Movie 1 for CCS is a very interesting film because I expected it to be basically on par with the actual show since I was told that Movie 2 is fantastic and on par with the show. However, Movie 1 definitely falls well short of the actual show. There are definitely things that I like about it, but overall I would say it is a lesser experience compared to the around thirty five episodes of the show that come before this movie chronologically.

This movie has Sakura going outside of Japan for once to Hong Kong, the home country of Meiling and Xiaolang, which introduces some really interesting opportunities and aspects to explore, like how Sakura acts in a completely foreign environment. The people that are with her on this trip are Tomoyo, Toya and of course Yukito, with Meiling and Xiaolang joining them later as they were already in Hong Kong for the break.

One thing I will say right off the bat is that the visuals and the animation for the movie did not disappoint in the slightest. The fight scene with the Arrow card in the start is brilliant. Hong Kong is beautifully shown and all in all the visuals are fantastic as you would expect from CCS.

Where it starts to fall apart a little for me is the plot. The plot is not bad or anything, but it is also not very unique or anything of the sort. Where the series shines is the character interactions and how well written each character is, and how watching them live their life and grow up is basically the main appeal of the show, at least for me. This movie just felt like it got the balance between plot and the slice of life aspect too tilted in the wrong direction.

The first twenty or so minutes of the movie were great since those were also the most slice of life focused, but then the movie starts to fall apart a little. The biggest problem with the film is that it does not really add much to the overall world of CCS except for showing us Xiaolang’s mother finally, and she is very beautiful, so points for that definitely. Apart from his mother, it does not really progress much, and when the main appeal of the show is the well written characters and seeing them grow and develop, this falls kind of flat on its face in that regard. It is not what the movie did that was bad, it is just what the movie did not do, which leaves me a little disappointed and just wanting more.

I do want to make something clear though I did not hate the movie by any means, I just wish it was more substantial than what it was. I loved the parts that it did. The fight scenes were brilliant as usual. Seeing Tomoyo and Sakura sleep on the same bed was chefs kiss. Seeing different places of Hong Kong shown so beautifully was a great sight. So it was not as if the movie was completely horrible, it just left me wanting more.

One thing that I also liked about the movie was the atmosphere. That kind of suffocating or horror like tone was a nice shift from the rest of the series that I did enjoy, even though it lacked the bubbly and charming nature of the actual show, which could be taken as a negative as well, but I personally enjoyed that tonal shift.

Overall, the movie was not bad per se, it was just not what CCS is known for and not what I look for in CCS. I would still definitely recommend people watch it since it gives us some background on what Xiaolang’s mother is like and a bit more lore and story on Clow Reed’s past.