Episode 2: "Sakura's Wonderful Friend" or "Partners In Crime"
Introduction to the Experiment
Episode 1
Episode 2: Sakura's Wonderful Friend (Card Captor Sakura) or Partners In Crime (Cardcaptors)
(Editorial note: In summaries, unless the English version does an event radically different and such events will be noted, Japanese names will be used)
Sakura wakes up to the sounds of a strange voice. It's Kerberos, the Guardian Beast of the Clow Cards which she released yesterday. Kero is still insisting that Sakura will make a great cardcaptor but Sakura isn't so sure. Sakura leaves for school early, so early that she is the first one there. Her friend Tomoyo arrives soon after and wants to show her something. Apparently Tomoyo saw her flying through the sky with a strange creature and videotaped it. Sakura is horrified and Kero leaps out of her schoolbag to protect her, blowing his cover. Tomoyo and Kero get acquainted and Sakura shows out her magical skills to her friend. Meanwhile, everyone's shadows are acting independently of their source bodies. At the end of the day, all the shadows are seen slinking off through the halls. The next morning, all of the desks and school equipment are stacked up but no one knows why. Tomoyo suspects it's a Clow Card and Kero agrees with her so they decide to visit the school at night and capture it. Sakura is already waiting (and scared) when Tomoyo and her female bodyguards arrive. The bodyguards leave behind a truck, which Tomoyo reveals is full of outfits. Sakura is convinced into wearing an outfit and then they get attacked by a statue. Eventually, they realize that it's the Shadow Card and it's gathered up all of the students' shadows. When all hope seems lost, Tomoyo comes up with the idea of turning on all of the lights to get rid of the students' shadows, leaving only the Shadow Card behind. It works and Sakura seals the Shadow Card. The next day, Sakura goes to thank Tomoyo for her help and finds her watching her taped footage of the capture. Tomoyo begs Sakura to let her tape all her captures and design her outfits. Sakura agrees.
Want to watch it yourself?
Card Captor Sakura Episode 2: 1/3
Card Captor Sakura Episode 2: 2/3
Card Captor Sakura Episode 2: 3/3
Cardcaptors Episode 2: 1/3
Cardcaptors Episode 2: 2/3
Cardcaptors Episode 2: 3/3
Edit: Here is an alternative set of videos for Cardcaptors
Cardcaptors Episode 2: Part 1/3
Cardcaptors Episode 2: Part 2/3
Cardcaptors Episode 2: Part 3/3
This is a fairly decent episode and the fight to capture Shadow is pretty cool. It's pretty funny how Sakura keeps saying "I don't want to do this!" and "I'm scared!" and Tomoyo and Kero just don't care.
The CC title wins hands down. The Japanese title has moved away from Little Bear: it's now a Barney title. Who came up with these? Granted, the English title is a bit misleading (they're not exactly robbing banks here) but it's certainly better than the Japanese milk tea one.
The openings are still the same. Except I noticed two things: One, according to Japanese credits, Madhouse did the animation. I kept thinking "I've heard of them" and I should have heard of them: they've done practically everything I've seen and even stuff I haven't seen but I know are considered classics or at least well done anime. Here is a list if you're curious: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=392
Two, apparently Madison is in the opening to CC. It's one shot and she's in the back but she's there. But Meiling gets more shots than her. I'm sorry, Nelvana, but Madison should outrank Meiling for opening sequence screen time.
And yes, that stupid announcer is still there, showing shots of an episode that is going to start in five seconds. Why do you do this? To its credit, the shots are misleading. It makes it look like Sakura's first attack works when, in fact, it doesn't. But I got bigger fish to fry. So at the end of the English episode, we get a special bonus. The stupid announcer comes back and tells that all the cards are special and have their own qualities. "Oh, neat!" I thought, "they're replacing Leave It To Kero with them going over why today's card is special and stuff! Well done!" What a letdown. This segment is for showing the cards in action... CARDS WE HAVE NOT SEEN CAUGHT YET! This segment's card is the Sword Card, a card that will not be shown until Syaoran shows up and it's not during his introduction episode if they follow the manga. What the fuck, announcer dude? Why must you spoil your own show? WHY? And, guess what? The silly "Leave It To Kero" segment is still there! Now it's called "Kero's Corner" (again, the English version comes up with better titles. What gives, Japanese show producers?) and it's slightly less creepy. Well, except for the delivery of the line "And it looks great on camera!" The English actors drawls this out, making him sound like a pedophile. And, shock of shocks, there is apparently an ending theme with credits and everything. According to the youtube comments, it's called "No More Nagging". It's actually kind of cool. The only thing missing from the English version is that there is no "Next Time" sequence like in the Japanese version (and you'd think the announcer would be all over that). Edit: In the second set of videos, there is no announcer at the beginning, there is no "Card of the Week" spoiler-fest, and the ending theme is a orchestral version of the opening, which actually isn't that bad. Kind of makes me wish they had used that for the opening and left the lyrics out altogether.
Now, you may be wondering, with two new segments, how do they fit everything in? Well, they cut two whole scenes and trim up some others. Are they in the right? Again, yes, the scenes they cut contributed nothing to the plot. The scene where the family all have breakfast together is cut and the scene where Sakura is a stalker and goes to Yukito's house to stare at it and then Yukito comes out and gives her some flowers from his garden bushes is also cut. The Yukito scene had to go especially because in neither version does it make any sense for her to go there. In both versions, she is running late so why make this stopover to stare at this guy's house? And, furthermore, in the Japanese version, she remarks that Yukito probably won't be there but then it turns out that he is. Either way, her reasoning makes no sense. If she was not expecting him to be there, then where would he be? Probably going to school, right? Then why didn't she just go with Toya since they ride to school together and get her Yukito-gazing that way? If Toya and Yukito don't have school yet, then why expect him to be gone? Wouldn't he also be eating breakfast at his house just as the Kinomoto family was doing? Maybe she meant he wouldn't be outside? The scene just makes no sense and contributes nothing except to reminds us that Sakura likes Yukito and Yukito is a sweetie to Sakura. Oh, wait, and it's even sillier because he gives her flowers to use to decorate when she's cleaning the classroom but when she arrives, no flowers! What did she do, pitch them?
Unfortunately, there is a minor problem with one of the minor scene-trimming cuts. In the Japanese version, Sakura reacts to the video three times and screams on the third reaction. This alerts Kero, hiding in her bag, who then pops out looking for danger. The English version trims her reaction to two and no scream but Kero still pops out, looking for danger. Of course, she makes some sort of noise so one could argue that Kero could sense something was up but still, it makes him seem like more of a freak than in the original. A lot of Tomoyo's magical girl ramblings are cut, which makes me kind of sad because Tomoyo's genre-awareness is one of her better character traits.
Speaking of character traits, I've finally figured out what changed in the process from Tomoyo to Madison. Madison is the stereotypical "sassy" best friend rather than Tomoyo's lesbian/Japanese flower schtick. I'm still undecided as to whether I like this version or not. I'll watch a few more episodes to see if it starts to grate. English Kero is a bit sassier than his Japanese counterpart as well. He's a lot more exasperated with Sakura not remembering the night before than the Japanese Kero is. However, it made for a funnier scene so I'm not sure if this upsets me.
In other areas, there is a major continuity errors. Cardcaptors, if you're going to change stuff, remember what you changed. When Kero is introduced to Madison, the girls remark that he doesn't really fit the name "Kerberos"; "Kero" is much more fitting name. Kero objects to such a silly name... except in the first episode, he tells Sakura to call him "Kero"! Make up your mind! In the original Japanese version, the name "Kero" is not used until Tomoyo and Sakura suggest it during this scene. In the Japanese version, there are two plotholes. One, Sakura has to go to school early to clean up the classroom. First of all, I thought that was an after-school chore in Japan, not a early-morning one, but maybe I'm wrong. My real problem is that when Sakura arrives, she just plops down in her chair and relaxes. I thought she was there to clean so why isn't she getting started? Two, when Sakura arrives after the desks have been stacked, she is confused as to why there is this big crowd. A random friend points out the tower of desks, which is much higher than the heads of the students. Sakura couldn't see that?!
Getting back to the dub, holy crap, how old are the children playing during the lunch? There are definitely masculine voices in that crowd. I know that children are hitting puberty earlier these days but surely eleven-year-olds shouldn't have voices that deep! And what is up with all the horrible Muzak background music? It's pretty cheesy especially when you consider that this was made in 2000.
Conclusion: I've been sitting here for the past ten minutes trying to decide which episode was better. As with last episode, there were some bits that annoyed me with both episodes and some things I liked. Since I can't decide, these two episodes are judged to be...
Equal!
Episode 3
Episode 1
Episode 2: Sakura's Wonderful Friend (Card Captor Sakura) or Partners In Crime (Cardcaptors)
(Editorial note: In summaries, unless the English version does an event radically different and such events will be noted, Japanese names will be used)
Sakura wakes up to the sounds of a strange voice. It's Kerberos, the Guardian Beast of the Clow Cards which she released yesterday. Kero is still insisting that Sakura will make a great cardcaptor but Sakura isn't so sure. Sakura leaves for school early, so early that she is the first one there. Her friend Tomoyo arrives soon after and wants to show her something. Apparently Tomoyo saw her flying through the sky with a strange creature and videotaped it. Sakura is horrified and Kero leaps out of her schoolbag to protect her, blowing his cover. Tomoyo and Kero get acquainted and Sakura shows out her magical skills to her friend. Meanwhile, everyone's shadows are acting independently of their source bodies. At the end of the day, all the shadows are seen slinking off through the halls. The next morning, all of the desks and school equipment are stacked up but no one knows why. Tomoyo suspects it's a Clow Card and Kero agrees with her so they decide to visit the school at night and capture it. Sakura is already waiting (and scared) when Tomoyo and her female bodyguards arrive. The bodyguards leave behind a truck, which Tomoyo reveals is full of outfits. Sakura is convinced into wearing an outfit and then they get attacked by a statue. Eventually, they realize that it's the Shadow Card and it's gathered up all of the students' shadows. When all hope seems lost, Tomoyo comes up with the idea of turning on all of the lights to get rid of the students' shadows, leaving only the Shadow Card behind. It works and Sakura seals the Shadow Card. The next day, Sakura goes to thank Tomoyo for her help and finds her watching her taped footage of the capture. Tomoyo begs Sakura to let her tape all her captures and design her outfits. Sakura agrees.
Want to watch it yourself?
Card Captor Sakura Episode 2: 1/3
Click to viewCard Captor Sakura Episode 2: 2/3
Card Captor Sakura Episode 2: 3/3
Cardcaptors Episode 2: 1/3
Cardcaptors Episode 2: 2/3
Cardcaptors Episode 2: 3/3
Edit: Here is an alternative set of videos for Cardcaptors
Cardcaptors Episode 2: Part 1/3
Cardcaptors Episode 2: Part 2/3
Cardcaptors Episode 2: Part 3/3
This is a fairly decent episode and the fight to capture Shadow is pretty cool. It's pretty funny how Sakura keeps saying "I don't want to do this!" and "I'm scared!" and Tomoyo and Kero just don't care.
The CC title wins hands down. The Japanese title has moved away from Little Bear: it's now a Barney title. Who came up with these? Granted, the English title is a bit misleading (they're not exactly robbing banks here) but it's certainly better than the Japanese milk tea one.
The openings are still the same. Except I noticed two things: One, according to Japanese credits, Madhouse did the animation. I kept thinking "I've heard of them" and I should have heard of them: they've done practically everything I've seen and even stuff I haven't seen but I know are considered classics or at least well done anime. Here is a list if you're curious: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=392
Two, apparently Madison is in the opening to CC. It's one shot and she's in the back but she's there. But Meiling gets more shots than her. I'm sorry, Nelvana, but Madison should outrank Meiling for opening sequence screen time.
And yes, that stupid announcer is still there, showing shots of an episode that is going to start in five seconds. Why do you do this? To its credit, the shots are misleading. It makes it look like Sakura's first attack works when, in fact, it doesn't. But I got bigger fish to fry. So at the end of the English episode, we get a special bonus. The stupid announcer comes back and tells that all the cards are special and have their own qualities. "Oh, neat!" I thought, "they're replacing Leave It To Kero with them going over why today's card is special and stuff! Well done!" What a letdown. This segment is for showing the cards in action... CARDS WE HAVE NOT SEEN CAUGHT YET! This segment's card is the Sword Card, a card that will not be shown until Syaoran shows up and it's not during his introduction episode if they follow the manga. What the fuck, announcer dude? Why must you spoil your own show? WHY? And, guess what? The silly "Leave It To Kero" segment is still there! Now it's called "Kero's Corner" (again, the English version comes up with better titles. What gives, Japanese show producers?) and it's slightly less creepy. Well, except for the delivery of the line "And it looks great on camera!" The English actors drawls this out, making him sound like a pedophile. And, shock of shocks, there is apparently an ending theme with credits and everything. According to the youtube comments, it's called "No More Nagging". It's actually kind of cool. The only thing missing from the English version is that there is no "Next Time" sequence like in the Japanese version (and you'd think the announcer would be all over that). Edit: In the second set of videos, there is no announcer at the beginning, there is no "Card of the Week" spoiler-fest, and the ending theme is a orchestral version of the opening, which actually isn't that bad. Kind of makes me wish they had used that for the opening and left the lyrics out altogether.
Now, you may be wondering, with two new segments, how do they fit everything in? Well, they cut two whole scenes and trim up some others. Are they in the right? Again, yes, the scenes they cut contributed nothing to the plot. The scene where the family all have breakfast together is cut and the scene where Sakura is a stalker and goes to Yukito's house to stare at it and then Yukito comes out and gives her some flowers from his garden bushes is also cut. The Yukito scene had to go especially because in neither version does it make any sense for her to go there. In both versions, she is running late so why make this stopover to stare at this guy's house? And, furthermore, in the Japanese version, she remarks that Yukito probably won't be there but then it turns out that he is. Either way, her reasoning makes no sense. If she was not expecting him to be there, then where would he be? Probably going to school, right? Then why didn't she just go with Toya since they ride to school together and get her Yukito-gazing that way? If Toya and Yukito don't have school yet, then why expect him to be gone? Wouldn't he also be eating breakfast at his house just as the Kinomoto family was doing? Maybe she meant he wouldn't be outside? The scene just makes no sense and contributes nothing except to reminds us that Sakura likes Yukito and Yukito is a sweetie to Sakura. Oh, wait, and it's even sillier because he gives her flowers to use to decorate when she's cleaning the classroom but when she arrives, no flowers! What did she do, pitch them?
Unfortunately, there is a minor problem with one of the minor scene-trimming cuts. In the Japanese version, Sakura reacts to the video three times and screams on the third reaction. This alerts Kero, hiding in her bag, who then pops out looking for danger. The English version trims her reaction to two and no scream but Kero still pops out, looking for danger. Of course, she makes some sort of noise so one could argue that Kero could sense something was up but still, it makes him seem like more of a freak than in the original. A lot of Tomoyo's magical girl ramblings are cut, which makes me kind of sad because Tomoyo's genre-awareness is one of her better character traits.
Speaking of character traits, I've finally figured out what changed in the process from Tomoyo to Madison. Madison is the stereotypical "sassy" best friend rather than Tomoyo's lesbian/Japanese flower schtick. I'm still undecided as to whether I like this version or not. I'll watch a few more episodes to see if it starts to grate. English Kero is a bit sassier than his Japanese counterpart as well. He's a lot more exasperated with Sakura not remembering the night before than the Japanese Kero is. However, it made for a funnier scene so I'm not sure if this upsets me.
In other areas, there is a major continuity errors. Cardcaptors, if you're going to change stuff, remember what you changed. When Kero is introduced to Madison, the girls remark that he doesn't really fit the name "Kerberos"; "Kero" is much more fitting name. Kero objects to such a silly name... except in the first episode, he tells Sakura to call him "Kero"! Make up your mind! In the original Japanese version, the name "Kero" is not used until Tomoyo and Sakura suggest it during this scene. In the Japanese version, there are two plotholes. One, Sakura has to go to school early to clean up the classroom. First of all, I thought that was an after-school chore in Japan, not a early-morning one, but maybe I'm wrong. My real problem is that when Sakura arrives, she just plops down in her chair and relaxes. I thought she was there to clean so why isn't she getting started? Two, when Sakura arrives after the desks have been stacked, she is confused as to why there is this big crowd. A random friend points out the tower of desks, which is much higher than the heads of the students. Sakura couldn't see that?!
Getting back to the dub, holy crap, how old are the children playing during the lunch? There are definitely masculine voices in that crowd. I know that children are hitting puberty earlier these days but surely eleven-year-olds shouldn't have voices that deep! And what is up with all the horrible Muzak background music? It's pretty cheesy especially when you consider that this was made in 2000.
Conclusion: I've been sitting here for the past ten minutes trying to decide which episode was better. As with last episode, there were some bits that annoyed me with both episodes and some things I liked. Since I can't decide, these two episodes are judged to be...
Equal!
Episode 3