The CCS first movie is definitely a masterpiece. It has great new characters, an interesting and involving plot, awesome animation, and super music to accompany it all. I definitely give this movie a five out of five on my rating scale.

The plot is fast and leaves not much room for fluff and filler scenes. There are still plenty of funny and amusing scenes, but mostly the focus is on plot development. The plot has plenty of twists and turns in it also, and along with that comes great character development between everyone. At the beginning, the viewer is left in mystery as the dreams are not all explained, and Madoushi's true intentions are also left in the dark. Little by little, the plot moves on and secrets are slowly revealed. I do believe that having the movie in Hong Kong was a great effect, in that it features Shaolan's family and a new culture. It's meant to fit in the CCS TV series' plot before the first season is over. So it's before Kero-chan is able to transform into his actual shape and at this point Sakura has not caught all of the Clow Cards.

One thing about the movie is the animation. It's top quality with great effects, movement, facial features, and lively colors. The scenes of Hong Kong are all drawn beautifully, with wonderful scenery and the city drawn with super detail. Bird Street, with all the birds, was also amazingly animated and detailed, drawn to perfection. The scenes with water and puddles are all simply amazing, and I just about can't praise the animation more. It's superb and captivating.

The vocals and the music are also fascinating. First of all, Megumi Hayashibara's acting as Madoushi is superb. Her voice is mature and emotional towards the end, when she needs to be. Of course, Sakura's and everyone else's voice acting is also great as usual. What also struck me was the music. Being set in Hong Kong, the music is a mixture between Japanese and Chinese culture, with some songs actually sung in Chinese instead of Japanese. The background music is also very suiting to all of the scenes, especially the music that comes with Shaolan's mother, and just overall it has a very pleasant effect. Not to mention, the ending theme song is one of my favorites in the series. It's called "It's My Life," sung by Minaya Naomi.

I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who is a CCS fan, and also for those people who haven't seen the series too much either. The plot stands out from the TV series, so one doesn't have to know too much information, just the basics. The movie is overall very superb, and should not be missed by any CCS fan.

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