Cardcaptor Sakura

Ten-year-old Sakura Kinomoto is an ordinary fourth-grade student living in Tomoeda until, one day, she stumbles upon a mysterious book of cards titled "The Clow." Pondering over her discovery, she unintentionally causes a magical gust of wind to scatter the cards all over town.

The accident awakens the Beast of the Seal—Keroberos, nicknamed "Kero"—who tells Sakura that she has released the mystical "Clow Cards" created by the sorcerer Clow Reed. Due to each Card's ability to act independently and their incredible power, Clow had sealed them away. Now that they have been set free, the Cards pose great danger to the world, and it is up to Sakura to put an end to them.

Appointing Sakura as the "Cardcaptor" and granting her the Sealed Key, Kero tasks her with finding and recapturing all the Clow Cards. Alongside her best friend Tomoyo Daidouji, and with Kero's guidance, Sakura must learn to balance her new secret duty with the everyday troubles as she takes flight on her magical adventures as Cardcaptor Sakura.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kinomoto, Sakura Main

Tange, Sakura Japanese

Li, Shaoran Main

Kumai, Motoko Japanese

Daidouji, Tomoyo Main

Iwao, Junko Japanese

Keroberos Main

Hisakawa, Aya Japanese

Tsukishiro, Yukito Supporting

Ogata, Megumi Japanese

Yue Supporting

Ogata, Megumi Japanese

Kinomoto, Touya Supporting

Seki, Tomokazu Japanese

Li, Meiling Supporting

Yukana Japanese

Hiiragizawa, Eriol Supporting

Sasaki, Nozomu Japanese

Spinel Sun Supporting

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

Maseba, Yutaka Producer

Kondou, Eizou Producer

Asaka, Morio Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Mima, Masafumi Sound Director

Reviews

Jun 4, 2012

Veronin

Recommended

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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May 13, 2019

ttmeng

Mixed Feelings

There is no way any of the reviewers are happily binging on all seventy episodes plus the two movies. Much of the reviews are saturated in rosey nostalgia.

If you have the simplistic mentality and patience of a nine/ten year old-middle school student, this will seem like one of the greatest things you have seen. As a forth grader watching Cardcaptors on WB11, it was greater than Pokemon or Sailor Moon combined. Cardcaptors, despite the horrific voice acting and terrible pop music, shaved off the fluff and filler that plagued the original seasons 1 and 2 to create an engaging narrative. (From hindsight, before it ... got cancelled.)

However, if you try to revisit nostalgia as a viewer who has aged seventeen years from the age of the heroine, rewatching the entire series will be a dreadfully dull experience. This series has not aged well in comparison to condensed pacing and production level of newer animes.

Revisiting the experience requires you to turn off your brain. If you have seen any one of the episodes, pick any one at random, you will know what to expect. From one episode to the next, not much changes. There's a card that's causing trouble and Sakura has to either seal the card, or use her cards to placate the disaster. At the end of the day, Tomoeda doesn't notice that hey there's colossal damage to the pavement or to the much abused penguin slide. Wouldn't there be cops busting at the scene after each battle like at Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne?

The characters change love interests, but their characterizations remain static. There is no Ash Lynx transformations. (from Banana Fish) What I mean by that is Sakura remains a static mary sue at the end. So what constitutes for character development in CCS is: so and so shifted their love interest. That is the extent for the praise on character development. Yes, character motivations change, but for the most part the characters themselves remain static. (Other than Li Syaoran, who turned a 360 and Yukito-san/Touya-kun near the end.) Do we ever know more about Tomoyo or any of the characters outside of their love interests? We don't.

The pacing is sluggish due to the high number of episodes. It is dreadful to even endure one episode due to its abysmally sluggish pacing. Seasons 1 and 2 are plagued with fillers. There's literally an episode where there's some card making the sweets the kids are baking too sweet.

Season 3 is where the praise enters. Season 3 is arguably the best because of Syaoran's transformation. I could write an entire section on how much he changes and grows as a character. He's almost like the Zuko of ATLA. Fillers decrease considerably, and ships sail. But even then, getting through an episode is a slog due to how formulaic the episodes are constructed and how hallow Sakura-chan's characterization really is if we strip away her powers and her incessant "Hoeeees!" What hurts the series so much is how uninteresting of an MC Sakura-chan is. She's on a slightly bearable level in comparison to Tohru Honda.

At the end of the day, this is a series that doesn't try to think critically for itself, aside from the few instances of character development in season 3, not including Sakura Kinomoto. In the world of Tomoeda, everything is fluffy and sweet. There are no hardships that don't rely on shifting a character's love interest. Yes the worst thing in the world is that so and so doesn't like you back.

This is one of those series that tries so hard to be endearing but comes across as hallow. It doesn't try to hide the fact this is a purely merchandise driven series with characters that embody commercially likable traits. I'm reiterating my point again. For a series that's character driven, much of the characters remain static from start to finish. If you were to pick any episode and compare it to the end, Sakura-chan remains the same for the most part, other than the shift in her love interest.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Mar 22, 2019

Tinker_Jet

Not Recommended

As I grew up with Nelvana's English production of Cardcaptor Sakura and eagerly munched my way through other magical girl titles like Princess Tutu and Puella Magi Madoka Magica, I knew I had to come back to this one to watch it through with all of the nuances it had to offer.

What I expected and what I received are two entirely different stories.

Cardcaptor Sakura ends up playing out in a shallow way. It's not that it ends up with some great hidden truths to be discovered near the very end or that multiple stories coalesce in some satisfactory way; it's that there is genuinely very ... little below the surface in terms of story and character.

We, the audience, spend a lot of time with Sakura. Sakura is seen cooking, cleaning, and going to school, but what changes in her character between the beginning and end of the series is honestly very little given how much time we spend with her and how she's sold as the titular character of the show.

Perhaps it's a cultural thing, but there is also a far greater emphasis on physical personal achievement and capability than on anything related to the mind. Go watch the show and keep tabs on how many times it's pointed out that Sakura is a) cute or b) fast/athletic. Virtually no emphasis is placed on her thoughts or mental well-being at any given moment. She's either cheerful or she isn't and instead of letting her talk about it, she's told to cheer up. She isn't entitled to anything below the superficial surface of being gentle and cheerful.

In fact, it often feels as though she's not allowed to have her own feelings. Even young children have doubts. This makes Sakura pretty much impossible to relate to and I would dare say that she ends up being a cute, albeit magical, prop. Even the few times she's asked how she is, she says that she's fine and it's then left alone instead of being used as a moment of character introspection.

Compare the young man characters who all seem to develop every time the writers make time for them, then we return to Sakura and her delicate hive mind friends and nothing has changed. I didn't realize that character development was somehow the antithesis of solid young lady characters.

Even genuine criticisms laid out by characters within the show are dismissed or glossed over in the attempt to flip the negative into a positive, which actively works to the show's detriment. Underaged ladies, incapable of consent, being pursued by grown men aren't okay no matter how you try to spin it. The message of "love knows no bounds" ends up being one of violation from people in trusted roles, thus the show ends up reading like a groomer's fantasy.

Here, we are stuck with writers who only know how to tell love stories, which is great when we are given a love story to invest in, but most of the time, with nothing else to offer the story, they end up shoehorning in more relationships. I suppose that's done more for the benefit of fanfiction writers, but it just ends up making the series drag.

About the only things the show does well is:
- Art style. (I am absolutely in love with the art style. It's sad to see it go to waste on such a mediocre series.)
- Very little if any visual fanservice. (Props to shows that don't rely on panty shots.)
- Foreshadowing. (It takes the show way too many episodes to tap into their foreshadowing's full potential, but it is there and it is done well.)
- The few characters they actually took the time to develop.

What could've been fixed?
- Slim down the number of episodes. Cardcaptor Sakura didn't need 70 episodes to tell the story it was telling. Princess Tutu took 26 and Puella Magi Madoka Magica took 12 to much greater impact.
- Slim down the cast. (They could've basically made Chiharu, Rikka, and Naoko one character with multiple interests and still had the same exact story.)
- Slim down the relationships. (Focus on one or two good relationships instead of several broken ones.)
- More emphasis on character development and lore. Given that foreshadowing was very much their strong suit, especially closer to the end, this should've been employed much sooner to much greater impact.
- Less emphasis on moments that ultimately work out to contribute nothing or very little to the overall series. (This series had A LOT of them.)

Personally, I wouldn't recommend this one.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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