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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
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Reviewed
April, 2001 by Mark Vallen, Jeannine Thorpe, and John Lentini
©.
Screen shots generously provided by John Lentini.
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(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.
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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!
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(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.
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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
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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.
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(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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