”The key from my dream…?”
Creative Staff
Story & Art: CLAMP
Translation: Devon Corwin
What They Say
New Cards, New Adventures!
Sakura Kinimoto’s about tos tart middle school, and everything’s coming up cherry blossoms. Not only has she managed to recapture the scattered Clow Cards and make them her own Sakura Cards, but her sweetheart Syaoran Li has moved from Hong Kong to Tokyo and is going to be attending her school! But her joy is interrupted by a troubling dream in which the cards turn transparent, and when Sakura awakens to discover her dream has become reality, it’s clear that her magical adventures are dar from over…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
There’s been this sudden interest in rekindling classics from years prior, resulting in a very mixed bag of sequels. Thankfully Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card falls into the better camp of sequels so far.
A major pitfall in making any sequel is being able to maintain that same feeling that the original series had. And in that regard, Clear Card delivers. Not only do we get the entire cast back to their old shenanigans, but it’s done in such a way that feels sincere rather than a checkbox for nostalgia’s sake. While running gags like Toya calling Sakura “monster” and Tomoyo obsessing over new Cardcaptor costumes are appreciated throwbacks, it’s in the simpler non-nostalgia-laden scenes that the series replicates its predecessor’s purity. Scenes like Sakura and Tomoyo making a cheesecake, or Sakura calling up Eriol and the rest of the gang in England just to check up on them (sidenote: smartphones exist in the continuity now) are sweet in that they show that Sakura is able to bring about the best in those around her through the simplest of tasks. She is never painted as someone that is reliant on the sudden magical abilities granted to her, because she never needed them in order to be a better person. The entire magical aspect of the series in general is fascinating in that it’s so separated from the rest of the cast’s lives and yet the transition between the two is so seamless.
That said, the series does suffer from the same problems the original manga had. Building up to the reveal that Sakura’s cards have become transparent, she begins having dreams of a mysterious cloaked figure, the transparent cards, and a dragon (!) of all things. Since the original series, the creative team at Clamp has always had this odd interest in dreams for the sake of exposition and drama. And the exact same holds true this time around—the dreams act as a buildup and blatant exposition for what’s to come, with Sakura having to once again gain control of her cards that are running rampant around the town of Tomoeda. And yet Clear Card still doesn’t come off as an unnecessary sequel because the series’ characters are so loveable. Between Sakura and her friends starting sixth grade, her brother and Yukito starting life in college, and Eriol keeping in contact from England, there’s enough new changes to the status quo to keep you as a reader interested, with all magical aspects merely serving as a neat little bonus to all that.
In Summary:
Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card is a solid continuation that maintains all the heart and purity of the original series. And while the plot surrounding the Clear Cards themselves is a bit more than derivative, the entire cast is strong enough to carry the story through those parts—the perfect balance between delightfully ordinary and spectacle.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: December 19, 2017
MSRP: $10.99
