Print Review: Card Captor Sakura volumes 1-5

Review Card Captor Sakura volumes 1-5Written by WarpshadowRating very good (excellent)

Although many American manga fans dislike cute when cute is done right (and this manga is an example of this) it can only be a good thing.

Sakura Kinomoto was an elementary school girl who lived with her father and brother. One day she heard a strange sound coming from her father’s library and when she went to investigate it she found a small talking animal. His name was Keroberus and he was the guardian of the Clow Cards. The Clow Card have scattered about the town and if they aren’t gathered they will cause all sorts of mischief. After hearing Kero’s (Sakura decided to nickname him Kero-chan) plea Sakura decided to gather the cards as the Card Captor. The Clow Cards can be quite clever and malicious. Can a young girl like Sakura manage to overcome them and become the true Card Captor?

As far as magical girl stories go Card Captor Sakura has long been considered to be one of the standards of the genre and from reading it I can say it’s fame is well deserved. This manga for the most part follows the adventures of Sakura as she faces the Clow Cards. What makes this particularly interesting is that unlike many adventure show chapters vary greatly in tone keeping the story from getting stale. The card collecting aspects of the story in no way get in the way of the character development at all as this manga sports one of the most endearing casts I have seen. On top of this the artwork is twice as cute as a button and is pulled off without resorting to creepy fan service. If you only get one magical girl manga I suggest that your purchase should be Card Captor Sakura.