Book Review: Card Captor Sakura Vol.2 (Omnibus Edition) (Speed Date)

The Deal: Sakura Kinomoto has been gathering the Clow Cards for a while, her magic is growing stronger, her rivalry with Shaoran Li is turning into something that feels a lot more like friendship, and she still has the world's biggest crush on her brother's best friend Yukito. 

But new challenges are coming her way, particularly after the arrival of Kaho Mizuki, a beautiful substitute teacher that shares a past with Toya (Sakura's brother). Oh, and she also has strong magical powers. 

And, as Sakura races to catch the rest of the Clow Cards, these tangle with the people she loves the most in the world.

My Thoughts: Card Captor Sakura Vol 2 picks up right after the ending of Volume 1 and it goes all the way till The Judgement - where it will be decided if Sakura is worthy of the cards or not - and it's just so cute!!

I've talked about the story before, so I won't go into deep detail. Mostly I want to talk about the edition. I once again went and bought myself the Omnibus/Dark Horse edition, and it's lovely. Great quality in the paper, brand new translation and some full color illustrations. 

I so love this story, and I love seeing it in such a lovely format. 

More on Speed Date, in Mary @ Book Swarm's words: Thursday is Speed Date Night around here. What's a Book Speed Date, you ask? It's a quickie review--about 150 words or so--of any genre book (variety is the spice of life, after all).


If you want to join in or just read other speed date reviews, check out The Book Swarm

Book Review: Card Captor Sakura Vol.1 (Omnibus Edition)

The Deal: After stumbling into a strange book in her father's library, Sakura Kinomoto - a sporty, cute and girly fourth grader - met Kero-chan, the beast that guards the Clow Cards, and he needs her help getting them all back. 

The Clow Cards are magic devices, created long ago by a great wizard, they were supposed to be sealed, but at some point they escaped, and now it is up to Sakura to find them all. Without knowing, Sakura has always had some magical power - which enabled her to open card's book and awaken Kero - and she must  now use it to complete her mission.

Her only aid? Kero-chan (who looks like a cute, little plush lion) and her best friend Tomoyo, who enjoys designing outfits for Sakura and recording her adventures. Not so helpful? Sakura's big brother's Toya who always seems to be around when you least expect him. He's a fairly typical annoying older brother, but he has a good point in his favor: the fact that he's best friends with Yukito, Sakura's crush. 

Vol 1 is the first of a projected 4 volumes that will collect the whole saga. In Vol 1 we are introduced to Sakura and her friends and family, and to the cards. We also meet Sakura's rival, Shaoran Li. 

My Thoughts: I tried to give you a short rundown of the story of CCS, and I know I've talked about the anime before, so really I just wanted to talk about this particular edition of CCS, since I so love this story.

This particular edition is massive and beautiful, and I absolutely loved it. The paper is high quality and the translation is lovely - I own some of the volumes of the previous edition and the translation was a little spotty, I gotta say. It also has several full-color pages which is very nice. 

And I definitely think it's a good value purchase as this single volume covers 3 of the previous edition. 

Anime Addiction: Card Captor Sakura

Sakura Kinomoto is a normal girl, she's in the fourth grade, she is good at sports but not so good at math and music; and she's generally regarded as a popular and outgoing girl. She has a good life with her father and her older brother Touya (who likes to call her monster but who really is very protective of her), and though she thinks a lot about her Mom - who died when she was 4 - she's a happy girl. 

One afternoon when she's home alone, Sakura comes across a strange book in her father's library. The book is called The Clow, and it's full of cards, which she inadvertently spreads all over her city. In the process, Sakura also awakens the guardian of the cards - Kero, who quickly informs her that she's now a Card Captor, her mission: to gather all the cards before something terrible happens in the world. 

Soon, Sakura is running all over town to gather all the cards with Kero and her best friend Tomoyo by her side. Later, she's also joined by Shaoran Li, a serious boy who goes from being her rival to being her friend.

Sakura Card Captor is a lovely anime series that spans over three seasons, something close to 70 episodes, and it's just wonderful! From the start, Sakura has to balance being a normal girl - hanging out with her other friends Rika, Chiharu and Naoko; nursing her crush on her brother's best friend Yukito - with being a Card Captor whose magic keeps on getting stronger.

There is action, lots of costume changes - courtesy of Tomoyo - and laughs, what else can you ask for?

Alex's Personal Favorite