Review: Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Vol. 1 by CLAMP

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Published: 19 December 2017 (first published 2 December 2016)

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Category: Manga/Fantasy/Romance

At long last, CLAMP’s beloved shoujo manga series Cardcaptor Sakura is making a triumphant return with the Clear Card Arc. Sakura Kinomoto is now in middle school when Syaoran returns from China! Things have been calm, leaving the Sakura Cards unused, but she’s plagued by mysterious dreams about the cards turning clear. It seems like her adventures are beginning once again when this dream becomes true!

In volume 1, Sakura is happier than ever to find that Syaoran has returned from China but is shocked to see that the Sakura Cards have turned clear! …And why is Syaoran acting so strange? Read it to find out!

Rating: 5 Stars

I am a huge fan of anything Clamp puts out. I remember watching the original Cardcaptors series when it was on t.v., though admittedly the dub was a bit comical. *lol* Suffice it to say, when I saw that there would be a new anime (already watching it on Crunchyroll!) and then that this volume was available on NetGalley, I leaped at the chance to review it.

Since it’s been awhile since I’ve read the earlier books in the series, I was glad there was a recap of characters for the Clow Card arc and the Sakura Card arc. Visually I could identify them, but names and bios were a big help. This definitely isn’t a book you’re going to be able to get into unless you’ve read the previous arcs, even with this catch-up portion. The funniest part of the intro is that Cerberus is “narrating” and making sure you know what’s up! If you know anything about this little guy, you’ll be able to picture the scene more accurately and laugh your head off.

The personalities of the main characters are all back and very similar to their past selves, but you can see how they’ve evolved a bit. They’re still children, after all, so I don’t expect to see them all grown up. Sakura, Tomoyo, and Syaron are entering their first year of middle school, which makes them around twelve years old. Clamp’s art style, their subtle shifts of mood and more, enable the reader to see different emotions and really feel them: Sakura’s joy, Syaron’s concern, and Tomoyo’s unbridled enjoyment of life and her best friend.

The plot starts out very similar to the previous arcs, in that the cards have something happen to them (they appear, Sakura needs to change them from Clow to Sakura cards, etc.), so I knew a bit about where things would go. However, this arc seems like it might be a bit more emotional veering toward dark. By the end of volume one it’s clear that this enemy is more dangerous than before and now Sakura doesn’t even have her cards to back her up.

There’s also secret keeping going on from two of Sakura’s allies and that felt like a foreboding moment, when we realize that something is going on behind the scenes and that it will definitely impact Sakura more directly before long.

There’s such a cliffhanger at the end that I really wish, at times like this, that I could read the original language so I could pick up the currently published Japanese editions!

 

 

 

 

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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