, abbreviated as ''CCS'', is a Japanese

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

series written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp. Serialized monthly in the ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''

Nakayoshi is a monthly ''shōjo'' manga magazine published by Kodansha in Japan. First issued in December 1954, it is a long-running magazine with over 60 years of manga publication history. Notable titles serialized in Nakayoshi include '' Princess Kni ...

'' from May 1996 to June 2000, it was also published in 12 ''

tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...

'' volumes by

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', '' Afternoon'', '' Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' ...

between November 1996 and July 2000. The story centers on

Sakura Kinomoto is the main protagonist and title character of Clamp (manga artists), Clamp's manga series ''Cardcaptor Sakura''. In the English anime adaptation by Nelvana of the series, ''Cardcaptors'' is known as Sakura Avalon, though her surname was changed ...

, an elementary school student who discovers magical powers after accidentally freeing a set of magical cards into the world; she must retrieve the cards to prevent catastrophe. Each of these cards grants different magical powers, and can only be activated by someone with inherent magical abilities. A sequel by Clamp, '' Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card'', focusing on Sakura in junior high school, began serialization in ''Nakayoshi'' in 2016. The manga was adapted into a 70-episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series by Madhouse that aired on Japan's

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna com ...

channel NHK BS2 from April 1998 to March 2000. Additional media include two anime films,

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...

art book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects. Overview Artists' books have employed a ...

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

s, and film comics.

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed ...

released the manga in English in North America from March 2000 to August 2003. After Tokyopop's license expired, Dark Horse Manga released the series in

omnibus edition An omnibus edition or omnibus is a creative work containing one or more works by the same or, more rarely, different authors. Commonly two or more components have been previously published as books but a collection of shorter works, or shorter wor ...

s from October 2010 to September 2012. The anime was dubbed in English by

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

's Omni Productions, and was aired in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

on the channel

Animax Asia Animax is the pay television channel in Asia owned by KC Global Media Asia which broadcasts Japanese language anime and Simulcast anime, anime programming through English-language feeds in Southeast Asia (formerly including Brunei), South Asia (e ...

Nelvana Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Founded ...

licensed the TV series and first film for North America under the English title ''Cardcaptors'', which first aired on

Kids' WB Kids' WB (stylized as Kids' WB!) was an American children's programming service and brand of The WB that aired on the network from September 9, 1995, to September 16, 2006. The block moved to The CW (a result of the merger of Time Warner's The W ...

from June 2000 to December 2001. All 70 episodes were dubbed; while other English-speaking territories received the full run, the version aired on American television was heavily edited into 39 episodes. ''Cardcaptors'' also aired on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

(

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...

Teletoon Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and "cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts an ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of fiv ...

, and

RTÉ2 RTÉ2 is an Television in the Republic of Ireland, Irish free-to-air television channel operated by public service broadcaster RTÉ. It was launched in 1978 as the Republic of Ireland's second television channel. History In the 1970s, the Iri ...

. The TV series and films were sub-licensed by

Geneon (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distributi ...

, which released them unedited with English subtitles. The TV series was also released by

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...

in Australia and New Zealand. ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' was critically well received. Critics praised the manga for its creativity and described it as a quintessential ''shōjo'' manga, as well as a critical work for manga in general. The manga series was awarded the

Seiun Award The is a Japanese speculative fiction award given each year for the best science fiction works and achievements during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by , the awards are given at the annual Japan Science Fiction Convention. ...

for Best Manga in 2001. The television series was praised for transcending its target audience of young children and being enjoyable to older viewers, and for its artwork, humor, and animation; it won the Animage Grand Prix award for Best Anime in 1999. The American edit of ''Cardcaptors'', however, was criticized for removing elements essential to the plot.

Plot

''Cardcaptor Sakura'' takes place in the fictional town of Tomoeda, which is located somewhere near the Japanese capital of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

. Ten-year-old

accidentally releases a set of magical cards known as Clow Cards from a book in her basement created by and named after the sorcerer Clow Reed. Each card has its own unique ability and can assume an alternate form when activated. The guardian of the cards, Cerberus (nicknamed Kero), emerges from the book and explains that only a person with magical powers could open the seal of the book, revealing that Sakura can do magic. Kero chooses Sakura to retrieve the missing cards. As she finds each card, she battles its magical personification and defeats it by sealing it away. Cerberus acts as her guide, while her best friend and second cousin, Tomoyo Daidouji films her exploits and provides her with both battle costumes and moral support. Sakura's older brother Toya Kinomoto watches over her, while pretending that he is unaware of what is going on.

Syaoran Li Syaoran Li, sometimes spelled as Shaoran Li or originally as Xiaolang Li (李小狼 ''Lǐ Xiǎoláng''; リ・シャオラン ''Ri Shaoran'', or ''Ri Syaoran'' (Kunrei); Cantonese Jyutping: ''lei5 siu2 long4''), is one of the central characters ...

, a boy Sakura's age and a descendant of Clow Reed, arrives from Hong Kong to recapture the cards himself. While initially antagonistic, he comes to respect Sakura and begins aiding her in capturing the cards. Once Sakura captures all of the cards, she is tested by Yue, the cards' second guardian, to determine if she is worthy of becoming the cards' true master; Yue is also the true form of Yukito Tsukishiro, Toya's best friend who Sakura has a crush on. Aided by her school teacher Kaho Mizuki, Sakura passes the test and becomes the new master of the Clow Cards. Afterwards, Eriol Hiiragizawa, a transfer student from England and later confirmed as the reincarnation of Clow Reed, arrives in Tomoeda and begins causing disturbances with two guardian-like creatures, Spinel Sun and Ruby Moon. Sakura is suddenly unable to use the Clow Cards and transforms her wand, beginning the process of evolving the cards into Sakura Cards as Eriol causes strange occurrences that forces her to use and thus transform certain cards. Once all the cards have been transformed, Eriol tells Sakura that he aided her in converting the cards so they would not lose their magic powers. Syaoran later confesses his love to Sakura, who comes to realize she also loves him. ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' concludes with Syaoran returning to Hong Kong with a promise to return. Two years later, Syaoran moves back to Tomoeda permanently. The plot of the anime series is extended, featuring 52 Clow Cards from the manga's original 19, and certain scenes are stretched and delayed, such as Cerberus' true form not being revealed until just before Yue's appearance. Sakura creates a 53rd card, Hope, a talent she is not shown to have in the manga. Some of the circumstances around the capturing of the cards is changed, such as Syaoran capturing several cards himself and being tested by Yue in the Final Judgment. Syaoran's cousin and fiancée Meiling Li is introduced in the anime, who positions herself as a jealous and romantic rival for Sakura later in the series and also a friend until she returns to Hong Kong. The TV series leaves the relationship between Sakura and Syaoran unresolved, but Sakura confesses her love to Syaoran at the end of the second anime film. In the OVA that bridges the stories of the original series and the ''Clear Card'' anime, Syaoran returns to Tomoeda two years later, just like in the manga.

Production

''Cardcaptor Sakura'' was first conceived shortly before the conclusion of Clamp's '' Magic Knight Rayearth'', which was serialized in ''

''. Clamp's head editor Yamonouchi asked them to do another series in ''Nakayoshi'', and Clamp decided to make a "''Nakayoshi''-esque" series, as opposed to ''Rayearth'', which Clamp described as unlike anything they had done before. Head Clamp writer

Nanase Ohkawa is a member of the all-female manga-creating team CLAMP. She is the director of the team and is primarily responsible for writing the stories and scripts for CLAMP's various works. As part of CLAMP's 15th Anniversary, each of the four members ...

's first impulse was to create a

magical girl is a subgenre of Japanese fantasy media (including anime, manga, light novels, and live-action media) centered around young girls who possess magical abilities, which they typically use through an ideal alter ego into which they can transf ...

series, despite not being well-versed in the genre. Ohkawa wanted the heroine Sakura to be in the same age group as the majority of ''Nakayoshi''s readers so that fans could relate to her. Due to it being different from how Clamp normally conceived characters, Ohkawa designed the other characters such as Tomoyo and Cerberus to be more like Clamp's previous creations. Once Ohkawa had enough information on the characters, she had the three artists in Clamp—

Mokona is the pen name of the lead artist, colorist, and composition designer of the all-female manga-creating team Clamp. She was formerly known as ; she dropped her last name because it sounded too "immature". Clamp has had a huge impact on the "man ...

Tsubaki Nekoi , formerly , is a member of the all-female manga-creating team Clamp. She is the co-director and her duties in the team include applying screentones and correcting manga illustrations. She was also the lead artist (a role that normally falls to ...

and

Satsuki Igarashi is a member of the all-female manga-creating team Clamp. Her duties in the team are Nanase Ohkawa's sounding board, and the character designer of ''Chobits'' and line artist for '' Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle''. Like the other members of Cla ...

—design them based on her descriptions. When designing Cerberus, Ohkawa wanted a mascot-type companion for Sakura, but Nekoi tried various forms, including dogs and squirrels, before designing the final version. Syaoran and Toya were conceived to be a common type of character featured in Clamp's works. Various other titles were suggested for the series such as ''Cardcaster Sakura'' and ''Card Character Sakura'' before Nekoi suggested ''Cardcaptor Sakura''. While Ohkawa planned out ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' from beginning to end, she never consulted the plot with the other members, instead giving them the script one chapter at a time. Mokona initially drew Tomoyo so it would look like she was in love with Toya, which led to her surprise when she received the script for the chapter which reveals Tomoyo loves Sakura. The story was planned to have the theme of "if you try your best, it'll work out", but Ohkawa did not start out with Sakura's "It'll definitely be okay" mindset. Ohkawa addressed the relationships featured in the series by using Tomoyo and Sakura as an example. She explained that the reason Tomoyo and Sakura did not end up together was because Tomoyo is a girl, so Sakura did not love Tomoyo in a romantic way. The central theme of ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' is

love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

and human relationships. Throughout the series, many forms of love are showcased, including "sibling love, childhood crushes, unrequited love, ndtrue love." At times, Clamp even ignores the Clow Cards for several chapters to focus more on the relationships of Sakura and those around her. Each of these relationships are presented as is, with Clamp carefully avoiding passing judgment on the correctness of the relationships. In particular, the romantic relationship between elementary student

Rika Sasaki This article covers the major characters of Clamp's manga ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' and its respective anime and movies. The manga and anime focused on Japanese schoolgirl Sakura Kinomoto who finds the magical Clow Book in her father's basement study ...

and her teacher Yoshiyuki Terada is presented in such a way that it can be seen as a sweet and innocent tale of "wish fulfillment", or if examined more seriously, as a mildly disturbing story of

pedophilic Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...

love. The artists, especially Mokona, were told by Ohkawa to use thin lines and to try to express things through curved lines as opposed to straight lines. The style of artwork was decided at the beginning to unify the world view of ''Cardcaptor Sakura''. Ohkawa wanted the series to have a "soft, cute-like" feel, so she asked the artists to not use a lot of ink and to make the pages light. For the multitude of flower imagery used in the manga, Nekoi looked through various books to find appropriate flowers, and tried to avoid using the same flower more than once in one chapter. Igarashi remarked that they "never had to draw so many flowers for one series," but they made a point to not use roses. Clamp wanted to incorporate transformation scenes into ''Cardcaptor Sakura'', but because many magical girl manga have the girls wearing the same outfit, they wanted Sakura to wear different costumes. They felt that "it's pretty sad for a girl to wear the same outfit all the time."

Media

Manga

''Cardcaptor Sakura'' began as a

series written and illustrated by the manga artist group Clamp. It was serialized in the monthly '' shōjo'' (aimed at young girls)

manga magazine Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is used ...

'' from the May 1996 to June 2000 issue. The individual chapters were collected and published in 12 ''

'' volumes by

from November 1996 to July 2000. Kodansha released the first six volumes in bilingual editions that included both Japanese and English from May 2000 to July 2001. The bilingual volumes were part of an experimental line for helping Japanese children learn English. Kodansha stopped releasing the bilingual editions after the series was licensed in English for distribution in North America by

. Tokyopop released the volumes of ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' from March 2000 to August 2003. Tokyopop initially released the first six volumes with the book "flipped" from the original Japanese orientation, in which the book is read from right-to-left, to the Western format with text oriented from left-to-right. These volumes were later re-released with the original orientation in two box sets, each containing three volumes. Volumes seven through twelve were released in the original orientation with the subtitle ''Master of the Clow''.

used Tokyopop's English translation to release the series in Australia and New Zealand. Dark Horse Manga published an English edition of the series in four omnibus volumes containing three of the original volumes each from October 2010 and September 2012. After Dark Horse Comics' license expired,

Kodansha Comics Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, USA, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and manga, ...

licensed it and began releasing the series in hardcover Collector's Edition volumes in 2019. The manga series is licensed for additional regional language releases by

Pika Édition Pika Édition is a French publisher headquartered in Vanves, specializing in manga. Founded as a daughter company of Media System Editions, it was taken over by Hachette Livre in 2007. Distribution ''Pika Édition'' publications are distributed ...

in France,

Star Comics Star Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics that began in 1984 and featured titles that were aimed at child readers and were often adaptations of children's television series, animated series or toys. The last comic published under the imprint ...

in Italy,

Egmont Manga & Anime Egmont Manga (EMA, formerly ''Egmont Manga & Anime'') is one of the largest publishers of manga in Germany. It was founded in 2000 as a daughter company of Egmont Ehapa, after the manga boom in Germany became apparent around the turn of the mil ...

in Germany,

Editora JBC Editora JBC (also known as "JBC") is a company that publishes books (including manga) and magazines related to Japan in Brazil. It has its headquarters in São Paulo. This company was established in Tokyo, Japan, in 1992 to publish Portuguese n ...

in Brazil,

Ever Glory Publishing is a Taiwanese publisher of manga. It was founded in June 1991. In October 1992, the company obtained the Chinese license for Akita Shoten's '' Weekly Shōnen Champion''. However, the magazine stopped publication in 1998. Controversy There w ...

in Taiwan, Ediciones Glénat in Spain,

Editorial Ivrea Editorial Ivrea is an Argentine manga and comics publisher that publishes in Argentina, Spain and Finland. They also published ''Lazer'', a magazine which was specialized in anime, comics, manga, series and other media. The magazine has an acid ...

in Argentina, and Editorial Toukan and later Editorial Kamite in Mexico.

Anime

A 70-episode

television series adaptation produced by the animation studio Madhouse aired in Japan on the

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

television network spread over three seasons. The first season, consisting of 35 episodes, aired between April 7 and December 29, 1998. The second season, with 11 episodes, aired between April 6 and June 22, 1999. The third season, containing 24 episodes, aired between September 7, 1999 and March 21, 2000. Directed by

Morio Asaka is a Japanese storyboard artist and director. After graduating Osaka Designers' College, Asaka entered Madhouse. He was inspired to become a director by '' Phoenix: Yamato Chapter'' and made his debut as an episode director in episode 40 of ''Y ...

, Clamp was fully involved in the project, with head writer

writing and composing the screenplay and

overseeing the costumes and card designs. The series was later released by

Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and f ...

to 18 VHS, LD and DVD compilation volumes from September 1998 to May 2000. Two

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

box set volumes were released by Geneon in 2009. An upgraded 4K remaster was released in December 2017 as an 11-disc set in both DVD and Blu-ray Disc box sets.

licensed ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' in North America, dubbed the series into English with

Ocean Studios Ocean Productions, Inc., is a Canadian media production and voice acting company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that is part of the Ocean Group of businesses. Ocean Group is involved in intellectual property acquisition and development, ...

featuring

Carly McKillip Carly Maria McKillip (born February 13, 1989) is a Canadian actress and musician known for her title role in the television series '' Alice, I Think''. She also performs together with her sister Britt in the country group One More Girl. She was ...

as Sakura, and released it under the name ''Cardcaptors''. This version was heavily edited from the original Japanese version, and Nelvana spent roughly $100,000 on each episode to incorporate new music, scripts, and vocal tracks. The initial version of the dub covered all 70 episodes, although character names were changed, some Japanese text was changed to English, and subjects considered controversial at the time, such as

same-sex relationship A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countrie ...

s, were edited out. One of the censored themes was that of homosexual characters, including Tomoyo, who was changed from having a crush to being just a friend, and the gay relationship between Toya and Yukito, which was also portrayed as just friends. The musical score was completely replaced with new music and some of the sound effects were replaced when they could not be separated into separate tracks, although the original opening and ending themes were dubbed into English. This version aired in Australia on

and

, in Ireland on

, in the UK on

CiTV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...

and

Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a jo ...

, and in Canada on

(which also aired the episodes with a French dub). An alternative English dub of the series was produced by Omni Productions in

to air on

and it has been shown entirely unedited and uncut making it very faithfully closer to the original Japanese version, which it broadcast on its English-language networks in

and

. ''Cardcaptors'' first aired in the United States on

between June 17, 2000 and December 14, 2001. The version that aired on Kids' WB was an alternate version of the Nelvana dub that was heavily edited even further with episodes re-ordered and some left out completely. The editing to the original Nelvana dub was done to refocus the series to be more action oriented for the appeal of male viewers, as they were seen as the largest audience of animation at the time. The first episode aired in Kids' WB's version was "Sakura's Rival", the eighth episode of the series, having removed episodes focusing on Sakura and to have the show start with Syaoran's arrival. The series ran for 39 episodes, changing the original episode order but finishing with the show's actual final episode. Rather than using the English versions of the original opening and ending themes like in Australia, the North American runs of the series used a new opening theme produced for the dub.

Pioneer Entertainment (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distribution of anime within Japan. The ...

released the first 27 US ''Cardcaptors'' episodes to nine VHS and DVD compilation volumes from November 2000 to July 2002; a planned tenth volume was cancelled in June 2002. They also released the unedited ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' series with the original Japanese audio tracks and English subtitles, to 18 DVDs from November 2000 to November 2003; the first 11 volumes were also released in VHS. The ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' TV series DVDs went out-of-print at the end of 2006 when the license expired.

NIS America is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and ''Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' characte ...

has licensed the ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' TV series and re-released the entire series with Japanese and an unedited English audio track (

's dub) on DVD and Blu-ray on August 5, 2014.

licensed the original ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' episodes in its uncut form with Japanese audio and English subtitles in Australia and New Zealand, and later released the series in two DVD box collections, one consisting of season one and the other consisting of seasons two and three. Each DVD box set contained the textless openings and endings of the series; the second DVD box set also contained an exclusive interview with

Sakura Tange is a Japanese voice actress, singer and writer who was born in Ichinomiya, Aichi. She is best known for providing the voice of Sakura Kinomoto in the anime series ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' and before that, she voiced some of SNK's characters, such ...

, Sakura Kinomoto's Japanese voice actress. The first DVD box collection was released in September 2012, and the second DVD box collection was released in November 2012.

Anime Limited Anime Limited, also known as All the Anime is a British anime distribution company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It releases anime for British, Irish, French and other European audiences. The company was established in 2012 by Andrew Partridge, b ...

licensed ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' in its original, uncut form in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and made the first season of the series available on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

via

All 4 All 4 is a video on demand service from the Channel Four Television Corporation, free of charge for most content and funded by advertising. The service is available in the UK and Ireland; viewers are not required to have a TV licence—requir ...

. Pre-orders for a Blu-ray release of the series became available in December 2021. The collection includes all 70 episodes across 10 discs, uses the 2017 remaster of the series in 4K resolution, the Pioneer subtitles, and a 16-page collector's booklet. It does not use the ''Cardcaptors'' dub. As of November 2022, the series now streams on ITV Hub, and also does so on its successor platform,

ITVX ITVX (formerly ITV Hub) is a British online video-on-demand service operated by ITV. The service offers predominantly features content from ITV1, as well as ITV Digital channels and some licensed content. The service was known as ITV Player fr ...

Films

Madhouse produced two, 82-minute anime films as an extension to the anime television series. The first, ''Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie'', was released on August 21, 1999. Set between the first and second seasons of the TV series, the film shows Sakura and her friends going to Hong Kong, where they encounter a

vengeful spirit In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or crem ...

who was hurt by Clow Reed in the past. It was released to VHS, LD and DVD in Japan by Bandai Visual in February 2000. Nelvana released an English dubbed version of the film, retaining the same name and story changes as its main ''Cardcaptors'' dub, although it was dubbed with no visual edits and was released in cut and uncut versions. As with the TV series, Pioneer Entertainment also released the film with the original Japanese audio and English subtitles, and also released a bilingual DVD containing both audio tracks. Both the edited and unedited versions were released on VHS and DVD in March 2002.

Discotek Media Discotek Media is an American entertainment company based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, focused on distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. Formed in 2005, Discotek primarily focuses on licensing retro titles fr ...

released the first film on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on September 30, 2014, in North America. The second film, ''Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card'', was released in Japan on July 15, 2000. It provided a conclusion to the TV series, in which Syaoran returns to Tokyo in hopes of getting Sakura's answer to his love confession, but her own confession is interrupted by the appearance of a 53rd Clow Card. It was released to LD (as a limited edition) and DVD in January 2001, and to VHS in July 2001. It was released in North America to DVD by Pioneer in November 2003 and featured an English dub by

Bang Zoom! Entertainment Bang Zoom! Entertainment is an audio post-production studio with its headquarters in Burbank, California, in Greater Los Angeles. It has worked on anime, video games, television series, feature films, and original animation projects. Their work ...

instead of Nelvana and Ocean Studios, now with

Kari Wahlgren Kari Wahlgren (born July 13, 1977) is an American actress who has provided English-language voices for animated movies, TV series, and video games. She got her start in anime voice-overs as Haruko Haruhara in '' FLCL'', and would later land ma ...

as Sakura, and this time retaining the original character names and the content unedited and uncut. The films as released by Pioneer (later renamed Geneon) remained in print in North America until late 2007. A bonus

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

titled ''Leave it to Kero!'' was played with the theatrical screening of the second film.

Audio CDs

As a preview to the anime series, Kodansha released a ''tankōbon''-sized CD volume titled ''CD Comic Cardcaptor Sakura'' in August 1997 containing two

character songs An image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album (often called an image album or character album) for an anime, game, ''dorama'', manga, or commercial product that is sometimes sung by the voice actor or actor of a character ...

sung by the voice actors of Sakura and Tomoyo and

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

tracks. Two drama CDs were released for the series. The first, ''Sakura to Okaa-san no Organ'', was released in July 1998 featuring a script written by Clamp author

. It depicts Sakura having a dream about her mother playing an organ and choosing to write about her the following day for a school project. The second CD, ''Sweet Valentine Stories'', was released in February 1999 and depicts a single day in the life of the girls in Sakura's class, including Sakura herself. Four original soundtrack CD albums were released for the anime television series from July 1998 to March 2000. The soundtracks included instrumental

background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...

and the vocal theme songs. Two soundtracks were produced for the films: the first film's soundtrack was released in August 1999, followed by the second film's soundtrack in August 2000. Nine

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

were released; six for its television series and three for its films. Opening themes include "Catch You Catch Me" by Gumi in April 1998, "Tobira o Akete" by Anza in April 1999, and "

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

" by

Maaya Sakamoto Maaya may refer to: * Maaya (given name) Maaya (written: 真綾 or 真礼) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese singer-songwriter, actress and voice actress *, Japanese actress and voice actress *, ...

in October 1999. Ending themes included "Groovy!" by

Kohmi Hirose is a Japanese pop singer and songwriter. Since the release of her million-selling single "Romance no Kamisama" in 1993, Hirose has recorded music for winter-sporting goods company Alpen's advertising campaigns. This has prompted the Japanese pu ...

in September 1998, "Honey" by Chihiro in May 1999, and "Fruits Candy" by Megumi Kojima in November 1999. Two of the ending themes for its films include "Tōi Kono Machi de" by Naomi Kaitani in August 1999 for the first film, and "Ashita e no Melody" by Chaka in July 2000 for the second film. The theme song for its

''Leave It To Kero!'' shown with the second film, "Okashi no Uta", was released in July 2000. Six character song singles sung by the voice actors of Sakura, Toya, Cerberus, Tomoyo, Yukito and Syaoran released in June 1998; each single also contained a short drama track. A character song album titled ''Cardcaptor Sakura Character Songbook'' was released in January 1999 containing tracks from the previously released character song singles as well as new tracks sung by the various voice actors. An album titled ''Tomoeda Elementary Choir Club Christmas Concert'', released in December 1999, contains seven tracks by a children's choir, including five where they are joined by Junko Iwao, the voice actress for Tomoyo. A four-CD compilation set, ''Complete Vocal Collection'', was released in February 2001 compiling the series' theme songs, tracks from the character song singles,

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

es of previously released songs, and new music. An album containing music from the entire series and films titled ''Cardcaptor Sakura Theme Song Collection'' was released in December 2001.

Victor Entertainment , also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Ente ...

released the albums and singles for ''Cardcaptor Sakura''. For

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releases, there is an original soundtrack for ''Cardcaptors'' titled ''Cardcaptors: Songs from the Hit TV Series'' that was released in September 2001 by

Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded in 1978, Rhino was originall ...

Video games

Ten

s have been produced based on the series and released on a variety of

and handheld consoles. They feature various genres, such as

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

and

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

Other media

Kodansha published three

s for the manga series and three art books from for the anime television series featuring art by character designer Kumiko Takahashi. The three books for the manga titled ''Cardcaptor Sakura Illustration Collection'' were released from July 1998 to December 2000. The three for the TV series titled ''Cheerio!'' were released from April 1999 to September 2000. A set of the 52 Clow Cards featured in the TV series was released in August 1999 and a ''Clow Card Fortune Book'', which contains information on how to use the Clow Card replica set as

tarot The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots ...

cards, was released in March 2000. A fan book for the manga titled ''Cardcaptor Sakura Memorial Book'' was published on February 27, 2001, containing various illustrations from the series, as well as information on branded merchandise based on the series and interviews. Four fan books under the title ''Complete Book'' were released for the TV series and films. The first two for the TV series were labeled and and were released in July 1999 and June 2000, respectively. The latter two for the films were released in October 1999 and October 2000, respectively. A poster box containing several posters and a T-shirt was released on August 22, 2001. Ten volumes of a film comic sharing the same name as the manga and anime series were published from August 1998 to November 2000 covering the first two anime seasons, though some episodes were skipped. Three more were published under the subtitle, ''Sakura Card-hen'' from March 2001 to February 2002 covering up to episode 59, though again some episodes were skipped. Four

s were released for the TV series from September 1998 to November 2000. Four

sticker A sticker is a type of label: a piece of printed paper, plastic, vinyl, or other material with temporary or permanent pressure sensitive adhesive on one side. It can be used for decoration or for functional purposes, depending on the situation. ...

books were released for the TV series from August 1999 to March 2004. Between February and July 2018, three ''Cardcaptor Sakura''-themed cafés opened in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

and

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

. The restaurants featured decorations of artwork from the series, and served menu items connected to ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' characters or items.

Reception

Manga

The manga has over 17 million copies in print as of April 2018. ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' was popular with Japanese readers, ranking among the top five sellers during its release. The manga series was awarded the

for Best Manga in 2001.

Shaenon Garrity Shaenon K. Garrity is a webcomic creator and science-fiction author best known for her webcomics ''Narbonic'' and '' Skin Horse''. She collaborated with various artists to write webcomics for the Modern Tales-family of webcomic subscription serv ...

of ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing re ...

'' described the series as a quintessential ''shōjo'' manga, which is praised for its mature direction in the second half. ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' has been described as a "critical work" of manga by Christopher Butcher of Comics212. In a review by Lisa Anderson of Manga Life, the subplots in the series related to the interactions between characters were noted to be of special interest. Anderson praised how the manga, while at the onset begins with a costumed Sakura chasing after a Clow Card, takes a "rather big leap in another direction" when focusing on the characters. The manga is further lauded for its depth.

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ...

(ANN) reviewer Robert Nguyen felt ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' is an "atypical ''shōjo''" manga, which puts an "emphasis on the emotions of the character." In '' Manga: The Complete Guide'', Mason Templar states that the series is not "just one of the best kids' manga in translation, it's one of the very best manga available in English, period." He praises Clamp for their creativity and shrewd business sense, in being able to create a series that "clearly has merchandising in line" and an "utterly forgettable premise" into a story that is "brimming with warmth and joy and wonder" and is "much more than the sum of its parts." The manga is cited as being cute by critics, and in some cases too cute; however, Anderson stated that "much like '' Magic Knight Rayearth'', even a cute story will have its depth and drama." The artwork of the manga is praised for being detailed and having "beautifully drawn pictures of the Clow Cards themselves." The cards are described as having "an artful blend of magical fantasy and reality."

Anime

The anime adaptation was popular with viewers in Japan, despite having a timeslot that normally has low viewership. The ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' anime adaptation won the Animage Grand Prix award for best anime in 1999. In May 2000, volumes 8 and 17 of the anime LD release were among the top selling titles, with volume 17 being in first place. The 18th DVD volume was the eighth best selling anime DVD in Japan in June 2000. ''

Animerica ''Animerica'' was a monthly magazine published by Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ ...

'' contributor Kevin Lew felt the series had a "sophisticated design sense" that allowed the series to transcend its target audience of young children and be enjoyable to older viewers as well. Fellow contributor Takashi Oshiguichi found the character Sakura to be appealing and praised the series art work. He felt that while it was "very calculated" to attract male readers, the series was attractive to fans due to Clamp's "unique entertainment style" that incorporates "perfectly time appearances of "fascinating villains" and the unusual element of having the main character change costume for every capture. The magazine's Winnie Chow felt the series' animation was "far above average for a TV series", and compliments Sakura's magic-casting scenes for being nearly unique due to the regular costume changes. Zac Bertschy of ANN praised ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' for taking an "incredibly stale and repetitive" magical girl genre and "providing something fun, clever, beautifully animated, touching and exciting all at once;" Bertschy goes on to call the series "the best magical girl show ever produced." The animation was described as being "incredibly fluid" with the character designs "maintain nga consistent and impressive level of detail, even during action scenes." The series has been described as formulaic, but this is not said to detract from the show's enjoyment. While ''Cardcaptor Sakura'' is normally intended for an audience of young girls, the anime is lauded for containing "elements that can be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of age or gender, providing they are open-minded enough." In 2001, the anime ranked 46th on ''Wizard's Anime Magazine''s "Top 50 Anime released in North America" ranking. Cat Dennis of

ScreenRant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scree ...

praised Sakura for maintaining a "conventionally feminine persona" rather than adopting male characteristics, with her power stemming from her outfits, heart, and love, meaning that the show "explores the complexities of love, both platonic and romantic." Hannah Collins of

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called the series an anime "filled with genuine warmth, tenderness, and a strong, underlying message of acceptance,". The Kids' WB version of the ''Cardcaptors'' dub was panned by critics. Jake Godek of

THEM Anime Reviews THEM Anime Reviews, otherwise known as THEM or T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews, is an anime review website that writes about current and past anime in any form, including OVAs and ONAs. The website offers reviews, editorial content and hosts forums. ...

called it "the worst thing that has ever happened to anime that had a good Japanese name," with the dubbing being "one of the worst if not the worst dubbing done for a program." He also criticized the editing, saying that it had "demolished the plot" and noting that it cut out vital character backgrounds needed in order to understand the show. Adam Arnold of Animefringe, reviewing the first ''Cardcaptors'' DVD, said it was "nothing more than an attempt to dilute a fan favorite anime," with the dubbed voices described as "not up-to-par with the originals." The ordering of the episodes on the DVD was also criticized, noting that starting with episode eight meant that the cast are "left without their backgrounds fleshed out." However, he also approved of the episode stories being left intact, and praised the voices of

as Sakura Avalon and

Rhys Huber Rhys Huber (born June 24, 1986) is a Canadian actor. He has done English voice work for animation and anime. His most notable role is Li Showron in the '' Cardcaptors'' dub. Animation/Anime Roles * '' Cardcaptors'' as Li Showron * '' Cardcaptor ...

as Syaoran Li, stating that they were the "only voices that really shine above the rest." In January 2002, the restaurant chain

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

began a month-long promotion in which four ''Cardcaptors'' toys were available in their

kids' meal The kids' meal or children's meal is a fast food combination meal tailored to and marketed to children. Most kids' meals come in colorful bags or cardboard boxes with depictions of activities/games on the bag or box and a toy inside. Most stan ...

s and the company expected to distribute up to 7 million of the toys during the month. The "conservative Christian political orientation"

American Family Association The American Family Association (AFA) is a Christian fundamentalist 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States.

complained about the promotion as the organization felt the Clow Cards in the series were too similar to tarot cards and Eastern mythology. However, the organization's complaints did not begin until the promotion was already scheduled to end, so it is unclear whether the complaints had any actual effect.