Cardcaptors

. [cite book | last = Poitras | first = Gilles | title = Anime Essentials: Every Thing a Fan Needs to Know | year = 2001 | publisher = Stone Bridge Press | id = ISBN 1-880656-53-1 | pages = 27 ]

ynopsis

After a young girl named Sakura Avalon accidentally releases a series of magical cards encased within an ancient book, she finds her life flipped, turned upside down as she attempts to recapture all of the cards before they can destroy the world. Sometimes rivals and sometimes allies, Sakura and a boy named Li Syaoran try to recapture all the Clow Cards before they wreak havoc upon the world.

Characters

Notable Changes

TV Series

Nelvana dubbed all 70 episodes of "Cardcaptor Sakura" and edited the series for content deemed unsuitable for children. Most specifically, romantic subtext was excised from the show - not simply relationships that might be considered inappropriate for a children's show (such as homosexual ones), but heterosexual relationships as well. However, despite these changes, nearly half of the series was not broadcast in the United States.

"Cardcaptors" first aired in the United States on Kids' WB on June 17, 2000, beginning with "Sakura's Rival," (the "eighth" episode of "Cardcaptor Sakura"). The series proceeded to run for 39 episodes, changing the original episode order but finishing with the show's actual final episode. Cartoon Network also carried the series during the afternoon Toonami block beginning on June 4, 2001, during the merge between Kids' WB and Cartoon Network. Half of the first season was aired only once before the series was removed from the lineup.

In other English-speaking countries (i.e. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom), "Cardcaptors" ran in a more complete form, with all 70 of the Nelvana-dubbed episodes being shown in their original order, in some cases retaining the Japanese versions of the original themes. Australia and India received the original titles in their distributions, with dubbed versions of at least 4 of the 6 title/credit songs. They started the show in January 2000 before canceling it in Canada around July 2000. On November 14, 2000, "Cardcaptors" was released on both VHS and DVD. However, by July 9, 2002, the series cancelled after the ninth volume (the beginning of the second arc) on both VHS and DVD formats. (The original "Cardcaptor Sakura" series has been released by Pioneer, uncut, featuring all 70 episodes on 18 discs.)

Films

Both versions of the Cardcaptor Sakura films have also been dubbed into English, both by The Ocean Group, with only one, "Cardcaptors - The Movie", featuring the original "Cardcaptors" dub and storyline produced by Nelvana. The dubbing for second film, "Cardcaptor Sakura - The Sealed Card", was produced by Bang Zoom Entertainment. The second movie did not adhere to any censorship standards that were attached to Nevlana's original dub. All of the original names and much of the original dialogue were retained.

Merchandising

In addition to its negative reviews, "Cardcaptors" merchandise was not widely received as certain parents were concerned that, as the Clow Cards vaguely resembled tarot cards, the series could be seen as promoting witchcraft or the occult. The concern was so great that, when "Cardcaptors" toys were released at Taco Bell during a promotion in 2002, two of the four (Sakura's "tarot-like" Clow Book, and Li's Lasin Board) toys were pulled within a week of release due to articles published by Christian groups. Fact|date=February 2007 Clow Books were also available in stores such as Blockbuster as well as Sakura Dolls. In the 2008 St. Patrick's Event on Gunbound one of the exclusive lucky scratcher items was a magic stick that resembles the first staff that Sakura has had.

Episodes

The last "Cardcaptors" episode to air on Kids' WB was "Revelations Part 2" on December 28, 2001. The series was never officially cancelled, but was never mentioned again. (Note: There was a special running after the general cancellation that showed up to Episode 70 a few weeks later. This was during the weekday showing time)

A more complete version appeared on Canadian network Teletoon. The last time it aired was during the summer of 2004, ending its run with "Revelations, Part 2", the last episode of the 2nd season.

References