Cardcaptors

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For the information on the original version of anime as well as original manga, see Cardcaptor Sakura.

Cardcaptors is the English adaptation of the Japanese anime series Cardcaptor Sakura. It was produced by Nelvana and first aired in 2000. The series has aired in the United States as well as other English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia. [1]

Contents

[edit] Plot synopsis

After a young girl (Sakura Avalon) accidentally releases a series of magical cards incased within an acient book, she finds her life turned upside down as she attempts to recapture all of the cards before they can destroy the world.

Whether sometimes rivals or allies, Sakura and her rival Li aim to recapture all the Clow Cards before they wreak havoc upon the world.

[edit] Characters

Note: Links currently redirect to articles about the characters' Japanese counterparts. Specific information regarding the Cardcaptors characterization is slowly being added.

[edit] Plot Differences

Cardcaptor Sakura Cardcaptors
Character Relationships
  • Tomoyo is infatuated with Sakura, although Sakura is mostly oblivious to the depth of Tomoyo's love.
  • Yukito and Toya share a close relationship, hinting towards a serious one at the series' end.
  • Syaoran is attracted to Yukito throughout the first season.
  • Toya dated Sakura's teacher Kaho Mizuki (Layla Mackenzie) when she was a student teacher at his Junior High School.
  • Nadeshiko and Sonomi are cousins and Sakura and Tomoyo are second cousins.
  • Syaoran and Meiling are cousins and are engaged to each other.
  • Rika has a crush on her teacher Yoshiyuki Terada, and he appears to reciprocate those feelings.
 Many relationships and romances, especially non-heterosexual romance, are erased.
  • Madison is still a good friend to Sakura, but the infatuation is erased. They are also not acknowledged as cousins.
  • The relationship between Tori and Ms. MacKenzie is removed.
  • Li and Meilin are no longer related. Meilin Rae, as she was renamed, is only depicted as having a crush on Li.
  • Rita's crush is not acknowledged. Some situations regarding Rita's crush are redepicted as Rita being somewhat afraid of Mr. Terada.
  • Li and Sakura's relationship is edited out, instead it just shows the transition from rivalry to friendship. Some say there are traces of the original relationship.
  • Chiharu and Takashi are cousins, to give reason to the fact that she repeatly strangles him.
Episodes There are 70 episodes and two movies. Throughout the first season, a "Kero-chan ni Omakase" segment airs after the end of each episode. Episode previews follow every episode also. The U.S. adaptation began airing episodes at Episode 8, skipping or editing Sakura-centered ones to ensure Li would be a co-leading character (so to appeal to male audiences). According to networks, 60% of the audience is male. Various Clow Cards were previewed, but these scenes proved to create plot holes. Other English-speaking countries started at Episode 1 and showed 68-70 episodes.
Location The series takes place in Tomoeda, Japan. The Li family resides in Hong Kong. Sakura has frequent dreams that take place on or around Tokyo Tower. Kaho Mizuki apparently left to study in England The series takes place in Reedington, though it doesn't refer to where. Sakura refers to Tokyo Tower as the Radio Tower. Li and Meilin's hometowns are not revealed.
Music The original score was composed by Takayuki Negishi. The opening theme (for season one) was "Catch You Catch Me." The original score was changed and composed by Dave Doré. The opening theme was changed to a title-style song, "Cardcaptors." Any and all insert songs were replaced. No closing themes were presented in order to allow advertising windows. In some variants of the dub, (like in Australia), dubbed versions of some of the original songs have been used as openings and closings.
Names Characters contain common Japanese/Chinese names. Sakura is pronounced SAH-koo-rah (heavy empphasis on the first syllable). The transformed cards in season three are called Sakura Cards. All given names except Sakura's and Meiling's were changed to Western-styled names and Yoshiyuki Terada was just known as Mr. Terada. The pronunciation of Sakura's name was changed to sah-KOO-rah (heavy emphasis on the middle syllable), which is how most Westerners would likely pronounce it. Li's name was flipped around from Syaoran Li to Li Showron, and his cousin, Meiling Li's name was changed to Meilin Rae in order to remove any blood relation between the two. The Sakura Cards became Star Cards. Incantations were also changed.

[edit] Broadcasting and media information

Though Nelvana adapted all 70 episodes of Cardcaptor Sakura, about half were omitted from broadcast in the United States. In addition, practically all romantic subtext - not just the shōjo-ai and shōnen-ai - was erased from the show, and entire episodes were taken apart and spliced together in a haphazard manner. This has led to much controversy regarding the nature of the recompiled US version and Nelvana's opinions on the show's content.

Cardcaptors aired in the United States in June, 2000, on the Kids WB during its Saturday morning block and ran for 39 episodes before it was ultimately cancelled. Cartoon Network also carried the series during its Afternoon Toonami Block starting on June 4, 2001, but aired the first season only once before dropping the show from the lineup. These airings showed the edited US version, where its sporadic episode ordering and scene splicing resulted in giving the series a somewhat disjointed plot.

The goal of further editing the series was ostensibly to make Cardcaptors more appealing to American teenage boys, as there was a conception that, with the exception of Sailor Moon, girl-oriented series (or action/suspense-lacking series) would not succeed. Considering this motive, it is not surprising that the US adaptation of the series was almost completely reviled by viewers of the original. Most of the websites related to Cardcaptors are "flame sites" (some referring to the adaptation as Card-Craptors) devoted to revealing the advantages of the uncensored version over the US version.

Despite the abundant flame sites against Cardcaptors, there are some viewers who do not see a problem in the editing and major changes to the series (most have maintained their opinions even after viewing the uncut version). Few websites are still available online that are "pro-Cardcaptors" and provide extensive information with this variation along with the original.

In other English-speaking countries (i.e. Canada, Australia, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom), Cardcaptors ran in a more complete form, with all 70 episodes being shown in its original order (though still in an edited form because of culture and political issues), in some cases eschewing the English opening and closing themes in favor of dubbed versions of the original themes (however, Australia and India received the original titles in their distributions, with dubbed versions of at least 4 of the 6 title/credit songs). The DVD release of Cardcaptors was cancelled after the ninth volume (the beginning of the second arc), but Pioneer has released an uncut, subtitled version of the show on DVD that ran all 70 episodes on 18 discs.

The two movies have also been dubbed into English, and currently both the Cardcaptor Sakura version and the Cardcaptors version of the first movie can be found on the same DVD. The only major difference between the two versions is the dialogue. The second movie is more faithful to the original, as a different company was responsible for dubbing and did not adhere to any censorship standards (the fact that the second movie was not meant to be a TV release could be a factor). All of the original names and much of the original dialogue were retained, and an entirely different voice cast than that of Cardcaptors was hired.

[edit] Merchandising

In addition to its negative reviews, Cardcaptors merchandise was not widely received as certain parents were concerned that, as the Clow Cards vaguely resembled tarot cards, the series could be seen as promoting witchcraft or the occult. The concern was so great that, when Cardcaptors toys were released at Taco Bell during a promotion in 2002, two of the four (Sakura's "tarot-like" Clow Book, and Li's Lasin Board) toys were pulled within a week of release due to articles published by Christian groups. [citation needed] Some fans have written that they have noticed that the SHADOW Card has a robed figure on the face and that some tarot cards have depicted DEATH as wearing a similar robe. There is also the SWORD Card, which is a suit in tarot cards (i.e. the ace of swords, the king of swords, etc.). Clow Books were also available in stores such as Blockbuster as well as Sakura Dolls.

[edit] Media information

See List of Cardcaptor Sakura episodes for episode titles

See Cardcaptor Sakura media information for:

  • Theme songs
  • Broadcasting
    • Other language adaptations
  • International titles
  • Episode directors

[edit] References

  1. ^ Poitras, Gilles (2001). Anime Essentials: Every Thing a Fan Needs to Know. Stone Bridge Press, 27. ISBN 1880656531.

[edit] Official sites

[edit] Fan sites


Cardcaptor Sakura (CLAMP)
v • d • e
Information
Cardcaptors dub
Media information
List of episodes
Voice actors
Characters
Kinomoto Family: Sakura | Toya | Fujitaka | Nadeshiko
Li Clan: Syaoran | Meiling
Daidouji Family: Tomoyo | Sonomi
Magical Beings: Cerberus | Yue | Spinel Sun | Ruby Moon
Clow-Related: Clow Reed | Eriol Hiiragizawa | Kaho Mizuki | Yukito Tsukishiro
Classmates: Chiharu Mihara | Rika Sasaki | Takashi Yamazaki | Naoko Yanagisawa
Other adults: Yoshiyuki Terada | Maki Matsumoto
Clow Cards
A-F -- G-R -- S-Z
Episode Guide: Clow Card Arc: 1-18, 19-35, 36-46 | Sakura Card Arc: 47-59, 60-70
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