Hang on to your hats folks. After the utter disaster that Dune, Part 2 was, whereby my last remaining shred of interest in modern movies was completely ground into the dust, I decided to look backwards in time, to a completely different country, when story telling actually counted for something.
So back to a beloved anime from 1998. Cardcaptor Sakura is a Magical Girl anime about a girl named Sakura who accidentally releases a bunch of magical cards created by a Magician named Clow. The Guardian of the Cards, who had been sleeping on the job for 30 years, gives Sakura the job of re-capturing the Cards before a prophesied disaster befalls the entire world. Sakura is given magical girl powers by Kero, the Guardian and each Card she captures gives her additional magical powers.
CCS has had quite the storied release here in North America. It was released as a completely butchered tv version where Sakura plays a minor part instead of being the main character. It was subsequently released on dvd, uncut but subtitled only. Finally, it was released on Bluray, uncut and with both dubs and subs. There were other releases as the rights jumped from one company to another, but our interest here is the Uncut DVD release and the Bluray release.
I bought the entire 70 episode series (18 dvds) back in 2005. 18 dvd’s was quite an investment for me back then and I treasured this series. It was light, fluffy, upbeat and so positive that you could pour it on pancakes for breakfast. At the time, I didn’t mind the subtitle only release. This was the only way to watch CCS and so I watched it this way.
Fast forward to now. I was despondent. I was in despair. Movies were anathema to me. I was ready to nuke Hollywood as a whole and damn the civilian casualties. I needed something light, fluffy, upbeat and so positive I could pour it on my waffles for breakfast. CCS immediately sprang to mind. But I have a touch of the snob in me and merely re-watching my old dvd’s was not going to be nearly good enough for me. So I ordered the entire series on bluray. I wanted to do a compare/contrast and see if I had wasted my money on an upgraded version. I’ll be looking into that aspect next month.
This dvd, The Clow, has four episodes on it. They are as follows:
Synopses – Click to Open
1) Sakura and the Mysterious Magic Book”
-Sakura Kinomoto, a ten-year-old, experiences dreams involving a peculiar book and Tokyo Tower. After returning home from school, Sakura is drawn to the basement by strange noises. In her father’s library, she discovers the Clow Book, the same book from her dream. She accidentally breaks its seal, unleashing the magical Clow Cards into the world. The cards’ guardian, Cerberus, awakens and appoints Sakura the role of Cardcaptor – to catch and seal the cards using the Clow Wand. They successfully catch the Fly Card, allowing Sakura to fly.
2) Sakura’s Wonderful Friend
-Tomoyo meets Cerberus after she discovers Sakura’s secret and becomes involved in Sakura’s quest. Cerberus gets given the nickname “Kero-chan”, which will stick for the rest of the series. The next day, the students find the school’s desks and equipment in large piles. Kero believes it was the work of a Clow Card and forces Sakura to go to school at night where she confronts the Shadow Card. Using Windy, Sakura is able to capture it. Sakura finally accepts her role as a Cardcaptor because of Tomoyo’s support, who begins providing battle costumes for her to wear, as well as filming her endeavors.
3) Sakura’s Heart-Racing First Date
-Sakura’s class is on a field trip to the aquarium. During the penguin show, something catches the trainer’s leg and a penguin and pulls them into the water, but they are saved by Sakura’s brother, Toya, who is working part-time there. At school, Tomoyo gives Sakura and Kero mobile phones and on the way home, Sakura bumps into Yukito who invites her on a casual “date” to the aquarium. While they are eating, the Watery Card attempts to drown Sakura. For the first time, Sakura has to formulate a plan to capture a card. Using her wits and an unintentional clue from Yukito, she lures Watery into a freezer to immobilize and capture it.
4) Sakura’s Tiring Sunday
-While cleaning the house, Sakura finds two dormant Clow Cards, the Wood and the Rain. But while running an errand for her father, the two cards activate creating a jungle inside the house. Sakura uses Watery to capture the Rain Card and the gentle Wood Card yields on her own. Sakura gets the hard-earned lesson that a card is not fully subdued until she signs her name on it.
When I remembered these as sweet, I wasn’t kidding! I am talking totally saccharine here. By the time I was done with these 4 episodes, I was done for this month. I thoroughly enjoyed these but just like a bag of gum drops, you can only take so many at once.
I realize I blabbed a lot at the beginning and didn’t talk a lot about the specific episodes. I’ll eventually get around to that, but not at this time nor next month. I’ll provide a synopsis in a Details code next time just like this time but am hoping to focus on the differences between the dvd and the bluray releases. After THAT we’ll see if I can be bothered to talk about the episodes themselves. Don’t hold your breath though, I’m not feeling very “talky” when it comes to movies anymore.
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