Series synopsis
Cardcaptor Sakura, also known as カードキャプターさくら is a Japanese animation sci-fi & fantasy action & adventure television series that premiered on SBS on April 7, 1998. It ended on June 10, 2018. It stars Sakura Tange, Junko Iwao, Motoko Kumai and Aya Hisakawa.
Sakura Kinomoto, an elementary school student who discovers that she possesses magical powers after accidentally freeing a set of magical cards from the book they had been sealed in for years. She is then tasked with retrieving those cards in order to avoid an unknown catastrophe from befalling the world.
Premise
Sakura Kinomoto, an elementary school student who discovers that she possesses magical powers after accidentally freeing a set of magical cards from the book they had been sealed in for years. She is then tasked with retrieving those cards in order to avoid an unknown catastrophe from befalling the world.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Sakura Tange as Sakura Kinomoto (voice)
- Junko Iwao as Tomoyo Daidouji (voice)
- Motoko Kumai as Syaoran Li (voice)
- Aya Hisakawa as Kerberos (voice)
- Emi Shinohara as Naoko Yanagisawa (voice)
- Hideyuki Tanaka as Fujitaka Kinomoto (voice)
- Masaya Onosaka as Kerberos(big) (voice)
- Megumi Ogata as Yukito Tsukishiro (voice)
Supporting cast
- Tomokazu Seki as Touya Kinomoto (voice)
- Yukana as Meiling Li (voice)
- Tomoko Kawakami as Rika Sasaki (voice)
- Nozomu Sasaki as Eriol Hiiragizawa (voice)
Episodes
This series spans 5 seasons with 97 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 5 | September 25, 1998 | September 13, 2017 |
| Season 1 | 35 | April 7, 1998 | December 29, 1998 |
| Season 2 | 11 | April 4, 1999 | June 21, 1999 |
| Season 3 | 24 | September 7, 1999 | March 21, 2000 |
| Season 4 | 22 | January 7, 2018 | June 10, 2018 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | How Lovely, Sakura-chan! Tomoyo’s Energetic Cardcaptor Sakura Video Diary! | September 25, 1998 |
| 2 | How Lovely, Sakura-chan! Tomoyo’s Energetic Cardcaptor Sakura Video Diary 2! | September 25, 1998 |
| 3 | How Lovely, Sakura-chan! Tomoyo’s Energetic Cardcaptor Sakura Video Diary: Special! | September 25, 1998 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Sakura and the Mysterious Magic Book Sakura Kinomoto awakens from a dream of standing near the Tokyo Tower. She introduces herself, her family, and her friends. After coming home from a normal day at school, Sakura hears a sound coming from the basement. She finds a glowing book and opens it to find a deck of 52 cards. When she accidentally activates the Windy card, the other cards blow out of her house. Cerberus appears from the book and formally appoints Sakura as the "Cardcaptor" and gives her the Sealing Wand. Sakura captures the Fly Card, but she adamantly insists she does not want the job. All the same, she shows quick thinking, considerable magical power, and sheer joy on her first ride on the tamed Fly |
April 7, 1998 |
| 2 |
Sakura's Wonderful Friend Tomoyo meets Cerberus after she discovers Sakura's secret and gets a full explanation of the lost Clow Cards and Sakura's designation as Cardcaptor. Cerberus gets given the nickname "Kero-chan" that will stick for the rest of the series. The next day, the students find the school's desks and equipment in large piles. Kero believes it was the work of the card and forces Sakura to go to school at night where she confronts The Shadow. Using the Windy card's binding ability, Sakura is able to capture the Shadow card. Sakura finally accepts her role as a Cardcaptor because of Tomoyo's support. |
April 14, 1998 |
| 3 |
Sakura's Heart-throbbing First Date Sakura's class is on a field trip to the aquarium. During the penguin show, something catches the trainer's leg and a penguin and pulls them into the water, but they are saved by Sakura's brother, Toya, who is working part-time there. At school, Tomoyo gives Sakura and Cerberus mobile phones and on the way home, Sakura bumps into Yukito who invites her on a casual "date" which is at a cafe where Yukito knew Toya was working. While they are eating, The Watery breaks the glass of the aquarium causing a flood. For the first time Sakura has to formulate a plan to capture a card, rather than jumping into battle and attacking with Windy. Using her wits and an unintentional clue from Yukito, she lures Watery into a freezer to immobilizes and capture it. |
April 21, 1998 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Sakura and the Snowy New School Year A new trimester starts and Sakura is now a fifth grader. She walks to school with Yukito, who gives Sakura a watch as a late birthday and start of fifth grade present. Sakura's new homeroom teacher turns out to be Ms. Mizuki. Sakura looks out the window and thinks she sees cherry blossoms, but realizes it is snow. Later, the snow is piling very quickly, even though it is April. It turns out to be the doings of a Clow Card. Sakura with Tomoyo look down at the snow-covered city to find the card with the Fly card. They stop at the big penguin at Penguin Park where Syaoran and Meilin appear. Syaoran tells the group that it is the doings of the Snow card. Suddenly, a blizzard surrounds them and it appears to be following people with magical powers. Sakura tries to use the Fly card to get herself, Kero, and Syaoran away from the blizzard. Syaoran uses a fire spell to try to stop the blizzard from following them, but it just becomes more furious. In the middle of the flight, Sakura realizes the watch she got from Yukito is gone. Sakura gets angry and releases the power of Firey to burn all the snow and captures the Snow card. Even though Sakura caught a card, she cries because she lost Yukito's present to her. Kero leaves Sakura and Syaoran to get Meilin and Tomoyo. Ms. Mizuki appears and gives Sakura the watch she lost and Sakura thanks her, while Syaoran glares at Ms. Mizuki. |
April 5, 1999 |
| 2 |
Sakura and Tomoyo's Vanished Voice Sakura and her friends are at a picnic with a portable karaoke device Tomoyo got from her mother's company. It is Tomoyo's turn to sing, and she begins singing. The next day at school, Sakura and Tomoyo talk about the song that Tomoyo will sing in choir. At cheerleading practice, Sakura, Chiharu, and Naoko talk about Tomoyo's singing, and decide to go listen after practice. However, Tomoyo's voice is stolen by a Clow Card. Later that night at Sakura's house, Kero tells Sakura that the Voice card caused this. Sakura and Syaoran go to Tomoyo's house to try to seal away the Clow Card. Then, Syaoran and Sakura begin thinking of ways to capture the Voice card. After a comment by Sakura about the Song card, Syaoran comes up with the idea as using the Song card to sing with Tomoyo's voice to draw out the Voice card. It works and the Voice card comes into Tomoyo's house. Syaoran seals the exits with seals, so that the Voice card cannot escape and Sakura seals the card. Tomoyo's voice is returned to her, and she is able to sing in the choir. Sakura and her friends go to the concert and listen to the choir's singing. |
April 12, 1999 |
| 3 |
Sakura's Merry Strawberry Hunt Sakura's grade goes on a field trip to pick strawberries. Sakura and Tomoyo bump into Yukito and Toya who are working part-time at the strawberry field. On the way to the greenhouse, Syaoran senses something from the storehouse, but Meilin pushes him along. The class enters the greenhouse and begins picking strawberries. Sakura hears the door to the storehouse will not open, but when she and Tomoyo go to investigate, they find it open. Syaoran and Meilin come into the storehouse, and Syaoran says that he feels a strange presence. The door suddenly closes and locks them inside. Syaoran informs the group that it it the Lock card that has trapped them. After Rika, Naoko, and Chiharu come to the storehouse, they go look for Ms. Mizuki and tell Toya and Yukito. While looking for a key to unlock the door, Sakura sees Ms. Mizuki through the window, who gives her a hint, but Ms. Mizuki then disappears. Sakura realizes that Ms. Mizuki was trying to tell her to use her key. The Lock card shows its true form when Sakura tries to put her key into the lock. Syaoran seals the exits and Sakura quickly seals the Lock card before it can get into the keyhole. Toya, Yukito, Rika, and Naoko come into the messy storehouse, now that the Lock card has been captured. Sakura and the others clean up the storehouse together. Sakura's group learns how to make and bakes desserts with strawberries. After the desserts are made, Sakura brings a piece to Toya and Yukito. |
April 19, 1999 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Sakura and the Mysterious Transfer Student Sakura’s class receives a new transfer student, Eriol Hiiragizawa, a boy from England, and he starts charming Sakura, making Syaoran jealous. Later on, Sakura receives a vision from Clow Reed that he may bring trouble to her, and that night an unnatural storm hits town. Sakura decides to investigate, and discovers that the storm was created by magic. Sakura tries to end the storm, however trouble arises when Sakura attempts to use her Clow Cards. |
September 7, 1999 |
| 2 |
Sakura and the Awakened Key of Star Rain still falls on Tomoeda. In her kitchen, Sakura thinks about the previous night when she was unable to release her key into the staff. Touya comes downstairs and notes that she's up early as well as calling her a monster, but is visibly concerned when Sakura makes no retort. She asks him if Yukito was going to visit their house that night and he tells her that Yukito hadn't planned on it, but that he would probably come if they were having something good for dinner. In Sakura's room, Kero thinks about the strange presence he sensed the day prior, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was. |
September 14, 1999 |
| 3 |
Sakura and the Dangerous Piano Exhausted from the events of the other night, Sakura remains in bed and sleeps into the afternoon before being visited by Syaoran and Tomoyo. Kero explains that Sakura used a great deal of power to transform the Clow Card, explaining her sudden tiredness. Since the Fiery Card was transformed to be under jurisdiction of Sakura's power, Sakura's friends henceforth transform the cards into "Sakura Cards". Later at school, Sakura overhears Eriol playing the piano and has Tomoyo sing to his music; unbeknownst to them, however, Eriol enchants the piano while he plays. |
September 21, 1999 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Sakura and the Clear Cards It's April, the cherry trees are in full bloom, and Sakura has entered Tomoeda Middle School. She's reunited with Syaoran, who has returned from Hong Kong, and her new student life has begun. |
January 7, 2018 |
| 2 |
Sakura and the Room with No Exit It's the new term, and the hot topic at school is clubs! Sakura and Tomoyo decide to join the same clubs they did in elementary school, cheerleading and chorus. |
January 14, 2018 |
| 3 |
Sakura's Heavy Rain Alert It's been raining buckets all day. Sakura and Tomoyo take shelter in a park on the way home from school, and suddenly the Key of Dreams at Sakura's chest begins to shine... Is it the work of a card? |
January 21, 2018 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | SBS |
|---|---|
| First aired | April 7, 1998 |
| Last aired | June 10, 2018 |
| Runtime | 25 minutes |
| Status | ended |
| Schedule | Tuesday at 18:00:00 |