Cardcaptor Sakura

Cardcaptor Sakura is perhaps the best mahou shoujo anime produced. It's more than just a classic or a title that's influential. It's an example of a series that was not afraid to take risks and defy common conventions of the genre in order to maximize quality. And while Cardcaptor Sakura may seem like a standard mahou shoujo anime at first glance, there is a lot more depth here than a cursory glance might reveal.

The premise itself is fairly typical for a mahou shoujo anime. A happy-go-lucky girl suddenly comes across magical power and begins her quest alongside a cute lion-like caricature serving as her ... guardian and mentor. Sakura's role as the chief protagonist is to capture the fifty-three magical cards of Clow Reed, each inhabiting a unique power that inconveniences Sakura and the people around her in some way. Some of these cards are immensely powerful, including the ability to manipulate time and dreams, while others are fairly weak or trivial in comparison and encompass smaller abilities like creating flowers or making objects float. After Sakura fights against the power behind the card and then seals it away it becomes a part of her possession that she can then use at will.

At least, this is how the story first seems.

The series is largely changed and complicated with the introduction of the deuteragonist in the eighth episode. Syaoran Li, a boy from Hong Kong, suddenly transfers into Sakura's class and disturbs the situation by antagonizing Sakura and competing for the Clow Cards. This relationship serves as the basis for the central theme of the series as their feelings and relationship change and develop immensely, from rivals to friends and finally to lovers. This is a very gradual change and it's paced well enough that it feels completely natural, a change you might not even notice without retrospect. You contempt Li when he's first introduced and by the end you grow to enjoy his presence almost as much as Sakura herself.

Shoujo series are a bit infamous for their overly-idealized and sudden romances but Cardcaptor Sakura is again an exception. There is certainly idealizing, sparkles and bubbles, but the depth is there. The feelings between Sakura and Li naturally grow and evolve over the course of the series, with no contrived events used to advance their relationship. There is not even a confession by the end of the 70-episode run, yet there is no need for one as the anime has already communicated how strongly the two feel for each other. Character interaction and body language are used to express this-- not conveniences followed by dramatic outcomes. The end result is one of the most natural and endearing romances in anime. As a mahou shoujo it is good, but as a romance it is excellent.

Cardcaptor Sakura is mainly a lighthearted and fun series. Most of the entertainment revolves around Sakura and her interaction with the characters, most notably her guardian Keroberos (endearingly shortened by Sakura to Kero-chan) and her closest friend Tomoyo who often goes along with her to the scene of each card to record footage on her camcorder. Other important characters include Sakura's beleaguering older brother Toya and the object of her affections, Yukito, a friend of Toya whom she holds a large crush towards. Still, the series does eventually take a more serious turn in the second half after the initial card collection draws to a close. Some characters reveal hidden sides that will surprise the audience and certain side characters develop and become integral to the story. At no point does the show ever feel too silly or too serious; it's a perfect blend of the two.

Interestingly, there are several elements that deviate from the conventions of most mahou shoujo anime. There isn't a traditional transformation sequence in the anime nor one unique outfit that Sakura wears when using magic. Instead she wears normal clothing like a regular girl, or rather whatever silly costume her friend Tomoyo decides to dress her up in before the event. This adds a lot of variety to the action sequences and gives the audience a small something to look forward to each episode.

Despite its young demographic and reputation as a family-friendly anime, there are also some surprisingly taboo topics that are covered in the anime. There's the forbidden love between teacher and student and homosexual feelings between two important characters. The anime does not use any of these elements as shock value, though, simply presenting them as-is with no moral connotation. 'Love' is the main theme of CCS and the amount of detail put into the relationships of even periphery character is certainly commendable.

On the other hand, the music here is nothing short of stunning. Some of the songs that play in the series, such as the first opening and the track used when capturing a card, are classics that will stick in your head and be remembered fondly for a very long time. More than simply enhance the experience, these tracks are a large part of what makes the anime what it is. The soundtrack is by far one of most defining and important aspects of the series, and perhaps one of the best in anime.

That being said, Cardcaptor Sakura is definitely not without flaws.

One of the largest complaints can be put on the rather long length of the anime. At 70 episodes it can certainly drag on at some parts in the story. While CLAMP carefully tried to make each episode as engaging and interesting as possible, it’s only natural that some episodes are weaker than others and that some events can become a bit predictable at times. Luckily, this mostly changes in the second half of the anime where the story expands and takes a mostly different direction where more emphasis is put on the characters’ relationships. As fun as each episode is, I can’t help but feel like it would have benefited from a shorter episode count in order for the story to flow better. A 50-episode story would have been a perfect fit, neither too long nor too short.

It should also be mentioned that the changes between the original Japanese version and the English localized "Cardcaptors" are very drastic, and certainly not in a good way. Music and names of the characters are changed, episodes are flipped and mixed together in an odd and sometimes incoherent order, and important backgrounds and plot elements are minimized or removed completely. While certainly not unwatchable, it’s a very toned down and poor imitation of a fantastic anime. You would be doing yourself a huge disservice by watching any version except the original Japanese one.

In a genre where conventions and inspiration form the crux of most stories, Cardcaptor Sakura is a brilliant title that breathes new life into the genre and anime as a whole. While not quite flawless, this is a classic that has acceded its spot as one of the most influential and quality anime titles in recent times. It’s a consistently high-quality, entertaining and sometimes thought-provoking anime that has more than earned its widespread acclaim and influence. This is a title that shows that there is indeed a correlation in storytelling between creativity and quality.

Cardcaptor Sakura has certainly earned its place in history.

Cardcaptor Sakura is a classic. It is one of those anime that everyone could enjoy, regardless of age and gender. While being a typical magical girl anime, the plot is actually intertwined with lots of comedy and romance. There's not a lot of drama (yet), except maybe recurring goofs and difficulties that each characters face. However, that is the true magic of Cardcaptor Sakura. It has such a high enjoyment value that you will often forget that you are watching someone capturing cards, but rather, live through the experiences of a not-so-typical elementary girl whose life was changed in many ways by the cards she ... will make her own.

Story: 9/10

The first and second season, in my opinion, is not most impressive plot-wise. It is pretty much very episodic, with recurring goofs such as Sakura's battle costumes, Tomoyo with her camcorder, Toya always showing up at the right (or wrong) times, Sakura trying to win over Yukito, Kero looking up at the sky saying "Yue" like he's heartbroken, and Syaoran once again tries to compete with Sakura. The impressive part of the first season is its comedy and action, because it was just amazing. For a magical girl anime, the action was just there. Every scene, suspense, effort, luck, desperation, success, it was there. When Sakura is not capturing cards (she approximately captures one per episode), she enters an environment with heartfelt friendship and goes through life very joyfully and often humorously. Even though the only plot is to "capture them all," Cardcaptor Sakura such a variety of enjoyment that you will find yourself staying glued to the screen.

The season offers a change of pace as Sakura embarks on a brand new adventure, meeting a mysterious new rival. This is where the plot starts to change, as the cards are no longer the main emphasis of the plot. It is clear that while the cards changed her destiny (in capturing the cards), it also affected her daily life as well. The third season explores how the cards created a new path for Sakura in friendship and romance. This part of the plot is present in the first two seasons, but it became the main focus of season three. Personally, this is when Cardcaptor Sakura won me over. Until then it was just a very addicting and enjoyable show. Season three gave meaning to the cards and provides a few dramatic moments that fortifies the underlying themes and symbolisms the series tries to convey.

Art: 10/10

If you are new to Cardcaptor Sakura, then you might not realize that it was made in 1998. For its time, the art was amazingly amazing. From the opening sequence, you can point out minor details such as the movement of Sakura's costume in the wind and the animation of her hair was just so realistic. Voice acting was awesome (and cute), and facial expressions were especially awesome. And then, there are the action scenes themselves. When the cards are released/captured, there's a "wow" moment that you don't expect to see in a typical magical girl series. Even though the action isn't very technical with cool names and gadgets, it features everything from flying, sword fighting, evocations of the elements, and last but not least, Sakura. One thing that cannot be expressed enough is how cute Sakura is portrayed. That may sound stupid, but it's one of the main attractions of the show.

Sound: 10/10

Not only are the opening and ending sequences catchy, the background music was incredible, simply incredible. From the opening scene featuring Sakura on top of a tower, the music was engaging in every aspect. Then it smoothly makes a transition to everyday music when Sakura introduces herself, and finally to the suspenseful and catchy battle theme that everyone loves. One of the main complains about the dub (Cardcaptors) was that the music was changed. The original music was excellent, and it fits the situation it is for very well.

Character: 9/10

For an anime like this it's tough to be perfect character-wise, but which anime masters character portrayal, right? The anime focuses the most on Sakura, Kero, Tomoyo, Syaoran, and Meilin, as expected, since they're the main characters. Of course Toya and some other characters I don't want to spoil have their roles also, but mostly it centers on the elementary students (and Kero). While a good deal of the supporting characters were developed, it is done mostly through inferences and vague symbolism. In a way this is good, because it gives Cardcaptor Sakura a deeper meaning if you see it, but if you don't, it's still a very enjoyable anime with minor plot holes. So in short, Cardcaptor Sakura is mainly an anime of character development and emotional maturation, and it mostly succeeded, for the main characters only.

Enjoyment: 10/10

From what I said above, this category would definitely have to be a 10/10. In fact, it has one of the best re-watching values of all the anime I've watched. The first time you go through the anime, it's just plain enjoyable. The second time, you tend to pick up symbolism and motifs from here and there. That "ah hah" moment where everything clicks makes the series even more enjoyable, because it connects its episodic attribute to the main plot more closely. Cardcaptor Sakura just enjoyable no matter how you look at it.

An interesting character in Cardcaptor Sakura is Meilin. She is a filler character, meaning, she is not in the original manga. However, her roles are clearly defined and becomes one of the major plot-driven characters at the end of the anime, as well as being a very consistent character. One example is how I regard an episode that dedicated to her as one of the best, even though it is a filler. The addition of Meilin is not for the detriment of the plot, and I applaud the excellent direction it took to incorporate such a character.

Another factor that might affect some viewers is how everything is in rōmaji or English. At the opening sequence, Sakura's name tag says SAKURA, the cards are in English, even how Sakura says them is in English. There's just a lot of convenient things here for English watchers, something curious but gladly accepted.

Controversies:

If you watch this anime, then watch out for some controversial topics. The first one is homosexuality, which is present plainly in one relationship, and very vaguely implied in a couple of others. It would certainly bring up some questions for younger viewers, but in the end, the anime explains it in a very fitting and safe way. Still, it could be a concern but it shouldn't stop you from watching it. It's safe to say that yuri/yaoi isn't a main component of the plot.

Another controversy is incest, the legal kind (in Japan). While a non-Japanese audience might be a bit uncomfortable of a first cousins relationship, it is best to keep in mind that in Japan, it is completely normal. There's no weird things like brother/sister, mother/son, or stuff like that, so don't worry.

And there's a third kind of relationship explored in the anime, which is an innocent student-teacher crush. The anime never really goes anywhere with it, but it's nice just to mention that it's there. The one important thing to keep in mind is that all these three types of relationships do not affect the enjoyment of the series in any way. Relationships, after all, are part of the main plot, and they should be treated in an adult manner.

Lastly, although it's something that not many cares, there is death. Throughout the series, no one really died, but the motif of death, angels, and the afterlife appears frequently. It's listed as a controversy due to the assumed target audience (young females), but in the end, death is one of the aspects that gives more meaning to the plot.

Cardcaptors:

As much as I don't want to bash Cardcaptors, I feel that it is relevant. If you watch Cardcaptors, then my ratings do not apply. These ratings only apply to the Japanese subbed version, as well as what I think is the best version. Get this one if you can!

Overall: 9/10

I can't bring myself to give this anime a ten just because it carries no major revelations or any of the sort. You can argue that the ending is pretty dramatic, kind of, but the main purpose of the anime is to let the audience sit back, relax, and enjoy. Of course I am being harsh because I want something out of every anime I watch, but for Cardcaptor Sakura, enjoyment alone is enough to get it to a 9. Once in a while, it's good to just watch a series and and enjoy it wholeheartedly.

I'll go ahead and say this is my favorite series.

Overview/Opinion:
I should clarify that and say, if the Monogatari series were one series and not multiple series, they might beat out Cardcaptor Sakura, but as single series go, this one for me is the best.

Cardcaptor Sakura wins me over not because it has the highest quality story or characters, or sound or even animation. Haibane Renmei has it beat on all those counts. Except plot maybe, but stuff like Death Note has it bear there. It is the best because it is seventy episodes long and the quality stays pretty darn amazing for ... the whole seventy episodes.

Premise:
Fifth grade girl Sakura comes home one day, finds magic book in her father's basement library, opens book, magic cards fly out and hide themselves all over town. Kero, guardian of the cards, kind of a teddy bear with wings, explains to Sakura: magic cards aren't necessarily evil, but they are powerful and have a sick sense of humor which they inherited from their creator. Prophesy says they will bring about a catastrophe if ever released. Only a person born with magic powers could open the book, so Kero declared Sakura the Cardcaptor, has her take a magic oath and charges her with the duty of retrieving the cards.

Characters:
I can't go into this too much without spoilers. I will say that Sakura is not the most interesting character. Not by a long shot. I keep thinking I'm going to find her annoying every time I watch it, but she always comes off as sympathetic and very likable, though not with a particularly interesting personality. A lot like Indiana Jones or James Bond in that way.

It's characters like her best friend Tomoyo who really pick up the slack in a way. Sakura can maintain your sympathies and she has the strength of character to advance the story, do what has to be done, but characters like Tomoyo are the ones you'll end up quoting and being really interested in. A lot of new characters are introduced over the course of the seventy episode series, most of them with their own recurring side plots and secrets and sometimes very intricate back-stories.

Really understanding characters like Sakura's father takes a lot of attention to detail. Particularly in her father's case, a lot of it is in how little we actually know about him in contrast with how much we know about Sakura's dead mother. And he's not the only one this is true for. There is a lot of back story to be read out in the subtlies of what goes onin this series. A lot to be learned about for instance Clow Reed who created the cards, just by looking at how his cards act.

Art:
I don't normally say anything about a series' art because I'm seldom impressed. A series can be just fine with bad art or horrible music, just look at Crest of the Stars. They failed on both count and I still gave them a nine.

But Cardcaptor Sakura is one of those special series. Actually, this is fairly standard CLAMP animation, but standard CLAMP still beats out best of the line Sunrise stuff any day of the week. I cannot believe how well this twenty-year-old anime still holds up in the visual department.

If I had to use one word to characterize it it would be whispy. The hair the magic effects the outfit designs, the action, its all very wispy and wind themed. Rather than being angular like a lot of anime at this time or particularly round like some older anime, they seem to have found a nice middle ground by turning a lot of things sleek. Of course this means nobody has a butt, however, it really works.

Its a seventy episode anime, they take shortcuts constantly, but when the tome comes the action is always fluid and beautiful.

Conclusion:
I got into Cardcaptors, the bastardized American version, when I was in elementary school and bought my first DVD of Cardcaptor Sakura when I was something like twelve years old. I have to say, it changed my idea of how fantasy could operate in a story.

More than ten years later, the animation, story, characters, even the music hold up miraculously well. I start watching it again terrified that it won't be as good, and then I can't put it down. It still has the power to suck me in. And not just me, anyone who passes by while I'm watching it gets sucked onto the sofa for at least five episodes.

I showed this to a friend of mine in middle school and he got addicted right away. We would watch new episodes together over the phone by synching our computers. I remember I mentioned this series to a girl I liked once and she immediately grabbed me by the arms, looked me in the eyes and said "You know That Sakura and [guy she likes] spend the rest of their lives together and live happily ever after, right? Right?" And then she begged me to lend her the second movie. She hadn't seen it, she had no idea who ends up together.

If you can't stand stories about little girls who have crushes on pretty boys, then you'll have a hard time. But if you're cool with that, sit down on the sofa buddy, and get ready to be there for a while. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

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!

When I first saw Cardcaptor Sakura, I was thinking : "another magic girl series. and this time she has a stuffed animal with her." Every time I finished an anime, I would look for recommendations and almost every time Cardcaptor Sakura was there! Now I really regret not watching it earlier. It was just so amazing, despite the fact that it was SEVENTY episodes with three seasons together. The first and second seasons were mainly about Sakura, the main character, collecting the clow cardst that she had spread throughout the world by accident. To be perfectly honest, it could have ended there, but I am ... SOOOO glad that it didn't. The third season was my absolute favorite. For three reasons: (1) it had A LOT of character development (2) a hint of romance (the kiddy kind, but it worked) and (3) because it had so many unexpected turn of events. (I won't tell you because I don't want to spoil it.)
But either way, Cardcaptor Sakura is an anime that ANYONE and I mean ANYONE can enjoy, regardless of age or gender.

Story: 10/10

There's just no way to NOT give Cardcaptor Sakura a 10.
In the first few episodes, it starts off like any magic girl series where the heroine is having her normal life until she accidently releases/does something, giving her magical powers, and then she must do certain things to make up for her mistakes/ help the world. That is definitely the case in this anime, however, it has several twists and cliffhangers making it equally addicting and enjoyable.
Like any magical girl series, there is some sort of transformation needed for the heroine to use magic, but I like how in Cardcaptor Sakura that there is no extremely long three-minute transformation of clothing (which I usually skip over in ANY series). all that she needs to change is her key, by making it into a wand, a LOT shorter than your average transformation (you know, the EXTREMELY annoying ones.)
Throughout the series, there are a TON of cliffhangers and completely unpredictable events. Cardcaptor Sakura has the ability to make every character, regardless of whether it was a friend or brother or even a DEAD person, somehow important. (For example, a two certain characters I felt had no essential role in the series, so Ididn't really pay attention to them. BIG MISTAKE. in the end, their roles were SOOO huge.)
For those of you who enjoy romance, you might want to try this one out. Yes, the main character is a FOURTH/FIFTH grader, so it is the rather kiddish kind, but the directors of this anime still somehow manage to make it work. There is one MAIN love triangle. One of those guys is the older, nice, and basically "perfect" guy in any anime (well, if you watch all three seasons, that decription is not ENTIRELY accurate, but on technicalities, it's true) and the other one is the same age as Sakura who is the outside "cool and mean" character and inside "extremely kind and secretly has a crush on the airhead" guy who first competes with Sakura, but eventually comes to like her and even love her. So the romance, isn't that intense, mature, dramatic type that most people like, but either way, I'm sure you will enjoy this one as much as I did.
Throughout the series, Sakura's main goal is to collect all of the clow cards and eventually become their official new master. She catches/changes about one card per episode, and the series goes at a pretty fast pace. The story takes place for about 1-3 years. (never clearly states).
I was slightly disappointed with the ending, for certain reasons, but that's just my PERSONAL opinion. Even with the ending after finishing this anime, I was a little bit depressed because it was OVER!!!! :'(
The story was sometimes slightly confusing, but I really liked how piece by piece everything became clearer and clearer.
I was rather vague in the story because I didn't want to spoil anything (it is WAY more enjoyable when you're clueless about what's going to happen), but I hope I was SOMEHOW helpful.

Art 9/10

Well, the art is a rather old style, but it has its own unique flares, so it's pretty good. This was one of the only series that I've watched where the heroine has pretty short hair. (pretty short meaning barely goes past her ears, except for a few stray hairs.) but I liked how the artists drew Sakura. They had a constant cute and kiddish theme going on that was pretty comfortable to look at with her several outfits, provided by her friend Tomoyo.
The artists also are very detailed in backgrounds, dress wrinkles, hair textures, tree bark, metal dents, etc, etc. (well, I suppose a lot of anime is, but Cardcaptor Sakura did a pretty good job, considering it was made a LONG time ago.)


Sound 10/10
I loved every single song in this anime. ALL THREE seasons. They were really good when putting sound effects and dramatic flares in it. I don't have any complaints about it.

Characters 10/10

This anime had A LOT of character development, especially in the second and third seasons.

Sakura: the main character. Your average heroine who is inhumanly kind, the one who has to save everyone and the one almost everyone absolutely loves. and if they don't like her at first, they grow to love her! Sakura is a fourth grader who has lost her mother and lives with her slightly mean big brother and extremely kind father. She is the one who the story revolves around and needs. She has a crush on Yukito, not knowing that someone else is always watching her from afar, wishing that he could confess. (well in the third season, anyway.) The only thing about her that I didn't like was because of the fact that she was absolutely terrified of ghosts. IT got slightly annoying after a while....

Other characters have roles as well (OBVIOUSLY) and like I said earlier, they ALL have some sort of essential part in the story that is needed.

Shaoran/Syaoran/XiaoLang (different ways of saying/spelling): the mean character who secretly has a crush on Sakura. (in third season) Also gifted with magical powers due to his shared blood with Clow Reed (the creator of the cards). I felt that he was rather strange, but it's later revealed WHY he is so....emotionless/mean/strange.

Yukito: the other half of the love triangle in which Sakura has the school girl crush on. (he's the same age as her older brother, who's in high school). Warning right now: Yukito is not a character to be ignored!!!!!
ANYWAY, he has an extremely kind personality and an apetite as big as an elephant. Strangely enough, he's never fat, despite the fact that he eats a TON and I mean, A TON of food to satisfy his never ending hunger and....something else (SPOILED, if told).

Tomoyo: the slightly stalkerish best friend who always videotapes Sakura, regardless of event or time. She make outfits for Sakura to wear throughout, so Sakura is almost always wearing an outfit made by her when battling.

Toya: big brother, calls Sakura "monster" a lot and has some abilities as well, that no one except two or three people know about.

Keroberos (Kero-chan): the heroine's companion and the beast of the seal trapped in a plush toy form. Helps Sakura throughout the story, playing a crucial role.

Erm....well, there are a ton of other characters, but I feel that the ones above are probably the ones that should be focused on most.

Enjoyment 10/10

I enjoyed every single episode in this series. (well, after the second.)
I have no doubt that anyone can enjoy this truly unique anime.

Overall 10/10

Cardcaptor Sakura is a truly magnificent piece that I'm sure you will enjoy. My review has been rather vague, but I hope it was slightly helpful at least. THanks for reading! (Note: my third review, so not THAT great.)

Cardcaptor Sakura is a great show, though you’ll notice that it’s really classic. I don’t watch many magical girl anime so I can’t really say for sure how Cardcaptor Sakura is better or worse than other magical girl anime. The only thing I’m looking forward in this anime is the “romance” part but I guess it exceeded my expectations positively.


Story: 7/10

The story was good but neither great nor outstanding. The anime was more episodic than I thought. You can seriously see the pattern: Sakura lives her life normally, notices a card or meets one, tries to capture it, she gets a card (at least 1 ... in every episode). Regardless of Sakura, you’d always see Tomoyo with her camcorder, and creator of Sakura’s battle costumes; Toya, who has weird abilities, shows up in a sudden in most bad timings, and Syaoran competing his love against Sakura for Yukito’s love. It can be repetitive but if you have fun with it, I bet you wouldn’t bother its repetitiveness and remain excited (even with the fillers dragging the show) for the main plot, and if you want to really get a grasp on the romance plot, you would as well.

The first two seasons seem to focus a lot on the “capture them all” (that reminds me of Pokemon somehow, lol). Although she does capture them all, there were weird points (or hints) in the show. While hinting that there is a “someone else” in the show that’d appear in the end of Season 2, it sucks to think that Kero would keep on saying “Yue” while looking up on the sky (esp. the dark sky at night) as though he is heartbroken or “I’m going to die without you-“ issue thing.

And in the third season, you can make fillers easier than I thought. The goal is to have Sakura renew his Clow Cards and in the end, it doesn’t conflict with the first and second seasons; it rather harmonizes well. Basically, that’s it but…

… the romance part has been bothering me lately. In the end, I just wanted to know what happened to Sakura “after it happened.” Although the answer may be already obvious, I just want to see how Sakura would say after “they” meet each other again.


Art: 10/10

“Why 10?” I bet you didn’t know this was a 1998-show without looking it up in other websites, right? Well, it is. Madhouse has done outstandingly. At those times, it might be one of those shows with outstanding animation. Compared to the shows around 2003-2005, you can still notice minor details (from the OPs alone). Moreover, the art doesn’t degrade as the show goes on. (Good thing Madhouse doesn’t make half-heartedly done works.)


Sound: 8/10

I love all the OPs but I, unfortunately, like (only) the EDs. (Notice the love and like relationship I used.) The OP does have the catchy feeling and the ED does have the “catchy” feeling as well but the ED was “too” jolly for me. After all, we have different tastes but most of you out there might love it.


Character: 10/10

Apparently, what I like about this show is how “deep” CLAMP showed different relationships like the pedophilic-like relationship, boy-boy relationship, and cousin-cousin relationship, making it really is great to tell the young viewers out there, “Don’t be afraid to love someone you really love.” CLAMP didn’t even mention, even once, some “unusual” words although some were obviously already suspecting other people’s relationship. So this makes their characters unique… VERY unique.

But what excites me most is the filler character, Meilin. Sure, Meilin could “destroy” the plot of the show, make conflicts or so, but fortunately, she didn’t. Instead, she played a really great role in Shaoran x Sakura, making the story deeper and “more promising.”
I’d like to talk about the other characters (one by one, perhaps) but it’ll make this review longer.


Enjoyment: 9/10

I had fun watching the show (including the fillers) but comparing it with the manga, I can say that there were other situations the manga had cases than this series.


Overall: 9/10

There wasn’t anything “big” in the series (or at least the third season). It’d be almost like anticlimactic since the season 2 ending was way better than the season 3 ending. Although the season 3 ending was somehow dramatic and the season 2 was really “revealing” or something like that, it probably is just that Cardcaptor Sakura has a wide variety.

I believe Cardcaptor Sakura to be one of the best magical girl type shoujo anime out there.

Now as someone who doesn't really watch much of this genre I don't have a lot to compare CCS to, but that is because frankly most anime like this doesn't interest me that much. I often find myself bored by what feels like the same unrealistic romance tropes portrayed in magical girl shoujo, the classic girl meets boy and immediately falls in love after some heroic type antics. Don't get me wrong, classic idealized romance can be enjoyable from time to time, but in a long series of ... over 40 episodes or so the constant fawning over each other can get repetitive. The ability to stray away from this overused trope is what I believe makes Cardcaptor Sakura worthy of high praise.

The relationships between all the characters in CCS progress so naturally and fluidly throughout the show, that by the end I felt much more fulfilled in terms of how the characters relationships had grown and matured than I have from any other romance anime, specifically in the relationship between Sakura and Shaoran.

Starting off early in the series, Shaoran is introduced as Sakura's rival, competing with her in the quest to collect all the Clow Cards. Now if we were taking the route that most shoujo seems to go in, they would fall for one another after a few episodes and spend the rest of the series blushing around each other as they fall head over heels in love. But that isn't what happens. The two start off as rivals not only in card collecting, but also in the game of love, when Shaoran develops a crush on Yukito, the boy Sakura has already set her heart on. What results is a heartwarming rivalry-turned-friendship between two kids struggling to understand their feelings of what love truly is. The transition between rivals to friends is so seamless, that you don't even notice it happening, and by the time you do, another development is beginning to blossom. The heartfelt yet realistic transition from friends to lovers.

As the series go on, you notice the two start to develop feelings for each other, even in the smallest of ways. The blooming of young romance is portrayed in such a realistic and lovely way, that one cant help but smile at every little kindness the two show each other, as the growth is so much more meaningful than a relationship in which one or even both the parties involved are in love with the other from the start. Even though the romance isn't portrayed in the typical flashy and exciting way, it is in my opinion more fulfilling than those that are, since it feels so personal and real. Watching these two kids slowly fall for each other is truly an endearing experience, and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

Another thing I believe CCS deserves high praise for is the normalization of homosexual relationships exhibited in the show. Instead of portraying these feelings in a taboo or fetishy way, they are portrayed as normal, and not treated any differently than if these feelings followed the same heteronormative path that they usually do in media. The romantic feelings that Shaoran harbors for another boy are treated just the same as Sakuras' feelings for that same boy, both accepting each other as equals on the same playing field in terms who will win Yukitos' affection. I rarely see homosexual relationships portrayed in such a healthy and seamless way in media, the only time I really see it explored at all is if it is the main plot point of the show, and the way CCS shows that homosexual relationships don't have to be a made a big deal out of is extremely progressive, especially for it's time. This kind of representation is so important for members of the gay community, because it demonstrates how love is not legitimized by gender, rather that feelings are feelings, and we can't help who we fall for.

Full of lovable and complex characters, all of which grow off each other in a coherent and flawless way, Cardcaptor Sakura is what I believe to be a masterpiece in the world of shoujo anime, and I wouldn't change a thing about it. The way the feelings of young love are so perfectly executed in this show outshines all the other romance series I have watched, and I believe this show deserves so much more appreciation because of it.

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 have an obsession with Sakura, but not to the point of general unhealthy behaviors like Yuno from Future Diary for example. I do think she's more than you'd expect, especially with episode 60 which is one of my favorites in the show.

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!

This is one of the very few animes I have seen that have a changing love triangle and that is hat really catches my heart and makes me want to watch. It changes froma sakura shaoran yukito to a skaura shaoran meilin and i won't go on from there.

Storyline: As I said, twisting love triangles behind the ever changing main story. The main story is wonderful to. Going from capturing clow cards to changing them all into Sakura Cards before they turn into ordinary cards.

Art: I must say this is one of the bestly drawn animes too. It isn't all blood this head popping off ... that. And drawing the cards themselves (not in card form) was beautiful.

Sound: The music is very suitable for the anime. Though only once did I dislike the sound and that was meilin's annoying voice.

Character: They are very well developed in this anime. They all have great personalties that suit them and their place in the twisting story very well.

I am not sure why I like this anime. The reason is that I have a short attention span - so if I were to watch an anime it should be one that constantly changes. The problem with Card Captor Sakura is that the plot per episode doesn't change much. It's always about Sakura and company realizes something's fishy, then they find out it's because of a card, then Sakura captures the card, then everyone's happy. It's pretty much like that per episode, but for some reason, I think I like it.

I did have some problems during the middle part. I started to get ... bored, until the sleeping beauty episode. That one was cute. Maybe that's why I like it so much - it's cute. Sakura's cute. Tomoyo's cute. Shaoran's cute. Kero - chan is cute. The whole thing is cute. I really like the Sakura and Shaoran love match. Shaoran is just so adorable when he blushes in the presence of Sakura, and Sakura has no clue at all. Kids. They're just so sweet. I did have a problem with the Touya - Yukito match up. Usually I don't mind guy to guy love when it comes to anime, but they're relationship just feels so awkward. Something's not right, I guess. Still, Touya is one good eye candy. As for Yukito, well, I have to say I like Yue better. He's way cooler than Yukito will ever be.

The music was okay - most of it were cutesy, like "Fruits candy" and "catch you, catch me". They weren't too cutesy to make someone barf. It was typical anime cutesy. I did notice that most of the songs were quite similar, that it was almost hard to tell them apart. There were also very nice insert songs. The Tomoyo songs were adorable, and there was this one that was played when Sakura and the gang went somewhere (that time when Sakura saw the Tokyo tower, so I guess they were in Tokyo).

It was a good concept though. I do feel that it should have been as popular as Pokemon, those clow reed/sakura cards would make a lot of good money if only there were good marketing (FYI I love the mirror card the best).

Cardcaptor Sakura is one of the best animes I've seen, but like some others I had once thought this anime would be like all the other magic girl animes and I had also thought it would take me ages to finish and it would make me loose interest but I was really wrong. I watched Cardcaptor Sakura mainly because this anime popped up everywhere on suggestions, so I decided to watch it.

The first episode, I have to say, didn't get my attention, but then I watched the second episode which then had me hooked. Episode after episode I would be on the edge for the ... anime to continue it's story and it was seriously amazing, it will defiantly be worth watching!

Rating : 10/10

I love this anime, the plot is amazing, although I had expected it to be one of yet again those magic girl serious but Cardcaptor Sakura gave me a shock when it turned out so differently, my favourite genre has to be romance, Cardcaptor Sakura doesn't concentrate on that but does include it in, which made me very happy.

The plot was different from the fantasy / magic anime series I had ever watched, it gave me a different view on the fantasy genre.

Enjoyment : 10 / 10

I enjoyed this anime so much, even though there were 70 episodes, I was upset that there wasn't a second season, normally I would have been bored when I reach the 50th episode, which happens to me all the time, but even after the 60th episode I was always waiting for the video to load and get it started. It also had my laughing out loud most of the time, especially near the end, but I have to say the ending was different in how I wanted it to be.

I'm not going to say how it ended since I don't want to spoil anything, but it had me searching for the other special and movies of Cardcaptor Sakura, I loved it that much .

Art : 9 / 10

If your one of those people who mostly love the art in anime, I'm one of those people, then this would be kinda off-putting, the art is great I have to say but there were sometimes in the anime where I had stared at the screen to see what the building / person was, but overall the anime was great. Sometimes the art in the anime would stop me from watching it but in the end I do anyway, Cardcaptor Sakura is a need to watch anime, it's honestly amazing.

Overall : 10 / 10

I love this anime, I'm sure I've mentioned that a few times, but in all honesty I wanted more episodes or even another season, I loved it that much.
Even there was 70 I wish there were more episodes to carry out the story, which would have made me even more happy.

I really recommended this anime to people who love fantasy / magic and romance, it's honestly the best, it my take you some time to watch it if you don't have much time like me, then it may take you a few days, but it's worth watching I assure you!

:)

cardcaptor sakura...i still remember back in 98 when i saw this anime on my local tv network.i was so suprised to actually watch in tv(in greece where anime arent really popular especially back in the 90s) a brand new production that was OFFICIALY(probably dubbed by the production company and not the local network) dubbed with great voice actors(most anime outside japan are dubbed by horrible voice actors.never understood why).it had a catchy op and even though at the time i was around 15yo i didnt mind its childish theme(at least thats what i thought about anime with elementary kids for main roles) and watched it ... until the middle of the series.unfortunately it would appear that it didnt have much fans in my country so i never got to see the rest of it cause the network didnt buy the rest of the series.

a week back i was googling around and found a vid in youtube with cardcaptors op!i called an otaku friend i have and he actually had the whole series in dvd so i borrowed it to watch it and see if it was as good as i remembered.now im almost 30yo and i have watched hundreds of anime,so i expected to get bored with it cause its an old anime for kids.but i was pleasantly suprised!

The thing that suprised me the most was the story.all i remembered was a mahou shoujo anime with kids and a simple plot of day to day battles.but when i watched the whole series i was happy to see that they put some thought into this story and there was a reason for everything that happened and there where also some people with shady agendas mixed with some goodnatured conspiracy!its not so much about action/epicness as nanoha or as much as phycological as madoka(the 2 mahou shoujo anime i liked besides cardcaptor) but the story had a nice fairytale-like philosophical approach that i liked,while keeping in touch with a more mainstream western idea of magic.actually i was a little suprised cause i think that elementary kids ,even today, might not really be able to understand the story as good as a teenager or an adult.it also had great comedy and sentimetal moments for all ages without being boring!so i give it an 9 objectively cause personally this is a 10 out of 10 story!

when you watch an anime and try to grade its art you should always remember its airing date.so lets just say that this anime was a major production that it appears that they spared no expences.good fps,great colors and characters designs,beautifull backgrounds and nice visuals in battles.but most importantly the characters never wear the same outfit(+1 point bonus grade!)!except their school uniforms(whitch is logical) and the Lees who only had one pair of ceremonial robes each.i even love the idea of tomoyo being a dress freak being used as an excuse for all those cute dresses sakura fights in!so its 10/10!

sound!amazing score!great,catchy and many ops and closings!not just synth keyboard music but also band and orchestra music that perfectly matched whatever was happening on screen!10/10!even today very few anime manage to have such quantity and quality in music!the sound effects might sound a little childish like kero-chans fly-by sound but i think that that just adds to the comedy element.

Dang sakura-chan is the cutest mahou shoujo of all times!her personality is an all time favorite for many anime fans!i cant say very much other than that she is an elementary school student so you cant really expect ,much or diverse, character development.shes the classic paladin lawfull good personality with tons of clumsyness and sensitivity plus a moderate dose of airheadedness(does this word even exist?i guess u get my point) that will always fight for love justice and the best possible outcome for all.shiaorun or sayorun or whatever on the other hand is a simple guy,but with a lot more impact than he had in tsubasa chronicles.generally the rest of the cast exept sakura and kero-chan are there to complete the set.this anime is primarily focused on sakura(the main hero),but you'll get the oppotunity to learn about other characters pasts,something that will make their roles and personalities a lot stronger and help them standout a lot more.for lack of better judgement i give an 8 cause in the end i came to adore sakura and love all her clumsyness and her weird faces!plus all the other characters mixed in pretty good so there was nothing out of place..

enjoyment...it has action,adventure,innocent romance,comedy,slice of life and many other themes that are mixed in perfectly in every episode!i had a great time watching this anime so its a 10/10!there are some people that will disagree but hey!this a mahou shojou anime ok?if you want something adult stronger and smarter go watch ghost in the shell.

overall this anime is one of those anime that people will remember and rewatch for many decades to come.it deserves the title of being an alltime classic.i also think that it has the same sentimental value many old and successful series have.i know i remembered the image of sakura cardcaptor for more than a decade and had the urge to watch it again after all these years.so 10/10!a great master piece for all ages with many themes that anyone would enjoy watching.plus ,even though i hate it,this anime has the original cast from whitch tsubasa chronicles originated,just think about the mage CLOW and the CLOW world.does it ring any bells?so its a must watch for trubasa fans!it will add more to your tsubasa experience.

Cardcaptor Sakura may be Clamp's best known work and stand alongside Sailor Moon as one of the most influential magical girl anime out there. The manga ran for four years and inspired several spin offs including two movies, some drama CDs, ten video games and a seventy episode anime which is what I'll be talking about today.

Cardcaptor Sakura is a highly episodic anime. The framing device is that young Kinomoto Sakura finds a strange book in her basement. When she opens it a large number of cards escape in a flash of light. Keroberos, who looks like a plush bear with a lion tail ... and wings, explains that Sakura has just unleashed a set of magic cards and this could have dire consequences if she doesn't catch them. For that end he grants her the power to seal the cards. Things get complicated when a transfer student from Hong Kong shows up with his sights set on gaining the cards himself. The storyline does change halfway through, but I can't give away how it changes without spoiling some major plot points. The story is very simplistic, but it's not bad. The premise is very creative and the cards come in a nice variety which keeps things interesting. It's very light-hearted and even fun. That being said, it does have some issues. The first is the ending, which is incredibly weak. The second is that some of the cards seem really random and have no practical use. Such as the card that makes things taste far too sweet or the card that sings. The biggest issue is the romance subplot. There's a lot of emphasis on romance in Cardcaptor Sakua. The issue with this is that Clamp is either incapable of or unwilling to write healthy romantic relationships. Most of the characters who experience romantic tension are either related or teacher and student. I'm not kidding. I'm not suggesting that no one should ever write romance that's screwed up. The issue is that it's portrayed as being perfectly normal. Syaoran and his cousin being engaged? Perfectly normal. Sakura's parents starting out as teacher and student? Perfectly normal. Clamp, this is not okay. There are many levels on which this is screwed up. Not the least of which are the moral and ethical issues.

There's a nice variety of supporting characters and they all interact well both with each other and with Sakura. Even though the story is for younger audiences the major characters get some nice development. Particularly Sakura, Tomoyo and Toya. The only real issue with the characters is that a lot of the secondary characters are pretty two-dimensional.

The art is decent. The cards have really nice designs and a lot of work clearly went into Sakura's costumes. Unlike a lot of other magical girl anime she actually wears different costumes into battle instead of having one outfit that she wears all the time. The characters do all look thin, but after watching xxxHolic the proportions in this look pretty close to normal.

The voice work is pretty well done. None of the voice actors really stand out but they all do their job capably. The music is very high energy and dynamic. It suits the series very well.

The yuri factor is a 5/10. Sakuraand Tomoyo share some incredibly homoerotic moments and it's very obvious that Tomoyo looks at Sakura as more than a friend. Flashbacks of their mothers reveal the same kind of dynamic from them. Unfortunately, they're cousins so it's pretty screwed up. Sakura also develops an obvious crush on a female teacher.

My final rating for Cardcaptor Sakura is a 7/10. If you like magical girl anime and you can excuse the poorly written romance subplots it's a good series and well worth watching. If you don't like magical girl anime you should skip it. It certainly isn't going to change your mind about them. If you like magical girl anime but the romance sub plots are really going to bother you you should probably try Sailor Moon, Tokyo Mew Mew or Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha instead.

Cardcaptor Sakura is probably the most underrated anime I have come across since 2016. People tend to misjudge the anime for being a happy-go-lucky magical girl anime. Well, this show is definitely more than it sounds and here's why:

Story: The story development for this anime was really great, even though the latter part seemed to be a bit repetitive, the overall storyline did well. Cardcaptor Sakura starts off slow, and then gets fun filled until you reach the latter half, where things begin to get emotional. This is a 70 episode long anime after all, but I assure you the story does not go down ... hill once.

Characters: Oh man. The characters were really something else. Firstly our protagonist, Sakura Kinomoto, was a gem. She has a sweet personality, she cares more for others than just herself and she handles hard situations extremely well. She has a mature attitude, and by that I don't necessarily mean that she's serious and heavy hearted, but she's earnest. Our second protagonist, which is Syaoran, is also great. He is a bit stubborn in the beginning but his feelings for Sakura gradually builds up as the anime goes on. Sakura's best friend, Tomoyo, has a calm personality and even though she does not have magical powers herself, she is an essential character in the anime, because with her, she and Syaoran and Sakura are like the three musketeers. Their friendship is strong from start to finish.

Art: The art of this show was beautiful. Even for an older anime made in 1998, the art blends in well with the tone of the story and the background art also blends in with the characters. This will surely prove you that you don't have to underestimate old anime.

Sound: The music, damn, the music. It gives away the feel of an ocean or that feeling when you look at the sea and watch the waves. The music is smooth and adds a heartwarming feel to the anime. The openings and endings were also both great.

Enjoyment: By now you probably want to know if this anime is enjoyable or not. Well, it is. This is a anime with great character development, story development and the ending was really heart-felt. I enjoyed this show a lot, right up until the end.

Overall: Cardcaptor Sakura is amazing, do not underestimate it and I definitely reccomend this to people who wants to see an older anime and for people who wants to break away from the hardcore action, blood and gore for a while. Just check it out and see for yourself.

Cardcaptor Sakura is pure love!
For me this Anime was a nice journey!
The Drawing Style has a nice touch!
And the Characters are cute as Fu*k!
I think there is no other Anime that´s like Cardcaptor Sakura!
I found this Anime while Youtube recommended me the first Opening, its
what got me in to watching Cardcaptor Sakura!

--- Review ---

... The Story on its one is very good explained as why things happen and you can follow the setting and the feeling of the characters clearly.

The Art, oof I love this Art Style of Cardcaptor Sakura, so much I even made myself a Handycase of this Artstyle, its very lovely.

The Sound, 4 real like I said the first Opening Catch You Catch Me is that what brought me to watch this anime. And even the normal Soundtrack I listen to every day on my way to work.

The Characters are very lovely animated as well, and the way they react to each other or like fall in love in each other is too good to watch.

I really enjoyed this Anime a lot and it helped me through a hard time.

Like I said Cardcaptor Sakura is pure love!

When I was young, I watched the English dub of Cardcaptors. It became a childhood favourite. I didn't really watch anime in general(especially in the Japanese voices) till I rewatched this series in the original voices, uncensored, and it what lead me to watch other great animes like Clannad, and Code Geass.

I remember the series was very boring in the end as a kid. I never realize that the third season was censored to the point of being broken, completely removing what the third season was primarily about, and fill it with flashbacks to make a full episode. Do not watch the English dub at ... all. You are missing so much.

The show is very cute, and would seem like a girls show, which it is to a point. But this show is good for both male and female, and all ages. Being a male, I never mind it. Guys, don't avoid the show just because you think it would hurt your manliness.

By todays standards, the art is just above par, but you got to remember that this was made in 1998. That was 11 years ago, and it still holds up. That is saying something. Compare to most anime in the late 90's and early 2000's, it's a stunning show. The characters are based on Clamp's art, they don't take too many shortcuts, the hair blows in the wind, people looks like they have weight them them. They really went full out. Just watch the first roller blade scene, and you would see what to expect.

The main plot isn't much to get excited for. A girl release magical cards, and now she has to capture them again. However, the real magic is the character relationship. This is most predominate in the third season. This is missing in the English dub, which is why I said the third season is broken unless you watch the Japanese version.

I highly enjoyed the series and recommend it to anyone who likes anime. I got to warn you, there is every type of love relationship you could think of other then transsexuals. But this is handled maturely.

How can anyone possibly hate a show this cute? I certainly can't. And I've yet to hear of somebody who does.

This is a spoiler free review.

*Story*

The story is basically about the daily life of an elementary schoolgirl who also captures magic cards in cute outfits in her spare time. It's a nice change of pace from other mahou shoujo anime.

For a change, it's nice that it doesn't have any villains that send their minions to cause mischief on an episodic basis and instead it's about a girl collecting cards and gaining their magical powers on an episodic basis. It's good because there's no need for ... villains and the episodic structure makes more sense since it's practically impossible to find all the cards in one go. With villains around, there's normally no internal logic behind the episodic structure.

Another thing that's refreshing about it, is that there's no transformation sequence and there's a good excuse as to why the Magical Girl wears cute outfits each time… It's because she has a girl-friend who's obsessed with her and wants to film her in the cute outfits she made (creepy!). That's both a great excuse and it also demonstrates how limited the magic powers are (meaning she can't transform because she has no card that can do so).

Speaking of the magic, the cards all have different powers and as a result there’s some battle strategy involved, based on the cards she has, versus the card she intends to capture. Nothing too sophisticated, and some of the cards’ are a little similar to each other, while others are useless in battle. But it’s still a nice touch.

On the negative side, the main problem with its structure is that it progresses very slowly and there isn’t a variety of different arcs to keep it fresh like other mahou shoujo have (ok, it has two arcs but there's hardly a difference).

Furthermore, the story is just about the characters living their daily lives, waiting to trip on a card, instead of doing any actual searching. So there's no sense of urgency and they don’t fully take advantage of this concept and go in to how some cards might’ve impacted people who stumbled in to them. Since most of them appear randomly, just for them to catch. And conveniently, nobody else gets hurt or even stumbles in to these cards in most cases.

I think this proves that the creators didn’t want the emphasis to be on the mahou shoujo aspect, but rather on the slice of life part of it. Especially since the only thing that consistently progresses throughout the series is the relationships. The mahou shoujo part of the story hardly goes anywhere for most of it and occasionally even feels like dead time..

So this is my overall impressions of the story. Bare with me though, cause I feel bad for saying this about a show this cute, but let's be honest; it's simple, mostly predictable, progresses slowly and amounts to very little. On the plus side, some of the ideas are creative and It does have a pretty satisfying ending (I'm talking about movie 2, not the series finale which was somewhat open).

*Characters*

The main character is Sakura, a cute elementary student with athletic abilities and a cheerful attitude. She also has an older brother, dad, best friend, an older crush and of course the cute animal side kick mascot thingy. We are later introduced to her rival in capturing cards, in addition to her rival in love? And there's a few more to come (not many though).

The characters do seem to have pretty simple, but straightforward personalities in addition to a quirk or two. Besides that though, they are fleshed out very nicely and their backstories are presented when it’s called for in the story and it’s not even in the form of flashbacks most of the time. So it's handled rather eloquently.

Another great thing about them is that there never seems to be any forced drama or overly dramatic moments and whatever the characters emote throughout the series never seems exaggerated. Which is something that is missing from many shoujo anime and Slice of Life in general, which like to shove forced drama down your throat every chance they get..

The chemistry between the characters is also quite good and it's usually fun to watch their personalities clash. And the more characters they introduce, the better it gets. It's also nice that some of the characters behave in slightly different ways, depending on who they interact with. They really do a great job in making you care about each and every one of them.

In addition, the characters do develop throughout the series (well, some of them anyway). Yes, the development is very simplistic, slow, and some characters are ignored in that respect. But It’s still good and most importantly, believable. Furthermore, there's even a romance that develops and it felt very natural.

Although I would be lying if I said that these characters are realistic since they all seem way too mature for elementary school students. But I guess the thought behind it is that realistically behaving kids at that age would be too obnoxious for anyone to tolerate for so long (maybe even for kids).

I'll also briefly address the elephant in the room, which is the weird relationships this show contains, like a teacher with a student or incest. Which I did find a little disturbing, but what was even weirder is that the characters treat it like its normal. That's all I have to say about it.

But all in all, the characters just feel very lively and memorable.

*Art and Sound*

I'm no fan of Clamp's artwork when it's present in more (supposedly) serious shows but for the time it was made it was a little different from the usual and it does fit a show of this particular tone and subject matter with its bright colors, pretty boys, skinny people and everything is just cute to the extreme. The animation is pretty good too and it even seems almost fluid sometimes, which is very impressive for a mahou shoujo of this length and for the time it was made. It has a bit of stock footage, but it's very little compared to most of this genre.

The (Japanese) voice acting is great, though there are some male voices that sound a little too feminine to me. The soundtrack sounds kinda corny, but it fits perfectly with the series, so it's fine. The opening and ending songs are decent pop songs and though none are masterpieces, they all fit the tone of the show and are very cute and catchy. The sound effects are excellent, they never sound out place. They sound very magical and such..

*Enjoyment*

I can't speak for anyone else, but for me it was definitely a pleasant watch. Besides, this is well known as an enjoyable anime.

*Overall* 7/10

Has a creative mahou shoujo concept, has good production values, is very good at Slice of Life and is just too cute for anyone to hate. I wouldn't call it amazing and there's not that much of a story to justify such a long duration, but it's definitely a classic.

During my childhood, I was never able to have the experience of watching most anime on TV, sometimes I would just see fast glimpses of Hamtaro, DBZ, Pokemon and such, but was never able to experience the magical feeling of a mahou shojo like this one. Card Captor Sakura has now become my favorite Anime so far since I started watching it at the age of 11 years, the age in which I was introduced to the world of japanese animation.

Story 10/10

We follow the life of Sakura Kinomoto, a charismatic, perseverant, innocent girl who doesn't excel at school and has numerous friends like the ... sweet Tomoyo Daidoji. One day, as she is cleaning and tiding up the house, she hears strange noises coming from the attic. This is where her life changes completely, as she finds the mystical Clow book, sealed and protected by the guardian Keroberus, who wakes up from his sleep when Sakura finds the book, only to find out that this also caused all the cards to vanish and disperse to different places. With the help of her new friend, she gains the power to become a card cardcaptor and the responsibilty to find all the cards.

Art 10/10
A cute, beautiful art style which can attract anyone who loves this type of anime.

Sound 8/10
I love the song of the first and second opening. There are songs and background music which you can hear multiple times and which have a huge impact in your music preferences, and this is not the case.

Character 10/10
Sakura has such a cute personality, you will never get annoyed or tired of how she acts. You will just love her and wish there would exist someone like her.

Enjoyment 10/10
This anime is pretty long (70 ep. + 2 movies) so you will have plenty to enjoy with.

Overall: 10/10
As I said previously, my favorite anime of all time. Would watch it all over again if I had the time.

A few notes before this review begins. This is a LONG review, so please read at a very convenient time. Also, this involves every single character I've used in my reviews.

I would suggest you go to my user panel and read about how I rate anime and how I do my reviews before reading this review. Thank you. Now, back to our feature film.

T: It looks like he's watched almost a month's worth of anime.
Av: You serious?
T: Yeah.
Ak: How many series has he completed?
T: 25, plus 14 movies and OVAs. He's rewatched a few of them, though.
Ak: Like ... what?
T: Azumanga Daioh, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu, Negima!...
Av: And they were all rated...?
T: 9. He has 11 different things here rated 9.
Ak: How many are tens?
T: One.
Av: Only one?! Which one? Death Note? Lucky Star?
T: Cardcaptor Sakura.
Av: WHAT?!
Ak: How come?
T: Not sure. I'm going to guess Sakura has something to do with it. That is his favorite character, after all.

NK: I hear people talking about Sakura-chan.
Av: Sakura..."chan"?
NK: Yes. Sakura-chan. Did I stutter?
T: Sorry. We were going through your anime list and noticed something.
Ak: Why is Cardcaptor Sakura your favorite?
NK: That is a very long answer.
T: You have a lot rated 9, but this is the only one rated 10.
NK; Yep. Kanon and Azumanga Daioh came fairly close, but there's no 9.5 rating, so I had to give them 9s Consider them the highest 9s.
Av: Wait wait wait. You honestly believe Cardcaptor Sakura is the best anime?
NK: That I've seen, yes.
Av: This is too much. I gotta leave.

T: Let's break this down, then. Simple stuff first. Art, music and voice acting.
NK: We need to hold off on the voice acting for now. Remind me to bring it up later.
T: Okay, then. How is the art in Cardcaptor Sakura?
NK: For its age, I think CCS is very well animated. The final episode aired in Japan over ten years ago. The cards all have fitting art and the action scenes are a lot of fun to watch. The facial expressions are good, too.
Ak: Don't forget the costumes!
NK: Ah, yes. Sakura-chan's costumes. Forgive me if I sound a little creepy, there.
T: Not a problem. I know you have the best of intentions with this anime.
NK: Some of her costumes are a bit...out there. Not quite sure what to think of them. Many of them are well designed, and there are a few that I like.
Ak: Which ones are your favorites?
NK: The one she wears sneaking into the museum was a good costume, and her costume for the school play was really good, too. My favorite is the one she wears at the Tokyo Tower Showdown, the one that constantly appears in her dreams.

T: All right. What about the music?
NK: For the most part, I'd call the music average. Granted, some of the action scenes have great music and the first opening is a really good song, but everything else seems a bit average.

T: How about the story?
NK: Uh...geez. Where do I start?
Ak: Favorite episodes - go!
NK: Let's see... The episode where Syaoran first arrives at the school is a good one, and the episode with the play is good, too. I also liked the episode where Sakura-chan was sick and still went out to capture a card. The best one, though, is near the end, when...gah! I don't want to give too much away!
T: There's got to be something there you can tell us.
NK: Ah! It involves the Balloon Card. Suffice it to say, the Balloon Card is extremely important in that episode.
T: What about the story in general? Is it too long?
NK: Not at all. No episode really feels pointless, though it may seem a couple get close. The ending is fantastic, in my opinion. It ends at just the right point, exactly how it should have.
Ak: Why don't any feel pointless? Isn't it long?
NK: Every episode has at least an accomplishment for Sakura-chan and the others, and usually each episode shows us something new about the characters. Either it's something we haven't seen yet, or it's part of the character's development.

T: Which leads us to your favorite topic, the characters.
NK: The main reason to watch the series.
T: How come?
NK: I'm going to be honest, here. The story, though very well written, can feel a bit repetitive to some and may seem like a standard magical girl story. It won't capture every audience. The true charm to Cardcaptor Sakura is the character design. How the characters act feels very natural despite the magic in the series, and their development throughout the series is amazing.
T: Your favorite character is Sakura, obviously.
NK: Absolutely. She's a very easy character to connect with, and I just attached to her in an instant. She's not the best character, though.
Ak: How come?
T: I think the better question is: who is?
NK: Tomoyo. She makes a drastic change very quickly that still feels very natural.
T: And that change would be?
NK: A bit of a spoiler, in my opinion. It's very obvious that she sees Sakura-chan as more than just a friend. Yet, when Syaoran appears...well, let's just say that her character description as being very selfless in regards to Sakura-chan really shows light here.

T: That's about it, then-
Ak: Not yet. Voice acting!
T: Oh, right! Why did you save it?
NK: I watched the series in Japanese. When I first was exposed to it, I watched the dub.
T: I take it the voice acting was bad.
NK: If that was it, I wouldn't be so upset. I can understand a difficulty in finding good voice actors, especially for children, when it comes to anime. I can also understand that some things may need to be changed due to the vast difference between the Japanese and English languages. Names, though, are not one of them. That's one gripe, but not my biggest issue.

T: They changed something else, I take it?
NK: When you go as far as to change a fundamental characteristic of a character, it changes the entire series. But the dub didn't stop there. They removed all context involving what I guess they considered "bad" relationships to show children. Tomoyo had so much of her dialogue manipulated that her obsession with Sakura-chan is just reduced to friendship. Meilin is also changed so much that her protection of Syaoran is just out of concern instead of her true intentions. These are extremely important to the way these characters develop, yet they're ripped away because of unnecessary censorship.
T: Harsh words.
NK: Harsh reality. The Cardcaptor Sakura dub is one of the worst dubs in my opinion.

T: So, summary time, then. Characters?
NK: Amazing.
T: Story?
NK: Great.
T: Art and Sound?
NK: Great and great.
T: Who should watch it?
NK: Everyone, but that's not going to happen. If you like any of CLAMP's stuff, especially Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, watch Cardcaptor Sakura. If you're even slightly interested, watch Cardcaptor Sakura. It may seem long at 70 episodes, but it's worth it. For your sake, though, WATCH IT IN JAPANESE. I cannot stress how bad the dub is.

Ak: So, do ya think this'll be your only 10 ever?
NK: I hope not. Like I said, Kanon and Azumanga Daioh were close. There's gotta be another series out there worthy of a 10 from me, but I just haven't found it yet.

Card Captor Sakura (CCS) was actually the first anime I ever really got into, though it was not the first anime I ever watched. CLAMP did a great job with the character creation for this series and the animation itself was outstanding.
I have always watched all my anime in the original Japanese with English subtitles and the choices for the Japanese voice actors were absolutely wonderful. My favourites were those who did the voices for Daidouji Tomoyo and Tsukishiro Yukito. With the English dubbed version, however, I wanted to cry. The voice actors chosen to play Sakura-san and Tomoyo-chan sounded so similar it was ... scary, unless they were the same actor and I just failed to notice. Kero-chan's voice actor was horrid, too. But I digress.
The storyline of Card Captor Sakura has a lot of themes that an audience of varying ages can relate to, especially in the categories of learning about oneself, one's inner strength, and romance on multiple levels. CLAMP has always seemed to play on these same themes in every anime/manga they have subsequently come out with, but I will always consider Card Captor Sakura as a masterpiece and the greatest embodiment of these themes.
There is a lot of cuteness, humour, and random raindrops and feathers (other things CLAMP is well-known for) in this particular series, but the best thing about it all is the way that it looks like an anime made just for a younger audience though it is actually able to be viewed, understood, and loved by anime-watchers of all ages.