Thursday, October 7, 2010

Anime movie review- Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2- The Sealed Card

In my earlier review of Cardcaptor Sakura, I mentioned watching both the movies in the series and I promised to review it later. Since I like the second movie more than the first, I will review this one first.

The movie is titled 'The Sealed Card'. Unlike the previous movie which focuses on Sakura's abilities as a cardcaptor, this one focuses on Li and Sakura's romantic relationship. The timeline of this movie is set after the complete anime series. Sakura has managed to convert all cards into Sakura cards and Eriol lives peacefully somewhere with Kahoko.

The main conflict in this movie is a card called 'void' which was made by Clow Reed to balance negetive and positive forces. It can nullify the other cards. The card's spirit somehow breaks free. She is lonely and wants to get back her friends, the other clow cards from Sakura.
Oblivious to this, Sakura consents to participate in a school play. I think their school is crazy about dramatics because they have a play every season.
On finding out about the card she asks Eriol about it. He says that it is a negetive card that has power equal to all the 52 cards combined.

Li and Meiling come to the school for a surprise visit. They decide to spend their vacations in the town. Sakura meet Li at the beginning but is unable to confess her feelings. She even takes him home but just ends up cooking and chatting about general things. In the end of the anime, Syaroan proposed to Sakura. That's why Sakura needs to give him an answer.

Rika's boyfriend who plays the main role has an accident and so Li plays the main role. The play is a romantic one and whenever Sakura looks at someone during practice, Li looks at her. The same is true for Sakura.
After school, Sakura tells Li that to capture the card, she must lose her most important feeling. Both are aware of what that feeling is (love). Li says if there is no other choice then she must lose it. Sakura is hurt by this and she runs away.

On the day of the play, the card wreaks havoc again and almost everyone disappears. Tomoyo makes special costumes for Li and Sakura. They go after the card to a tower. The card has captured all of Sakura's cards by now.
Li tells Sakura that even if she has to lose her love for him, it is okay because he'll fall in love with her once again. After this, the card takes in Li. Sakura is sad but she uses all her power to capture the card. Finally, it becomes a hope card.

Syaroan appears again and all others are released. The theme Ashita e no merodii starts playing. Li tells her that he did not lose his feelings for her after all. She is very happy and yells 'I love you' jumping ito his arms.
I thought the theme song was discordant but after hearing it at the right scene with the right meaning, I thought it fitted the movie quite well.

The movie was very nice and emotional. Throughout the movie, the romantic theme is maintained. There are a lot of nice scenes here and it is the anticipated conclusion to the Li's proposal.

The art was good like most of Clamp's works. This one is my personal favourite.

All the romantic scenes were good but I felt the fantasy elements were only there to create conflict. Still, the fantasy parts were good too.
The supporting characters in this series are interesting and create a wonderful atmosphere. They all have unique personalities.

A very balanced movie overall. It ties the whole anime series together with a wonderful conclusion. The theme song lyrics were fitting. This is the conclusion to the wonderful Cardcaptor Sakura series so don't miss it. It makes the series memorable.

Art- 4.5/5
Story-4.7/5
Characters- 4.6/5
Music- 4.2/5
Overall- 4.7/5

Pros

Art
Story
Characters
Theme

Cons

The last scene could've dragged more.

1 comment:

  1. Wow! This movie sure brings back memories. Overall, this was a good movie and the ending could have dragged on a little bit longer. Then again, the movie's ending is the best way to cap such a good series.

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