New ‘Cardcaptor Sakura’ Unveils Character Designs

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card is one of the most anticipated series in 2018, and fans have been excited to see every bit of new development news for the series’ return to television.

With Madhouse adapting the anime series, there’s a good chance every bit of it is going to be great looking, and a lot of that is due with how the characters will be designed for the adaptation.

Madhouse released a bit of a rough draft in Kodansha’s Nakayoshi magazine displaying how Sakura first appeared in the new outfit show in the series’ key visual that first announced the series, the princess like white dress. As one would expect from a design originally crafted by CLAMP, the dress is as intricately designed as it appears.

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card airs in Japan January 7, and has been confirmed to run for 26 episodes, meaning that the the series will be able to tackle a longer story and thus be more fulfilling for fans. The series will be simulcast on Crunchyroll in Japanese with English subtitles and Funimation has just announced that it has licensed the rights for a simuldub, an English language release as the show airs.

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.

The original characters will all be returning, but will all be middle school aged. Director of the original 1990s series and films Morio Asaka is returning to direct the new series for Madhouse. CLAMP’s Nanase Ohkawa is handling the composition, and will contribute to the scripts. Animation director for the previous series and films Kunihiko Hamada is the character designer, and CLAMP’s Mokona will handle costume and card designs. Masafumi Mima will sound direct, and Takayuki Negishi is composing the music. Maaya Sakamoto will also be returning to perform the opening theme song, “CLEAR.”

The original 1990s series will also be receiving a 4K remaster that scans its original 35mm film negatives digitally into 4K. The 11-disc set features the anime’s two seasons: the “Clow Card” arc, which ran for 46 episodes from April 1998 to June 1999, and the “Sakura Card” arc, which ran for 24 episodes from September 1999 to March 2000.

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.