Title: カードキャプター　さくら (Cardcaptor Sakura) Vol. 4
Artist/Author: CLAMP
Book Size/Pages: Small B-6, 188pp., w/furigana
Volume: 4/12
Original Serialization: Nakayoshi 8/97-11/97
Rating: 2/4
To Purchase

On a roll...

While there was some discussions about Mizuki and Clow Reed, it really read like a filler arc just to pick up another few cards. Nothing struck me as significant, and so it was a little weaker in comparison to the previous two.

観月 (Mizuki), the mysterious new teacher from last volume bails out Sakura, Shaoran, and Tomoyo who are stuck in the maze. Meanwhile, Touya explains to Yukito how he and Mizuki got together when he was her student. Sakura obtains the Maze card. The next few chapters has the class going to the beach for a field trip. They have a trail of courage into a cave in the cliffs, and inside, Sakura discovers the Erase card which had been causing her friends to disappear inside the cave. There is also a little discussion about Clow Reed between Shaoran and Sakura. Last part has Tomoyo, Sakura, Yukito, and Touya going to a festival at the shrine. The night before, Sakura has a dream with fireflies. Kero tells her that dreams can sometimes tell the future. When she sees them at the festival, being out-of-season, she knows that it's a C(G)low Card.

I've just realized that I"ve been on a Colin Farrell spree with Phone Booth, S.W.A.T., and now this. Actually, this movie was second choice for me, but Blockbuster didn't have Runaway Jury. I believe this is my 5th free movie out of ten (and then after that, I'm gonna get another free 10 rentals from Discover).

The movie is about a CIA trainee who learns who his real friends and enemies are.

This movie is supposed to be a psychological thriller with a twist ending. While there was a twist at the end, the movie seemed pretty slow for the first 3/4ths of it. I think that's the biggest drawback. Unlike my favorite plot twist from The Sixth Sense, there's really nothing at the beginning of the movie to suggest anything at the end. Everything you need to know for the plot twist is contained in the last 30 minutes or so of the movie. Yeah, there is some build-up of the characters, but it seemed quite drawn out. It is a pretty decent movie though, but it really should have kept me interested for a bit longer at the beginning.

As a side note, the way they handle computers sure has flaws. The first thing that went through my mind when Burke said they have no floppies was whether the computer had an USB port or a firewire port. Who the hell uses floppies to transfer files anymore? It's all about the dongles! Oh, if you shoot a laptop, it'll explode, not fracture like a glass window. Maybe the LCD will crack, but the plastic behind it will blow apart.

Rating: 2/4

Title: カードキャプター　さくら (Cardcaptor Sakura) Vol. 3
Artist/Author: CLAMP
Book Size/Pages: Small B-6, 188pp., w/furigana
Volume: 3/12
Original Serialization: Nakayoshi 4/97-7/97
Rating: 3/4
To Purchase

More CCS goodness in my quest to finish before March 5th. I thought this volume was a little weaker than the previous since there didn't seem to be much happening that moved the story. We already know that Tomoyo loves Sakura, so her chapter didn't add much. Probably the person with the most development is Touya as we find out that he has had a love life, as well as his ability to see supernatural things (and hence, he's very suspicious of Kero-chan).

No bonuses except for a bookmark.

Sakura finds out that there's someone who looks exactly like her causing trouble. Using her acquired cards as tarots, she discovers that Touya is possibly in trouble. Meanwhile, Touya discovers the fake Sakura and offers to her help her find what she needs before she goes back to Heaven (he thinks she's a ghost). Affected by his caring, she (Mirror card) allows herself to be caputured. The next segment has Sakura going over to Tomoyo's house where she finds out that a card is guarding a locked box. By capturing the Shield card, the open the box to find Tomoyo's and her mom's most treasured item. The last arc concerns a mysterious but very pretty lady that showed up as Sakura's new math teacher. She works at a Shrine and apparently, she and Touya had a run-in before. Sakura and Shaoran go to the shine to get some charms and is suddenly surrounded by a maze.

Title: カードキャプター　さくら (Cardcaptor Sakura)　Vol. 2
Artist/Author: CLAMP
Book Size/Pages: Small B-6, 188pp., w/furigana
Volume: 2/12
Original Serialization: Nakayoshi 11/96-3/97
Rating: 4/4
To Purchase

Like I mentioned previously, I found out that they were re-releasing the Cardcaptor Sakura on 3/5. Given that I have the entire series, but have only read the first book, I better get my cranking on this one. I bought the series as a special box set offered by Amazon Japan which was a pretty good deal since they only charged shipping as one book. That was a year and a half ago.

One of the things I enjoy about CLAMP manga is that they're a lot more visual than textual. From the ones I've read so far, they're all really fast reads since the pages usually have less words than most. This is especially true of their girl's comics (compared to something like Sailormoon). This means I can read them a little faster than most manga.

There aren't any bonus material in the book, although I did get a bookmark (bookmarks are included with every book). I forgot who it was.

This book covered a lot of history and motivations for different characters and added a lot to the story in general. There's also a nice mix of humor, and seriousness (i.e. Sakura's mother). I hope the series can keep this up. Obviously some issues that the book deals with might rub a few people the wrong way, especially the relationship between significantly older men and underaged girls. But I think it has a lot to do with the intended audience, young girls (which I am not, in case you're wondering).

Since CCS doesn't have chapter titles, I'll just mash it all together. There are a few major events that occur in his volume. さくら (Sakura) obtains three more cards, Flower, Sword, and Illusion. The relationship between Sakura's father and 知世 (Tomoyo's) mom is established, namely that she was a cousin of Sakura's mother and disapproved of the marriage. 小狼 (Syaoran) is introduced as a competitor to Sakura for the cards. The completely different relationships between Sakura's brother 桃矢 (Touya) and 雪兎 (Yukito) is reveal in that he dislikes Touya, but has the opposite feelings for Yuki.