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C A R D   C A P T O R   S A K U R A   2 n d   M O V I E
Reviewed April, 2001 by Mark Vallen, Jeannine Thorpe, and John Lentini ©. Screen shots generously provided by John Lentini.

(Comments by Jeannine Thorpe) Having seen a good portion of the original Japanese Card Captor Sakura tv series as well as the first movie, I can easily say that this latest and last movie is the best of the crop! The high level of emotion and perfect animation breaks new ground for the series, for CLAMP it's creators, and for anime in general. Whereas the TV series always combined battles, humor, and great shoujo storytelling, this movie puts the emotions first.

Taking off where the TV series ended, Sakura is noticably missing Shaoran who had returned to Hong Kong. Adding to this pressure, some strange new enemy is making her cards disappear, leaving Sakura feeling helpless and confused. But even when Shaoran and Meiling return, Sakura just can't get up the nerve to admit her feelings for him. As the town of Tomoeda prepares for its spring festival, Sakura rehearses for her lead role in their play, Princess Nadeshiko....but the mysterious enemy, a small girl with long flowing hair... has other plans for her! Sakura must resolve her feelings in order to spare the town.... showing just how much she has grown and matured.

I can't praise this film enough for its amazing animation and captivating drama! Time and time again I was speechless as I viewed the animation, the simple act of girls walking under a shady tree, the completely fluid movement of a high speed roller coaster.... all depicted absolutely flawlessly. My highest praise to CLAMP for their vision, and dedication to their fans to want to please them with this masterwork!

(Comments by Mark Vallen) From it's opening shot to it's final frame... this 2nd Card Captor Sakura movie is a wonder to behold. If you're familiar only with the Warner Brothers edited and censored version of "Cardcaptors" shown on North American television, and have perhaps written off the series because of that mishandling... think again. This film easily surpasses anything recently produced in the United States, and it will have you wondering WHY American animated films like Nickelodeon's Rugrats in Paris or Disney's Recess get so much attention and praise.

Sadly this film is not likely to be released in North America anytime soon (if at all), even though Warner Brothers currently broadcasts a chopped up version of the television show. One gets the distinct impression that corporate America hasn't a clue when it comes to handling such beautiful animation, either that or they're striving to suppress their competion. This Card Captor film ran on big screen theatres across Japan, yet for those of us outside of Japan who love the series (and animation in general), we'll have to be satisfied with watching old video tape copies passed from hand to hand. Or if we're lucky perhaps some daring fansubbers will supply us all with a quality subtitled
translation of this remarkable movie (something the big studios are unable to do for some reason, despite their enormous wealth and resources). However you are able to obtain this film, you'll be astounded by its incredibly high artistic standards. The fluidity of motion, use of color and light, understated computer animation effects that enhance realism... all will have even the most jaded viewer shedding tears of delight. The wonderful music and swelling emotions of this dazzling film also help to make it a truly classic piece of animation.... something we've forgotten how to make in the West.

(Comments by John Lentini) To all the long time fans of CLAMP out there, your day has finally come. For the longest time you probably felt you were getting more out of CLAMP manga than CLAMP anime. Movies that wouldn't tell the whole manga story... very short OAVs... or even a great OAV that had nothing to do with the television series you treasured so dearly. Not that anything you've ever seen by CLAMP was bad, in fact it's been a fun ride, filled with the most beautiful images to ever grace a screen and this movie is no exception.

However, to those of you who had the pleasure to be there from the very beginning when Sakura-chan first broke the seal on that magical book... to help you relive all the emotion of the 70 episodes that followed, CLAMP made this second movie especially for you. Every CLAMP fan will probably enjoy this movie, but to those Card Captor Sakura fans who were there for every turn of every magical card, all I can say is, enjoy!!

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