Cardcaptor Sakura

AUTHOR: Clamp

ARTIST: Mokona Apapa (illustrator); Satsuki Igarashi (illustrator); Tsubaki Nekoi (illustrator)

PUBLISHER: Kodansha (Japanese); TOKYOPOP (English)

FIRST SERIAL PUBLICATION:Kado Kyaputa Sakura, 1996-2000

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 1996-2000 (English translation, 2000-2003)

Publication History

Cardcaptor Sakura first appeared in the monthly Japanese shojo magazine Nakayosi. Kodansha collected the series in twelve graphic novels released between 1996 and 2000. The first English release in North America was published by TOKYOPOP from 2000 to 2003.

In 2010, Dark Horse Manga began to rerelease the series in omnibus editions containing three books each. The omnibus editions are printed on larger paper than the average graphic novel to provide a better view of the pictorial story elements presented by the all-female mangaka group Clamp, which includes Nanase Ohkawa, Mokona Apapa, Tsubaki Nekoi, and Satsuki Igarashi.

The series is split into two story arcs: Cardcaptor Sakura (Volumes 1-6), in which Sakura must capture the Clow Cards, and Cardcaptor Sakura: Master of the Clow (Volumes 7-12), in which she is the master of the Clow Cards.

Plot

Cardcaptor Sakura features a preadolescent female protagonist, Sakura, who possesses magical ability. Her touch unintentionally awakens the Guardian of the Seal, Cerberus (also known as Kero), and opens the Clow book, which contains cards that imprison magical entities of gold, wood, water, fire, earth, clouds, wind, rain, and electricity. Kero enlists Sakura’s aid in recapturing the cards. Sakura must use her magical abilities to recapture these entities while safely harnessing their power. She combines her power with that of the staff used to seal the entities back into their cards, which is formed from a key on the book’s front cover.

The cards were first created hundreds of years before by a sorcerer named Clow Reed, who called the entities forth with his magic before eventually sealing them into the book. After collecting all of the cards, Sakura must pass the judgment of the cards’ second guardian, Yue (also known as Yukito), to prove that she is worthy of being the cards’ master and will not abuse the power the cards grant. If Sakura fails the final judgment, everyone who has encountered the Clow Cards will lose the memories of the one he or she loves the most.

Within the second story arc, Cardcaptor Sakura: Master of the Clow, Sakura faces new challenges. She must strengthen her powers in order to protect those she loves by transforming the Clow Cards into Sakura Cards (also known as Star Cards). As Master of the Cards, Sakura endows the cards with power. She must transform them, or they will cease to exist. Meanwhile, Eriol, a reincarnation of Clow Reed, pushes Sakura to reach her full power.

Volumes

• Cardcaptor Sakura, Volume 1 (2000). Collects chapters 1-5. The series opens with Sakura watching video footage of her last card battle, filmed by her best friend, Tomoyo. Sakura then tells the reader how she came to be involved with the Clow Cards.

• Cardcaptor Sakura, Volume 2 (2000). Collects chapters 6-10. The field-day event being held at Sakura’s elementary school is threatened by a Clow Card. Revelations are made about Sakura’s mother. Syaoran Li transfers to Sakura’s school and seeks the Clow Cards.

• Cardcaptor Sakura, Volume 3 (2000). Collects chapters 11-14. Kero teaches Sakura how to do divinations with the Clow Cards while a card pretends to be Sakura and causes trouble around town.

• Cardcaptor Sakura, Volume 4 (2000). Collects chapters 15-18. After capturing the Maze Card, Sakura eagerly goes on her school field trip to the beach. Afterward, there is a festival at the Tsukimine Shrine, where another card awaits Sakura.

• Cardcaptor Sakura, Volume 5 (2001). Collects chapters 19-22. Sakura’s school puts on a play and the Dark Card swallows everything. The Light and Dark Cards test Sakura’s potential to become Master of the Cards. It is revealed that she must face a final judgment by the cards’ second guardian, Yue.

• Cardcaptor Sakura, Volume 6 (2001). Collects chapters 23-26. The final judgment awaits Sakura. The text reveals that the seal on the cards broke when Clow Reed died in Japan. After the trial, Sakura speaks to a vision of Clow Reed, who tells her that the staff now glows with the power of her own star, the strength of her heart.

• Cardcaptor Sakura, Volume 7 (2001). Collects chapters 27-30. Sakura discovers that her Clow Cards are useless against a new power in town. This new invading power corresponds with the arrival of a transfer student from England, Eriol Hiiragizawa.

• Cardcaptor Sakura, Volume 8 (2002). Collects chapters 31-34. The relationship between Syaoran and Sakura develops as the former takes care of the latter while she is ill. Kero starts to sense the presence of Clow Reed.

• Cardcaptor Sakura, Volume 9 (2003). Collects chapters 35-38. Yukito begins to die, as he can only exist through the power of the Master of the Cards. Sakura’s failure to transform the cards fast enough is causing him to cease to be. Toya gives Yukito all of his magic in order to sustain him.

• Cardcaptor Sakura, Volume 10 (2003). Collects chapters 39-42. Sakura confronts her feelings for Yukito only to have him reject them. Syaoran comforts her as he struggles with his feelings for her.

• Cardcaptor Sakura, Volume 11 (2003). Collects chapters 43-45. Sakura faces her final battle with Clow Reed as he reveals to her his purpose in fighting her. More secrets are revealed, and Sakura must transform the final two cards, Light and Dark, to win.

• Cardcaptor Sakura, Volume 12 (2003). Collects chapters 46-50. Relationships come full circle as each character ends up with the person he or she loves the most: Fujitaka with Nadeshiko, Eriol with Kaho, and Yukito with Toya. Syaoran confesses his love to Sakura.

Characters

• Sakura Kinomoto is a ten-year-old girl in the fourth grade. She lives with her father and brother; her mother is deceased. She is the “Cardcaptor.”

• Cerberus, a.k.a Kero, is the guardian of the Clow book. He appears as a miniature toy version of himself as the result of his drained power. He regains power as Sakura captures cards, especially those relating to fire.

• Fujitaka Kinomoto is Sakura and Toya’s father. He is an archaeology professor who discovered the Clow book and a reincarnation of Clow Reed.

• Toya Kinomoto is Sakura’s older brother and Yukito’s best friend. He has psychic abilities that include being able to see ghosts and sense those with magical abilities. He struggles with romantic feelings for Yukito.

• Yukito Tsukishiro is Toya’s best friend and love interest. He is truly Yue, a guardian of the Clow Cards, but he forgets his true identity when he takes the form of Yukito.

• Tomoyo Daidouji is Sakura’s best friend and the first to know of her Cardcaptor status. She makes Sakura’s costumes and films her card battles.

• Nadeshiko Kinomoto is Sakura’s mother. She died at the age of twenty-seven when Sakura was three years old.

• Sonomi Daidouji is the mother of Tomoyo and chief executive officer of a large corporation. She was the cousin and childhood best friend of Sakura’s mother. She is angry at Fujitaka for taking Nadeshiko away from her.

• Syaoran Li is a descendant of Clow’s mother’s family. His family consists of his mother and four older sisters, who all reside in Hong Kong. He is sent alone to Japan to recover the Clow Cards because he possesses the strongest magic in his family.

• Kaho Mizuki is Sakura’s substitute math teacher in Volume 3 and a psychic. She is the only child of the head priest of the Tsukimine Shrine. She dates Toya for a year and helps him with his psychic abilities. She is in a romantic relationship with Eriol.

• Clow Reed is the all-powerful sorcerer who created the Clow Cards and their book.

• Eriol Hiiragizawa is one of the two reincarnations of Clow Reed. He holds all of Clow’s original memories and power. His true age is unknown, as he has used magic to halt his aging in order to aid Sakura.

Artistic Style

The artists of Clamp are known for their myriad art styles; each manga series the group creates is uniquely designed. Cardcaptor Sakura features simple lines and a youthful appeal. The series is drawn in black and white with full-color covers. Movement is depicted with varying amounts of curved lines, depending on the pace of the action. The creators use the shojo conventions of full-body panels and the inclusion of flowers in the background to display and symbolize emotions. Some panels have no borders containing them; characters may cross many panels, and panels may bleed into each other. Occasionally, a panel will span two pages and include little or no dialogue.

Facial expressions are rendered in great detail, as characters’ emotions are a key part of the story line. During humorous or embarrassing moments the characters may be drawn in a style that has been called “super deformed,” which is similar to a caricature. This style has become common in shojo manga. When not drawn in super-deformed style, both male and female characters are depicted as exceedingly beautiful. The Clow Cards are drawn in high-fantasy style with great detail, which makes them all stunningly beautiful to behold.

Sakura wears many different costumes during her battles with the enchanted cards. These costumes are made by her best friend, Tomoyo, instead of being part of a magical transformation, as is usually the case in magical shojo manga. The artists have stated that they chose to depict Sakura wearing many different beautiful outfits because they felt this would mirror the desires of many preteen female readers to possess many beautiful outfits.

Themes

Relationships are a key theme within the series. Sakura prizes her relationships above all else. Every character is connected through a complex web; for example, Sakura’s best friend, Tomoyo, is revealed to be her second cousin as well. Sakura recaptures the Clow Cards in order to save her friends and family members, and it is only for the sake of preserving relationships that she battles Yue in the final judgment. Sexuality is explored through the various relationships as the characters navigate their feelings: Tomoyo loves Sakura, Sakura loves Yukito, and Yukito loves Toya.

Dreams play a major role in the series. Kero tells Sakura that dreams are important, especially the dreams of magical people. Since she possesses a great deal of raw magic, she should try to remember her dreams. Her dreams prove to be precognitive, as she dreams of events before they happen or of people before she meets them, and they give her an advantage in tough battles.

Power is also a pivotal theme. Sakura must learn to harness her own raw magical power to save the world. Each character has his or her own power, whether magical or not. The characters must master their inner power in order to overcome the darkness within their lives.

Impact

Cardcaptor Sakura exalts shojo manga, a genre targeted at preteen and teenage girls, as it adheres to its main conventions. Building upon themes and concepts established in series such as Sailor Moon (1992-1997), which has been credited with popularizing shojo manga worldwide, Cardcaptor Sakura encourages girls to fulfill their dreams and desires by learning to exercise their agency through their inner power. The story goes beyond the action sequences of capturing the cards, exploring relationships and emotions that emulate the shojo genre ideals.

Cardcaptor Sakura became a global hit essentially because it provided its female readers with a protagonist to whom they could relate intensely. Whether through her inner struggles with power and agency or through her emerging maturity in exploring love, Sakura becomes a character to whom readers could relate. The series’ multicultural approach has made it appealing to preadolescent girls around the world. In addition, the series explores questions of sexual identity faced by many preadolescent female readers. Sakura explores sexual identity through her first crush on Yukito and her love for Tomoyo and Syaoran. Sakura is unsure whether her love for Tomoyo goes beyond friendship, and moving on from her crush on Yukito brings her attention to Syaoran. The series models acceptance for same-sex relationships and provides a safe universe in which sexual identity can be explored.

The North American release of a heavily edited English version of the Cardcaptor Sakura animated television series by Nelvana resulted in a massive outcry from fans who were outraged over the changes. These edits included changing the characters’ names to English versions, heavily altering the story line by removing character backgrounds, and changing key plot points that were viewed by some as too mature for the North American preteen audience. Pioneer Entertainment later released an uncut version with English subtitles. This incident and others made the North American anime industry aware of the fact that English-speaking fans wanted English-language releases to be as true to the original Japanese versions as possible. As a result, companies frequently market their releases as authentic and accurate manga or anime.

Films

Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie. Directed by Morio Asaka. Bandai Visual Company/Madhouse/NHK Enterprises, 1999. Sakura goes to Hong Kong and confronts a vengeful spirit from Clow’s past. Nelvana released an English version of the film that was edited to match the story line of the dubbed television series. Pioneer Entertainment later released the uncut film with English subtitles.

Cardcaptor Sakura: The Sealed Card. Directed by Morio Asaka. Amber Film Works/Bandai Visual Company/Kodansha, 2000. The fifty-third Clow Card appears and the series concludes. First edited and dubbed by Nelvana, the film was later released unedited with English subtitles by Pioneer Entertainment.

Television Series

Cardcaptor Sakura. Directed by Clamp, et al. Clamp/Madhouse/NHK Enterprises, 1998-2000. This animated television adaptation of the series consists of seventy episodes. Nelvana released thirty-nine heavily edited dubbed episodes in North America under the title Cardcaptors. Pioneer Entertainment later released the complete, unedited series with English subtitles under the title Cardcaptor Sakura.

Further Reading

Takaya, Natsuki. Fruits Basket (1999-2006).

Takeuchi, Naoko. Sailor Moon (1992-1997).

Watase, Yuu. Alice 19th (2001-2003).

Bibliography

Cubbison, Laurie. “Anime Fans, DVDs, and the Authentic Text.” Velvet Light Trap 56 (Fall, 2005): 45-57.

Ellis, Bill. “Folklore and Gender Inversion in Cardcaptor Sakura.” In The Japanification of Children’s Popular Culture: From Godzilla to Miyazaki, edited by Mark I. West. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2009.

Solomon, Charles. “Four Mothers of Manga Gain American Fans with Expertise in a Variety of Visual Styles.” The New York Times, November 28, 2006, E5.