Cardcaptor Sakura

Cardcaptor Sakura:  C

Cardcaptor Sakura holds a place in my heart as the first show I ever was aware of having a mainstream English dub that I instead saw subbed, back around 1999, when I didn't know much Japanese and had a girlfriend who was more into anime than I was.  I saw around twenty episodes of it, and enjoyed it, though I was colored positively by her company.

Returning to a series after twelve years is a bit jarring, especially one as youthful as Sakura.  If you don't know the premise, shame on you, but here's a short version:  Middle School student and regular girl Kinomoto Sakura opens a book which causes a large number of card-objects to come spilling out, along with a plush-toy-sized winged creature named Keroberos, who explains that she'll have to become the Card Captor and recover the lost Clow Cards, each of which is a sentient magical spell.  Every episode, one of the cards causes trouble around town and Sakura, "Kero-chan" and Sakura's adoring best friend Tomoyo with her camera and massive closet of costumes must seal the card, which Sakura will then gain as a spell for later use.  Sakura also has a giant girl-crush on her big brother's best friend, and later a rival appears in Li Shaoran, a Chinese magician who also knows about the Clow Cards.

That's the plot up until episode 45 (of 70) at which point the plot does a little waggle and then creates a new 'every-week' format with a slightly different goal, a new group of poorly-introduced and explained antagonists and new emotional hurdles.

Really, the clunkiness of that transition is my biggest complaint, combined with an astounding lack of character development on the part of a number of characters, most outstandingly Tomoyo, whose portrayal, dedication and emotional makeup do not so much as budge an inch from the very start of the story to the very end.  For me this ruined any sense of joy in watching the honestly and interestingly portrayed child's-eye-view of it.  The plot, clunkiness aside, is functional, the two movies (particularly the second one, "The Sealed Card") bring the story together quite nicely and give it an adorable if innocent finish.

Cardcaptor Sakura, more than most shows I watch, is a kid's show, even compared to other shojo and shonen series.  As an adult, I find its innocence adorable, but its messages are hollow and rehashed.  Where it could have held deeper meaning and taught deeper lessons, instead it has the usual 'follow your heart, love your friends, be kind to your enemies, when life presents you with an unacceptable choice, seek a third option' that every shojo series does.

If you're looking for a cute, sweet, childish love story told in the context of one of magical girls with astounding art and costume design, you could do a hell of a lot worse than Cardcaptor Sakura.  If you're looking for a deep and thought-provoking story that deals with love and its ramifications objectively, you're better off looking elsewhere.