CCS Clear Card - Death by Nostalgia

[Dave Baranyi]

Wow – Madhouse and NHK have brought back the world of 1998 with the start of “Card Captor Sakura: Clear Card-hen”. (If they could only bring back my hairline to where it was 20 years ago... lol )

Yes, watching the first episode of “Clear Card” was like pulling out one of my Japanese CCS laser discs and putting it into my laser disc player. (I wonder of the laser disc player still works?) This is Death by Nostalgia. Everything is the same (except for the opening theme song) – the look, the sound, the direction, the voice acting. You can tell that NHK gave Madhouse marching orders to make lightning strike twice with this reboot/continuation.

Some time has passed since the ending of CCS. Sakura is starting 7th grade, Shaoran is back from Hong Kong, and something has turned the Cards transparent. Sakura gets a new Wand from a dream and starts to collect new cards which have images on clear plastic. The gang is back together and they are about to start investigating mysteries again.

It's hard to decide what to think about “CCS Clear Card”. From a technical point of view it is amazing that Madhouse could recapture the look and feel of the first series so well. I can understand that the folks at NHK want to hit another home run with their younger female audiences, but does that mean that the new series will follow the pattern of the old series slavishly? I would love to see the new series go in some new direction, but will it? In any event, my initial rating is “B+” and I will continue to follow the series for now.

Dave Baranyi

[afedakendragon]

Post by Dave Baranyi
Wow – Madhouse and NHK have brought back the world of 1998 with the start of “Card Captor Sakura: Clear Card-hen”. (If they could only bring back my hairline to where it was 20 years ago... lol )
Yes, watching the first episode of “Clear Card” was like pulling out one of my Japanese CCS laser discs and putting it into my laser disc player. (I wonder of the laser disc player still works?) This is Death by Nostalgia. Everything is the same (except for the opening theme song) – the look, the sound, the direction, the voice acting. You can tell that NHK gave Madhouse marching orders to make lightning strike twice with this reboot/continuation.
Some time has passed since the ending of CCS. Sakura is starting 7th grade, Shaoran is back from Hong Kong, and something has turned the Cards transparent. Sakura gets a new Wand from a dream and starts to collect new cards which have images on clear plastic. The gang is back together and they are about to start investigating mysteries again.
It's hard to decide what to think about “CCS Clear Card”. From a technical point of view it is amazing that Madhouse could recapture the look and feel of the first series so well. I can understand that the folks at NHK want to hit another home run with their younger female audiences, but does that mean that the new series will follow the pattern of the old series slavishly? I would love to see the new series go in some new direction, but will it? In any event, my initial rating is “B+” and I will continue to follow the series for now.
Dave Baranyi

I wander back here in a fit of nostalgia only to find that everything old is new again. :-) Here's hoping its as good as the old series!

[Tank]

I don't know about the "Death by Nostalgia" part. :D They certainly did an
amazing job recreating the series. You are right; it was just like
continuing from the end of the original. Looks gorgeous and it's great that
they hired the same voice actors. My gut feeling is that they will follow
the same pattern as before, but like you, would love to see some new twists
to spice up the old show. Still have to get used to Shaoran and Sakura being
an item. :)

--Edwin E.

[Dave Baranyi]

Post by Tank
I don't know about the "Death by Nostalgia" part. :D They certainly did an
amazing job recreating the series. You are right; it was just like
continuing from the end of the original. Looks gorgeous and it's great that
they hired the same voice actors. My gut feeling is that they will follow
the same pattern as before, but like you, would love to see some new twists
to spice up the old show. Still have to get used to Shaoran and Sakura being
an item. :)
--Edwin E.

I've watched up through the third episode now, and while it still looks great the thing that is starting to bother me is lack of change in 7th grader Sakura (and friends) from 4th grader Sakura (and friends). 11 or 12 year olds are a lot different from 8 or 9 year olds and we aren't seeing that in this series so far. I'm guessing that this is a deliberate decision on the part of CLAMP and the anime producers, but it does leave me shaking my head a bit.

Dave Baranyi

[Wasabi]

Post by Tank
I don't know about the "Death by Nostalgia" part. :D They certainly
did an amazing job recreating the series. You are right; it was just
like continuing from the end of the original. Looks gorgeous and it's
great that they hired the same voice actors.

I thought Sakura Tange had retired from voice acting? Is she back to
play Sakura Kinomoto again?

I always thought the Hong Kong holiday movie was the pinnacle of CCS, it
fitted neatly into the TV series timeline but worked as a standalone story.
I liked how we learn from Kero that Clow Reid's twisted nature made him
lots of enemies - but it's his successor Sakura who's been lumbered with
the consequences. Its only failing was it was a bit short (why not make it
a full 90 minutes?)

[Stainless Steel Rat]

Post by Wasabi
I thought Sakura Tange had retired from voice acting? Is she back to
play Sakura Kinomoto again?

She had, and she is.