Anime, the eternal Jettokōsutā

[Bartimaeus]

3 hours ago, majestic said:

That's perfectly fine. With the new arc coming up I doubt there's much to write up in the next couple of episodes anyway. Perhaps a new character or two, and some other cards, I mean... I have no idea how they're going to continue this.

time for a tournament, boys girls

3 hours ago, majestic said:

There aren't that many episodes in the first season that are truly worth talking about in detail. That doesn't mean they're not great, far from it - it's just that they're well crafted, perfectly simple stories and interactions that are great to watch. It's baffling how well this all works in its apparent simplicity while still having the same level of care and quality in scriptwriting and direction that you'd expect from something much more serious and expensive.

That's pretty much the difference between making things up as you go and having a, while not completely finished by the time the anime was made, at least a well plotted out and fairly well crafted manga to base things on. Sailor Moon's absolutely strong points are the result of them having to put the storyline on a backburner combined with the ridiculous scope of the story itself, it's always the doom of the Earth or at the end even the galaxy or universe.

Cardcaptor Sakura is, comparatively, well grounded and low key, and it works massively in its favor, and it takes care to set everything up properly. That might make things apparently obvious for adult audiences, but who cares?

In the end, this is an anime where you're watching Sakura "fight" a tree that grows out of her basement, with her absurdely rich friend helping to clean the house afterwards, and it's just glorious to see unfold. It's a tree. It might threaten her house, and that's bad, but that's pretty much it. Take any plot of the day from Sailor Moon, and the enemies succeeding would have spelled the end of existence. At least in the first two seasons, the others wisely toned down the stakes of a single enemy win (thus allowing Eudial to be less than a constant failure). It didn't help SuperS any, but that's something else entirely.

Reiterating once again that I'm simply not the type for grand story stuff like prophecies, magical heroes, fated destiny, etc.; it takes some reaaally careful planning and good ideas for the grand story stuff to really work for me. But even the basic premise of this and how Sakura became a MAGICAL GIRL is that hey, this deck of magical cards (and mind you it's not the only deck of magical cards in this universe, there are other families out there that have their own) was lost, its guardian is in a weakened state as a result of them being lost, Sakura just happens to have some latent magical ability and seems like a good sort, and so let's see if we can fix it while also trying to live her normal grade-school girl life. That's it: that's the show. I love that sort of simple reasonable happenstance, it only really lends to the show feeling a lot more grounded than you'd ever expect it to be.

The show is so good that it has finally gotten me to genuinely like some Japanese voice-acting - that's the most shocking thing of all. Kero, Tomoyo, and now I'm even starting to like Sakura's voice... I am not joking when I say what a feat that is given my long-running dislike for Japanese VA-ing. Will that transfer over to other shows? Well...probably not, especially because the VA-ing in this is fairly naturalistic and low-key sounding by anime standards, I'd say...but still, impressive. Also, while a lot of modern anime may be lacking in that regard for my purposes, a lot of older stuff (i.e. the stuff I'm interested in) isn't, so maybe it will for certain cases.

Edited May 27, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Bartimaeus]

Okay, episode 16, Sakura goes on vacation way out in the countryside. I'm about five minutes in here, and I guess my question is...is Tomoyo going to stalk Sakura so hard that she somehow manages to follow her all the way out to the countryside, or is this going to be the first episode where Tomoyo doesn't appear? Because if it's the latter, I'm not going to watch even one more episode of this hot garbage, .

Spoiler

Turns out, neither: just a few minutes later, Sakura called her on the phone while Tomoyo sadly noted that she couldn't because of a choir competition (hey, a callback to when Tomoyo was practicing her singing accompanied by piano like ten episodes back when Sakura said she had won singing competitions before) while she's...editing videos she made of Sakura while trying to pretend she's not sad that she's not with Sakura. It's not the insano stalking I wanted, but it did mean she appeared in this episode and I can keep watching the show, so...

All jokes aside, this episode was basically a miniature Ghibli movie and got me to tear up. So very well done.

(e): Next episode, the beach day/cave exploration episode, was awesome too. And it totally makes sense that Tomoyo is the calm and rational one about such things, given how she handles her feelings all of the time to begin with. There are so many nice little touches in these episodes that make them so good and satisfying.

(e): Why was this so unsettling and tense? You'd think a bomb was about to go off or something from the music and visuals: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/7bf8lxi4rffcdd2/aAoPVzCXDO.mp4

Not that I'm complaining, since it made me go to the edge of my seat, but it felt a little out of left-field. And then just a minute or two later, I finally got Meilin's grand introduction. Hoo boy. Well, hopefully I don't find her intolerable.

Edited May 27, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

  

12 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

time for a tournament, boys girls

Kādokyaputā Sakura: The Gathering, a new CCG by CLAMP and NHK.

12 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Reiterating once again that I'm simply not the type for grand story stuff like prophecies, magical heroes, fated destiny, etc.; it takes some reaaally careful planning and good ideas for the grand story stuff to really work for me. But even the basic premise of this and how Sakura became a MAGICAL GIRL is that hey, this deck of magical cards (and mind you it's not the only deck of magical cards in this universe, there are other families out there that have their own) was lost, its guardian is in a weakened state as a result of them being lost, Sakura just happens to have some latent magical ability and seems like a good sort, and so let's see if we can fix it while also trying to live her normal grade-school girl life. That's it: that's the show. I love that sort of simple reasonable happenstance, it only really lends to the show feeling a lot more grounded than you'd ever expect it to be.

Cardcaptor Sakura certainly isn't what I expected it to be at all when I began watching. It was part of a Sailor Moon review on YouTube that I watched for one of the longer posts about Sailor Stars that I made that suggested Revolutionary Girl Utena and Puella Magi Madoka Magica as a differen take/deconstruction* of the Magical Girl genre and Cardcaptor Sakura as a straight variant. I expected something more like Sailor Moon, what I got was different but equally great - and (in?)arguably much better constructed.

*I also saw a very angry video by a literary theorist who spent almost half an hour telling everyone that clicked on the clickbaity title of the video - like me - that what is colloquially known as a deconstruction is called a subversion, because deconstructionist reading in literary theory happens purely within the work itself, not in relation to prior works. I was just once again reminded of how much of a waste of time certain philosophical debates really are.

12 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

The show is so good that it has finally gotten me to genuinely like some Japanese voice-acting - that's the most shocking thing of all. Kero, Tomoyo, and now I'm even starting to like Sakura's voice... I am not joking when I say what a feat that is given my long-running dislike for Japanese VA-ing. Will that transfer over to other shows? Well...probably not, especially because the VA-ing in this is fairly naturalistic and low-key sounding by anime standards, I'd say...but still, impressive. Also, while a lot of modern anime may be lacking in that regard for my purposes, a lot of older stuff (i.e. the stuff I'm interested in) isn't, so maybe it will for certain cases.

You should really cleanse that spark of weeabooism in your ear there. Go watch the first episode of JoJo's Bizarre adventure, that should reset your ears.

No, just kidding. It's true though and I said that before, but Sakura's performance really grew on me when combined with her animation. Ami, Mima and Shinjuka are a class of their own, of course, but there's just something special about the combination that makes Sakura stand out so much for me. Speaking of Sakura and the Rainbow of Memories, the car ride is a perfect example of what I mean:

I have this much homework!  I loved that scene, really... and the entire episode.

10 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Okay, episode 16, Sakura goes on vacation way out in the countryside. I'm about five minutes in here, and I guess my question is...is Tomoyo going to stalk Sakura so hard that she somehow manages to follow her all the way out to the countryside, or is this going to be the first episode where Tomoyo doesn't appear? Because if it's the latter, I'm not going to watch even one more episode of this hot garbage, .

I don't think there is an episode without Tomoyo. At least she was in every episode so far, I think. I'm actually not sure because I've watched way too many episodes in such a short time that it's all rather one fuzzy mishmash of episodes.

 

10 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

 

  Hide contents

Turns out, neither: just a few minutes later, Sakura called her on the phone while Tomoyo sadly noted that she couldn't because of a choir competition (hey, a callback to when Tomoyo was practicing her singing accompanied by piano like ten episodes back when Sakura said she had won singing competitions before) while she's...editing videos she made of Sakura while trying to pretend she's not sad that she's not with Sakura. It's not the insano stalking I wanted, but it did mean she appeared in this episode and I can keep watching the show, so...

All jokes aside, this episode was basically a miniature Ghibli movie and got me to tear up. So very well done.

That was the first episode that I made a longer post for...

Spoiler

This episode shows the magic of the show pretty well. You can see Sakura summoning a rainbow for the kindly old man the moment he mentioned that he liked watching them from the balcony and that her mother liked to draw them for him, and when it happens it's just great, and like everything else the show does, you might wonder at first why her father is almost pushing her to go visit the old man even though she's on vacation and has no real reason to (other than being nice to him because he seems lonely), and then you find out that it was more or less arranged so that she can meet her great grandfather.

Spoiler

Not going to lie, fuzzy warn feelings and misty eyes were definitely present during that ending rainbow scene.

 

 

10 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

(e): Next episode, the beach day/cave exploration episode, was awesome too. And it totally makes sense that Tomoyo is the calm and rational one about such things, given how she handles her feelings all of the time to begin with. There are so many nice little touches in these episodes that make them so good and satisfying.

I really like the Sakura is afraid of spooky things running gag. It makes no sense since she knows more about magic than anyone else except Shaoran and Kero, but it's great.

Minor spoiler:

Spoiler

There's a scene coming up in a later episode where Sakura wonders why she can't feel a Clow card and Kero begins to say "That's because of all the gh..." and then immediately shuts up because he knows Sakura would freak out even more.

Yes, there really are a huge number of little things that make this great.

10 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

(e): Why was this so unsettling and tense? You'd think a bomb was about to go off or something from the music and visuals: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/7bf8lxi4rffcdd2/aAoPVzCXDO.mp4

It was a pretty big moment for her, being able to feel the aura of a card. That was the first time, I think. Before that there was only Shaoran that could do that, and Kero. It's one of her growing moments as magic user, but yes, it seemed a bit overly dramatic. I wonder who the girl in the sailor fuku was at the end there. That seems familiar, somehow...

10 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Not that I'm complaining, since it made me go to the edge of my seat, but it felt a little out of left-field. And then just a minute or two later, I finally got Meilin's grand introduction. Hoo boy. Well, hopefully I don't find her intolerable.

If you don't then the writers did something wrong. She's supposed to be intolerable and annoying - at least at first.

Character spoilers:
 

Spoiler

 

She is also both a mirror and a foil for Tomoyo. She is her complete opposite, but the reasons that drive both of them are the same. Meilin loves Shaoran, and Tomoyo loves Sakura, and for both it's unrequited in the romantic sense. That is probably something that the intended audience for the show might miss, but it once again reinforces how well put together this really is.

More super spoilers, so take care:

Spoiler

 

It's also really... well, the episode where she leaves really made me sad. You end up realizing that everything she does, being loud, clingy, annoying, appearing super confident, all of that is just an act. It's clear earlier that it is, but only after her episode it really comes out how much of that is because she loves Shaoran but he doesn't love her in the way she wants, her engagement is a flimsy promise with an easy way out for Shaoran and at the end of the day, she can't do any magic at all while from a magical family, and Sakura can... not only that, but she's mostly untrained and pretty good at it too, while Shaoran had life long education and training on magical matters, and she's shown to be soul-crushingly lonely at home and has to leave the friends she found (that like her in spite of how obnoxious she was at first).

Plus she really likes Sakura, even though it's pretty clear that there's every chance that she will end up losing him to her. Or pretty clear that she will. Those two are such a telegraphed couple in an honest, earnest show that I'd be hugely surprised if they wouldn't end up being an item.

 

 

 

And now...

Cardcaptor Sakura: Sakura card arc, episodes one and two.

The first two epsiodes, the opening of the new arc did a few things that were fun, and a few that left me wondering. Overall the two episodes weren't nearly as strong as the prior ones, but in all fairness, neither was the opening of the Clow card arc.

Spoilers ahead.
 

Spoiler

 

Sakura has spent the summer holidays doing sweet nothing. Kaho was put on a bus, which is the first questionable decision. Yes, her part in the show is essentially over, but that's no reason to boot Makoto. She probably needed to go because she's too powerful and/or knowledgeable to have around, in a similar way that Sailor Pluto isn't a good idea to have around all the time.

The random clearly magical transfer student card is played. Unlike with Shaoran, Sakura immediately takes a liking to her new classmate. Shaoran is extremely annoyed by how friendly the two immediately appear to be. Tomoyo more or less casually reveals that she's known for a while now that Shaoran cares for Sakura. Sakura meanwhile is completely clueless why Shaoran seems so annoyed.

Tomoyo is immensely amused by the situation, but is also sad because without cards to capture, Sakura has no reason to wear her new costumes.

Something magical shows up and it rains the entire time. Sakura tries to do something about it, but her key no longer transforms into the Star Wand she had at the end of the first arc. Kero summons Yue in the next episode and they talk about it, but Sakura finds out - while threatened - that she needs a different incancation to summon the wand. The Clow book also changes to read SAKURA - hence the name of the arc, and she transforms Fiery from a Clow card to a Sakura card to end the rain.

A mysterious figure who certainly isn't the mysterious transfer student in a magical robe, no, not at all, Never ever, no way, who is accompanied by his own winged lion and angel like guardian figure, talks about how Sakura is every bit as impressive as he imagined. There's the implication that the situation that forces Sakura to convert the Clow card to her own was conjured up by the mysterious figure, who isn't at all Eriol the transfer student from England.

The same England that Kaho left for. What a coincidence.

Wait, what did Kaho say two episodes ago. There are no coincidences, only inevitability.

Oh, wait, I forgot to mention, there's a new transfer student in Toya's class too. A girl who clearly has taken a liking to him and chases him everywhere, much to his dismay. That is one character I have no idea what to make of. Other than being another Utena reference, because she keeps jumping on Toya in the same way Utena's best friend does with her.

 

The one thing that is super, super, super, incredibly and super super SUPER annoying is that the subtitles for the second arc were written by someone else. The first set was credited by Netflix to a Veronika Ritter and were often riddled with typoes and some grammatical errors, but at least they were decently written.

This arc has subs credited to one Sophiana Collins (I think that was the name, not 100% certain), and guessing by the name, the reason why they're so bad is because they're either machine translated from English to German or Ms. Collins translated from one foreign language to another.

Luckily I was able to solve that by switching the subs to English, where they are at least... making sense and use the appropriate pronouns. It's not nice to refer to Toya as "it" there, subtitles. Even if he is annoying every now and then.

One of the things in the German subtitles that made me switch was having to spend a bit of time to figure out what Kero meant by saying snow hare.

Spoiler

Yuki-Usagi is Kero's nickname for Yue. Yuki usagi refers to Japanese snow hares, or as our subtitles called them, Schneehase. Yeah, what? Telling Sakura to invite the snow hare. Sure. Translate names out of context into their literal meaning. Imagine that happening in Sailor Moon when pretty little child of love (no, really, that's exactly what Aino Minako means) and bunny of the moon go stalking a boy that's actually a girl, why don't you. Bah.

 

Edited May 27, 2021 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

22 minutes ago, majestic said:

Go watch the first episode of JoJo's Bizarre adventure, that should reset your ears.

 

[Bartimaeus]

5 hours ago, majestic said:

I really like the Sakura is afraid of spooky things running gag. It makes no sense since she knows more about magic than anyone else except Shaoran and Kero, but it's great.

Perhaps the association of ghosts with the dead and her mother?

5 hours ago, majestic said:

You should really cleanse that spark of weeabooism in your ear there. Go watch the first episode of JoJo's Bizarre adventure, that should reset your ears.

@KP the meanie zucchini Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan, episode 2:

Spoiler

these people are saying utterly ridiculous lines about making manga and selling sailor moon figures and buying mountains just for the art, but their voices are so dramatic and grave you'd think they were making plans for war or something

"You're messing with me again" she says about the man whose death she's doubting after visibly inserting a literal golf club straight into the base of his skull and seeing a pool of blood seeping from and around his head. You ain't too sharp lady, are you? Trust fund kiddies, am I right? And now she's whining and screaming about it - well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of your own actions!

Okay, so, it's a weird thing, this episode and the last did make me laugh with how ridiculous and over the top it is with these weird ideas, but at the same time, literally nothing about this appeals to me at all so I still don't really enjoy it that much lmao; definitely a show that works better for me in this Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan format when I just want a funny one-off "what the hell am I watching" adventure. Preeetty sure I wouldn't be able to handle/stick with the full regular show.

 

5 hours ago, majestic said:

It was a pretty big moment for her, being able to feel the aura of a card. That was the first time, I think. Before that there was only Shaoran that could do that, and Kero. It's one of her growing moments as magic user, but yes, it seemed a bit overly dramatic. I wonder who the girl in the sailor fuku was at the end there. That seems familiar, somehow...

Well, like I said, I'm not complaining - kind of accidentally creating a really tense moment and almost sinister moment was strange but still cool, . Kind of makes me want to find out if the people primarily responsible for this made anything else that would interest me...

5 hours ago, majestic said:

The one thing that is super, super, super, incredibly and super super SUPER annoying is that the subtitles for the second arc were written by someone else. The first set was credited by Netflix to a Veronika Ritter and were often riddled with typoes and some grammatical errors, but at least they were decently written.

This arc has subs credited to one Sophiana Collins (I think that was the name, not 100% certain), and guessing by the name, the reason why they're so bad is because they're either machine translated from English to German or Ms. Collins translated from one foreign language to another.

Luckily I was able to solve that by switching the subs to English, where they are at least... making sense and use the appropriate pronouns. It's not nice to refer to Toya as "it" there, subtitles. Even if he is annoying every now and then.

One of the things in the German subtitles that made me switch was having to spend a bit of time to figure out what Kero meant by saying snow hare.

That would be super annoying. ...I mean what you said in the spoiler, but really, everything that you said about the subtitles changing too. Speaking of, I've stuck with the original subtitles I had, which are probably different still from the English ones you have? The fan-subs were okay, but the writing "voice" feels different from the first set and it just didn't click as well. More evidence that the whole subs vs. dubs debate is asinine and it totally and simply depends on what works better for the individual and the quality of what you have for the specific show/movie, .

Edited May 28, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Perhaps the association of ghosts with the dead and her mother?

Could be, but her mother is nothing but kind, and not scary. Maybe she had an experience with a bad spirit at some point. Or maybe not, either way, it's fine and fun.

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

That would be super annoying. ...I mean what you said in the spoiler, but really, everything that you said about the subtitles changing too. Speaking of, I've stuck with the original subtitles I had, which are probably different still from the English ones you have? The fan-subs were okay, but the writing "voice" feels different from the first set and it just didn't click as well. More evidence that the whole subs vs. dubs debate is asinine and it totally and simply depends on what works better for the individual and the quality of what you have for the specific show/movie, .

I guess they're not going to be the same subtitles, because subtitles have the same weird licensing issues as films and TV shows - and they're often from separate companies. It's entirely possible to have a BR of a film with a certain set of subtitles that simply aren't available on any given streaming service because the streaming service did not or could not license the subs. It's baffling.

Honestly if there's a film on a streaming service I have access to that doesn't have the subtitles I want, I strap on my peg leg and hook, grow a mean beard (okay with all the barber shops more closed than open in the past months, that one has become more permanent ), drink grog and listen to the best parts of the Deadfire soundtrack, the sea shanties, without feeling one bit bad about it.

However, I will know for sure once Shaoran is addressed by first name. He didn't appear in the second episode after I switched. The biggest problem with the German subtitles is that they feel machine generated - translated from out of context of the show. With the subs for the first arc, while they could have used an editing pass (so many instances of Sakrua, that spell checking did not work at all, if there ever was one), they at least read like whoever wrote them watched the episodes, and didn't just translate an excel sheet full of Japanese with no context. 

I hope the English ones are better. They were for the end of the episode, but there wasn't that much dialogue any more.

[majestic]

Random observations about Sakura card arc, Episode 3 (well, 49 overall).

 

Spoiler

 

• Mysterious transfer student Eriol is CERTAINLY IMPOSSIBLY TOTALLY UTTERLY not the mysterious figure that causes Sakura to experience situations where she needs to convert Clow cards to Sakura cards. Totally not.
• Mysterious transfer student girl from Toya's class is Yukito's equivalent of Eriol Mysterious Figure. That's how she's able to interrupt Toya talking to Yukito about what happened in the finale of the last arc every single time he tries to.
• Eriol, who is totally not the mystery figure that makes Sakura convert cards for some reason, mentioed to Sakura that they might have met in a prior life. There are hints that Eriol might be a reincarnaton or the spirit of Clow Reed.
• Eriol Mystery figure creates higher stake situations than the Clow cards did, or at least that's two now that were actually really dangerous. Not sure I like that part too much. Having a high stakes episode was something special in the first arc. But he does so without malice at least.
• Sakura writes letters to Kaho. I wonder if she'll get an answer.
• Tomoyo is a total boss and has everything figured out already and is working hard on setting Sakura and Shaoran up. It's heartwarming to see, if also a little sad. 

 

English subtitles on Netflix refer to Shaoran as "Li" just like the girls call him ("Li-kun"). Begs the question why they do that, actually. He's been around for a while now, they could move to a first name basis there, really. But they're much better than the German ones.

[majestic]

Cardcaptor Sakura, Sakura card arc, episode 4.

I never expected this in this anime. Never.
 

Spoiler

 

We just lost a character that was with us for the entire run so far. I'm... I'm... struggling. Why? Why, cruel world, how could you do this?
Say farewell to...

Spoiler

 

He's dead, Jim!

 

Okay so in case you were afraid to click on the spoiler above, it's a joke.

Real spoilers:

Spoiler

 

Guess the writers figured out that this Mystery Figure stuff isn't going to fool the audience. Eriol is directly revealed as reincarnation of Clow Reed, who is in Japan for, well, fun... and apparently to prepare Sakura for something that's about to happen. He is accompanied by Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun, a girl and panther version of Yue and Kerberos.

Ruby Moon is really weird and creepy, and unlike Eriol, who seems to put Sakura through ordeals with the intent of strengthening her for something, her intentions towards Toya don't seem to be all that friendly. Unless her idea to "consume" him is a sexual euphemism, but that... yeah, nope. Pretty sure she wants to eat him. Not in the cannibal sense, but in a spiritual one. Toya does have some sort of magical ability or sixth sense after all.

That leaves one problem. How long is it going to take Sakura and Syaoran (yes, the English subs use the actual Japanese romanization, sigh) to catch on?

In the last episode, he was the last one to use the piano that attacked Tomoyo, and in this one, he buys a bag full of threads, and Sharoan ends up being controlled - like a marionette - by magical threads Sakura has to cut with a transformed Sword card.

However, that aside... did I mention that Tomoyo is like, the boss, already? Rika makes a stuffed teddy bear, and she tells her an "overseas" legend about how, when you name the bear after yourself and then gift it to someone you like, they will love you for eternity. Rika of course ends up giving the bear to Terada-sensei.

I'm beginning to get the idea that Nanase Ohkawa had a huge crush on one of her teachers at some point. The show is obsessed with crushes on teachers.

 

 

@Bartimaeus

15 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Well, like I said, I'm not complaining - kind of accidentally creating a really tense moment and almost sinister moment was strange but still cool, . Kind of makes me want to find out if the people primarily responsible for this made anything else that would interest me...

CLAMP made a whole lot of things from a wide variety of genres, and there are a good deal of anime adaptations, but I don't know how many of them were also written by CLAMP like Cardcaptor Sakura.

I'm planning to check out Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle at least, because it was made by Bee Train and has a Yuki Kajiura soundtrack. Critics panned it for it's slow pacing and teenager focused romantic plot parts, which... honestly, both things don't sound that negative to me, even if it is apparently about an alternate reality Shaoran and Sakura. Ms. Kajiura at the very least most likely made a killer soundtrack.

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

16 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

these people are saying utterly ridiculous lines about making manga and selling sailor moon figures and buying mountains just for the art, but their voices are so dramatic and grave you'd think they were making plans for war or something

Selling Sailor Moon figures is serious business.

[Bartimaeus]

26 minutes ago, majestic said:

Cardcaptor Sakura, Sakura card arc, episode 4.

I never expected this in this anime. Never.
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

We just lost a character that was with us for the entire run so far. I'm... I'm... struggling. Why? Why, cruel world, how could you do this?
Say farewell to...

  Reveal hidden contents

 

He's dead, Jim!

 

Okay so in case you were afraid to click on the spoiler above, it's a joke.

Real spoilers:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Guess the writers figured out that this Mystery Figure stuff isn't going to fool the audience. Eriol is directly revealed as reincarnation of Clow Reed, who is in Japan for, well, fun... and apparently to prepare Sakura for something that's about to happen. He is accompanied by Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun, a girl and panther version of Yue and Kerberos.

Ruby Moon is really weird and creepy, and unlike Eriol, who seems to put Sakura through ordeals with the intent of strengthening her for something, her intentions towards Toya don't seem to be all that friendly. Unless her idea to "consume" him is a sexual euphemism, but that... yeah, nope. Pretty sure she wants to eat him. Not in the cannibal sense, but in a spiritual one. Toya does have some sort of magical ability or sixth sense after all.

That leaves one problem. How long is it going to take Sakura and Syaoran (yes, the English subs use the actual Japanese romanization, sigh) to catch on?

In the last episode, he was the last one to use the piano that attacked Tomoyo, and in this one, he buys a bag full of threads, and Sharoan ends up being controlled - like a marionette - by magical threads Sakura has to cut with a transformed Sword card.

However, that aside... did I mention that Tomoyo is like, the boss, already? Rika makes a stuffed teddy bear, and she tells her an "overseas" legend about how, when you name the bear after yourself and then gift it to someone you like, they will love you for eternity. Rika of course ends up giving the bear to Terada-sensei.

I'm beginning to get the idea that Nanase Ohkawa had a huge crush on one of her teachers at some point. The show is obsessed with crushes on teachers.

 

 

@Bartimaeus

CLAMP made a whole lot of things from a wide variety of genres, and there are a good deal of anime adaptations, but I don't know how many of them were also written by CLAMP like Cardcaptor Sakura.

I'm planning to check out Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle at least, because it was made by Bee Train and has a Yuki Kajiura soundtrack. Critics panned it for it's slow pacing and teenager focused romantic plot parts, which... honestly, both things don't sound that negative to me, even if it is apparently about an alternate reality Shaoran and Sakura. Ms. Kajiura at the very least most likely made a killer soundtrack.

 

I read the first line of your spoiler and noped straight out of the spoiler immediately. I don't know who it was about and now I'm greatly afeared to find out - can't do it, pal. I guess you needn't bother to write any more spoilers, since apparently I can't read them from now on. I am *way* too into this anime.

[majestic]

17 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I read the first line of your spoiler and noped straight out of the spoiler immediately. I don't know who it was about and now I'm greatly afeared to find out - can't do it, pal. I guess you needn't bother to write any more spoilers, since apparently I can't read them from now on. I am *way* too into this anime.

It was a joke. Sorry. But you'll get there soon enough.

But yeah, good to know. No need to write mini-recaps then until you've caught up or finished. With the rate you're going that'll be pretty soon.

edit:

To explain fully, the first line above and inside the spoiler tag was a joke of a sort. I figured I'd tease something totally dramatic for comedic effect. That apparently worked a little too well, but you really need not be afraid of anything. There's a line directly below the first sub spoiler that reads "In case you were afraid to click, this was just a joke" but I guess you already bugged out before getting that far.

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

lmao good lord man

Spoiler

I actually thought someone died because I read literally only what preceded the spoiler and then the first sentence of that spoiler. although the actual spoiler is a little traumatic too, that camera is like my second favorite character, wtf bro

But yeah, my heart nearly exploded when I read that, I am *way* too into this to be able to keep reading genuine spoilers. You gotta cover stuff in a much more vague way or maybe just mention the funny/sweet bits without enough context, this show is basically sacred to me right now. I almost don't want to watch anymore because of how much I love it. How ridiculous for a silly little anime like this is that?

Edited May 28, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

6 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

How ridiculous for a silly little anime like this is that?

You're also watching in Japanese and liking it.

Welcome to Otaku City.

It's also not ridiculous at all, but I'm guessing that was a rhetorical question.

10 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

But yeah, my heart nearly exploded when I read that, I am *way* too into this to be able to keep reading genuine spoilers. You gotta cover stuff in a much more vague way or maybe just mention the funny/sweet bits without enough context, this show is basically sacred to me right now.

Don't worry, I'll stop posting spoilers, or keep things really vague from now on. Although, probably not even that. I wouldn't want to cause a heart attack.

13 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I almost don't want to watch anymore because of how much I love it.

Have you continued past episode 19 by the way? Doesn't sound like it.

17 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

lmao good lord man

  Hide contents

I actually thought someone died because I read literally only what preceded the spoiler and then the first sentence of that spoiler. although the actual spoiler is a little traumatic too, that camera is like my second favorite character, wtf bro

I'm not sure why I quoted the post in such a disjointed mess. I guess I joined the Hysteron Proteron Club.

[Bartimaeus]

It's suddenly gotten awfully Sailor Moon original English dub up in here.

Spoiler

"so these two are cousins"

"HE'S MY FIANCE"

ight imma head out; although it's kind of funny to see xiaolong/shaoran be so humiliated like this after being kind of mean to Sakura for a while, what the actual hell is this Meiling girl

p.s. true-to-life reenactment of what happened earlier:

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

I'm pretty sure Meilin is Shaoran's karmic punishment for being mean to Sakura in the prior episodes.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Finished a rough draft of a short script, so I watched an episode of AoT to relax. It's intriguing but has one of my pet peeves, naked monsters with no genitals. Minor thing though, but weird when you think about it.

I'm going to try to watch Boyhood this weekend because I recently got into an internet debate over Richard Linklater being a better director than Tarantino (which he clearly is tbh, Tarantino needs an editor to tell him when to stop) but after that I'll watch more anime.

[Bartimaeus]

Nice job! But did you say...Boyhood?

Spoiler

Did you know that IT TOOK TWELVE YEARS TO MAKE?

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

12 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Nice job! But did you say...Boyhood?

  Reveal hidden contents

Did you know that IT TOOK TWELVE YEARS TO MAKE?

 

Yeah that's a selling point. One thing I like about Linklater is how he tries weird stuff, like the film Tape occurring in real time.

[majestic]

9 hours ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

(which he clearly is tbh, Tarantino needs an editor to tell him when to stop)

A literary one, I'd say. His directing is less of an issue than his writing, in my opinion. Just look at From Dusk Til Dawn as proof. That film is so Tarantino that most people assume he directed, while that was Robert Rodriguez, someone who consistently made films that I enjoyed more* than any Tarantino offering. Except maybe Sin City, that can go rot in hell along with Pulp Fiction. I don't mind nonlinear narratives, but if you want to make three short films into one feature film offering, then... well, no, just don't do that.

*By that I mean not wanting to pull my hair out while watching, at least. Machete was also pretty hilarious and entertaining, and that's pretty much all I require of films like that.

Regarding Boyhood, keep in mind...

Spoiler

Hahaha.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

3 hours ago, majestic said:

A literary one, I'd say. His directing is less of an issue than his writing, in my opinion. Just look at From Dusk Til Dawn as proof. That film is so Tarantino that most people assume he directed, while that was Robert Rodriguez, someone who consistently made films that I enjoyed more* than any Tarantino offering. Except maybe Sin City, that can go rot in hell along with Pulp Fiction. I don't mind nonlinear narratives, but if you want to make three short films into one feature film offering, then... well, no, just don't do that.

*By that I mean not wanting to pull my hair out while watching, at least. Machete was also pretty hilarious and entertaining, and that's pretty much all I require of films like that.

Regarding Boyhood, keep in mind...

  Reveal hidden contents

Hahaha.

It's both writing and directing, other than Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill part 1*, and Deathproof*, none of his films have been under 2 and a half hours. Given how the guy who produced most of Tarantino's films is famous for forcing cuts (and being a rampant sexual predator), it's kind of weird that other than the first film he made there wasn't many cuts to compress runtime.

Pulp Fiction was ok the first time I saw it, but I don't think it holds up very well over multiple viewings because a lot of it is built on surprise and novelty. And to me it doesn't feel like a short film anthology so much as a narrative chopped up to be non-linear, like with some edits to structure you'd have a normal linear crime drama. I think a collection of short films as a feature can be a cool idea, but it depends on how it's done. Sin City did it badly because it looked bad and Frank Miller dialogue is not good.

More anime tho, AoT episode 2.

*Both of these are also part of another movie though, so caveats I guess.

[Bartimaeus]

1 hour ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

think a collection of short films as a feature can be a cool idea, but it depends on how it's done.

This reminds me that I want to re-watch Memories at some point...it left an impression, but my memories of it are hazier than I'd like, possibly due to the format of three ~40 minute films in one.

Sakura:

Spoiler

Honestly, I don't really dislike Meiling, though I don't like her either. That might change one way or the other with more episodes, but the fact that she's trying so hard as a squib to prove her worth and stuff while Sakura patiently ignores her insults and tries to help her somehow makes her more sympathetic. We'll see just how bad she gets. Even with her running around yelling and crying in the marathon episode, it was still very good.

One thing I haven't mentioned yet so far is...well, something else this show has improved on over Sailor Moon, and that's the fact that Sakura's father and brother - i.e. her family - are actually...you know, are consistently a part of the show in meaningful even if sometimes small ways, and not just something that will very rarely pop up purely for the sake of them fulfilling some purpose within an episode. It really feels like we're giving an inside look at Sakura's home life and what that actually means for her in addition to the school and Clow Card stuff, not to mention her friends and her romance problems - all the different elements of this show are very well balanced without ever teeter-tottering too much to one side for too long.

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

9 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

This reminds me that I want to re-watch Memories at some point...it left an impression, but my memories of it are hazier than I'd like, possibly due to the format of three ~40 minute films in one.

So your memories of Memories aren't memorable?

[Bartimaeus]

30 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

So your memories of Memories aren't memorable?

Hmm, I wouldn't put it quite that way, because I've still been thinking on and off about it since I watched it, but I do think it could use a refresher. The soundtrack is super memorable in its weird way, that's for sure...

(e): Sakura:

Spoiler

Put it on the backburner, . Beautiful stuff.

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

50 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

 

  Hide contents

Honestly, I don't really dislike Meiling, though I don't like her either. That might change one way or the other with more episodes, but the fact that she's trying so hard as a squib to prove her worth and stuff while Sakura patiently ignores her insults and tries to help her somehow makes her more sympathetic. We'll see just how bad she gets. Even with her running around yelling and crying in the marathon episode, it was still very good.

One thing I haven't mentioned yet so far is...well, something else this show has improved on over Sailor Moon, and that's the fact that Sakura's father and brother - i.e. her family - are actually...you know, are consistently a part of the show in meaningful even if sometimes small ways, and not just something that will very rarely pop up purely for the sake of them fulfilling some purpose within an episode. It really feels like we're giving an inside look at Sakura's home life and what that actually means for her in addition to the school and Clow Card stuff, not to mention her friends and her romance problems - all the different elements of this show are very well balanced without ever teeter-tottering too much to one side for too long.

 

Spoiler

 

You're in the middle of a streak of absolutely brilliant episodes there. The "monster" of the week makes a running track loop, Sakura and Shaoran help Meilin after she's hurt herself even though she was nothing but hyper competitive and obnoxious so far.  Sakura is really just a genuinely nice girl that somehow stumbled into this magic business and now makes the best of it.

There's one other thing - the show makes something of the absence of her mother. She isn't just dead to give Sakura a tragic backstory. Sailor Moon never made anything of Makoto's or Rei's troubled and tragic family history, at least not directly. As much as I loved the focus episodes and their interactions in S and Sailor Stars, it's noticable that these came after the fact in an attempt to flesh out the characters a bit. It turned out pretty great in spite of the fact, but one is really left to wonder what could have been had this received the same level of planning and care that so obviously went into Cardcaptor Sakura.

The way Sakura's family has to share in the household chores because her mother died early, the fact that her brother and her father picked up a lot of skills that would otherwise traditionally fall to her mother like sowing and cooking. Her brother's working part time at 16 to bring some more money in.

It's all so believably put together.

It's also probably a bit easier when you can focus on one magical protagonist with a magical deuteragonist instead of juggling a five man ensemble sentai cast. It's no wonder that Usagi's family fell off the radar with S, much like Naru and Umino. Sailor Moon had 200 episodes worth of content and still felt like some of the girls could have used more screen time. *cough* Makoto *cough*

Feels a bit like beating down on my favorite anime, but that's not it. It's simply a fact that its production was a mess all around, while Cardcaptor Sakura received a level of attention to detail and care that is really, really impressive for a TV anime series.

Plus you're one episode away from the episode that well and truly sold me on Sakura's seiyuu doing an amazing job as Sakura.

 

 

[Bartimaeus]

48 minutes ago, majestic said:

Feels a bit like beating down on my favorite anime, but that's not it. It's simply a fact that its production was a mess all around, while Cardcaptor Sakura received a level of attention to detail and care that is really, really impressive for a TV anime series.

Spoiler

Yeah, I don't want to sound like I'm down on Sailor Moon either...it's just that Sakura is so incredibly well-made in direct comparison to Sailor Moon. It's like they identified all of Sailor Moon's biggest flaws and and did a good to great job at fixing each of them, while offering something very different character and world-wise and aimed it at a little younger demographic...without ever dumbing it down or talking down to the audience. If anything, the opposite - everything feels so grounded, relatable, and restrained here. It's...kind of remarkable. I am very curious to see if they can keep up this level of thoughtfulness and quality during the entire 70 episode run of the show.

48 minutes ago, majestic said:

You're in the middle of a streak of absolutely brilliant episodes there. The "monster" of the week makes a running track loop, Sakura and Shaoran help Meilin after she's hurt herself even though she was nothing but hyper competitive and obnoxious so far.  Sakura is really just a genuinely nice girl that somehow stumbled into this magic business and now makes the best of it.

I noted early on that I really liked how they were handling the "monsters" in this show because of the neat and interesting situations they were creating in the world and between characters, and it's really only gotten better. These are extraordinarily simple ideas...but the key thing is that they come in different shapes and sizes and they're executed so well. You can have the most impossibly clever idea or concept in all of fiction, but if you cannot execute it well, does anybody care at all? No! And yes, Sakura has well-earned some of her adoration from Tomoyo, .

48 minutes ago, majestic said:

It's also probably a bit easier when you can focus on one magical protagonist with a magical deuteragonist instead of juggling a five man ensemble sentai cast. It's no wonder that Usagi's family fell off the radar with S, much like Naru and Umino. Sailor Moon had 200 episodes worth of content and still felt like some of the girls could have used more screen time. *cough* Makoto *cough*

Yeah - Sailor Moon *desperately* needed to do exactly what Sakura has been unafraid to do, which is say "screw it" and hyperfocus on the character stuff while eschewing everything else when it's appropriate. That would be the only way it could have enough time to really do its characters proper justice. Alas, it was not to be - and it's such an incredible shame too, because it's not like there wasn't plenty of time to do so with the 40 episode seasons...but they had to follow their formulas, for one reason or another.

Episode 25: ...Speaking of the voice actress:

Spoiler

I immediately thought of Perfect Blue when Fake!Sakura popped up and started destroying things in front of her school friends. And then I remembered that they're actually the same VA for these two characters...creepy!

oh gosh what is happening in this episode

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Bartimaeus