10-year-old Sakura Kinomoto returns home from a typical day at school, after having a mysterious dream about a book that morning, and hears strange noises coming from her basement, where her father's library is. Upon investigating, Sakura stumbles upon the magical book of The Clow, and breaks its magical seal. Inside of the book, she finds a stack of cards, known as Clow cards. She accidentally scatters the cards after she says the word "windy", the name of the first card she picks up.
When the wind dies down, a small yellow creature named Kerberos rises from the book. He introduces himself as the guardian of the Clow cards, and Sakura, upon scattering them, has woken him up. He tells Sakura that she must now gather all of the Clow cards to prevent something terrible from happening. The story begins here, and with the help of Kero-chan (as he becomes known), and Sakura's best friend Tomoyo Daidouji (who videotapes all of Sakura's adventures and makes all of her costumes), Sakura sets out on her journey to collect all the Clow cards. Along her way she meets new friends, new enemies, and many challenges.
Story & Characters
In compliance with Mod littlejohnny100's
request, I shall edit this review. However, I decided to make a stand, so I'll retain some of what I have written, but
of course, in a different way.
Special Thanks to david(sorry dude, forgot the numbers).
--------------------------------
Sakura Kinomoto. 10 years of age. Girl. 4th grade. Above-average on P.E, below-average at math. Friendly, cheerful, and
bright. Common, average, yet cute. That's her.
However, as how fantasy stories are made, her life changed.
Cardcaptor Sakura is one of the most loved manga/anime ever created, and CLAMP has undeniably found a gem on this
creation. Generally aimed for the younger audience, CCS' story mainly focuses on this young girl who accidentally found
a book filled with magical cards, cards that has changed her life. And since it's an accident, all hell broke loose
when she opened the said book, thus, releasing some sort of seal on it, forcing it's contents to fly out the window,
only leaving her a single card (a friend told me it's a starter set, quite common on card games). A stuff toy, in the
form of a cuddly tiger with wings, was also awakened during the process, which happens to be the guardian of the said
book/card deck, and thus, orders Sakura to retrieve the cards before the said cards make hell out there. The toy, named
Cerberus (I forgot the 'other' name, damn memory), then gave her a magical key that turns into a magical staff used to
re-capture the cards, thus, making her a Card-Captor.
The way CLAMP weaved the story, albeit aimed for the youth, also enticed the general audience to appreciate the said
manga, which later on turned into an anime. The story itself is interesting, for although the storyline is almost
similar to other animated shows, CLAMP focused a huge percent of the story towards the young heroine itself, her
struggle to 'fix' a magical (and unbelievable) accident, her ways and means to live a double-life (again, another
similarity here), so on, so forth. However, in my own opinion, the supporting characters are the ones that gained the
viewers' interest.
For example, Tomoyo Daidouji. (corrected by my bro. thanks dude) Her friendship with Sakura is quite, well, beyond the
way other normal friendships are, Tomoyo undeniably made an impression for the audience. Always shooting her portable
cam on Sakura, Tomoyo, as it seems, has a deeper sense of affection towards her childhood friend. Curious viewers even
branded her as a Yuri, although I never heard CLAMP confirmed anything about Tomoyo, creating a widespread fanbase on
this not-so-normal character. To think that her age is the same as the herione, even I can't believe that such thoughts
would be generated, to the point that malice can be detected. I never saw this kind of impression when I was younger
(until I got exposed to the net, yay), but then again, perhaps, propably, this is what CLAMP wanted, to make the viewers
curious.
More on relationships, as soon as more characters are introduced, my mind got the attention of two male supporting
characters, namely Shaoran Li and Yukito. Shaoran Li, who lives in Hong Kong, went to Japan just to do what Sakura never
imagined to do: to capture the loose cards. Of course, the poor heroine is
clueless about the transferee, because she does not even know him at all! You can say this is quite a different rivalry,
and CLAMP was sure smart to do something like that. BUT, the said rivalry became more interesting (and again, enticing
some viewer's curiosity) when Shaoran, due to unknown reasons, got attracted with Yukito, a good friend of Sakura's
brother, Tori. Catch is, Sakura likes Yukito, too! Generally, the Shaoran-Yukito tandem has attracted the attention of
many, until the reason why Shaoran was attracted was revealed later on in the series. However, the cycle of love in this
CLAMP masterpiece is woven, in a way, magically. Lots of fans rooted for it, they got it finally in the end: Shaoran
falling for Sakura.
But the Yaoi matter does not stop there. Long before Shaoran appeared (I think, for about 20 episodes?), Tori and Yukito
has already made an impression with curious viewers. The story of these two guys ain't been resolved, making some fans
want for more.
The main attraction of the story itself is Sakura, albeit a lot of viewers went extreme as to make blogs about the
supporting characters, Sakura herself got the biggest share of fans. Why not? In this world, where reality will slap you
on both cheeks, stories with characters as bubbly as Sakura will surely catch hearts. The way CLAMP told things about
her, like her strenghts, weaknesses, girly-thoughts, and her ways and means made her an ideal girl or something. How she
juggles her relationships with her friend, Tomoyo, her brother, Tori, her crush, Yukito, and her rival-turned-BF (so
young, dude) Shaoran, not to mention her encounters with Shaoran's companion/fiancee, Meiling Li. The story itself has
many heartwarming moments, making a very good package.
What's more, the supposed accident, as explained in the later episodes, is not an accident. We all know that twists
makes a good story, especially if the twists are woven really good. Even I never thought that someone would appear later
on the series that truly opened the story: Eriol Hiiragizawa, who happens to be Clow Reed's reincarnation, the master of
the cards himself.
Some hints have been given about Sakura's connection to Reed, but I'll not ponder on that trivia. Instead, I pondered on
the fact that another rivalry has ensued, this time between him and Shaoran. But at the same time, while the story
progresses, I started to understand the situations the characters had on the story.
However, CLAMP, may have or may haven't, did incoporated something that made CCS attractive and interesting: The curious
situations I stated above.
This is the point where I asked myself (and propably many fans) before:
Is Tomoyo Yuri? Is Shaoran or Yukito or Tori gay? Although explanations are
given, some curious (or should I say, malicious?) viewers still persist on these thoughts. Pondering on these things,
they even twisted some parts of the story. Even if I can safely say that CLAMP intended the story to be that way, I
strongly oppose those individuals.
But then again, it has a appealing story, one that made CLAMP very popular.
Rating: 9
Art
Art. Do I really need to say more? CLAMP is CLAMP. Although I am not a fan, I grabbed 30% of their style and applied it
to my own works (although I still suck, lol). However, I noticed that some works ain't following some proportions.
Perhaps because they are being rushed?
-Edit- Agreeing with one of the posts before this review was edited, I did skipped a crucial part on the animation: The
time gap between CCS' time and current time's animation.
Well, of course, technology is still a big issue regarding graphics, but CCS did fared well during those times. Of
course, if I'll imagine other anime` on CCS's time, it would propably go down 3 notches on their current quality. What's
refreshing on the animation is that they used a different style on the line art, while retaining the character designs
themselves.
For example, Sakura. The manga version would show a ginger-brown tint on her hair, while the anime version sports a
bright brown shine. This is refreshing, since CLAMP's style on the manga may not be applicable on an anime, unless they
will do 3D like they way Square-Enix did. 2, they also softened some characters, propably to reduce negative thoughts on
some viewers, since it's aimed generally for the youth. Let's say, body structure. The manga version shows the girls
with a good shape for a youngster, while the animated version has a more child-like aura on them, plus, they made `em
cuter.
What's truly notable here is the costume design. I think no one, NO ONE, can beat Tomoyo (okaaay, I mean CLAMP) when it
comes to making costumes for girls. And the ribbons. I love `em, and I even copied that style on some of my drawings
(although it's really hard, since my main inking machine is a ball-point pen).
Another notable thing is the familiarity with the design. I once drew a girl using CLAMP's style, and people who saw me
asked, Ano yan, Sakura? (What's that, Sakura?)
If only they did the animated version today, perhaps, it will be better. But of course, if I were younger, I would give
it a higher notch.
Rating: 7
Sound
One word: childish.
Effective for a cute story. -Edit- Although there are some things that has been bothering me about the music, some of it
a quite catchy (although I'm not familiar with the lyrics, I liked that "Candy" thing, just forgot it's real
title.) However, even though most of the scenes has music aimed for kids, some scenes truly used what's applicable on
the situation.
The problem for me is the voice-overs. Yeah, cute. However, there are some moments that seems that their voices go awry
(this is also visible in other anime, so don't get me wrong), it still matches the aimed target, which is children. Most
of the music does not match my taste, but my female friends would dance on it. Oh my.
Well, yeah, it's good for many. Just normal for me.
Rating: 6
Presentation
-Edit- I am not sure if CLAMP presented Card Captor Sakura on the way I am thinking, but I believe that they made a
story that would surely make one curious. In fact, their latest project, Kobato
(and others as well) also has some curious moments like Kobato not allowed to take off her hat. But on CCS, it's
somehow, to the point, extreme, that is, for people whose curiosity has been transformed into malice.
I don't want to argue about that observation because it did got flak (c'mon, THAT's what I observed!), but on a general
view, CCS got really good attention, not just on the common patron, but on almost all types of viewers. In general, the
story is fantasy, with good whiffs of romance, fun, and moral sidelights. But at the same time, some situations are NOT
morally good. But good or not good, CLAMP DID a good job on that part. Concept is clearly put, but after many episodes,
I concluded this is not just an average for-kids-fantasy anime, but more on a realistic platform. Humor is there,
although I can't understand some parts (like Kero getting drunk at chocolate. effect of flavonoids?! o__O) where some
kids laugh at the situation while I am staring at the T.V, dumbfounded. What's the
funny part?, I would ask myself, but not to be taunted by my younger companions, I would laugh, albeit
fake.
The story is quite enjoyable, but there are some issues regarding the way CLAMP presented the story. But this
presentation sure got the book. Impressive, to the point that a lot of anime/manga readers would surely say they know
CCS (to the point that some would even assert things like, "Is Yukito
Gay?", while I would reply, "Ask him." Really
annoying.)
I can safely say that CCS is one hell of a gem for CLAMP.
Rating: 9
Final Verdict
8.17 (good)
Reviewed by shinshinovi, Jan 22, 2008
