CardCaptor Sakura is a Beautiful MESS

[@TheSlipperyNUwUdle]

I don’t see anything at all wrong with Sakura crushing on a boy six or seven years older than she is. If he reciprocated that, then sure, fair enough. But if it’s just her? Meh, kids do that.

[@DeathKitta]

That's a very typical thing for kids. I also had a small crush on older boy.

[@MxPokirby]

Mhm, kid-me had a crush on someone years older too.

[@maitequilla]

Yeah, it´s perfectly normal for kids to have crushes on someone older than them, after all it´s fairly common for students to have a crush on their teacher, but if the teacher reciprocates THAT´S messed up (funily enough that also happens with CCS)

[@TheSlipperyNUwUdle]

@@maitequilla I had a crush on my male teacher when I was 12 and he was probably late 20s. Lol most of the girls (and probably a few boys) did as well.

[@houdaini7]

this is true! kids can have crushes on people older than them. HOWEVER, it is 100% the teen's/adult's responsibility to NOT reciprocate that

[@meltysnowfox1569]

To be honest I found Sakura and Shaoran's crush on Yukito kind of endearing because you know, they're kids and kids crush on their siblings' teenage friends all the time in the same way that they crush on celebrities, it's completely normal and makes them feel like real people! If Yukito had reciprocated any of their feelings,,, that would be a different story but he doesn't! He thinks of Sakura as a little sister and then gets together with her brother later which is super wholesome! Even Sakura realizes that her feelings for him were only surface level as those kinds of crushes tend to be so I never minded any of that. What I did mind were all the other problematic relationships clamp has written in their works... yikes. Even as a clamp fan I can't ignore them and I'm glad that they stopped writing them, hopefully they realized what makes them problematic

[@nesthetic]

Same sentiments. I personally believe those problematic relationships were simply a product of their time (plus Japanese culture). It doesn't make them right, but it just puts context into why they were written like that.

[@murderman8578]

Maybe they don't find them problematic and they didn't sell

[@MissCaraMint]

Yeah and the target of that infatuation being completely oblivious is kinda true to life as well. Like why would they even consider this little child as a potential partner in the first place enough to notice.

[@theberrby6836]

Yep

[@saralemur2635]

Yeah, this is one of the least problematic ones. Especially as they very much portrayed it as an innocent crush, and turns into a growing moment when Sakura gets over Yukito. It also winds up being the thing that initially bonds her to Syaoran, even if that bond is initially a rivalry for Yukito's affection. It showed how they were a lot more alike than different!

[@TwilightWolf032]

Children having crushes on much older people than themselves isn't harmful depiction of anything at all. Every child goes through that phase at one point (boy, I sure have had my fair share of crushes on teenagers when I was 5-10). Now, if the older person is reciprocating that love, then we have a problem!

[@saladcaesar7716]

Not all thought just many. Many kids are aro-ace without understanding it and seeing other kids having "crushes" is confusing to them. I just wanna precise it.

[@poppyandshadow]

the teacher did give one of his students that promise ring. I think it was in the second or third volume

[@jackster10101]

Dude who cares it’s a fictional character stay mad at it all you want

[@saladcaesar7716]

@@jackster10101 you seem to care a lot about other people's opinions

[@jackster10101]

@@saladcaesar7716 I don’t really but I think aro ace being considered a sexuality is stupid and I don’t understand why oh it confuses kids is relevant regardless of whether you can have crushes or not it’s still confusing, I don’t care about peoples opinions like oh this show sucks or you’re political opinions I just disapprove of the whole gender is spectrum shit and pronouns like people like jaiden she’s a cool person but her partaking in that aro ace label makes me roll my eyes no I don’t care that much but I just don’t want to be apart of it is all

[@lotusthemermaid]

I was always really jealous of Sakura as a kid because she got to be a magical girl, cooked well, AND she could skate!? That just wasn't fair 😂

[@dieterdelange9488]

Plus she has a talking guardian beast who's both a cute plushie and a really cool winged lion-god hybrid. Plus her gorgeous outfits. ❤

[@turtleme4811]

😂😂😂

[@IshtarNike]

I forgot about the skating! That was actually a really cool realistic solution for her initial inability to keep up with certain cards until she got things like Fly.

[@TsujiCross]

I wouldn’t exactly call realistic a 9 year old roller-skating UP A CLIFFSIDE then doing a freaking FLIP in midair before landing on a giant bird’s back on the very first episode of the anime tho 😅 (No magic, mind you. She only used Windy AFTER pulling this insane feat of acrobatics all on her own)

[@Lona818]

I'm so grateful to have had the Latin American dub growing up in the 90s, they kept the order of the episodes, they didn't change their Japanese names and all the LGTBQ+ was there. God bless those people who decided to NOT change it, only adapt it to the Spanish language. 💕

[@NI-ko5kt]

This one was my favorite!

[@effyyyyyy]

Tbh I think the Latin dub was even more lgbt like sometimes they would make Touya simp more directly for Yukito rather than make it clear that he was talking about Yue and I love that lol

[@shawnthorington7723]

​@@NI-ko5kt God bless? Are you serious? Having teachers hooking up with students?

[@ClubPuguin]

@@shawnthorington7723 it's sad how it's kinda treated the same as lgbt relationships in the show tho it seems that they toned that part down in LA dub which is something

[@sergiocaballero9952]

It happened with portuguese dub too! ❤

[@Takumi_Did_Nothing_Wrong]

I like a lot of the outfits in Cardcaptor Sakura, but the crystal feather dress from the first opening of Clear Card, which looked like it was inspired by Swan Lake, was very gorgeous. I love elegant outfits like that.

[@beaccino]

Me too! It is by far my all time favorite

[@ryol8671]

Better outfit than todays all fanservice outfits.

[@SirEriol]

I wish that Clear Card kept the original art style. The "modern" look seems a bit... Cheaper, you could say, in comparison to both the manga and the original series. I'm sure that crystal outfit would've looked gorgeous in the old style.

[@saymabagwan2999]

@@SirEriol It's still gorgeous and even I preferred the old animation to clear card's and I'm not even an old fan but when I got open minded and looked at it, it was actually incredibly well animated and eventually found myself liking the lighter tone better than the darker one. Sure, it's a matter of preference even I like the outfit she wore in the 'I'm a dreamer' slightly more making the clear card one's my 2nd fav but I think you should try and appreciate it a bit more.

[@leshyaedawnfire]

In defense of Sakura's character being as open and accepting as she is when it comes to Rika's relationship, I would like to point out that at no point in the manga or the original anime was she made aware that Rika's "boyfriend" was Mr. Harada. She just knows that Rika is in love with someone "older" than her, and the silhouette Illusion used when it distracted her during the Sword incident looked older than she expected. Otherwise, she and all of their classmates are deliberately kept in the dark as to who Rika is dating. While Sakura might be more open to relationships with large age gaps because of her parents, she is never put on the spot with Rika's because she lacks information. Heck, she might think her boyfriend is a guy in high school rather than an adult because Illusion's silhouette had roughly the same shape as Touya! Also at multiple points in the series it was pointed out to Sakura that while her parents were genuinely in love, their relationship was seen as problematic by the people around them, to the point that Sakura has never openly met her maternal great grandfather even though he loved her mother immensely.

[@IceQueen975]

This. Plus, Mr. Terada doesn't seem to actually "pursue" Rika, if you will. She confessed to him and it seems he's more like "You're too young. If you really feel this way when you're older, possibly." Plus, the "young girl falling for older boy but he's too old and she too young so like a decade later they run into one another again and become a couple" is a REALLY common troupe on East Asian romances, I've noticed. Hell, Usagi is 14. Mamaro is 19. They fit that troupe too. Though yes, for sure, the age difference being literal child and literal adult is... not good. At all. The message felt more like "If it's meant to be, it will happen in the right time." with Rika and Mr. Terada. Also! Erol and Miss Kaho also fall into this. I don't see people complaining about that relationship at all. Yes, Erol has Clow's memories but he's still a child.

[@blackadze]

Uh, no. Eriol would actually be the same age as Fujitaka if Eriol had not used magic to remain as the same age as Sakura. And there are those who talk about Kaho and Eriol.

[@Gladissims]

@@IceQueen975 In the anime maybe. They definitely did tone it down, but in the manga the feelings are nut aural and they get straight up engaged. It’s pretty horrifying, actually.

[@Gladissims]

@@IceQueen975 Eriol and Kaho Are also super weird. Eriol is mentally an adult (he stopped his aging so that he could hang out with 10yos without anyone batting an eye and it’s weird) but that means he’s still got the body of a 10 yo, which… should ring some alarm bells in regards to Kaho, I think. >.>’ It’s just super weird over all. I adore clamp but their obsession with age differences (or rather, the way they implement them) is so uncomfortable. In X they’ve literarily got a 14 yo dating a 40 yo. Yuck.

[@moonshiro]

@@Gladissims we can also talk and need to acknowledge the fact that Kaho previously dated Toya when he was in Middle School and she was a substitute teacher of his which is NOT okay. like I never really liked her to begin with because she was so weird but after what she did to Toya and the fact that she is lying to Sakura and hiding stuff from her and then the entire thing with Eriol... I just don't like her as a character at all.

[@emmanuel7489]

It's funny that the English dub thought that in order to make Sakura a "strong female character" they had to remove her "girly" traits. Sakura is a strong character, period. She is also feminine, sensitive, resolute, friendly, caring, childish, naive, and protective of others. Those things don't take anything away from her being a badass. If anything, it tells girls and boys that they don't need to be masculine or tomboyish to appear strong. You can save the world in a frilly dress too.

[@MissPopuri]

I don’t remember Sakura as being that “strong female character” that everyone memes on now. She is sassy to be sure, but there are quite a few American girls who can run their mouths off to no end. It is all a learning experience with girls at age 10 how to behave properly. For myself, I was 12/13 years old when Cardcaptor Sakura came out in 1998, and the only thing they could have added perhaps to make her more feminine would be introducing her to the early stages of preteen and subsequent puberty.

[@eri_noemi1462]

Yes, exactly. Thank you!

[@anonymousfellow8879]

Buddy, watch your misogyny. Gender Non Conforming girls/women exist, and I am utterly sick of people like you bashing tomboys and andro/butch women while “defending” traditional femininity. Some girls and women Simply Are Not Femme and it has NOTHING to do with “femme weak.” HOWEVER…lost count how many damn times femmes and so-called “feminism-allies” collectively mock and shame GNC. Either presenting femme is a choice or it isn’t. Men and nonbinary pals can be Sweet and Kind and Sensitive and Like Pretty Things Too. And quite frankly EVERY afab is made to feel “weak,” but society makes GNC cisgirls and ciswomen feel flatout WRONG…for having so-called “bolder” personality traits, preferring pants, and not liking the color pink.

[@SatoshiMatrix1]

As a boy, what drew me to CCS was just how absolutely beautiful the animation was. I didn't care the protagonist was female. The animation itself is what I was there for.

[@Rishi123456789]

@@SatoshiMatrix1 Based, me too. I'm a male CCS fan and I also love the show mostly because of its gorgeous animation (especially Sakura herself).

[@FrenkTheJoy]

Personally I think it's cuter and more romantic, in a weird way, to have like "young girl pines for teacher, she confesses, he's like 'aw, thanks', MAYBE gives her a memento, and then they never see each other again so she's broken-hearted but is still really happy that she got the courage to confess and now she can move on to guys her own age". I think that's cuter than "11 year old has reciprocal romance with 24 year old".

[@100lovenana]

Then you're going to be disappointed, because in the original manga that same situation ends up the second way. It's creepy and disgusting

[@Di7manya]

I'm kind of surprised you find Sakura's crush on Yukito so distasteful when at least from what I remember it was always presented as a sort of unachievable fantasy of hers. He is always super nice to her and follows along with some of it, just to be nice, the same way he'd play with a little sister. Knowing Syaoran and Toja are ultimately endgame for each of them respectively, it reads more as him trying to let it down easy on her, just giving her time until her crush fades. If you think about it, the things they do together are always fairly normal stuff they'd do if they were brother and sister. I think Sakura's age and Yukito looking so much older than a regular teenager, kind of makes it look creepier than it really is. The Rika thing is honestly so disturbing I had completely forgotten about it even if it was the relatively tame anime version. That's a big yikes there.

[@espeon871]

I think they meant it in the way w the context of rika, so theyre conscious of how it cldve turned out lol cuz i thot it was cute and understandable but i also see y noralities criticises it because i do get it esp w the context of rika so i think it was in the air that it cldve gone south really quick lol

[@seyspectra]

What I don’t like about Sakura‘s feelings for Yukito is that when she finally confesses, Yukito tells her that she doesn’t actually romantically love him, but she only likes him because he looks and acts like Sakura‘s actual father. Like WHAT??? How can she confuse romantic love and her love for her dad?

[@pengwinsRus]

@@seyspectra I mean, Sakura cries about it later on and even says she agreed with Yukito to his face because she knew it was never gonna happen, and even though there were similarities between the feelings, they were different.

[@stefdiazdiaz7067]

Freud, daddy issues, etc.

[@slugalxii3781]

“Its not pink its cyber rose” Makes me wheeze-

[@idonteatspiders2986]

Reminds me of blood orange lmao

[@Eruvadhril]

"There's no harm in showing a character shoot a laser beam out of their finger, because it isn't a real-world action a child can imitate." Not for want of trying, though. I remember spending hours trying to fly after I watched the Dragon Ball Z episode where Gohan teaches Videl how to do it.

[@Boomerangofjustice]

Im glad I wasn't the only one

[@Megaritz]

OMG same. I was nine. I thought it was possible to practice enough to do it, because of the Gohan teaching Videl episode.

[@kjarakravik4837]

I use to practice kamehamehas and the ninja hands from naruto all the time. It made me so happy when gintama made that joke about gintoki doing it too

[@SairinEarthsea]

Kiki's delivery service for me in terms of trying to fly and trying to the 8 trigrams 64 palms.

[@TheSapphireLeo]

F*cking same, but have done it a few times in my dreams (also with giant gold owl like wing) as well as shifting into a blue lion, LMAO!

[@SakuraTenshi2147]

I acknowledge the bad parts of Cardcaptor Sakura, but it still stands as my favorite anime of all time. I watched it growing up, and I still watch it every now and then. I'm not saying everyone else's experience is the same as mine, but even knowing about the positive depictions of age-gapped soulmates, I never applied that to my own life. I knew the intent of the authors to depict pure love devoid of sexual desire, but I also recognize that such a concept can only exist in their fictional universes. So basically, it's my favorite manga/anime, because when I immerse myself in the CLAMP universe, it's an escape from the corruptions of reality, where love really is just selfless love.

[@KimberlyByrdV]

I agree wholeheartedly!

[@TheTiredPotato]

I agree so much with this! I know the bonds on Sakura card captor can only exist there when it comes to soulmates having all types of presentations

[@Cloverfr]

I feel the same, my love for Sakura Card Captor made me not hate femininity and see it as something with worth, and as the helpless tomboy I was, having that made me not have a "not like other girls" phase, it really helped me to not internalized too much misogyny.

[@shireenrazak7160]

It was the first magical girl anime I fully watched and honestly I could relate with sakura. Also, it made me embrace my feminity and made me love pretty dresses. The bad parts are still bad but I still think it's a good anime.

[@LittleDream99]

As an asexual, let me tell you that romantic love without sexual desire can (and does) exist in real life. That doesn't make the age-gaped relationships in CCS any better.

[@punpunim]

Something that i looooved about ccs when i was a kid were the multiple outfits. Western cartoons always wore the same clothes and watching a show where the characters had different outfits depending on the contexts was so appealing to me. Felt more realistic somehow. Also this show was such a mix between cute and spooky, it was weird and i got creeped out sometimes but I loved it so much

[@stevencastor4064]

I kinda disagree though with the statement that you could skip an episode and miss nothing. I feel like Madhouse and Clamp did a great job with stretching the series when it was adapted into an anime. Nothing felt filler to me. There were always bit and pieces of the overarching plot on each episode; and even if it wasn't an information that could advance the overarching plot, there were still things that about the characters, their interaction, and relationships that you get from each episode and would otherwise miss if you skip one. And this is what I like about Sakura too. Yes, it is first and foremost a magical girl anime but it is also about bonds and emotions. I haven't finished the video. Lol. But just wanted to say this when I immediately heard it. Hahaha.

[@giselletorres4156]

Honestly the filler episodes were my favorite

[@marcosdheleno]

the fillers also gave development to li as well. like the cards that were added so he could capture. in some of them, we get the always cute, crushing on sakura. that happens alot more, because the anime had the time to do so.

[@MultiGameBytes]

I absolutely adore Cardcaptor Sakura, but I agree some things deserve criticism and it’s honestly refreshing to see someone point that stuff out as well as the good! I’d love to see you cover Ojamajo Doremi someday! Not a lot of people know about it which is really sad because that anime teaches some really important themes to children. Especially in season 2 and onward! Also a little basic I know, but my favorite of Sakura’s outfits is the one in the opening!

[@teapartypenguin1353]

Loved ojamajo doreimi as a kid, but I watched it on 4kids when they only had the first season, and that ending just made young me so mad.

[@screamingwhales4031]

ojamo doremi is an underrated classic and i wish it got more recognition!! probably the first anime i saw address racism against black people, and well too :)

[@MxPokirby]

Yes! Agreed! I loved Magical DoReMi so much as a kid, and it's been on my To Rewatch list for *years.* I'm still bummed I never managed to buy the toy wand or music pendant thing. (Also in hindsight, it was one of the first pieces of media to crack my egg, so it's got a special place in my heart, with bonus points there.)

[@MxPokirby]

@@teapartypenguin1353 This! The ending *broke* me, basically. As a kid who wished they could be a magical girl more than anything, it didn't make sense to me how they could be so happy giving that up.

[@anichan4238]

@@teapartypenguin1353 4kids covers first season there is 3 other seasons 2 movies and 13 episode ova

[@kou7191]

Tbh a minor having a crush on someone older, or even an adult, feels completely normal to me, like something I could even relate to ...now, when said crush returns the favor, there's where the waters get muddy, to say the least. I didn't think much of it when I was a kid/teen, but now as an adult I can only dread thinking the big yikes I could've gotten into if I so much as hint I had a crush on my history teacher lol Also I THINK the manga does mention Kaito's age in one of the latest chapters, vaguely recall it being 16-19, but take it with a grain of salt.

[@anarup916]

It's normal until the kid girl who has the crush calls her older crush "daddy "🤦‍♀️

[@BearPawSlippersInc]

I never realized it until you pointed it out in the video, but the notion that femininity is intrinsically associated with fear and weakness is so engrained in media that the only way they can think of to make a female character appear more brave and independent is by having her rejecting feminine qualities and behaviours. And it's alarming how often this happens in TV and movies.

[@gingganggoolie]

The idea that not liking girly things makes you brave is so pervasive. I used to love a cartoon called Atomic Betty as a kid, and the opening theme went "Ain't got time for pink and lace, this girl's built for outer space" EVEN WHEN HER OUTFIT WAS PINK

[@BearPawSlippersInc]

@@gingganggoolie Exactly. It's ridiculous. Thankfully, representations of women and femininity in general have improved since the 90s and early 2000s, but we still have a long way to go, I think.

[@jessip8654]

@@BearPawSlippersInc unfortunately western YA fiction still has a lot of that girl-hate mentality going on even though there is much more awareness about how toxic the practice is. It is something I like about anime is that girls are allowed to just be, like, friends.

[@CoolMagmar]

@@gingganggoolie Woah that is so bizarre in my dub at least is just "I don't have time to play"

[@gingganggoolie]

@@CoolMagmar that makes so much more sense, I wish I'd heard that version as a child

[@mateusbottaro8728]

I am so lucky, in Brazil, during 80's, 90's and early 2000's, animes were dubbed without any censorship and very trully to it's original source.

[@akiradkcn]

Essa youtuber é mt hipócrita mano namoral

[@FranciscoJG]

That was the case for titles that went to Europe before USA, so Latin America usually took those adaptations to work with. Pokémon for example went to USA first and we got our version from there with the same censorship and weird localization.

[@bialopea4789]

Sou de Portugal e quando o anime veio para Portugal não tinha censura naquelas épocas.

[@aiquesono]

eu não lembro dessas coisas, eu assistia Sakura lá em 2001-2002, tinha 7 ou 8 anos e não lembro do Shaoran ser apaixonado pelo Yukito,nem da Tomoyo pela Sakura, elas eram melhores amigas, da Rika e do professor sim,ela tinha um crush nele, mas nem era muito explorado na serie, lembro que era a Sakura apaixonada pelo Yukito e o Shaoran gostando da Sakura

[@taynahibanez9952]

Oi! Eu tbm! kkkk. E olha que o Brasil é bem conservador, é até estranho que eles tenham usado o produto original ao invés de dublarem a versão americana.

[@snxwy3634]

Tomoyo is one of my favorite anime characters ever and she has such a soft place in my heart, it upsets me when people imply or argue that she’s as bad a person as like the teacher just because she’s Sakura’s cousin- they didn’t even know that, they didn’t grow up together, and they aren’t even first cousins. anyway my girl Tomoyo deserves better :(

[@sailordaigurren8225]

At least Tomoyo and Mei-Lin wind up together ❤️

[@ValDmitGolo]

@@sailordaigurren8225 they do??

[@sailordaigurren8225]

@@ValDmitGolo it's definitely the vibes I got from the Sealed Card movie. Haven't seen Clear Card and don't know how it relates to the first series, but still

[@ValDmitGolo]

@@sailordaigurren8225 ohhh, i haven't seen the movies (nor clear card) yet, im working my way thorough the OG series (on ep 46 rn)

[@sailordaigurren8225]

@ValDmitGolo the second movie for the OG series is the last part and where my main supporting evidence for the 'ship. Is, but I'll fully admit it's more head cannon than explicitly said

[@OtioseFanatic]

Ironically all of this ickyness could have been avoided if clamp didn’t insist on marriage being the be all end all end point of their true love plots. There are more kinds of love. Like the love of two long time friends who arnt romantically involved but would still be ride or die with each other. Like, for example, that teacher/child engagement nonsense. It could have instead be framed as a budding friendship that just stuck like glue. It’s a win win. Clamp still gets to have her “mature for her age” but they spend time together and enjoy each other’s company not out of some icky and problematic sense of true romantic love, but just seeing each other as friends and maybe even equals. They would never “go there” with each other, but that doesn’t mean that their friendship isn’t special all the same. We as a society need to stop making romantic love the only meaningful form of love in our media.

[@TheSapphireLeo]

So like asexual love, too?

[@OtioseFanatic]

@@TheSapphireLeo totally! Sadly that wasn’t as talked about back then as it is now. It’s pretty funny to think about that CLAMP is a group of 4 women who gave up getting married to devote to their true love of storytelling to be soo hyper fixated on marriage as default for love. One would think they may be a little bitter, lol.

[@maddyclere4884]

honestly , rika and terada's relationship couldve been written as a really sweet father daughter kind of thing. Maybe rika is lacking a father figure and terada is there to fill that role for her.

[@OtioseFanatic]

@@maddyclere4884 yep. Too bad CLAMP had to be gross about it instead.

[@shannonferguson5427]

I don’t understand this comment because even in all of CLAMP’s works, there’s very few marriages. Marriage is not treated as the end goal. Also, there are dedicated platonic relationships in CLAMP works. Tomoyo loves Sakura, but she is happy to just be a dedicated friend to Sakura and help maintain Sakura’s happiness. Sakura loves Syaoran, but she doesn’t cast aside the other relationships in her life. She’s dedicated to Tomoyo, Kero, Yue, Yukito, her family, etc. These are platonic and familial relationships. She still loves them. Actually, that’s literally the point of Cardcaptor Sakura, to explore these different kinds of relationships. At its core, the series is about all types of relationships.

[@nunyabiznes7446]

OK but can we talk about how gorgeous those Clear Card covers are. I don't even know what to call that fashion style where they're in the light blue stripes and hats, like... Riverboat style? Whatever it is it's adorable, A+

[@Nadia1989]

CLAMP's costume design game is jawdropping. I wonder how much money and time it would take to do just one of them.

[@SerenityM16]

I "blame" this series for cementing my adoration for lolita fashion and cottage core things

[@TheSapphireLeo]

Also same.

[@Hellakiddie]

Big mood

[@Fernandanatac]

To me the key to rewatch Sakura with joy is: ignore/block/skip/ Rika’s moments and assume Eriol relationship with the Misuki is purely platonic (honestly, as a child, I didn’t get that that relationship was romantic at all, like, at all. In all honesty, is it even officialized?) Now… Sakura and Syaoran having a crush on a high school boy? Nah, that’s normal. (Really, even Rika’s crush on the teacher is fairly normal, the big problem is that its reciprocated.) Kids crush on teens/adults all the time. There’s no malice there. About her parents, since everyone in the show treated their relationship as a terrible thing, I assumed it was in fact usually a terrible thing and the fact that it was successful it was because it was one of those extremely rare exceptions. 🙃

[@marcosdheleno]

i understand the rika one, but eriol is a mage, and more importantly, he is older than her. not just from the fact of his soul. but the fact he used magic to retain the form of a kid. he is less a child, and more a reverse "loli granny" trope.

[@dieterdelange9488]

The scene in the original series where Sakura's great-grandfather cried his heart out after making peace with her father almost broke me. 😢 He always seemed nice to me...plus, in spite of his age, he's rather handsome. 😊😅 Many CCS fans have been harsh on him, but let's be real: anyone would be in a flat spin if their SIXTEEN year-old granddaughter told them out of the blue that's she's marrying her freakin' homeroom teacher who's nine years older than her and whom she's known for a few weeks....😮 I love CLAMP and CCS (IMO it's one of the most beautifully drawn manga series ever made), but the story of her parents, as well as that ONE relationship *cough cough* (Rika-chan and Tereda-Sensei) made me really uncomfortable.

[@EmSwaff2]

It's weird how many anime do the "teacher and student fall in love and end up together" thing. Even Fruits Basket did it with Tohru's parents; her father was a teacher in training at her mother's MIDDLE school when they met. They're at least 8 years apart by the numbers I've seen and Kyoko was barely 20 when she lost him and became a single parent. I know of at least one other and the fact that it's treated like no big deal a lot is odd.

[@ChasehaWing]

Yeeeah when I think about that, I 100% understand why grandpa disowned his son at first. It was really creepy what Tohru's dad did. He basically seduced one of his students and then married her and made her his child bride and impregnated her rather than get her into highschool. It's really creepy to think about. I'm pretty sure Tohru's grandpa only came one her and her mom's life after his son died. And that was o help his young lady who had very limited options and his poor grand daughter who was innocent in these circumstances.

[@bclp005]

@@ChasehaWing I think the same as you

[@deadsoon]

I grew up watching this in Spanish dub. It was one of the few anime that made it into south america that wasn't a shonen. It was surprisingly good. As an adult I watched the original and I still prefer the spanish dub somehow, lol.

[@biscuitsluv2037]

I watched a lot of anime in spanish dub cus its really nostalgic for me

[@vonigner]

We LATAMS got the best share :)

[@TheTiredPotato]

La versión en español es maravillosa, el doblaje latino es hermoso y grato al oído, aunque ya me acostumbré a escuchar la versión japonesa, hay algo maravilloso y balanceado del doblaje latino que simplemente es precioso

[@punkypasterywitch7753]

My brothers are the same but with Drake and Josh and iCarly and stuff like that

[@Jukeri]

I was about to say the same. LatinAmerican dub was soooo well handled, so spot on, so beautiful. I was so glad that they didn't censored Yukito. It taught me so many good things, I will always be grateful to this anime.

[@Biittle]

Age gap romance in shoujo anime always seems show up a lot. I've always been a bit iffy about Shugo Charas will they won't they relationship with Amu and Ikuto when she was like 11 years old and he was 17. I'm glad they never were an item, but I really wish the anime would have addressed how weird it is for a 17 year old to flirt with an 11 year old. I appreciate how they introduced me to my first ever gender fluid character

[@yunogasai1338]

The manga leans more towards the Ikuto and Amu relationship but it's still a fun read.

[@SilverQuartz13]

Which character was genderfluid? It's been awhile since I read Shugo Chara.

[@yunogasai1338]

@@SilverQuartz13 I believe it is nadeshiko.

[@kumashock4074]

Dang I thought she was 13 which I still thought was problematic but not as insane as an 11 and 17 yr old. Japan’s logic is “it’s fiction” and “it’s wish fulfillment fantasy for the audience” and fails to understand people and especially kids DO look to fictional media for reference and role models.

[@gryla5290]

Yeah this is why I never got past whatever chapter it is the catboy was flirting with the girl. It's so 🤮 And I never touched that manga again

[@peterwindhorst5775]

Occult aspect -> the name "Clow" itself. In Japanese, the surname of Aliester Crowley, the notorious English scoundrel and master of occult magic, can be written as "Clow Reed."

[@nightforest1693]

Wow, I never thought of that!

[@dresdenvisage]

Oh. My. God.

[@louiseb6551]

OMG seeing someone else realise this! i had this epiphany a few months ago and immediately looked for connections and yes, the connections are all there. it’s disturbing

[@fermorales8103]

I respect your work when doing this great analysis, it was very interesting to know other perspectives on a series that I liked from the first moment many years ago. So much so that I agree with you on many points. From the perspective of someone who grew up in Mexico, just watching the anime, it was completely different, in the Spanish version they did not change great details of the Japanese anime, from the adorable songs in the opening to the obvious queer relationships, everything is there. Even problematic relationships between children and adults despite not being omitted were treated as an unrequited crush or not emphasized. I think my mistake was to think that you would analyze everything as independent media and therefore independent products. I cannot forgive the manga and the inappropriate relationships, but my experience was very different and for me of course it stands the test of time and it is highly recommended to see the entire series. I guess if you are from the United States you should see the original and subtitled version. If they are from Latin America, the dubbing work is iconic and enjoyable.

[@saynotop2w]

I don't feel like Clamp wrote for multiple target audiences. I think they really just wrote for women who didn't mind watching boys' shows, or simply put, themselves.

[@kathyheavenly012]

Indeed. It's literally a Shoujo series, so yeah lol

[@anyanP]

Well, based on what magazines CLAMP’s work was published, they 100% wrote some of their works for men, it’s just that they still kept it appealing to women.

[@razorburn645]

A Vision of Esclaflowne comes to mind as attempting a 50/50 split on the demographics.

[@PinkNymphetamine22]

Earlier this year I decided to rewatch the entire anime series (because it was the only version I knew) to start reading Clear Card, and though I can draw a lot more criticism towards parts of the show, I can't bring myself to dislike it. The animation on the most part hasn't aged much and the aesthetic parts of the show are always so pleasing to the eye. I even have a soft spot for Meilin, even though I've been told to death that she's a filler character (idc, she's still my angry goblin daughter). I had no idea how wildly different the english version was, since the latam spanish version was completely unedited, so I guess back then I was very impressed by everything that CCS showed to me 9 year old self, and in a way I feel like this show shaped my taste on anime aesthetics and character arcs (my toddler brain didn't fully process the same-sex attraction instances until way later, even if it went completely uncensored). Watching CCS again made me remember my child self in a way, because there's a very child-like wonder etched to this world, in which you can assume always the best out of people despite all the red flags because it mostly turns out to be true (I have very negative feelins in regards of the way it handles THOSE romantic relationships jfc). CCS feels like seeing the world, in spite of the dangers and stakes, through rose tinted glasses. This was a very nice video. I'm glad you decided to talk about CCS. Despite everything, it's still one of my favorite anime shows of all time.

[@a_bun7981]

Yes! I feel exactly the same way about CCS. It’s like entering into a soft fantasy world that’s oddly nostalgic

[@Jukeri]

You've summarized exactly my thoughts, greetings! (Meilin, in your face, you don't exist!)

[@PinkNymphetamine22]

@@Jukeri Rayo Confuso...?

[@michivallieres8334]

I also like Méilíng. I know her character gets tons of flack but I really enjoyed her arc and it was nice to see another character who was Chinese and not portrayed poorly (yes she serves a particular archetype but she is a good character). It also felt like a throwback to Ranma 1/2 which warms my heart.

[@thais_cdm]

CCS is like my comfort anime. I watched it a ton as a young teenager in Brazil, and even the music is super nostalgic for me.

[@kingofdefense]

It always catches me by surprise when I'm reminded that US kids missed like 50% of the anime they watched, that's wild to me

[@yunogasai1338]

If I remember correctly we only got like 30 episodes of cardcaptor sakura out of 70 when it was cardcaptors. It's a good thing I went looking for it years later after remembering how much I liked cardcaptors as a kid. Watching it uncensored made me realize how much I missed out on. Now it's my favorite anime.

[@blackadze]

@@yunogasai1338 it's 39 episodes, I believe

[@yunogasai1338]

@@blackadze Thanks. It's been so long since I came across the info I wasn't quite sure how many episodes we actually got.

[@Nadia1989]

CCS and Cardcaptors are so different you could consider them two different shows. And that's without the 4kids treatment

[@Di7manya]

It makes me feel really lucky to be born in Latin America, since we'd usually get the anime completely uncensored with a pretty decent dub and even the original score (of the top of my head: Card Captor Sakura, Dragon Ball Z, Digimon, Gundam Wing, etc). Only in relatively rare cases would we get a dub of the heavily censored 4kids version of a show (Pokemon or Yugioh).

[@nosinsnolights9319]

If I remember correctly, there were several hints at Sakura having a crush on her female teacher. She would blush around her and claim she felt inexplicably happy around her. So yeah, I think it's clear Sakura is also bi/pan.

[@quivercat6911]

Can’t forget tomoyo too

[@nosinsnolights9319]

@@quivercat6911 oh Tomoyo is definitely into girls! I'd argue no CCS character is straight.

[@quivercat6911]

@@nosinsnolights9319 and I would agree, ha

[@xDsupremacist]

Wasn’t it explained later on that she was mostly attracted to the moon power that was held in the teacher’s bell? The same way Syaoran felt attracted to Yukito

[@nosinsnolights9319]

@@xDsupremacist doesn't change the fact that she saw nothing particular in being attracted to a woman, like it was not something she was unfamiliar with. And I personally believe the moon attraction bs is smth Clamp had to use to avoid censorship.

[@Draphia]

Even little me thought Rika's relationship was weird as heck even for Japan's standards. I really appreciate the critical walkthrough!

[@gingganggoolie]

I've not got a source to confirm this is the reason, but Rika's voice actress from the original anime died in 2011, and since the rest of the cast returns for Clear Card, it seems like she's been written out of the story because Clamp didn't want to recast her

[@Si11ybi11ybean]

She also voiced Utena from SKU! Rest in peace Tomoko you will be missed :')

[@gingganggoolie]

@@Si11ybi11ybean I had no idea they shared a VA. May she rest in peace

[@markanthonyorine1699]

Yup! She may rest in peace and at least what happen last time in the series, it never occur again.

[@TheSapphireLeo]

Wait... Tomoko Kawakami?? I think she died in 2006 or 8, of overian cancer? Very strong voice and played quite a few famous characters that also die at the end. RIP and be my guides, Tomoko, Rosette and Misuzu... Y Y

[@Nadia1989]

FYI, Rika had a small scene in the Clear Card anime, so if that was the original reason they changed their mind

[@shamsia7758]

The good thing of being "older" anime fans is, now we know how it went, and how it goes. We can see the inspiration and evolution of what we loved when we were kids, and how much better (and, in some cases, worse) is it now. CCS is an excellent example. I watched the series without any censorship, and I have the manga. I understand the differences in the adaptations. There are better things now. Thanks for the video, it was a nice trip down memory lane.

[@riaxri03]

I’m a big fan of card captor Sakura/ card captors and I totally get where your coming from. It’s has some MAJOR flaws but overall it’s aesthetically pleasing, adorable, and really enjoyable overall

[@murderman8578]

Major🤨🤨

[@riaxri03]

@@murderman8578 alright not really major, I’ll admit I was over exaggerating but I’m mostly talking about the age gap relationships in the series. However those are things that if you look at the entire series are really not relevant

[@SwiftieLuma]

@@riaxri03 Yeah, they are pretty questionable if we get into it but in the series itself its either implied or just barely touched upon. The only REAL romance happening constantly in CCS is Syaoran developing feelings for Sakura and Sakura accepting those feelings, other things get touched upon a little, barely or just implied which is enough to give attention to what matters in the series instead of just controversy. Sakura having feelings for Yukito is also pretty prominent in the first season , but that never goes beyond a simple crush that we all have at that age, feelings were not returned.

[@emicontained6870]

It's always interesting to me to hear other people's opinions on relationships like Sakura's mother & father's. I am the product of a similar relationship. My mother was 17 when I was born and her and my father did not marry. He was 23. The only reason their was no criminal liability on his part was neither his or her parents cared to press charges. If they had, my father would have been considered a statutory r*p*st. I'm glad in the end because he took custody of me and raised me as a single father from age 2-5. My mother was more interested in being a teenager and playing games online instead of watching me at home or working. From my perspective, these things happen sometimes but how people choose to act afterwards is really important. I think the relationship that Sakura's parent had was idealized, the kind of relationship that I dreamed as a child both of my parents would have. But real life is infinitely more nuanced and messy than that. In the end, it's good that my parents didn't stay together and that I had a supportive father who cared about our financial situation and wanted to give me a stable childhood. His marriage afterwards is a whole other story though Really appreciated this perspective on Sakura Card Captor. I've never watched the whole series, and didn't know about all the romantic subplots, maybe I'll give it another try! I do think the outfits are really cute :3

[@redjoker365]

I'm in a similar boat where my 18-year-old grandma was my 25-year-old grandpa's high school chemistry student. They didn't start dating until after she graduated, otherwise he'd have been run out of town on a rail

[@CupofJoe_93]

The thing about CCS is that it’s a slice of life first and magical girl second. That’s what makes it stands out more. You see this more during the Sakura Card arc (vols 7-12) and even in Clear Card. Even if Sakura wields powerful magic, she’s still just a kid going through the motions of growing up. She even says it herself:Loves gym hates math.

[@cheezemonkeyeater]

Can I just say that I actually really detest the notion that girls must dislike conflict and boys must like it? Because conflict in some form or another is kind of at the heart of all storytelling. There is a goal characters must complete and conflict is basically what you call the thing that stops it from being immediately solvable, thus creating drama and engagement. The notion that this should be divide by sex just encourages people to look at problem solving solutions in a gendered way as opposed to "what is the best solution for the moment?" This is different from violence, which is wholly unnecessary to engagement. It tends to get used as a crutch because it creates easy conflict and tension and I loathe this approach to writing conflict. If the story is well told, it's possible for people to like it regardless of who it's aimed at. I feel like we should stop worrying about appeasing demographics and just focus on making an engaging piece of media. Let the audience sort itself out once it's seen the work. I mean, we did all notice just how absurdly popular MLP became with men, right? Clearly our notions of what is appealing to boys vs. girls is nonsense.

[@Alacaelum]

Oh extremely so, here in Brasil the amount of boys that had grown with CCS is staggering, I remember talking with my friends about this anime all the time without any shame no matter how, I will use this stupid term, "girly" the stories would get. Why you could ask? Because the story was good, all the characters were amazing and their conflicts were things that many of us could relate at some level.

[@Alacaelum]

@Shin Shaman If you say so, can't argue with you on that. Wish you happiness.

[@yueliadragonflavour731]

@Shin Shaman its a joke right?

[@cheezemonkeyeater]

@Shin Shaman That's right, I forgot. Real mean eat raw steak and die from intestinal parasites. Silly me.

[@evanfreund5651]

I agree. I’m a man and I really liked card captor Sakura and ouran higshcool host club I would put in my top 5 anime

[@koryndv]

As an immigrant to Japan who absolutely loves CCS, I want to add a bit of cultural context. Just last week, I was at the mall and the movie theatre was showing a film that was being marketed as a rom-com BETWEEN A GIRL AND HER TEACHER. The title roughly translates to “Teacher, can I sleep next to you?” The discussions about pedophilia, grooming, and power imbalances are several decades behind the west, so although I understand that the presentation of these relationships is harmful, it is completely acceptable to see them in writing and on screen targeted toward young girls in Japan. CLAMP’s portrayals are comparatively tasteful considering the era and the fact that they are merely subplots.

[@LutraLovegood]

Japan only banned making child pornography in 1999, and possession in 2014.

[@fairytaledollpatterns7258]

yup. 2 things in really tired of in my japanese romance practice, is being told that westerners kiss all the time, and inappropriate love stories between teachers and students.

[@Mia-zk6rz]

@@LutraLovegood are fucking kidding me, wth

[@BubbleBunnyy]

@@LutraLovegood that’s scary

[@anonymousfellow8879]

Isn’t the age of female majority still 13 in Japan, too? 🥲 …I’m so glad that they removed Tohru’s Parents’ arc entirely from the 2010 Fruitsbasket reboot. It made me uncomfortable as a teen, and it makes my skin CRAWL as a now-mid20s adult. (But, the other age disparities remained the same, even if they thankfully toned down Shigure’s leechery on 15 yr old Tohru and her best friends.)

[@krankarvolund7771]

"They have elemental powers, a secet identity and save the world" So.... Aquaman is a ripoff of Sailor Moon? :p

[@technopoptart]

yes.

[@eleonorepb4565]

Je ne m'attendais pas à te trouver ici

[@krankarvolund7771]

@@eleonorepb4565 J'ai des goûts très éclectiques :p

[@NerdMiGerd]

Captain Planet :)

[@treymykel]

More like Sailor Moon is a rip off Aquaman since Aquaman is 80 years old compared to Sailor Moon's 30 years lol

[@sirwolfy9372]

I love the first movie. Lee's mother "says" that Sakura is allowed to marry her boy. And that Sakura's power were very prominent into this movie, telling that she may not be as powerful as the villain but could go through them with her own attitude, unlike the cards and villains in the main series.

[@MSSProductions1]

i love CCS to death and it's definitely my comfort anime because everyone treats each other with so much respect, genuineity, friendliness and nonjudgementalness (especially in sakura's girl circle). I just.. straight up ignore the problematic age gap parts

[@Owesomasaurus]

CLAMP is the definition of "too big to be edited." CLAMP: Hey let's do a decade long self referential meta commentary on our own work. EDITOR: How about you don't? CLAMP: LETS DO IT TWICE!!!!!

[@FreedomIII]

"We have so many good characters. We might as well use them!" XD

[@angquangnguyenthac2833]

CLAMP: The first manga multiverse creator

[@hoangnguyennguyen1032]

@@FreedomIII and that led to 7 Syaorans

[@PutoMedicoBrujo]

metacoment was invented when Mokona tried to draw one thing twice at the same time...

[@brittanyhoward1741]

I hope that once you get through with the magical girl retrospective series, you'll be able to go on to the 90s/early 2000s Isekai (AKA Inuyasha, Fushigi Yugi, Visions of Escaflowne ETC)

[@vishishify]

Does ./slash count? Because I'd really like it to count

[@vixiestarfire]

I would like to add Ranma 1/2 into the mix. It’s so cute and funny and I love it so much 🥰🥰🥰 i know it started in the mid/late 80s but it played through until 96

[@CogHoarder]

ooo. interesting. I've watched/read Inuyasha, but those other ones look especially interesting. I wanna look at them before noralities covers them.

[@kostajovanovic3711]

@@CogHoarder fushigi Yugi is also a mess, keep that in mind Escaflone, as far back as i remember is great all around

[@maitequilla]

Weird how Isekai back then was mainly female oriented, like the first manga series i fully read was Fushigi Yugi and it still holds up mostly, but now most modern isekai is targetting male viewers while leaing female viewers as an after tought

[@LaZodiac]

This was basically a perfect discussion on Card Captor Sakura, so I'm not sure what to say otherwise. Except: while the english dub made Neptune and Uranus cousins, I feel like they REALLY didn't actually remove any of the romance, because my understanding as a kid was "oh they're a couple"... but since I was still a dumb kid I thought Saturn was a boy who became a girl when he transformed... which is ALSO a thing this series does actually so that's not impossible or weird in retrospect.

[@Saphirakii]

I thought Saturn and Uranus thing is infamous because of the laziness and stupidity behind their 'attempts' to censor it. They tried to be "no gay" but just ended up with "gay *and* incest"

[@quaremoritor]

you mean neptune and uranus?

[@Saphirakii]

@@quaremoritor yeah my bad didn't actually watch sailor moon

[@LaZodiac]

@@quaremoritor I do in fact mean this, my mistake.

[@therainbowrose5]

In reference to all of the comments talking about Sakura and Yukito: Although it is completely normal and not weird for a young girl to have a crush on someone much older than her we also need to see this in the context and themes in Cardcaptor Sakura as a whole. There are several unsafe relationships with age-gaps (Sakura's parents, Rika and her teacher, Touya and Mizuki) so anything we would typically see as "innocent" is a little concerning considering the context. I personally just ignore that when I watch though. I much rather prefer to see it has Sakura having a crush and Yukito just going along with it to be nice.

[@freazeezy]

It's a shame that think-of-the-children arguments are used to attack LGBT themes so much that progressive people now dismiss them out of hand. Children approach the world as it is presented to them, uncritically and that makes them easily lead. If the teach/child age gap had been broadcast, in it's original positive form, then there almost definitely would have been a little girl somewhere who was made more vulnerable to a real adult grooming her in her life. "You and I are just like your favorite show". I don't think cartoons have to teach moral lessons but they do have the responsibility to not harm their audience.

[@pinkcarnation3602]

Pretty sure it’s the Libertarians that support children marrying adults not progressives lol

[@RadikAlice]

Finally someone else who gets it, cheers to you

[@ohw5306]

I'm a design student and I'm so happy to report that alot of students from the Fashion department is inspired by Clamp and CS and is using it as inspiration for their year end projects 😍

[@FreedomIII]

Speaking to the point where Sakura and Tomoyo are second cousins, in Japan, there's basically no stigma around cousins being a couple, and second cousins even less so. The age thing (especially the girl and the teacher) are definitely problems everywhere, but cousins feels like it's a very non-Japanese problem.

[@mill_ania]

Honestly, I get a feeling that Clamp circle's, uhhh, """"weighted take"""" on the romance between two individuals with wide age chasm got something to do with that weird fucked up latent patriarchal value in urban Japanese society that if you don't marry young you are "unsold goods", which surprisingly still sticks to lots of people even today in the era of our Lords, Reiwa era. Like, I can sympathize that, for unmarried middle-aged women in Japan, to feel they "had lost the chance" to marry at "the ideal age" and thus, kinda, put their fantasy fulfillment in their art. But at the same time, yike! Fucking yike (singular).

[@Nadia1989]

Also, isn't common for women mangaka to be single?

[@mill_ania]

@@Nadia1989 Common, yeah, but the societal anxiety and pressure are still there. Tho, hell, in context of being a mangaka (or working in Japanese worker grinder overall) people of all gender being single due to their work obligations forcing them to have little to no social lives are in itself common occurrences.

[@bluelan9393]

@@mill_ania I remember an interview with Rumiko Takhashi, an unmarried and popular mangaka in Japan that, when asked what she would do if she become a man was “get a wife”. She didn’t elaborate, but maybe she didn’t married because it was expected to her to gave up her carrier so she would take care of her home. It’s kinda sad.

[@kinocrone7275]

CCS was really important to me, at the time, to get out of the homophobic mindset that I'd been raised into, and eventually to accept myself. Particularly with Touya and Yukito, who were closer to my age at the time. So I will always have bounds and bounds of love for it. But yeah, CCS is suuuuper icky in some parts.

[@8442go]

Saint Seiya, the 80's anime based on the eponymous shonen manga, actually had some changes made to attract a female audience, basically increasing the appearance of female characters and giving a ~slight~ homoerotic feel to male interactions. The manga itself had it too, with one character getting more proeminent because he was the most popular with girls. That being said, cases like those still are nothing compared to how many shoujo series got the treatment.

[@anonymousyoutuber1405]

Speaking of Ah My Goddess, I'd love an exploration of Keiichi and Belldandy as a couple. Their being explicitly chaste and being satisfied with that and Keiichi not being virgin shamed by the narrative is interesting, especially for a fanservice show.

[@artistwithawanderingeye908]

Damn. Does that mean that Fruits Basket follows the soul pair thing with the age gaps? Tohru's mom was a high schooler while her dad was a grown adult. And don't get me started with Mr. "I'll wait for you to graduate" Rooster Sohma.

[@bluelan9393]

Yup, that was the most uncomfortable part of, otherwise, a really beautiful series, especially since the last ones doesn't even had any development. Just, one day they talked and now they are true love :/

[@artistwithawanderingeye908]

@@bluelan9393 And when you look back on the relationship Tohru's parents, he met her while she was in middle school while he was an intern teacher. We know Kyoko's homelife wasn't the best since they disowned Kyoko. This man literally fell in love with a student, married her and got her pregnant at 17 and died of pneumonia, leaving the barely adult Kyoko with a daughter who she treated more like a friend and a psuedo-spouse rather than a daughter.

[@bluelan9393]

@@artistwithawanderingeye908 And because of that, she didn't even was able to finish high school. But I can't talk a lo about them because the Manga never get them a focus aside from a throwaway line. With the friend, Tohru acted like she deserved anything from the rooster just because she had a crush on him and was active in helping them became a pair, wich is, weird and a little gross.

[@kostajovanovic3711]

One sour point in an otherwise fantastic series

[@fatezaragosa2540]

Omg yeah like I love fruits baskets but that's always been uncomfortable along with all the cousin inces/

[@pil9310]

after taking two weeks to finish an essay, this is the best thing that could have happened on the day I finished Ow O

[@sirwolfy9372]

To be fair.... Maylin was one of the BEST ADDITIONS IN MEDIA AND SHE COMPLEMENTS THE NARRATIVE AND OVERALL CULTURE OF CHINA! -being overworked due to the family; -being a woman, she is forced to marry Shaoran and have a history with him; -being literally crushed and brokendown when she realizes that her future husband is in love to the one that he was meant to defeat in a magical war*, WHICH BY THE WAY! SHE BEFRIEND HER! ALL THAT TO MAKE ALL THE HARDSHIP MORE HARD TO CHILDREN AT THIS YOUNG AGE! (THAT WOULD BE A TEEN DRAMA THAT WAS PUT IN HERE!) She is important to the narrative of feelings that the show provides and improved upon and due to her culture, those moments got really adult.

[@DumbPplAnnoyMe]

are you for real? She Meilin wasn't forced to marry Syaoran, she had a major crush on him and they are cousins.

[@melanie8ee]

i love every single outfit she wears with my entire heart its hard to pic just ONE favorite but the one i could is the closest to a favorite is one that doesnt even exist but tomoyo imagines her wearing during the water park episode, the koi fish type bathing suit costume lives rent free in my mind and i would always draw her wearing it when i was like 10 just so cute

[@PumpkinJamJam]

Dude the “change this female oriented piece of media to appeal more to boys” happens all the time… Otome games are a genre literally about a female protagonist falling in love with different love interests, but Akysys, a localization company putting out many Otome titles in the west had their website say that Otome games weren’t necessarily about romance… like why. The whole point of this genre is romance. (Also it led to them prioritizing more dramatic or story focused games being translated over “girly” or pure fluff games because they wouldn’t appeal to a male audience as much. It’s getting better but like I do not understand it lol)

[@riccardoleone4265]

I guess that the depiction of "problematic" relationships, like the crush of a girl for her teacher, can be divided into pre-Evangelion and post-Evangelion eras. In the pre-Evangelion era, it was about making kids comfortable with their own blooming desires and fantasies and tell them it was normal to feel that way at that age. In the post-Evangelion era executives realized that otakus were their cash cows so they had to pander in every way possible to them, by fetishizing as much as possible teenagers with surging sexuality in their kids media. The effort they put in redrawing the sequences of transformation of the rod and the summon of a card for almost every episode because Sakura was wearing a different outfit, was impressive. Honestly, I preferred when she stayed in her house clothes or school uniform because it was the real subversive choice for me. A magical girl that doesn't need to change in a battle costume to use her powers.

[@TheSapphireLeo]

Throughout history, it's the opposite, media promotes harmful (")colonial(") concepts, everytime.

[@TheSapphireLeo]

Blame "Fraudian theory" for this.

[@riccardoleone4265]

@@TheSapphireLeo oh sure I was just talking about anime. But western media tends to be a lot cleaner when targeted towards the young demographic. While it contains just the worst sexist crap when it comes to the adult target

[@kou7191]

I still remember when promotional trailers came out, I assumed the pink dress in the opening would be her 'default' magical girl form and she'd change outfits based on what card she captures/uses lol

[@lampad4549]

Wow there is so much wrong with your statement. You think the fetishization began only after evangelion, have you not seen dragon ball z and ranma 1/2. Also what does the younger kids having crush on older people have to do with anything in regards to otaku fantasies. She doesn't need to change into those costumes either way, she just enjoys doing it for her friend.

[@Saphirakii]

I loved CCS to bits when I was younger but the only manga I owned was the one depicting the capture of the FLOWERY card. I remember it because my elementary school deemed the word 'stupid' as a curse word and I got detention for reading it because Syaoran and Kero had their little comedic insult match using the word stupid, and some little brat told the teacher on me. I remember being really confused at why Terada just randomly gave Rika a ring and she looked so in love. When my older brother explained why, even as a nine year old, I felt gross. Like no, this shouldn't be okay. Isn't he an adult? That's wrong. However anime wise, when I eventually reached the episode about Toya and Kaho, I remember not thinking of it as big a deal because I didn't register that Toya was only in middle school cause goddamn are teens and 'adults' *TALL AF* in CLAMP art. I had assumed he was 15 or something and Kaho being a 'student-teacher' meant she was 19 and that wasn't as bad. That same mindset applied to Sakura's parents *at first* cause... again... height misconception. But when they went on to clarify that she married at 16 also rubbed me the wrong way. It just doesn't feel right. As for the puppy crushes, I never saw Sakura and Syaoran's crushes on Yukito as an issue because on top of the puppy love, I feel like it's kind of normal for a lot of kids that have older siblings or even just kids that watch a lot of media. Crushing on older actors or their older sibling's friends because well kids just think 'wow they look nice therefore i like'. And in the coming years I refused to acknokwledge that Kaho and Eriol were a thing because *WHY* And while I'm on the more critical roll, I also didn't especially like how the anime had the episode of her meeting her great-grandfather. Ultimately everything was fine because apparently everyone except Sakura knew exactly where they were, and who the old man was. But again, even as a small child, all my 'stranger danger' alarms were going off. Sakura goes on a camping (glamping) vacation with her family, wanders in the woods to find a fancy mansion, meets an old man and doesn't really question much before she starts eating sweets and getting cute clothes from him. Literally *THANK GODS* that this was a controlled environment but to Sakura herself, she did just about everything wrong and that always stuck with me. But that and the other blatant dismissal of child grooming aside, I hold CCS responsible for how I grew up interpreting LGBT related things. I looked to lots of depictions in CCS as a 'role model' of sorts. *NOT THE ROMANCES* but about life. How the entire Kinomoto family worked together to keep their house going. Taking turns doing chores in a fair way for the kids and because of that, Toya and Sakura were very mindful for their father's schedule. How they all looked out for one another. How learning to cook was fun and not just 'women's work' because Fujita and Toya cooked all the time. Sakura's rather average school life and her attemps to study. And I explicitly remember the episode about the SLEEP card, where Sakura ended up accidentally breaking her father's computer and messing up his work. And how Fujita saw how distraught she was and chose not to punish her because he knew it was an accident, but she still diligently tried to make it up to him. It was in stark contrast to my family life where I know only Hell would've awaited me had I done something like that. I considered CCS an 'ideal' for how *some* behaviors and ways of thinking should be, and that thinking also bled into how I viewed romances. It was my first exposure to not only gay relationships, but hetero ones too. I went straight from Blues Clues to CCS so I took it what I saw as normal (but still had enough consciousness to know the child grooming was gross). Sakura not caring about Syaoran liking Yukito outside of "oh no a rival". No one ever making fun of him or Toya and Yukito. I took those as normal behaviors. So when I reached middle school age and 'gay' was/is used as an insult and I learned how rampant homophobia was, I immediately considered it just plain rude. Like damn what's wrong with liking someone for their personality. Why do y'all care so much about genitals. Ruby is apparently not a female but she wants to wear skirts? Yeah I get it, they feel breezy. I know Asia gets damn hot in the summers, sucks for boys to have to wear pants. Get it. The history of how CCS came to be and its adaptations is definitely some form of chaotic neutral, but I still go back to it every now and then when I feel like I need a dose of wholesomeness on top of what I still consider a great representation of *actual* female empowerment (the dub is cursed keep it away from me). Sakura didn't come off as 'powerful' to me because she *talked shit about the originally tailored outfit her best friend handmade for her.* She was powerful to me because she was obviously scared of so many things but soldiered on to do what she thought was right. For the most part she always took responsibility for things if they went south with her chin up and a great attitude. The manga's way of Sakura choosing peace and kindness to capture some cards over violence was nice, but since the anime chose to pokemonfy the cards, a bit of the action was nice. It showed that even though Sakura is clearly a gentle girl, she knows there are some situations where push comes to shove and a heavier hand is necessary which I think is the perfect balance for kids to learn. because of my takeaways from the show, I think in the future I would like to show it to my kids should I ever spawn any, but I'm definitely going to always be in the room with them when they watch it so I can answer questions and also immediately jump in and say "JUST SO YOU KNOW, this? *NOT OKAY* "

[@blackadze]

Well. Kaho dating Eriol is actually fine. Eriol would be the same or a similar age to Fujitaka if Eriol had not used his magic to remain the same age as Sakura. So, Eriol is technically an adult, so is Kaho, their relationship is fine.

[@Saphirakii]

@@blackadze the easiest summarization is in the video itself, he's just the male version of the 10000000 year old dragon loli like okay fine among the canonical lore yes it's 'technically' legal but physicallity wise it's no better than Rika and Terada

[@naolucillerandom5280]

I had the same experience with the Shaoran and Yukito thing. Yukito comes in. I see Sakura blush. I see Shaoran blush. Ok, got it, nothing to see here. Then the "actually neither of them *liked* Yukito, it was the moon magic attracting wizards" made me go "oh, that makes sense, he looks way older than them". That is because I kept thinking that Rika just liked the teacher because he reminded her of a father or something, I don't think I ever caught on to the fact that she actually liked him like that.

[@paopaopaopaotatooo5106]

👏👏👏👏👏

[@alexanderluna4598]

The only facet of cardcaptor that triumphs over any other series still to this day is the fashion and costume design. NO ONE can compare to sakura in that aspect, and that’s arguably the best aspect of the entire franchise.

[@luckypunch1251]

pros: clamp made it! cons: clamp made it.

[@PhilosoShysGameChannel]

This was the anime that really got us into anime and the reason we still love magical girl series till this day. Thank you very much for covering it and we look forward to watching

[@PhilosoShysGameChannel]

Really liked this vid! Gotta get back into clear card again! Keep up the great work!

[@Misssleepless12]

I got into CC Sakura for the first time during quarantine last year, and I binged so much of it... I loved it a lot, but I hadn't considered a lot of what you'd pointed out as concerning, so even though I still love it, I think I will be more critical of it now as well. 😅 On a similar topic, would you ever consider doing a video of Shugo Chara? It was my favorite magical girl story growing up, but now as an adult I can see it's own problematic elements, but I still think its messages about being oneself despite the difficulties and the multifaceted sides of oneself are still really important. Plus, I think all the designs still slap. 😆 No pressure of course, just something I was thinking about while watching this! Another early 2000's magical girl story I don't hear a lot of folks talk about is Prétear! One of the few examples I can think of an anime being better than the source material, hahah. It's nothing profound for the genre, but it's a forgotten classic that I hope more people would check out!

[@youknowlikealiar1300]

I'm so happy that you're here making youtube, cause I've been immersed in the anime community only from a male point of view, where series like ccs or other series geared towards girls are so often ignored, that when you talk about them seriously and with an analytical eye it just makes me feel more seen

[@hakunamatata4975]

6:13 ah yes his best friend Yukito. that's what historians thought.

[@cameoshadowness7757]

I think a lot of people are missing the fact that you called Sakura's crush fine and focused more on the other JARRING SITUATIONS!

[@mistingwolf]

"Cardcaptors" as I grew up with it is so full of nostalgia. I was finally able to see the entire series, though, including all the scenes and episodes the 90s-super-conservitive-media had cut out; things make so much more sense. While I certainly watch with my nostalgia glasses firmly on, there are definitely things that could have been done better, but for the time it was fairly forward with strong, young, female leads. edit: Just got to the bit in the vid where this was critiqued. Yes, certainly there were some issues with it. XD But I like that they changed her voice to be lower because it gets tiring hearing squealing-high typical-anime-girl voices all the time.

[@KhayJayArt]

I love that dub. I don't care what anyone thinks. It has the best voice acting and gets rid of the weird pedo stuff

[@willygmoable]

When I was a kid I think I ended up skipping on CardCaptor Sakura because the main character was a girl. It's funny after seeing how hard they were trying to appeal to me. Gonna give the show a shot now that I'm a big boy. Thanks.

[@nope_118]

Beautiful mess is a perfect description and you did a great job explaining the context of how complex of a topic things like censorship and contect are (also I blame you for revitalising my Tsubasa phase after 10 years 😄)

[@sylver_drawer]

I always remembered Tsubasa only getting much darker and convoluted at the mid point toward the end, but at the recap in this video, it suddenly dawned on me that. No. It’s been dark and tragic since the beginning, and would just proceed to get darker and darker like a never ending hill that gradually becomes more steep the faster you fall sobs

[@rivetsquid8887]

Honestly, their attempts to stress a male protagonist absolutely worked. I was at an age where I wouldn't admit to liking Sailor Moon anymore, but I 100% had a figure with bendy arms and green fabric robes that I adored.

[@Bonekabob]

I am just now realizing how much this show/manga shaped me as a kid. I always knew it was my favorite, but I never payed attention to how much of my perspective or morals were influenced by Cardcaptor Sakura. Thanks for the nostalgia overload ^^

[@milyfeng957]

Calling Eriol a “1000 year old waifu” made my day

[@cloverblade103]

Wowee I was mad uncomfortable with the whole Rika thing in the anime. Had no idea it went further in the manga

[@NekoKuroNeko]

I already experience this problem in real life, I could NOT recommend CardCaptor Sakura to my niece. The Yukito and Sakura thing wasn't so bad until I found out Clow Reed shipped them. The teachers dating students thing was what killed it. As an adult or young adult you can look at the age gap relationships as ultra rare "best case" scenarios and assume it is all non-sexual. Sakura mom's story has more detail to it and we can see that the relation was challenged. The family new she didn't have long to live. People tend to flout convention when they know the person is going to die young. Everyone else, has no excuse.

[@kostajovanovic3711]

Fair

[@Cloverfr]

I re-watched it with my little sister, and it was not that bad, I think the good overweights the bad by a lot, I grew with that as my favorite show after all, and I will always be there for my little sister for her to not make something dangerous or stupid. The Sakura/Yukito thing is not bad at all, there is nothing wrong about a kid having a crush on someone older, I don't think it's right to shame kids for that, it's the older part that has to stay on their place. Ah... Clow, he was a... special man for sure, it wasn't as much as he, shipping Sakura with Yukito, as much as him creating a perfect being that would keep her safe, he was death for several centuries before Sakura was even born, so, if he was alive and actively pushing them to be together I would agree with you. If it makes you feel better, the Rika/Terada thing was super tone down in the anime, the manga was YIKES!, HE PROPOSES TO HER WITH A RING!, AAAAAAAAAAAGH CLAMP WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!???? The anime however makes it more about just Rika having feeling for him. For example, the same scene, in the manga Rika sees Terada in the eyes, and he blushes and looks away, in the anime the same scene is Rika looking Terada in the eyes, he smiles back, and she blushes and looks away. It's also worth remembering the fact that Miss Misuki dated Touya back then when he was her student, she was an apprentice teacher, but still, in the manga it gets weirder, she dates Eriol, ja, that women has problems.

[@blackadze]

@@Cloverfr Uh, Kaho dating Touya wasn't right, sure but Eriol would be the same age as Fujitaka, Sakura's father, if Eriol didn't use magic to remain the same age as Sakura. So, Kaho is actually the perfect match for Eriol, in terms of ages I guess. There's still an age gap, but they're both technically adults and the relationship is fine.

[@Fireberries]

I'd be okay with kids watching the Japanese anime... I'd leave out the manga, though. The ages of Sakura's parents are never mentioned, the Rika stuff seems one-sided (and far from the only example of a one-sided student crush on teacher in media), the Eriol stuff is also... I'm not even sure it's there at all honestly. Also Sakura and Tomoyo's cousin relationship is never mentioned. The worst thing there is in my opinion (though not addressed in the video) is Meiling and Syaoran's "engagement" despite being like 10 and cousins... I'd be okay with showing a UK high school age range kids (11 - 16) this, perhaps with an asterisk on that engagement thing with Meiling. It could be an opener to a conversation about other cultures and engagement practices? They can read the manga after they turn 16 (the age British kids leave school).

[@NekoKuroNeko]

The cousin love is never reciprocated and it is possible to marry your (still not recommended) cousin based on how closely related you are. My sister's husband's sister's husband's brother's child is still my cousin. Teacher student relationship are actually socially dangerous as it could put ideas into a under parented child's head. If I believe my brother was going to sit with his daughter watching CardCaptor Sakura, I probably could recommend it.

[@pthein9245]

I really wish the Mirror card was mentioned, I love her so much! In the debut episode of Mirror, how Sakura had to solve and find out the card's identity was very differently from other cards. Not to mention, the episode of the Mirror's reappearance after Sakura got the Star staff. One of my favorite cards ever.

[@randomgrill784]

Why would someone skip episodes? Then what's the point in watching the show?? Either you watch it or you don't...

[@ellavvella]

some people like to watch shows to see plot progression and character development and want to skip filler episodes that don’t progress plot or develop characters 🤷‍♀️

[@sachicocoa9013]

I feel as though Sakura's Angel Crown Dress is highly underrated. Along with that tinker bell like outfit when she fought the Time Card. Those are my favorites. Especially since yellow is my favorite color...!

[@genevievelok9496]

Thanks for this incredible video! Personally, CCS - particularly the manga, actually - is always going to be a favourite for me just because of like…how goddamn kind and supportive everyone is to each other? The scene where Sakura’s dad shows up late to a performance because he got held up by work and he’s so apologetic she’s just so happy he came and completely gets it and then her friends pop up like “hey no worries we taped the whole thing!!!” lives in my head rent free. I agree 100% on all your criticisms, although it’s funny, because it never even slightly occurred to me that Sakura might end up with Yukito, because of the way the whole thing was structured, and therefore her crush didn’t bother me either. 11 year olds have first crushes on their teen siblings friends like, all the time, y’know? And as for the age gap thing more generally…ok, this is just an addition to what you said: it seems to me that CLAMP has this like…kind of fascination with romantic feelings that *cannot* be acted on, specifically, and people handling that with grace? It always read to me as half a “love is love” philosophy and half as a massive fixation on people getting on with their lives carrying feelings they’re just letting sit there for whatever reason. Literally no idea how to parse or process that, but it’s something that hit me in the face like a ton of bricks when I revisited RG Veda and then CCS back to back and it’s stuck in my craw ever since. Wild, wild shit.

[@gingganggoolie]

CCS is just full of so much love and hope, and I kinda adore how low stakes almost everything is. Like the flower card just making a load of flowers because she wants to. There's so much joy that I can look past *gestures vaguely at Rika* Comparing it to RG Veda, very few Clamp couples have happily ever afters don't they. More than anything, I think they capture the feeling that sometimes its enough to be in love with someone, and that feeling in itself has beauty, even if it doesn't end up in a romance.

[@xXWithoutMyHeroesXx]

I've been thinking the same thing abt ppl carrying feelings that do not get a conclusion, i honestly really like it (tho not especially in rikas case bc they definitely felt like they were gonna act on those feelings)

[@genevievelok9496]

@@gingganggoolie and even if it ends up as *SPOILERS FOR RG VEDA* *** The person you love using your feelings for them to convince you to turn into a murderous tyrant and as a final act of devotion to them, kill and LITERALLY CONSUME THEM UvU

[@gingganggoolie]

@@genevievelok9496 structurally there's a lot of problems with RG Veda, but the VIBES are absolutely glorious. Spoilers for RG Veda again but The idea of a villain who isn't power mad, but mad with grief and love, its such a great concept. And when he stops Sohma from saving Kendappa's life because it would giver her the same fate as him, living on without the one you love. Its pure melodrama. I could yell about RG Veda all day Idk if you've read Tsubasa/xxxHolic but there's some similar ideas going on with the Big Bad there too. Love/Grief/Fate are the three sides of the Clamp triangle

[@ascarletmoon17]

I didn't even know they released a new CC Sakura series! You introduced me to Ascendance of a Bookworm, and now I have another new anime to start watching. Edit: "Sometimes canon is bad and you have to ignore it" is me about the Naruto series and how it treats its female characters.

[@sir-ani8927]

I've always loved the aesthetics of, "ready to fight, no matter what I'm in" which might be the western Hollywood thriller shoved down my throat but anyway that's why I love her very first outfit in episode 1. Just her, her uniform, her wand and I think her roller skates. It just looks more natural than a full magical girl transformation and it makes her stand out as a magical girl more than sailor moon because she was just fully ready to fight and didn't worry about the aesthetics. Whenever I designed miraculous outfits or whole new jewels for an oc or a minor character in the show I just use whatever you could find in the typical teenager closet because that feels more natural than a spandex polka onesie or a tailcoat jacket.

[@singingscifi]

The stuff with the magic system does increase my already existing interest in watching this show, as the battle formula you brought up as the standard for the genre is what has kept me away from diving deep into shows like Sailor Moon and instead watching pretty much just the "action magical girls" of Precure, Nanoha, and Symphogear. (also it's a relief to know as mainly an anime watcher the issues you brought up at the start are mostly contained to the manga)

[@lospagnolofalso]

"It's *not* pink! It's *CyBeR rOsE*" WHY DOES THIS SOUND LIKE AN ABRIDGED LINE??? LMAO

[@dandeleon2764]

45:43 Madison: "Hi Lee-" Lee: "HMmPH!" Madison: "Whatever 🙄" I'm sorry, but I loved the first dub. The voice actors did a great job, it was the editors who rewrote the lines who messed up!

[@dieterdelange9488]

I've heard on several videos discussing CCS that, out of all the English dubs, the Nelvana one was actually good, and that it was the ridiculous editing and cencorship that ruined it. There was even a fan campaign to release the full, unedited Japanese version (with music, names etc.) with the Nelvana dub.

[@lolface_9363]

Mako the boyfriend so bad he turned both of his girlfriends gay

[@RandoSando.]

I literally stopped watching the show because he was such a shit character.

[@Nightman221k]

@@RandoSando. You weren't missing much, the "surprise bi-s" ending made me feel like it was a desperate plea for last minute relevance since Korra was a series that would have been completely unremarkable otherwise.

[@theonegoldengryphon]

@@Nightman221k To be clear, the writers really wanted to give Korrasami more weight than that. The hand holding at the end of the show was all the network would let them get away with, and it definitely helped pave the way for the rep we get now

[@Nightman221k]

@@theonegoldengryphon I look at it skeptically, many of the fans probably wouldn't have even caught on that it was an unambiguously lesbian moment if the creators didn't "JK Rowling" it up saying out of the actual story that they were intending it that way. It's genuinely something that stinks of a grift for attention to me. They could have had less blatantly aimless soap opera relationship drama centering around purely het focused outcomes, and driven home or implied that Korrasami was a endgame couple; but they really didn't so it just comes off as a canon crackship. I genuinely wish I could believe it was done in earnest, but it's just something I'm too much of a skeptic to buy.

[@theonegoldengryphon]

@@Nightman221k If you haven’t before, look up all the shit Nickelodeon put the Korra team through, and how it clearly affected their creative process. I’m not saying the writers did everything right (cough cough season 2) but I do believe they genuinely tried to make the most out of a bad hand

[@OtakuPress]

Interesting video! In Clear Card, we don't have the softy plot. Actually, Clear Card is getting darker. The "villain" will not be (again) the real villain, but I think this time we really have one, actually more than one. Kaito's clan and Akiho's family are the real, first time villain in this world. Wishing anime new season!

[@amandajubilation]

Just passed on my suggestion and I auto clicked because of cardcaptor sakura and your title intrigued me! Wow I love how you make this video! The informations are so detailed and well explained! And most importantly not boring! Amazing job!!!

[@Splatsuma]

i'm so happy that you did a video on CCS! it's very close to my heart despite some of it ageing badly. my favourite outfit is probably the frog one from clear card 😄🐸

[@Splatsuma]

also i absolutely love mei-ling and wish she was utilised to her full potential. my OTP is mei-ling and tomoyo 😭

[@sylver_drawer]

@@Splatsuma yes! Like please, that one episode where Tomoyo was comforting her over her heartache of leaving Syaoran as well as the hard realization that they’re both changing and will love other people? It was really sweet, yet heartbreaking, and explored a bit more outside of the Tomoyo-Sakura and Meiling-Syaoran relationships by having them bond and come to understand and empathize with each other. I really wished young me had the capacity to understand the meaning of that episode, because it really would have smoothed my child self’s fear of change, maturity, and growing up.

[@Splatsuma]

@@sylver_drawer very well said. when tomoyo says "if something happens please think of me" i always think my heart is gonna stop 🥺 she's a character who is very aware of her surroundings and empathetic towards others, which i think is a perfect balance for mei-ling as she learned to become her own person outside of her relationship with shaoran.

[@hinata167]

I love cardcaptor Sakura I watched the Japanese version and even learned the Japanese lyrics. I showed it to my niece when she was 4 but picked English since she was too young for subtitles. Then years later we both realized how different the versions were when clear card was announced.

[@zinzolin14]

It's really hard to talk about this series without mentioning it's biggest drawback... Honestly though, I still love the series as a whole, and the whole magical card gathering component was, and still is, very exciting to me. Unfortunately I don't know how I feel about Clear Cards at this point. The series has started 5 years ago and it's been a snail's pace since the anime season ended.

[@cgaussie]

Even as a kid when I was reading Sakura the age gaps between the romances rubbed me the wrong way, glad to know even before I knew what problems these are, my brain was giving me the warning signs that it was Wrong from the beginning.

[@BullyPop]

Honestly, thank you so much for this video. You have literally said so many things that I have felt about this series for so long. Especially regarding the display of underage relationships, I think about that situation often and it never sat right with me, being a victim of childhood trauma myself. As a 12 year old, yeah, it’s this dreamy situation where you have this absolutely fantastic teacher and they like you and, whatever, but looking at it from the perspective of somebody who is now four years older than that teacher character? Absolutely, disgustingly inappropriate. While I’m glad the anime aired on the side of caution and it made it more of a one-sided thing on the female character’s part, there are a number of things that just don’t translate well into the western conscious. The fact that Tomoyo and Sakura are second cousins has always been strange to me. The fact that Tomoyo’s mom had feelings for l Nadeshiko, literally her first cousin. Yeah, I’m sure these are situations that do happen, and I’m sure there’s some sort of real time justification for it culturally, but it just isn’t something appropriate to display to their demographic. A TV-MA Netflix special? Sure. But this was directed to 10 year olds who were being told “it’s okay to fall in love with your cousin, it’s okay that your teacher wants to be intimate with you”. I honestly cannot get behind the “love is love” argument that CLAMP has, saying they wanted a character open and accepting towards many kinds of love, but honey incest and pedophilia ain’t it.

[@TheSlipperyNUwUdle]

I can’t speak for the stigma (or lack of stigma?) involved in cousin relationships in Japan, but it’s completely legal there. Even first cousins. I’ve read it’s not really as common as manga makes it look, but it happens. Of course I’m just going off what some random on the internet says. I’m not Japanese and I’ve never even been to Japan. Lol

[@imaymellow]

@@TheSlipperyNUwUdle In some places it's also normal In Brazil, my parents were told by doctors they could get married as cousins twice... Personally i would rather not encourage this sorta thing even if it's not considered incestuous like marrying any other kind of family At times idk what to believe Should i feel ashamed for them giving birth to me or are scientists right and people don't want to believe them since they were raisef diferently?

[@yuumeko]

As a looong time CCS who is still obsessed with the show, the age gaps and Rika/Terada romance is one of the biggest elephants in the room in the fandom. I am all for calling out the problematic state of anime and similar shows, but it's extremely frustrating that nowadays people can't help but call out the age gap problems in CCS the same way they call out pandering to ACTUAL lolicons and sexualized children aimed at otaku dude types (like Kobayashi Dragon Maid and Made in Abyss just having these blatant casual sexualization that is way more harmful). I would still very passionately recommend the show, with the simple caveats of 'yes, these are problematic'. As you mentioned, the 'love is love' is done with complete earnestness and confronts the problem that, yes, in a COMPLETELY pure world with most people having 0 bad intent, huge age gaps and incestuous relationships would be as equally as 'pure'. We DON'T live in a pure world, and these are obviously NOT good things to tell children, but I still very much appreciate what Clamp was going for by 100% dedicating themselves to the idea of an non-judgmental, ideal world that ended up opening the door exploration of sexualities and gender and such. I don't know, it's just very frustrating that discussions of CCS always turn to this problem, rather than focusing on, I don't know, the slower pace and slice-of-life vibes mixed with monster-of-the-week as a strength to in a magical girl show, or the anime fleshing out Sakura's relationship with her family and the cards, the fact that Meiling was a half hearted attempt to throw in a rival that fails spectacularly due to the show brimming with kindness. Obviously these videos are critiques and 100% are your job and your opinion (still love your videos!!!), but a good 3rd or 4th of the video is about the age gap problem, and it's hard to hear that the show doesn't stand up because of stuff like that (plus just basic problems of being an episodic kids show which is fair). I just wish people would chalk it up to a miss on Clamp's part and move on, because the show is so much more than the age gap problem.

[@TheSapphireLeo]

I want to say from a spiritual perspective "love has no form", and "twin flames", but not convienent for a quite a few reasons in this dimension, in such forms?

[@NoNo-vv4vo]

In fairness the core demographic was children and even a 'pure' nonsexual scenario like with Rika and Terada would hurt a child, a lot of the criticism will circle back to that for that reason. There's good stuff in the show but it can feel scary in retrospect when you grow up and it hits you that "woah this was allowed in a kids show???", especially with the political climate we have now re: a certain community that migrated from tumblr to twitter. I kind of get what CLAMP were going for but I don't always see talk about "even a pedophile being utterly nonsexual about dating a child is bad for them", which is why I'd personally talk about stuff like this. I agree kobayashi is a more on-the-nose problem, I just wonder if this slippery slope of "huh okay that is a lot of adult characters attracted to children in anime today" started years ago with 'light' examples. kodomo no jikan was another kobayashi tier problem and that was in the 2000s if I recall. The good stuff in cardcaptor looks nice at least, I think I would've liked the show as a kid but I was on the pokemon fad lol.

[@Nightman221k]

I also wish the video gave a bit more attention to the great things about the show and the characters who weren't given really problematic. Honestly, I say this cause I had no idea about the mom and dad having that big of an age-gap and it's not that big a deal to me. I do feel like the student/teacher thing is weird but I barely even remembered them from when I watched the show in middle school.

[@shoranbolado6994]

I get where your coming from, really I'm obsessed with the series, but I can't really blame her for focusing on it since it causes discomfort and revolt. But yeah, there's a lot of good things about it that I feel weren't talked much about

[@donotreply8979]

Made in Abyss is a masterpiece that far exceeds any other show you mentioned

[@KimberlyByrdV]

I still love Cardcaptor Sakura and I have made a great effort to explain these relationships to my kids. I’ve explained that Tomoyo loves Sakura in a way that doesn’t really have a name or title. I made a BIG deal about stopping the show and explaining that the relationship between Toya and Kaho is wrong, and illegal but for the sake of the show we were still going to watch. But I wanted my kids to see that, of course outside of the loves that are let’s just say it, wrong here, there are beautiful friendship loves, family loves, soulmate loves, and same sex relationships that deserve the same respect. I do appreciate you hammering in these important point, but Cardcaptor Sakura will always be special to me.

[@Crazygamergal]

One of the most underrated and misunderstood magical shows has gotta be precure. It has been repeatedly snubbed of a half decent dub for years and most western viewers only know it for one of its seasons (smile precure) when each season is basically it own show!

[@dragonet21]

I remember the entire Yukito situation being explained to me as a kid by my mom. … who was way off in her understanding of what was happening. She said how no one could tell what Yukitos gender was (which was “fine”) and that Touya and Syaoran had crushes on him because they thought he was a girl, and only Sakura could tell that he was a boy. It made his “alter ego” super confusing for me as a kid, not to mention the rest of the story 😅. Oddly, it just made me want to be Yukito even more for being that androgynous. Lol

[@NoReplyAsset]

thank you for also focusing on the issues of this series. always love your videos :)