Overview:
She captured the Clow Cards, she turned them into Sakura Cards and now she’s starting middle school. However, the cards have suddenly all become clear and new dangers have appeared.
A new series of Cardcaptor Sakura and unlike other shows this one isn’t a reboot but a continuation which means an all new adventure with Sakura.
Review:
Okay, this hit me with a heavy nostalgia vibe because even though it looks quite a bit prettier and they haven’t strapped our heroine into roller blades yet, this just took me back to the first time I watched Cardcaptor. It hit all the right notes to feel as though we’d never left the series (though in its own way that is probably creating a bit of a barrier for some new viewers as a lot of the relationships are already established and basically assumed knowledge in this first episode).
The show took it’s time though establishing Sakura’s life as it stands now and ensuring each character did get an introduction even if a lot of the backstory is going to have to be assumed knowledge (otherwise we’d be in introductions forever). This meant that we were well over halfway through the episode before Sakura even had her first dream.
Still, for fans of the series, they are going to be pretty happy about spending time with each of these characters. Tomoyo in particular as the best friend (and costume designer) gets a lot of time early in the episode and it is pure joy seeing these two back together. Despite that, the reunion we all wanted to see definitely stole the spotlight in this episode.
So cute. Can we bottle that warm fuzzy feeling you get when Syaoran and Sakura get together? Seriously adorable. I’ll admit though, I still prefer Syaoran in Tusbasa Chronicles over Cardcaptor but this the superior version of Sakura. Can we get Syaoran from that series over here to meet this Sakura? That could be fun.
And finally, we get to dream sequences and magic.
Basically everything I could have wanted from this first episode. I will admit that if I didn’t have the nostalgia lens on the episode was kind of slow to get going and not a lot happened, but even then it was a fairly decent set-up episode.
Thanks for reading.
If you enjoyed this post and like the blog, consider becoming a patron to support further growth and future content.
Thanks,
Karandi James.
I only started watching the original in earnest in preparation for this, but I obviously started way too late…it’s a good thing I kind of know what happens overall, or else I would’ve been left in the lurch. Even still, I think it would be better to finish the original first, so I probably won’t take more of it on until I get to the stage where I can.
This s such a throwback first episode. The nostalgia almost made me cry (granted I was drunk off wine while I was watching ).
I was so very excited for this new show since I watched the original series a couple of months ago. I loved how in this premiere that the show brought the majority of the original voice actors for each of the characters back. It’s like I was flashing back to the original Cardcaptor Sakura.
I agree. It was great that so little had changed other than maybe looking a little softer than it used to.
Well, animation style does evolve so I understand that much.
I have to admit the one little detail of Sakura moving around that corner on her way to school without her roller blades on made me upset. But yes, I really enjoyed watching the first episode of this sequel, despite how much the ending of the original series tied itself nicely in manga form and via second movie if we follow anime-only canon. I also shared your feelings about getting tired of the CCS formula (clear card catch of the day) but here’s to hoping the new characters and Sakura’s new enemy do some interesting stuff in the future episodes!
It helps so much that they brought back the majority of people that worked on the original 20 years ago. Really great episode loaded with nostalgia.
Ooh, I hadn’t realised this has started already. I loved Cadrcaptor Sakura when I was growing up!
A very good nostalgia trip for those of us who remember the original.
I am glad to see you enjoyed it so much. It’s always nice to see a return to something nostalgic done in a very good way. I have never seen the original series, but your post for this just made me smile. I know how great a feeling it is to return to something that you really loved, and it just meets the expectations you had for it 😀
I am just hoping my current cynicism doesn’t end up making me find this show a little less exciting. I think it worked really well for me when I was younger but whether the story itself can appeal to me now is something I’m a bit curious about once the nostalgia effect wears off. Still, this was such an excellent first episode to reconnect with fans.
Hmm, can understand that. Well, I think as long as it contains enough of the original series, and really manages to resonate with the fans, I think that nostalgia effect will still remain in play 😀
This anime is adapted from the Manga clear card right?
I loved Sakura so much when I was young. I never got to find the ending when I was a kid but now I managed to get my hands on the Manga and the anime and read and watched it and loved it. I am pretty excited about this one.
I was pretty excited about this one but have tried to keep my expectations fairly low so they don’t get crushed.
Yeah. That’s always a better approach.