Episode 14: "Sakura, Toya, and Cinderella" or "Play Misty for Tori"
Introduction to the Experiment
Episode 13
Episode 14: Sakura, Toya, and Cinderella (Card Captor Sakura) or Play Misty for Tori (Cardcaptors)
Toya's high school is hosting a festival, which Sakura and Tomoyo are attending, courtesy of Yukito giving Sakura two tickets (the English version doesn't clarify this nor does it show the scene of Yukito inviting her to the festival). Meanwhile, Toya and his classmates are working on their costumes. In the Japanese version, the girls coo over Toya's mad housekeeping skills while the in the English version, the girls tease Tori about "losing the bet". After that, Sakura and Tomoyo are inside the building and after Sakura remembers that she has to bring something back for Kero, she runs upside to go to Yukito's class traditional candy shop/Japanese food stall. Yukito serves the two girls and Sakura feels like someone's watching her: it's Li and boy, is he pissed. In the Japanese version, he probably has to actually go piss because a dozen or so ramune soda bottles are at his feet. The English version cuts this establishment shot and instead cuts straight to Li doing a really unnecessary flip to have a staredown with Sakura. Yukito breaks the tension with another ramune and then offers to show them around. Meanwhile, Toya and his male classmates are lifting something heavy. In the Japanese version, the girls watching this talk about how Toya is so dreamy and perfect and they tease one of the girls, Yoko, about how they would be well suited. She denies liking Toya and runs off. The girls then remarks on how Toya has turned every girl down and isn't it odd that only Toya and Yukito have no girlfriends? In the English version, after bitchily hoping that the boys don't ask them to help carry the trunk, the girls tease Vicki about how she had to memorize her lines. Meanwhile, Sakura is gushing over a stuffed animal. Li berates her. The high school basketball teams says that if they manage to dribble past them, they get a stuffed animal but they have to pay 100 yen. Yukito pays the 100 yen and dribbles like a pro, even making a basket. Sakura gets her stuffed animal. Then Yukito offers two more coins, saying he wants to try again. All three children get a stuffed animal and the basketball team captain begs Yukito to join the team. After that, Yukito mentions that it's time for the play that Toya's class is putting on. Toya is in the play but he hasn't told Sakura who he is and Yukito ain't going to spoil it. And what's Yukito? A can of mackerel, according to the Japanese version. The English version cuts him out of the play entirely. Meanwhile, a green mist is swirling around. Anyway, it's time for the play and it's Cinderella and Toya is playing the title character. It seems like every girl part is played by a boy and every boy part is played by a girl. Yoko is playing the Prince. Toya's delivery is uninspired at best and Sakura is majorly freaked out by her brother in the play. As for Yukito? Apparently the "can of mackerel" has become magical over time, prompting Tomoyo to guess that his role is supposed to show the importance of not throwing things away. The English version cuts this scene. Anyway, as the play goes on, the green mist is moving through the vents until it reaches the stage during a balcony scene. The mist rots the supports and Yoko nearly falls but Toya has got a hold on her. But the platform is dissolving by the second. It's a Clow Card and Sakura and Li spring into action by running to the lighting booth. Sakura calls Kero (who is at home, watching a heartwarming movie) who tells her it's the Mist Card and it rots everything it touches. She has to find some way to gather it up. She uses the Shadow Card to wrap it up. But the platform is too badly damaged and both Toya and Yoko fall but Li calls up some wind with his sword and saves them. Anyway, it's time for the dance around the bonfire. Tomoyo is disappointed that she missed filming Sakura again and Sakura thanks Li for helping, which he denies doing. Yukito comes by, remarking how that day was stressful. Toya is fine but otherwise occupied... with Yoko. In the Japanese version, Yoko comes out and says it: she loves Toya. Toya turns her down and Yoko correctly guesses that he loves someone else. In the English version, she simply states that she owes him for saving her life while he insists that she shouldn't worry about it. In any case, Toya dances with Yoko around the bonfire but then won't dance with anyone else. Yukito then dances with Sakura around the bonfire.
Here it is!
Card Captor Sakura Episode 14 (All)
Cardcaptors Episode 14: Part 1/3
Cardcaptors Episode 14: Part 2/3
Cardcaptors Episode 14: Part 3/3
You know what's a bad sign? When I'm writing up the summary of an episode I seriously watched a minute beforehand and I go, "Wait, what actually happened again?" I will admit that I'm a sucker for the "class play where all the boys have to play girls and all the girls have to play boys" cliche. They're always lots of fun so I was a little disappointed that this version of the cliche left me a bit cold. It probably didn't help that most of the episode had nothing to do with the play. But it made me a bit nostalgic, like the last episode. My youngest older brother did a lot of his high school plays when I was the age that Sakura is in the show. I thought those plays were the coolest things ever. After the performances, I would seriously run around and get the actors' autographs. I was disappointed to learn, later on, that real actors don't stand in the lobby after the show and let patrons do that. I wouldn't see my brother playing a woman until he entered college (and I high school) though. I don't know what I would have thought at the age of ten.
Card Tally
Sakura: Windy, Fly, Shadow, Watery, Rain, Wood, Jump, Illusion, Silence, Thunder, Sword, Flower, Shield, Power, Mist
Current number: 15
Li: Time
Current number: 1
Hm... the titles. The Japanese one is kind of lame (random nouns does not a title make) but the English title is such a spoiler. When I was watching the Japanese version, I was trying to figure out what the Card was... until I remembered that the English title is called "Play Misty for Tori" which answered my question. Then again, the English title tend to name the Card in the title. I guess I like the English title better.
One major change viewers are going to notice is the title card. The English version has a different background for the title. Apparently, according to the youtube comments, this episode was shown much later in the English release, hence the different title card. I wonder how they managed to do it though since very major characters (ie Meiling) should be there at this point. Furthermore, Rhys Huber is still Li in this episode so it's not like they did the dubbing later on. My only guess is that this episode was shelved for some reason and then reinserted into a later season untouched besides the title card.
So, apparently the name is Tori? Not Tory? Is Tori even a guy's name? Isn't it short for Victoria?
They cut a lot of scenes, causing a jerky feeling to the English episode. I will admit that the Japanese version tended to drag in the beginning but the editing here was not very good. In one scene, they practically cut Julian off mid-sentence to avoid a screenshot. And scenes that actually made the episode worthwhile were lost, most notably Yukito's "can of mackerel" story arc and Tomoyo's guess about his role's purpose in the play. I thought that they could have used the "recycling" joke in Kero's Corner, at the very least ("Hey, kids, it's good to recycle! Help Mother Earth! Or nuclear waste will go into our sewers and turn sewer turtles into giant ninja turtles! Now let's look at these uniforms!"). I kind of wonder if this was a subtle attempt at an environmental moral because acid rain in the form of fog really happens and is quite serious.
The gay patrol was also in full force for this episode. Luckily for them, Li kept his gayness mostly to himself this time around (one scene where Li bashfully congratulates Yukito on his performance may have been cut only because Julian wasn't in the play) but, whoa boy, Tori and Julian caused some problems. "Kinomoto and Tsukishiro don't have girlfriends!" Gee, I wonder why. "You like someone else, don't you?" "Yes." Oh my goodness, who could it be?! What's weird though is that they had a handy way to establish Tori as heterosexual and then changed it. When Toya stops dancing after Yoko leaves him, she asks him why. He replies that he didn't promise anyone else that he would dance with them. In the English version, Tori answers, in a kind of an ADD way, that he wants to see his sister now. The English version could have kept the line and had the actor play it a little more suggestively, implying that maybe he's interested in Vicki. A lot of the commentors complained that Vicki didn't get to crush on Tori but I don't think so. I think they played it a bit more subtly, although her awkward delivery may have not been intentional.
Speaking of awkward deliveries, English cast! What is it about festival episodes that take away your acting abilities? Do you hate them that much? I know, this episode was kind of boring but still, that's no excuse to totally phone this one in.
Anyway, back to Did-I-Mention-I'm-Manly Tori. I even noticed that they had any mention of Tori being not quite normal removed. Discussion of Toya's mad housekeeping skills? Gone. Instead Tori loses a bet. Discussion of how Toya turns every girl down and has no girlfriend and neither does his best friend? Gone. Instead the girls get to torment the lead to memorize her lines.
And why are the high school girls so mean in the English version? Is the cast of Mean Girls hanging out in Canada dubbing anime or something? What gives?
The good news (for the dubbers anyway) is that when Li acts gay, it's pretty vague. There are quite a few scenes where it's not clear if Li is jealous of Yukito or Sakura. Those watching the Japanese version know he's jealous of Sakura but English viewers might not be so sure.
The muzak is in full force. I liked the opening background music but then the music guy got muzak-happy and it went downhill. The lowest point was when they used the recorder music from Episode 12. Is that the only song the students at all levels know?
There were some highlights to the dub. I thought Li's guess of Tori playing a rat was pretty funny and Kero's line "This better be Sakura calling about a Clow Card" made me crack up. And the stepsisters and stepmother were hysterical in English. For some reason, the stepsisters sounded like Terrance and Phillip from South Park. Okay, probably more like Terrance and Phillip are supposed to sound like Canadians and Canadians are playing the stepsisters but still, weird. The English version also resolves a minor plot hole by saying that Madison's camera ran out of batteries before the play because, seriously, why didn't she have her camera with her at the play?
And English Li is nicer than Japanese Li in one scene. When Sakura gushes over a stuffed animal, Japanese Li snides that he doesn't understand why she likes such childish things. English Li simply snarks that Sakura already has one at home (and how does he know that? He has yet set foot in her house [unless this was the result of a line change to help it go into a later season]. Does he use the Time Card to sneak into her room late at night and count her stuffed animals?). Tell me, when does English Li turn into a sexist pig? I haven't seen it yet.
Enough of that. Now for some plot holes:
1. Why doesn't Toya and Sakura's dad come? It's supposed to be a Sunday. He still can't get off work to see his son play the lead in a play?
2. If Sakura needed a ticket to get into the festival, and Yukito gave her the ticket, then how did Li get into the festival? Who gave him his ticket? Toya?
3. So, seriously, why the flip that Li does when he confronts Sakura? She is seriously five feet from him. Walk over there, drama queen.
4. If Mist dissolves anything, then why aren't the people standing in Mist turned into goo?
5. And when Yukito goes to rescue Toya, the steps above him collapse but not the step he's standing on which are still covered in Mist! Were those steps made of steel or something?
6. Why does Shadow work to capture the Mist Card? Because it wrapped around Mist? Shadows don't normally bind mist. Then again, mist doesn't usually dissolve whole structures in seconds.
Although the episode could have been paced better in Japanese, the English version cut scenes in a sloppy fashion and changed details that could have been left alone or at least done in a better way. In conclusion, I deem these episodes to be...
Different, with the Japanese Card Captor Sakura being the superior.
Episode 15
Episode 13
Episode 14: Sakura, Toya, and Cinderella (Card Captor Sakura) or Play Misty for Tori (Cardcaptors)
Toya's high school is hosting a festival, which Sakura and Tomoyo are attending, courtesy of Yukito giving Sakura two tickets (the English version doesn't clarify this nor does it show the scene of Yukito inviting her to the festival). Meanwhile, Toya and his classmates are working on their costumes. In the Japanese version, the girls coo over Toya's mad housekeeping skills while the in the English version, the girls tease Tori about "losing the bet". After that, Sakura and Tomoyo are inside the building and after Sakura remembers that she has to bring something back for Kero, she runs upside to go to Yukito's class traditional candy shop/Japanese food stall. Yukito serves the two girls and Sakura feels like someone's watching her: it's Li and boy, is he pissed. In the Japanese version, he probably has to actually go piss because a dozen or so ramune soda bottles are at his feet. The English version cuts this establishment shot and instead cuts straight to Li doing a really unnecessary flip to have a staredown with Sakura. Yukito breaks the tension with another ramune and then offers to show them around. Meanwhile, Toya and his male classmates are lifting something heavy. In the Japanese version, the girls watching this talk about how Toya is so dreamy and perfect and they tease one of the girls, Yoko, about how they would be well suited. She denies liking Toya and runs off. The girls then remarks on how Toya has turned every girl down and isn't it odd that only Toya and Yukito have no girlfriends? In the English version, after bitchily hoping that the boys don't ask them to help carry the trunk, the girls tease Vicki about how she had to memorize her lines. Meanwhile, Sakura is gushing over a stuffed animal. Li berates her. The high school basketball teams says that if they manage to dribble past them, they get a stuffed animal but they have to pay 100 yen. Yukito pays the 100 yen and dribbles like a pro, even making a basket. Sakura gets her stuffed animal. Then Yukito offers two more coins, saying he wants to try again. All three children get a stuffed animal and the basketball team captain begs Yukito to join the team. After that, Yukito mentions that it's time for the play that Toya's class is putting on. Toya is in the play but he hasn't told Sakura who he is and Yukito ain't going to spoil it. And what's Yukito? A can of mackerel, according to the Japanese version. The English version cuts him out of the play entirely. Meanwhile, a green mist is swirling around. Anyway, it's time for the play and it's Cinderella and Toya is playing the title character. It seems like every girl part is played by a boy and every boy part is played by a girl. Yoko is playing the Prince. Toya's delivery is uninspired at best and Sakura is majorly freaked out by her brother in the play. As for Yukito? Apparently the "can of mackerel" has become magical over time, prompting Tomoyo to guess that his role is supposed to show the importance of not throwing things away. The English version cuts this scene. Anyway, as the play goes on, the green mist is moving through the vents until it reaches the stage during a balcony scene. The mist rots the supports and Yoko nearly falls but Toya has got a hold on her. But the platform is dissolving by the second. It's a Clow Card and Sakura and Li spring into action by running to the lighting booth. Sakura calls Kero (who is at home, watching a heartwarming movie) who tells her it's the Mist Card and it rots everything it touches. She has to find some way to gather it up. She uses the Shadow Card to wrap it up. But the platform is too badly damaged and both Toya and Yoko fall but Li calls up some wind with his sword and saves them. Anyway, it's time for the dance around the bonfire. Tomoyo is disappointed that she missed filming Sakura again and Sakura thanks Li for helping, which he denies doing. Yukito comes by, remarking how that day was stressful. Toya is fine but otherwise occupied... with Yoko. In the Japanese version, Yoko comes out and says it: she loves Toya. Toya turns her down and Yoko correctly guesses that he loves someone else. In the English version, she simply states that she owes him for saving her life while he insists that she shouldn't worry about it. In any case, Toya dances with Yoko around the bonfire but then won't dance with anyone else. Yukito then dances with Sakura around the bonfire.
Here it is!
Card Captor Sakura Episode 14 (All)
Click to viewCardcaptors Episode 14: Part 1/3
Cardcaptors Episode 14: Part 2/3
Cardcaptors Episode 14: Part 3/3
You know what's a bad sign? When I'm writing up the summary of an episode I seriously watched a minute beforehand and I go, "Wait, what actually happened again?" I will admit that I'm a sucker for the "class play where all the boys have to play girls and all the girls have to play boys" cliche. They're always lots of fun so I was a little disappointed that this version of the cliche left me a bit cold. It probably didn't help that most of the episode had nothing to do with the play. But it made me a bit nostalgic, like the last episode. My youngest older brother did a lot of his high school plays when I was the age that Sakura is in the show. I thought those plays were the coolest things ever. After the performances, I would seriously run around and get the actors' autographs. I was disappointed to learn, later on, that real actors don't stand in the lobby after the show and let patrons do that. I wouldn't see my brother playing a woman until he entered college (and I high school) though. I don't know what I would have thought at the age of ten.
Card Tally
Sakura: Windy, Fly, Shadow, Watery, Rain, Wood, Jump, Illusion, Silence, Thunder, Sword, Flower, Shield, Power, Mist
Current number: 15
Li: Time
Current number: 1
Hm... the titles. The Japanese one is kind of lame (random nouns does not a title make) but the English title is such a spoiler. When I was watching the Japanese version, I was trying to figure out what the Card was... until I remembered that the English title is called "Play Misty for Tori" which answered my question. Then again, the English title tend to name the Card in the title. I guess I like the English title better.
One major change viewers are going to notice is the title card. The English version has a different background for the title. Apparently, according to the youtube comments, this episode was shown much later in the English release, hence the different title card. I wonder how they managed to do it though since very major characters (ie Meiling) should be there at this point. Furthermore, Rhys Huber is still Li in this episode so it's not like they did the dubbing later on. My only guess is that this episode was shelved for some reason and then reinserted into a later season untouched besides the title card.
So, apparently the name is Tori? Not Tory? Is Tori even a guy's name? Isn't it short for Victoria?
They cut a lot of scenes, causing a jerky feeling to the English episode. I will admit that the Japanese version tended to drag in the beginning but the editing here was not very good. In one scene, they practically cut Julian off mid-sentence to avoid a screenshot. And scenes that actually made the episode worthwhile were lost, most notably Yukito's "can of mackerel" story arc and Tomoyo's guess about his role's purpose in the play. I thought that they could have used the "recycling" joke in Kero's Corner, at the very least ("Hey, kids, it's good to recycle! Help Mother Earth! Or nuclear waste will go into our sewers and turn sewer turtles into giant ninja turtles! Now let's look at these uniforms!"). I kind of wonder if this was a subtle attempt at an environmental moral because acid rain in the form of fog really happens and is quite serious.
The gay patrol was also in full force for this episode. Luckily for them, Li kept his gayness mostly to himself this time around (one scene where Li bashfully congratulates Yukito on his performance may have been cut only because Julian wasn't in the play) but, whoa boy, Tori and Julian caused some problems. "Kinomoto and Tsukishiro don't have girlfriends!" Gee, I wonder why. "You like someone else, don't you?" "Yes." Oh my goodness, who could it be?! What's weird though is that they had a handy way to establish Tori as heterosexual and then changed it. When Toya stops dancing after Yoko leaves him, she asks him why. He replies that he didn't promise anyone else that he would dance with them. In the English version, Tori answers, in a kind of an ADD way, that he wants to see his sister now. The English version could have kept the line and had the actor play it a little more suggestively, implying that maybe he's interested in Vicki. A lot of the commentors complained that Vicki didn't get to crush on Tori but I don't think so. I think they played it a bit more subtly, although her awkward delivery may have not been intentional.
Speaking of awkward deliveries, English cast! What is it about festival episodes that take away your acting abilities? Do you hate them that much? I know, this episode was kind of boring but still, that's no excuse to totally phone this one in.
Anyway, back to Did-I-Mention-I'm-Manly Tori. I even noticed that they had any mention of Tori being not quite normal removed. Discussion of Toya's mad housekeeping skills? Gone. Instead Tori loses a bet. Discussion of how Toya turns every girl down and has no girlfriend and neither does his best friend? Gone. Instead the girls get to torment the lead to memorize her lines.
And why are the high school girls so mean in the English version? Is the cast of Mean Girls hanging out in Canada dubbing anime or something? What gives?
The good news (for the dubbers anyway) is that when Li acts gay, it's pretty vague. There are quite a few scenes where it's not clear if Li is jealous of Yukito or Sakura. Those watching the Japanese version know he's jealous of Sakura but English viewers might not be so sure.
The muzak is in full force. I liked the opening background music but then the music guy got muzak-happy and it went downhill. The lowest point was when they used the recorder music from Episode 12. Is that the only song the students at all levels know?
There were some highlights to the dub. I thought Li's guess of Tori playing a rat was pretty funny and Kero's line "This better be Sakura calling about a Clow Card" made me crack up. And the stepsisters and stepmother were hysterical in English. For some reason, the stepsisters sounded like Terrance and Phillip from South Park. Okay, probably more like Terrance and Phillip are supposed to sound like Canadians and Canadians are playing the stepsisters but still, weird. The English version also resolves a minor plot hole by saying that Madison's camera ran out of batteries before the play because, seriously, why didn't she have her camera with her at the play?
And English Li is nicer than Japanese Li in one scene. When Sakura gushes over a stuffed animal, Japanese Li snides that he doesn't understand why she likes such childish things. English Li simply snarks that Sakura already has one at home (and how does he know that? He has yet set foot in her house [unless this was the result of a line change to help it go into a later season]. Does he use the Time Card to sneak into her room late at night and count her stuffed animals?). Tell me, when does English Li turn into a sexist pig? I haven't seen it yet.
Enough of that. Now for some plot holes:
1. Why doesn't Toya and Sakura's dad come? It's supposed to be a Sunday. He still can't get off work to see his son play the lead in a play?
2. If Sakura needed a ticket to get into the festival, and Yukito gave her the ticket, then how did Li get into the festival? Who gave him his ticket? Toya?
3. So, seriously, why the flip that Li does when he confronts Sakura? She is seriously five feet from him. Walk over there, drama queen.
4. If Mist dissolves anything, then why aren't the people standing in Mist turned into goo?
5. And when Yukito goes to rescue Toya, the steps above him collapse but not the step he's standing on which are still covered in Mist! Were those steps made of steel or something?
6. Why does Shadow work to capture the Mist Card? Because it wrapped around Mist? Shadows don't normally bind mist. Then again, mist doesn't usually dissolve whole structures in seconds.
Although the episode could have been paced better in Japanese, the English version cut scenes in a sloppy fashion and changed details that could have been left alone or at least done in a better way. In conclusion, I deem these episodes to be...
Different, with the Japanese Card Captor Sakura being the superior.
Episode 15