Thank you... I hadn't had time to take a good look at this, but now I
know... How much, though, does the difference in Japanese canon vs.
American take away from my story? I mean, from what they said about the
Japanese version, I could see now where SM/CCS would be redundant, but in
the American version it presents a nice median between the martial arts of
JCA and the "magic girl" of Sailor Moon. Will I meet THAT much resistance
using the American plot with some Japanese revisions (sorry, I see nothing
wrong with the age differences, or with Mei Ling and Syaoron being engaged
AND cousins)?
WEll, I've got a lot to add, but I'm at work, so maybe later... :)
From: "Miller, Bert" <Bert.Miller@unisys.com>
To: "'Jennifer Poulos'" <temhaire@hotmail.com>
Subject: FW: [FFML] Card Captor Sakura dub (was Re: Re: [C&C received]Curs
e of the Banshee)
Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 09:58:24 -0500
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>From Bert.Miller@unisys.com Tue, 22 Jan 2002 07:00:22 -0800
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Benjamin Goldberg wrote:
This Sunday's New York Times had a couple of articles about
Japanese anime in the Entertainment section, including a bit
about the changes that CCS underwent in becoming "Cardcaptors."
Thought you might appreciate a copy of this. From:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/20/arts/television/20CONS.html
...even those anime that have been translated sometimes go through
bewildering changes as their stories morph from a Japanese to an
American sensibility.
"Cardcaptors" is a case in point. Seen five days a week on WB
through last month (it may return later in the year), and available
on videocassette and DVD, "Cardcaptors" tells the story of a fourth-
grader, Sakura Avalon, and her rival-partner, Li Showron, whose
duty it is to track down and capture the magical, malevolent Clow
Cards. Loosed upon the world like the evils of a Pandora's Box,
the Clow Cards manifest themselves as specific perils, from
elemental dangers like thunder and wind to specialized traps like
bubbles and illusion. Sakura and Li must use imagination and pluck
- as well as good old-fashioned magic - to capture the cards and
defeat those forces who would keep Clow magic from being contained.
Sketched out in those terms, "Cardcaptors" seems a cross between
the collect- 'em-all obsessiveness of "Pok�mon" and the magic-girl
-saves-the-world wish-fulfillment of "Sailor Moon" - a perfect
fusion of boy-friendly adventure and girl-power fantasy. And it's
also almost nothing like the original Japanese version of the show.
Titled "Cardcaptor Sakura," it first appeared on a satellite
affiliate of the Japanese broadcast giant NHK in 1998. Based on a
comic by the women's collective Clamp, "Sakura" was a "mahou shojou"
story - that is, a "magic girl" saga, in which a popular (but
seemingly ordinary) girl discovers that she has special powers and
a hero's role in a hidden drama to save the earth.
Magic girl stories have been a staple of Japanese animation since
the early 80's, when the relentlessly cute "Magical Princess Minky
Momo" was all the rage, and - as was the case with "Sailor Moon" in
the 90's - can include enough thriller elements to ensnare boys as
well. But the original "Cardcaptor Sakura" was unabashed about its
girlishness. Where the opening sequence to America's show emphasizes
action and adventure, the "Cardcaptor Sakura" episodes - available
here on subtitled DVD and VHS videos - begin with a flush of pre-
pubescent romance, ignoring the chase after Clow Cards entirely.
Instead, its hearts- and-flowers schoolgirl fantasy ends with the
bubbly declaration, "I'm in love!"
How did so much get lost in translation?
Some of the changes are simply practical. In adapting the series
for American consumption, the animation company Nelvana assumed
(not unreasonably) that Japanese names would be too hard for
American kids to remember, and so handed everyone nice WASPy names.
Sakura Kinomoto became Sakura Avalon, her best friend Tomoyo Daidoji
was dubbed Madison Taylor, and Sakura's brother Tori (originally
Toya) pals around with Julian Star, not Yukito Tsukishiro.
Other adjustments are driven by marketing considerations. In Japan,
it's accepted that some cartoons are for girls and others are for
boys, just as comic books are sold either as girls' comics (shojou
manga) or boys' (shonen manga). But in America, a girl's cartoon
is considered sissy stuff, and faces a difficult fight for broadcast
or distribution. It's worth remembering that "Sailor Moon" was
considered unlikely to succeed in the United States until it was
noted that boys watched it as avidly as their sisters.
So in addition to the name changes, "Cardcaptors" had its cuteness
content drastically reduced. Not only was Kero, the Clow Cards'
Guardian of the Seal, transformed from cute sidekick (think talking
plush toy) to hectoring adviser (think Danny DeVito's Louie from
"Taxi"), but the romance and girlish interplay that dominated
the original has been written out almost entirely.
It isn't just that the regimented social behavior of Japanese
schoolgirls would seem odd to viewers used to the raucous
informality of American sitcom kids. A United States audience
would have a hard enough time accepting the deference and
politeness of Sakura's best friend, Tomoyo, as merely a sign
of good breeding. But her intense devotion to Sakura - sewing
elaborate costumes for each Clow Card chase, documenting Sakura's
successes on video, assuring Sakura that she "really likes" her
- verges on the creepy. No wonder the American version simply
paints Madison (the Tomoyo character) as a video obsessive who
sees Sakura's adventures as mere camera fodder.
Tomoyo's love for Sakura is hardly the original show's only
display of unseemly affection, either. In shojou manga, it's
something of a staple for young girls to form romantic
attachments with older guys. No Japanese viewer would lift an
eyebrow at the fact that the fourth-grader Sakura is not only
smitten with Yukito, a high school junior, but actual spends
an episode on a "date" with him. But American viewers would be
appalled - just as they would be to learn that Sakura's mother
and father started dating when she was a high school student
and he was her teacher.
In the world of shojou manga, such plot twists are seen as
little more than girlish wish fulfillment - a harmless fantasy.
But in a world where sexual molestation by teachers is a
genuine concern, no one wants to assume innocence in a cartoon
subplot. It's better to play down the romance and turn up the
action, even if it means that the American "Cardcaptors"
becomes less a translation than a transformation.
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