more clamp--cardcaptor sakura, yay!

Okay, recently I decided to get back to my roots and read the very first Manga I ever really loved--none other than CLAMP's incredibly popular Cardcaptor Sakura!  I adored the manga and own the whole original series (the first six books), but I'd never watched the anime.  And so I resolved to do so!  And I'm so happy to say I found it still very sweet and fun to watch.
The plot is actually shockingly similar to Pokemon.  Sakura, a fourth-grade girl, has to run around collecting magical cards that have escaped from the Book of the Clow and come to life, causing trouble for everyone in her hometown of Tomoeda.  Now, with the help of her magical sidekick Kero-chan (or Cerberus), her video-camera-obsessed best friend Tomoyo (who also happens to be equally obsessed with making fancy costumes for Sakura to wear while she's filming), and occasionally her rival, Li-kun, she must return all the cards to their original form.  For it is prophesied that should the seal on the cards be broken...disaster will befall the earth... (cue dramatic musical interlude)

But, yeah, it's definitely a Shoujo of the "Magical Girl" genre.  Personally, the anime worked really well in my opinion, but the book had a way better ending.  The anime's ending was kinda lame...probably because they went and made a movie afterward...