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.
