Screw lame dubs, here's the real heart of the cards

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Although, somehow I feel that I am tarnishing the reputation of Cardcaptor Sakura just be alluding to it in the same sentence as a obscurely-ruled, spiky-haired, localization-mauled card game show.

Or at least, I cannot as fondly recall my two years spent watching Americanized Yu-Gi-Oh, which has a comparative lack of hanyaa~n.

Cardcaptor Sakura is one of those strange enigmas of a show, in that unlike Haruhi, Azumanga, Kanon, or any other show widely considered by many people to be 'good', it lacks the haters, the anti-crowd that troll on a show simply because it's popular, or because it's unrealistic, flat, 2D, overly moe, unfunny, or whatever.

Doubly strange when you consider that in the scheme of things, Cardcaptor Sakura is a 'low-level' show, in that many American anime fans can recgonize and go into obsessive mode over just like any hyperactive love interest worth their salt. As with most Clamp titles, it's as good a brand name at times as any of the shonen shows like Naruto or Bleach, or maybe even other romance-style supernaturals like D.N.Angel. Pretty much, if you can find it in a public library, it's probably a 'low-level' show.

Yet, disregarding the fact that many 'low-level' shows can be good (as if this would prove otherwise), Cardcaptor Sakura lacks that kind of internet scorn given upon 'common' shows. It's not looked down upon in that haughty internet way, with nobody scoffing and going "why watch that when you could watch x?"

Cardcaptor Sakura truly is nearly a shining pillar of untouchableness, one show that is nearly universally acclaimed. It really is amazing.

Step aside, miss Suzumiya. This is the kind of reverence which at least I and some other people look with upon our goddess Sakura Kinomoto, and today I'm going to try to explore a bit into this years-old show and see just what makes it a classic.

To be honest, I haven't watched an episode of Cardcaptor Sakura in about a year now, which is probably what is driving my sense of nostalgia for this show. It's a similar yearning as one would have for a significant other of times past, except in my case I can just reach up on the shelf and grab a DVD.

(Incidentally, CCS going out of R1 print leaves me and my cheap region-free boxset in despair.)

It's funny. Rewatches, when you're a relatively new anime fan, seem almost silly when there remains to be so much new stuff out there, and even the other shows I idolize like Kanon I've only watched two times through.

Yet the Cardcaptor Sakura boxset lasted me in my earlier years for three or four watches - granted, there was no other anime at the time, but the fact that it never got old seems astounding nowadays, where shows go in and out the revolving door of obsession with startling speed.

The fact that a show arguably aimed at people half my age would be so captivating for so long, and for such a wide variety of anime fans, really is something.

Maybe I'm waxing poetic a bit too much, but Cardcaptor Sakura is a show that's deeper than it lets on; it's not just one for the preteens, but also for more distinguished romance fans as well.

It's no mindgame thriller, and it's not very unpredictable, but CCS stands out perhaps from other magical girl romances in that it doesn't shy away from what some of us, at least on the American side, would consider 'bad' relationships.

It has the teacher/student relationship (two of them, arguably), the same-sex relationship (definitely two), almost a sort of arranged marriage (hey, when you get engaged to your cousin in the single-digit years?), and more. CCS is a very 'pure love' show in that it almost says that it's not the circumstances that matter, it's not the type of person that matters, the only thing important is that the two love each other.

The romance comes from all walks of life as well. There's the improbable love (Terada-sensei), the unrequited love (Meilin), the passive love (Tomoyo), the fatherly, maybe childish love (Sakura for Yukito), the protective love (Touya), and so on.

While the main relationship perhaps is a little simple, in that 'blushing up a storm' fashion, there are so many other, perhaps more implicit, things to see as well. There are some great moments of raw emotion in the show, like Meilin's recgonition of her defeat (episode 60), or Sakura getting shot down and Syaoran comforting her in the park (episode 65).

It's just such a heartwarming show as well. Like most pure magical girl shows (Nanatsuiro Drops was an good recent example), CCS has that power just to give you a ridiculous smile on your face, just because of the way that things turn out.

The interactions between the characters range from amusing to aww-inducing (pretty much anything with the parent Kinomotos is a lock), the whole motto of 'everything's going to be all right' is so bright and radiant that combined with Sakura's (and, to an extent, a lot of the rest of the cast's) upbeat attitude that it's the kind of show that will rot your teeth and melt your heart, and you won't care.

The main storyline isn't horribly shocking, being, yes, a magical girl show of the classic 'monster (card) of the week' fashion, but there are some nice twists and moments in there. The Yue fight was brilliantly executed, if only because it did that science-fiction 'alternate universe' timeline where Sakura was defeated. The Sakura Card arc was strong, with Eriol's excellent shiny-glasses manipulation powers of Sakura and Syaoran, and the focus on converting the cards, which, more than anything, was a facade for the emotional development of Sakura into a strong-willed character.

If there's one big complaint I have about the story, ignoring any highly probable irregularities like Syaoran speaking perfect Japanese, it's that it's very typical romance in that the confession is saved until the very end.

The very end.

Like, last line of the series ever end, on Sakura's part.

It's not completely bad; the buildup to it really does wonders for transforming a simple line into something that makes you thrust your hands in the air like a football fan, but sometimes one wishes that shows like these could deal with the time after the confession as well; the relationship between a new couple is something that's just as entertaining to watch.

(Again, Nanatsuiro Drops for proof. Advertising has no shame.)

Most of the rest of the relationships get 'conclusion' in building up towards the main relationship of Syaoran and Sakura; it was one of the things nicely done in the manga, how pretty much the last chapter or two showed all the couples (Chiharu/Yamazaki, Rika/Terada, Eriol/Kaho, and...well...Tomoyo.) happily together, urging Sakura on with her own relationship struggle. Again, a great buildup, only to end in 'OK, we like each other, all's good with the world.'

Speaking on the manga as a whole, my memory of it is even fuzzier, but I hold the belief that the anime is better on three bases: 1) more of Sakura to love (70 episodes > 12 volumes), 2) I've always enjoyed animation more than stills (since I tend to power through manga too fast), and 3) Meilin. As annoying of a character she can be at times, she has some real moments and really grows on you like any other osananajimi fated to lose. Although she has some questionable entrance/exits (the trouble of inserting an extra character), what's in-between is worth it.

Perhaps one of the more interesting theories for the success of Cardcaptor Sakura comes from it having a natural enemy in the form of its highly-ostracized English dub, Cardcaptors. Since Cardcaptors the dub is unquestionably Bad, the Japanese version is incredibly Good in comparison. This is not to call into question the actual quality of CCS, but rather to say that perhaps its image has been enhanced even more.

Cardcaptor Sakura overall is an anime that I feel is more than what it seems on the surface. The characters do have more to them (i.e. while Tomoyo can be classified as The Stalker Friend, she has some much more appealing and arguably deep characteristics to her) than it originally seems, the romance is more than a straight one-relationship fight, and the emotional maturing of the characters really is something to be seen.

I don't think there are very many people out there, at least considering the audience, who have not seen Cardcaptor Sakura or at least heard of it, and there are probably even less that would condemn it, but Cardcaptor Sakura is really a show that seems like the entry gate to anime fandom; if you haven't seen it, you're missing out on the magic.

And that's not just trying to make a pun.
-CCY

Sakura: Yukito-san, hey, Yukito-san!
Sakura: Are there any Clow Cards left?
Yukito: You captured them all already, didn't you?
Sakura: Hanyaa~n