The City of Angels is going to be the City of Sakura this July.

Each spring, lovers of Japanese flora wait expectantly for the sakura, as the cherry blossoms are called here. But right now lovers of Japanese animation are waiting for a different Sakura, as magical girl Sakura Kinomoto, star of Cardcaptor Sakura, will be making her long-awaited anime return this fall.

September will see the release of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc Prologue: Sakura and the Two Bears, an OVA (direct-to-video) lead-up to the upcoming Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc TV series, which will start airing in Japan in January of 2018.

But lucky fans in the U.S. will get to see the prologue OVA two months earlier than anime enthusiasts in the series’ native Japan, since it’ll be making its world premiere at the Anime Expo convention in Los Angeles in July.

▼ Preview video for Sakura and the Two Bears which features much of the original anime’s vocal cast and animation by original Cardcaptor Sakura production studio Madhouse

Kodansha Comics, the rights holders of the Cardcaptor Sakura manga, have announced that the OVA will be shown at Anime Expo on Saturday, July 1. They sound quite serious about this being the world premiere, too, boldly proclaiming the audience will “be the first people on Earth to witness this prologue episode.”

As previously revealed, Sakura and the Two Bears picks up right where the original TV anime left off. With Sakura’s conflict with magical adversary Eriol settled, fellow magician Syaoran confesses his love to the titular heroine, in the latest of many helpings of interpersonal drama in the series.

Chiyo Kawazoe, the new OVA’s producer, will also be at the event to answer questions from fans. Speaking of fans, they’re likely to be out in force, since Kodansha is screening the episode one time only, at 4 p.m. July 1 in the Los Angeles Convention Center’s Hall B Main Events room, so you’ll want to line up very, very early if you want in on this very special moment in anime history.

Related: Anime Expo 2017 official website
Source: Kodansha Comics via Anime News Network
Images: Kodansha Comics

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