Cardcaptor Sakura (TV) ~Subtitled Edition~ DVD

Ten-year-old Sakura Kinomoto is rummaging through her father's basement when she finds a mysterious glowing book. She opens it. The Clow Cards inside, each one containing a powerful magical entity sealed away by the great sorcerer Clow Reed centuries ago, scatter into the wind across the city of Tomoeda. The book's guardian — Cerberus, a winged, lion-like creature who had been asleep for a very long time — emerges in a considerably less imposing form than the one he had before his nap, and informs Sakura that she is now the Cardcaptor. Her job: retrieve every last card before they cause serious harm to the people around her. She will need her star-tipped wand, a succession of increasingly elaborate costumes designed and sewn by her devoted best friend Tomoyo, and considerably more courage than she expected. Along the way she will encounter Syaoran Li — a descendant of Clow Reed who arrives convinced she is inadequate for the role and slowly discovers she may be the most remarkable person he has ever met — and gradually uncover the truth about who Clow Reed was, what the cards really are, and what the Final Judgment means for everything.

Cardcaptor Sakura is one of the most beloved and critically celebrated magical girl anime series ever made — a 70-episode work produced by Madhouse, directed by Morio Asaka, and based on CLAMP's landmark manga, with series composition by CLAMP's own head writer Nanase Ohkawa. The series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1999, and the original manga received the Seiun Award for Best Manga in 2001. While the Nelvana-dubbed Cardcaptors adaptation aired on Kids' WB and Toonami, this subtitled DVD release presents the series completely unedited in its original Japanese form — all 70 episodes intact, with the same-sex relationships, emotional complexity, and character nuance that the edited broadcast version removed.

Released in North America by Pioneer Entertainment (later Geneon) across 18 DVD volumes from 2000 to 2003. This listing is for the subtitled Japanese version DVD set. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Morio Asaka (Chobits, Ceres Celestial Legend, Nana)
Original Manga: CLAMP (Chobits, Magic Knight Rayearth, xxxHolic)
Series Composition: Nanase Ohkawa (CLAMP)
Character Design: Kumiko Takahashi
Studio: Madhouse
Opening Theme (Season 1): "Catch You Catch Me" by Gumi
Opening Theme (Season 2): "Tobira wo Akete" by ANZA
Opening Theme (Season 3): "Platinum" by Maaya Sakamoto

Cast:
- Sakura Tange as Sakura Kinomoto (Battle Skipper, Burn Up W)
- Aya Hisakawa as Cerberus / Kero-chan (Battle Athletes Victory, Sailor Moon)
- Motoko Kumai as Syaoran Li
- Junko Iwao as Tomoyo Daidoji (Ceres, Celestial Legend)
- Megumi Ogata as Yukito Tsukishiro / Yue (Evangelion, Vampire Princess Miyu)
- Tohru Furuya as Toya Kinomoto (Mobile Suit Gundam, Sailor Moon)

DVD Features

- Non-Credit Opening & Ending Animations (various volumes)
- Art Galleries (various volumes)
- Pioneer / Geneon Previews

Spoken Languages: Japanese Audio, English Subtitles Only (Subtitled Version)

Edition Details

Japanese Title: カードキャプターさくら (Kādokyaputā Sakura)
Runtime: ~1,750 Minutes (Complete Series, 70 Episodes)
Director: Morio Asaka
DVD Release Year: 2000–2003 (U.S. Subtitled Release, 18 Volumes)
Original Broadcast Date (Japan): April 7, 1998 – March 21, 2000 (NHK BS2)
Publisher: Pioneer Entertainment / Geneon Entertainment
Rating: 13+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Magical Girl, Shojo, Fantasy, Romance
Themes: Clow Cards, Growing Up, Friendship, Hidden Identity, First Love

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.