Cardcaptor Sakura

From OtakuWiki

Synopsis

Sakura Kinomoto just happens to be an average 10 year-old girl living in Tokyo with her widowed father, the archeologist Fujitaka, and her older brother, Touya, who works at various part-time jobs. Her routines seem normal, from going to school (on rollerblades) with her wealthy, but well-grounded cousin and friend Tomoyo Daidouji, and her cheerleading practice... as well as fawning over Touya's classmate Yukito Tsukishiro! She also is a little afraid of ghosts, which could be considered normal for her... but her brother Touya just happens to be able to see ghosts... including his and Sakura's mother Nadeshiko Kinomoto, and his tales of what he saw when they were younger scared her so much.

However, circumstances would soon lead the young Sakura into an adventure she never imagined. For one, there was this strange dream, where she was standing on a building in front of the Tokyo Tower, as well as an image of a book titled "The Clow". All strange, to be sure – but soon, everything would come together.

It all began one day while Sakura was alone at home when she heard a strange noise from her father's basement study. Fearing it was a ghost, Sakura was soon drawn to a strange book – the very book in her dreams! Intrigued, she opened it and found, instead of pages, it held a series of cards. But when she had spoken the first card's name – Windy – all the cards were suddenly blown and scattered all through the city! And to top it all off, the guardian of the cards, the being Kerberos, is also awakened – and is alarmed that the cards were gone!

The situation is soon explained to Sakura – the cards in the book were actually magical talismans, each with a specific function. If they remain free for too long, they would soon inflict chaos throughout the city. In order to get them back, he enlists Sakura to get them back – a task she feels she ill-prepared for! However, the kindly Kerberos – or Kero-chan for short – equips the girl with a magical wand she uses to seal the cards back to their forms once she captures them. And thus begins the girl's adventures.

From the very start, Sakura's life becomes very complicated. For one, Tomoyo, because of her camcorder skills, soon discovers her friend's secret. However, she keeps it a secret and helps out Sakura in her quest, as well as designing costumes for her friend (she even enlists, from time to time, the help of the Daidouji family's compliment of female bodyguards to help her and Sakura). For a while, things seem to go smoothly – until someone else comes seeking the cards!

That someone is Syaoran Li, a 10 year-old boy from Hong Kong, and a direct descendant of Clow Reed, the creator of the cards. At first hostile to Sakura (and a little embarrassed whenever he encountered Yukito), the two soon find themselves as close friends seeking the missing Clow cards. They also receive help from an unlikely source – in the form of Kaho Mizuki, a mysterious teacher that came to Sakura and Syaoran's class mid-term.

In time however, the cards were all gathered – which turns out to be one of the most dangerous time Sakura will ever face – to determine if she is fit to wield the Clow cards – not to mention, as it turns out, the second part of Sakura's adventures! It turned-out that Yukito was the vessel of the judge of the Clow cards - Yue - and HE would be the one who would judge Sakura worthy of the cards!

However, a second adventure would be placed in front of Sakura. With Li and Tomoyo still at her side, she would now be faced with bonding the cards with her own magic. And at the same time, she would meet a new student - Eriol Hiiragizawa - who would claim to be the re-incarnation of Clow Reed - and along with his familiars would challenge Sakura to become the sole master of the cards - or is it in-fact he is aiding Sakura to bond with her cards?

In 2000, the series was introduced in the United States, which introduced different background music, as well as editing out some controversial aspects in the anime (some of them were shoujo-ai (lesbian) metaphors surrounding Sakura and Tomoyo's relationship, a crush between one of Sakura's friends and an adult teacher, not to mention a homosexual relationship between Touya and Yukito). The title was also changed to Cardcaptors, and a lot of the characters' names were all Anglicized (for examples, Sakura Kinemoto became Sakura AVALON, and Tomoyo Daidouji MADISON TAYLOR).

This series is based on the manga series created by the all-women manga-ka team CLAMP, whose other works includes X/1999, Tokyo Babylon, Magic Knight Rayearth, Miyuki-chan in Wonderland, Angelic Layer, Chobits, xxxHOLiC, Code Geass, and the sequel series Tsusaba Chronicle (which is a loosely-based spin-off of this series).

Characters

• Sakura Kinomoto
• Fujitaka Kinomoto
• Touya Kinomoto
• Nadeshiko Kinomoto
• Tomoyo Daidouji
• Sonomi Daidouji
• Yue
• Kerberos
• Syaoran Li
• Meilin Li
• Kaho Mizuki
• Clow Reed
• Eriol Hiiragizawa
• Ruby Moon
• Spinel Star