Anime Hajime Impressions: Benkyou – Cardcaptor Sakura Episodes 1 to 5

Original Run: April 7, 1998 - March 21, 2000
Number of Episodes: 70
Based on the Series Created By: CLAMP

As A Reminder:  Anime Hajime Impressions: Benkyou is not a review series. Anime Hajime’s LofZOdyssey attempts to watch an anime in Japanese with no English subtitles. Therefore, misinterpretations and misunderstandings are possible.

Feel free to leave comments, clarifications, and thoughts in the comments section below.

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Episode 1

Japanese Title: さくらと不思議な魔法の本
Romaji Title: Sakura to Fushigi na Mahou no Hon
English Title: Sakura and The Mysterious Magical Book 

Episode Summary

One night, Sakura Kinomoto, a fourth-year elementary school student, has a strange dream. She sees herself wearing a magical girl outfit, and an unknown flying yellow cat appears to be calling out to her.

Upon waking, Sakura puts the dream out of her mind and heads off to school. While out, she runs into her older brother Toya, her crush Yukito Tsukishiro, and her best friend Tomoyo Daidouji. With her nighttime vision all but forgotten, she returns home.

Alone in the house, Sakura hears an odd noise. Following the sound to the basement, she discovers a book called The Clow. Looking inside, she finds a stack of cards. Picking up the top card, “The Windy,” a series of mysterious events happen in quick succession.

First, a bright magic circle appears on the ground. Second, a mighty wind begins to blow, one that carries the remaining cards and scatters them out into the world. Finally, the same flying yellow cat Sakura saw in her dream rises out from the book’s pages.

The cat introduces itself as Cerberus, the guardian of the Clow Cards. Cerberus is horrified to see that the Clow Cards are gone, explaining that they are objects of great and frightening power. Seeing how Sakura was the one who opened the book, Cerberus dubs her a Cardcaptor. Her first assignment, to return “The Windy” card’s spirit back to its proper spot.

After a terrifying face-off with a giant bird, the Fly Clow Card, Sakura succeeds and seals the creature back within its card. This begins the journey of Cardcaptor Sakura.

Principle Characters

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Episode 2

Japanese Title: さくらのすてきなお友達
Romaji Title: Sakura no Suteki na Otomodachi
English Title: Sakura’s Wonderful Friend 

Episode Summary

Sakura wakes up the next morning following her first fight with a Clow Card. To her chagrin, she did not dream the whole ordeal, and she is, in fact, a Cardcaptor.

Sakura heads off to school, where she meets up with her best friend, Tomoyo Daidouji. Tomoyo loves taking videos and pictures, and her favorite subject is her beloved Sakura. Today, Tomoyo is thrilled to show Sakura a video she captured the previous night.

To Sakura’s shock, Tomoyo had filmed Sakura in her Cardcaptor form. Seeing that the secret is out, Cerberus, who had secretly hidden away in Sakura’s bag, explains the situation to Tomoyo.

Unbeknownst to Sakura, Tomoyo, and Cerberus, a mysterious shadow has invaded Sakura’s school. The following day, the grounds are littered with piles of desks and chairs. Tomoyo believes that this is the work of a Clow Card, and Cerberus agrees.

That night, the trio head to school to confront the being. Sure enough, a battle breaks out with the Shadow Clow Card, and Sakura is soon overwhelmed. After some quick thinking, Tomoyo and Cerberus turn on all the school’s lights, thus weakening the spirit.

With the Shadow trapped, Sakura easily captures the Clow Card, bring the ordeal to a close.

Even though Sakura still has reservations about being a Cardcaptor, she now has Tomoyo to support her.

Principal Characters

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Episode 3

Japanese Title: さくらのドキドキ初デート
Romaji Title: Sakura no Dokidoki Hatsu Deeto
English Title: Sakura’s Exciting First Date 

Episode Summary

Sakura and her class are on a field trip to the local aquarium. While there, Sakura discovers the existence of another Clow Card, one based around water.

When Sakura returns home, Cerberus believes they are dealing with the Watery Clow Card. Unlike the foes she has faced thus far, Sakura is up against one of the Elemental Clow Cards – Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. Therefore, this opponent will be much more difficult.

The following day, Sakura gets lost in thought about how to face the Watery Clow Card and accidentally runs into her older brother’s best friend, Yukito Tsukishiro. Sakura has had an enormous crush on Yukito for a long time and is overjoyed when he invites her to the aquarium.

While on her “date” with Yukito, Sakura runs into the Watery Clow Card. After managing to escape, Sakura has an epiphany and realizes what she needs to do to win.

That night, Sakura sneaks into the aquarium and challenges Watery to a fight. After a chase through the facility, Sakura traps the water spirit into the freezer, turning it into a giant ice block.

After overcoming her most daunting challenge to date, Sakura believes she has what it takes to be a Cardcaptor.

Principal Characters

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Episode 4

Japanese Title: さくらのくたくた日曜日
Romaji Title: Sakura no Kutakuta Nichiyoubi
English Title: Sakura’s Exhausting Sunday 

Episode Summary

Sakura is excited to go on a picnic with Tomoyo. What she forgot was that she pushed all her weekly chores to Sunday, now today.

While cleaning the house, Sakura comes across two Clow Cards, the Wood and one covered in ink. Before getting the chance to seal the cards away, Sakura is called out of the house. When left alone, the ink-covered card activates.

Upon returning, Sakura finds that the Wood Card has begun to grow a forest insider her house. Although she seemingly seals the spirit with little effort, the forest reemerges and is much stronger than before. Fortunately, before Sakura is overwhelmed, the forest stops growing and blooms. However, the house is still in danger of breaking apart.

Venturing through the branches, Sakura comes across the source of the Wood Clow Card’s strength. The ink covered card turned out to be the Rain, which was feeding the forest with water.

Sakura succeeds in sealing away both the Wood and Rain spirit, bringing her hectic Sunday to a close.

Principal Characters

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Episode 5

Japanese Title: さくらとパンダとかわいいお店
Romaji Title: Sakura to Panda to Kawaii Omise
English Title: Sakura, The Panda, and The Wonderful Shop 

Episode Summary

While returning from school, Sakura runs into Ms. Maki Matsumoto, the new stuff doll shop owner, Twin Bells. The next day, Sakura and her friends return to the story and help Maki put the place in order.

While there, the group encounters a stuffed panda doll. Although one of Sakura’s friends finds the doll cute, Maki stares at the thing with horror. The group leaves after purchasing the panda.

Later, at Sakura’s friend’s house, the panda mysteriously disappears. Sakura is surprised to see that the doll back at the shop the following day.

Maki explains that the doll has been acting strangle, and she believes that it is being possessed by a designer she once knew. However, Sakura thinks that this is the work of a Clow Card.

That night, Sakura and Cerberus sneak into Twin Bells, and, sure enough, discover the Jump Card. A battle ensues. Luckily, the card quickly overextends its power before any damage can be done, and Sakura manages to seal away the spirit.

Principal Characters

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Thoughts and Impressions

I was worried that I had given myself an insanely difficult task of watching Cardcaptor Sakura without any English support. Thus, I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I got through the first episode without it turning into a disaster. On the contrary, I found it incredibly easy to follow along. If this continues, I might be able to look at this series with a more critical eye.

What I can say at the moment is, I am quite impressed with Cardcaptor Sakura. The animation and music were outstanding, making it hard to believe this show is two-decades-old.

So far, this series has been following a pattern similar to what could be seen in Sailor Moon. However, there are already plenty of hints that indicate that Cardcaptor Sakura is a classic in its own right. Needless to say, I am looking forward to seeing where this series goes.

Thanks for following along with me. If you’ve seen this series and feel I am wrong in my descriptions, please let me know in the comments below. I wouldn’t want to put this show in an inaccurate light.

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For Anime Hajime, I’m LofZOdyssey, and I’ll see you next week for Cardcaptor Sakura Episodes 6 to 10.