by Jayden Leggett, Assistant Editor

A mash-up of different styles, CardCaptor Sakura – Collection 1 is probably unlike anything you have ever seen. The series begins innocently enough as we are introduced to 10-year-old Sakura, who lives with her father Fuji, and brother Toya. She has a crush on her older brother’s best friend Yukito, and her best friend Tomoyo is obsessed with filming Sakura all of the time. Before long, Sakura’s world is turned upside-down when she discovers a magical book and unwillingly releases a stack of magical “Clow Cards” into her world. Fortunately Kero, the “Beast of the Seal” (a small teddy bear-like creature with wings and a fluffy tail) is also released, and he aids her on her quest to recover all of these mystical cards.

Almost immediately after releasing these magical forces, the two “heroes” witness the first Clow Card in action: a giant bird-like creature that is flying high above her town. What follows is a very scared and reluctant Sakura managing to fight the beast by using the powers of a Clow Card, and then finally being able to capture this wild card for her own personal use. If anybody else is thinking “So it’s basically a lesser known version of Pokemon then, right?” you are partly correct. However unlike Pokemon in which it is the main character’s primary purpose in life to “catch ’em all”, Sakura (in a manner very similar to the teenaged depictions of Peter Parker) has to juggle her card capturing antics with her school and home life, while concealing her CardCaptor status from her friends and family. Naturally the plot thickens when her friend Tomoyo captures Sakura on film, magically flying through the sky…

Another enjoyable aspect from the show that also sets it apart from the inevitable Pokemon comparisons is the fact that it is Sakura herself that is the one who is in danger when battling the wild cards. I also got a kick out of the fact that she is by no means a professional, and often bumbles her way through a battle before finally figuring out how to defeat her combatant (often with advice from Kero).

Initially I found myself quite entertained by the excellent animation and the interesting dynamic created by the show’s split between focusing on Sakura’s battles with these various cards, and the various dramas of her “normal” life. My initial exposure to series was surprisingly enjoyable, as the typical “anime humor” which consists of Sakura constantly being lost in her own thoughts and then pulling bizarre faces as she is either startled or embarrassed was light-hearted and fun without being irritating, but as the series progressed there came many episodes that spent very little time dealing with the actual capturing of Clow Cards, and while at the beginning of the season I liked the split between normal life and card capturing, later episodes didn’t get the balance right and as a result I became somewhat bored and uninterested. I do not watch soap operas, and as a result I couldn’t really care less about the large majority of extra characters that were unnecessarily being introduced into the show. Sakura’s grandfather, her mother’s sister, Yukito’s mother, at one point it seemed like any minor and unimportant character was being brought in to the show for no other reason that to build a boring story around it. I want awesome anime battles, dammit! When her magical assistant Kero occasionally doesn’t even feature for an entire episode, it is obvious that there has been a dramatic shift in the focus and style of the show.

Thankfully not every episode suffered from this “soap opera syndrome”, and towards the end of the series I became slightly more interested again. The most captivating and intriguing episodes were the ones that revolved around supernatural or Clow Card related shenanigans. One particular highlight is when Sakura’s class is on a school trip at the beach, and are told ghost stories about a shrine in a nearby cave. As the children begin to mysteriously disappear and it is up to Sakura to defeat the Clow Card responsible and save the day, I found myself much more invested in the characters and what happens to them. Similarly a fight scene where one of Sakura’s friends Meilin is engaged in hand-to-hand combat against a humanoid Clow Card also held my interest, due to the exciting action on screen and good old fashioned anime fight choreography. If this element of danger or excitement were consistent throughout every episode then CardCaptor Sakura – Collection 1 would have achieved a higher review score.

As is it, CardCaptor Sakura – Collection 1 is a slightly above average cartoon that anime fans will lap up in an instant thanks to its quirky humor and Japanese charm, while the non-anime inclined may struggle to get as involved with this show as they could have if the creators only would have opted for taking the action/adventure path instead of favoring the dull soap opera stylings that seemed to dominate the majority of its storyline.

ComicsOnline gives CardCaptor Sakura – Collection 1 3 out of 5 high-pitched Japanese schoolgirls.

ComicsOnline strongly recommends purchasing your copy of CardCaptor Sakura – Collection 1 directly from the Madman Entertainment website by following this link.

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