Episode 11: "Sakura, Tomoyo, and a Mansion" or "The Special Box"
Introduction to the Experiment
Episode 10
Episode 11: Sakura, Tomoyo, and a Mansion (Card Captor Sakura) or The Special Box (Cardcaptors)
Sakura goes to Tomoyo's huge gated mansion because Tomoyo is having some sort of problem. Tomoyo shows her around her room, showing off her private video room and brand new costume, until Tomoyo's mother comes. They go outside to drink tea and eat cake while Kero remains in the room and senses "something". Once outside, they discuss Sakura's parents, especially Nadeshiko. In the Japanese version, there are interruptions where we see what Sakura's father, brother, and schoolgirl crush are doing and talking about. The English version cuts these scenes. Eventually, Sonomi gets a call from the office and she has to leave. After giving Kero some cake, Tomoyo tells Sakura and Kero about her mother's and her precious box that won't open. When she tries to insert the key, the key is thrown out. Kero and Sakura definitely sense a Clow Card in the box. After tapping the box with her wand and meeting a barrier, Kero realizes it's the Shield Card. It protects precious things so whatever is inside must be very important to them. Sakura uses the Sword Card to cut Shield Card and she seals it. They open the box and inside is a bouquet of flowers. It turns out that this was Nadeshiko's bridal bouquet and Sonomi's precious possession. It is cherry blossoms (sakura), which were her favorite, so much so that she would always say that if she ever had a baby girl, she would name it Sakura. The English version stops here. In the Japanese version, Tomoyo takes out her precious thing: it's an eraser and it's the very first thing Sakura ever gave her. Tomoyo then follows her mother and Sakura to make dinner. Edit: The second set of videos shows the ending and it's different. In the English version, Madison takes out the tiny bag and Kero asks what it is. She informs him that it's a present for Sakura. It was something that belonged to Sakura's mother and Madison's mother will give it to her when Sakura grows up. She then follows her mother and Sakura for dinner.
Wanna see it yourself?
Card Captor Sakura Episode 11 (All)
Cardcaptors Episode 11: Part 1/2 (the quality improves after a minute so relax)
Cardcaptors Episode 11: Part 2/2
Edit: Here is another set of videos.
Cardcaptors Episode 11: Part 1/3
Cardcaptors Episode 11: Part 2/3
Cardcaptors Episode 11: Part 3/3
Wow. I thought Episode 10 was boring. This is way more boring than Episode 10. I found this capture less than entertaining in the manga and it's worse here because they have to pad it out. In other news, I finally succumbed: I downloaded "Catch You, Catch Me" (the Japanese opening song) from gendou.com. I wouldn't recommend the "Sakura" version or the Remix; get the original, full length one.
Do I even need to say it? The English title is way better. What is up with the Japanese titles? The story has nothing to do with Tomoyo's house! The Japanese title makes it seem like they're going to go to a haunted house or something when it isn't about that at all! The English title isn't great but the bar was set pretty low here.
Let's start with the cuts. Thank you, Nelvana, for cutting the absolutely pointless scenes with Fujitaka, Toya, and Yukito. Why were they there? Okay, I know, to pad the episode out, but seriously, what was that all about? This episode drags enough without those nattering idiots.
I can't tell if they actually cut Madison being gay or not because of how the youtuber did the episode but if they did cut the whole "I have this eraser because it was Sakura's first present to me", I don't really mind. I always thought the whole eraser was just a little too much. Then again, ten-year-old girls are a strange breed. I collected a few (untouched) erasers in my day. Edit: Wow, they toned down how gay Madison is but what they did instead is way better than the original. I thought having the tiny bag be something from Sakura's mother that was being kept for her was a lot more touching and made a better ending than the eraser thing. It also made more sense because I never understood why the two women shared the box. Since the English version changes it to something Samantha is keeping for Sakura, it makes sense for it to be kept with Natasha's bouquet.
Speaking of gay, Nelvana made Samantha gayer than Sonomi was. Instead of having her remember a whole bunch of things and then ending with Natasha announcing her engagement, which causes her get ruffled, they just keep the first memory and then cut to her being ruffled. Um, do you need to be alone, Samantha? That memory sure set you on edge. It doesn't help that Natasha's actress decided to deliver her line in a breathy voice.
I'm actually rather pleased with the tweaks and line changes they did with the tea and cake scene. It actually plays a bit better in the English than in the Japanese.
1. Madison actually speaks during the early part of the scene. It makes the scene appear a bit more natural and presents Samantha and Madison as a loving mother-daughter pair. In other words, they don't just interact for Sakura's benefit. Madison comes off as more at ease with her mother than Tomoyo does.
2. I like how the English version has Natasha say "No, I'm okay" after each mishap. It's a lot funnier than the Japanese version and gives Natasha a little bit more of a personality than "she's a klutz!" In the English version, she's a klutz but she didn't let that hold her back. I can't really explain it better than that.
3. I really like how the scene after the "Natasha was a klutz" montage goes. Instead of Samantha having a temper tantrum and Sakura asking the last person she should be asking about her father and her replying in the lamest way possible ("his biggest flaw is that he has no flaws"? Lame), they turn it into this really nice scene where Sakura realizes that if her mother hadn't been such a klutz, she would have never met her father, and then Sakura wouldn't exist. Samantha replies that she really misses Sakura's mother, clumsiness and all, but she is sure that Sakura would grow up just like her. It's a much nicer scene but doesn't really throw anyone out of character.
In another dubbing areas, I thought it was pretty funny that they just had to mention Li to remind the audience he's still around. Listen for the name drop when Madison is playing the video. Hey, it's your fault for cutting scenes that make him gay if the audience can't remember who Li is!
Edit: I thought that they dealt with "Any Japanese child would know that Sakura means cherry blossoms but an American/Canadian kid won't" issue nicely by simply explaining that Sakura means cherry blossoms! No weird line changes, no plot re-writes, just a nice, simple line insert that resolved the translation issue. Now, if they would just do that in the future, I'd be a much happier person. Although, one has to wonder if Natasha was just a huge otaku. :P
The only problem I had was Sakura and Kero during the bus scene. In the English version, Sakura and Kero practically shouting at the top of their lungs at each other. If you're going to shout, you might as well like Kero fly around in the bus too. Honestly. Use a brain cell and one inch voices.
Edit: How did I forget to mention the fact that English Sakura chants the wrong spell? Yeah, English Sakura chants the "give me my wand!" spell when she already is using it and has been using for about five minutes! She needed to do the spell that lets her activate a Card, which is what she was doing! Silly dubbers, how did you not catch that?
Two plot things:
1. Okay, where is Tomoyo's dad? Could they give him a throwaway line about being at the office or something? It's starting to weird me out. Especially since in the English version, they have Samantha call herself "Ms." Not that one has to use Mrs if they're married but it makes the situation even more ambiguous. Are they divorced? Is he dead? Is he a tanshin funin? Where is he?
2. It's nice and all that Sonomi has Nadeshiko's bouquet but there's no way it would still look as fresh as it does after all this time unless that box is some sort of cryogenic chamber.
In conclusion, although the episode itself is boring, the English version tried to make the best of it using cuts and line changes, therefore I judge these episodes to be...
Different, with the English Cardcaptors being the superior.
Episode 12
Episode 10
Episode 11: Sakura, Tomoyo, and a Mansion (Card Captor Sakura) or The Special Box (Cardcaptors)
Sakura goes to Tomoyo's huge gated mansion because Tomoyo is having some sort of problem. Tomoyo shows her around her room, showing off her private video room and brand new costume, until Tomoyo's mother comes. They go outside to drink tea and eat cake while Kero remains in the room and senses "something". Once outside, they discuss Sakura's parents, especially Nadeshiko. In the Japanese version, there are interruptions where we see what Sakura's father, brother, and schoolgirl crush are doing and talking about. The English version cuts these scenes. Eventually, Sonomi gets a call from the office and she has to leave. After giving Kero some cake, Tomoyo tells Sakura and Kero about her mother's and her precious box that won't open. When she tries to insert the key, the key is thrown out. Kero and Sakura definitely sense a Clow Card in the box. After tapping the box with her wand and meeting a barrier, Kero realizes it's the Shield Card. It protects precious things so whatever is inside must be very important to them. Sakura uses the Sword Card to cut Shield Card and she seals it. They open the box and inside is a bouquet of flowers. It turns out that this was Nadeshiko's bridal bouquet and Sonomi's precious possession. It is cherry blossoms (sakura), which were her favorite, so much so that she would always say that if she ever had a baby girl, she would name it Sakura. The English version stops here. In the Japanese version, Tomoyo takes out her precious thing: it's an eraser and it's the very first thing Sakura ever gave her. Tomoyo then follows her mother and Sakura to make dinner. Edit: The second set of videos shows the ending and it's different. In the English version, Madison takes out the tiny bag and Kero asks what it is. She informs him that it's a present for Sakura. It was something that belonged to Sakura's mother and Madison's mother will give it to her when Sakura grows up. She then follows her mother and Sakura for dinner.
Wanna see it yourself?
Card Captor Sakura Episode 11 (All)
Click to viewCardcaptors Episode 11: Part 1/2 (the quality improves after a minute so relax)
Cardcaptors Episode 11: Part 2/2
Edit: Here is another set of videos.
Cardcaptors Episode 11: Part 1/3
Cardcaptors Episode 11: Part 2/3
Cardcaptors Episode 11: Part 3/3
Wow. I thought Episode 10 was boring. This is way more boring than Episode 10. I found this capture less than entertaining in the manga and it's worse here because they have to pad it out. In other news, I finally succumbed: I downloaded "Catch You, Catch Me" (the Japanese opening song) from gendou.com. I wouldn't recommend the "Sakura" version or the Remix; get the original, full length one.
Do I even need to say it? The English title is way better. What is up with the Japanese titles? The story has nothing to do with Tomoyo's house! The Japanese title makes it seem like they're going to go to a haunted house or something when it isn't about that at all! The English title isn't great but the bar was set pretty low here.
Let's start with the cuts. Thank you, Nelvana, for cutting the absolutely pointless scenes with Fujitaka, Toya, and Yukito. Why were they there? Okay, I know, to pad the episode out, but seriously, what was that all about? This episode drags enough without those nattering idiots.
I can't tell if they actually cut Madison being gay or not because of how the youtuber did the episode but if they did cut the whole "I have this eraser because it was Sakura's first present to me", I don't really mind. I always thought the whole eraser was just a little too much. Then again, ten-year-old girls are a strange breed. I collected a few (untouched) erasers in my day. Edit: Wow, they toned down how gay Madison is but what they did instead is way better than the original. I thought having the tiny bag be something from Sakura's mother that was being kept for her was a lot more touching and made a better ending than the eraser thing. It also made more sense because I never understood why the two women shared the box. Since the English version changes it to something Samantha is keeping for Sakura, it makes sense for it to be kept with Natasha's bouquet.
Speaking of gay, Nelvana made Samantha gayer than Sonomi was. Instead of having her remember a whole bunch of things and then ending with Natasha announcing her engagement, which causes her get ruffled, they just keep the first memory and then cut to her being ruffled. Um, do you need to be alone, Samantha? That memory sure set you on edge. It doesn't help that Natasha's actress decided to deliver her line in a breathy voice.
I'm actually rather pleased with the tweaks and line changes they did with the tea and cake scene. It actually plays a bit better in the English than in the Japanese.
1. Madison actually speaks during the early part of the scene. It makes the scene appear a bit more natural and presents Samantha and Madison as a loving mother-daughter pair. In other words, they don't just interact for Sakura's benefit. Madison comes off as more at ease with her mother than Tomoyo does.
2. I like how the English version has Natasha say "No, I'm okay" after each mishap. It's a lot funnier than the Japanese version and gives Natasha a little bit more of a personality than "she's a klutz!" In the English version, she's a klutz but she didn't let that hold her back. I can't really explain it better than that.
3. I really like how the scene after the "Natasha was a klutz" montage goes. Instead of Samantha having a temper tantrum and Sakura asking the last person she should be asking about her father and her replying in the lamest way possible ("his biggest flaw is that he has no flaws"? Lame), they turn it into this really nice scene where Sakura realizes that if her mother hadn't been such a klutz, she would have never met her father, and then Sakura wouldn't exist. Samantha replies that she really misses Sakura's mother, clumsiness and all, but she is sure that Sakura would grow up just like her. It's a much nicer scene but doesn't really throw anyone out of character.
In another dubbing areas, I thought it was pretty funny that they just had to mention Li to remind the audience he's still around. Listen for the name drop when Madison is playing the video. Hey, it's your fault for cutting scenes that make him gay if the audience can't remember who Li is!
Edit: I thought that they dealt with "Any Japanese child would know that Sakura means cherry blossoms but an American/Canadian kid won't" issue nicely by simply explaining that Sakura means cherry blossoms! No weird line changes, no plot re-writes, just a nice, simple line insert that resolved the translation issue. Now, if they would just do that in the future, I'd be a much happier person. Although, one has to wonder if Natasha was just a huge otaku. :P
The only problem I had was Sakura and Kero during the bus scene. In the English version, Sakura and Kero practically shouting at the top of their lungs at each other. If you're going to shout, you might as well like Kero fly around in the bus too. Honestly. Use a brain cell and one inch voices.
Edit: How did I forget to mention the fact that English Sakura chants the wrong spell? Yeah, English Sakura chants the "give me my wand!" spell when she already is using it and has been using for about five minutes! She needed to do the spell that lets her activate a Card, which is what she was doing! Silly dubbers, how did you not catch that?
Two plot things:
1. Okay, where is Tomoyo's dad? Could they give him a throwaway line about being at the office or something? It's starting to weird me out. Especially since in the English version, they have Samantha call herself "Ms." Not that one has to use Mrs if they're married but it makes the situation even more ambiguous. Are they divorced? Is he dead? Is he a tanshin funin? Where is he?
2. It's nice and all that Sonomi has Nadeshiko's bouquet but there's no way it would still look as fresh as it does after all this time unless that box is some sort of cryogenic chamber.
In conclusion, although the episode itself is boring, the English version tried to make the best of it using cuts and line changes, therefore I judge these episodes to be...
Different, with the English Cardcaptors being the superior.
Episode 12