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DGFischer

  • Wisconsin
  • Joined Jun 14, 2019
  • 70 / M

I was hesitant about viewing Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie, only having gone into the mid-teens in the total seventy-episode series.  I felt that if I was having trouble following the scheme of the story, I could bail and watch it some future weekend.  But, I realized that by episode ten, you have the basics to the CCS premise.  Sakura, an ordinary girl, loses a stack of mystic cards and a strange critter named Kero insists that she must be the one to regather them, dangerous as this might become.  Sakura is joined by her friend Tomoyo who wishes to dress Sakura up in bizarre costumes and videotape all her adventures.  Sakura eventually gains a rival, a Chinese exchange student named Syaoran Li who is also after the cards.  The only unfamiliar character was a Chinese girl who has accompanied Li to Sakura’s school, Meiling Li, who forms a clumsy crush-triangle between Sakura and Li.  After doing a quick study, I plowed on into the plot.

Note: I watched the dubbed version, which has a certain degree of Occident-ization attached.  This is seen in the renaming of characters.  Sarura’s family has gone from Kinomoto to Avalon.  Tomoyo became Madison, Sakura’s crush Yukito is now Julian, her brother Toya Tori.  Meiling Li becomes Meiling Rae, as there will be a ton more Li scattered throughout the movie.  Not that I’m the less confused for it.  The critter Kero stays Kero, though the egotistical streak is as solid as  ever.

Once the recasted characters are under control, the story can unfold.  Sakura gains control of the Arrow Clow Card with the help of Li.  That evening, Sakura gets the first of her recurring dreams about encountering an entity in a mysterious room, one that drags her underwater as the nightmare ends.  While mulling over the weird dream with Tomoy … Madison (having a Miyuki to Emily moment), Sakura makes a purchase, which allows her to draw for a prize in the business district raffle.  Surprise, surprise, Sakura draws the grand prize, a trip for four to Hong Kong.  Father Fujitaka Aiden (Nagissa is Natalie, Honoka is Hannah … should have done subbed) can’t go, so Sakura, Madison, Tori and Julian take their spring vacation in Hong Kong.  There Sakura meets Li’s family and uncovers a link with a woman who tried to rob the wizard Clow of his powers.  She was trapped in a dimension where she plotted revenge.  Sakura’s trip to Hong Kong was part of that plot.  Eventually, Sakura finds the mysterious room where Su Yung waits to give payback to the servant of Clow Reed.

The plot, while complicated, was not compelling.  Though Su Yung is powerful, more so than Sakura, she surrenders to Sakura when she sympathizes with the trapped woman’s situation.  Once released from her mystic prison, Su Yung would drown Sakura, except for the Cardcaptor’s ingenuity.  Su Yung then resolves to dissolve into nothingness.  Hardly the way heroes dispatch villains, but I’m just getting used to the CCS Universe.

The animation is well wrought, especially the dark moments when the forces of evil are at their worst.  So much better than the first episodes.  Also, the voice casting for the movie offered a better Kero.  Still whiney and obnoxious, but in a more mellow tone.

I give some low marks to the movie only because of relative unfamiliarity with the Cardcaptor premise.  I may revisit the scores in time.

5/10 story
8/10 animation
8/10 sound
9/10 characters
7.5/10 overall
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