POWER RANGERS MYSTIC FORCE

 

POWER RANGERS MYSTIC FORCE
(Toon Disney, February 20-November 13, 2006)
 
BVS Entertainment, Renaissance Atlantic Entertainment, Toei Company Ltd., Ranger Productions Ltd.

 

MAIN CAST:
Firass Dirani – Red Mystic Ranger/Bowen/Nicolas “Nick” Russell
Angie Diaz – Pink Mystic Ranger/Vida “V” Rocca
Richard Brancatisano – Green Mystic Ranger/Xander Bly
Melanie Vallejo – Blue Mystic Ranger/Madison “Maddie” Rocca
Nic Sampson – Yellow Mystic Ranger/Charlie “Chip” Thorn
Peta Rutter – White Mystic Ranger/Udonna
Antonia Prebble – Clare Langtree, Niella
Barnie Duncan – Toby Slambrook, Piggy
Kelson Henderson – Phineas

  

Power Rangers Mystic Force is the 13^th incarnation of the Power Rangers franchise, the 4^th of the Disney-era, and the 14^th season overall. It utilized footage from Toei Company, Ltd.’s 29^th Super Sentai series, Maho Sentai Magiranger. This was the first time a Sentai filmed in New Zealand along with Power Rangers.

Leanbow and the wizards prepare to repel evil.

20 years ago, the Forces of Darkness came into power in a magic-filled dimension and began a war called The Great Battle between good and evil. The army of monsters were opposed by five wizards led by the most powerful of all, Leanbow (Chris Graham). He cast a spell to seal the dark forces off from the other realms and went to the other side himself to ensure it stayed closed. In the present, a massive earthquake struck the city of Briarwood and broke the seal, allowing evil to resume its invasion of Earth under the leadership of Octomus the Master (John Leigh), Supreme Master of the Underworld. Sorceress Udonna (Peta Rutter) gathered the warriors of legend to fight against them: Nick Russell (Firass Dirani), Xander Bly (Richard Brancatisano), Chip Thorn (Nic Sampson), and sisters Vida (Angie Diaz) and Maddie Rocca (Melanie Vallejo). Leanbow also returned as the evil Koragg until the power of good restored his original personality, turning him into the Wolf Warrior and ally of the Power Rangers. They were also aided by Daggeron (John Tui), who wielded the power of the sun as the Solaris Knight, and his feline genie, Jenji (Oliver Driver).

The Mystic Force Rangers with the Wolf Warrior and the Solaris Knight.

Power Rangers Mystic Force debuted on February 20, 2006 on Toon Disney’s Jetix block, with reruns later airing on ABC as part of the ABC Kids programming block. Jackie Marchand was finally made story-editor by producer Bruce Kalish; a position she’d hold until RPM. Ron Wasserman pitched both a rap and a rock theme for the series, but they were ultimately rejected and Disney went with Chaka Blackmon as its composer. Because S.P.D.’s finale cost so much, the production was under strict orders to use as much Sentai footage as possible with a slashed budget for new material; which meant no annual team-up episode was produced. That also had the unfortunate consequence of giving an excessive amount of focus to the Red Ranger over the others, which fans took issue with. Antonia Prebble, who previously played the Nova Ranger in S.P.D. and Krista in Dino Thunder, played the dual role of Clare, Udonna’s niece and apprentice, and her mother, Niella. Tui had also played Anubis Cruger in S.P.D., and Machiko Soga, best known as Rita Repulsa, was the Mystic Mother through posthumous use of footage from Magiranger.

POWER RANGERS S.P.D.

 

POWER RANGERS S.P.D.
(ABC Family, Toon Disney, February 5-November 14, 2005)
 
BVS Entertainment, Renaissance Atlantic Entertainment, Toei Company Ltd., Ranger Productions Ltd.

 

MAIN CAST:
Brandon Jay McLaren – S.P.D. Red Ranger/Jack Landors
Chris Violette – S.P.D. Blue Ranger/Schuyler “Sky” Tate
Matt Austin – S.P.D. Green Ranger/Bridge Carson
Monica May – S.P.D. Yellow Ranger/Elizabeth “Z” Delgado
Alycia Purrott – S.P.D. Pink Ranger/Sydney “Syd” Drew
John Tui – S.P.D. Shadow Ranger/Anubis “Doggie” Cruger, Sergeant Silverback
Brett Stewart – S.P.D. Omega Ranger/Sam (older)
Michelle Langstone – S.P.D. Kat Ranger/Dr. Katherine “Kat” Manx
Kelson Henderson – Boom
René Naufahu – Emperor Gruumm
Oliva James-Baird – Mora
Josephine Davison – Morgana
Barnie Duncan – Piggy
Jim McLarty – Broodwing (voice)
Derek Judge – Blue-Head Krybots (voice)
James Gaylyn (voice) – Orange-Head Krybots, Zeltrax

 

Power Rangers S.P.D. is the 12^th incarnation of the Power Rangers franchise, the 3^rd of the Disney-era, and the 13^th season overall. It utilized footage from Toei Company, Ltd.’s 27^th Super Sentai series, Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger. Where “S.P.D.” stood for “Special Police Dekaranger” in the Sentai, here it became “Space Patrol Delta”.

Newtech City in the year 2025.

In the year 2025, Earth had become part of a larger community when it welcomed alien beings to live peacefully with humans. However, there are always those out there looking to spoil the party. In this case, the planet-conquering Troobian Empire led by the evil Emperor Gruumm (René Naufahu). The only thing standing between them and Earth was the S.P.D.: an interplanetary law-enforcement agency that oversaw extraterrestrial immigrants on different planets and used advanced technology to maintain peace and order. And the elite members of Earth’s S.P.D. division were Power Rangers.

The S.P.D. A-Squad.

The best of the best were positioned on the A-Squad. These five Rangers possessed the ability to morph instantly without the use of a Morpher, had heavy armor that gave them greater endurance, and large armaments known as S.P.D. Enforcers. Their Zords were known as the Delta Runners: Red (Gina Varela) piloted the Delta Runner 1, a 6-wheeled police car; Blue (Taran Howell, voiced by Nick Kemplen) Delta Runner 2, a gyrocopter with laser barrels in its engines and a rescue cable; Green (Thomas Kiwi, voiced by Kemplen) Delta Runner 3, an 18-wheel mobile command center that contained the Megazord’s weapons; Yellow (Allan Smith, voiced by Greg Cooper) Delta Runner 4, an armored truck with blinding lights on the roof; and Pink (Motoko Nagino, voiced by Claire Dougan) Delta Runner 5, a small buggy whose sign was used to direct traffic and make judgements. The five Runners could combine to form the Delta Squad Megazord. The Megazord had the Delta Blaster and Delta Sword, and came equipped with a giant Delta Morpher-activated Judgement Scanner to determine the guilt or innocence of a subject. Detained prisoners were incarcerated inside a Containment Card.

S.P.D. B-Squad: Sky, Syd, Jack, Z and Bridge.

Unfortunately, the A-Squad seemed to have disappeared while on a mission, necessitating the activation of the B-Squad. The squad consisted of cadets with unique abilities of their own apart from their future Ranger powers. The initial members were Schuler “Sky” Tate (Chris Violette), who shared his parents’ abilities to generate energy shields that could be used defensively or offensively; Bridge Carson (Matt Austin), who possessed mental powers that allowed him to sense auras, limited telepathy, and some precognitive ability; and Sydney Drew (Alycia Purrott), who was able to take on the molecular structure of anything she touched. They would be joined by two thieves they were sent out to capture that also possessed abilities: Jack Landors (Brandon Jay McLaren), who could phase through solid objects, and Elizabeth “Z” Delgado (Monica May), who could create holographic duplicates of herself that could become solid if desired. An issue of contention on Sky’s part was that when they were given their Delta Morphers, he was Blue while Jack was Red. Sky not only felt he deserved Red because he was already an S.P.D. officer and Jack was a criminal, but because his father was once the Red Ranger. Additionally, Bridge was given Green, Syd became Pink, and Z was Yellow. Together they protected Newtech City and, ultimately, the world.

The Delta Squad Megazord.

Among their standard equipment were the Deltamax Strikers, highly versatile weapons for long and short range attacks; the Delta Cruiser, a standard patrol jeep; the Delta Patrol Cycles used by Red, Blue and Green that were both very fast and armed with lasers; the Delta ATV, used by Cruger and equipped with powerful blasters; and the S.W.A.T. Truck, a powerful armored vehicle. There was also the Robotic Interactive Canine, or R.I.C.: a robot dog that could become a powerful cannon that could take down or imprison criminals instantly, and was later upgraded to interact with Jack’s Battlizer mode. They would also gain a second set of Zords called the S.W.A.T. Flyers.  Classified by a number designation, 1 was Jack’s and the fastest of the group; 2 was Sky’s, which had hovering capabilities, high stability, and wingtip-mounted blasters; 3 was Bridge’s, best suited for conveying dangerous goods; 4 was Z’s, which had stealth capabilities, flares and tear-gas; and 5 was Syd’s, equipped with a massive speaker system for warning transmission and had fire suppression abilities. They could combine into either the S.W.A.T. Megazord, or the S.W.A.T. Flyer Cannon that could target enemy aliens within their own Zords or who have been made gigantic. In times of extreme emergency, there was yet another Megazord: the Delta Command Megazord, whereby Delta Base could be transformed after its occupants were removed or safely in lockdown. It could be piloted by a single Ranger or an entire team, and fired lasers from its fingers, Super Crime Scene Tape, and photon beams from its knees. It could also use the S.W.A.T. Megazord as a weapon. Delta Base also had another mode, the Delta Command Crawler, where it became a globe-traversing transport with two powerful photon beams and the ability to carry all of the Zords.

Anubis Cruger.

Their commanding officer was Anubis “Doggie” Cruger (John Tui), a dog-like humanoid member of the Sirian race; which were wiped out by Gruumm. He was tough but fair, completely dedicated to his job and expecting no less from his recruits. His best friend at Delta Base was Dr. Katherine “Kat” Manx (Michelle Langstone), a humanoid feline that was the head of R&D, the Rangers’ technical support, and the designer of most of their weapons. Both of their homeworlds were attacked by the Troobian Empire, and circumstances led to Kat developing Morphers for them to become extra Rangers: turning Cruger into the Shadow Ranger and her into the Kat Ranger. She also designed the special S.W.A.T. Mode for the B-Squad Morphers that granted them armor and weaponry similar to A-Squad’s—assuming they could learn to work together.

Kat in her lab.

Other characters included Boom (Kelson Anderson), a former cadet who flunked out of the Academy after only a few days, worked as Kat’s assistant and Chief Gadget Tester, and dreamt of being a Ranger himself (orange was his color of choice); Piggy (Barnie Duncan), an alien that served as an informant for both the S.P.D. and Gruumm; Isinia Cruger (Tandi Wright), Anubis’ wife who was believed dead like the rest of their species; Supreme Commander Fowler Birdie (Paul Norell), Anubis’ superior who looked down on the B-Sqaud and often gave them orders that unintentionally served as a detriment to their effectiveness and safety; Sergeant Silverback (Tui), a S.P.D. drill sergeant tasked with turning the B-Squad into an actual team; Series One Processor Hyper Intelligence Encryptor, or S.O.P.H.I.E. (Natacha Hutchison), a cyborg computer programmer who became a programmer for the Theta Quadrant after the Rangers initially got her expelled from the Academy after learning her secret origins (cyborgs were prejudiced against); and Ally Samuels (Beth Allen), owner of a clothing store that helped the less fortunate who became romantically involved with Jack.

The Omega Ranger makes the scene.

The Rangers would gain a more frequent 6^th member from the most unlikely place: the future. The Rangers actually met him in the present first, as a young boy named Sam (Aaron James Murphy). Like them, he had the special ability to teleport objects and was ostracized for it. This let him be easily manipulated into helping Gruumm’s schemes until Z turned him around. In the dystopian year 2040, Sam became the Omega Ranger (Brett Stewart) and came back in time to help prevent the B-Squad’s inevitable loss against the Troobians. The trip, however, had its cost: not only couldn’t Sam return back to his own time, it also denied him of his human form; leaving him either permanently a Ranger or an orb of energy. However, he did come with his own futuristic gear including the Uniforce Cycle and a motorcycle-like Zord called the Omegamax Cycle, which could transform into its own Megazord, combine with the Delta Squad Megazord to become the Delta Max Megazord, or be ridden by the Delta Squad Megazord. Sam’s Omega Morpher also allowed him access a variety of abilities, such as electricity projection, a powerful charged-up energy blast, strength enhancement, time manipulation, increase all of his physical stats, and had a Judgement Scanner.

Gruumm and Morgana.

Gruumm led his Troobian army on a conquest of the universe, launching full-scale assaults against planets to take their resources. Alone he was formidable enough, having the ability to shape-shift, mental powers, lightning blasts, and a genius mind. His Axe Staff was capable of firing energy of its own and allowing him to teleport through explosions. The Troobian army was largely comprised of three types of robotic drones known as Krybots: the Whites, which were the primary ground forces; the Blue-Heads, which were stronger and smarter than the Whites and served as Gruumm’s personal guards; and the Orange-Heads, which were the most powerful and led on the battlefield. His general was Mora (Olivia James-Baird), a powerful warrior found and brainwashed into servitude, and later turned into the adult Morgana (Josephine Davison) as punishment for a failure (which she hated and wanted to win back her youth). Along with the ability to teleport and a powerful battlesuit, she was able to bring to life monsters she drew. She often served as the snarky voice of reason to Gruumm, providing him with excellent battle strategies that often failed due to his own blundering. The primary weapons dealer for the Troobians was Broodwing (Jim McLarty); a three-eyed vampire bat-like alien whose suit provided an artificial environment for him to survive in. Along with flight and energy blasts, he could control a rare race of bats whose bite could turn someone into a giant. When Broodwing’s weaponry proved repeatedly unable to defeat the Rangers, Gruumm refused to keep paying him; prompting Broodwing to set sights on conquering Earth himself and defeating both the Rangers and Gruumm.

Omni, the real brains (pun intended) behind everything.

While it initially appeared as if Gruumm was talking to himself in his base, in actuality he was talking to his boss: Omni (Geoff Dolan). Omni was essentially a giant brain with a single eye on a tentacle. He was heartless and hateful, though also calm and emotionless, and possessed psychic abilities; primarily, the ability to brainwash others by spraying a purple powder on them. Gruumm eventually used the countless resources he stole to create a colossal biomechanical body for Omni that turned him into The Magnificence and gave him incredibly destructive powers.

Battle of the Yellows: A-Squad gives B-Squad a toss before blasting.

But wait, there’s more! Remember the A-Squad our heroes were replacing? It turned out that they hadn’t disappeared, but in fact turned traitor and joined Gruumm’s forces to be on “the winning side”. They used this hidden fact to their advantage in order to infiltrate and disable S.P.D. from the inside upon their return. They also used the Delta Squad Megazord to destroy the Omegamax Megazord. Broodwing would eventually supply them with a Megazord of his own design as part of his schemes.

The full S.P.D. Ranger crew, including the Shadow and Kat Rangers.

Power Rangers S.P.D. debuted on Feburary 5, 2005 on ABC Family (now Freeform) where it ran for the first 25 episodes and the 35^th, with the remainder airing on Toon Disney’s Jetix programming block and reruns starting shortly after on ABC as part of the ABC Kids programming block. In 2011, a Japanese dub would air on Toei’s digital television channel with the Dekaranger cast providing the dubs. As primary producers and writers Doug Sloan and Ann Austen had left the franchise, Greg Aronowitz and Bruce Kalish took the reins seemingly for the better. Fans praised the series for easily being one of the most ambitious versions of Power Rangers yet. The cast was notably particularly strong and portrayed their characters well, earning them praise as one of the best in the franchise’s history. This was aided by the fact that every Ranger had an entire episode dedicated to fleshing them out and expanding on their character development early on. Communication with the fans was expanded with the production crew actively engaging them on websites like Rangerboard. The series was written by Kalish and Aronowitz, along with Jackie Marchand, John Tellegen, Mark Hoffmeier, David Garber, Matt Hawkins, Jesse Horsting and Stan Berkowitz, with costumes designed by Gavin McLean and music composed by Bruce Lynch. Ron Wasserman provided the theme song. Because in Dekaranger all of the weaponry featured shot actual bullets, laser beams were digitally added to any Sentai footage with weapon use, and shots of the Rangers pointing to the screen with bullet holes appearing were replaced with ones at a different angle and the bullets removed.

Sky finally becomes the Red Ranger.

S.P.D. marked a number of firsts for the franchise: the first time the Pink Ranger had no skirt on her uniform; the first time that a female Yellow Ranger had no skirt and a female Sentai counterpart; the first to have an episode take place in Super Sentai’s home country of Japan; the first to not only have a teammate use another active one’s powers (Jack loaned Sky his), but to have members promoted to new colors (Jack retired leading to Sky becoming Red and Bridge moving up to Blue); the first to have an exclusive team of American Rangers (the A-Squad), as well as the first female Red Ranger (which the producers had to fight Disney to have); the first where the final battles didn’t just include monsters that grew, but also monsters that retreated to their own giant Zord-like robots;  and the first whose episode titles consisted of only one word (an in-joke to one of Kalish’s previous series, Black Hole High).

Blast from the past as the Dino Rangers meet the S.P.D. Rangers.

There were two crossover episodes with the cast of Dino Thunder. The first, “History”, had Broodwing bring the Red (James Napier), Blue (Kevin Duhaney) and Yellow (Emma Lahana) Dino Rangers to the future to help destroy the world. However, they escaped and joined with the S.P.D. Rangers to defeat Gruumm. Originally, the plan was for Broodwing to use the Dino Gems to create clones of the Dino Rangers, but Aronowitz said during RangerStop 2015 that Disney pushed for the time travel angle so that audiences wouldn’t be confused about if they were the actual Dino Rangers. “Wormhole” saw the reverse as Gruumm would retreat into the past to conquer Earth in a less advanced time. Jack, Bridge and Z followed and teamed up with the full Dino Rangers team—including the White (Jeffrey Parazzo) and Black (voiced by Parazzo) Dino Rangers—to fight against him and the cyborg Zeltrax (Gaylyn). Ultimately, Gruumm decided to return to his own time to avoid the hassle of having to reconquer all the worlds he already had. Cruger would wipe both Rangers teams’ memories of the event to prevent any damage to the timestream. “Wormhole” would be the last team-up episode to feature two complete teams of core and 6^th Rangers until Power Rangers Beast Morphers. Future team-up episodes would feature only a single veteran Ranger or a makeshift team comprised of veteran Rangers from multiple shows (with the exception of Super Megaforce, which featured all of the veteran Rangers up to that point).

The Magnificence lands in the city.

Unfortunately, any praise garnered for S.P.D. was quickly dashed as it progressed. There were a number of obvious filler episodes designed towards pushing the series towards its conclusion that were directly adapted from Dekaranger. Kalish would defend the use of Sentai material in an interview saying they were “paid to translate, not tell original stories.” Interactions with the cast and crew would also minimize as time went on as the amount of vitriol, derogatory criticism and crass jokes began to rise. Additional criticism was levied over the production’s refusal to pay Jason David Frank to reprise his role of the Black Dino Ranger in “Wormhole”. And the ambitiousness of the series became too much for Disney’s liking, as the CGI-heavy finale ended up costing a significant amount of the budget. Disney would make up for this by significantly slashing the budget of the next installments and mandating they use as much Sentai footage as possible.

Bridge moving up in the ranks.

While the S.P.D. Rangers would appear in future installments, only Austin would reprise his role in Operation Overdrive as the newly-promoted S.P.D. Red Ranger from the year 2027. McLaren was initially asked to reprise his role despite his character’s retirement, but as he and Lahana had once dated and subsequently broken up, and as she was participating in the crossover as well, he declined. Violette was also unavailable, resulting in Bridge’s promotion to Red Ranger.

S.P.D. in Power Rangers Annual.

Jetix Magazine in the UK ran a new strip based on S.P.D., the first to be written by long-time Transformers writer Simon Furman. He was joined on art by fellow Transformers veteran Andrew Wildman, who had already been doing Rangers strips when the magazine was known as Fox Kids Wickid. The strip had its own running subplot about a Krybot that became self-aware and actively worked against Gruumm and aided the S.P.D. Rangers with a device that would take out the Krybot fleet. The strip also ended with its own finale to the S.P.D. series, the first time one had done one of its own that differed from the actual series. The strip saw A-Squad brainwashed instead of corrupted, and the B-Squad had to deal with them, Gruumm and Omni before being promoted to A-Squad status. In 2017, the S.P.D. Rangers returned to comics in BOOM! Studios’ graphic novel Soul of the Dragon, which was written by Kyle Higgins along with Frank. It established that Tommy Oliver’s son J.J. was the new S.P.D. Green Ranger, Sky’s promotion to Commander of the Earth S.P.D. base and becoming the Deka Ranger, and Cruger’s promotion to Supreme Commander following Birdie’s retirement. They also appeared during the “Shattered Grid” crossover event, with a story centered on them in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2018 Annual. The B-Squad Green Ranger would also appear in 2022's Power Rangers Universe #3.

  As with other entries in the franchise, Bandai produced a line of merchandise for the series ranging from action figures to role-play items. A toy-exclusive was the Blast Runner Zord: a small all-terrain vehicle with cannons that could become a blast shield for the Delta Squad Megazord. While it never appeared in S.P.D., it was featured in Dekaranger from whose toyline it was pulled from. When Hasbro took up the license in 2019, they released A-Squad, Shadow, Omega and most of B-Squad as part of their Lightning Collection, with B-Squad Yellow releasing as a GameStop exclusive.

 A video game for the Game Boy Advance was developed by Natsume and published by THQ (for the final time in the franchise) in 2006. It was a side-scrolling beat ‘em up where the player could use each Ranger in turn. While each Ranger played similarly, they had some different capabilities; such as Blue and Green being able to double-jump while Red had to wall-kick to reach higher areas. They each had a unique special ability based on their respective powers (although breaking with canon by using them in Ranger form): Red could phase through enemies and obstacles; Blue could create force fields; Green could track energy signatures to find missing objects; Yellow could create three duplicates of herself; Pink could turn her hand into iron to increase her attack power or punch through obstacles; and Shadow could create an energy blade that would hit several foes at once. The action was broken up with a level featuring a Missile Command-like game with the Green Delta Runner, racing levels with the Red, Yellow and Pink Delta Runners and the R.I.C., and Megazord battle levels. In 2007, Disney Interactive Studio released side-scrolling beat ‘em up Power Rangers: Super Legends for PlayStation 2, PC and Nintendo DS. The console version featured the return of Lord Zedd (Steve Blum) who recruited foes from different eras to battle the Rangers. The future Omega Ranger (Yuri Lowenthal) recruited his own through the Hall of Legends, the repository for Ranger history, which included S.P.D. members Omega, Shadow (Darryl Kurylo), Red and Orange. The DS version featured Gruumm leading the collection of foes, and had Omega, Red and Orange joined by the Blue Ranger. nWay Games’ trilogy of Power Rangers games involved members of S.P.D. 2017’s Power Rangers Legacy Wars mobile game had Red, Blue, Omega, Shadow and Kat, the Delta Squad Megazord, and Gruumm’s spaceship as a league base, while 2019’s Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid featured Kat (Melissa Flores) and Anubis (Kyle Hebert) as playable characters, as well as the Delta Squad Megazord. Power Rangers Morphin Legends, a mobile game soft-launched in 2022 before ultimately being cancelled in 2023, had Bridge and Charlie as playable characters.

The complete series DVD.

 Buena Vista Home Entertainment released the first 25 episodes and episode 35 across five DVD volumes, as well as three VHS collections containing five episodes each. They also released the complete series internationally in 2008. In 2013, the complete series was released by Shout! Factory as part of the season 13-17 box set, the 20-season Power Rangers Legacy Mighty Morphin Red Ranger helmet set, and then individually in 2017. For a time, the series was available to stream on Netflix and was purchasable on Prime Video. The entire series has been made available to stream on Power Rangers’ official YouTube channel.

 

 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Beginnings, Part 1” (2/5/05) – Three experienced members of the B-Squad get promoted to Power Rangers when they’re tasked with apprehending two powered criminals.

 

“Beginnings, Part 2” (2/5/05) – The criminals are recruited as Power Rangers to help stop the evil Emperor Gruumm from opening a portal to invade Earth.

 

“Confronted” (2/15/05) – While the B-Squad must step up to cover for the disappeared A-Squad, Jack finds himself abusing the benefits of being a Red Ranger.

 

“Walls” (2/19/05) – Sky is upset over not being the Red Ranger to the point he skips group activities, especially when Jack and Bridge are given new Patrol Cycles.

 

“Dogged” (2/26/05) – Syd is disappointed to be partnered with the buggy R.I.C. while investigating several disappearances.

 

“A-Bridged” (3/5/05) – The Rangers believe they have their intergalactic bank robbing suspect, but Bridge remains unconvinced and launches his own investigation.

 

“Sam, Part 1” (3/12/05) – Tease for his teleportation abilities, young Sam joins Mora to help her creation Bugglesworth turn the citizenry into dolls.

 

“Sam, Part 2” (3/19/05) – Cruger reveals the origins of powered individuals and their connection to S.P.D. as Z is able to finally befriends Sam and turn him against Bugglesworth.

 

“Idol” (4/2/05) – Sky’s old friend returns to the academy, but it turns out he has begun to work for Broodwing.

 

“Stakeout” (4/9/05) – Syd is disappointed she has to work on her birthday when she’s pulled into a stakeout with Jack to watch an escaped villain’s partner.

 

“Shadow, Part 1” (4/16/05) – General Benaag returns and challenges Cruger to battle, but his refusal leads to Kat being kidnapped by Krybots and confronted by Benaag.

 

“Shadow, Part 2” (4/23/05) – While the Rangers deal with energy spikes Gruumm placed around the city, Cruger becomes the Shadow Ranger to rescue Kat and defeat Benaag.

 

“Abandoned” (4/30/05) – Taking the Shadow Ranger for granted, Cruger decides to teach B-Squad a lesson by leaving them on their own to face Drakel.

 

“Wired, Part 1” (5/7/05) – A standout D-Squad cadet takes matters into her own hands when Kat needs to decrypt a new sequence for Delta Base’s Defense System.

 

“Wired, Part 2” (5/14/05) – The Rangers hastily expel S.O.P.H.I.E. believing her to be dangerous, causing her to fall into Valko’s hands and allowing him to take control of giant robot Goradon.

 

“Boom” (5/21/05) – Syd and Bridge help Boom sell the lies he told his parents about his position when they come to visit, while Jack and Sky hunt the dimension-hopping General Tomars.

 

“Recognition” (6/4/05) – The Rangers apprehend Wootox but he manages to escape by switching bodies with Sky.

 

“Samurai” (6/11/05) – An ancient Japanese alien samurai named Katana is brought to the present by Gruumm and is convinced by Broodwing that the Rangers are the true bad guys.

 

“Dismissed” (6/18/05) – Commander Birdie decides to implement his own methods onto the Rangers and takes command of Delta Base from Cruger.

 

“Perspective” (6/25/05) – The Rangers all have a different account of stopping the World Gold Depository heist that makes each one out to be the best.

 

“Messenger, Part 1” (7/10/05) – Boom’s radio signal grabber appears to receive a message from the future telling of the Rangers’ defeat by the Troobian army.

 

“Messenger, Part 2” (7/16/05) – The Rangers are saved from the brink of defeat by the mysterious Omega Ranger from the future.

 

“Zapped” (7/25/05) – Syd is placed under a spell when she applies to be a magician’s assistant, and Sam is sent to spy on his magic show.

 

“Reflection, Part 1” (8/12/05) – The Rangers’ day off is interrupted when New Tech City is attacked by criminals they’ve already locked up.

 

“Reflection, Part 2” (8/12/05) – Gruumm uses Mirloc to capture the Rangers, and after Sam manages to free them Jack lends Sky his morpher to get some personal revenge on Mirloc.

 

“S.W.A.T., Part 1” (8/15/05) – Tensions mount as a threat is on the rise and the Rangers constantly bicker, causing Cruger to send them to Planet Zentor to be trained by Sergeant Silverback.

 

“S.W.A.T., Part 2” (8/22/05) – The Rangers end up demoted to D-Squad and on the verge of expulsion while Sam and Cruger end up captured trying to reclaim stolen S.P.D. tech.

 

“Robotpalooza” (8/29/05) – The Rangers find themselves besieged by robots while Bridge has dreams of fighting other robots on another world.

 

“Katastrophe” (9/26/05) – Kat decides to take a new position with S.P.D. Galaxy Command, but in her absence the Rangers’ equipment suffers and the team finds themselves in trouble.

 

“Missing” (10/3/05) – The Rangers must find where Bridge is being held captive before he’s crushed by the closing walls of his cell.

 

“History” (10/11/05) – Broodwing brings the Red, Yellow and Blue Dino Rangers to the future as part of his plans, but they end up teaming-up with B-Squad instead.

 

“Impact” (9/23/05) – Professor Cerebros sends a meteor towards New Tech City, and Jack crashes Sky’s mission to stop it.

 

“Badge” (10/17/05) – Cruger’s academy rival returns and slowly dismantles his Rangers team.

 

“Insomnia” (10/28/05) – Overhearing Cruger and Kat discussing how the A-Squad would have beaten Gruumm already, B-Squad goes over their past failures and try to deduce Gruumm’s plans.

 

“Wormhole” (7/30/05 CAN, 2/2/06 US) – The Rangers follow Gruumm to the year 2004 where they team up with the Dino Rangers to take on him and Zeltrax.

 

“Resurrection” (11/4/05) – Jack’s new relationship interferes with his Ranger duties while a distress call leads the Rangers to discover the missing A-Squad.

 

“Endings, Part 1” (11/7/05) – B-Squad battles A-Squad while Broodwing gathers his army to attack the defenseless base.

 

“Endings, Part 2” (11/14/05) – Omni becomes the Magnificence and takes on the S.W.A.T. Megazord while the Nova Ranger and troops from S.P.D. Command arrive to help.

CARDCAPTORS

 

CARDCAPTORS

(NHK BS2, April 7, 1998-March 21, 2000 JAP
WB, June 17, 2000-December 14, 2001 US
Teletoon, August 23, 2000-March 8, 2003 CAN)
 
Madhouse, Kodansha (Japanese), Nelvana, The Ocean Group (English)
 
 

MAIN CAST:

Sakura Tange (Japanese) & Carly McKillip (English) – Sakura Kinomoto/Sakura Avalon

Aya Hisakwa (false form, Japanese), Masaya Onosaka (true form, Japanese), Matt Hill (false form, English) & Richard Newman (true form, English) – Cerberus/Keroberos/Kero

Junko Iwao (Japanese) & Maggie Blue O’Hara (English) – Tomoyo Daidouji/Madison Taylor

Tomokazu Seki  (Japanese) & Tony Sampson (English) – Touya Kinomoto/Tori Avalon

Megumi Ogata (Japanese) & Steve Staley (English) – Yukito Tsukishiro/Julian Star/Yue

Motoko Kumai (Japanese), Rhys Huber (season 1) & Jordan Kilik (season 2-3) (English) – Syaoran Li/Li Showron

Yukana Nogami (Japanese) – Meiling Li/Meilin Rae

Nicole Oliver (English) – Meiling Li/Meilin Rae, Maggie

 

CLAMP is an all-female Japanese manga artist collective, or “circle”, founded in the mid-1980s. Currently comprised of leader and writer Nanase Ohkawa, and artists Mokona Apapa (who just goes by Mokona), Mick Nekoi (now known as Tsubaki Nekoi) and Satsuki Igarashi, they had also featured founding members O-Kyon, Sei Nanao (who both left by 1990), Tamayo Akiyama, Leeza Sei (who both left in 1992), Sōshi Hishika, Kazue Nakamori and Shinya Ōmi (who all left in 1993). The group’s name came from the dictionary when they needed something alphabetically close to “CLUB/Y” to remain seated near a prominent artist at an exhibition. They started out creating dōjinshi (fan comics) of Captain Tsubasa, Saint Seiya, and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure before pivoting towards original work in 1987. 

Sakura summoning her wand in the manga.

Their first original project was RG Veda, which got them approached by an editor for Shinshokan’s Wings manga magazine about working for them. RG Veda ended up being serialized in Wings; starting out a single story but expanded when sales and reader response were higher than expected. Over the next decade, they would find themselves published in various magazines and by various publishers. Nakayoshi magazine, published by Kodansha, wanted CLAMP to produce another series for them as their current one, Magic Knight Rayearth, was about to wrap up. Ohkawa wanted to create a magical girl series, despite not being well-versed in the genre, in order to have a character roughly the age of Nakayoshi’s readership (the magazine was targeted towards young girls) that they could relate to. They came up with Cardcaptor Sakura, a title suggested by Nekoi. It debuted in May of 1996 and ran until June of 2000.

Sakura releases the Clow Cards.

The manga would focus on the titular Sakura Kinomoto, a 10-year-old girl who ended up accidentally releasing 19 magical Clow Cards (named after their former owner, sorcerer Clow Reed) from a book found in her family’s basement and was tasked with retrieving them. It would prove to be different than all of CLAMP’s other series to date as it had a more hopeful feeling to it with the theme of “if you try your best, it’ll work out”. Additionally, there was a focus on various forms of love and relationships between the characters without commentary, which sometimes took center stage over the main plotline in various chapters. Artists Mokona, Nekoi and Igarashi were asked by Ohkawa to use thin and curved lines and to keep the pages light without a lot of ink to give the story a “soft, cute-like” feel. Additionally, a lot of flower imagery was incorporated (while avoiding roses). While the series continued the trope of standard magical girl transformation scenes in the manga, CLAMP wanted Sakura to have different costumes as they felt “it’s pretty sad for a girl to wear the same outfit all the time.” 

The manga’s popularity spurred the production of tie-in media, which included video games, art books and an anime. The anime was produced by Madhouse and directed by Morio Asaka, with Ohkawa serving as head writer and Mokona overseeing costume and card designs. Other writers included Hiroshi Ishii, Jiro Kaneko, Tomoko Ogawa and Tomoyasu Okubo. Katsufumi Hariu handled art direction with Kumiko Takahashi on character designs and Takayuki Negishi on music. It aired 70 episodes across three seasons on NHK BS2 from April 7, 1998-March 21, 2000, as well as two movies released by Bandai that bridged between the first two seasons and served as the series finale. Despite airing in a traditionally poor timeslot, the anime proved popular with viewers and won the Animage Grand Prix award for best anime in 1999. 

As with the manga, the anime centered on elementary school student Sakura Kinomoto (Sakura Tange) and her quest to recover the now 52 Clow Cards, created by half-English, half-Chinese sorcerer Clow Reed (Kazuo Hayashi), before they wreaked havoc in the fictional Japanese town of Tomoeda. She was an extremely sweet and energetic girl who was athletically gifted in sports but a bit clumsy and naïve in life. She was also unaware that she possessed any kind of magical ability until it was revealed that was the only way she could have broken the seal on the Clow Book to free the cards. The cards themselves had their own personalities ranging from good to malicious, as well as an alternate form. They possessed powers typically embodying an elemental force or related to a specific task as well as an ability to float, and could possess objects and control people through them. In order to defeat a Clow Card, their power had to be bound by someone signing their name at the bottom of the card, signifying they are the card’s new owner. Once Sakura captured a card, she was able to use its abilities when needed. Her primary weapon was a staff called the Sealing Wand, which shrank into a key Sakura wore around her neck until a magical chant was recited. It gave the wielder the ability to seal or summon Clow Cards.

Sakura with her wand, Tomoyo with her camera, and Kero being a grump.

Guiding her on her mission was one of the cards’ guardians, Cerberus (Aya Hisakawa), also called “Kero” after the Greek version of his name, Kerberos. His primary form was that of a small winged cat-like cub with a lion-like tail, while his true from (voiced by Masaya Onosaka) was that of a large mountain lion with giant angelic wings and armor. Cerberus was bossy, demanding and gluttonous, but cared about Sakura and believed in her ability to accomplish her quest. Also helping wherever she could was Sakura’s best friend and second cousin, Tomoyo Daidouji (Junko Iwao). She would follow Sakura around with her video camera to record all her exploits, as well as designed new costumes for her to wear into battle and helped cover for her dual identity. Mature for her age, she gave off an air of refinement while still being very sweet and caring. Her ability to sing often made her the target of Voice and Song cards. Additionally, Sakura’s older brother, Touya (Tomokazu Seki), had an ability that allowed him to sense when his sister was in danger and did what he could to protect her, all the while keeping his knowledge of her double life to himself.

Syaoran and Meiling join in on the hunt.

A second Cardcaptor was introduced in the form of Syaoran Li (Motoko Kumai), a cold and cynical boy from Hong Kong who was descended from Reed and a member of the Li clan of sorcerers. He believed he should inherit the cards over Sakura and sought to capture them for himself, often being antagonistic towards her and criticizing her flaws. However, the more time he spent with her, the more he warmed up to and eventually even developed feelings towards her, deciding to work with her in capturing the cards. To find the cards, he utilized a special compass created by Reed. Trying to help Syaoran was his first cousin and betrothed (in Japan, first cousins are allowed to marry), Meiling Li (Nogami Yukana), who was an original character in the anime. She possessed no magical ability herself which often led to her hindering Syaoran more than helping, despite being proficient in martial arts. While in Tomoeda, Syaoran and Meiling were watched over by family butler Wang Wei (Motomu Kiyokawa), who was also created for the anime.

Yukito and Touya: just really good friends.

Additionally, there was Yukito Tsukishiro (Megumi Ogata), who was Touya’s best friend and whom Sakura initially had a crush on. Yukito had a kind and gentle personality, and was very popular in school. He was also a complete lie as it turned out he was unknowingly nothing but a false form for the other card guardian, Yue. Yue had an angelic appearance with dark armor, and was in charge of judging if the next Master of the Clow was worthy. Despite his cold demeanor, he had a kind heart. His powers were reliant on those of his master, and Sakura had to build hers up in order to sustain him. It would be this revelation that would explain Syaoran’s own attraction to Yukito; originally mistaken as being a crush but actually he was drawn towards the magical energies hidden within.

School life.

Other characters included Fujitaka Kinomoto (Hideyuki Tanaka), the widowed father of Sakura and Touya; Nadeshiko Kinomoto (Yūko Minaguchi), the deceased mother of Sakura and Touya who went against the wishes of her family when she married Fujitaka; Sonomi Daidouji (Miki Itō), Tomoyo’s wealthy mother and cousin of Nadeshiko who such deep romantic feelings for her that she considered Fujitaka a rival; Yoshiyuki Terada (Tōru Furusawa & Katsuyuki Konishi), a teacher at the elementary school who taught several classes and often chaperoned trips; Rika Sasaki (Tomoko Kawakami), Sakura’s mature yet shy classmate and friend who regarded Yoshiyuki as a father figure; Takashi Yamazaki (Issei Miyazaki), another classmate who was known for creating highly-detailed fabricated stories on just about any subject; Chiharu Mihara (Miwa Matsumoto), a cheerleader who was close friends with Takashi and often playfully strangled him to stop one of his stories; Naoko Yanagisawa (Emi Motoi), a cheerleader---despite being bad at gymnastics--with a love of fantasy and ghost stories; and Kaho Mizuki (Emi Shinohara), a shrine maiden that dated Touya before leaving to study in England, who returned as a substitute teacher that Sakura developed a crush on and seemed to have some knowledge in regards to the Clow Cards.

Sakura with Cerberus and Yue.

After Sakura managed to reacquire all of the cards and passed Yue’s judgement, her staff changed from having a bird-like head to a star with wings and give her the ability to convert the Clow Cards into Sakura Cards. Eriol Hiiragizawa (Nozomu Sasaki), the reincarnation of Reed, came to town and created a series of magical disasters in order to force Sakura to do so as the cards could only maintain their power by feeding off of their master’s magic. In the guise of a child, he attended Sakura’s school and befriended her and Takashi. Assisting Eriol were two new guardians he created: Spinel Sun (Yumi Touma), whose borrowed form resembled that of a cat with butterfly wings and true form (Konishi) was that of a panther with butterfly wings and butterfly-shaped armor, and Ruby Moon (Ryoka Yuzuki), who resembled a human-sized fairy with butterfly wings, and assumed the form of high school student Nakuru Akizuki out of boredom. Both were the opposites of their fellow guardians, with Spinel being calm and well-read while Ruby was more chaotic, always teasing Spinel and proving a general nuisance to Touya in school. 

The reincarnation of Clow Reed, Eriol, with guardians Spinel Sun and Ruby Moon.

As the manga was still ongoing at the time, naturally the anime wasn’t a straightforward adaptation and several changes were made. The series began with Sakura’s releasing of the Cards, whereas the manga had depicted it in flashback after she was already on her quest. Along with the number of Clow Cards, their capture happened in a different order and sometimes at different locations and times of day. Cerberus needed both The Earthy and The Firey cards to return to his original form, rather than just the Firey. Syaoran was made able to activate the cards he owned via his sword, took part in Yue’s final judgement, and was no longer living on his own. The fact that Sakura’s father was created from half of Reed’s soul was omitted, eliminating his resistance to the cards’ magic and his ability to see the spirit of his late wife, and making Eriol the only aspect of the sorcerer. The Moon Bell created by Reed to transform Sakura’s staff was meant to help her defeat Yue without hurting him, but was used to give Sakura a second chance to pass his final judgement in the anime. 

Rika and Mr. Terada, gone from a problematic student/teacher infatuation to a father figure.

Several relationships in the anime were altered from their presentation in the manga. Kaho and Eriol were revealed to know each other, but don’t end up together romantically. Rika and Terada’s relationship skewed uncomfortably more towards the romantic in the manga, with the pair planning on getting engaged once Rika was old enough. Sakura was the only one who really knew of their relationship and often came to Rika for advice with her own love life. Chiharu and Takashi’s relationship was left ambiguous, and Tomoyo having unrequited romantic feelings towards Sakura were downplayed. Syaoran confessed his feelings to Sakura immediately after the final battle and tried to hide the fact he was ordered back to Hong Kong by his mother, and he ended up absorbed by The Nothing card when she tried to reciprocate. 

As anime was gaining in popularity outside of Japan, Cardcaptor Sakura was licensed out for localization in other markets. For the English-speaking markets, three different companies created their own dubs independently of each other. Animax Asia’s dub was used for Southeast Asia. The version to air in North America and Australia was handled by Canadian company Nelvana in association with The Ocean Group, which included the first film. The second film, often considered the 25^th episode of the third season and the series finale of the anime, was done by Bang Zoom! Entertainment.

Sakura, Cerberus and Syoaran, now known as Li.

Nelvana spent roughly $100,000 per episode on translation by Meredith Woodward, dubbing, and incorporating new music composed by Lenz Entertainment, as well sound effects when the originals couldn’t be isolated from audio tracks. As with other anime imports, a number of changes were made to bring the series more in line with Western sensibilities at the time. For instance, elements of Japanese culture, signage and landmarks were either altered to something more familiar to the target audience or eliminated entirely when possible. All of the children, which were mostly polite and soft-spoken, were made to be far more outspoken; particularly Sakura herself as she was depicted as more assertive. The characters’ names were also mostly Westernized: Sakura became Sakura Avalon (with a different pronunciation for her first name which was only kept because it would have been too difficult to remove all instances of it, voiced by Carly McKillip); Cerberus became Keroberos (Matt Hill using a New York accent, and Richard Newman for his true form) and retained his Kero nickname; Tomoyo became Madison Taylor (Maggie Blue O’Hara, using a valley girl accent instead of the elegant style from the anime); Touya became Tori Avalon (Tony Sampson); Yukito became Julian Star (although Yue’s remained unchanged, both voiced by Samuel Vincent); Syaoran became Li Showron (Rhys Huber & Jordan Kilik); Meiling became Meilin Rae (Nicole Oliver); Reed’s name was pronounced as “klau” instead of “klo” (Dale Wilson); Fujitaka became Aiden Avalon (Brian Drummond), and his wife, Natasha (Janyse Jaud); Sonomi became Samantha Taylor (Venus Terzo); Yoshiyuki was addressed as simply Mr. Terada (Drummond); Rika became Rita (Dina Sherman); Takashi became Zachary Marker (Philip Pacaud); Chiharu became Chelsea (Jocelyne Loewen); Naoko became Nikki (Kelly Sheridan); Kaho became Layla MacKenzie (Linda Rae Jurgens); Eriol became Eli Moon (Bill Switzer); Spinel Sun became Spinner Sun (Colin Murdock); and while Ruby Moon (Willow Johnson) kept her name, her alternate form went by it as well. The town itself was also renamed Reedington. 

Li Showron, elevated to co-protagonist status and thinking Sakura is a joke upon first impressions.

Boys were determined to be the larger demographic for animation, just like it was determined that girls were more likely to watch shows targeted for boys than the reverse. Nelvana’s dub tried to make the show as appealing for boys as possible by toning down anything deemed “girly”. Sakura’s name was removed from the title, becoming simply Cardcaptors; its plurality done to indicate Li’s elevation from a supporting character to a central protagonist alongside Sakura in order to give boys a character they could relate to. The episodes were reorganized so that Li’s debut episode was the first and that more Li-centric episodes aired early on, creating plot holes and inconsistencies in the overall story. While the final episode remained in its correct place chronologically, it was combined with the preceding episode and eliminated most of the romantic moments between him and Sakura. Since Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! were the big shows at the time, it was decided to veer away from cutesy and slice of life moments and put an emphasis on the card collecting (as collecting was the big hook in those other shows) and the action and adventure. 

No longer cousins, so it's okay for Meilin to crush on Li.

That meant romantic entanglements were removed as much as possible, with the central romance between Sakura and Li being drastically downplayed to the point that their love for each other was never confessed and the series ended with Li simply returning home. Problematic relationships were outright eliminated; such as teacher/student relationships like Sakura’s father being a teacher at the high school her mother attended, the remaining traces of Rita and Mr. Terada’s forbidden flirtations, and Tori’s brief fling with student teacher Layla, and ones with an incestuous tone, such as Meilin becoming a childhood friend of Li with a crush on him rather than his cousin. Chelsea was also turned into Zachary’s cousin, removing all possibility of their being a couple and her “strangling” him being given a twinge of sibling energy. Additionally, the price for Sakura failing the final judgement was changed from everyone connected to the cards losing their love for the person they cared for most to everyone’s memory being erased from the time the cards were released. The reason the cards needed to be changed to Sakura Cards (Star Cards in the dub) was altered to their needing a reliable magical source to survive on unless they ran wild looking for one and potentially destroyed the world.

Strong feelings for Julian, or just put off by his personality?

        It particularly meant the elimination of any queer relationships, of which the manga featured many and the anime carried over in some form. Li was no longer attracted to Julian (magical influence or not), with his reactions to him being explained away as being off-put by his general personality. Julian and Tori were no longer attracted to each other and just remained the good friends they were initially depicted as. Madison and Samantha both lost their attractions to their respective cousins. In fact, Natasha’s familial connection to Samantha was removed altogether to make them just friends, and Samantha’s dislike of Aiden came from her feeling like a third wheel when they got together rather than romantic rivalry. Sakura’s crush on Julian, which was prominent throughout the early half of the series, was also downplayed.

Cardcaptors debuted on The WB as part of the Kids’ WB programming block on June 17, 2000 in the United States, while Teletoon (now Cartoon Network) in Canada started airing it on August 23, 2000 (along with a French dub). While all 70 episodes were dubbed, further edits were made to the American version of the program. The series was cut down to only 39 episodes—particularly eliminating ones that didn’t center on Li—with Li’s first episode, the anime’s 8^th, being aired first to introduce him right away. Scenes were removed and replaced with ones from other episodes, particularly ones focused on card collecting. To further emphasize Li’s prominence, Kids’ WB’s promotions painted Li as the main character and reduced Sakura to a secondary one. The episode title cards were changed to include a CGI rendering of the Clow Book opening, which was also featured in the original Nelvana intro. The three themes, while simply translated in the original dub, was changed to more of a rocking one about action and adventure performed by Dave Doré. Retained at the end of the episodes was a special short segment called “Leave it to Kero-Chan!”, or “Kero’s Corner” in the dub, where Kero would recap the episode and introduce a character to the audience. 

Gotta catch 'em all!

The episodes “Sakura and Kero’s Big Fight” and “The Summer House” never aired in North America; likely due to the plot of Kero getting drunk being central in the former and Sakura befriending an old man and going over to his house in the latter (despite the fact the old man turned out to be her great-grandfather). Instead, two Kids’ WB-exclusive episodes, “The Past, The Present and the Future” and “A Strange New Beginning” which were combinations of different episodes from the anime, were aired in their place to round out the full 70-episode run. These were the only American episodes to air outside of the country, and were omitted from later reruns of the Nelvana series. The Bang Zoom! dub of the second film would ignore all of Nelvana’s changes and adhered closely to the original Japanese production utilizing a different English voice cast.

Merchandising for the series included a line of toys by Trendmasters. Action figures of Li, Mei Lin and Sakura in different outfits were released alongside fashion dolls of those characters with cloth clothing, figurines of Li, Sakura and Kero, a talking Kero doll, and a set of keychains. Additionally, a roleplaying Clow Book and Clow Cards set and Sakura’s wand were released. Tokyopop produced a series of 10 cine-mangas adapting various episodes using stills from the anime. When they were translated into English, the dub’s names and personalities were carried over and the books were retitled Cardcaptors. Scholastic published several easy-reader adaptations of various episodes, a sticker book and a tattoo scrap book, while Landoll released three punch-out activity books. As part of the promotion for the English dub in 2002, four toys were released through Taco Bell restaurants. Once again, Li was put in a place of prominence as he was the only character physically represented in the toys—the others being Madison’s camcorder with a Sakura sticker and an episode still inside, Li’s compass (called a Lasin Board in the dub), and the Clow book which contained 20 Clow Cards—while Sakura was only seen on the advertising. Kero was featured as a small plush for the younger kids. The restaurant came under fire by religious groups as they felt the Clow Cards looked too close to tarot cards, which represented the occult. Taco Bell issued an apology and ended their distribution shortly after. Pioneer Entertainment released the first 27 episodes of Cardcaptors on 9 VHS and DVD compilations between 2000 and 2002, as well as the first film. A 10^th volume was planned but ultimately cancelled. Rhino Entertainment released the album Cardcaptors: Songs from the Hit TV Series in 2001. While the original anime has been made available to stream on Crunchyroll, Netflix, Tubi, Prime, Google Play and Apple TV, the Nelvana dub could only be found from fan uploads on YouTube.

Alternate versions of some of Sakura’s characters appeared in CLAMP’s Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle manga in a crossover with some of their other characters. It was published in Weekly Shonen Magazine from May 2003 through October 2009. In 2016, CLAMP began a sequel to Sakura subtitled Clear Card that is, as of this writing, currently ongoing. It follows Sakura, Syaoran and their friends into junior high school as they try to figure out why the Sakura Cards have turned blank, rendering them powerless. As with the original manga, Madhouse adapted the first 28 chapters of Clear Card with the same staff and cast returning; with the exception of Kunihiko Hamda coming on as character designer. A follow-up anime was announced in 2023 that will adapt the rest of the series until its conclusion. Bushiroad and Monster Lab also created a mobile game that was in service from October 2019 through June 2020. 

 

EPISODE GUIDE (original anime synopses used, translated Japanese titles in parenthesis):

Season 1:

“One Fateful Day (Sakura and the Mysterious Magic Book)” (4/7/98 JAP, 3/7/01 CAN, 6/23/01 US*) – Sakura accidentally releases the Clow Cards from a book in her father’s library, and Cerberus assigns her the task of recapturing them.

*Combined with anime episode 41.

 

“Partners in Crime (Sakura’s Wonderful Friend)” (4/14/98 JAP, 3/11/01 CAN) – Sakura’s best friend learns her secret and her support enables Sakura to fully embrace her role as a Cardcaptor.

 

“Allies (Sakura’s Heart-Racing First Date)” (4/21/98 JAP, 11/18/00 US, 1/14/01 CAN) – A casual aquarium date with Julian turns deadly when The Watery Card attempts to drown Sakura.

 

“An Unexpected Find (Sakura’s Tiring Sunday)” (4/28/98 JAP, 3/18/01 CAN) – Sakura finds two seemingly-dormant Clow Cards in her house that end up turning it into a jungle.

 

“Trouble at Twin Bells (Sakura, Panda, and a Cute Shop)” (4/28/98 JAP, 3/18/01 CAN) – A new shop is unknowingly plagued by a Clow Card.

 

“Seeing is Believing (Sakura and Memories of Her Mother)” (5/12/98 JAP, 4/1/01 CAN) – Investigating a ghostly encounter behind the school leads Sakura to finding the ghost of her mother.

 

“The Mysterious Painting (Sakura’s First Attempt as a Thief)” (5/19/98 JAP, 4/8/01 CAN, 7/7/01 US) – Sakura, Madison and Kero sneak into the art museum to capture The Silent Card inhabiting one of the paintings.

 

“Sakura’s Rival (Sakura’s Rival Appears)” (5/26/98 JAP, 6/17/00 US, 8/23/00 CAN) – Li arrives in Reedington to capture the remaining Clow Cards and take the ones Sakura’s already caught.

 

“Double-Edged Sword (Sakura and the Mysterious Brooch)” (6/2/98 JAP, 7/15/00 US, 8/27/00 CAN) – Rita, Madison and Sakura all buy brooches to cheer Sakura up from her encounter with Li, but Rita’s ends up being The Sword Card and it possesses her.

 

“An Unexpected Reunion (Sakura and the Sports Day of Flowers)” (6/16/98 JAP, 5/27/01 CAN) – Tensions arise on Sports Days as Samantha’s hatred of Adrian over Natasha’s death ignites and the Merry Flower Card causes a downpour of petals.

 

“The Special Box (Sakura. Tomoyo, and a Mansion)” (6/23/98 JAP, 9/9/01 CAN) – Sakura goes to Madison’s house for the first time and learns that The Shield Card has taken control of Samantha’s prized jewelry box.

 

“Time and Again (Sakura’s Never-Ending Day)” (6/30/98 JAP, 6/24/00 US, 9/3/00 CAN) – The Time Card causes Sakura to relive the same day over and over.

 

“Power’s Ploy (Sakura and the Elephant’s Test of Strength)” (7/7/98 JAP, 7/29/00 US, 9/10/00 CAN) – The Power Card terrorizes the zoo but it doesn’t look like Sakura can beat it, even with the help of the zoo’s elephants.

 

“Play Misty for Tori (Sakura, Toya and Cinderella)” (7/14/98 JAP, 9/22/01 CAN) – While visiting the high school, a corrosive mist works its way into the auditorium and into the play being put on by Tori and Julian’s class.

 

“Sakura and Kero’s Big Fight (Sakura and Kero’s Big Fight)” (7/21/98 JAP*) – After an argument, Kero gets himself drunk on liquor-filled chocolate and ends up in the house of a young girl who lives alone with her mother.

*Never aired in North America.

 

“The Summer House (Sakura and the Rainbow of Memories)” (8/4/98 JAP*) – While on a vacation in the countryside, Sakura befriends the old owner of a nearby mansion.

*Never aired in North America.

 

“The Cave (Sakura’s Scary Test of Courage)” (8/11/98 JAP, 7/8/00 US, 9/17/00 CAN) – During a beach trip their classmates all disappear after entering a cave, leading Sakura and Li to believe a Clow Card is nearby.

 

“A Fair to Remember (Sakura, Yukito and the Summer Festival)” (8/18/98 JAP, 9/29/01 CAN) – Sakura’s vision comes true when she and Julian come across glowing lights falling from a tree like snow.

 

“Nothing to Report (Sakura and the Summer Holiday Homework)” (9/1/98 JAP, 4/22/01 CAN) – Sakura and Li work together to capture The Move Card, which has stolen a book they both need to finish their summer assignments.

 

“The New Rival (Transfer Student vs. Sakura)” (9/8/98 JAP, 8/5/00 US, 9/24/00 CAN) – Sakura seeks to protect Tori from a woman challenging people to fights and discovers it’s Meilin in possession of The Fight Card.

 

“The Long Marathon (Sakura’s Long Marathon Race)” (9/30/01) – During a school race, Sakura and Li end up trapped running in circles by The Loop Card.

 

“Practice Makes Perfect (Sakura, Tomoyo and the Wonderful Song)” (9/29/98 JAP, 10/10/01 CAN) – The ghost rumored to be haunting the school’s music room turns out to be The Song Card impersonating Madison’s voice.

 

“No Problem Too Small (Sakura’s Little Adventure)” (10/6/98 JAP, 4/29/01 CAN) – Sakura ends up accidentally shrunken by The Little Card and lost in the backyard.

 

“Double Take (Sakura and One More Sakura)” (10/13/98 JAP, 8/19/00 US, 10/1/00 CAN) – Sakura is confused as to why the town has branded her a trouble maker until she discovers The Mirror card has assumed her form.

 

“No Way Out (Sakura and the Wonderful Teacher)” (10/20/98 JAP, 9/16/00 US, 10/8/00 CAN) – Suspicions surround the mysterious new substitute teacher at school, especially when Li senses strong magical powers from her.

 

“Return to the Future (Sakura and the Shrine of Memories)” (10/27/98 JAP, 10/11/01 CAN) – The Return Card shunts Sakura to the past where she witnesses the relationship between Tori and Layla.

 

“Buyer Beware (Sakura and the Enchanted Cards)” (11/3/98 JAP, 11/4/00 US, 1/3/01 CAN) – A new craze over cards that resemble the Clow Cards results in Meilin unknowingly getting her hands on an actual one.

 

“How Sweet It Is (Sakura’s Sweet Cooking)” (11/10/98 JAP, 3/4/02 CAN) – Sakura and Li’s home economics class project ends up being spoiled by The Sweet Card.

 

“The Race (Sakura and the Injured Card)” (11/17/98 JAP, 8/26/00 US, 10/15/00 CAN) – Sakura is reluctant to capture The Dash Card when upperclassman Rei bonds with it and it helps her on the track team.

 

“Dragon Slayer (Sakura and the Nameless Book)” (11/24/98 JAP, 9/15/00 US, 11/1/00 CAN) – The Create Card takes the guise of a book that brings to life anything Nikki writes in it.

 

“The Switch (Sakura, Kero and Syaoran)” (12/1/98 JAP, 9/23/00 US, 11/5/00 CAN) – While helping Sakura capture The Change Card, Li and Kero end up switching bodies.

 

“Ice Breaker (Sakura’s Freezing Ice Skating)” (12/15/98 JAP, 9/30/00 US, 11/12/00 CAN) – The class trip to the ice skating rink goes cold when The Freeze Card comes out to play.

 

“By the Light of the Full Moon (Sakura, Yukito and the Midday Moon)” (12/22/98 JAP, 3/5/02 CAN) – A journey in the forest during a full moon causes a series of mishaps to befall Sakura and Julian.

 

“The Third Element (Sakura’s Wonderful Christmas)” (12/29/98 JAP, 10/14/00 US, 11/19/00 CAN) – Sakura invites Julian to the amusement park so that she can give him a Christmas present, but duty calls when The Firey Card makes an appearance.

 

Season 2:

“Stormy Weather (Sakura and the Snow New School Term)” (4/6/99 JAP, 11/11/00 US, 1/7/01 CAN) – The 5^th grade semester starts off with some unseasonably cold weather as The Snow Card causes a blizzard in April.

 

“The Show Must Go On (Sakura and Tomoyo’s Lost Voice)” (4/13/99 JAP, 3/8/02 CAN) – Madison is all set to sing as the lead in the school choir when The Voice Card steals her voice.

 

“A Berry Strange Day (Sakura’s Fun Strawberry Picking Adventure)” (4/20/99 JAP, 5/6/01 CAN) – On a class trip to a strawberry farm, everyone else gets locked out of the building while Sakura, Madison, Li and Meilin get trapped inside by The Lock Card.

 

“Under the Weather (Sakura’s Dizzy Fever Day)” (4/27/99 JAP, 6/3/01 CAN, 6/30/01 US) – Despite almost collapsing at school, a fever can’t keep Sakura from her duty when The Cloud Card is near.

 

“Dream a Little Dream (Sakura and the Sakura from the Dream)” (5/11/99 JAP, 3/14/02 CAN) – The Dream Card follows Sakura, Madison, Li and Meilin to Tokyo and traps Sakura in a nightmare of the possible future when she faces the Final Judgement.

 

“The Sands of Time (Sakura, Syaoran, and the Sea of Sand)” (5/18/99 JAP, 5/13/01 CAN, 6/23/01 US*) – Sakura gets cast as the prince and Li as the princess in the school production of Sleeping Beauty, but The Sand Card interrupts their rehearsal before they can get to the kissing scene.

*Combined with anime episode 1.

 

“A Strange Intermission (Sakura and the Black Out School Arts Festival)” (5/25/99 JAP, 5/20/01 CAN) – It’s the day of the play and once again the kiss scene is interrupted by The Dark Card, which envelopes Sakura in its darkness.

 

“Meilin’s Story (Sakura and Farewell to Meiling)” (6/1/99 JAP, 12/2/00 US, 1/21/01 CAN) – Meilin is devastated she’s been ordered to return home, so Sakura invites her to a farewell sleepover that turns into a mission when The Twin Card appears.

 

“The Last Card Part 1 (Sakura, Kero and the Mysterious Teacher)” (6/8/99 JAP, 1/28/01 CAN, 7/21/01 US) – Sakura’s dreams become stronger and feature Layla, from whom Kero senses tremendous magical power from.

 

“The Last Card Part 2 (Sakura and the Final Clow Card)” (6/15/99 JAP, 2/4/01 CAN, 7/28/01 US) – Sakura and Kero capture The Earthy Card, transforming Kero into his true form and revealing that Julian has been the guardian Yue the whole time.

 

“The Final Judgement (Sakura and the Final Judgement)” (6/22/99 JAP, 2/11/01 CAN, 7/28/01 US) – Sakura initially fails to defeat Yue and loses the Final Judgement, but Layla uses the Moon Bell to give her another chance.

 

Season 3:

“The New Transfer Student (Sakura and the Mysterious Transfer Student)” (9/7/99 JAP, 8/4/01 US*, 3/15/02 CAN) – New transfer students arrive at the elementary and high schools just as a mysterious rain falls over the town and Sakura finds she’s unable to use her abilities.

*Combined with anime episodes 48 & 58 to form the US episode “The Past, The Present and The Future”, which was also aired in Canada.

 

“Unlocking the Key (Sakura and the Awakened Star Key)” (9/14/99 JAP, 8/4/01 US*, 2/8/03 CAN) – Sakura, Kero, Yue and Madison investigate the strange downpour and end up trapped by the torrents until Sakura is able to create a new incantation that restores her powers.

*Combined with anime episode 47 to form the US episode “A Strange New Beginning”, which was also aired in Canada.

 

“The Dangerous Piano (Sakura and the Dangerous Piano)” (9/21/99 JAP, 3/8/02 CAN) – Eli accompanies Madison on the piano and secretly enchants it to attack the sound of her voice.

 

“The Threads That Bind (Sakura, Syaoran, and the Invisible Threads)” (9/28/99 JAP, 8/25/01 US*, 2/8/03 CAN) – Eli takes control of Li’s body using invisible strings after purchasing several spools from a craft store.

*Combined with anime episode 51 to form US episode “A New Set of Wings”.

 

“Attack of the Teddy Bear (Sakura and the Big Teddy Bear)” (10/5/99 JAP, 8/25/01 US*, 10/5/01 CAN) – Eli helps Sakura make a teddy bear for Julian and enchants it, causing it to grow in size once she gifts it to him.

*Combined with anime episode 50 to form US episode “A New Set of Wings”.

 

“Trouble at the Park (Sakura’s Sheep Warning)” (10/12/99 JAP, 9/1/01 US, 10/7/01 CAN) – Yue reveals to Kero that Sakura’s magic isn’t enough to sustain him for long while Sakura investigates a large hole in the middle of a playground.

 

“Running Out of Time (Sakura and the Panicky Bike)” (10/19/99 JAP, 8/11/01 US, 9/23/01 CAN) – Sakura hastily transforms several Clow Cards into Sakura Cards at once to preserve her magic, causing The Dash Card to flee in panic and possess Tori’s bike.

 

“Calendar of Memories (Sakura and the Calendar of Memories)” (10/26/99 JAP, 2/15/03 CAN) – Sakura sets out to amend the rift between her father and great-grandfather who didn’t approve of his marriage to Natasha.

 

“Sakura in Wonderland (Sakura and Sakura From Wonderland)” (11/2/99 JAP, 12/3/01 US, 3/6/02 CAN) – Eli enchants a leaf he gives to Sakura for a bookmark, causing her to be sucked into her copy of Alice in Wonderland.

 

“Spinning Out of Control (Sakura, Kero and the Sweet Meeting)” (11/9/99 JAP, 9/22/01 US, 10/12/01 CAN) – While hiding nearby in the woods during the school bazar, Kero meets and befriends Spinner and introduces him to sweets—causing him to go on a ravenous eating binge.

 

“Li’s Calling (Sakura Syaoran, and the Elevator)” (11/16/99 JAP, 10/8/01 US & CAN) – The bond between Li and Sakura steadily grows, especially after Eli traps both of them in an elevator together.

 

“Double Trouble (Sakura and Double Trouble)” (11/30/99 JAP, 9/15/01 US, 10/9/01 CAN) – Eli casts a spell that prevents Cerberus and Yue from assuming their alternate forms.

 

“Trapped (Sakura, Tomoyo, and the Ball Trap)” (12/7/99 JAP, 9/22/01 US, 10/13/91 CAN) – Yue confronts Eli and reveals he knows who he really is, while an enchanted basketball warps space within the school and causes Madison to be lost.

 

“Just Like Old Times (Sakura and the Precious Friend)” (12/14/99 JAP, 10/14/01 CAN, 10/15/01 US) – Li is prepared to end his engagement to Meilin as he loves Sakura, but first they must all deal with enchanted penguin statues in the playground.

 

“A Present for the Cards (Sakura, the Cards, and the Presents)” (12/21/99 JAP, 2/15/03 CAN) – Sakura uses The Mirror Card to duplicate herself to go Christmas shopping with Tori while she deals with a pair of enchanted fence bars with Li.

 

“Sakura’s Strange Fortune (Sakura and the Strange Written Fortune)” (1/4/00 JAP, 2/22/03 CAN) – While at the shrine for the New Year’s celebration, Eli gives Sakura a fortune that says a truth will be revealed to her during her first dream of the year.

 

“A Wave of Danger (Sakura, the Pool and the Huge Wave)” (1/11/00 JAP, 2/22/03 CAN) – Eli causes the pools at the indoor water park to rise to dangerous levels, almost drowning Rita in the process.

 

“Slippery Slope (Sakura and the Snowy Ski Class)” (1/18/00 JAP, 12/11/01 US, 3/21/02 CAN) – During a class ski trip, Sakura and Eli go hiking in the mountain when an avalanche threatens to bury the lodge.

 

“Lights, Camera, Vanish (Sakura, Yukito, and the Vanishing Power)” (2/15/00 JAP, 12/10/01 US, 3/7/02 CAN) – When Julian collapses during production of a student film, Tori gives up his abilities to sense Sakura in danger in order to keep him from fading from existence.

 

“The Calm Before the Storm (Sakura, Syaoran, and the Tsukimine Shrine)” (2/29/00 JAP, 3/1/03 CAN) – Sakura and her friends all go to hang out at the shrine where Eli sends a strange-looking horse to cause trouble.

 

“Sakura’s Return to the Past (Sakura, the Past, and Clow Reed)” (3/7/00 JAP, 12/12/01 US, 3/22/02 CAN) – Sakura uses The Return Card to go back in time to consult with Clow Reed, and discovers that he lives in the same house Eli lives in now.

 

“Revelations Part 1 (Sakura Meets Clow Reed)” (3/14/00 JAP, 12/13/01 US, 3/8/03 CAN*) – Eli finally reveals that he’s the reincarnation of Clow Reed and tasks Sakura with transforming the remaining cards or condemn the world to remain in eternal sleep and darkness.

*Combined with anime episode 70.

 

“Revelations Part 2 (Sakura and Her True Feelings)” (3/21/00 JAP, 12/14/01 US, 3/8/03 CAN*) – Eli explains his reasons for the constant attacks, and Sakura sees Li off as he returns to Hong Kong without confessing her feelings for him.

*Combined with anime episode 69.

 

Films:

“The Movie” (8/21/99 JAP, 4/6/22 CAN) – Sakura and her friends go to Hong Kong where a vengeful spirit seeks Clow Reed in order to destroy him.

 

“The Sealed Card” (7/15/00 JAP, 11/18/03 US) – Sakura is ready to tell Syoaran her feelings when he returns to town, but her cards and people she cares about have begun going missing.