DGFischer

When searching the many, many creations in the shojo/magical girl genre for series which can come along and take the place of the Pretty Cure juggernaut (and perhaps make one forget that massive exercise in girl power [fat chance!]), one cannot go wrong with Cardcaptor Sakura.  Created at the turn of the millennium, CCS preceded the rise of Futari wa Pretty Cure by five years and demonstrated the power of the carefully crafted cast of characters.  CCS will have its run of three years, inspire its set of movies and specials, propel the Shonen based Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle which will have its run of two seasons, movies and OVA through the first decade of the new millennium, and will phoenix-like create a new series of CCS after two decades.  Compare.  Pretty Cure philosophy will recreate teams of precure with each season with its concept, theme, nuances as it pursues an approximate fifty-episode season (creating sparkling to mediocre storylines).  Cardcaptor Sakura offers a set of memorable, enduring personalities and weaves new plot schemes, offering new characters and intriguing settings as striking ideas for conflict and resolution skip along the various seasons.  One system removes a set of girls as we learn to love/loathe them.  The other gives us the thrill of watching beloved characters grow, mature, and become wiser.

Again, the core strength of CCS are the characters, beginning with the title character.  A normal girl in a small close-knit family.  Sakura’s mother had died shortly after her birth, and her picture remains a central part of the family.  Sakura Kinomoto is a warm, friendly girl whose smile is infectious, sure to wear down the reserves of the coolest personality (which is a key part of the over-all plot in these seventy episodes).  Her friend, Tomoyo ‘Ms. Hollywood’ Daidouji is the best director-producer-choreographer—cinematographer-costume designer BFF a girl could have.  We meet them both as fourth graders.  Sakura has a deep crush on Yukito, her older brother Toya’s best friend.  Seven or eight years her senior, but Sakura’s feelings are genuine.  Then we must meet the magical characters, Kero, one of the guardians of the mystic Clow Cards, a shrimpy little pompous runt of a fur-ball who has the makings of becoming large, ferocious, and very, very dangerous (so cut down on the pompous and furball comments, please).  Then there is Yue, who has a strikingly close appearance to Yukito … for the most obvious of reasons.  Let’s complicate Sakura’s life.  Enter the Chinese exchange students Syaoran and Meiling Li, two cousins of the ‘betrothed’ kind (at least, that is Meiling’s idea).  Both Sakura and Syaoran have the same interest in the Clow Cards, and this will make them rivals who over time learn to appreciate each other  … and that is good for a start.

The seventy episodes are split unevenly over three separate story arcs.  The first deals with the Clow Cards, a set of magical cards which Sakura accidentally unleashes is now obligated to recover.  Assisting her will be Kero, who is as helpful as anyone prone to nag their explanations rather than offer them, and Tomoyo, who is as helpful as  Cecil B. DeMille directing Batman and Robin in combatting a futuristic super-villain.  Enter Syaoran Li, an impressive up-and-coming magic boy wannabe who is after the Clow Cards and is unwilling to recognize the role of Cardcaptor that Sakura is hesitant to perform.  But the cards are recovered and placed in Sakura’s care.  The second arc deals with a recurring dream Sakura is having.  The Clow Cards are not to be just regathered, but put to use, with Sakura as the magic girl.  Kero reveals his true form, as does Yukito, who is leading a secret double-life as magical entity.  So secret that Yukito doesn’t even know about it … though best friend Toya intuitively knows and holds the secret for saving Yukito.  The last arc deals with the arrival of the current emanation of Clow Reed, a new classmate of Sakura who pushes Sakura to become a better magic girl through subtle challenges.  This all leads to a showdown between Clow Reed and Sakura.  In the meantime, Yukito politely refuses Sakura’s confession of love, but props her to be open to that true love who is out there.  Oddly, Syaoran wishes to have enough courage to make such a confession to Sakura.  Tomoyo can see the chemistry, and so can Meiling who graciously releases Syaoran from the ‘engagement.’  But will the words come out?

The animation is standard for the time, though one can see improvements in the production quality as the seasons continue.  The recent edition of CCS has the benefits of CGI … and seeing the more grown-up Sakura of 2018 staggers the viewer who first meets the sweet Miss Kinomoto in her 1998-2000 form.