Yeah, yeah, you’ve heard it before. Work’s a bitch; I’m coming home brain dead. We’re trying to do 15% more job on 40% less employees. No, automation doesn’t make up the difference; in our case it’s backfired and made things worse. That 15% is more like 30% after you factor in the botched upgrades. I think that estimate is low.
I’ve started CardCaptor Sakura; will watch the fifth disk tonight. I figure I’ll do 1-2 per day for the next week or so, and work through it. Mildly interesting — it’s ok, but preteen mahou shoujo is not really my speed. If it hadn’t been for the insanely good deal, I’d have passed on it.
Some thoughts about the show: I have been convinced since the middle of the second DVD that her family knows she’s the Cardcaptor. For one thing, there’s the entire question of how the book came to be in her father’s study. And her brother has three times mentioned or displayed abilities which might be magical: he talked about making up ghost stories to scare Sakura, except he talked as if he really could see ghosts–and Sakura can’t. He definately saw his mother’s spirit in one episode, whereas Sakura didn’t notice it looking over her shoulder. And finally, Li hit him with a fire charm, and he just brushed it off. I’m therefore of the opinion that Sakura gets her magic from her father’s side of the family–I’d wondered if, thanks to his backstory, he’s actually from the Li clan. However, the real answer hit me today (though I wonder if I read it somewhere before and am just remembering it instead): Clow has to be Sakura’s paternal grandfather. It explains why the book was in the study, and why she is such a powerful sorceror. While it would be funny if Shaoran, Tomoya and Sakura were all distant cousins/in-laws, I believe that to be the answer. No, I don’t want spoilers.
Speaking of which, I thought it odd that Tomoya and Sakura never commented on the discovery that they are second cousins.
Then there’s Yukito: he probably knows something too, if not the whole story. The first meeting between him and Li was just too strange. (aside from the yaoi vibes.). I just can’t figure out if the show is hinting that the two guys have a yaoi thing going, or if it’s just CLAMP being CLAMP, or if they’re engaging in misdirection. I’m definately getting the “everybody has a secret” vibe from this show.
I can see why the WB cut it to ribbons though. There’s some really creepy sexual undertones, what with the one girl that’s got a crush on her teacher, Sakura’s mom marrying her dad when she was 16 and *he* was her teacher, the siscon references, and the parallels between Tomoya and Sakura on the one hand, and their mothers on the other. I cannot imagine this show airing uncut in the U.S.
Could we get through ONE episode without Tomoya and her weird Sakura obsession? Also, I definately skip the Kero segments after each episode. Pointless and unfunny.
Well, this isn’t much of a series review; not one picture even. Well, I said I was brain dead. (At least it’s +5 to save vs. brain-eating zombies, since they prefer the live variety…)
Update: Hahaha! I love Melin, after just one episode!
Update 2: And now a picture! I promised Steven I’d look this up. At 20:48 on the third DVD, Shaoran throws a charm at Toya that bursts into flame. Both he and Yukito witness it, but Toya just brushes it off. It’s presented ambiguously; so that they might assume he Shaoran threw a burning piece of cardboard. I don’t think they’re that dull though, either of them.
Oh and I forgot, Clow married into the Li clan, didn’t he? So if my theory is correct, Shaoran and Melin are distant relatives of Sakura and Toya, though by marriage.
Update 3: Well that was a short-lived romance. Melin’s “I can do anything better than you” routine got old quick. I’m finding her quite annoying now.