By Brittany Vincent
Whether you vibe to “Catch You Catch Me” or you’re more of a “Platinum” fan, we can all agree that Cardcaptor Sakura is a fantastic magical girl series.
There’s enough action and intrigue to keep fans invested, but it’s never afraid to explore the softer side of life in terms of friends and relationships. While sporting a solid central narrative with dynamite characters, the main attraction is undoubtedly the cards themselves. Why? They’re just so darn cool!
As Sakura Kinomoto collects the Clow Cards after being appointed Cardcaptor by Kero, she’s got her work cut out for her. From The Firey to The Sword, she has to clean up after the mischievous powers held within them wreak havoc. Throughout her journey, she’s come across some truly memorable cards.
I’ve rounded up some of the coolest, most exciting cards in Sakura’s arsenal and the adventures she had with them, including her entire school play going dark and Tomoyo losing her voice to a card!
Are you ready? Everybody, say it with me now: RELEASE!
“Sakura and the Arts Festival Blackout”
Card: Dark
There’s a big play during the School Arts Festival, and everyone is getting involved: even Sakura, Meiling and Xiaolang. Sakura is playing a strong, courageous prince, while Xiaolang is handling the role of the princess. As such, they have a dramatic kiss to perform that’ll take everyone’s breath away at the play’s climax!
But the Dark card has other plans, as it plunges the entirety of the room into darkness. Sakura seeks out her friends, and just when she’s nearly given up hope, the Light card emerges from within to send a dazzling flash throughout the theater. The Dark card is vanquished, but as it turns out, both Light and Dark are intertwined, capable of their own staggering feats.
They congratulate Sakura on finding her way out of the darkness, but not before putting on one heck of a performance that empowers Sakura to perform her role even more spectacularly than she thought she could.
“Sakura and Tomoyo’s Lost Voice”
Card: Song
Sakura and her friends break out a portable karaoke machine that Tomoyo’s mom gifted her by way of her toy company. As she’s an excellent singer, Tomoyo blows her friends away with her ability to carry a tune. She’s also got a special song she’ll be performing in her choir class that she’s been practicing, and it sounds positively angelic.
When Sakura, Chiharu and Naoko peek in on Tomoyo’s choir practice, they end up inadvertently witnessing their friend’s voice being outright stolen. Suddenly, Tomoyo’s beautiful voice vanishes, as the episode title indicates. But it’s far worse than a sore throat: Kero believes it’s the work of the Voice card.
Sakura and Xiaolang must work together to figure out how to return Tomoyo to her former songbird status, and end up figuring out how to mimic Tomoyo’s voice with the Song card to lure the Voice card into stealing it, too. The Voice card is simply entranced by how good of a singer she is, and eventually the card is captured, with Tomoyo back to normal!
“Sakura and Memories of Her Mother”
Card: Illusion
When Sakura’s friend Naoko starts seeing weird things in the woods, a group of students (including Sakura) decide to investigate the sightings. As it turns out, it isn’t just a bright light that Naoko saw, because everyone comes out of the woods having seen something different. Some students saw a monster, but Tomoyo saw a dumpling.
Sakura continues to return to investigate, thinking it might be a card. She may have been a young girl when her mother Nadeshiko passed away, but she’s seen visions of her throughout her entire life.
When she sees Nadeshiko with arms outstretched at the edge of a cliff, she abandons all reason and walks into her mother’s arms, or so she thinks. Luckily, Yukito is able to save her from falling and getting injured. The consensus? It can’t be Nadeshiko. Not really, because no mother would want their child to get hurt. The solution? It’s the Illusion card.
The Illusion card had taken shape by way of Sakura’s bright memories of her mother while making mischief throughout the woods at the edge of town. Normally appearing as something of a shifting kaleidoscope, it changes its form based on a witness’s expectations. It initially showed hostility for Sakura, and almost harmed her–a truly formidable and dangerous opponent.
“Sakura and a Rainbow of Memories”
Card: Rain
When Sakura’s family takes a vacation to the countryside, she happens to cross paths with an old man who lives in a mansion near their country cottage. Sakura spends a great deal of time with the older man and ends up learning plenty about him, like the fact that his granddaughter passed away.
He gifts Sakura an old dress that belonged to her–a significant, emotional gift.
It’s soon time for Sakura to head back home, but she feels bad for the older man being all alone. She wants to do something nice for him, so she uses the Rain card to create a dazzling, colorful rainbow as a goodbye gift.
The Rain, which had previously been used to create torrential downpours that affected the entire town, shifts to creating a positive vision for an old man who has an even deeper connection to Sakura than he realizes.
“Sakura’s Sweet Cooking”
Card: Sweet
Sakura and Xiaolang’s class is making delicious cakes in home economics class, and Yukito is a big fan of sweets. Sakura knows she has to make the most delicious cake she possibly can create to impress Yukito, so she works hard to follow the recipe. A peculiar thing happens, however. Everyone’s cake is far too sweet, so much so that the yummy cakes aren’t fit to eat!
It quickly becomes evident that while Sakura and Xiaolang are cooking, there’s a Clow Card involved. It turns out to be the work of the Sweet card, whose entire existence appears to be all about turning objects into edible sweets or making things sweeter than they should be. If you’re interested in confections, the Sweet card would likely be your best friend.
Thankfully, Sakura and friends are able to make a cake that isn’t tainted by Sweet’s touch. Yes, there is such a thing as too much sugar after all. Seriously, there is.
What do you think of our picks? Would you use these cards? What’s your favorite? Share this post and let us know!
And be sure to check out Cardcaptor Sakura and its sequel series Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card on Funimation for even more awesome antics.
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