Cardcaptor Sakura, Volume 3: Master of the Clow

Anyone who's a fan of Clamp must own. The mystery deepens in book three and only makes you want book four even faster.

SF : THIS REVIEW IS RATED SPOILER-FREE If you've already got 1 & 2 of this arc of sakura stories, you'll be pleased to hear it gets better! (impossible as it may seem) Sakura is beginning to finally get her head round what it means to be a Clow Master, but still has much to learn. Meanwhile, a very shrewd Tomoyo is still pestering Li about his feelings for Sakura. Sure enough, he FINALLY plucks up the courage to tell her as Tomoyo suggested, but stuff begins to get in the way (typical), much to our amusement. Personally, my favourite part of the book was when Sakura was attacked by sheep down that dark hole. How can i forget?!? "What happens to Yukito?" i hear you cry, and, as promised by book two, Yuki begins to fall into a bit of trouble. There's a kinda 'how will they do it?' thing going on, but i recommend you don't read any spoiler reviews: i did and it ruined the reading (but it was still fantastic). I would recommend getting 4 and 5 along with this, else you may suffer withdrawal symptons whilst waiting for them to come one by one. thanks for reading, Xx*Darlz*xX

Okay, so it wasn't so long ago that I sneered at the thought of Cardcaptor Sakura, but that was before I knew anything about it. Now I can't read the books fast enough! In this book, Clow Reed once again tests Sakura. The relationships between the characters has always been the most interesting thing for me in this series. Syaoran is still trying to work up the courage to tell Sakura what his feelings for her are, and Toya and Yukito's relationship gets developed more. Toya has to do something, because Yue is fading away, and if he fades, then Yukito (Yue's temporary form) will go too. Once again, the artwork is lovely - it's really detailed! The right-to-left format, which is the format that the comic was originally in, can take some getting used to if you haven't dealt with it before, but the back of the book gives instructions for reading this format. The original sound effects characters have also been preserved, although, unfortunately, there is no translation provided for those characters. Mostly, this doesn't matter to me, but sometimes it would be nice to know what the sound effect was supposed to be. Still, I definitely recommend picking this book up, or at least getting started on the series, because it's worth it.

I will list the reasons why this is a series that everyone should read this book and this entire series:1) CLAMPs drawings are beautiful. Without fault. And the chibis are really dinky *huggles chibi Yue*2) Chibi Yue with question mark over his head near the end (so cute!!)3) All the characters have their original Japanese names *yay*4) It is not a childrens' series, it is suitable for all ages because there is no older content but the plot can be appreciated by anyone5) This is the book where Yukito is fading away *sob* so there is a whole "How will he be saved?" thing going on... this book answers that question!!6) Syaoran is so cute when he is in love with Sakura7) The end scene is really beautiful, and there is a fair amount of Touya and Yukito sappiness *yippee* in a way that only CLAMP can pull off8) Nakuru Akizuki is annoying Touya in this one!! (although not as much as the previous two) And she is such a funny character... she should be in the books more9) The heroinne isn't annoying, or spoilt, in fact she is sweet, innocent, yet strangely mature and selfless without being pious. She is instantly likeable, as are all the characters in their own way.10) There isn't much in the way of battles in any of the books, just enough to keep it fresh and different, and then the rest is concentrating on their relationships. When I first read CCS, I was amazed how different to Magic Knight Rayearth (a previous work of CLAMPs) it was, because in MKR there is an awful lot of battle time clocking up and it gets boring, whereas CCS battles are always funny and inventive because they are interspersed with Tomoyo's adoring comments about Sakura and her outfits (and does anyone remember the time Sakura was attacked with stuffed sheep while in a sheep costume?!?)Unlinke many mangas, all the characters in CCS have their own little quirks that make them interesting, even the characters who appear for about three lines or so a book. Each character is so well fleshed out that the world described seems vibrant and full of life, and so these books are a joy to read. CLAMP really designed the plot well, and I look forward to watching the anime (not Cardcaptors) and reading CLAMPs new work Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, which contains characters from different CLAMP mangas including Syaoran, Sakura, Touya, Yukito, Tomoyo and Fujitaka from CCS, or so I believe.

I think this " MASTER OF THE CLOW" story arc is alot better than the first CAPTURING CLOW CARDS" arc. The reasons are why are because:1. It's "AUTHENTIC MANGA" in right to left format and it's more cool since it's the way the people in Japan make/read them.2. The CLAMP group put little japanese laanguage tidbits in these.4. I like how the CLAMP group made the front of these, with it kind of looking like CLOW CARD, and Sakura being the picture in the middle.5. The events roll by faster.6. This second arc has a lot more suspenceful events than the first arc.Now, onto my review:In the first chapter:The holiday is White Day, and everyone is getting/giving presents.In the second chapter:Clow Reed tests Sakura again.In the third chapter:Clow Reed tests Sakura again.In the fourth chapter:Toya gives his magis to Yue.