The Nostalgia Craze is back!!!! It's time for Sakura, the Cardcaptor!

Hello, once again! It's been a while since I have posted anything. I'm sorry for the slow down of the publishing frequency because I've a lot of things to settle. Someone is just...I'm not gonna further elaborate on that person. sigh...may God bless that person even though I've been hurt by that person. sigh...not gonna say anymore. Oh, BTW, the MCO is extended again....for two more weeks...again. sigh...Let's move on.

I agree. Quite slick...xD

Anyway, I'm gonna write something a little bit different this time. This time is Cardcaptor Sakura!!! Yeah, I haven't watched the more recent Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card anime. Will watch when I have the time. Oh, why a little different? Well, it's because unlike the recent post on a few anime like In/Spectre, Koisuru Asteroid, Darwin's Game, BanG Dream S3, this one is an anime that was in the late 90s. Anyway, time for the nostalgia train!



WARNING:-

SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven't watched it and plan to watch it without anyone being the spoiler, please DON'T CONTINUE READING!!!



P.S. If you want to be spoiled, well, go ahead and read it. You HAD been warned. Don't blame me for being spoiled if you INSIST on continuing to read this post.

Introduction

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Sakura!!!!

The series, Cardcaptor Sakura (in Japanese: カードキャプターさくら) is a very popular series in the 90s. It started a manga series that is written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp and started serialization on May 1996.

The 1st volume of the manga...

As for the anime adaptation that happened in April 1998, it was animated by none other than Madhouse, which aired from April 1998 to March 2000. There are other adaptations of anime films, video games, art books, picture books, and film comics. There is just way too many of them to talk about over here. You can go to Wikipedia or fan-made wiki sites or just search it online yourself. The American dub version of the anime series has the issue of cutting a lot of plot essential elements so I recommend you to watch the original version of the anime series or the dub version without all of the cut (if u so wish).

The Clear Card Manga!

With that settled, let's move on...wait!!! Wait, wait, wait! I almost have forgotten something! There is a sequel by Clamp, Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, which began serialization in Nakayoshi in 2016. There is also an anime adaptation of this sequel on January 2018!!! Anyway, I won't talk about it any time soon as I won't watch the sequel series until I have finished the movies and OVAs that are in between these two. So, NOW, we are moving on. Sorry. xD

The anime!

Plot

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Sakura!!!!

The story starts with a cute loli girl Kinomoto Sakura, an elementary school student. Isn't she cute? Oh, ahem. Someone here asking me to focus on the plot here. Anyway, she goes on her normal life as an elementary school student. One day, she found a stack of cards in her house's basement when trying to investigate the source of the sound. She then reads out the name of one of the card and accidentally activates the card, which disperses all of the cards to...everywhere around the city she lives in.

The shining book...

Because of the cards being dispersed, she must retrieve the cards to prevent catastrophe with the help of the cute plush toy-like creature (that has a true form but can't transform for now), Cerberus and later, Li Syaoran and a few other characters. BTW, these cards are called Clow Cards as it was created by Clow Reed. After she has collected them all, she is being tested by Yue in order to fully become their master. And the story ends here...I'm joking! Of course, not! This is not the end of the story yet!!! The story took a twist!!!

New powers...

Suddenly, she found out that she has to convert all of the cards into her own cards, Sakura Card (as they call it). Well, she has to transform her cards other than the fact that the cards will lose its power if it's not being done. As for why it will lose its power, that...I really dunno why. Maybe because of the nature of her magic? Anyway, do give me the answers if you know. OK, back to the story! Oh, as for how did it happen? Hiragizawa Eriol, someone who is the reincarnate of Clow Reed appeared in her city and forced her hands to transform the card as she found out that she can't use the cards in her hand to resolve the weird incidents that appeared in her city. The story ended with Sakura successfully transforms all of her cards. Happy ending...with a little special feeling growing between Sakura and Syaoran. Hehe...

Sakura and Syaoran...

I have shortened the whole story as the story is WAY too long to write it out here (because there's a total of 70 EPISODES), so the basic structure of the story is this:

Sakura discovers Clow Cards --> Sakura accidentally activated them --> Collecting the Clow Cards --> Enters a new student and some other new faces --> Faces challenges to become the new Clow Card master --> Enters another new student --> Weird incidents --> Sakura converts her cards --> Convert card mission completed!

So yeah, there are a lot of details being left out here. Anyway, this story is pretty good and feels nostalgic to me. Those days where things are everything are as simple as they could be. sigh...well, there is nothing much I can about this world...Anyway, time to move on!

A dinner to celebrate!

Anime Rating

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Story (Rating: 9/10)

The initial plot of Sakura collecting the Clow Cards is great and well thought out. The adventure of Sakura's card collecting is interesting and nice to watch. The twist of the story is good. Anyway, the twist where Sakura has to transform all of the cards to be her own is a good one and doesn't disrupt the story too much. Good stuff. The story flows and paces really well. And also, the story is pretty easy to understand. Also, there is an interesting segment at the end of the episode. xD

The frozen one...

Art and Animation (Rating: 8/10)

Classic animation from the 90s. There is nothing much I could say. I dun really old animations but I can stand it at least. Anyway, it's pretty decent for anime of that time. Sakura is quite cute, I admit. She looks better in Clear Card anime though. OK, sorry, I've compared it new ones.

Pretty decent, to be frank.

Sound and Music (Rating: 8/10)

There is nothing much I could say. The two opening songs are pretty cute and energetic. Oh, also, the two ending songs are just OK for me. The BGMs are pretty good too. xD...

The 1st opening of Cardcaptor Sakura...

Characters (Rating: 10/10)

Character development is very prominent in the show. Just take a look at our MC, Sakura. She not only improve her skills in being a magic user, but she also improves the relationship with Syaoran and many other characters. Syaoran has also changed throughout the process, from disliking Sakura to have an affection on her and also, improved in his skills. There are other characters that experience changes throughout the process but I'm not gonna talk about them. Overall, the development of the different characters in this story is well-balanced. Anyway, relatability...hmmm...maybe Sakura's cheerfulness and hardworking, Sakura's supportive friend...there's quite a number of things.

Both of them...Syaoran and Sakura

Enjoyment (Rating: 7/10)

Feels quite nostalgic if you asked me how I feel if I watched this anime. The 90s feels give me a nostalgic feel that I'm back as a child again. Ahem! Anyway, overall, it was quite a good watching experience.

The cute and light-hearted moment...

Overall Rating: 8.4 (8.75)/10

Screenshots

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Tomoyo-chan...

Syaoran...

Mizuki the temporary teacher...

The final judgement...Yue vs Sakura

Eriol...

Eriol meeting Sakura...

Chating between Yue and Eriol...

PV

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There is no PV for me to show you so I will show the 1st opening sequence for Cardcaptor Sakura instead.

Conclusion

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Oh, hi! We are in the final part, aren't we? Anyway, some might wonder, "Why you dun talk about the obvious homosexual feelings and a student crush towards a teacher thing?". I won't discuss those things because this is not a place where I will talk about and I dun really care about it as I'm watching it as an entertainment. Plus, it's not important enough to talk about it. Well, that's the end. I hope that you enjoy reading and browsing this blog. Goodbye, and God bless you!

Cute Sakura for you guys before you leave!