Cardcaptor Sakura

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Template:Infobox animanga/Header Template:Infobox animanga/Manga Template:Infobox animanga/Anime Template:Infobox animanga/Movie Template:Infobox animanga/Movie Template:Infobox animanga/Footer Cardcaptor Sakura (カードキャプターさくら kādo kyaputā sakura), also known as Card Captor Sakura (with the space) and often abbreviated as CCS, is a manga series from the well-known all-female artist team CLAMP. The anime television series (1998-2000) based on the manga consists of 70 half-hour episodes (spread over three seasons), two theatrically released movies, and several specials. An English dub of the anime series, titled Cardcaptors, aired in English speaking countries. Cardcaptor Sakura is published in Japan by Kodansha and was previously serialized in Nakayoshi.

As the series progresses, there is a pattern of foreshadowing and dreams that lead to an unusual conclusion. Like Magic Knight Rayearth, one of CLAMP's previous works, Cardcaptor Sakura is a new twist on an old genre.

Due in part to its animation and characterization, Cardcaptor Sakura has a wide fanbase on the Internet, particularly in the yaoi, shōjo, yuri and lolicon fandom.

The characters of Cardcaptor Sakura also appear in one of CLAMP's latest manga series Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE.

In 2006, Cardcaptor Sakura celebrates its tenth anniversary.

Contents

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Plot

The series begins as a simple girls' anime of the magical girl genre (similar series include Sailor Moon and Pretty Sammy). Ten-year-old Sakura Kinomoto opens a mysterious book in her father's study and accidentally lets loose the magical Clow Cards. By her ability to open the seal, Sakura is revealed to have special powers, and it becomes her responsibility to retrieve the missing cards. The task involves finding each card, battling its magical personification, and sealing it away. She is assisted by Cerberus (Kerberos, also known as Kero-chan), the Beast of the Seal assigned to protect the cards, but who was asleep when Sakura opened the Clow Book (He was on a "nap" at the time, which lasted 30 years). Kero-chan, who looks like an animated plush toy throughout most of the series, guides Sakura as she develops her Cardcaptor powers. In the first episode, he presents her with the Key of the Seal, which allows her to fight and capture the Clow Cards.

Clow Card Arc (クロウカード編 Kurou Kādo-hen)
The first and second seasons of the anime and first six volumes of the manga focus on Sakura's attempts to capture the released Clow Cards. Cerberus acts as her guide and mentor throughout the quest, while classmate and best friend Tomoyo Daidouji assists in designing Sakura's battle costumes and filming her adventures. Sakura also competes with Syaoran Li, the descendant of the Clow Cards' creator, Clow Reed, in capturing the Cards. The first half of the series ends after the Final Judgment, in which those who have attempted to capture the Clow Cards are tested by the mysterious Yue for the right to become Master of the Clow.

Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie (劇場版カードキャプターさくら Gekijōban Kādokyaputā Sakura)
Occurring between the 1st and 2nd seasons (or the middle of the 1st season in international releases), the first movie takes Sakura and company to Hong Kong during winter break. Still in her quest to capture all the Clow Cards, Sakura encounters new challenges, some of which take place in ominous dreams. Sakura must defeat a vengeful sorceress rejected by Clow Reed in the past or risk losing her family and friends.

Sakura Card Arc (さくらカード編 Sakura Kādo-hen)
The third season of the anime and last six volumes of the manga introduce several new characters, including the enigmatic Eriol Hiiragizawa. Since Sakura has now become the new Master of the Clow Cards, she must transform them under her own magic into Sakura Cards. At the same time, new strange disturbances are occurring in Tomoeda, which adds further pressure to Sakura's task. Meanwhile, Syaoran falls in love with Sakura and tries to find a way to admit his feelings to her.

Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie 2 - The Sealed Card (劇場版カードキャプターさくら 封印されたカード Gekijōban Kādokyaputā Sakura Fūin Sareta Kādo)
Occurring after the end of the 3rd season (2nd season in international releases), the 2nd movie brings closure to the relationship questions between Sakura and Syaoran, which were left somewhat unanswered in the last episode of the TV series. Like the 1st movie, the 2nd movie does not follow or adapt from any events depicted in the manga and, therefore, closes the anime series in a different manner. Syaoran has already admitted his feelings to Sakura, but she has yet to answer him. Chances become good when Syaoran visits Tomoeda from China over the summer and participates in a school play with Sakura during the Nadeshiko Festival. However, Sakura has more issues challenging her than finding the right moment to confess to Syaoran. A strange force begins stealing the Sakura Cards and erasing portions of Tomoeda, and Sakura soon encounters a mysterious Clow Card called The Nothing, the antithesis of the 52 Sakura Cards with as much negative power as all their positive powers combined.

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Characters and Cards

Technically, there is only one main character: Sakura. Everybody else is a supporting character, although some appear more frequently than others.

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Characters

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Clow Cards / Sakura Cards

See Clow Cards

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English Adaptation

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Cardcaptors

Cardcaptor Sakura was adapted into English by Nelvana and brought to the United States and other English-speaking countries under the name Cardcaptors. Though Nelvana adapted all 70 episodes of the series, about half were omitted from broadcast in the United States. In addition, practically all romantic subtext - not just the shōjo-ai and shōnen-ai - was erased from the show, and entire episodes were taken apart and spliced together in a haphazard manner. This has led to much controversy regarding the nature of the recompiled US version and Nelvana's opinions on the show's content.

Cardcaptors aired in the United States in winter 2001 on the WB Television Network during its Saturday morning block and ran for 39 episodes before it was ultimately cancelled. Cartoon Network also carried the series during its afternoon Toonami block earlier that year in June (however airing only the first season just once and never mentioning it again). These airings showed the edited US version, where its sporadic episode ordering and scene splicing resulted in giving the series a somewhat disjointed plot.

The goal of further editing the series was ostensibly to make Cardcaptors more appealing to American teenage boys, as there was a conception that, with the exception of Sailor Moon, girl-oriented series (or action/suspense-lacking series) would not succeed. Considering this motive, it is not surprising that the US adaptation of the series was almost completely reviled by viewers of the original. Most of the websites related to Cardcaptors are "flame sites" (some referring to the adapation as Card-Craptors) devoted to revealing the advantages of the uncensored version over the US version.

Despite the abundant flame sites against Cardcaptors, there are many viewers who do not see a problem in the editing and major changes to the series (most have maintained their opinions even after viewing the uncut version). Few websites are still available online that are "pro-Cardcaptors" and provide extensive information with this variation along with the original.

In other English-speaking countries (i.e. Canada, Australia, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom), Cardcaptors ran in a more complete form, with all 70 episodes being shown in its original order (though still in an edited form because of culture and political issues), in some cases eschewing the English opening and closing themes in favor of dubbed versions of the original themes (however, Australia and India received the original titles in their distributions, with dubbed versions of at least 4 of the 6 title/credit songs). The DVD release of Cardcaptors was cancelled after the ninth volume (the beginning of the second arc), but Pioneer has released an uncut, subtitled version of the show on DVD that ran all 70 episodes on 18 discs.

The two movies have also been dubbed into English, and currently both the Cardcaptor Sakura version and the Cardcaptors version of the first movie can be found on the same DVD. The only major difference between the two versions is the dialogue. The second movie is more faithful to the original, as a different company was responsible for dubbing and did not adhere to any censorship standards (the fact that the second movie was not meant to be a TV release could be a factor). All of the original names and much of the original dialogue were retained, and an entirely different voice cast than that of Cardcaptors was hired.

In addition to its negative reviews, Cardcaptors merchandise was not widely received as certain parents were concerned that, as the Clow Cards vaguely resembled tarot cards, the series could be seen as promoting witchcraft or the occult. The concern was so great that, when Cardcaptors toys were released at Taco Bell during a promotion in 2002, two of the four (Sakura's "tarot-like" Clow Book, and Li's Lasin Board) toys were pulled within a week of release due to articles published by Christian groups. Some fans have written that they have noticed that the SHADOW Card has a robed figure on the face and that some tarot cards have depicted DEATH as wearing a similar robe. There is also the SWORD Card, which is a suit in tarot cards (i.e. the ace of swords, the king of swords, etc.).

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Plot Synopsis

"Expect the unexpected," is one of the key phrases of Keroberos, guardian of the Clow Cards. One fateful day, ten-year-old Sakura Avalon opens a mysterious book in her basement, releasing all but one of the Cards all throughout Readington. The scattering of the Clow Cards also awakens Kero, who declares Sakura as the Cardcaptor, destined to recapture all the Cards.

Sakura encounters further challenges during her mission when exchange students Li Showron and Meilin Rae transfer to Readington Elementary and play rival to Sakura in her quest. Li is a descendant of Clow Reed and claims to be the only person who can understand and bear the true knowledge of the Clow Cards.

Whether sometimes rivals or allies, Sakura and Li aim to recapture all the Clow Cards before they wreak havoc upon the world.

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English Manga

The manga was translated into English by TOKYOPOP (Formerly Mixx). Characters kept their Japanese names in the translated manga, however Yukito's nickname, Yuki, which is used by only Toya in the original version, is used by the entire cast in the English version. Plotwise, the manga is mostly unchanged from the original.

The earlier edition of the first six volumes were flipped to read left to right, while the later six volumes, released under the name Cardcaptor Sakura: Master of the Clow, read the original right-to-left way. The original six volumes were later re-released in the original right-to-left format with the same cover style as the latter six volumes.

Kodansha also published bilingual editions of the manga to help Japanese children learn English. Many English-reading fans preferred the paper quality and translations of these editions to the TOKYOPOP editions. Kodansha stopped publishing the editions when it was found that English-speakers in North America imported Kodansha's translations ahead of TOKYOPOP's releases and did not buy TOKYOPOP's releases. Therefore, only TOKYOPOP has all of the volumes translated.

The North American translation is imported to Australia by Madman Entertainment.

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Media Information

See Cardcaptor Sakura Seiyuu for voice casting

See List of Cardcaptor Sakura episodes for episode titles

See Cardcaptor Sakura media information for:

  • Theme songs
  • Broadcasting
    • Other language adaptations
  • International titles
  • Episode directors
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Controversy

Although written for a wide audience, including teen and pre-teen readers, the Cardcaptor Sakura manga touches on a number of topics that have been the subject of some small controversies in the United States. This has led some to suggest that parents with 'conservative' views might want to read the books themselves before allowing their children to read them.

However, the majority opinion is that most parents will find little or nothing objectionable, and the books have received an A 'All Ages' age recommendation in the United States.

Issues include:

  • The inclusion of homosexual and sexually 'gray' characters
  • Non-sexual same-sex relationships
  • Magic, sorcery and witchcraft
  • Pre-teen romance and dating
  • Teacher–student romance and dating
  • The death of family members
  • Mild peril, including attempted drowning

Many of these elements (including homosexuality and student-teacher romance) were removed from the anime when it was adapted into English, on the grounds that they were not suitable for the age group to which the series was being marketed.

Other elements (specifically those involving the death of family members or issues of peril) were retained, but were edited during dubbing, so as to lessen their emotional impact.

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External links

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Official sites

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Fan sites

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