even realizing it was him, or the time when Tomoyo's mother meets her and her father, and it was revealed that her mother and Sonomi are cousins. This creates an interesting dynamic with her father and Sonomi in one particular episode where it was revealed that her mother married her father when she was just 16 years old and he was a high school rookie teacher, which understandably causes a lot of distress from her aunt and gets into an argument with her father. At the end of the episode, Sakura uses her newly found clow card to make it rain flowers to calm her down. She just has a lot of energy and adorable charm to her that it's hard not to root for her search for the cards.

  The next character would be Tomoyo, who is an interesting character to say the least. While on the surface, it appears that Tomoyo only really cares about filming and dressing up Saukra to the point where it's a running gag throughout the series, I'd say there's more than meets the eye with her. She truly cares about Sakura and her wellbeing. There is a point in the series where she decides to help Syaoran try to get with Sakura and also help Meiling get over her feelings for that character to the point where she even teases that Syaoran about it as a gag. She wants the best for Sakura and wants to help her in anyway shape or form. She consistently shows concern for her friend and tries to cheer her up whenever she can. She does really love and care for her friend, but it usually shows as a sort of gag where she sometimes is unable to film or dress up her friend and she gets disappointed. She does love Sakura but understands that Sakura doesn’t share the same feelings, and it’s because of her understanding that allows her to support her friends when they also have trouble expressing their feelings, such as Meiling and Syaoran.

  After that would be Keroberos, or Kero-chan for short. I adore this little guy everytime he's on screen. His ego, general demeanor, his obsession with food, his little accent, and genuine care for Sakura makes him so fun to watch. Aside from giving general information about the clow cards, and eating a lot of food, he really cares about Sakura and worries about her from beginning to end, even after she accidentally releases the cards. There is a legitimate relationship between the two and he grows to care for his new master. The buildup feels sincere and genuine as the show moves on. There was this episode where Sakura and Keroberos have petty fights and he runs off after eating chocolate with alcohol in it(No really, that happened, lmao), and he meets this little girl. After yet another encounter with a clow card, Sakura and Keroberos realized that they shouldn't fight, and Sakura even made a little room and bed for him in one of her cabinets. It was a nice end to the episode that solidified their relationship even further.

  There would also be Syaoran, who was introduced a little later in the show. He is from Hong Kong and wants to collect the clow cards, and starts off as a sort of rival character to Sakura. Right off the bat, he comes off as jaded, closed off, and also very skilled. Hailing from a magical family and as a descendant of Clow Reed himself, the sorcerer responsible for creating the clow cards, he has far more knowledge about the cards than Sakura does and knows about as much as Kero-chan. He even manages to capture a few of the cards himself, which makes him come off as a legitimate threat to Sakura's goal, but as the series progresses, he softens up and becomes friends with Sakura and her friends in her class. He slowly changes his attitude throughout the series in a very subtle way. He begins working together with Sakura and helps her capture many of the cards that they go after in the series. He even cares about Sakura and her wellbeing, and slowly puts down the barrier that he usually puts up. His initial standoff ish personality is slowly but surely replaced by a kinder demeanor for others.

  Finally, there is Meiling, Syaoran's cousin. She starts off similarly to her cousin, where she sees Sakura as a rival, but not for the cards, but for Syaoran. After initially meeting up with him again at the end of episode 19, she misreads the situation and sees that Syaoran had given Sakura the shirt that she gave him as a gift. Afterwards, she starts pinning for her cousin and sees herself as a rival for Sakura. As the show progresses however, she slowly changes. Hailing from a family of magic like Syaoran, yet having no magical abilities of her own, she wanted Syaoran to marry her with the condition that she would call it off if he found someone that he loved more than her. However, she would also slowly change through the show, as she would slowly see Sakura not as a rival to compete with, but a genuine friend that she wanted to help out when necessary. The final episode she appears in was in episode 60 where she writes a letter to Sakura saying: "My dear friend". Plus, it's not like her antics truly harmed anyone, as it was entirely framed with comedy and not malicious intent.

  Speaking of comedy, lets talk about that! There are a few running gags in the series, such as Yamazaki telling random lies about random things, the aforementioned Tomoyo gags, Meling's general behavior, Toya's teasing of Sakura, and Kero-chans general gluttonous behavior. There isn't much I would say about the comedy, as it can be funny, but Yamazaki's lies can get annoying after a while, and the rest of the gags can range from alright to pretty funny. That one gag I mentioned with Tomoyo is my favorite one in particular. Some may find Meilings behavior with Syaoran to be annoying, but after a little bit, I got used to it. She also changes for the better so that certainly helps.

  There are some issues that may or may not annoy you. For example this show is a 70 episode series with two movies as well, but the manga is only 50 chapters long. That means that some episodes are not as good as others, and your suspension of disbelief may get tested at times. For example, there are many episodes where Sakura has to fly and the question becomes how don't any of these blind people don't see her, and there is one egregious example where Sakura becomes a giant and has to fight a giant dragon, and yet nobody sees them! It becomes a little hard to excuse that, but it doesn't bother me too much overall. There's also the issue of the fact that both arcs have so much buildup to them, and their handled really well, until the climax, which isn't bad, but it does make it feel anticlimactic.

  There's also the romance. The build up for Sakura and Syaoran feels genuine as they both had the same admiration for Yukito, but slowly move away from those feelings and build a romance with each other. There actually isn't a full blown confession at the end of the series like you would expect, but instead you would still believe this romance between the two build throughout the series. Their interactions and body language is all you need to understand their budding romance, which doesn't get concluded until the end of the second movie.

  There's a few general things I want to mention before I move on. First of all, there isn't a usual magical transformation sequence. Instead, Tomoyo would dress her up in one of her various costumes she made herself, and this does add a lot of flare to the series overall. Second of all there are two movies that I would recommend. The first one takes place around the half way mark of the show where Sakura and co win a trip to Hong Kong and we meet Syaoran and his family there. While the movie isn't necessary for the series narrative, it does bring a decent sense of adventure, and it is nice to see Syaoran's family and mother. The second one takes place directly after the series, and this is where the conclusion of Syaoran and Sakura's relationship at the end. I would recommend both since they're pretty enjoyable, and the second movie is important to the romance by itself.

  Finally, there's the audiovisuals. I would say it certainly holds up for a 22 year old series. Some of the clow cards have really appealing designs like POWER, FIREY, and WATERY, and it's a treat to see them. Some pretty standout moments like Syaoran and Meiling fighting against the twin cards, or like Sakura fighting against a certain character in episode 46. The usual CLAMP designs looks rather appealing and nice to look at. The OST is also nice to listen to, with some standout calming pieces or rock tracks during fight scenes. The first opening is also rather nice, which is song by the voice for Sakura, interestingly enough!

  Overall, I really loved this series. Not only would I recommend it as a piece of Mahou Shoujo history, it's also just a really fun and enjoyable show to watch from beginning to end. It has so much charm it warms my jaded and cynical heart right up! While I wouldn't call it flawless, it's a classic series that is highly recommended for anybody of any age to watch. It's entertaining, and even somewhat thought provoking, and it certainly earned a place in my favorites!

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