Review - Cardcaptor Sakura (Manga)

Upon awakening the mystical beast Cerberus, fourth grader Sakura Kinomoto learns that she possesses the magical abilities necessary for capturing the enchanted Clow Cards that have been unleashed on Tokyo. With the help of Cerberus and her best friend Tomoyo, Sakura must capture all of the cards so that she may become their master. 

Cardcaptor Sakura is a manga series written and illustrated by CLAMP, originally published in 50 chapters in the pages of Nakayoshi from 1996 until 2000.

At its core, Cardcaptor Sakura is a simple magical girl series that approaches the genre with just the right amount of cheekiness and sincere innocence. It is divided into two arcs, with the first focusing on Sakura’s pursuit of the Clow Cards and the second detailing her mastery of them. Our titular heroine is tested throughout, constantly having to think and act creatively in order to capture and control the cards. This is emphasized by their unique abilities and the variety of personalities each seems to possess. CLAMP smartly approaches each capture differently and the vast majority are done while Sakura is dressed in insanely cute costumes (designed in the story by her best friend Tomoyo). They’re also to be commended for the mythos behind the Clow Cards and the gorgeous designs for each, fusing western with eastern aesthetics.

In a rather genius twist, CLAMP opt to focus on the interpersonal relationships rather than the magic and action of Sakura’s Clow Card adventures. This helps to relieve the narrative of any predictability. Rather than building each chapter around the capture or mastery of a Clow Card, CLAMP will often treat such an action as a subplot or even forego it altogether. Instead, they explore the complicated relationships that young people engage in while in school. For instance, the second arc spends a lot of time devoted to Syaorang’s love for Sakura and his many attempts to confess his feelings to her. There are also chapters that focus on Sakura’s attempts to win over or impress her crush Yukito. What is most fascinating, however, is the way in which CLAMP involve taboo themes into Cardcaptor Sakura without passing judgment on them. Queer relationships and feelings figure into the narrative through Tomoyo’s love for Sakura and the relationship between Sakura’s brother Toya and Yukito. There’s also the engagement between Sakura’s classmate Rika and their much-older teacher. CLAMP’s emphasis on personal relationships helps to create an intimate and relatable narrative, thus distinguishing it from other works in the magical girl genre.

There’s no denying that Cardcaptor Sakura is an essential read and is almost without peers. However, it has a significant chink in its armor. The magical girl genre had been redefined in the years leading up to the publication of Cardcaptor Sakura, drawing it away from the childish plots in the vein of Sally the Witch to action-oriented superhero stories pioneered by Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. Since Cardcaptor Sakura features a preteen heroine whose adventures lack a distinctive antagonist, it leaves the series with very little direction to the story. Tension often takes place when new characters are introduced and their motives remain a mystery – as with Syaorang, Mizuki-sensei, and Eriol – but is often deflated once we learn the truth. As such, it leaves the reader with very little payoff. Even the ending is bound to leave readers disappointed depending on their feelings towards the pairing of Sakura and Syaorang. If your favourite character is Tomoyo like she was for me, there’s a sense of dissatisfaction when (SPOILER!) it becomes clear that her feelings for Sakura will remain unrequited. She is unwaveringly loyal and understands Sakura better than Syaorang does, which makes her seem better matched. Unfortunately, CLAMP plays it safe and leave Tomoyo hung out to dry.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Cardcaptor Sakura. It is a breezy and entertaining series that calls back to a more innocent time. The art is breathtaking too. From Sakura’s costuming to the Clow Cards’ designs to the recurring visual motif of flowers, CLAMP delivers an absolutely stunning series that is arguably unmatched in the manga industry. This goes beyond the superficial elements as well, since they are able to set the tone of each panel with their art and successfully orchestrate the reader’s emotions through a variety of expressive reaction shots and epic action sequences. What further elevates Cardcaptor Sakura is its rich mythology that remains iconic within the genre and a narrative that dares to explore taboo subjects through an almost-objective lens. While I found the ending a bit contrived and anticlimactic, and wished there had been some kind of antagonist, Cardcaptor Sakura kept me engaged from start to finish and left me wanting more.

RATING: A-

Review - Magic Knight Rayearth (Manga)

Transported to the magical world of Cefiro, three teenage girls from Tokyo discover they are the legendary Magic Knights destined to save the Princess Emeraude from the clutches of the nefarious Zagato. With the help of the sorcerer Guru Clef and the adorable Mokona, the Magic Knights embark on a life-changing quest that will grant them unimaginable power and make them into the best of friends.

Magic Knight Rayearth is a manga series written and illustrated by Clamp, originally published in the pages of Nakayoshi from 1993 until 1995.

Magic Knight Rayearth is a genre-bending masterpiece that plays out like an epic fantasy roleplaying game. Much like the early entries in the Final Fantasy franchise, Clamp’s breakthrough series follows a group of legendary warriors as they traverse an expansive fantasy world in search of incredible weapons in order to free the land from a despotic sorcerer. Elements of the mecha genre flavour the latter half of the narrative, while our primary protagonists are effectively prototypical magical girls. This merging of genres distinguishes Magic Knight Rayearth as an incredibly unique manga that engages with fictional tropes and plays with them in a distinctive self-aware fashion. An example of this would be the girls’ magic evolving armour and weaponry that don’t require them to acquire new ones, which is atypical of the genre and is something the characters point out. They also call out magical spells that are unique to the individual, which is more akin to the Sailor Guardians from Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon than the black mages of Final Fantasy.

Despite its rather simple premise, Magic Knight Rayearth manages to be an engaging read that is both funny and emotional. Its central themes of fate and friendship play out through a narrative that sees three strangers becoming best friends through their shared destiny as the legendary Magic Knights. This kinship makes them stronger heroes and more capable of fulfilling their destiny as the saviours of Cefiro. For instance, Fuu is ready to sacrifice her life in battle for her friends and this willingness ultimately unlocks a greater power within her. That said, it’s important to note that Clamp employs a very episodic structure in how they tell the story of Magic Knight Rayearth. It’s likely done purposefully to mirror the way in which fantasy RPGs require its protagonists to go on missions to acquire new weapons and powers in order to defeat boss characters. Each chapter of this manga follows that formula. The main characters, whether in unison or individually, are tasked with learning magical spells, acquiring weapons, finding a special mineral, evolving their equipment, and then taking control of the legendary Mashin. During each mission they must either defeat or overcome the threat of a boss character. Remarkably, Clamp makes such a formulaic narrative fun, fresh and exciting with the use of humour and clever plot twists.

The characters of Magic Knight Rayearth are a huge part of what makes this manga so enjoyable. Clamp smartly creates three protagonists who are distinctive in their personalities, appearances, and roles within the narrative, which ensures that readers are able to relate to at least one of them. Hikaru Shidou is the red-haired tomboy who gains mastery over the element of fire. She’s unusually short for her age, which becomes a running gag early on, and is good with animals. She’s the most naïve of the main characters, but she makes up for it in her unwavering bravery. Fuu Hououji is the flaxen-haired archer who controls the element of air. It is her knowledge of roleplaying games that becomes key to the Magic Knights understanding the world of Cefiro. Despite being the brains of the group, Fuu is not very intuitive and this becomes a source for many jokes throughout. She is also the only character to be given a romantic interest in the form of the roguish Ferio and her spells are the most versatile in that she’s capable of both healing and fighting offensively. My favourite of the trio would likely be Umi Ryuuzaki. The blue-haired hydrokinetic Umi is an elegant and straightforward individual whose upper class upbringing and fencing abilities make her seem aristocratic. However, she’s perhaps the most comedic of the main characters. She has a remarkably short fuse and is constantly losing her cool, particularly due to her lack of patience with their guide Mokona. Her outbursts are always played up for comic effect and it makes her an endearing character because of this.

Aspects of Magic Knight Rayearth’s story will feel familiar, largely because Clamp pays homage to (and parodies) roleplaying games and the fantasy genre in general. The episodic storytelling can be problematic, particularly since it could seem monotonous under a less talented creative team. However, as far as manga classics go, Magic Knight Rayearth stands the test of time. It is an entertaining read that is tethered with the perfect balance of comedy and drama. Clamp conveys their central themes effectively to their audience through an engaging narrative and relatable characters, while the art compliments this through its ability to shift from moments of whimsy to slapstick humour. The art in its detailed nature serves Cefiro to readers as a palpable world, while the characters are gorgeously rendered with distinctive and memorable appearances. If anything, the only glaring fault that Magic Knight Rayearth has is that it’s too short and ends abruptly without tying up its numerous loose ends. Thankfully, Clamp recognized this and provided fans with a sequel shortly after its conclusion.

RATING: B+

Review: Cutie Honey (Manga)

Honey Kisaragi is an android powered by the incredible Airborne Element Solidifier, which enables her to transform herself into a variety of identities. When her creator is murdered by the nefarious Panther Claw organization, Honey must do battle against them as the superheroic Cutie Honey in order to prevent them from gaining access to the Airborne Element Solidifier.

Cutie Honey was a two volume shōnen manga series created by Go Nagai originally published in 1973.

Cutie Honey is largely regarded within the manga and anime canon as a seminal, game-changing work that introduced the first magical girl to strictly male audiences. It’s an iconic series that has had many iterations and its lead character is perhaps one of the most well-known heroines from Japanese popular culture. That said, its original manga is utter garbage. It is a childishly written series that constantly undercuts its narrative in favour of scenes of exploitative nudity and gross-out gags. For example, almost every fight scene leads to Honey’s clothing being torn and each time she transforms into a new identity there are several panels featuring her posing nude. There are a few deplorable sequences that are rather uncomfortable to read. The first is when Honey transforms into a nude statue and is “comically” molested by two male characters, these same characters later continually interrupt her while she’s bathing in order to see her naked, and another near the end when Honey has trouble transforming and is without clothing for several pages. In this respect, Nagai takes every opportunity to objectify his protagonist and it undermines her chance at being an empowered heroine.

The biggest issue I had with Cutie Honey as a series was its blatant and often sickening level of homophobia. Honey is sent by her creator to an all-girls school in the mountains to keep her hidden away from the evil Panther Claw. It’s there that we learn the staff and students are all lesbians, due to the absence of men at the school. We see very little of the students, but much is made of the staff’s insatiable and often sadistic sexual appetites. One of the teachers routinely checks the dorms and will often torture misbehaving students, which means whipping them until their clothing is shredded. These women are monstrous in their appearances and behaviour, which implies that homosexuality itself is horrific and outrageous. There is one slight inconsistency with this perspective in that it’s possible to make the case for Honey herself being gay and that she has a relationship with her roommate Natsuko. There’s an affection and sweet playfulness to their interactions, which contrasts sharply against the more sensationalized portrayals of homosexuality. It does seem like Nagai is attempting to play within the themes and narratives present in Class S fiction, but he seems to fumble a bit with it since he de-emphasizes romance and emphasizes any and everything sexual.

Overall, Cutie Honey is a huge disappointment largely because it had the makings to be an absolutely riveting and complex series. The general narrative is quite fascinating – an android with the ability to transform into a variety of disguises must do battle against an all-female criminal organization – but is constantly undermined in favour of providing moments of levity by objectifying its heroine. In effect, the concept is great but the execution is awful. When read from a modern perspective, the series seems immature and is bogged down by really bad writing (and art).

RATING: D

Review: Street Fighter - Sakura Ganbaru!

Inspired by the famed martial artist Ryu, schoolgirl Sakura Kasugano rushes headfirst into the world of street fighting. She instantly garners the attention of rival fighter Karin Kanzuki, who eventually aids Sakura in her quest for finding Ryu. Along the way, she’s joined by a host of iconic Street Fighter characters.

Street Fighter: Sakura Ganbaru! is a two volume manga series originally published between 1996 and 1997, written and illustrated by Masahiko Nakahira.

Sakura Ganbaru! immediately follows the events of the Street Fighter Alpha manga, also by Masahiko Nakahira. Sakura has been saved from Bison by Ryu, an enigmatic karate fighter who instantly becomes Sakura’s greatest influence and idol. She sets out to be just like him and even hopes to reunite with him in order to challenge him to a battle. During her journey, Sakura encounters many familiar faces and becomes fast friends with the likes of Dan Hibiki, Chun-Li and Cammy. This adventure gives readers an exuberant look at the life of one of Street Fighter’s most beloved characters, showing her to be a tough, resourceful and plucky young heroine who readers will root for (as the title of the manga suggests we do). Being treated to the aforementioned guest spots is just the cherry on top.

The two collected volumes of this series reflect two individual story arcs that detail Sakura’s entrance into street fighting. The first arc focuses almost entirely on Karin Kanzuki’s mission to test Sakura’s fighting abilities and to eventually see her defeated, be it at her hands or at someone else’s. It is here where we meet Sakura’s pseudo-mentor Dan Hibiki, a rather incompetent fighter who is used almost exclusively for comedic relief, and the all-American fighting champ Ken Masters. This particular arc has a tendency to meander and feels almost exclusively like filler. It’s not bad by any means, especially since it does an adequate job of introducing readers to the cast in a way that is accessible and entertaining. I also must give props to Nakahira for including the Final Fight 2 character Maki, who has gone woefully unused by Capcom over the years.

The second volume is far superior to the first. It is here where we get to the meat of the story and where Sakura is actually actively searching for Ryu. She and Dan first travel to Hong Kong, where they are saved by Chun-Li after they get caught up in a human trafficking ring. Chun-Li then aides them in tracking down leads for Ryu’s whereabouts, which ultimately leads the duo to Russia, Thailand and, finally, back to Japan. This brief trek outside of Japan is a page-turner, especially as we finally get to see Sakura meet up with some of the most iconic characters from the Street Fighter franchise. What’s great about this is that it adds further depth and allows Sakura to play off different personalities. I especially found her interactions with Cammy to be particularly poignant and added to both characters’ narratives.

While Sakura Ganbaru! is buckets of fun, the one issue I had with the series was the overall portrayal of Sakura as a vaguely messianic figure. She veers into Mary Sue territory with her distinct lack of faults and her tendency to win just about every fight she gets into, despite being woefully inexperienced. She also learns how to channel her chi and deliver the iconic hadouken move on her first attempt. Nakahira’s insistence on having Sakura be the focus of every fight and of having her win nearly every fight makes all the other characters seem incompetent in comparison. Sakura’s victory over Karin seems laughable, considering how much Karin is built up as a martial arts savant, while both Chun-Li and Cammy come across as weaklings when both fail to prove themselves as individual threats to Gen and Zangief respectively. The downplaying of Cammy’s abilities is actually quite puzzling, especially since she was supposed to be Bison’s greatest assassin.

Overall, Sakura Ganbaru! is a cute little entry into the Street Fighter franchise. It’s a fun and entertaining read that works as a brilliant introduction into one of the franchise’s most recognizable heroines. Despite Nakahira’s tendency to portray Sakura as unstoppable and a lackluster first arc, this collection of stories presents a more cohesive and engaging narrative than the actual games do. Sakura Ganbaru! is a must-read for every Street Fighter fan.

RATING: B

Review: Wedding Peach (Manga)

When ordinary schoolgirl Momoko Hanasaki is attacked by a demon, she is saved by a mysterious angel named Limone and is gifted magical powers. She, along with her friends Yuri Tanima and Hinagiku Tamano, learn that they are the mythical Love Angels and that they must find the Sacred Four Somethings in order to defeat the maniacal Reine Devila.

Wedding Peach is a six volume shōjo manga series written by Sukehiro Tomita and illustrated by Nao Yazawa.

Originally published in 1994 during the height of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon’s popularity, Wedding Peach is a magical girl series that is often (unfavourably) compared to its iconic predecessor. Much like in Sailor Moon, its lead characters use magical items to transform into warriors of love and whose goal is to seek out legendary artifacts. Further similarities exist in its themes and the concept of past lives ruined by an evil queen. That said, Wedding Peach manages to hold its own against its forerunner. It proves itself to be a heart-warming series about the inexhaustible power of love and the ultimate triumph over evil.

Wedding Peach focuses on a trio of likeable characters – Momoko, Yuri and Hinagiku – as they navigate through their first experiences with love on top of having to fight the forces of evil as Love Angels. In this respect, there is a surplus of character development. As readers, we quickly understand who these characters are even in the broad strokes that are initially used to paint them. Momoko is the scatterbrained leader, Yuri is the soft-spoken and elegant one, and Hinagiku is the impulsive tomboy. We’re able to see the characters grow through their relationships, especially with Hinagiku and her increasing feelings for her childhood friend Takuro. Even still, much of the attention is squarely placed on Momoko. There’s poignancy to her family life, particularly in how her loneliness and forced independence is acknowledged through the absence of a maternal figure in her life. There’s also the complex relationship she has with the soccer player Yousuke, who goes from being a total lout to being a sweet guy who genuinely cares for her.

Wedding Peach has its fair share of shortcomings. Despite being immersed in a world where angels must protect their heavenly realm from the invading forces of demons, this series is remarkably light on world building and on developing its own mythology. Yazawa and Tomita borrow from Christian and Greek lore, juxtaposing it further with traditions from wedding ceremonies, but do little to elaborate on anything. The first few volumes of this series work nicely and unfold an engaging plot, but things begin to fall off the rails by the fifth volume. A fourth Love Angel is introduced, Angel Salvia, but her personality is extremely aggressive and there’s very little to like about her. Her introduction also leads into a random, but welcomingly unexpected, plot twist about Yousuke. Sadly, the series is abruptly wrapped up before the team behind Wedding Peach can execute anything worthwhile with these revelations. This also means that the conclusion to the series feels tacked on and wholly anticlimactic. The final battle against the Big Bad Reine Devila is depressingly underwhelming.

Wedding Peach is unlikely to ever crawl out from under the shadow of its more famous antecedent Sailor Moon, especially since the latter became a media juggernaut and whose manga series remains a sweeping epic with elaborate mythologies and multi-dimensional characters. Wedding Peach is a satisfying, but somewhat disposable, read. The action sequences are well done and the adherence to the wedding motif is thankfully kept to a bit of a minimum, instead opting to focus on character development and the fight against the forces of Reine Devila. As a whole, what makes Wedding Peach fun to read is its colourful cast of characters who are easy to relate to and its overall youthful tone. However, it fails to build an immersive world, provide necessary backstories and motivations to its villains, and never quite settles on a cohesive narrative that has a distinct sense of direction.

RATING: C+