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.)
