In the early 2000’s, many kids including myself at the time would have grown up watching “cartoon” anime series which were growing in popularity at the time. While the more mainstream titles would have been Pokemon and Digimon which still remain powerhouses in the youth market today, Cardcaptor Sakura or “Cardcaptors” as it was then called also gained a loyal fanbase. Many of these “retro” series have received demands from fans for a re-release over the years, and publishers around the world have slowly begun answering these cries. Despite not being the first international publisher to acquire the rights to add CCS to their line-up (Madman Entertainment published the uncut series in 2012), Nippon Ichi Software America is now allowing any anime fan in North America whether young or old to enjoy one of CLAMP’s most memorable works yet… at a considerable cost.
That’s right, while most NIS America anime releases are not known to be budget priced, CCS is currently the most expensive title on their store. With the Blu-ray premium edition set coming in at $199.99, DVD standard edition coming in at $133.97 and 1/3rd series DVD standard editions for $47.99, this is one of the few times where the US release is actually costlier than an Australian release. One of the more notable additions however is an English dub which most fans of the series will not be familiar with… although we will get to that a little bit later in this review. For now, sit back and ponder if it Cardcaptor Sakura is worthwhile adding to your collection.
Storyline
CardCaptor Sakura follows a ten year old girl by the name of Sakura Kinomoto, who after finding and subsequently opening a book in her fathers study sets a mystical set of cards free in her town and beyond. Inside the book lies the Guardian of the Clow Cards Keroberos (Kero) who after identifying her latent magical abilities and potential tasks her to retrieve them. It is your typical, if not a tad basic “magical girl” introduction which extends into 70 unique and distinct episodes.
Each of the cards have a particular theme such as “Fly”, “Wood” and “Sword” and for the most part are pretty diverse. With the exception of a few episodes and the final season which goes down a different route, each episode generally focuses on one card as it has an impact on the general lives of Sakura and others whom are inevitably impacted by the presence of a card. These range from one of Sakura’s friends being controlled by the “Sword” card to the characters being trapped in an endless loop during a school marathon. Despite the episodic nature of many of the episodes across the series, the quality is mostly consistent and most make for interesting watches with the right balance between the ordinary life and magical action.
Given the all-age focus of CardCaptor Sakura, the character line-up is enjoyable and kept my interest through the first half of the series at least. Sakura is an overall likable main character who offered much to the storyline through her temperment, opinions and values, stengths, weaknesses and quirks and never really became dull.
The other main characters were also interesting and in comparison from what I have watched of the English dub (Only a couple of episodes) benefited from being uncut as other characters have as well. Tomoyo (English Dub: Madison) serves as a solid character who appears less creepy than in the original English dub given her feelings towards Sakura are made clear to the viewer while Syaoran Li (English Dub: Li Showron) serves as an interesting secondary/main character and rival to Sakura. Aside from these characters, the series boasts a nice selection of recurring and secondary characters who contribute to their roles well and never really become one-off characters (For example Episode 5 focuses on the owner of a doll shop, who afterwards makes brief appearances throughout the episodes).
In terms of CardCaptor Sakura’s storyline, it delivers everything one would want for a shoujo series of this type backed up by the demand for re-release more than a decade after its original airing. It is a fun and light-hearted show the provides creative ideas and content that I feel would appeal to many different audiences even just for the sake of nostalgia. From Chobits to Kobato, Angelic Layer to Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle – Clamp’s plotlines have always been interesting to watch and read with Cardcaptor Sakura being a particular highlight.
Design
I am a bit torn about one decision made by NIS America when it came to their release of Cardcaptor Sakura. Unlike Madman Entertainment’s release which featured a 4:3 aspect ratio that kept in line with how it originally aired, this North American release was 4:3 but pillarboxed to 16:9. Not only was this a little bit more annoying to use when watching it on my computer (As half the screen is taken up by blackness), but the quality seemed a little bit lower on comparison. I was working off the DVD release however, and it is likely that the more expensive Blu-ray edition is much nicer to look at on the eyes.
Originally airing in 1998, the series is around 14-15 years old and not all series can impress even at that age. Cardcaptor Sakura is one of the exceptions, and looks fantastic overall. With consistently high animation and detail as well as strong character designs (and an important factor – no characters wearing the same attire for every episode) fans should not be disappointed.
Music / Voice Acting
Cardcaptor Sakura over its 70-episode run featured three opening and three ending sequences, the most prominent being opening theme Catch You Catch Me by Gumi, which is still enjoyable today as it was a decade ago. For the purpose of perspective, it is a multitude times better than the original English “Cardcaptors” opening HERE. All the original music returns in this uncut release and featured a well sized and appropriately used tracklist.
This release comes with the uncut Japanese dub, meaning you can enjoy all 70-episodes as they should be enjoyed: without any censorship to protect the “delicate ears” of young children and prevent raising the ire of some parents about hints towards same-sex crushes and the like. The Japanese dub still remains the superior option, with Sakura Tange, Makoto Kumai, Aya Hisakawa and Junko doing strong performances of the series’ for main characters Sakura, Syaoran, Kero and Tomoyo respectively.
One of the unique additions to NIS America’s edition is an English dub. Rather than including the infamous English dub many know and love became familiar with during their childhood, they have opted to include the uncut Animax dub which is monaural. I have no issue with Animax dubs at all, and would love it if more publishers chose to include them in their anime releases as a last resort (Eg. Gakuen Alice). However I found this dub to be pretty unremarkable, and not something that manages to come close to the quality of the Japanese option. It isn’t bad for something to watch at a later date however, as this dub is seemingly marketed as a “Bonus Feature” rather than a dub alternative.
In all honesty, with a bit of price and collection changes, it would have been great if NIS America decided to do what VIZ Media is doing for Sailor Moon, and commission themselves their own English dub of Cardcaptor Sakura.
Extra Content
Those who choose to spend $199.99 USD on the Premium Edition will also receive a Hardcover slipcase and 76-page hardcover artbook which contains full colour illustrations and Tomoyo’s diary of Sakura’s adventure. As I am only basing this review off the Standard Edition, I cannot comment on the quality of either, but if similar to earlier Premium Editions then they should be of solid quality. Asides from this, the only notable bonus features are clean opening and ending sequences. Nothing particularly notable, although this could have also come down to a resources issue given Cardcaptor Sakura first aired in 1998.
Final Words on Cardcaptor Sakura
It has been fantastic to see the fan demands to finally turn into fruition, with series like Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura and Digimon finally available once again in the international market. Cardcaptor Sakura remaining popular for so many years should be the best indication that, financial and personal interests aside, that this is a highly enjoyable anime series well worth adding to your “Must Watch” list.
