CARDCAPTOR SAKURA : Sakura Kinomoto (Sakura Avalon in the English dub) finds a mysterious locked book in her father's study. The book strangely unlocks for Sakura, and when she opens it, she finds a deck of tarot-like cards that
suddenly fly out of the book and scatter across the city. The guardian of the
book, Cerberus (Keroberos), deems Sakura the new Card
Captor to retrieve all of the lost cards before their special abilities
activate and reek havoc on the city.
CLAMP never ceases to provide its anime with originality, careful detail and imagination. It doesn't seem like they show it, however, when they frequently reprise their characters for use in other shows, but any fan can tell you that CLAMP takes extra care of their anime and fill detail into the smallest corner. CardCaptor Sakura was one of the only CLAMP animes to be brought to an American audience for children's viewing. The show was aired on Kids' WB and Cartoon Network before being removed, and several of the original Japanese episodes were removed from the English dub for cases of homosexuality, intoxication and a relationship between a teacher and a middle school student that were deemed uneditable. There is also an implied intimate relationship between an 8th grade student and a teacher, though this never occurs in the series. All English dubbed episodes, including the unaired ones, were released onto DVD uncut.
Though there are cases where it appears the series centers around the occult (including the Clow cards' resemblance to tarot cards and magical weponry and talismans are used) people should not feel threatened by this. The material and methods of use are original and do not necessarily portray characteristics used in witchcraft.
This is a great anime to bring to the kids, though one should be aware of the uncut, unaired episodes, as the listed issues may still be involved in the show. The outfits worn by Sakura while capturing a card, made by her best friend Tomoyo (Madison in the redub), are beautiful and very imaginative, great options for Halloween costumes or cosplay outfits. You never run out of ideas. What makes Sakura's captures most exciting, I think, is the revealing of the cards in the middle of Sakura's dreamy yet simple life, rollerblading to school with her brother and his friend, then the occasional shopping with friends. It is very rare that the storyboard exceeds one episode, the episodes that must be continued into another episodes are mostly the very important ones that reveal lingering questions in the show.
Definitely an anime to check out! Don't forget to watch for its main characters again in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle.
Overall Rating:
/ 5
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