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Cardcaptors?
 Cardcaptors, or more commonly CC, is the English adaptation of Cardcaptor Sakura. Dubbed by Canadian Entertainment company, Nelvana, Cardcaptors essentially follows the premise of its Japanese counterpart with varying degrees of changes, depending on the country of distribution. For instance, viewer's of Cardcaptors in the United States had the misfortune of having to suffer through a heavily altered version of the series, while viewer's in other countries such as Australia and New Zealand enjoyed a more complete version, which remained more faithful to the original series. CCS vs. CC
When Cardcaptors appeared in late 2000, series such as Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z were immensely popular. Wanting to appeal to the same mass market as these shows, Nelvana dubbed Cardcaptors in a similar manner, attempting to create an action-packed series that would appeal to boys, who would not necessarily want a plot or character development but rather, a series full of nothing but action, action and more action. If Cardcaptor Sakura was only about Sakura's (make that Syaoran's) battles with the Clow Cards, and not her development as a person and her relationships, then Cardcaptors would have been a runaway success. However, this was not the case. Nelvana attempted to take a Magical Girl series originally aimed at young girls and transform it into something it's not and in the process, literally butcher one of the most popular and beloved anime series of all time. Below you can find a more in-depth look at the alterations Nevlana made to the series. Series Title One of the most notable differences between the original series and the dub is the shift in the series title. Instead of Cardcaptor Sakura, the series becomes known as Cardcaptors, discarding 'Sakura' and making 'Cardcaptor' a plural. This shift is to imply that there is more than one Cardcaptor and therefore more than one primary character in the series, giving the dub both a heroine (in the form of Sakura) and a hero (in the form of Syaoran). Changing the title of the show was in line with Nelvana's view that Cardcaptors needed appeal to a broader mass market, targeting both boys and girls, rather than just girls like Cardcaptor Sakura. Opening/Ending Sequences and Music Cardcaptor Sakura is divided into three seasons, each of which are preceded by an opening and ending sequence, complete with Japanese songs. Rather than adapting these opening and ending sequences for Cardcaptors, Nelvana created two new opening sequences for the two seasons of the dub, which they believed would be better suited for their target market: a fast-paced, repetitive song about the Clow Cards. One of Cardcaptor Sakura's most notable features was also changed: the music. Instead of cheerful, upbeat background music and songs by the voice cast of the series, which reflected the personalities of the characters and the events in the storyline, Nelvana changed the music of Cardcaptors to a more techno sound in order to appeal to it's broader mass market of boys. Storyline and Episodes While the premise of the series still remains relatively in tact in the dub (magical cards are released and now they must be recaptured before they bring the world into chaos), the storyline of Cardcaptor Sakura is changed somewhat considerably in Cardcaptors. For instance, the series is no longer just about Sakura's quest for the cards but also about Syaoran's. His role in Cardcaptors is promoted to be just as important as Sakura's, if not more so. The underlying themes of love in all it's forms is also removed entirely, meaning Cardcaptors loses the depth which Cardcaptor Sakura possesses. Episodes of Cardcaptors were also not aired in their original, sequential order. Rather than beginning with episode one where the viewer is introduced to Sakura on that fateful day, Cardcaptors begins with episode eight where the viewer is first introduced to Syaoran. From there, even more episodes are omitted, especially those that do not feature Syaoran, spoiling the continuity of the series and creating plot holes. In the end, only 32 episodes from 70 were aired. Along with this, episodes were spliced a part and edited together in a haphazard manner, further spoiling the continuity of the series and creating even bigger plot holes, which Nelvana only tried to cover with more poor editing. Names and Setting Another noticeable difference between Cardcaptor Sakura and Cardcaptors is the change in names. While Sakura retains her first name, a majority of the characters lose their Japanese names and gain more Western-style names. For instance, Tomoyo Daidouji becomes Madison Taylor; Touya Kinomoto becomes Tori Avalon; Yukito Tsukishiro becomes Julian Star and so forth. In Nelvana's view, these names are more appropriate for English-speaking audiences as the Japanese names were seen as too difficult to pronounce and to remember for that matter. Even characters who retain their Japanese names have the pronunciation altered to suit English enunciation of words. In the Japanese series for instance, Clow is pronounced 'cl-OOH' as in 'flow,' rather than 'cl-OWE' as in 'cow' like in the dub. Cardcaptors is also no longer set in the town of Tomoeda, Japan like Cardcaptor Sakura but rather in the town of Reedington. Anything hinting at the fact that the series is set in Japan is altered. For instance, in Sakura's dream, she is no longer standing on the Tokyo Tower but rather the Radio Tower, completely removing Japan as the serie's setting. This change was in line with Nelvana's view to 'Westernise' the series. Characters and Relationships The personalities of the characters in Cardcaptors differ from their counterparts in Cardcaptor Sakura. For instance, in the original version, Sakura is seen as a kind and thoughtful young girl, whereas in the dub, she is seen as somewhat of a brat. Similarly, in the original version, Tomoyo is seen as a wise, somewhat obsessive young girl whereas in the dub, she is seen as a superficial 'valley girl.' In addition to altering character's personalities, Nelvana has also altered key relationships between the characters. Practically every romantic interest in Cardcaptor Sakura has been written out of Cardcaptors in order to appeal to the mass market of boys and to avoid controversy. For instance, Sakura and Syaoran become nothing more than friends; Tomoyo's love (if you could call it that) for Sakura only reaches as far as friendship; Meiling is no longer Syaoran's fiancee and cousin - she only has a crush on him; Touya and Yukito are friends - nothing more, nothing less; Chiharu and Takashi are cousins - they are not dating; Rika is afraid of Mr. Terada, not in love with him and so forth. The idea of love and romance, the very essence of Cardcaptor Sakura, is completely omitted from Cardcaptors, making it nothing more than a shallow action-based series, with little to offer in the way of actual plot and character development. |