Anime, the eternal Jettokōsutā

[majestic]

There was a four months hiatus between CCS episode 35 and 36. Sakura is now in 5th grade, and we have a new intro I don't like that much and a new outro that's... mesmerizing.

Not so sure about the song, but there's something about the combination that just makes me not fast forward through it.

Speaking of fast forwarding:
 

Spoiler

 

I wish Netflix would have a away to use the "next episode" button while still filling up the progress bar of the episode. At least auto-play can be turned off now and I don't need to actively stop it from loading up the next episode so I can fast forward through the credits of whatever it is I'm watching.

How do people deal with having their progress bars look like this:

Who thought that would be a good idea?

How can you do this to me, Netflix? Why?

 

 

[Bartimaeus]

Remember when I said I hate achievements and pointless, annoying stat-tracking? Netflix keeping track of crap like the exact second you stopped watching every single movie and episode you've ever turned on for even a single second is another example of that. Luckily for me, my main method of watching stuff is NOT Netflix and so I view Netflix more of a trash-tier "let's watch either something for children or maybe just try something out that caught my eye", so I really don't care what it does or doesn't track - if it's something I actually love, it'll eventually be on my hard drives, so who cares? Speaking of Netflix, compare the raw bluray vs Netflix quality:

Spoiler

 

 

Better crop, better colors, better quality...better transfer. Think I'll take the bluray, thanks, .

2 hours ago, majestic said:

Not so sure about the song, but there's something about the combination that just makes me not fast forward through it.

The song's way better, too...and doesn't sound like literal pointless gibberish like the last one. Big improvement all around.

(e):

Spoiler

Tomoyo: "I just want to spend some more time with you, even if it's just a little bit."
Sakura: *SAKURA CONFUSION INTENSIFIES*

Yeah, that was about my reaction too, Sakura. Short of deciding to live with her, I don't see how Tomoyo could possibly spend any more time with Sakura than she already does.

Xiaolang and Sakura both crushing on the same boy? ...Interesting.

"Not only is Sakura quick as lightning, she's also as cute as a button!" ...Tomoyo instantly jumps into to say when she just happens to hear someone else bring her up. And then dreams about Sakura wearing even "cuter" clothing...and then we get some backstory on how she never sees her mom and has never even mentioned her father to Sakura even once. HMM.

These children are screaming and crying for help while being buried under literal several feet worth of flowers, and Sakura dad and Tomoyo's mom just keep racing like complete psychopaths...

This show...

 

Edited May 24, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

  There's some early weirdness going on (including some conflicting information about when and where exactly Sakura's mother and father met). I think the flower rain in this episode stays even after the card is captured, but in later episodes anything summoned by cards disappears, which sometimes isn't much better in terms of how confusing that must be for the residents of Tomoeda, without ever being mentioned of course.

Spoiler

One of the later episode has the Snow card snow in everything in April. Not only is the entire city snowed in up to the roof, it all also disappears when Sakura uses her magic to make it go away and capture Snow. You'd think someone would find it strange how that much snow disappears in an instant without flooding everything, but hey, in Tokyo buildings dissapear and the world almost gets destroyed five times in a row in as many years with nobody noticing, some things are just... magic.

 

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Remember when I said I hate achievements and pointless, annoying stat-tracking? Netflix keeping track of crap like the exact second you stopped watching every single movie and episode you've ever turned on for even a single second is another example of that. Luckily for me, my main method of watching stuff is NOT Netflix and so I view Netflix more of a trash-tier "let's watch either something for children or maybe just try something out that caught my eye", so I really don't care what it does or doesn't track - if it's something I actually love, it'll eventually be on my hard drives, so who cares? Speaking of Netflix, compare the raw bluray vs Netflix quality:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Better crop, better colors, better quality...better transfer. Think I'll take the bluray, thanks, .

Well, that's one hell of a difference. Maybe in another life - or when I finally upgrade my gear - I'll have enough disk space. Until then, streaming it is for space reasons. Same reason I stopped getting actual blu rays, or real books.

I've used Netflix with several different smart devices, ranging from BR players to tablets to TVs, and some of them can't fully fill up the progress bars, even if you fast forward through all the credits. Certain Amazon Video clients on TVs have the same issue, or even worse, while they can continue from an episode or film you've left off, doing so doesn't complete the progress bar of the episode, making it impossible to resume on some other device without manually switching the episodes (after making sure that progress bar is completed, of course!). It's frustrating.

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

The song's way better, too...and doesn't sound like literal pointless gibberish like the last one. Big improvement all around.

They also dropped the Leave it to Kero-Chan! segment now. Could have done that earlier. It was never really interesting but my brain forced me to watch it anyway.

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

(e):

  Hide contents

Tomoyo: "I just want to spend some more time with you, even if it's just a little bit."
Sakura: *SAKURA CONFUSION INTENSIFIES*

Yeah, that was about my reaction too, Sakura. Short of deciding to live with her, I don't see how Tomoyo could possibly spend any more time with Sakura than she already does.

Xiaolang and Sakura both crushing on the same boy? ...Interesting.

"Not only is Sakura quick as lightning, she's also as cute as a button!" ...Tomoyo instantly jumps into to say when she just happens to hear someone else bring her up. And then dreams about Sakura wearing even "cuter" clothing...and then we get some backstory on how she never sees her mom and has never even mentioned her father to Sakura even once. HMM.

These children are screaming and crying for help while being buried under literal several feet worth of flowers, and Sakura dad and Tomoyo's mom just keep racing like complete psychopaths...

This show...

 

Spoiler

 

Sometimes when Tomoyo and Sakura end up in a Card capturing situation Tomoyo will complain about not having her camcorder to film Sakura. She'll always fall over in response. Tomoyo's obsessive stalking is funny and cute in the context of the show, but it's not something one should think about too much. There's a number of these running gags, and they're almost always in effect, and they're invariably funny - or I'm easy to entertain.

The CCS wiki pretty much confirmed my impression of her way of speaking. She really talks in a much more cultured and high class (and intellectual) way than the other girls on the show. Or anyone else on the show. Guess that makes sense with her upbringing. She's also probably pretty lonely.

 

 

Edited May 24, 2021 by majestic

[majestic]

There are two Cardcaptor Sakura movies, and the first one is according to what I've read supposed to be watched between episodes 35 and 36. So I missed that already.

CCS episode #40
 

Spoiler

 

Had a card that showed dreams, mixed with glimpses of the future. Interesting what the four saw:

Tomoyo saw a huge bunch of Sakuras wearing her outfits. Also... her entire world is Sakura, apparently. Lots and lots of Sakuras.

Meilin looks at a wedding dress and sees a wedding. That one's actually a little painful when you think about how much Shaoran doesn't want to even be around her. Watching them I'm always getting the feeling that he's ashamed of her, at the best of times, completely put off at the worst. She's loud, abrasive, obnoxious, pretends to be better at everything than everyone else and sometimes even says or does things in front of Sakura and Yukito he finds embarrassing.

Still... like everything else on this show, her - for want of a better word - love for Shaoran is incredibly heartfelt and honest, and even if this is for a younger audience and they're really all still very young, I'm almost sure she notices that Shaoran doesn't want her to be around. She's just overplaying this. By being loud, abrasive, obnoxious and pretending to be better at everything than everyone else. She's also always tagging along when they go capturing cards, but can't contribute anything. Just like Tomoyo, but Sakura wants Tomoyo around, while Shaoran... would probably put her on the first flight back to Hong Kong if he could.

Since I'm guessing that Yukito has a role to play in the main storyline that will result in resolving Sakura's crush on him*, I'm wondering if Meilin will get an episode where she features more prominently to resolve that. I hope so. I might not really like her that much, but she deserves that much at least. Also curious to note here that Meilin is a character that is only in the anime, not in the manga, but Nanase Ohkawa (the mangaka) was part of the writing team and involved with a lot of the episodes. Most of them, even.

Shaoran sees himself giving all the cards he managed to collect to Sakura, and her hugging him for it, right after Meilin drags them to a romantic movie.

Sakura has a dream that's dark and full of spoilers. Lots of imagery, even. That's something I didn't expect in this show, and it goes on for a while. It does end with Sakura telling herself that everything will be daijoubu. It also has Yukito saying that he wants to spend time (or be with) Sakura, so that's clearly some wish fulfillment on her part. The mysterious long haired figure in her dream is confirmed to be Sailor Jupiter Kaho Mizuki, to absolutely no one's surprise.

They even go to Toyko and visit the Toyko tower. Not sure if that's something 11 year olds do on their free time on their own in Japan, but why not. Maybe Tomoeda is a suburb and it's just a minor train ride to Toyko proper.

*More spoilerish things:

Spoiler

 

In a prior episode Sakura uses Mirror to sneak out of the house. Toya, who brings her something to eat and has the ability to sense that Mirror isn't Sakura (Sakura doesn't know that), tells her as much, and he also says that he knows what she's doing. Mirror is supposed to tell Sakura that, but she forgets (and Sakura is in no condition to listen anyway, she's sick in the episode).

Yukito and Toya see Kero in Sakura's semi-prophetic dream. I'm pretty sure that should imply that not only does Toya know what Sakura really does all the time, he and Yukito are also aware of Kero. Therefore the prediction that Yukito will be related to the storyline in some way, much like Sailor Mizuki and Shaoran will be.

 

Episode name transcripts revealed something else to me: It's Syaoran and Meirin. Thanks Japan, but I'll keep using Shaoran and Meilin.

 

Edited May 24, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

8 hours ago, majestic said:

Syaoran, Shaoran

Meanwhile, my subtitles call him "Xiaolong", because he's Chinese? I'm not a hundred percent certain. I found some other fansubs that have some additional stylization that looks nice and calls him Shaoran instead, but on the other hand, every single time somebody's name mentioned adds the annoying honorifics like "-chan" to the end, and I rather intensely dislike Japanese honorifics (bad enough I have to hear it, I don't also want to read it!), so I'm still debating...the writing is also somewhat different, and I'm not sure that I like it - maybe I'll make my own hybrid of them, but that's a lot of work.

15 hours ago, majestic said:

Well, that's one hell of a difference. Maybe in another life - or when I finally upgrade my gear - I'll have enough disk space.

What a shame, .

15 hours ago, majestic said:

They also dropped the Leave it to Kero-Chan! segment now. Could have done that earlier. It was never really interesting but my brain forced me to watch it anyway.

I liked the one where she was talking a mile a minute and had to cut herself off in the middle of her own sentence because she ran out of time to talk, but besides that, yeah, not usually the most interesting.

8 hours ago, majestic said:

Just like Tomoyo, but Sakura wants Tomoyo around

and that better not change otherwise it'll be ME on that first flight back to Hong Kong smh

Edited May 25, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Meanwhile, my subtitles call him "Xiaolong", because he's Chinese?

My best guess yes, that's because he's Chinese. Xiaolong looks like it could be Pinyin (without the accents) for the sounds that Shaoran (or Syaoran) are supposed to represent in Japanese Romaji. The fun part here is, it's wrong. Because in both Pinyin and the much less ridiculous but Western (and therefore not used) Wade-Giles romanization sha would be the correct romanization. So either way, it's about as wrong as you can get, and if that's official it's even worse.

Compare the way Shaoran is pronounced in the anime with the samples from the Chinese Pronunciation wiki:

https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/pronunciation/Sha

https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/pronunciation/Xia

Never mind long:

https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/pronunciation/Long

Or lang, because hey, it's Shaoran after all...

https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/pronunciation/Lang

Both don't swallow the g, even if it's less noticable.

Never mind that Sakura just calls him Li-kun anyway.

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I found some other fansubs that have some additional stylization that looks nice and calls him Shaoran instead, but on the other hand, every single time somebody's name mentioned adds the annoying honorifics like "-chan" to the end, and I rather intensely dislike Japanese honorifics (bad enough I have to hear it, I don't also want to read it!), so I'm still debating...the writing is also somewhat different, and I'm not sure that I like it - maybe I'll make my own hybrid of them, but that's a lot of work.

Watching Sailor Moon broke me. Depending on who wrote the episode, the charactes would change the honorifics used to address regular characters, especially in Sailor Stars, and it became so bad something snapped and I stopped being bothered by everyone calling Taiki Taiki-san in one episode and Taiki-kun in the next. I'm pretty sure I complained about that while watching Sailor Stars.

I stopped being bothered by them... the only real thing of importance is noticing when characters are not using honorifics. Like, hey, Toya when he's talking to Yukito. I wonder why that might be.

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I liked the one where she was talking a mile a minute and had to cut herself off in the middle of her own sentence because she ran out of time to talk, but besides that, yeah, not usually the most interesting.

It would probably be more interesting if that Osakan dialect Kero is talking with wouldn't be completely lost on me, or if it had some details or background that is related to the show but would otherwise have no place in it. But it's mostly looking at outfits, or items that came up in the show anyway. It's the pplace where the target audience of Cardcaptor Sakura shows the most.

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

and that better not change otherwise it'll be ME on that first flight back to Hong Kong smh

Somehow I doubt it will. BFFs for life.

[majestic]

CCS #41
 

Spoiler

 

Ms. Mizuki causes more "coincidences" like making Sharoan and Sakura play the princess and prince of their school's upcoming Sleeping Beauty play. When they have a run-in with a powerful Clow card, they need to work together to solve it. Sakura gives the card that belongs to them in equal measure to Shaoran. Ms. Mizuki is seen watching them, there's a hint that she might have been behind the two finding the card where and when they did (neither of them have sensed the card, Makoto Kaho probably masked its aura).

Toya was nice to Sakura for a change and almost talked to her about the time when she used Mirror to try and fool him. That's a theme with Toya. Almost. He also almost told Yukito that Ms. Mizuki is his former love a few episodes ago. Instead he just tells Sakura to take care.

Definitely moving towards the end game here. Meilin has a moment where she imagines herself as the princess Shaoran is supposed to wake. This would probably not be so... disastrous when you're watching this as a member of the target audience. All I can see in these scenes is pain, misery and tears for Meilin, which is such a weird feeling with this anime. It's not like I wouldn't enjoy a subplot like that somewhere else, but just like in SuperS, there's a time and a place for certain topics, and Sailor Moon wasn't the anime for completely unresolved and never talked about sexual abuse allegories and Cardcaptor Sakura isn't the place for unrequited love and heartbreak like that.

But hey, maybe they'll prove me wrong. I hope so, but Meilin barely being in this episode doesn't bode too well. She's probably at home crying her heart out already.

Funny how that goes, when they were introduced I was hoping both would go away sooner rather than later, and now I'm sitting here writing overly long posts about a 10 second scene.

Good job show.

 

 

[majestic]

Episode preview for CCS 43 spoiler:

Spoiler

Has a depressed looking Meilin and one part where she visibly struggles with tears in her eyes. Ah, damn.

The title is... Sakura and Farewell to Meiling so maybe it's not that bad. She's probably just going home. Maybe. Hopefully. Hm...

Talk about 42:

Spoiler

Meiling plays the evil witch / evil fairy in the Sleeping Beauty play and hams it up to 11. Or rather, to OVER NINE THOUSAND to stick with an anime meme.

Plus once the episode is over and Sakura captured a card that removed magic users from reality, she hugs Shaoran (who once again turns a bright orange) and Meilin is really, REALLY unhappy with that.

Yeah, so I think I know who Yue is.

Spoiler

 

It's Yukito. The last few episodes have been full of references to the moon - images, talking, now two cards talking to Sakura said Yue will decide something, and Kero mentioned the moon again. Yukito's last name is Tsukishiro, and as we all know from Usagi, tsuki is Japanese for moon.

SERA JUPITA was also pretty ominous again. She's been far too nice to Sakura to really be bad, but hey, she knows something she's not telling, at least.

 

 

 

Edited May 25, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

So now Tomoyo *and* her mom are both obsessed with Sakura...seems like the problem is genetic. The sight of her daughter grabbing Sakura's hand and leading her away was enough to drive the mom to literal tears. It's kind of messed up that the mom is only making time to see or interact with Tomoyo just because she wants to see Sakura...but I guess it's better than nothing!

I love the attention to little details in this show in individual episodes, even if it sometimes makes setups a little predictable. For example, at the bus stop when Sakura gets off the bus, there's a very fancy gated wall to a property you can see right away and continue to notice as Sakura and Kero wander down the street, and I one hundred percent knew that that was going to be Tomoyo's property immediately upon seeing it long before it became clear to our characters. Or Tomoyo keeping Kero's love of cake in mind and taking a piece with her away from the table (without the show making any kind of active note of it but simply showing her demurely walking away with it) to bring to Kero in the next scene. They're little things that can be obvious to adult viewers and telegraph small bits of what will happen, but they help provide a sort of groundedness and sense to a medium that is often lacking enough of it.

6 hours ago, majestic said:

Watching Sailor Moon broke me. Depending on who wrote the episode, the charactes would change the honorifics used to address regular characters, especially in Sailor Stars, and it became so bad something snapped and I stopped being bothered by everyone calling Taiki Taiki-san in one episode and Taiki-kun in the next. I'm pretty sure I complained about that while watching Sailor Stars.

I wonder: are there animes in non-Japanese that try to tack on the honorifics in a horribly clumsy fashion?

6 hours ago, majestic said:

Somehow I doubt it will. BFFs for life.

I hope so, but the seemingly unequal nature of their relationship would realistically make me fear that exactly what happened with both of their moms could very easily happen again to them and leave Tomoyo broken-hearted...but hopefully that's outside the timeframe of this show, .

Edited May 25, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Bartimaeus]

Okay, Tomoyo is like borderline...not psychotic exactly, but something like it for Sakura's sake.

Spoiler

The compulsive need to constantly film her every action (whether as Cardcaptor or not!), begging Sakura to wear the clothes she made specifically for Sakura and then saying how that's basically her greatest joy (wat), instant and convincing story fabrication and lying straight to her mother's face without even the slightest pause or tone/inflection change to protect Sakura, jumping in to talk everyone's ears off the moment anybody mentions Sakura... It's a good thing she's such a completely adorable, innocent sweetheart, otherwise this should be super creepy...but also, why do I always love the crazy, obsessed ones?

...And then her and her mother sealed up and saved a bouquet of flowers from Sakura's mom from when she got married. Ye' gods, what's wrong with this family?!
(e): lmao, even better, TOMOYO bagged up and sealed away an ERASER that Sakura gave her from when they first met. Her and her mother are for sure gonna have a creepy shrine dedicated to Sakura eventually.

 

Edited May 25, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

  

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

So now Tomoyo *and* her mom are both obsessed with Sakura...seems like the problem is genetic. The sight of her daughter grabbing Sakura's hand and leading her away was enough to drive the mom to literal tears. It's kind of messed up that the mom is only making time to see or interact with Tomoyo just because she wants to see Sakura...but I guess it's better than nothing!

Sakura is supposedly a lot like Nadeshiko. Spoiler for episode 16:

Spoiler

Even Tomoyo's and Sakura's great grandfather confirms this.

Personally I don't see it based on the picture of her, but eh, it's okay.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

I love the attention to little details in this show in individual episodes, even if it sometimes makes setups a little predictable. For example, at the bus stop when Sakura gets off the bus, there's a very fancy gated wall to a property you can see right away and continue to notice as Sakura and Kero wander down the street, and I one hundred percent knew that that was going to be Tomoyo's property immediately upon seeing it long before it became clear to our characters. Or Tomoyo keeping Kero's love of cake in mind and taking a piece with her away from the table (without the show making any kind of active note of it but simply showing her demurely walking away with it) to bring to Kero in the next scene. They're little things that can be obvious to adult viewers and telegraph small bits of what will happen, but they help provide a sort of groundedness and sense to a medium that is often lacking enough of it.

That's true. A lot of the show feels like it was carefully put together. The Twin Bells shop showing up when it makes sense is one of these details. The girls don't go to the mall to buy toys or such items or use any other throwaway shop. The go to Twin Bells, and Sakura and Tomoyo talk to the shop owner every now and then, and when they ask something that seemingly makes no sense to the shopowner she helps them anyway. In some other show they'd probably barge into the mall and ask something and the shopowner answers anyway, or is randomly helpful for no real reason.

edit: It does have some ups and downs, and some questionable choices when it comes to the age of certain characters, but the level of care that went into making this sure shows. Apparently they even got the old team together for Clear Card, so while that might look bad, there's still a chance it might actually be good in spite of the looks.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

I wonder: are there animes in non-Japanese that try to tack on the honorifics in a horribly clumsy fashion?

It's creeping into dubs, Usagi and Chibi-Usa yell Mamo-chan in the Sailor Moon Eternal trailer, and I think the German dub of Madoka has honorifics in it too (which makes it even weirder because we have our own honorifics, even if they're more limited than Japanese ones).

Now if there's any non-Japanese animated show with Japanese characters written by non-Japanese writers who tack on honorifics because it's set there without any real idea how to use them... probably. I don't know any off-hand.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

I hope so, but the seemingly unequal nature of their relationship would realistically make me fear that exactly what happened with both of their moms could very easily happen again to them and leave Tomoyo broken-hearted...but hopefully that's outside the timeframe of this show, .

Slight spoilers:

Spoiler

Tomoyo is aware that Sakura isn't going to love her in the way she does, and she's happy (or at least content) with helping her in any way she can. She even actively helps her to get into situations where she can spend some time alone with Yukito and sometimes even Shaoran.

Sonomi also later at some point complains about Fujitaka in a way that makes clear that she wasn't just unhappy with Nadeshiko no longer having a lot of time for her, but also jealous of how seemingly perfect and happy their relationship was. It's what makes them get along better later. edit: Or did you see that already? Sakura's presence and Sonomi realizing that she's simply unfair. Although, there's not a lot of time spent on it. I kinda wish they'd get another episode or so to finally work out their differences for good. Maybe the might yet?

 

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Okay, Tomoyo is like borderline...not psychotic exactly, but something like it for Sakura's sake.

  Hide contents

The compulsive need to constantly film her every action (whether as Cardcaptor or not!), begging Sakura to wear the clothes she made specifically for Sakura and then saying how that's basically her greatest joy (wat), instant and convincing story fabrication and lying straight to her mother's face without even the slightest pause or tone/inflection change to protect Sakura, jumping in to talk everyone's ears off the moment anybody mentions Sakura... It's a good thing she's such a completely adorable, innocent sweetheart, otherwise this should be super creepy...but also, why do I always love the crazy, obsessed ones?

...And then her and her mother sealed up and saved a bouquet of flowers from Sakura's mom from when she got married. Ye' gods, what's wrong with this family?!
(e): lmao, even better, TOMOYO bagged up and sealed away an ERASER that Sakura gave her from when they first met. Her and her mother are for sure gonna have a creepy shrine dedicated to Sakura eventually.

I already forgot that thing with the lockbox...

Spoiler

The Sakura shrine doesn't show up ever again, at least not in the next 30 or so episodes. It's probably for the best, I wonder if that's in the manga too.

Slightly spoilerish thing:

Spoiler

There's an episode when Tomoyo actively really stalks Sakura while she's on a "date" with Yukito - they to go the theme park together. She's trailing her, camcorder in hand, wearing a yellow trenchcoat, with fake glasses on and Kero in tow (and I don't think Sakura is aware of it). In the context of Cardcaptor Sakura, it's cute and fun, but you're right about one thing. If Tomoyo weren't 10 or 11 at this point and super adorable, this would be great setup for a film or show about the most obsessive, creepiest stalker ever.

Couldn't find an actual screencap and I'm currently too lazy to make a real one (plus it's time for my daily quest on the bike), but this is a fan drawing of her that's - while stylistically really different - not that inaccurate:

 

Edited May 25, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

35 minutes ago, majestic said:

Usagi and Chibi-Usa yell Mamo-chan

As if Mamo and Usako weren't bad enough...but at least they sound like proper nicknames.

Spoiler

 

35 minutes ago, majestic said:

There's an episode when Tomoyo actively really stalks Sakura

...Is it normal to cheer on an eleven year-old girl to stalk another? It doesn't seem like it should be...but it feels so good!

35 minutes ago, majestic said:

Tomoyo is aware that Sakura isn't going to love her in the way she does, and she's happy (or at least content) with helping her in any way she can. She even actively helps her to get into situations where she can spend some time alone with Yukito and sometimes even Shaoran.

This is one of those cases where I do logically realize that these are silly fictional characters in a cartoon, but for some reason this speaks to me and breaks my heart, especially since it seems like Tomoyo doesn't have any other good relationships with friends or family and this is probably why she's so fanatically devoted to Sakura on top of Sakura just happening to be a magical Cardcaptor.

Speaking of being a Cardcaptor, that stupid boy got the Time card which immediately sent "RED ALERT" warnings off in my head, because that Time card seems like it's universe-breakingly powerful, but then I realized probably nothing would come of it...and then in the very next episode, he uses it against the Power card and my immediate reaction was a lot of swearing and generally angry thoughts and me thinking I knew they shouldn't have let him get it because he'd just use it to steal other cards or worse - but then he did it just to help Sakura out. ...Well, okay then - I do suppose that this is a sweet children's show, after all, .

 

Edited May 25, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

Cardcaptor Sakura, episode 43.

...
 

Spoiler

 

One of the things needed to know as background information is that Meilin keeps telling everyone that she is engaged to Shaoran. They're both from the same magical family, so an arranged marriage makes sense, even if Meilin is - to borrow a term from Harry Potter - the squib of the family.

Interesting how we just talked about how carefully put together the show feels at times. Meilin really gets a focus episode. It begins with her trying to make cake again. She's been shown to be really good at making regular food for herself and Shaoran, which she always forces Shaoran to eat with her, even if he'd rather spend his time eating with Tomoyo, Sakura and Yukito if he happens to be around.

Cakes, however, she just can't. Whenever she makes a cake, it's a disaster. The first time she tried to make one she got bored waiting for it to finish baking and cranked up the heat on the oven to the maximum, and ended up burning the cake to a crisp cinder.

This one is no different. It... ends up being badly burnt.

Shaoran shows up and is his usualy self, Meilin is put out because she wanted to make a cake for him, and Mr. Wei (their... personal servant and mentor character, a Chinese Alfred) tries to salvage the situation by prodding Shaoran to appreciate the effort, but Shaoran is just standing there, having nothing of it.

In other words, he's being his usual, emotionally hampered self. The phone rings, Meilin runs to answer it. She picks it up, says hello and then says "Okasan?", Japanese for mother, and I was wondering why she wouldn't greet her in Chinese. Never mind, something Meilin heard made her react badly.

In the next scene she jumps at Shaoran, who promptly tells her that he already told her that she shouldn't cling to him like that. Ouch. Meilin is super sad and tells him that her mother called and demanded she come home.

Next day, school.

Tomoyo and Sakura are looking at the pictures from the play of episode 42, Meilin comes in, they greet her, then see her with tears in her eyes. Cut to outside. Meilin explains that she has to go home, back to Hong Kong. Shaoran shows up and... behaves like an idiot, asking her if she already told the teacher, because there's a lot of paperwork to do and not a lot of time.

Meilin gets up, tears in her eyes, and asks if she's in the way and if it doesn't at least bother him a little that she's leaving. Shinji says that there's nothing he can do about it. Asuka calls him an idiot and storms off. No, wait, something's not right. Back in class Sakura is visibly uncomfortable with the fight between the two and invites Meilin for a sleepover.

The writers then resolve the situation by aging the girls up a little during their sleepover. Meilin and Sakura are having fun. Sakura even sent Kero to Tomoyo so he (she?) doesn't bother them. Then Sakura tells Meilin that she thinks Shaoran really cares, because he's always looking out for her, and always makes sure she's safe when they're out trying to capture cards. Meilin stops for a bit, and then says: "I know."

"I know. I know how he feels. It's just not how I want him to feel about me."

Ouch. I can't even pretend its Kero that's getting misty eyed here, because Kero isn't around.

This wouldn't have been out of place in Sailor Moon, but it gets a pass from me. It's okay, even if they're not really talking like 11 year old probably would in this situation. Or maybe they do. What do I know what regular 11 year olds talk about. At that age, my only friend was a Jehova's witness that nobody else talked to because he was weird on top of being literally the only Jehova's witness in our age group in the entire suburb.

They then talk about Yukito and how it was "love" at first sight for Sakura, Meilin recounts a story of how she and Shaoran spent their youth, and that he was always a little distant, but actually like the only other kid around. Her mother gave her a pet bird at one point, and it broke out of its cage. She was crying, Shaoran gave her a tissue and ran off trying to find the bird. He comes back a while later, bird in hand, and Meilin hugs him.

In the next scene we then get the background of how their "engagement" looks like. Meilin confesses her love to him and essentially badgers him into agreeing that if he doesn't find some other girl that he likes more then her, they'll marry.

Speaking of carefully crafted, finally everything that she did makes sense. From being mad that Sakura was at Shaoran's home when she first showed up, to telling everyone they're engaged when they really... just kind of aren't, how she's constantly clingy and always tags along everywhere Shaoran goes. Meilin isn't an idiot... and she sure knows that Shaoran likes Sakura more than her. Or maybe not more, but in a different way, and to top it all off she feels useless because she can't contribute anything to their quest.

Then a card shows up that conveniently can only be beaten by two people working in unison without verbal communication. Well such a coincidence that Meilin is here, and she and Shaoran trained martial arts together. They stun the card(s) - it's one card with two bodies called "Twin", and Sakura captures it. Meilin might not get what she truly wants, but at least she doesn't feel useless any more. She leaves for Hong Kong with Mr. Wei.

 

 

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Spoiler

This is one of those cases where I do logically realize that these are silly fictional characters in a cartoon, but for some reason this speaks to me and breaks my heart, especially since it seems like Tomoyo doesn't have any other good relationships with friends or family and this is probably why she's so fanatically devoted to Sakura on top of Sakura just happening to be a magical Cardcaptor.

 

 

Spoiler

 

I just spent every scene where Meilin is shown to care for Shaoran in an unreciprocated way feeling bad about it. Logic doesn't really factor into emotional attachments (and like I said, I don't even like(d) Meilin that much). The reveal that she's about as lonely at home as Tomoyo is didn't help much. It's not as bad as Sailor Moon was with that breakup scene or the roof scene with Seiya in Sailor Stars - or my original reaction to the season one finale, but it is much, much close to that than I thought this would ever get.

There's a scene at some point where Tomoyo sings a song for Sakura (not the one where she sings at a card ). That was painful to watch too. It'll take a while to come up yet, but... yeah. You'll see.
edit: YT video of it in the sub-spoiler

Spoiler

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Spoiler

Speaking of being a Cardcaptor, that stupid boy got the Time card which immediately sent "RED ALERT" warnings off in my head, because that Time card seems like it's universe-breakingly powerful, but then I realized probably nothing would come of it...and then in the very next episode, he uses it against the Power card and my immediate reaction was a lot of swearing and generally angry thoughts and me thinking I knew they shouldn't have let him get it because he'd just use it to steal other cards or worse - but then he did it just to help Sakura out. ...Well, okay then - I do suppose that this is a sweet children's show, after all, .

 

 

Spoiler

Shaoran isn't so bad once you get to know him. His ability to express his emotions rivals that of Shinji, but I'm guessing being an always super serious magical 11 year old tasked with an almost impossible job in a foreign land can have that effect. Making sure Sakura can capture Power was his way of showing that he's not a bad guy.

 

Edited May 25, 2021 by majestic

[InsaneCommander]

I finished Rising of Shield Hero and started Demon Slayer. I watched only two episodes so far. The animation is gorgeous.

[majestic]

8 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

I finished Rising of Shield Hero and started Demon Slayer. I watched only two episodes so far. The animation is gorgeous.

Would you recommend Rising of Shield Hero, overall?

Not like I'll be getting around to watching it soon. Utena, Kill la Kill and Cardcaptor Sakura are going to occupy me for a while yet, then there's JoJo's and Steven Universe Future to finish.

Edited May 25, 2021 by majestic

[InsaneCommander]

30 minutes ago, majestic said:

Would you recommend Rising of Shield Hero, overall?

Not like I'll be getting around to watching it soon. Utena, Kill la Kill and Cardcaptor Sakura are going to occupy me for a while yet, then there's JoJo's and Steven Universe Future to finish.

I liked it a lot. It is more serious, with the main character having more realistic reactions to his situation than what I usually see in an Anime.

The following observations are not big spoilers, but I'll hide them just in case.

Spoiler

With the unfair things that happen and some selfish people that won't take the big danger to the world seriously, it reminds me a little of Game of Thrones. As I said before, you may be frustrated for quite some time.

A lot of actions in this world have consequences, which is another thing I don't see that frequently, and the common people and those in power react to what happens.

I liked how the characters evolved during the season and the last scenes of this season show that they will continue to evolve.

 

 

Edited May 25, 2021 by InsaneCommander

[Bartimaeus]

Even in the DiC dub, Minako is the best.

Spoiler

WHEN IT RAINS, IT SNORES!

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I love how Diana sits on Chibi-Usa's head. Why do Usagi and Luna sound like they're grannies tho?

[Bartimaeus]

have you not been watching the dozens of OG dub clips I've been linking over the past year

(Real answer is Luna always sounded like that in that dub for whatever reason, while Usagi's voice changed after the first couple of seasons because the season 1 and 2 VA got pregnant and decided she didn't want to do it anymore or something, IDK - somehow, they were unable to find someone better...somehow, I don't know how.)

7 hours ago, majestic said:

Shaoran isn't so bad once you get to know him. His ability to express his emotions rivals that of Shinji, but I'm guessing being an always super serious magical 11 year old tasked with an almost impossible job in a foreign land can have that effect. Making sure Sakura can capture Power was his way of showing that he's not a bad guy.

Ah, that must be why I immediately disliked him so much, .

P.S. Not gonna watch the Tomoyo song, seems like it'd be too special to spoil pre-emptively!

P.P.S. Some good YouTube comments on that video:

Edited May 26, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

5 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

have you not been watching the dozens of OG dub clips I've been linking over the past year

I have, and some SMS recs on YouTube, which between Film Riot stuff has been hilarious. It's more of a general question, like what the **** were they thinking?

[Bartimaeus]

Oh. Well, in that case, yes, 100%, . Yeah, the voice cast in general is not fantastic by any means, but Usagi as a grandma is the one that really stands out. My favorites from that cast would probably be S3-S4 Chibi-Usa (...yes, it's a different VA from S2 Chibi-Usa), who legitimately sounds like she could actually be a goofy little girl (...which sort of makes the SuperS stuff even worse, by the way), and probably Makoto. In contrast, S3-S4 Usagi, Mamoru, and maybe Ami are probably the weakest VAs - the former two as the two most central characters really shouldn't sound the way they do.

Edited May 26, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Amentep]

9 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

(Real answer is Luna always sounded like that in that dub for whatever reason, while Usagi's voice changed after the first couple of seasons because the season 1 and 2 VA got pregnant and decided she didn't want to do it anymore or something, IDK - somehow, they were unable to find someone better...somehow, I don't know how.)

As I recall, the DiC dubbing sessions were long, and the original VA Tracey Moore was contractually obligated to a production that was going to limit her availability for recording, so DiC went with a different VA, Terri Hawkes, who wouldn't have any scheduling conflicts.  Moore had replaced Hawkes on a different show DiC did, so they may have thought they'd ended up sounding similar, but I think the VA director may have changed as well.

[majestic]

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clow Card arc finale. There's three episodes - 44, 45 and 46.

The show comes full circle. Arc ending spoilers ahead, obviously. Venture forth at your own discretion.
 

Spoiler

 

The first few episodes left one with the impression that this was going to be a Sailor Moon ripoff. It then became something else. The finale of the Clow Card arc goes back to where the show came from. To Sailor Moon, and an aged down version of the first season's finale in Sailor Moon.

It's not the same, of course, but it's clearly... similar, or maybe let's say inspired. Which, don't get me wrong, doesn't mean it is bad. It doesn't contain heart wrenching death scenes but a brief stint into a version of the world and how it would be if Sakura failed, and that world is almost every bit as horrible as you can get without anyone actually being dead (and it's similar to the actual end of the first Sailor Moon season).

Sakura, Shaoran and Tomoyo go to an archery contest where Yukito is participating. Kero wants to spend time with Sakura, so he tags along, even if it is risky. To their surprise, Sailor Mizuki is also participating, and equally as perfect a shot as Yukito is. Yukito has been shown to be pretty much perfect at every physical activity he has tried over the course of the first 45 episodes, so that's not much of a surprise. Just another hint at Yukito being more than it seems.

Sailor Mizuki loses to Yukito after she feels Ami Kero watching her intently. She leaves, and so does Kero. The others have a picnic with Yukito where Sakura notices that Kero isn't in her bag where he's supposed to be. Instead he followed Sailor Mizuki and is talking to her. Well, look at that, Ami and Makoto are once again talking to each other. Must be true love. Sakura finds Kaho and Kero talking and is confused about Kero not hiding himself, but they assure Sakura that everything is okay, and that Ms. Mizuki picked the very spot where she waited for Kero because it is secluded enough.

Anyway, the episode ends when a guy in a bear costume shows up and randomly grabs Sakura to give her a noogie. The bear is revealed to be - who else - Toya, who once again by sheer "coincidence" has a job near Sakura and her friends. Sakura comments on this, but Toya just says that there are no coincidences. Sailor Mizuki piles up on the cryptic by saying: "There is only necessity."

Then Earthy - or as the card is being called, Aeshy (this is actually kind of funny as far as the usually not so bad Engrish in this show goes) - the final elemental card shows up and begins to Godzilla its way through the city. Sakura spends a while trying to capture it and succeeds once she notices that the card doesn't seem to attack places where trees grow. She summons Wood and binds Aeshy. Kero starts glowing and reveals why he's called a he in the subtitles, by turning into a fully grown winged lion and switching voice actors from Ami to Jadeite. Cardcaptor Sakura sure has a strange habit of summoning Sailor Guardian voices.

Sakura asks who he is, and Kero is a bit annoyed, but they then go back to the others. Tomoyo asks who the winged lion is, much to Kero's frustration. He says that with the final card captured Yue will arrive soon to pass the final judgement. He explains a little detail he should probably have mentioned to Sakura before setting her on the quest. Kerberos, the Beast of the Seal, selects a candidate to  become the master of the Clow cards. Yue, the Judge, will judge their worthiness. Yue, by the way, is Chinese for moon.

Yukito beings to glow and transforms into Yue. Yue is one of the most ridiculously bishonen characters in an anime ever, so that warants a picture:

I was Shinji and Haruka, but this is ridiculous, right?

He looks at Shaoran and Sakura and says that since neither managed to collect all the cards on their own it's ridiculous to presume that either are worthy of being judged, but Kerberos disagrees. He begins with Shaoran, summons him and defeats him handily. Shaoran tries to time stop Yue, but Yue laughs, saying he can't be defeated by Moon magic. Yue then summons Sakura.

Quote

Yue: Cards created by Clow. There is one wishing to become your master. A girl chosen by Cerberus the Selector. Her name is Sakura. To see if she is truly worthy of being our master. I, Yue the Judge, will now conduct the Final Judgment.

Yue also reveals what will happen if Sakura fails.

Quote

 

Yue: You lose, and the seal of the Cards will be released once again, and the catastrophe will befall this world.

Sakura: What is the catastrophe that will befall this world? What is going to happen?

Yue: To forget. If the candidate for Master that Cerberus, the Selector, chose, cannot win against Yue, the Judge, then each and every person that had something to do with the Clow Cards will lose their feelings of love towards the one person they care about the most.

 

His showdown with Sakura is set atop the Toyko tower, like in the dream Sakura kept having.

Sakura is incredibly disturbed by how disdainful her former friend and crush treats her. She refuses to fight him, which makes him attack her with abandon. In a desperate attempt to stop him, she summons Wood again, trying to bind Yue.

Yue casually mentions that Wood cannot bind him, because Wood too is moon magic, and he is the master of moon magic. That Sakura knows nothing of this just proves that she's not worthy of being the master of the Clow cards.

Sakura is shown what the world will look like after she fails the judgement. All the feelings the characters have for each other are gone. Sakura wakes up in the morning and thinks it was all a dream. There is no picture of her mother on the table. She goes to school, meets Tomoyo who says good morning and leaves. None of her friends talk to her, or each other. Rika no longer has a crush on her teacher, Chiharu and Yamazaki aren't even on speaking terms outside of a distant, formal relationship between classmates, let alone a couple (or the "best of friends" as Tomoyo and Sakura put it). They eat lunch, but not really together. They're just sitting next to each other. Shaoran doesn't talk to her at all. Yukito is obviously not around either.

While nobody dies, all her friends are dead to each other (and to her). Obviously everything is going to be all right (Sakura told herself already), but just like the deaths in Sailor Moon seeing Sakura deal with this new horrible reality is... not very pretty.

Song begins to sing in Tomoyo's voice. Sakura sees Yukito and runs towards him, then hears Sailor Mizuki's bell ring. She breaks free of the vision and of Yue's hold. Ms. Mizuki says that the bells created by Clow Reed to give her one last chance served their purpose. She tells Sakura that she needs to make it count, because there will be no second try.

Horrified by what the world and her life will become if she fails, she summons an newfound inner strength and transforms her magical key into Sailor Moon's love rod. Well, sort of.

Quote

Sakura: All right! It's too sad to see a world where your feelings for the person you care about the most are gone! I'll do my best right now! I'm sure something will come of this. I know it will be all right.

Sakura uses Wind(y) to bind Yue, which works even though Yue thinks it will not (the hint is in the star of her wand - even though a scene after this explains it because we are watching a kid's show after all, Yue might be the master of moon magic, but Sakura created her own magic now, neither sun nor moon). She then defeats him by channeling her inner Usagi:

Quote

 

Sakura: Yue, I'm sure that you really loved Clow very much. Then, you should understand that forgetting about the person you cared about the most would be a very sad thing. I'm still a child, and I can't use really powerful magic like Clow could, but I'll try my best! I want you to be friends with me, nothing like masters or stuff like that.

Yue: Close your eyes. The Judgment is complete. I, Yue the Judge, acknowledge Sakura as our new Master.

 

Clow Reed shows up as a spirit and talks a bit to Sakura. He sure looks and sounds an awful lot like her father. He explains to the kids watching how Sakura managed to defeat Yue.

Quote

Clow Reed: That is a wand in which the power of your own Stars, and not the Sun nor the Moon, resides in. Even if it is a faint light now, the power of the Stars is one that continues to shine on its own. Take good care of that power.

The show gets a pass for this unecessary exposition from me (much like Madoka did). There's more of that. Kaho Mizuki and Toya talk to each other, and she asks him if he knew that Yukito was not truly human the entire time. Toya says yes. They again agree that there are no coincidences.

Quote

Kaho: There's no such thing as coincidence in this world, there is only inevitability.

Toya showing up everywhere Sakura went where she met a card wasn't a coincidence then, obviously. It was him looking out for his younger sister. He really did know what she was doing the entire time.

Kerberos and Yue remark that Sakura isn't strong enough yet and they can't sustain their true forms yet. The turn back into Kero-chan and Yukito.

 

 

17 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

P.S. Not gonna watch the Tomoyo song, seems like it'd be too special to spoil pre-emptively!

That's probably a good choice.

Edited May 26, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

I should note that I am reading your spoilers at a very low level (and not to mention very quickly) to avoid remembering spoilers, which makes it hard to respond to anything you might say in them, because responding to them would necessitate that I go to a higher level of awareness which would increase the likelihood of remembering spoilers. Surprisingly, I am way more concerned about spoilers for this show than I was for Sailor Moon - I'm much more into the overall story and individual episode plots here than I was for Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon has its great main cast and their interactions with each other and the ability to be laugh-out-loud funny and facepalmingly embarrassing (in a good way!), but Sakura has added additional elements of story and episode setups that while simple are genuinely well done in of themselves while still having very good character stuff.

Cardcaptor Sakura, episode 14: This show is melting my brain.

Spoiler

There was way too much great stuff in this episode (and actually, the show has really been on a roll in general), but I'll just say that Yokito defeating the basketball players to win Sakura a pink stuffed rabbit earned a sort of snort of derision for how silly and ridiculous it was...and then him turning around and doing it twice more for Tomoyo and Shaoran and then seeing them all walk together with their rabbits broke me and caused me to collapse and faceplant in much the same manner as Sakura does every time Tomoyo goes off about her.

And to mention nothing of the all-male Cinderella play her brother put on while Sakura sat there absolutely petrified in embarrassment. Also, maybe it's just me, but it seems like there's a LOT of unrequited love issues in this show...

 

Edited May 27, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

5 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I should note that I am reading your spoilers at a very low level (and not to mention very quickly) to avoid remembering spoilers, which makes it hard to respond to anything you might say in them, because responding to them would necessitate that I go to a higher level of awareness which would increase the likelihood of remembering spoilers.

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.

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.

5 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Surprisingly, I am way more concerned about spoilers for this show than I was for Sailor Moon - I'm much more into the overall story and individual episode plots here than I was for Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon has its great main cast and their interactions with each other and the ability to be laugh-out-loud funny and facepalmingly embarrassing (in a good way!), but Sakura has added additional elements of story and episode setups that while simple are genuinely well done in of themselves while still having very good character stuff.

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.

4 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

There was way too much great stuff in this episode (and actually, the show has really been on a roll in general)

The first arc had a really strong run overall. I'm actually kind of... loathe to begin the second arc. I hope they can keep the quality up. Only a handful of episodes after a streak of absolutely brilliant ones that I can remember not... finding great. Just decent or good. Will be curious to see what you think (that's episodes 28 to 30, FWIW).