Legal Crap: Before we start anything, let me explain to you something. I am not a rampaging CCS fan. I am here to review and compare the US version and original version of Card Captor (Sakura). None of you have to agree with me; don’t come after me with pitchforks and the like if you don’t like what I’m saying.
First off, the workers on the English dub, Nelvana, completely butchered the CCS series. They completely decimated most of the good points. The voice acting is stale compared to the cute, energetic voices of the original. They changed the names, gave a few of the characters – Sakura included – a serious attitude problem, and even toned down the character development for God’s sake! Can anybody explain to me why Nelvana felt such a strong desire to screw with an already good series?
On the other hand, Nelvana definitely added more of a spunky edge, and took out some of the shoujo-ness of it. A good thing if you’ve had too many spastic schoolgirls. The music is a bit less kiddy in the dub. One of the good things Nelvana did right was add more music to the series, something that others tend to not do.
A bit of the stardom Sakura possessed was taken away as well. She is no longer the only main character, but ends up sharing the limelight with Syaoran, who is idiotically called “Li” in the dub. Li Showron. Sakura Avalon. *Nearly blows up and ends up in a state of angry hyperventilation* WHO CAME UP WITH THESE NAMES??? How the HELL did they get the name Madison from Tomoyo?? They nearly messed up CCS as badly as Sailor Moon!
On the off hand, I think that a large variety of the changes were due to the fact that they wanted to make CCS more ‘boyish’. That would be just about the same as making the cast of Gundam Wing sit down and have a tea party *winces at the thought*.
The bottom line is that a lot of the changes Nelvana made were unnecessary. Yes, they did make a few improvements, but they made a lot of big mistakes along the way. It’s a bit off a shock for hardcore CCS fans to sit down and watch the dub if they haven’t before? And to put it all mildly… it sucks and we’re damned pissed about it.
