‘Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card’ Reveals Sakura’s New Key

Cardcaptor Sakura made its grand return to anime after many years, and once fans were able to actually see it, the first episode delivered on the years of built up anticipation.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card is a walk down memory lane as the show reintroduces fans to the series’ characters years after the original series has ended. Sakura and her friends are now in middle school, and with older age comes new challenges and new powers.

The first episode introduces a new problem with the Clow Cards. After spending the first series gathering all of the Clow Cards together, Sakura starts having a weird dream where a mysterious person in a hood appeared in front of her. Standing in a weird space where the cards are now all clear, the hooded figure threatens her by shattering the cards and firing them at her.

She has a dream again with the hooded figure, but the second time, the hooded figure summons a giant dragon. The dragon attacks Sakura, but the card shards form together into a single gem, revealing a new key. Waking up with the mysterious key in tow, she also finds that the Clow Cards are clear just as her dream.

But when she’s attacked by a rushing wind, she activates the new key she got in her dream. It reveals a new, shiny staff that allows her to capture her first clear card, Gale. She has to use a new incantation, “Force without master, heed the call of my Staff of Dreams and become my power! Release!” With this new power in tow, Sakura heads toward a darker future than she expected.

For those unfamiliar with Cardcaptor Sakura, the series follows Sakura, an elementary student who discovers she has magical powers after accidentally releasing a set of magical cards from a mysterious book. CLAMP’s original manga ran for 12 volumes from November 1996 to July 2000.

CLAMP launched the Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card sequel manga in June 2016 and follows Sakura in junior high school. After a prophetic dream about a mysterious figure, the Sakura Cards turn blank and are rendered completely powerless. Sakura and her friends then set out on a quest to find out what is wrong. Along with her guardians and protectors, Cerberus and Yue, Sakura must find and capture the transparent cards using a new, and much stronger key.