Cardcaptor Sakura the Movie 1, 2, and OVAs | Retro Japanese Media Retrospective
CLAMP's Cardcaptor Sakura series proved to be pretty popular in its heyday. Still well known around the world today despite its age and the pristine of its contemporaries, the original manga has spread its wings far beyond the pages of weekly Nakoyoshi. Last week, we discussed the TV anime adaption from 1998. Today, we'll be taking a surface level look into the spin off media of that anime. First, we'll be looking at the first theatrical movie, released in 1999, simply titled "Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie". We'll take a short intermission there to quickly look at the three episode OVA "You're Great, Sakura-chan! Tomoyo's Cardcaptor Sakura Action Video Diary!", as well as the short film "Leave it to Kero! Theatrical Version". Finally, we'll close out by looking at the second and, as of the time of this writing, final Cardcaptor Sakura film, "Cardcaptor Sakura The Movie 2: The Sealed Card".
Most of the staff that worked on the television series returned to work on the movie, with some notable exceptions. First, a correction for last weeks post. I originally stated that the producer of the Cardcaptor Sakura TV series was one Yutaka Maseba. This is only technically true, as he was the producer for the English sub releases of the Cardcaptor Sakura TV series and first movie. However, the original producer of the TV series in it's native language is one Eizo Kondo, who's credits include every Japanese grandma and grandpa's favorite anime, Sazae-san. Apologies, and frankly, that's what I get for using MAL as a credit source. However, my statement that the producer did not come back for the second movie still holds true, doubly so as Producer Kondo did not return for either of the two movies, being given a special thanks slot in the credits of both films. The first movie was produced by a tag team of Kazuhiko Ikeguchi (who worked as producer for the anime adaptions of CLAMP's RG Veda OVA and X/1999 Film, as well as working as producer on the CLAMP in Wonderland short) and Tatsuya Ono (the true holder of the previously misattributed credit for producer of the Chobits TV anime, as well as working on the X/1999 movie with Producer Ikeguchi as a member of Production Supervision). Both Producer Ikeguchi and Producer Ono would return to produce the second movie as well, joined by Kouchi Tsurunari, Shinji Komori, and Tsuyoshi Yoshida. Producer Tsurunari's only other listed credit on ANN is producer on the Leave it to Kero-chan short film, and Producer Komori is only listed with two other non-CLAMP producers credits. Producer Yoshida has quite a few more credits as a high-ranking member of Shochiku Company, serving as Executive Producer and a member of the Planning Committees of several different anime series and movies. All five members of the second movie's producer team are also credited as the producers of the Kero-chan short film, while the You're Wonderful Sakura-chan OVA have no credits listed. However, since the OVAs were bundled with home releases of the TV series, it would be a logical guess to say that the TV series' producer was the one in charge of those as well.
Now as for credits that were listed correctly last time, the director of the TV series, Morio Asaka, returned to work on both theatrical movies, but was succeeded by one Masayuki Kojima for the Kero-chan movie. Director Kojima is another CLAMP adaptation regular like his predecessor, storyboarding one episode a piece on Chobits, Kobato., and X/1999. He also storyboarded episode 2 of the Cardcaptor Sakura TV series. Modern anime fans would recognize him as the director of the Made in Abyss TV anime and film adaptations. Old heads might have seen his name in passing as well, as a storyboarder on an episode of Super Dimension Calvary Southern Cross and several episodes of Genesis Climber Mospeada. The script for all three films is credited to CLAMP member Nanase Ohkawa, just like with the TV series. The music credit is another returning staff member from the TV series, one Takayuki Negishi. Several animators from the TV series returned to work on the films as well. For example, Episode 26 and 35 Key Animator Asako Nishida, Episode 51, 57, and 59 Key Animator Hideki Yamazaki, and Episode 31 Key Animator Michiyo Suzuki all returned to work on the first movie, with Key Animator Suzuki working as Assistant Animation Director as well.
Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie
When it comes to the Cardcaptor Sakura films, I think the first movie did it the best. It's one of those anime movies that doesn't concern itself with the main series plot, instead sending our heroes off on a side adventure to a part of their world that is technically canon but never explored in the the main series. I generally prefer these sorts of anime movies, as opposed to films that are directly story focused, as we'll talk about when we get to the second movie. These sorts of movies have the feel of a summer blockbuster, just a fun getaway adventure, which is exactly the vibe this first movie has, even though the characters are actually on spring break. A lot of why I think the first movie is so good mostly comes down to its simplicity. Of course there's the plot with the mysterious water magician, but aside from that, there's really no B plots that aren't more than "time in place" markers. Like the scene at the end, which tells us that we're still in the part of the story where Sakura's crush is solely on Yukito, and Syaoran isn't really into Sakura yet, but Meiling is at the point in her arc where she's more a part of the group now. We have a part of the story where the group goes and meets Syaoran's family, but that's not really something the movie focuses on or gives a whole arc too. Like many anime movies of this type, a lot of things actually happen in the movie, but there's one clear, distinct plotline that drives the whole thing forward. And that's where my take on it being simplistic comes from. I think another strong point of the film is something in comparison to the second film, The Sealed Card, that I only really realized when I watched that one, and that's really that the film takes place during the best part of the main Cardcaptor Sakura storyline. Now like I said, this movie really isn't concerned about the main story. It's about the characters adventure in Meiling and Syaoraon's homeland of Hong Kong. But there's elements that get introduced later on that we just don't have to deal with here, that we will in the second movie. I'll hold off on that discussion for later, but seeing the characters mostly be relaxed around each other without any complicated love... triangles? or whatever shape... is great. On another note, the music in this first film is probably my favorite in the entire series. Like I really loved Music Director Negishi's work on the TV series and The Sealed Card, but I think it tops out here. The absolute standout track is the one that plays during the first bird chase scene, "Zenkin Teki Kinhakukan". The entire first bird chase through the film's take on the real life Yuen Po Street Bird Garden in Hong Kong is not-quite-easily my favorite part of the movie. If this was a normal post, I'd take a minute to just go over that scene in detail, but that track is probably the most perfect action song you could have in any magical girl anime. That's a bold statement to make, I know, but you have the typically soft-sounding instrument of the flute holding down the opening melody to give it that classical shoujo feel, then the strings kick in to give it that epic flair, while the bass/guitar/drum combo drives the whole thing along to give it a spirit pumping, action feel. It's just perfect, and its unfortunate that this style of magical girl song (this kind of thing pops up in some Sailor Moon songs as well, like in Moon Cosmic Power Make Up! or ) has fallen out of style in modern magical girl action anime, especially as rare as it already was. Interestingly, this track actually has a remix, with the second bird chase theme, "Hitori Teki Kentou", which, while not being as perfectly magical girl-esque as "Zenkin Teki Kinhakukan" (that flute man, it's just perfect), is still a great tune. The saxophone solo that takes the place of the original song's flute solo is very powerful. In general, this movie really liked to remix a couple of main themes for the key scenes. The three action themes are really just one theme, played normally, with a saxophone cover, and then heavily remixed. While the main theme played associated with the main antagonist is remixed several times throughout the movie, never playing the same core theme the same way twice. It's kind of cool, and we really only have seen this kind of thing in anime again recently with Yuki Hayashi's work on My Hero Academia and Haikyuu. The film's theme song which plays in the credits, "Toi Konomachide" by Kaitani Naomi, is the perfect closer to the film. Basically, I've used a lot words here, but the bring it back, this soundtrack is easily the ace of the entire Cardcaptor Sakura anime adaption line, and that's saying a lot, because the TV series had a soundtrack that was nothing to sneeze at. That's the main reason I rewatch this film. Not for the antagonist, who really doesn't do anything for me emotionally, and really just is there so the characters actually have something to do besides tour Hong Kong for 90 minutes. The animation is also TV anime tie-in movie good, as you'd expect and hope. Choreography is on par for the series, which is basically always good. In a lot of ways, it is a very standard summer blockbuster (actually thinking about it, it's more in line with those spring tokusatsu films, and this film takes place in the spring, but it aired in theaters in August, so calling it a summer blockbuster type is still accurate I guess), but I think it's strongest, or for the sake of this post, most interesting point, is the music. It's simply on another level compared to other anime tracks.
INTERMISSION: The Specials
Because of how my writing setup is, sometimes I wonder if my writing is too short. But then I look at my word counter, and realize that I've written one thousand words, so really, I just need to worry about saying everything that I want to say. And on that note, let's talk about the Cardcaptor Sakura anime specials.
There's really not a whole lot to say about either the You're Wonderful Sakura-chan OVAs or the Leave it to Kero-chan short film. Last week, I complained about seasons 2 and 3 dropping Kero-chan's bit at the end of every episode, and the totally legal and not at all fansubbed/torrented copy of The Sealed Card that I watched didn't mention that they had included the Kero-chan film at the end, so I was very pleasantly surprised by this part of the franchise, since nothing I had read had mentioned it. Basically, it's just a movie about Kero-chan and Spinel fighting over a takoyaki ball which goes flying throughout the city. Interestingly, Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo, and crew don't actually show up in the movie, and if I'm remembering right, only Sakura's VA, Sakura Tange, actually has lines. Other than it, it's all Kero and Spinel, which for a Leave It to Kero-chan theatrical film, should be the case. Of course, it's totally different from the regular Leave it to Kero-chan, and more takes inspiration from the TV anime's episode 56, "Sakura, Kero, and the Sweet Meeting". But as much as I harped on season 3 of the TV anime last week, this episode was actually one I really enjoyed, despite my feelings on Eriol's crew. Spinel was fun, despite the fact that "character is crazy drunk as causes problems" is not my favorite story trope. The movie was the same kind of fun as the TV episode, with a radically different coat of paint. Both the Director and Art Director were series firsts, with our aforementioned Masayuki Kojima in the Director's chair, and one Sawako Takagi working as Art Director. Art Director Takagi is listed with a bunch of movie spin off credits, between YuYu Hakusho's movie as Background Artist, several of the Naruto Shippuden films as Background Artist and Art Assistant, and even the Dragon Ball Z movies as Background Artist. He has other non-movie credits, such as Background Artist on the Dragon Ball Z TV anime series, but all those movies really stuck out to me. He also worked on the Naruto spin-off "Naruto SD: Rock Lee and His Ninja Pals" as Art Director, which you can really see when you put it next to the Kero-Chan short. A bit of a research side tangent there, but overall, I was very happy while I watching the Kero-chan film. Apparently, the Leave it to Kero-chan segment comes back for the Clear Card anime, so I'm looking forward to that. Oh, and as for the OVAs, they were cute. The first one really is the best one, because the concept is great, and Sakura Tange butchering "Catch You, Catch Me" is probably one of the funniest bits in the entire series. It was really that the included something like that, instead of just throwing in "Creditless OP/ED" like most releases do. But all three episodes of the OVA were fun and cute. Aside from the first one, I probably won't go looking to watch them again, but if I'm doing a Sakura movie marathon, I'll probably throw them in after the first movie.
Cardcaptor Sakura the Movie 2: The Sealed Card
And now, here it is. The final Cardcaptor Sakura movie release, as of August 2020. Now I now that people really like this film, and for good reason, Unlike the first movie, this one is PLOT. It's a followup to the end of the TV anime (of course, made many moons before the manga sequel, Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card), which left on kind of a cliffhanger, right? Because at the end of the TV anime, Sakura gives her bear to Syaoran, and that's literally the final scene. So of course, people want to know what happened next. And it's not like this was some unsanctioned, unofficial thing that Producers Ikeguchi, Tsurunari, Komori, Ono, and Yoshida and Director Asaka went off and did on their own, CLAMP representative Nanase Ohkawa came back to do the screenplay just like she did for the other adaptations. And The Sealed Card gives people the closure they wanted for the story, that Syaoran and Sakura did a real confession and loved each other very much and lived happily ever after. And production wise, this movie was generally as good as the first film. Not as good in the music department, which is understandable, that was a master class OST. But animation, art, music, all of that was good. Everyone working on this film really pulled their weight to make a good product. Even Eriol and Ruby Moon were... OK in this movie. Not good, I'll never give them that, unless Clear Card really is that good. But you see that I'm front-loading all this praise about the movie, so you know there's going to be a but. And here's the but. The Sealed Card is pretty good, except for the fact that it's main plot revolves is written exactly like it was taking place in season three of the TV series. And I mean the parts that were written really annoyingly. Because there's honestly nothing more frustrating than watching 20 something episodes of the characters dancing around the advancement of certain storylines, have those storylines wrap up, only for the movie to use one of the same storylines (Sakura and Syaoran's feelings for each other) and have the characters dance around its advancement for another hour and half. Now again, just like with the end of the TV series, the ending is very satisfying, but part of the satisfaction is because spend so damn long playing monkey about it. Also, they reused the "our class is putting on a play", making this three times that that trope comes up as a main plotline in a Cardcaptor Sakura anime adaption. That's a bit much, and it's one of those tropes that I don't really like to see that often. So it comes up again, and in the same context as the third season's use of it no less. Like not the literal exact same context, but it's another play where Sakura and Syaoran play the romantic leads, while in real life they're considering their feelings for each other. And this is what I was getting at earlier when I said that one of the strong points of the first movie is that we're still in first season era thinking. The problems I have with the story of the second movie are almost one to one with the problems I have with the third season. Now fortunately we only have one plotline we're juggling around this time, but the fact that it's a plotline we already thought had closed before almost makes it worse. It reminds more of, in the currently running manga series "Kaguya Wants to be Confessed to", there's a running gag where, after every major arc, there will be a point where the narrator says "[insert X amount of time] has passed... and nothing had happened". Of course, that series is making fun of that classic rom-com trope, but it's definitely not as funny seeing it happen for real without any comedic subtext. Now I don't want to spend what little time (relatively) I'm spending discussing this movie just harping on it, because as much as I love the first movie, I did really enjoy this one. Like I said before, production values were really good, and I like the resolutions it came to in the end, both with the Nameless Card becoming The Hope and the actual resolution to Sakura and Syaoran's love story. And I actually like the film's ending theme, "Asueno Melody" by CHAKA more than the first film's ending. Despite that song being the perfect closer to that film, I feel like The Sealed Card's ending is much more "Cardcaptor Sakura" feeling. It gives the same vibes as, ironically enough, "Groovy!", the first season's ending theme. I also liked that The Sealed Card got the rest of the regular recurring cast involved in the proceedings. The first movie was only concerned with the main cast interacting with the movie exclusive characters in Hong Kong (aside from Maki's scene at the beginning), but The Sealed Card actually doesn't have any movie exclusive characters, having the entire cast filled out with the regulars. That means the best character in the series, Takashi Yamazaki, gets his silver screen debut, and that's a definite plus. I didn't hate the movie exclusive characters from the first film, but there really wasn't a lot of time spent on them to grow an attachment, especially compared to the characters from the TV series. The action was also really good in this movie, and the gimmick that Sakura could only use a card one time before it disappears was a really interesting way to add stakes, especially considering how strong the opening scene made Sakura look. The last two cards being The Fly, the first card Sakura captured in the TV series, and The Shield, the card Sakura (technically) got from Tomoyo, was a really cool symbolic moment. The whole fight scene in the clock tower was actually incredible, animation wise. I'll say it a thousand more times, the music in the first movie was on another level, but the clock tower fight theme was also really really good. Also, The Sealed Card gets extra points for airing alongside the Leave it to Kero-chan short film, which we've already confirmed as God's gift to man. But in all seriousness, despite the problems I had with the story, I had a really good time with The Sealed Card. It's value mostly comes down to how invested you got in Sakura and Syaoran's relationship, but it's worth watching as a well produced anime film as well.
And with that, I've written about the 1998 Cardcaptor Sakura anime TV series and all its spinoffs. It's been a long journey getting through everything, but we've made it to the end. I don't know what I'll be writing about next week, but I'll probably post a decision on Twitter in the following days. But there will be a new post next week, so see ya then.
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