Title - "Card Captor Sakura"
Alternative title(s) - You don't want me to say it now, would you?
Genre(s) - Mah
shjo, fantasy, comedy, etc.
"Card Captor Sakura" is based on a 1996 manga by Clamp. The anime came out a couple of years later. There are 70 episodes and 2 movies.
A ten-year old girl named Kinomoto Sakura opened up a mystical book. To go on with her family, Fujitaka, Sakura’s dad, is one of the professors at a university and her mother, Nadeshiko died when Sakura was only three and when Tya, Sakura’s brother, was ten. Anyway, Sakura opens up the book and cards come out. There’s also what looks to be a stuffed doll as we first see it named Kerberos, but Sakura just calls him Kero-chan since he’s too cute to have a formal name.
Fun - 9
If you can get past the flaws easily, you will definitely love this series.
Life - 9
It's a real solid keeper. Enough said.
Story - 9
It’s a simple story about a girl catching cards to save the world. There are also fun events that go along the way. If there is a general flaw, it’s that there's one reason I prefer the manga more than the anime and guess who that reason is? Mei Lin. I didn't really care about her and her not being in the manga did help the story quite a lot. Sure, I like Nogami Yukana (Mei Lin's seiy
), but I just couldn't get into her character. You know? Oh and at times, I kept having the feeling that this series could have been a tad shorter than I wanted it to be.
Audio - 9
We have music that people love. Gumi’s Catch You Catch Me, the first opening theme, is one of my favorite songs in anime. What’s even better is that there’s a Eurobeat version of this song.
The group of seiy is wonderful, though there were times that got me wondering why Hisakawa Aya-sama played as Kero-chan. True, she’s from the Osaka area and Kero-chan is supposed to speak in the Kansai - * dialect. Well, at least it works in a way.
Oh! I have to say this. This is the anime series that made Tange Sakura-san shine. She is the seiy who brought us Sakura's "Hoeee?" sounds.
Art - 10
You have your Clamp art right here. So, you know what to expect in terms of both the good and the bad. Yeah.
To be more specific, Clamp has been known for bringing out some of the best art ever. The artists have always brought out elegancy in their art. If there’s a weakness they have, it’s that at times, some of the body parts they draw are a bit too big.
"Card Captor Sakura" is no exception. The characters look really good, though Tya is the only guy who looks like a Clamp guy. The best way to explain this is that Clamp usually does not draw boys that do not have a feminine touch in their looks. The Li cousins, Shaoran and Mei Lin, Mizuki Kah-sensei, they’re fine.
Overall - 9
"Card Captor Sakura" is one of those series that is sure to keep your spirit up. There's no doubt about it. So what are you waiting for? Go watch "Card Captor Sakura."
+
The characters, the atmosphere, the voice actors, the music, every element of the series is really polished up.
-
Mei Lin isn’t that great as a character, and the series can drag on for a while from time to time.
Date of creation - 3/8/03
Last update - 8/10/04
* Kansai is the western part of Japan that includes places like Osaka, Nara and Kyto and the accent there sounds funny, yet interesting.