Cardcaptor Sakura

Movies and TV

~ shawnaborman ~ 10 Comments

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing? Are you ready for turkey day (or just Thursday depending on where you are)? It’s going to be another small one this year with the lady across the street as well as my minion and one of his spawn (if they show up on time. If either of you are reading this, here’s an additional reminder that dinner is at 4). But I’m not here to yammer about Thanksgiving! It’s time for another number. Jenae (hugs, sis!) picked number 8. So far, we’ve covered 13 (you can find the prompt list there), 7, and 2. Numbers 3, 10, 6, 14, 11, and 1 are all going to be answered in the coming weeks. There are a few left, so feel free to pick one and let me know. Today’s prompt: Tell me which book had the best movie or show adaptation. Yikes.

I’m not really qualified to answer this one. I mean, I watch a lot of stuff based on books, like most of the cozy mystery stuff and British mysteries. Midsomer Murders, Shetland, Vera just to name a few. The shows are great. Are they good adaptations? I have no clue. I’ve yet to read any of the books they’re based on. And the shows that I should have some experience with the accompanying books, I either haven’t read or read so long ago that I remember nothing. I vaguely remember reading an Agatha Christie book featuring Poirot, but have no clue if the series with David Suchet did it justice. It probably did because it was a good series, but I don’t really know. Shame on me for not reading more.

And if we’re talking movies, I’m even worse because I don’t watch many. Sure, I could talk about Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit (none of which were super great, though LotR was by far the best of these). That’s about it, though. Oh! Coraline was a pretty good adaptation. It held the creepy air of the book. So that was fun. But mostly I can’t think of movies based on books that I’ve actually read the book version of. I don’t know if I should read more mainstream stuff or what.

Manga to anime is a little better for me. I love both of the Fullmetal Alchemist anime, but prefer Brotherhood as an adaptation. The original is wonderful and I’ve watched it so many times, but it was created alongside the manga and when it reached the end of what was available in the manga, it took a turn and became its own story. Brotherhood follows the manga more closely. Sailor Moon is another one where I prefer the newer releases as adaptations, but still love the original anime for what it was. The original used the manga as a guide, but there was a lot of padding and fluff added in. I love it, though. Cardcaptor Sakura was a fun adaptation too. And please be aware that I’m not talking about the old Americanized versions of SM (with the creepy cousins thing because cousins who flirted with and blushed at each other was somehow less disturbing to kids than lesbians) and CCS (with the random blushing between dudes because they were “jealous” of each other or some similar BS and totally not crushing on each other). Those were awful. But anyway, my knowledge of adaptations is weak even with manga/anime.

Best cousins ever.

I admit it. I’m not a movie or TV buff. I’m not even good about reading things that are popular enough to be turned into movies or shows. Oh well. What are some of your favorite adaptations? Did you see the movie/show first or read the book first? As always, feel free to leave your questions or comments here or on my social media pages!

Blah Days Binge Worthy Shows: Anime Edition

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello!  This week has been pretty blah so far.  Monday, I was the kind of sick where you feel mentally fine and physically okay for the most part, but you have to keep leaving the computer (or whatever you’re doing) because of reasons I won’t get into.  Needless to say, I wasn’t very productive that day, though I did finish reading a book (Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.  Message me on Facebook if you’ve read it and want to discuss).  As I’m writing this (it’s Tuesday), I woke up with the general blahs and am blaming ragweed and allergies for it.  Normally, I’d put off working in favor of binge watching something when I feel this cruddy, but I figured I should attempt a blog anyway.  So, here’s a list of five anime I’d rather be binge watching (again) than writing this!

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1. Fullmetal Alchemist or FMA: Brotherhood (whichever one I can find the dub of at the time).  I’ve seen both versions multiple times, but I still come back to it every couple of years.  The only problem with them is that I can only get through so many episodes before I hit the first one that turns me into a sobbing mess (if you’ve seen it, you know the one I mean).  Who wants to melt into a puddle of tears when they already feel like crap?  So, I usually save these two for when my nose isn’t already leaking like faucet.

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2. Ouran Highschool Host Club.  It’s stupid and hilarious and usually easily found on Netflix, so it’s perfect for when the blahs strike.  I know it’s full of typical shoujo goodness (commoner girl gets roped into spending her days with the hot rich guys and falls in love), but it totally makes fun of all the usual tropes along the way, which is why it’s awesome.  Granted, the ending was rushed because they decided not to do a second season, but you can always read the manga too if the blahs hold onto you for a few days.

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3. Yuri on Ice.  I actually only watched this for the first time a few months ago on a couple of my blah days.  Who wouldn’t want to watch a bunch of male figure skaters with vaguely yaoi undertones?  Okay, maybe just me.  But it was lovely and I really want to watch it again even though I saw it not too long ago (which is actually really weird for me).

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4. Cardcaptor Sakura.  I’ll watch the whole thing, but I prefer the episodes after Yue shows up, especially when I feel blah.  I love the show, but it’s mostly on the list because Yue is my eye candy.  I know that’s not an appropriate reason to watch something, but I don’t really care.  Also, I can’t wait for the new CCS series coming out soon!

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5. Sailor Moon.  Specifically, the Black Moon Clan arc.  Why?  Because even though he’s a villain and an idiot, Prince Demande/Demando/Diamond was my favorite bad guy (still is when it comes to SM).  I might have an eye candy problem when I feel blah.  I also just noticed that I apparently have a type.  I’m okay with this.

So, that’s one of my go-to lists for binge worthy shows when I’m not feeling 100%.  What about you?  Do you have any shows you go back to when you’re not feeling well and don’t feel like following new story lines?

My Heroes (Part Two)

~ shawnaborman ~ 1 Comment

Konnichiwa (Ohayou? Konbanwa?)!  I suppose it all depends on when you’re reading this.  Anyway, I’ve decided to continue with my hero chat.  You can see the previous installment here if you missed it.  This week, I’ll be focusing more on my anime and manga heroes and heroines.  Like I said before, most of my favorite female role models came from anime and manga, so I suppose this should be called “My Heroines” instead.  Ah well.  Too late now.

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Who’s your favorite Sailor Scout?

First up (of course) is Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon.  Now, my first experience with this show was the horrible dub where they tried change all the things they thought our little brains couldn’t handle (remember when Neptune and Uranus were “cousins?”), but I still fell in love with it.  Imagine my delight a few years later when I was first exposed to its pure awesomeness in fansubs, when everything actually started making sense!

Much like with X-Men, I never really had a reason for liking the show beyond the fact that I adored all of the characters and had a huge crush on Prince Demando (Diamond if you prefer).  My favorite Scouts were Mercury (super smart and kind of a loner) and Saturn (a sickly girl with the power to destroy the world).  Nowadays, I could argue that it was my first experience where an eclectic group of girls kicked monster ass (yeah, Tuxedo Kamen helped, but the girls did the hard part) while working through personal issues and differences.  It’s something that I quickly found out wasn’t an unusual thing in the magical girl genre.

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Sakura is another favorite.

Just look at Cardcaptor Sakura.  I admit my love for this show wasn’t solidified until after I read the manga and saw a fansub.  The dub tried to give Li a bigger role to appeal to a male audience, plus they tried (and failed miserably) to gloss over the shounen-ai (boy love) aspects of the story.  Aside from that, I always liked that Sakura was a major klutz who tried her best at everything she did.  Yeah, she got discouraged, but she worked through it.   That’s what the whole magical girl thing always seemed to be about and it was something I needed to be exposed to when I was a kid.

As I grew older, I moved away from things like Sailor Moon and Digimon and the like to things like Fullmetal Alchemist (still my favorite dub to this day!) and Neon Genesis Evangelion and Trigun.  All of which are favorites in some way or another, but I think my last mention will be Angel Sanctuary.  That manga is all kinds of screwed up, which is why I love it.  Some of my favorite characters are Alexiel (an angel who is punished for taking actions against the other angels who are slaughtering demons for the fun of it), Kira Sakuya (I can’t tell you much about him unless you like spoilers, but he is greatness), and Kurai (one of the demons Alexiel saved).  It’s all about angels who are worse than devils and demons who just want to survive and a bunch of other deeply disturbing things.

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So much awesome.

I suppose my real attraction to the heroes and heroines of Angel Sanctuary (you can decide which characters you consider heroic for yourself) is because of the fact that they’re all deeply flawed.  Whether they’re humans or angels or demons, they are seriously screwed up and they all (even the bad ones) believe what they’re doing is in the best interest of some group of beings.

I mean, yeah, I love a lot of the obvious “heroes,” but sometimes it’s good to see  a hero who falls on a spectrum of good to evil, rather than fitting into a specific mold.  What about you?  Do you like your heroes clear cut or more of a mix?