One of the most popular magical girl anime series around, Cardcaptor Sakura brings a smile to people’s faces.
The Cardcaptor Sakura anime has 70 episodes and 2 movies. That really isn’t long, if you consider other magical girl anime series such as the other most popular, Sailor Moon, which runs 200 episodes and 3 movies! The Clow Book boxset only contains 35 episodes, which is divided into 9 DVD discs (3-4 episodes each).
The Story:
Sakura Kinomoto, just an innocent little 4th grader, liked P.E. and hated math. Her father was an archaeology professor at the local university and she had an older brother in high school. Her mother? She died when Sakura was 3 years old. Not much is ever said how her mother died, but all that is knows is her mother was a fragile, beautiful character who shows up here and there as an angel. Nothing is ever morbid about this story. Everything is seen in a cheery light.
One day Sakura pokes through her father’s library and finds a book of magical cards — otherwise knows as the powerful Clow Cards. They escape from the book, and a cute, round, yellow character, Keroberos rises out of the book and makes Sakura a cardcaptor. She has to get all the cards back before chaos rules the world!
Cardcaptor Sakura, NOT Cardcaptors:
There’s a difference, but it’s the same main story. When CLAMP created Cardcaptor Sakura, they raised issues that normally wouldn’t be brought up to younger kids. They sugarcoat the themes like death and homosexuality (only if your little one really pays attention to the dialogue and actions and is smart will he/she know which guy likes a guy and which girl likes a girl) as if these weren’t taboo issues. However, when CCS was released into the U.S., there was heavy editing to erase or change a lot of the relationships and romances (especially same-sex crushes and the student-teacher relationships). Sakura and her characters are 4th graders, so how can they possibly be so mature? Well, the editors cover up a lot of key points in the series, and I hate that. The series was renamed Cardcaptors which took the focus of the main character, Sakura, and even deleted whole episodes from the American debut.
However, this boxset is the original, unedited version of Cardcaptor Sakura. There is nothing bad about it. As I said, everything is cheerful and smiley about it. It really is great for kids (very popular for girls!). The original music is much better and all original names (of characters and places) are kept intact. Basically, if you want to watch Sakura, buy the original version, not bootlegged copies or the American version.
Subtitles:
Depending on how you look at it, this might be good or bad. The original series in this boxset is only available in Japanese with English subtitles (which are also removable, if you understand Japanese). I like it, though, because the original Japanese voice actors fit the cartoon better (if you think Japanese actors overact, dubbed English versions tend to overdo it, too and it sounds awkward).
It’s nice, though, to have subtitles especially for the main theme songs at the beginning and end of each episode. Every other episode will translate the songs into English, but every other episode that doesn’t have English subtitles will have Japanese subtitles so you can sing along! Don’t worry, this only happens with the songs, not the series. =)
The “Clow Card arc”:
The series is divided into two major arcs: the “Clow Card arc” and the “Sakura Card arc”. The Clow Book boxset, of course, corresponds to the first major arc of the series, but only contains the first 35 episodes of the series — this does not finish the arc. The final episode of the Clow Card arc is actually episode 46, so you’re pretty much obliged to buy the next boxset (the Sakura Book boxset) if you like the series and want to know what happens.
Manga to anime & quality:
The transformation from paper to screen is almost perfect. The anime really corresponds with the original manga by CLAMP unlike some other anime/manga, so whether or not you’ve read the Cardcaptor Sakura manga books, you’re not really missing anything. There are a few important details left out from the manga, however, but only in the second half of the series. So no need to really worry about it with the Clow Book boxset. (But I do recommend reading the manga, too!) The quality is great; the animation is very clean and bright.
Extras:
After each episode contains an extra segment called “Kero-chan Check!” in which the cute little creature, Kero, explains some of tidbits of Sakura’s life, such as her costumes. It’s a really nice additional feature that you won’t get with the U.S. version of CCS or bootlegged copies. There are also art galleries on the discs, containing nice pictures of Sakura and her friends.
Pros:
Very cheerful, funny, popular, unedited
Cons:
The Clow Card arc is not finished unless you get the next boxset
The Bottom Line:
Great for all ages! A good series that teaches the values of friendship and love.
I highly recommend this series! It’s better to invest in the complete uncut version of Cardcaptor Sakura than buying individual volumes (which is more expensive). Buying the legal boxset will be more expensive than buying imported/bootleg versions of the series, but it is definitely worth the money! =)
