Her power stems from love, pureness of heart, and cute, frilly outfits.
In turn, the show explores the complexities of love, both platonic and romantic.
All of that is changed in the Americanized version.
The original JapaneseCardcaptor Sakuraversion and the English dubbedCardcaptorsversion released in North America are vastly different products.
It was not simply translated it was completely transformed.
To appeal to a Western male audience, all the most evidently feminine aspects are removed.
The series is reduced dramatically from 70 to just 39 episodes.
Here are15 Ways Cardcaptor Sakura Had To Be Censored In America.
That Girly Title
OriginallyCardcaptor Sakurawas consciously aimed at young Japanese girls.
Politeness
WhenCardcaptorscame to America, the originally girly heroine was deconstructed to appeal to a different market.
This change was in line with changes to all the characters.
WhileCardcaptor Sakurafeatured more polite and soft-spoken Japanese children,Cardcaptorsportrayed the young characters to be far more outspoken.
The dub aims to match what the new target audience would expect and appreciate.
The most drastic change came to Sakuras best friend, Tomoyo Daidoji.
Renamed Madison Taylor, the rich and elegant characters speech pattern was changed to valley girl speech.
This was thought to be more relatable to the audience.
Girl Crushes
Tomoyo (AKA Madison in the American dub) is Sakuras best friend.
She is also entirely infatuated with Sakura.
Predictably, in the American dub, Madisons crush on Sakura is removed.
Any dialogue hinting that her feelings are anything other than platonic are edited out.
In general, LGBT relationships are far more common in Japanese animation than in Western ones.
This particular flavour of Girls Love is especially common when depicting growing up.
It seems dishonest to edit out.
Guy Love
The handsome, musically talented, hard-working Toya Kinomoto is Sakuras elder brother.
He has multiple girls confess to him throughout the show but for some reason he always turns them down.
When Toya sacrifices his supernatural power to save Yukitos life, they finally admit their love for each other.
Unsurprisingly, this romantic subplot is totally obliterated from the US dub.
Multiple obvious references are removed from the dub and the two are presented as close friends.
The original Japanese opening sequence and credits are backed by a couple of different songs.
The soundtracks are all upbeat, cheerful numbers, sung by sweet female voices.
In contrast, the new American version features a more aggressive song, sung by a male vocalist.
The themes of love and young life are replaced with adventure and conspiracy.
Similarly, a few relationships between more mature characters and minors were removed for obvious motives.
Before recognizing his love for Sakuras brother Toya, Sakura had a huge crush on Yukito.
Random ordering of episodes
Cardcaptor Sakuraoriginally ran to 70 episodes and two movies.
Though Nelvana technically adapted all 70 episodes, only 38 episodes originally aired in the US.
That cuts out almost half the story.
This led to inconsistencies and plot holes, as well as ripping out the heart of the show.
“The Final Judgment” plotline
The Americanization completely rewrites certain crucial plotlines ofCardcaptor Sakura.
This even applies to relationships which are quite crucial to the development of the main characters.
Before Sakura and Syaoran develop their rivalry into affection, both characters have a crush on the same character.
Syaoran is attracted to Yukito (AKA Julian Star).
The young man will often blush or run away when he meets Yukito.
The pair are truly rivals, both in their quests to capture the Clow Cards and in their love.
It should be unsurprising by now that this young love triangle is removed from the US dub.
Creepily close family relations
The familial and romantic loves inCardcaptor Sakurado become a little “intertwined.”
With that in mind, Sakuras mother and Tomoyos mother are cousins.
In the show, Sakuras mother has passed away, three years after giving birth to Sakura.
Tomoyos mother adores Sakura, treating her like her own daughter.
In part, this is revealed that it is because she has loved Sakuras mother since kindergarten.
Now, it is pretty normal to love your cousin.
Yet, it is less normal to hate your cousins husband for getting to spend more time with her.
Tomoyos mothers love is presented as slightly more than familial love, seeing Sakuras father as a rival.
InCardcaptors,this subplot is written out.
To avoid any confusion, the mothers are even said to be friends rather than cousins.
