How to Watch Cardcaptor Sakura in Order

Move over, Sailor Moon—Cardcaptor Sakura is another popular magical girl anime. And if you’re wanting to get into the series, you’re in luck! The watch order is pretty straightforward. In this article, we’ll explain how to watch the full franchise in order, whether you need to watch the movies, and whether the sequel series, Clear Card, will ever get a second season. Let’s dive in.

How do you watch Cardcaptor Sakura in order?

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A graphic showing how to watch the full Cardcaptor Sakura franchise in order.

Cardcaptor Sakura was released chronologically, so the best way to understand the franchise is to watch the series, the movies, and the sequel series in release order:

Cardcaptor Sakura episodes 1-35
Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie
Cardcaptor Sakura episodes 36-70
Cardcaptor Sakura The Movie 2: The Sealed Card
Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card

Section 1 of 7:

How to Watch Cardcaptor Sakura in Order

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Watch Cardcaptor Sakura in the order it was released. One of the great things about Cardcaptor Sakura is that it’s easy to follow. The franchise consists of 3 seasons, 2 movies, and a sequel series. The events take place chronologically, so all you have to do is watch everything in release order:^{[1]
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- Cardcaptor Sakura: season 1 (episodes 1-35)
- Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie
- Cardcaptor Sakura: season 2 (episodes 36-46)
- Cardcaptor Sakura: season 3 (47-70)
- Cardcaptor Sakura The Movie 2: The Sealed Card
- Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Prologue – Sakura and the Two Bears
- Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card (episodes 1-22)
- Note: Some streaming platforms split the seasons up differently, which can cause confusion. Pay attention to the episode numbers to know when to watch each movie.

Section 2 of 7:

Do you have to watch Cardcaptor Sakura in order?

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Yes, you need to watch the franchise in order. The events of the Cardcaptor Sakura universe occur chronologically in the order the anime was released. Therefore, in order to understand what’s going on, you need to watch everything in release order. It wouldn’t be a good idea to watch Clear Card before watching the original series and movies.
- The one exception is the first movie. Many fans watch it after episode 35 since that’s when it was released, but it’s optional, and you can watch it at any time.

Section 3 of 7:

Are the Cardcaptor Sakura movies canon?

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The first movie is filler, and the second is canon to the anime. Usually, when something in an anime is “canon,” it means it occurred in the manga. However, when something is “anime canon,” it means it’s required to understand the events of the anime but wasn’t in the original manga. This is the case with The Sealed Card; it wasn’t in the manga, but it concludes the events of the original anime, so you should watch it.^{[2]
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- Most fans consider the first movie to be filler, even though Sakura obtains the Arrow card, which appears again later in the series. You could skip it and still understand the plot of the future episodes.
- Clear Card Prologue – Sakura and the Two Bears is an OVA (original video animation) that is considered manga canon. It also bridges the gap between The Sealed Card and the Clear Card series.

Section 4 of 7:

Will there be another season of Clear Card?

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A second season has been announced, but there’s no release date. The existing Clear Card episodes only cover part of the Clear Card manga, so in 2023, it was announced that the series would get a second season to wrap up the events of the manga, which concluded in 2024. However, there have been no updates since then.^{[3]
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Section 5 of 7:

Where to Watch Cardcaptor Sakura

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Watch the movies and Clear Card on Crunchyroll. Unfortunately, the original Cardcaptor Sakura is currently unavailable on streaming platforms in the United States (though this may change in the future). However, you can still stream both movies and Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card on Crunchyroll.
- Some third-party sites allow you to stream anime for free, even if it isn’t available on a well-known streaming service, so you may be able to watch the original series that way. However, these sites often have viruses, so use an ad-blocker if you decide to try one.

Section 6 of 7:

What is Cardcaptor Sakura about?

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Cardcaptor Sakura follows a young girl who accidentally releases a set of magical cards. In this magical girl anime, Sakura is an elementary school student who is tasked with finding and collecting a set of magical cards, known as Clow Cards, after she releases them from a book. The book’s guardian, a creature named Cerberus, grants her magical powers to help with her task.^{[4]
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- This is the main plot of the original 3 seasons of the anime.
- The first movie takes place between season 1 and season 2 and occurs during Sakura’s spring break, during which she wins a vacation to Hong Kong. However, it turns out the trip was actually planned by an evil spirit who has a connection to the sorcerer Clow Reed.^{[5]
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- Cardcaptor Sakura The Movie 2: The Sealed Card takes place a year after the conclusion of season 3, when Sakura’s life has mostly returned to normal. However, a hidden Clow Card starts causing trouble, and she must capture it before it erases everyone in her town.^{[6]
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- Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card takes place 2 years after the second movie, as Sakura attends junior high. However, she must use her powers when she discovers her cards have gone blank and she is attacked by unknown forces.^{[7]
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Section 7 of 7:

More Anime Watch Orders

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Need something else to watch while you wait to see if Clear Card season 2 ever gets released? We’ve got you covered! Check out these other wikiHow articles to learn the best watch orders for other popular anime series: