Cardcaptors: The Movie (2002)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Produced by Pioneer Entertainment

Features:

• Dolby surround sound
  
• Froggy Mix music video: "No Nagging"
  
• trailer
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• clothes you can't wear
• irritating video

Rating: All ages.

Anamorphic: Nope.

My Advice: Buy it to watch after hard days at work.

Sakura, guardian of the Clow Cards, has won a trip to Hong Kong for four. She takes her brother, his best friend Julian (upon whom Sakura has a crush), and her best friend Madison. Of course Kero, the Guardian Beast of the cards, tags along, as do Li and Meilin, whose hometown is Hong Kong. Along the way, Sakura and Co. meet and must try to defeat a powerful, ancient sorceress once imprisoned by Clow Reed. Will her power over the element of Water prove Sakura's undoing? The story takes place before episode 10 or so of the series, before Sakura has captured all the cards.

This version of the feature film is a bit less violent than the Japanese version; the ending is slightly different--without giving too much away, Sakura uses her brain to defeat the villain in a rather non-violent way. She thinks and feels her way out of the situation, rather than using the cards to bash her way out. The villain, in a way, defeats herself by realizing the truth. The American version also cuts some of the scenes between Sakura and Julian, minimizing the impact of her crush on him. This doesn't alter the story per se, however, so unless you're out for romance, you probably won't miss these details.

The visuals are stylistically much like the series; the look of the characters is familiar. However, the animators were able to make use of the larger budget of a movie and created a general look that's as rich and detailed as you would demand in a feature-length production. The street scenes in Hong Kong are beautiful, as are the scenes inside Li's mansion. This is why you'll miss the widescreen option; some of the edges of the beautiful animation are cut off.

The sound is also good, especially during the opening soundtrack. The voices are the same as during the series, so if you like, for example, Madison's voice there, you'll have no problems here.

The case is nice enough, with a pretty image of Sakura in her Chinese dress on the cover. There's a sheet inside listing the scene titles on one side and a small poster sort of image on the other side. I miss the reversable slipcover from the Japanese version, as well as the widescreen format, but this case is nice enough.

While it's nice to have a music video as a feature, the features list on this DVD is rather short. A look at why they changed what they changed, a character gallery or biographies, even a couple frames from Clamp's manga would have been nice.

Some fan sites have made much over the few translation changes in this version of the Cardcaptors movie. For example, when the characters receive their report cards, Sakura is relieved about passing music class in the English version, but it's math class in the Japanese. Most of the changes, however, are equally small, and I suspect that a wish to avoid charges of sexism had much to do with the particular example I cited above--can't have American girls thinking girls aren't good at math. The other changes are so relatively small that nothing of the heart of the story is lost. A few of the scenes were cut, but nothing that seems to alter the character interactions or confuse the story--Sakura still blushes around Julian, Li is still the quiet hero, and so on.

All in all, Cardcaptors is a fun look into Sakura's world, and a nice change from the endless search to capture the card of the week. I personally would have liked more of her brother and Julian in the film, but as they're secondary characters, I can't really complain. If you enjoy the Cardcaptors series or other shoujo titles like Sailor Moon, then give the movie a chance, and you just might become fascinated with the Clow Cards, their magical history, and the girl chosen to protect them.