Cardcaptor Sakura - The Clow Volume 1 VHS

The grand original! Sweet and compelling, this is the saga of a little girl who finds herself enmeshed in a magical world of cards! Magical cards which have escaped their bonds, and now flash about in many different guises, wreaking havoc. Young Sakura must re-capture the entire deck, using the powers of the cards she already has: with a little help from her magical sidekick, Kero-chan. His name is a bit of a joke; it's really Cerberus ("Keroberos"), but Sakura calls him by an affectionate diminuative construction of it.The Americanized version,released as "Cardcaptors," was heavily edited and even had dialogue re-written to make it more of a boy/girl show instead of primarily a "Magical Girl" series, even "dumbed it down" a bit in some ways. Appropriate for any age, the stories are easy to follow but tense and dramatic. Parents, you can enjoy watching them with the kids! In fact, I'd already been an anime fan when my kids got me into this! The stories and characters really drive this series, and put it several cuts above the average "monster of the week" anime in the Pokemon model.The only thing I could list as a possible downside are the obligatory "transformation" scenes which turn little Sakura-chan into Cardcaptor Sakura. You do get them every episode, occasionally twice, if I recall. But this is standard for the genre and I think an "anchor point," especially for the younger viewers. I don't mind it, but other older viewers might find it tedious, especially if you are watching a few eps at a time, and not just once a week, as originally intended.Just a cautionary word -- Japanese culture has its own set of mores and taboos, as does the Western world. Sometimes the characters seem to express affection for each other in a way that Western ears might find suggestive. Remember, the main cast are only ten years old! For example, Sakura's friend Tomoyo who videotapes her adventures seems to have quite a crush on Sakura, although Sakura herself seems rather puzzled by this,and Sioran Li, Sakura's classmate and rival Cardcaptor, seems to have a crush on the same teenage boy Sakura does! Not too much should be inferred though, as this in part reflects another convention of anime, showing that a character (the older boy) who seems to be secondary is actually much more important than he seems at first. There is no suggestive activity at all, just the occasional expressions of fondness. This is further complicated by the fact the Japanese word "suki" (pr. "skee") can be translated as either "like" or "love," depending on the context or even on the translator. In any case, I doubt it anything startling enough that a younger viewer would even pick up on it, but if it is a concern, watch through the eps first and decide what bits (if any) you need to FF through! I'll say this, I AM a particular parent regarding this kind of thing, and I have NO problem with this series. It never even occured to me until I saw remarks about it elsewhere, and I was like, "Surely you can't be serious!"But bottom line -- this is a terrific series, full of heart, one of anime's real landmarks. It's a cliche`, but this really IS a "must-see."

This Video is the first of the serise and believe me its GREAT!! It was the very first Subtitled CardCaptorSakura video I have ever seen but I have seen Subbs of SailorMoon and Ranma1/2 but nver CardCaptorSakura!1st EP. You meet all of Sakura's family including the boy she has a crush on Yukito and her best friend Tomoyo. Then she goes home from Cheerleading practice I beleive and she hears something in her dads study and she goes down to see then she sees a mysteriouse book glowing and she picks it up. "The Clow" is its title. She opens it too see cards and she picks it up and reads the name. " . . .WINDY" and allof a sudden all the cards fly out and Keroberos emerges from the cover. EEKKK!!!!!!! freaky! Know Keroberos tells Sakura about the Clow cards and that she MUST become a CardCaptor and get the cards back. WHAT THE FLY CARD Sakuras first challenge. Will she succed or no . . .2nd Ep. This episode is mostly on how close Sakura and Tomoyo are as friends. And she finds out that Sakura is a CardCaptor and at lunch Kero lets Sakura show Tomoyo her Magic. Then Sakura must face the Shadow. and Tomoyo shows Sakura her Costum collection for Sakura wordrobe "Special evens need special cloths" so in her new CardCapturing outfit Sakura goes after the Shadow card. But how do you capture a card that is a Shadow! ACK!! Wil Sakura succed?3rd Ep. This one I think is based on Sakuras love for yukito. So at the Aquariom (sorry not good at spelling)The Penguin and its Trainer almost drawn! but what is it! Watery! another card. But how can Sakura Capture water with only Shadow Windy and Fly she must ONLY use 2 but which ones?? when Yukito askes Sakura to go to the Aquariom with him and the glass breaks and Sakura almost drawns!!!! The key word Sakura hears from yukito is Snowcones! WHAT IS SHE THINKING!4th Ep. all this one is is Sakura gets stuck cleaning the house and she finds 2 clow cards in her house Rain and Woody so Sakura steps out because her dad forgot something so Kero finished the Laundry. when Sakura gets home she thanks Kero and then hears a noise AHHH A TREE IS GROWING FROM THE BASEMENT!!! When Tomoyo shows up at the door and help get Sakura nd Kero untangled from the Branches Sakura captures it but then IT COMES BACK!! Its the Rain card Woody and Rain work Together!!! (figures!) so Sakura must capture two cards ACK IS IT JUST ME OR IS THIS GETTING HARDER!!!!...

I was so bored always watching the dubbed version. But this version is so much better. And I have no regrets for wasting my money!! The theme song is so great{a million times better than the Cardcraptors one}. And the ending theme song is great too. I just wish the scenery wasn't so boring, since it's just Kero running around the world. The Saint Tail scenery was even better{not that I'm saying the ending theme of ST was better than the ending theme of CCS}.In the first episode:We meet Sakura Kinomoto, a was-normal 4th grader, her father Fujitaka and her brother Toya. Sakura finds a book called The Clow, which is filled with cards, in her basement. She says a card name{windy}and all the cards fly away. Then a little plush toy named Kero tells Sakura she must capture the other cards. Sakura faces her first challenge in capturing the fly card.In the second episode:Sakura's friend Tomoyo finds out about kero and Sakura's magic. The shadow card is up to no good in Sakura's school.In the third episode:The Watery card is causing mischief at an aquarium by trying to drown people.In the fourth episode:Sakura can't go on a picnic with Tomoyo because she has to stay home and do chores all day. Sakura finds two Clow cards that cause some damage around her house.This series would be great for teens to start getting. Highly recommended.