A year has gone by since Kinomoto Sakura has been called upon to collect the Clow Cards and turn them into Sakura Cards.  And, as a new school year begins in Volume 1 for Sakura and her friends, new cards, two-sided but  magically transparent, are throwing the town into chaos. Luckily for Tomeda Middle School, Card Captor Sakura is there to protect them. 

In Card Captor Sakura, Clear Card Arc , Volume 2 (カードキャプターさくら クリアカード編) new cards are appearing, and it no longer seems to take much out of Sakura to capture and name them. But, her dreams of a hooded, masked figure are causing some problems. She can’t see the figure, but realizes that it is the same height as she.  Sakura is visibly taller than most of her female friends, although the boys are taller still, so a girl at her height would be noticeable.

And then a new transfer student arrives! Shinomoto Akiho (a name that, in Japanese, is both similar and opposite to Sakura’s) has been all over the world traveling with her family, but she seems really nice. And,we cannot help but notice, she’s the same height as Sakura.

While in conference Yue takes a moment to note that the new cards don’t feel magical at all. 

I’m looking forward to Volume 1 of the new arc coming out in English from Kodansha in November 2017!

Ratings:

Art – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 1 Unless you’re writing fanfic, then it’s always more
Story – 7
Service – 1 On principle 

Overall – 9

Who Akiho is and what the Clear Cards mean is still a mystery, but it’s all good, I’m happy with this kiddy ride full of pretty art and nice kids.

In the middle of series getting reboots and homages,and re-mastering, Card Captor Sakura is back with a honest-to-goodness sequel.

Card Captor Sakura, Clear Card Arc, Volume 1 (カードキャプターさくら クリアカード編) begins a year or so after the original series ends, as Sakura is about to begin middle school. 

The arc begins with a dream, as the other arcs have. A cloaked and masked figure appears. Sakura’s cards are all lost to a storm and a new key appears.  She wakes to find the new key in her hand and all her cards gone. Clearly, she will be tasked with gathering cards once again. 

Almost immediately, she encounters her first card. She and Kero-chan are old hands at this now, there’s no confusion about what to do and she nabs “Gale.” The card has a front and back design, but the background is transparent, and the other side is invisible. Cool. I know there’s a set for sale, I wonder if it works!

Not much has changed in this year that has passed. One major difference is that Yukito and Yue seem comfortable now sharing a body. When she needs to speak with Yue, Sakura asks Yukito if it’s all right. And it is always all right. 

Another is the lack of confusion about how to handle the Clow Cards. It’s all very business-like. Tomoyo, of course (!) is thrilled beyond belief that she can design new costumes for the Card Captor.

And finally, Li Syaoran has returned. The year has been good to him. He’s taller and calmer and clearly more mature. When he and Sakura reunite, they embrace like they really mean it. He’s still carrying the bear Sakura made for him and, although Sakura does not know this, is in touch with Eriol.

The backup cast is the same as well, although class assignments have shuffled them around. Yamazaki and Naoko are in Syaoran’s class, so the stories are even weirder and less pleasant than ever before, to Chiharu’s chagrin. Yukito and Touya are still inseparable.

As the final chapter wraps up with Sakura capturing the Siege card, we and she have no idea at all who the cloaked figure is or what the story is this time. More importantly, neither Yue no Kero-chan know either. (I’ve read the magazine chapters, so I have a little better idea what’s going on, but I’m not telling. ^_^)

If you like the original series for exactly what it was, (as I did), you’ll enjoy this new series. If you’re hoping for something more “adult” you’re not getting it. One year went by, not a decade. But if you did like it, you can also look forward to the new anime, which will premiere in 2018!

Ratings:

Art – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 1 Tomoyo is the same as ever
Story – 7
Service – 2 Inevitable slashing of Touya and Yukito.

Overall – 9

Oh, wait…there was one other difference. When Sakura said good-bye to her mother as she does every morning, Fujitaka did not see Nadesico, as he usually does. Hrmmm….