Customer Reviews

Cardcaptor Sakura - Clow Book Set (Vol. 1-9)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My daughter and I have been intrigued by other Japanese anime, especially how these programs give insight into Asian culture. Pokemon is another series that, through the fantastical and adventurous stories, teaches viewers about Japanese food, festivals, spirituality, and social values. CardCaptor Sakura is even richer and more insightful about the culture than Pokemon. It's very refreshing, especially in context of American animation which is culturally empty, unless it promotes consumer culture, and presents a distorted view of what it is to be a girl/boy/white person/black person/American. The children in American cartoons are so often bratty, materialistic, aggressive, and disdainful of adults in general. I was amazed that, in the world presented in CardCaptor Sakura, Japanese children are generous of spirit, kind, polite, earnest, health conscious, and eager to do well in school (they also can be mischevious, competitive, and critical of their own and others' failings).

The series works on three levels simultaneously: the magical narrative (the Clow Cards and their capture), the cultural context (Japan and some bits about China), and universal life issues (success, love, dealing with fears, death). Be aware that the subject of death comes up quite frequently, as Sakura's mother is to have died before the series begins, so her premature death and Sakura's feelings of loss keep taking center stage. But the topic is handled with realism and positivity - Sakura misses her mom but has learned to see the situation in a way that is life affirming. There's a serious side to this program which is absent from most other children's anime. I believe that's the only reason why the age recommendation is so high (BTW, my 9 year old daughter loves the show and has no problems dealing with the more serious topics).

It also refreshing to see a female hero character who is not "extreme" or "a**-kicking" or "glamorous." Sakura is an otherwise normal kid who is struggling to learn to use magic to solve a problem she created (releasing the Clow Cards). Most of her magical battles she solves with her wits, not with brute force. The problem-solving strategies she finds are refreshing, too. And she's so good hearted, she's always protecting friends, family, pets, the environment, cultural monuments, as she saves the world (unlike the PowerPuff Girls who trash everything in sight). Sakura's problem-solving is complicated by her allies. Kero, the Guardian Beast of the Clow, has been trapped inside a tiny stuffed animal. He has some magic, but it's limited by both his form and his vanity and gluttony. Li Shaoron, the Chinese boy-magician, has powerful magic, but is hyper-critical of Sakura and unable to express warm emotions comfortably. Yukito, her brother's friend (and Sakura's love object), functions like a Kung Fu master in disguise - he's always arriving at just the right time to defuse a fight between Sakura and Li, and doing it without them even knowing it.

All in all, CardCaptor Sakura presents a world that is stable and life-affirming. The show reinforces Japanese traditions and values (as opposed to American anime, which tends to undermine many social values (non-violence, self-sacrifice, reverence for traditions and elders). One of my favorite aspects of this show is that it is in Japanese with subtitles. We watched the American version of the show and we were amazed at the difference in voices and personas. The Japanese version is so rich with culture and emotional nuance that it wins over the English-language version hands down. And it's a great way to learn how to understand spoken Japanese. I highly recommend the series to anyone interested in: magical stories, girl-hero stories, asian culture, animation.

Ignore the above review in the show
received a low rating because the dvds are in Japanese.
It is a series made in Japan. Of course the audio
would be in Japanese.

This anime is delightful. The animation, color
range of the paint, special effects, voice
acting, and music are all excellent. The frame
rate is also very high for a tv show, and
the animation is quite smooth. It's miles above
what you might be expecting from television
animation.

This show is something that can help us all
remember our childhoods and the process
of growing up. The story is sweet without
being too sugary, and the characters do not
burst into song for no apparent reason,
unlike a Disney cartoon. I would recommend
the show to just about anyone. If you're trying
to learn Japanese, the show could teach you a lot
of common, everyday spoken Japanese as well.

I'd give it 6 stars, but 5 appears to be as many
as I can give.

I just purchase the Clow Book set (Vol. 1-9) a couple of weeks ago!!!...The sound & picture quality of each DVD is great!!...plus the bonus art gallery has a lot of beautiful character sketches!!...This is an anime that I'm sure everyone will enjoy!!...Don't buy the DVDs on Ebay because most of them are cheap copy imports!!...Buy this one!!...It's reasonably price and has excellent English Subtitles!!!...I planning to buy the Sakura Book Set (Vol. 10-18) to complete my collection!!..This anime is worth every penny!!...I promise you won't regret buying it!!..Enjoy!!...Here are the titles to the Clow book (vol.1-9) and the Sakura Book (vol.10-18) :
Vol.1 ( The Clow)
1- Sakura and the Mysterious Magic Book
2- Sakura's Wonderful Friend
3- Sakura's Heart-Racing First Date
4- Sakura's Tiring Sunday
Vol. 2 ( Everlasting Memories)
5- Sakura, Panda, and a Cute Shop
6- Sakura and the Memories of Her Mother
7- Sakura's First Attempt as a Thief
8- Sakura's Rival Appears
Vol. 3 ( Friends Forever)
9- Sakura and the Mysterious Brooch
10- Sakura and the Sport's Day of Flowers
11- Sakura, Tomoyo, and the Mansion
12- Sakura Never-Ending Day
Vol. 4 ( Sakura Fight)
13- Sakura and the Elephant's Test of Strength
14- Sakura, Toya, and Cinderella
15- Sakura and Kero's Big Fight
16- Sakura and the Rainbow of Memories
Vol. 5 ( Vacation Daze)
17- Sakura's Scary Test of Courage
18- Sakura, Yukito, and the Summer Festival
19- Sakura and the Summer Holiday Homework
20- Transfer Student vs. Sakura
Vol. 6 ( Friend and Family)
21- Sakura's Long Marathon Race
22- Sakura and Her Kind Father
23- Sakura, Tomoyo, and the Wonderful Song
24- Sakura's Little Adventure
Vol. 7 ( Magical Mystery)
25- Two Sakuras
26- Sakura and the Wonderful Teacher
27- Sakura and the Shrine of Memories
28- Sakura and the Enchanted Cards
Vol. 8 ( Sweet Trouble)
29- Sakura's Sweet Cooking
30- Sakura and the Injured Card
31- Sakura and the Nameless Book
32- Sakura, Kero, and Shaoran
Vol. 9 ( Winter Wonderland)
33- Sakura's Freezing Ice Skating
34- Sakura, Yukito, and the Midday Moon
35- Sakura's Wonderful Christmas


Vol. 10 ( School Daze)
36- Sakura and the Snowy New School Term
37- Sakura and Tomoyo's Lost Voice
38- Sakura's Fun Strawberry Picking Adventure
39- Sakura's Dizzy Fever Day
Vol. 11 ( Trust)
40- Sakura and the Sakura from the Dream
41- Sakura, Shaoran, and the Sea of Sand
42- Sakura and the Blacked Out School Arts Festival
43- Sakura and Farewell to Meilin
Vol. 12 ( Final Judgement)
44- Sakura, Kero, and the Mysterious Teacher
45- Sakura and the Final Clow Card
46- Sakura and the Final Judgement
47- Sakura and the Mysterious Transfer Student
Vol. 13 (Star Cards)
48- Sakura and the Awakened Key
49- Sakura and the Dangerous Piano
50- Sakura, Shaoran, and the Invisible Thread
51- Sakura and the Big Teddy Bear
Vol. 14 ( Powers Awry)
52- Sakura Sheep Warning
53- Sakura and the Panicky Bike
54- Sakura and the Calendar of Memories
55- Sakura and Sakura from Wonderland
Vol. 15 ( Realizations)
56- Sakura, Kero, and the Sweet Meeting
57- Sakura, Shaoran, and the Elevator
58- Sakura and the Double Troube
59- Sakura, Tomoyo, and the Ball Trap
Vol. 16 ( Friends in Need)
60- Sakura and the Precious Friend
61- Sakura, the Card, and the Presents
62- Sakura and the Strange Written Fortune
63- Sakura, the Pool, and the Huge Wave
Vol. 17 ( Confessions)
64- Sakura and the Snowy Ski Class
65- Sakura, Yukito, and the Vanishing Power
66- The Person Sakura Likes the Most
67- Sakura, Shaoran, and the Tsukimine Shrine
Vol. 18 ( Revelations)
68- Sakura, the Past, and Clow Read
69- Sakura Meets Clow Reed
70- Sakura and Her True Feelings

Cardcaptor Sakura is the original version of Cardcaptors and it's a great deal to be able to get them all at once if you plan on getting the whole collection. I love this series! It's one of my top favorite animes to watch. If you love the series and have always wanted to watch them all in their uncut forms than this is perfect.

This is completely different from the "Cardcaptors" they showed on the WB. Other reviewers have commented on it, and I won't reiterate it here.

Cardcaptor Sakura is the cutest anime I've ever seen. Ten-year old girls, magical cards, pudding... who could want more?

This series does touch on some serious issues like homosexuality, teacher-student relationships, and death, but it's not presented in a way that would offend anyone. Even though it's rated "13 and up", I think maybe 10 and up is better. Or even younger children could watch it, and maybe the child would ask, "Why is that funny? Why are they blushing?", but it's really not inappropriate for younger viewers. The Tomoyo-Sakura and Yukito-Toya relationships are only hinted at (heavily), and the Yukito-Li is explained at a later point in the series. The death of Nadeshiko (Sakura's mother) affects Sakura, but it's never mentioned in a way that would be depressing. Nowadays, it seems that children in the US are so used to only having one parent (for different reasons, of course), that this is almost normal. Still, I appreciate the delicate way that CLAMP deals with these issues.

The opening song is so catchy! (^_^)

Tomoyo and Yamazaki are the best characters! Speaking of best characters, it started in ancient Greece with a rock... ALL LIES!

This set is nine disks each with four episodes (except the last one which has three). You also get cute art galleries. It is all in Japanese, but with english subtitles. You could learn some Japanese from this, seeing as all they say for a while is "Ohayou gozaimasu", or "good morning!". I'm taking Japanese, so it was helpful to me. Toya always calls Sakura, "kaijyu", or "monster". Hehe. Thirty-five episodes for this price isn't that bad! The case is nice and it stays together, but sometimes when I try to put the DVD back in the case, it makes this horrible scratching sound, and I worry that it's getting ruined! So be careful!

You cannot be sad while watching this anime! Please buy it, and I hope my review helped!

Cardcaptor Sakura is the orginal uncut verison of Cardcaptors. Cardcaptors is pretty family friendly but unlike Cardcaptors, Cardcaptor Sakura has a pretty good plot. If you like magical girl anime look no further. This is my favorite anime out of 20 that I own. I totally reccomend if your like 10 and up and like Magical girl. But get ready to cry maybe have tissues handy when the series is over. You'll also need 16 which can also come with this ( oppitional of course) and volumes 17 and 18 and the two movies. This is a pretty good deal, so buy it. Sakura is a series made in Japan of course its in Japanesse. You should always research this kind of stuff fully. I hope you are at least smart enough to pick good approriate anime for your child or your child is. I rate it 5 stars cause the most I can and thats the best rating it can get.

when geneon (then pioneer) began releasing the uncut, cubtitled cardcaptor sakura dvds, it was 4 eps on a disc for $30 each, and you could never get them any cheaper! now, finally, they're putting it into two box sets! this one has the first 35 episodes (of 70 - and 2 movies, also on DVD), and i cant wait to get my hands on it! some people who bought the first discs complained, because they didnt know it was subtitle-only, like this set will be, so be forewarned if you dont like japanese! ^_^ for everybody who does, however, pick this up and anxiously await the second one!

I, like so many of you have watched the heavily-edited, out-of-sequence, Americanized version of Cardcaptor Sakura (Called Cardcaptors) on cable. Despite the corny music and poor voice acting (with the exception of Carly McKillip who did the voice of Sakura) and MANY missing episodes and scenes, I developed quite an interest in this magical girl anime. After doing some research on the internet I discovered that not only was the English version missing several episodes and the ones that made it were missing many scenes, but I learned that the Japanese version was superior to it in every way. I wanted to see if that was true so I purchased this box set.

Cardcaptor Sakura, or CS, is absolutely beautiful! Not just its gorgeous artwork, courtesy of CLAMP, but the music is great (Don't you love that opening theme song and animation?) and the Japanese voice acting was wonderful overall. Sakura Tange really stands out as she is absolutely adorable as Sakura Kinamoto. This delightful box set containing an amazing 9 DVDs (4 episodes on each, except for the last which has 3), is in JAPANESE AUDIO ONLY ladies and gentlemen, with English subtitles available of course. Just a note, the DVDs are a little tricky to get out so use patience when removing them. They will not come loose during delivery I can tell you that:)

I am sure many other reviewers have written about the plot and characters already so I will not repeat what they have already said. But I will say this, the story of Cardcaptor Sakura is very simple (Even children can understand and enjoy it), but it is also very intelligent, charming and fun to watch. Sakura opens a magical book in her basement and accidentally releases all the Clow Cards inside. Now, with the help of the guardian of the seal Keroberos (or Kero-chan as he is more commonly referred to) she must learn to use her magical abilities to capture the scattered Clow Cards and ultimately become their new master. CS is the story of the everyday life of a young girl complete with friendship, adventure, romance, and life experiences that force Sakura to become wiser and more mature. Also, with each episode Sakura's magical powers become stronger, and she learns how to use her powers more effectively. It is so rare to find an anime series (or any animated series) of this caliber anywhere, and it captures and holds on to the viewers' interest without the use of violence, swearing or nudity, which really is a wonderful thing.

In this uncut version of CS, viewers get a delicious dose of Japanese culture served up in each episode. Things such as annual Japanese festivals, school activities, shrines and traditional clothing to name a few, are explored in this wonderful series. CS is so heartwarming and innocent that it makes you wish that you were living there instead of in our reality. As you watch you will really come to care for Sakura, because of the kind of person that she is. Sakura's father and brother are both compassionate, caring and honest individuals, and the three live together as a tightly-knit and loving family. Those same qualities are evident in Sakura's personality as well, in addition to being an amazingly atheletic girl (eg. Cheerleader, rollerblader, track star, etc.) and quite mature for her age.

To sum things up, this truly is an excellent anime series. I don't throw the word excellent around often, but CS really deserves it. It is heartwarming, funny and sensible. This box set contains the first half or so of the series, the second box set has the remaining episodes. It is suitable for almost all ages and it is as enjoyable as it is beautiful. This is a "must-buy" for any anime fan, especially for the price.

Finally! For those who are fans of magical-girl/shoujo anime, but held off due to its high expense to collect and enjoy, Cardcaptor Sakura will finally be boxed in two sets.

I bought this series as it was being released originally on single discs. As a previous reviewer stated, those are in Japanese audio / English subtitle format, and that's it. The English dub isn't worth much to write about, as that adaption was sadly, ruined. The original Japanese version, which was presented in the original release, and again in this boxed re-release, offers a much more cohesive story, and the characters are far more memorable.

In my opinion, the second and third parts of the series were more interesting, but this first part is worth watching as well. The episodes here are more episodic on the surface, but beneath that layer is a continuing story. Characters are introduced in a quick manner, and they change and mature over the course of the entire series and both movies. (For those who only were exposed to CCS with the North American "Cardcaptors" there's a lot of good episodes in this arc that were skipped over or combined with other episodes.)

Easily, to me, a 5-star anime series. I never was a fan of more 'traditional' shoujo/magical-girl stuff like Sailor Moon, not until I got exposed to Cardcaptor Sakura. To this day, I am still unsure what got me hooked on it, nor why it has such a huge mass appeal with anime fans. Possibly the likeable cast of characters, the art (CLAMP is known for their art, and the studio recaptured their manga stylings well with this title), the aura of mystery within the story? With Sailor Moon out-of-print in North America for the most part, both in anime and manga form, this is probably the next best thing in the genre. Don't let the initial 'cuteness' of the anime turn you away either. Things get downright interesting and darker starting with the first movie and beyond.

About time Geneon did something to make it more accessable to value-consious anime fans. Yes, a value, since the original release (20 DVDs total) really hits the paycheck. Though I was probably foolish to buy everything individually a year or so back, I still felt it was worth the cost.

This set will take you through the conclusion of the "Clow Card" story arc, and the entire 'Sakura Cards' season, collectively the second and third seasons of Cardcaptor Sakura. Easily one of the better anime series that was released Stateside.

It bears being repeated, as the last reviewer has stated. This set is in Japanese language ONLY (w/ English subtitles). This can't be stressed enough, so if you're a fan of the North American English adaption or other 'international' versions, or dislike reading subtitles to get the whole story, steer clear.

That said, this is where things get downright interesting, especially with the third season. Some new characters are introduced in this season, who start to give Sakura and her friends some trouble. Not to forget, Sakura's own personal struggles with her feelings for another major character.

I won't spoil anything. Just pick this set up (along with the Clow Book set). It's worth it.

Don't forget the two movies. Those are also worth looking into. They tie up some loose ends left by the TV series.