Card Captor Sakura

When I went to Katsucon in February, I ended up cosplaying as Sakura from Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles for a panel I was a part of.   On this trip, despite all the things that happened, for better or worse, I was recommended to watch the anime that Sakura her self was originally a part of. Now, I had known that there was an anime called Card Captor Sakura by seeing crossover parodies of it on youtube, but I had not been originally interested in it due to the fact that it was seventy episodes long. However, the guys in the panel convinced me to watch it, and I am honestly glad I did.

The plot for Card Captor Sakura is pretty decent for a magical girl show. Kinomoto Sakura stumbles upon the Book of the Clow, which holds these magical cards that have a variety of abilities, from Fire to Dash, and she accidentally releases the cards from the book. However, she is given the card Windy at first to help her retrieve the cards, and with the Guardian of the Clow, Keroberos, help. Along the way, she meets a boy by the name of Syaoran who is also after the Clow Cards, and they eventually team up trying to retrieve all of the cards before they wreak havoc on the world.

The characters in this were actually pretty decent. Our lead, Sakura, is sometimes an air head, and by no means perfect, which makes for a changing character. She displays a lot of traites for a fourth grade girl, such as love interest, even though it isnt typical for a fourth grade girl to fall in love with a high schooler, the dislike of school work and wanting to play, but she also displays the mentality of when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Her friend, Tomoyo, who accompanies her on the card retrieval missions, videotapes her and make out fits, and the interactions between her and Sakura are quite interesting, but she to me is a stacitc character for most of the series. Syaoran Li is one of the most interesting characters in the cast, to perfectly honest. He goes from this little brat who is stalked by his fiancee, Meilin, to a strong independent boy who can let his soft side through a bit. Meilin was a character that was introduced mid season, but when I first saw her in the anime, she honestly annoyed me, but as time went on, she became quite the decent character. The highschoolers in the cast, Yukito, Sakura's love interest for majority of the series, and Touya, Sakura's older brother, are ever present during the beginning, especially Yukito, but while they might not be too important during the beginning, their roles steadily become more important as the show goes on.

The art for this series was pretty decent, considering the anime started in 1998 and ended in 2000. One of my biggest quelms about the animation in this anime is the fact that they reused some of the animation, such as Sakura putting on her gloves to go skating, and even the whole her skating to school sequence was reused a few times. One of the odd things about Card Captor Sakura from most magical girl anime was the fact it did not have a transformation sequence. Her outfit changed every time she went to capture a card because Tomoyo made the outfits for her. I did like the art style of Card Captor Sakura because it reminded me of how far anime art style has come, and even though they reused some sequences of the anime, I did not mind because they did not feel forced into the show; they felt completely natural.

The plot overall was a decent point of the anime. It actually came in two parts: Sakura capturing the clow cards and becoming the master of the Clow Cards, and the part where she becomes the master and has to figure out a way to use the cards that are now hers insteadof belonging to Clow Reed, the original owner of the cards. The first half was fantastic, even though in the beginning of the anime felt like it was moving too fast for itsown good. The second half the anime like it was tacked on last minute and it felt like the writers were just trying to give Sakura something to do to make a show. 

Overall, despite its flaws, I was still glad it was recommended to me.  It sometimes felt like it was magical girl, but also that it wasn't due to there were no set transformation sequences.If you haven't seen this yet, I highly recommend it.

Doki Doki Precure

The magical girl genre, or mahou shoujo,  has always been a weakness of mine, Between the transformations,the fantasy elements presented in it, and the super powers, it has a lot in store for me. Usually, I love any magical girl,no question, but as it seems lately, they seem to be prettier for sure, but at what cost? Doki Doki Precure is very pretty to the eyes, but all it not glitter and roses with this anime.



Doki Doki Precure is like any other magical girl series plot wise.You have your group leader, Aida Mana, and your side Precures, Hishikawa Rikka, Kenzaki Makoto, aka Makopi, and Yotsuba Alice, and later on Madoka Aguri. Granted along the way, you have ultimate big bad guy, King Selfish, and his not so evil at times daughter, Regina, and the evil trio of Ira, Bel, and Mammo, but besides Regina and King Selfish himself, the rest just play the role of making the bad guy of the week appear, so in other words, a completely normal day in the life of mahou shoujo anime. 

The main focus of the any Precure series is indeed it characters,which in this series becomes a horrendous mistake.The mistake of which I am referencing is Aida Mana. In the early episodes, you can tell she has a pure heart and wants to do good, and that she is the center, but this become problematic later on. Throughout the series, you see that each of the characters has their own little flaws, which for the most part are forgotten as the series progresses, but as for Aida Mana, she is shown to have no flaws. She is student council president, she is athletic and she wants to do good, which isn't all bad,but it makes her into a static character. The other three Precures have their own little episodes, but any character development from these episodes, unless it's wanting to make friends with Regina, the daughter of the main villain, is almost completely ignored like the flaw didn't even exist in the first place.  Also, the anime seemsto have seemingly pointless side characters,such as Ai, the little baby found in an egg, and Joe,Queen Ange's fiance, who for the most of the series is not even present.

The art for this anime was its only saving grace honestly. The characters were well drawn out and the animation for the most part was decently smooth. Along with that, the transformation sequences were also very well done, but I, like most people, probably would have been disappointed other wise. The back ground characters emphasize the main cast by all having black hair in contrast to the pink hair or Mana,or the purple hair of Makoto.

Overall, Doki Doki precure is really only worth the watch if you are really into Precure or magical girl anime or have some time to kill. It started out with a whole lot of promise to be a decent magical girl anime in the beginning, but as the series went on, it felt like it could not sustain its self. Compared to the other Precure series, this one is weak and hopefully on the next series, they will be able to polish out the flaws. 

HeartCatch Precure

After seeing the Suite Precure series, I naturally became curious in the franchise that was the Precure. In case you didn't know, the Precure series spans out to seven different series, each standing independently  of each other. After I saw Suite Precure, I decided to check out the series that came before it, Heartcatch PreCure. How did it compare to Suite Precure?

The story is basic: Hanasaki Tsubomi and her family have just moved the little town of Kibougahana, where Tsubomi's grandma resides. Soon after moving there, she starts to have dreams about Cure Moonlight being destroyed in order to protect the Heart Tree.  On a walk one day, tumbling out of the sky come Shypre and Coffret, two little fairies who protect the Heart Tree, the source of people's happiness in the world, and their description matches Tsubomi's dream. They then make her into a Precure in order to fight the Desertrian, a monster made from people's wilting Heart Flowers, due to negative feelings. Along with her best friend, Kuromi Erika, Cure Blossom and Cure Marine take charge and fight for the sake of people's heart flowers.

The plot for this anime is pretty decent for a fourty-nine episode mahou shoujo series. True, in every episode there was not character development, but it still was an enjoyable watch. Also, the story needed to move a bit better, and maybe need a bit more explaination, however, it also explained some stuff rather well.

The art for the anime was actually what drove me away from it when it first aired, I will admit. It looked sloppy, a bit odd, and washed out, but once I started watching, the art steadily grew on me. Each character was distinguishable, and well drawn and it wasn't washed out at all, just very, very bright. The expressions were also well ddrawn, and when they went into shock, it also showed the thick lines, and added well to the effect. The magical girl transformations were also well drawn, and colorful, and didn't take too long like they do in other magical girl anime, but they still could have cut down on the time it took.

As for the characters, the are either the strong point in the anime, or the weak point, depending on you point of view. They are the strong point due to the fact the main characters are well distinguished, and drive the plot well. However, the side characters are bland, and they maybe come up for one episode. The main cast is not with out its weak points: they are just too damn happy. The main cast fights against negative emotions with happiness, sure, but I do feel like they are just blindly fighting sometimes. For a while, their motives were questioned, but we never get a definite answer besides the whole"We are Precure. We are trying to do the world good. We will stop all negative emotions and depression because we are good!" speech.

Overall, I enjoyed this anime a lot, even to the point of marathoning it. As a mahou shoujou, it was refreshing and cute, and even a bit strange, however, it was a good watch.The art was stunning, and the opening and closing songs were catchy and cutesy and matched the tones of the anime very well. I would recommend this anime to anyone who loves mahou shoujou and/or just cutesy anime in general.

Nanatsuiro Drops

We are all victims of circumstance. Whether we like it or not, we are all drawn into circumstances that we originally had nothing to do with, and for better or worse we stick through them. In anime, these circumstances usually have magical properties and usually involve the main girl changing into a mahou Shoujo and her partner collecting something needed in order to accomplish a great task. In the story of Nanatsu-Iro Drops, or Seven Colored Drops, Akihime Sumomo strives to save the little stuffed animal that she met.

The story is a basic mahou shoujo with a bit of the twist: The main boy, Tsuwabaki Masaharu, accidentally takes a magic potion that turns him into a stuffed animal by night. In order to turn him back into a human, he has to go to the chosen girl and she must collect the seven moon drops and if he takes it, he can return to normal. Also, Tsuwabaki can not tell the chosen girl his identity.The girl, is Akihime Sumomo, a shy girl who has a fear of water and cries easily. With Yuki-chan's help, Tsuwabaki's identity when he is the stuffed animal, they gather the Seven Drops, and hopefully return him back to normal.

The characters were very well done, and the main cast was very well done. The main characters are very distinguishable from each other, and well developed  and the relationships between the characters was very well done. You can sort of feel the akward love between Akihime and Tsuwabuki and the closeness between Akihime and her best friend, Nako. Also, you can tell the competitiveness and jealousy Aspalas, Akihime's competitor in getting the Seven Color Drops. The side characters I will admit, kind of blend, and the kind of just are there for filler. They just sit there and try and push Akihime and Tsuwabuki together, and yes their plan succeeds, though I think with out them, the story would have gone on just fine.

Another thing I would like to note is the magical element. Until about episode 3 or 4, she really didn't have a set transformation sequence, and she had to manually change into the outfit. Also, it wasn't until the latter half or so of the series that magic started playing a major role in the hunt for seven color drops. Though the constant use of magic allowed for some interesting circumstances, and the gaining of the recipes leads to some amazing development of Sumomo. But for some reason, I feel like the magical girl element was not fully there, but still prominent enough to call this anime a magical girl anime.

The art in Seven Colored Drops is very shoujo like, i.e. the big eyes that take up half their faces, and the girls usually came off as lolis. It was fluid and smooth, and there was a bit of derpy-ness in the eyes sometimes, but that is normal. The magical girl outfits of Aspalas and Sumomo were well done, and the main cast was distinguishable. The side characters on the other hand looks like they were just cookie cutter characters, and, honestly, they just sort of blended

Overall, this anime is decent. It has its ups and downs, and when you think that's it, there is more. It almost makes you wonder why the magical girls go through so much, though it doesn't explain it all the way though. I reccomend this to any mahou shoujo fan, and even to those that aren't, this would make an excellent first mahou shoujo anime for the fact that it isn't overly drawn out like Tokyo Mew Mew and Sailor Moon. So in your search for a good anime, may you find the Seven Colored Drops.

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch

As you may know I really love the Little Mermaid. When I heard that there was anime about it, at first I was rather skeptical due the fact that its Japan for one, and two they added a magical girl component to it. Though I was skeptical at first, I will say I was thoroughly impressed with the Japanese anime version of Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid, though its not quite that.

The story follows Nanami Lucia, the Pink Mermais Princess and Princess of the North Pacific Ocean, has come to land to look for her pearl that would officially make her a princess at the coming of age ceremony. Without it, she can't sing that well, and she isn't a princess. She gave it to a boy that she saved from a ship (Hey sound familiar). The boy, Doumotou Kaito, has some how saved the pearl all this time, and Lucia gets it back.

Later, she is joined by Hanon, the Blue Pearl Princess and Princess of the South Atlantic Ocean, and Rina( sometimes written Lina), The Green Pearl Princess and the Princess of the South Atlantic to help defend land and ocean against the evil Gaito. Their weapon? Their voices that can (temporarily) vanquish the minions sent by Gaito.

There is one thing I will not hesitate to comaplin about this anime and that is the transformation sequences from human to Idol or from mermaid to idol. Like most Mahou Shoujo, or magical girl anime, they take way to freaking long! After they finally transformed, it was sort of what was the point? Also, about mid point in the series, they gained an extended transformation sequence. Basically, it took about five minutes out of a twenty-three minute episode, and I don't mind its sometimes, but they somewhat recycled animation for transformation sequences.

Like every other Mahou Shoujo anime, it follows a basic plot line and very episodic. It would be like bad guys appear, girls transform, sing, and then bad guys are vanquished for the time being. At least unlike Tokyo Mew Mew, it doesnt get repetitive every episode but the plot develops over the course of the anime, where as Tokyo Mew Mew, the plot is at the beginning and the end, with maybe a bit in the middle, but nothing too important. The songs sung during the time they are vanquishing the bad guys actually grew on me as the series went on. I'm still now singing them under my breath, and the rhythms for the songs are very catchy.

But here's the thing about fighting and singing I don't understand: Who says that one type of music is "good" while the other is "evil?" When you meet the Black Beauty Sisters, they also use song as their attacks. While their songs are ruled as evil, I still found their songs to be catchy. Also, it seems that the Black Beauty Sisters' songs could vanquish the Princess to the Depths of the Ocean, though as many times as the Princesses have sung, why didn't they banish Gaito's minions? Are they "too good" and they can't permanently vanquish them?

Now, don't get me wrong, I really do love this anime, but the physical inconsistencies of it make go Wait, what? For example, the Princesses turn into mermaids when they are splashed with water or get wet, but if that were true, the how come they can go out int he rain just fine, but be scared of a boy with a water gun? Also, in one episode, Lucia is buried in about six inches of snow, she still stays in human form, even though snow is very cold and solid water, and not to even mention that it would melt once it touches Lucia's skin, unless mermaids run at a freezing temperature.

The other mermaid, I'm sad to say, do not get much screen time what so ever. The Yellow Pearl Princess, Coco, and the Indigo Pearl Princess, Noelle are captured in Gaito's Castle (which moves) and they don't come in untul the very end. The Purple Pearl Princess, Karen, pops in and out, but when she sings with the three main Princesses, Lucia, Rina, and Hanon, she seems like a side character. That's the other thing that slightly annoyed me was the Lucia, Hanon and Rina took up most if not all the screen time while singing. The other princesses are never shown, and never heard. I know that they were singing together, but when they got close to each princess, her voice slightly stood out. With the later princesses, I could no longer tell this distinction.

Character development had to last through fifty-two episodes, so it was slow at times. It wasn't Tokyo Mew Mew slow, due to the fact that each episode it seemed something actually happened and it wasn't some episodic plot line that got repetitve. Although it might have seemed episodic at points, the points eventually add up to a master point, like Hanon's crush Mitsuki Tarou.

The art of the anime was fluffy, like any mahou shoujo anime should be. It is fluid and well made for its time, since the anime came out in 2002. The one thing that irked me about the art was the fact Lucia has huge boobs and such a narrow waist.  The transformation scenes were fluid, and even though they took up too much time out of the anime, they were necessary in order to beat the bad guys. I just wish they could have abridged the  extended version.

Overall, even though I might complain a lot about the anime, it was a truly good watch. If you're looking for mermaids, music, and a memorable anime, then Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch is the one for you!