- Episodes : 22
- Genre : Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Magic, Romance, Shoujo
- Airing Date : Jan 7, 2018 -Jun 10, 2018
- Producers : Madhouse
Contains Spoilers
Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen Introduction
It has been 2 years since the original Cardcaptor Sakura, and 18 years in the real world. Sakura and her classmates are now in junior high and all seems normal. But all of that changes when Sakura’s cards have lost their magic and she has to re-claim them once again as newly powered cards, or the titular clear cards. While all of this is happening, Akiho, a new girl has transferred and has moved into Eriol’s old home, and Li is back from Hong Kong to help out once again. However, Sakura and Li are not alone as Kero and Yue do what they can to make sure Sakura can contain the power of the new clear cards.
What We Liked About Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen
If you’ve seen the first series, then you’re stepping into familiar territory but with new decorations. If you haven’t, while it isn’t 100% necessary, it can help. The character designs are more or less in-tune with Clamp’s art style and the original series, and the coloring has a much lighter tone in comparison to the darker resolution in the first series. The featured child characters are given the appropriate growth spurt between the original series and now, the new uniforms are nice, and the environments perfectly capture urban life in Japan.
Why You Should Watch Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen
1. You really don’t need to watch the first series
The series does a good job of being a soft reboot and as a sequel to the original. So if you haven’t seen the original, it is fine to a certain extent. However, watching the original will provide more useful information in regards to certain characters such as Yue/Yukito and Eriol. Other than that, the returning supporting cast sticks to their guns.
Tomoyo still enjoys video recording Sakura’s quest in capturing the cards, Sakura’s brother Touya has regained his powers to sense things, Kero and Yue still provide whatever guidance they can, and Li is progressively becoming more open with his feelings towards Sakura as he supports her.
2. The original voice cast is back
In other good news, the entire Japanese voice cast from the original series is back to reprise their roles. Sakura Tange still does a great job of capturing Sakura Kinomoto’s quirky voices like "waeeee" to express shock. Junko Iwao as Tomoyo has a very high-pitched and elegant voice to reflect her upbringing and her eccentric attraction to Sakura. Aya Hisakawa as Kero-chan is still as energetic as ever and still uses her native Osaka dialect to portray him.
3. You get some new cards
While a good percentage of the cards in this one are a sharper rehash of the original (especially in regards to earth, fire, wind, and water), there are some new cards that are introduced. One new card we enjoyed is the Record card, which represents an old style camera. It can help the user see the past of a certain environment and is used to help Sakura connect with the childhood memories of her mother.
Why You Should Skip Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen
1. It is formulaic and repetitive
If you are familiar with the Shoujo genre, it pretty much follows a repetitive formula. A card is on the loose, Sakura has to catch it, and add in some romance and comedy hijinks. In some instances, the card is relatively easy to capture and at other times, the struggle is real. While it does follow a standard formula, we can give it credit that the strategies implemented in each episode do offer something different.
2. It has an underdeveloped antagonist
While a second series is possible (and yet to be confirmed), with whatever we’re presented in this series, Yuna D. Kaito is an underdeveloped villain. You are given minimal information, but we know nothing of his motivations, how he got into the employ of Akiho and why he needs her and Sakura’s cards.
3. It’s predictable
Without getting too much into significant spoilers, as the series progresses, if there is one thing that is predictable, it is the true identity of the hooded figure in Sakura’s dreams. As you watch the series, you can put two and two together to figure it out. Unfortunately, by the time the series ends, it goes nowhere with it and provides little to no background information on why that character is the hooded figure.
Final Thoughts
A lot of the original qualities introduced at the end frustratingly will make you beg for more. As far as we know upon writing this review, no continuation has been confirmed but it would be ludicrous to not make a sequel after that ending. It has the potential to be bigger than what we’ve seen and fans are owed that. If or when a second season is confirmed, it’ll be much easier to watch this series considering how the ending perfectly sets up a continuation with all the loose ends it has. If it doesn’t, we suppose we could read the manga and see how it goes from where this anime ends.
Author: Justin "ParaParaJMo" Moriarty
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