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Anime Review: Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Ep. 16

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WARNING!  I'M ONLY WATCHING THE ANIME AND NOT THE MANGA!  I REQUEST NO SPOILERS PLEASE!  THANK YOU!

(Scroll down to the title card to skip to the review)

Well turns out there was something that I failed to address in the previous review and it's that Opening 2 has been updated which is great.  Only change that was made at least from what I've noticed is that when they reused the Dream Rod animation when she releases it, this time she's in her Queen of Hearts outfit which fair enough but it is a bit odd that they didn't have that the first time.  Then again it's a common trend that Madhouse had at times like for example in the opening to One Punch Man as in Episodes 1 and 2 when they show the opening there's a scene where Saitama phones in slow motion and it's becomes a slideshow but seeing how it was in slow motion it was fine but in Episode 3 and on wards that scene has changed to have a lot more frames of animation put into it and I do mean a lot and it's super impressive.  Either way the opening is still pretty great and I'm slowly getting the song in my head...kind of wish the ending was a bit more catchy though.

But that's not the only thing I'm doing as there's one thing I've found and that is some concept sketches of the Clear Card anime.  For those who aren't aware I love viewing/collecting concept arts as to see what they look like before the final version.  I've only seen a couple and I don't know if there are more but it's very nice to see regardless.  But here's the interesting part as unlike the concept sheet that was in the original series, these ones have dates on them as there's one where we see Sakura's head from multiple angles and that was done in February 2017 which was a couple months after the production of the Clear Card anime started.  And there was one with the Water Jester Upgrade battle costume and that one though I don't remember which month is actually was done on September or October of the same year.  At least this gives us some history about when and how these episodes were planned out as Madhouse and the rest of the team were really busy last year (along with A Place Further Than the Universe and Overlord) and stuff may have changed during production.  In my review of Episode 15 I've mentioned that Kero was playing with a Nintendo Switch with a knock off of Mario Kart 8 which I was hoping they would do especially sense that Kero was playing on a PS4 with a knock off of Monster Hunter.  Well at that time it makes sense because by the time the concept was completed in the early stages the Nintendo Switch may not be even out and the PS4 was king of the market place around that time and people loved Monster Hunter so they went with that and later on used the Nintendo Switch along with Mario Kart 8 when the Switch was able to hold it's ground.  Which means unless if there's a second season coming up, chances are we won't see a Smash Bros Knock Off but for now we just wait and see.

Just thought I share that minor tidbit of info.  Onto the review!

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Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Episode 16 Review Tit by The-Sakura-Samurai

Episode list:

Episode 16

Title: 

Sakura and Meiling's Friend

Episode Synopsis: 

"Sakura manages to capture the card that showed up at Tomoyo's house, but her relief is short-lived. As they're returning home, Sakura and Meiling are suddenly attacked by a mysterious girl in the road!"

Version:

English Sub

Full Review (WARNING!  SPOILERS!):

Double the Cards, Double the Captors

So apparently we get another two cards for the price of one again which given that the last episode ended on the cliff hanger with a quake happening on Tomoyo's house that is the doing of a card, makes sense.  Specially the fact that last episode it was just characters being themselves and just having fun with it which I love.  Now it seems that it's mostly going to focus on action especially that there's a second card that appears as well and Meiling gets to join in to help Sakura out this time around leading to some great moments including the farewell to Meiling who had to go back to Hong Kong...I already missed her.

So first up is where we left off from last time which is the Clear Card that is attacking the mansion which is the SWING card...SWING...*think*...odd name for an Earth Card but whatever.  It's not really too much of an action scene though as Sakura was able to close off the area with the SIEGE card so that it doesn't go outside of the mansion...in which everyone could clearly see the giant cube like object covering the entire area.  And it's not just limited to people who have magical powers who could see it as Meiling could see it too.  Again, whatever as this kind of thing was already done before and I'll let it slide for now as I gotten a counter point while I'll explain later.  Anyways it's strange that Sakura doesn't use any more cards to at the very least corner it as FLIGHT just decides to fly super fast when SWING popped out the ground and Sakura just secures it...that's it.  So huh...I was definitely expecting more but at least the way that it kind of wrecks the mansions garden was pretty cool, even though that none of the adults question it.  I mean sure Earthquake and that's what they were saying but for an earthquake it's oddly specific on what parts of the garden were destroyed.  Before Sakura leaves Tomoyo's house we get another foreshadowing in which Sonomi asks Sakura about seeing her Great Grandfather over in the summer in which Sakura agrees as she can't wait to see him again meaning that I guess somewhere down the line Sakura knows who her Great Grandfather is which would of been nice to have somekind of context but then again I'm sure it would of been explained later.

Onto the second Clear Card, STRUGGLE, in which it's a metal girl who starts fighting Sakura and Meiling on the spot in which wow the animation and fight choreography here is fantastic.  Sure there's some still images but there's a lot of energy and a lot of weight in each attack that Meiling and the STRUGGLE card deal out.  Odd that they reference the TWIN card and not the FIGHTER card as that's what my mind would of think of but they were referring to the weakness in which both Sakura and Meiling had to attack both sides of the STRUGGLE card so that Sakura could secure it properly.  Easily the highlight of the episode in terms of production and it's nice for Meiling to help Sakura secure a card.  But that's an interesting thing, while Meiling did help Sakura, there was always someone else and Meiling couldn't do much but this was the first time that she only work with Sakura to take out the card which it's nice they did address it as Meiling surprisingly goes deep all the sudden.  Basically you know how being around good people makes you feel good as well as hanging around bad people makes you feel bad, but what about being around good people makes you sad.  Just being around with people that care about other people rather than themselves is always a good thing but doing so you forget about yourself which may cause problems if all you do is worrying about other people and it's not too bad of an idea to make yourself happy somewhere so that the tension wouldn't be so bad...that's...kind of true, as there are people like that...myself included.  To think, that one of the characters I love is lecturing me about making a lot of people happy including myself.  And to top it all of as Meiling leaves for the rest of the season it seems, Meiling finally calls Sakura by her first name...that made me feel things.

Along with all of this there's one more thing that I need to talk about and it's with Kaito as yes, he is involved in all of this in someway especially the fact that Akiho brought up a good point that he knows about Fujitaka and the library without her telling him about it and to correct his mistake he rewinds time just so that he doesn't make that mistake again.  So yeah not only that we get a little taste of his powers as he can manipulate time, a high class magic that he could control easily but he hows about Fujitaka who it seems has a bigger role this time around and I know that Fujitaka had a role in the original ending of the manga but we haven't either fully address it in the anime or they will be doing something else.  But the bigger question stands out...what's Luna D Kaito planning and could he be the reason why not many people noticing all the magic is going on.  Guess we'll see.

I'm a bit hesitant to call this a fantastic episode as there's some minor tidbits that kept popping up in which while very minor do stack up unfortunately.  What about everything else as despite SWING being a minor disappointment as well the STRUGGLE was fantastic, Sakura and Meiling's talks have always been great as well as her philosophy while I connect with very easily and even Meiling calling Sakura by her first name was precious and even the comedy here was pretty good as well, not last episode but I got a few chuckles.  This mini arc with Meiling was fantastic overall as we do see a proper evolution of her while still being a very fun character and I'm glad Madhouse and CLAMP brought her back even if it's just a little bit and how she fits into the overall story.  This is indeed one character I look forward to seeing again when the time comes.

Although it would take some time, things are being to tick.

Grade: B+
Meiling is such a fun character and while short I'm glad she could be here at the very least and I hope to see her again very soon in the next season (if there is a next season ^^; )

Hope you like it :)

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Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Episode 15 Review: Anime Review: Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Ep. 15

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Episode 17 Review: the-sakura-samurai.deviantart.…

Watched on Crunchyroll

Image and Series ©  by CLAMP, ST/Kodansha, NEP, NHK and licensed by Crunchyroll/Funimation 
© 2018 - 2024 The-Sakura-Samurai
Comments5
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ericgl1996's avatar

I have an unpopular opinion, the fight scene with the Struggle Card is really boring and i don't like it all. I actually enjoyed the Swing Card's capture way more than this dull fight scene with the Struggle Card. And also, i don't like the Struggle Card because i just don't care about this Clear Card at all and i also don't like Struggle Card's design either.