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EP. REVIEW: Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card


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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 1:02 pm Reply with quote
This definitely feels like a nostolgia trip. The latest episode even had a flashback of one of the original season's episodes.

Honestly, I this season has a lot of potential. Just curious to see how much they plan to adapt the rest of it though considering it's a 2 cour of 20+ episodes.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5407
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 1:38 pm Reply with quote
Even though I am enjoying the triumphant return of Sakura, the sweetest and most charming anime character of all time, I have given each of the first 3 episodes 4 stars because they did not blow me away. But that is alright because I am liking the show, and it retains the tone and charm from its two decades-old predecessor. Great work MADHOUSE.
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StarFan13



Joined: 06 Aug 2017
Posts: 336
PostPosted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 2:49 pm Reply with quote
I Can't wait to watch it on funimation on wednesday
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 3:05 pm Reply with quote
It's a decently fun show, but its really not doing anything new with the setting and characters. But I'm pretty sure that was there goal. It's not really a show I'm looking forward every week, or even one that I remember what happened last week when I start it up, but it's entertaining in the moment.

It is essentially the third time more or less the same events happen and I think they could have thrown a few interesting twist without losing anything. Maybe just have Sakura start with different card, she's once again starting with wind and getting water almost immediately. Starting with fire/earth could have been interesting. Similarly the fact that they are brand new card, not just reusing the old one, also goes to waste. They could instead have been completely different, maybe representing emotion or something like that. Or maybe not disable the old card and have Sakura use her full arsenal in all fight, and maybe have the fight be more dynamic rather than just using one or two cards to win right away.
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#844391



Joined: 09 Sep 2015
Posts: 517
PostPosted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 4:33 pm Reply with quote
I remember watching the first few episodes of CCS when I was first getting into anime and I was checking out every series I could get my hand on. However, it didn't grab me as much as the other shows I was watching (shonen genre definitely had grabbed me) so I dropped it and never went back to see it again.

Given that the reviewer says its a sequel, how much does this new series rely on you being familiar with the original? I don't even really remember the episodes I watched as it's been probably 14 years since I first took a look at it.
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Actar



Joined: 21 Nov 2010
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 4:34 pm Reply with quote
Several interesting observations I had about this series now that we're three episodes in. And while it might have been obvious to most, it just occurred to me that this is pretty much a reboot in disguise. Other than new merchandise, they needed to take away her old cards in order to start her from zero again so that she could start collecting cards from scratch again. Not to mention, the cards are pretty much the exact same in terms of abilities save for the designs. Gale = Windy, Aqua = Watery, Reflect = Mirror, Siege = Shadow, etc... At the moment, there is literally nothing new.

That was one of my issues about this series. Why do we have to retread the same formula again? Yes, she is indeed Cardcaptor Sakura, but I stand by my initial opinion of wanting to have seen Sakura develop her existing powers more. Think of the opening scene of the second movie. More of that, where she has already mastered her powers. The original show spent so much time building it up and throwing all of that away is just heartbreaking. The best outcome I see for this series is for her to lose all these new cards and reclaim her old ones in a triumphant return. Jeez... It's the Metroid problem. What reason do we give players for taking away all of her upgrades from the previous games to necessitate yet another treasure hunt?

That became painfully clear with the heavy rain thing. I found it weird when Sakura never mentioned something like this happening before. But I guess that would have drawn far more attention to that reused plot point than necessary.

Canon issues aside, one of my biggest pet peeves is how Sakura didn't seem to care about the Sakura Cards. However, I have to admit that at least they acknowledged it in the previous episode with Sakura saying "Nothing I can do... So, why worry?" Fair enough. Li doing nothing is also a tad frustrating. Why is he not in his battle attire coming to Sakura's aid? He still can use elemental magic.

Last but not least, like all other nostalgia-bait properties, is there anything to like about it once the nostalgia has been taken away? That's the issue I have with sequels to old properties that aren't adaptations of existing unadapted material like Full Metal Panic IV (eg. Digimon Tri., Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Side of Dimensions, etc...).

When the original series aired, it didn't rely on nostalgia. It had to prove itself and stand on its own merits. And we loved it. Now, all these years later, the only thing that anyone talks about is the nostalgia factor. Okay... but nostalgia aside, what does the show have to offer? That's why I'm curious to see how it will fare after the initial squeals of nostalgia have died down.

The reason I'm cynical is because everything feels so contrived. One of the main reasons companies do sequels is to capitalize on people's nostalgia. It's an easy way out without putting in any thought or effort into them. Seeing everyone squeal over the nostalgia and not talk about anything else is somewhat disheartening as it kinda validates my cynicism.


Last edited by Actar on Mon Jan 22, 2018 4:55 pm; edited 1 time in total
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StarFan13



Joined: 06 Aug 2017
Posts: 336
PostPosted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 4:37 pm Reply with quote
Actar wrote:
Several interesting observations I had about this series now that we're three episodes in. And while it might have been obvious to most, it just occurred to me that this is pretty much a reboot in disguise. Other than new merchandise, they needed to take away her old cards in order to start her from zero again so that she could start collecting cards from scratch again. Not to mention, the cards are pretty much the exact same in terms of abilities save for the designs. Gale = Windy, Aqua = Watery, Reflect = Mirror, Siege = Shadow, etc... At the moment, there is literally nothing new.

That was one of my issues about this series. Why do we have to retread the same formula again? Yes, she is indeed Cardcaptor Sakura, but I stand by my initial opinion of wanting to have seen Sakura develop her existing powers more. Think of the opening scene of the second movie. More of that, where she has already mastered her powers. The original show spent so much time building it up and throwing all of that away is just heartbreaking. The best outcome I see for this series is for her to lose all these new cards and reclaim her old ones in a triumphant return. Jeez... It's the Metroid problem. What reason do we give players for taking away all of her upgrades from the previous games to necessitate yet another treasure hunt?

That became painfully clear with the heavy rain thing. I found it weird when Sakura never mentioned something like this happening before. But I guess that would have drawn far more attention to that reused plot point than necessary.

Canon issues aside, one of my biggest pet peeves is how Sakura didn't seem to care about the Sakura Cards. However, I have to admit that at least they acknowledged it in the previous episode with Sakura saying "Nothing I can do... So, why worry?" Fair enough. Li doing nothing is also a tad frustrating. Why is he not in his battle attire coming to Sakura's aid? He still can use elemental magic.

Last but not least, like all other nostalgia-bait properties iIs there anything to like about it once the nostalgia has been taken away. That's the issue I have with sequels to old properties that aren't adaptations of existing unadapted material like Full Metal Panic IV (eg. Digimon Tri., Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Side of Dimensions, etc...).

When the original series aired, it didn't rely on nostalgia. It had to prove itself and stand on its own merits. And we loved it. Now, all these years later, the only thing that anyone talks about is the nostalgia factor. Okay... but nostalgia aside, what does the show have to offer? That's why I'm curious to see how it will fare after the initial squeals of nostalgia have died down.

The reason I'm cynical is because everything feels so contrived. One of the main reasons companies do sequels is to capitalize on people's nostalgia. It's an easy way out without putting in any thought or effort into them. Seeing everyone squeal over the nostalgia and not talk about anything else is somewhat disheartening as it kinda validates my cynicism.

What about crystal, does it include in etc.
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 5:23 pm Reply with quote
#844391 wrote:
I remember watching the first few episodes of CCS when I was first getting into anime and I was checking out every series I could get my hand on. However, it didn't grab me as much as the other shows I was watching (shonen genre definitely had grabbed me) so I dropped it and never went back to see it again.

Given that the reviewer says its a sequel, how much does this new series rely on you being familiar with the original? I don't even really remember the episodes I watched as it's been probably 14 years since I first took a look at it.


I didn't really have any issues getting into Clear Card, and I just started watching the original shortly after seeing the premiere of Clear Card. Aside from a few side characters, who were mentioned by the reviewers in the preview guide, I haven't had much trouble following what was going on, and they do give a (very) basic summary of the original in the first minute of the premiere. It does help that the new plot is a quasi-reboot in this regard (while still being recognizable as a sequel).

After I saw the first episode of the original, I did feel the original brought some things that Clear Card didn't, such as not being afraid to get cartoony during the comedic segments and generally being more lively, but I think the subsequent episodes dispelled those concerns for me, to say nothing of the more modern designs and production which many find more appealing - though I'd say the original's designs and animation have their own charm as well.

@Actar As someone without any nostalgia for the original, I will say that Clear Card does have something to offer beyond just nostalgia as I have mentioned above.
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Dian Z





PostPosted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 10:09 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
In the interest of honesty, I have to admit that I've always found Tomoyo voyeurism annoying, even if Sakura has never seen her that way—she's just so invasive of Sakura's privacy.


I did feel the same in the beginning, but I've come to think that it's just Tomoyo's way to lighten up the mood, to ease Sakura's burden or something like that when the card business getting tough, or some kind of reward (not the video, but the laugh) for Sakura after her hardwork in capturing each card. Albeit being a bit unusual.
She's been the one to cheer Sakura up without being so obvious or straightforward.
The one when she recorded Sakura's relationship with Lee, though, might be too much, but it seems to be a way of keeping relationship things in this show modest.
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3629
PostPosted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 11:42 pm Reply with quote
These first few episodes have been a great return, but also feel very repetitive of the original series (especially aqua). I'm looking forward to the plot finally really getting rolling, though it is a bit worrisome that it seems to be another case of a mysterious transfer student that will ultimately be the source of (or at least heavily tied to) these new events.

I haven't read the manga, so I don't know where it's headed and I'll watch it regardless, but if this primarily ends up feeling like a rehash of the original series, I'll end up being entertained, but ultimately disappointed.
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elior1



Joined: 02 Feb 2012
Posts: 134
PostPosted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 1:37 am Reply with quote
Covnam wrote:
These first few episodes have been a great return, but also feel very repetitive of the original series (especially aqua). I'm looking forward to the plot finally really getting rolling, though it is a bit worrisome that it seems to be another case of a mysterious transfer student that will ultimately be the source of (or at least heavily tied to) these new events.

I haven't read the manga, so I don't know where it's headed and I'll watch it regardless, but if this primarily ends up feeling like a rehash of the original series, I'll end up being entertained, but ultimately disappointed.
i dont see how siege is repetitive since i dont know which card it feels like it replace
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gedata



Joined: 04 May 2013
Posts: 615
PostPosted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 12:11 pm Reply with quote
elior1 wrote:
Covnam wrote:
These first few episodes have been a great return, but also feel very repetitive of the original series (especially aqua). I'm looking forward to the plot finally really getting rolling, though it is a bit worrisome that it seems to be another case of a mysterious transfer student that will ultimately be the source of (or at least heavily tied to) these new events.

I haven't read the manga, so I don't know where it's headed and I'll watch it regardless, but if this primarily ends up feeling like a rehash of the original series, I'll end up being entertained, but ultimately disappointed.
i dont see how siege is repetitive since i dont know which card it feels like it replace


spoiler[Sakura Card arc:
>suddenly can't use cards
>cards are dying i need to save them!
>actually just gathering the same cards again
>mystery with the new character in the center

Clear Card arc:
>suddenly can't use cards
>cards are blank i need to save them!
>gathering supposedly new cards but it feels like the old cards all over again
>mystery with the new mysterious character

GALE is a more offensive version of WINDY
SIEGE is functionally similar to LOCK
AQUA is literally just WATERY but takes the form of a bird instead of a loli

Not really terribly excited about where the plot seems to be going with all these retread beats. Also, the card captures have been rather simple haven't they? You can sort of levy the same complaint against the Sakura Card since that one brought her back to square one but the side characters in Sakura Cards were much more interesting, you had Syaoran slowly falling for Sakura, Touya/Yukito romance and Kaho's introduction. Here it's just the same characters as before and a plot that isn't justifying the existence of a sequel.

Also, I prefer Clow Reed's magical harem to the faceless and boring Clear Cards.

]
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Cutiebunny



Joined: 18 Apr 2010
Posts: 1746
PostPosted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 7:29 pm Reply with quote
I still hate the character designs for this series. I keep feeling like I’m going to be charged for child endangerment by looking at Touya the wrong way, despite the fact that he is now an adult in this series. I like that Tomoyo is back to her old ways but I’m finding the Yamazaki thing annoying. At least spread out the fact that Syaoran and Sakura are easily fooled by his stories. This should not be something that’s relied on for comic relief every episode.

So far, yes, this feels too repetitive. Battle costumes are cute and I did like the shot out to the “Kobato” anime with Touya working at the pastry shop that Kobato worked at in episode 21. Having read some of the new manga before the anime began, I’ve long given up on Sakura having the ability to create her own cards (sadly). I hope there’s some solid reason as to why there needs to be new cards because, as it is now, it just seems like a ploy to sell more merchandise.
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Juno016



Joined: 09 Jan 2012
Posts: 2377
PostPosted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 1:59 am Reply with quote
I have been buying the magazines and have every chapter up to date, so I know what's happening in the manga. For those concerned about the reason for the repetitive cards, they're addressing that and why this is important. For those concerned about Syaoran not helping out, they're addressing that, too. I don't really think anyone is wrong for feeling the way they do about not treading new ground, and the idea of reusing the old card powers for the new cards might feel a bit cheap at first, but as things proceed, the meaning behind this is being made more... *ahem* ...clear. Things feel deliberate and not cheap to me. CLAMP are capable of piling on new abilities, so it feels like their reason for re-using old powers is deliberate. Oh, and regarding the forms of the cards, that's being addressed, too. At least, they're talking about the compared differences in look from the older cards to the clear cards. In particular, there is a new, visual connection between three of the four main elemental cards, and the last one is bound to have the same visual theme.

As for Sakura creating her own cards, while it hasn't been addressed in the manga yet, I think this will actually play into the plot. People suspect Sakura may have even created her own cards in the span of the first series and this one, though that's more based on speculation than hard evidence.

Meanwhile, I'm extremely excited about the whole fact that the anime is adapting the manga sequel, but sticking with the first anime's canon (minus the second film, for obvious reasons). I wouldn't have been disappointed if they retconned the anime version's events, but it would've felt like an entirely missed opportunity to make this anime unique from the manga like the first anime was. Meiling, Wei, and some anime-only events are already being mentioned/flashbacked to. Now, my only worry, is what this means for the extra content. If the new cards really ARE upgraded/converted forms of the older cards, will we actually get the filler episode cards from the first anime upgraded, too?
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iatheia



Joined: 20 Jun 2009
Posts: 130
PostPosted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 3:22 am Reply with quote
Juno016 wrote:
Now, my only worry, is what this means for the extra content. If the new cards really ARE upgraded/converted forms of the older cards, will we actually get the filler episode cards from the first anime upgraded, too?


At the rate they are going, they will ran out of material rather quickly. There is, what, around 20 chapters available so far, and they are averaging 2-3 chapters per episode... So that may very well happen, unless they want to get so far ahead of the manga storyline that they end up being completely different.
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