Once upon a Time in China - My defense of Li Meiling
I wasn't too thrilled when she appeared in the Card Captor Sakura TV series. Her voice still makes me wince from time to time (sorry Yukana Nogami fans - she's just not my cup of chocolate). I thought she'd be a Shampoo clone, thus I didn't expect too much from her at first...
But even then, never did poor Li Meiling deserve the shit she gets in the CCS fandom.
* She's an anime-only character, so she MUST suck!.
Being only from the anime series does NOT determine how good or not the characters are. In fact, such a dynamich character as she is, I think Meiling spiced things up. We have the girls of CCS being all very nice, prim and proper (no, I'm not bashing them - it's true) - an outspoken, slightly sassy tomboy like Meiling balanced out all of the sweetness with her attitude. So, when I read the manga, while I still like it a lot I *really* miss Meiling's outbursts.
* She uses those stupid odango hairbuns. She must DIE.
Odangos have nothing to do with the character itself. Chun Li of Street Fighter uses odangos and no one ever bashes her for it, eh? Meiling, Miaka, Minmay, Doremi and the Usagis (Usako and Chibi) in the other hand, get crap for it. Stupid, stupid kids - the odango hairstyle is very typical from Asia, IIRC, and it's a actually pretty useful one. You look cute and femenine and don't have your hair on your face when you definitely don't need it, eh?
Also, I've seen people calling Meiling "Chinese bitch/bimbo/etc". Not only I think it's offensive to Chinese people, but I wonder if some anime fans themselves have issues with Chinese anime characters since many of them get very badly bashed or grossly misrepresented (Chang Wufei. Chang Meiran. Lynn Minmay. Kuradoberi Jam. Chai Xianghua. Fa Yuiri. Shampoo. Mousse. Li Shaoran. Sai Saishi. Li Meifon. Lei Fang. Fei Long. Pai and Lau Chan).
* She's such an annoying FLAKE! She can't cook to save her life!.
Well, everyone is flawed in CCS. Sakura is clueless and naîve. Tomoyo is borderline obsessive and too selfless. Shaoran overreacts and can be very immature. Touya is possessive and has troubles with his feeelings. Yukito is ditzy and even MORE clueless than Sakura (at least until he knew about him being Yue). Sonomi holds grudges for a LONG time. Nadeshiko used to be a clumsy mess. Fujitaka is unnervingly nice and sweet. Yamazaki is a mythomaniac. Chiharu has rather low tolerance. Naoko lives in her la-la land. Rika is too shy for her sake. Nakuru is kinda airheaded and very selfish. Kero is very childish. Suppi is anal-retentive. Eriol is manipulative. Kaho seems to be ultraperfect and has a thing for "youger" guys. Masaki wasn't a really forgiving person. Let's stop here. The point is, EVERYONE has negative traits despite their Miss/Mr Perfect facades, not only Meiling.
The last part is not only extremely sexist, it's not true. Meiling is GOOD with Chinese food - she has trouble only with Western dishes. And the whole "can't bake cakes" is a comic gag, don't take it so seriously.
* Dumbass bitch, she's more annoying than helpful since she has no magical powers.
Hello? Tomoyo also doesn't have magic abilities (despite what fanon says), thus has also needed Sakura and Kero to bail her out of trouble, and I don't see you using that to bash her (not that I'm advocating it, tho). Meiling is actually more helpful than you'd expect - the "Sakura is sick", "Meiling has to come back home", and "Meiling's flash visit" episodes are proofs.
* She could break up Shaoran and Sakura! OMGBDABEEEEETCH!
No, no, no. Stupid, stupid fanbrats, NO!
Meiling DID want Shaoran for herself. She *was* rather pissed off when she found Sakura and Tomoyo in his apartment, kicked them off, and later was quite a bitch to Sakura at times...
But Meiling never hated Sakura per se. Her behavior was childish and at times petty, but never attacked her physically, gang up on her, or plotted anything against her. Soon, they became friends despite the rivalry, and even helped each other out quite a deal.
Remember that Meiling helped Sakura to stand up and catch the Storm Card when she was physically sick? Remember that Sakura made her stay at the Kinomotos, when Mailing was upset after being told to come back to HK? Also, in the same episode Sakura was Meiling's confident and helped her to regain her self-esteem... And the comeback episode, where Meiling forced Shaoran to face his feelings, then left and stayed at Tomoyo's house? And all Meiling and Tomoyo themselves did in the 2nd movie to make sure Sakura and Shaoran confessed their love for each other?
Sure, Meiling loved Shaoran, but she had enough common sense to realize he wouldn't love her the way she wanted him to, and made a graceful exit just in time. So, repeat after me: Meiling loves Shaoran. Meiling loves him enough to let him go and make sure he's happy with Sakura. Meiling does NOT stand in the way anymore. Meiling should now go and find comfort in Tomoyo's arms.... Whoops, the last line was my fangirl side speaking, sorry. ^^
Damn, but that felt GOOD.
But even then, never did poor Li Meiling deserve the shit she gets in the CCS fandom.
* She's an anime-only character, so she MUST suck!.
Being only from the anime series does NOT determine how good or not the characters are. In fact, such a dynamich character as she is, I think Meiling spiced things up. We have the girls of CCS being all very nice, prim and proper (no, I'm not bashing them - it's true) - an outspoken, slightly sassy tomboy like Meiling balanced out all of the sweetness with her attitude. So, when I read the manga, while I still like it a lot I *really* miss Meiling's outbursts.
* She uses those stupid odango hairbuns. She must DIE.
Odangos have nothing to do with the character itself. Chun Li of Street Fighter uses odangos and no one ever bashes her for it, eh? Meiling, Miaka, Minmay, Doremi and the Usagis (Usako and Chibi) in the other hand, get crap for it. Stupid, stupid kids - the odango hairstyle is very typical from Asia, IIRC, and it's a actually pretty useful one. You look cute and femenine and don't have your hair on your face when you definitely don't need it, eh?
Also, I've seen people calling Meiling "Chinese bitch/bimbo/etc". Not only I think it's offensive to Chinese people, but I wonder if some anime fans themselves have issues with Chinese anime characters since many of them get very badly bashed or grossly misrepresented (Chang Wufei. Chang Meiran. Lynn Minmay. Kuradoberi Jam. Chai Xianghua. Fa Yuiri. Shampoo. Mousse. Li Shaoran. Sai Saishi. Li Meifon. Lei Fang. Fei Long. Pai and Lau Chan).
* She's such an annoying FLAKE! She can't cook to save her life!.
Well, everyone is flawed in CCS. Sakura is clueless and naîve. Tomoyo is borderline obsessive and too selfless. Shaoran overreacts and can be very immature. Touya is possessive and has troubles with his feeelings. Yukito is ditzy and even MORE clueless than Sakura (at least until he knew about him being Yue). Sonomi holds grudges for a LONG time. Nadeshiko used to be a clumsy mess. Fujitaka is unnervingly nice and sweet. Yamazaki is a mythomaniac. Chiharu has rather low tolerance. Naoko lives in her la-la land. Rika is too shy for her sake. Nakuru is kinda airheaded and very selfish. Kero is very childish. Suppi is anal-retentive. Eriol is manipulative. Kaho seems to be ultraperfect and has a thing for "youger" guys. Masaki wasn't a really forgiving person. Let's stop here. The point is, EVERYONE has negative traits despite their Miss/Mr Perfect facades, not only Meiling.
The last part is not only extremely sexist, it's not true. Meiling is GOOD with Chinese food - she has trouble only with Western dishes. And the whole "can't bake cakes" is a comic gag, don't take it so seriously.
* Dumbass bitch, she's more annoying than helpful since she has no magical powers.
Hello? Tomoyo also doesn't have magic abilities (despite what fanon says), thus has also needed Sakura and Kero to bail her out of trouble, and I don't see you using that to bash her (not that I'm advocating it, tho). Meiling is actually more helpful than you'd expect - the "Sakura is sick", "Meiling has to come back home", and "Meiling's flash visit" episodes are proofs.
* She could break up Shaoran and Sakura! OMGBDABEEEEETCH!
No, no, no. Stupid, stupid fanbrats, NO!
Meiling DID want Shaoran for herself. She *was* rather pissed off when she found Sakura and Tomoyo in his apartment, kicked them off, and later was quite a bitch to Sakura at times...
But Meiling never hated Sakura per se. Her behavior was childish and at times petty, but never attacked her physically, gang up on her, or plotted anything against her. Soon, they became friends despite the rivalry, and even helped each other out quite a deal.
Remember that Meiling helped Sakura to stand up and catch the Storm Card when she was physically sick? Remember that Sakura made her stay at the Kinomotos, when Mailing was upset after being told to come back to HK? Also, in the same episode Sakura was Meiling's confident and helped her to regain her self-esteem... And the comeback episode, where Meiling forced Shaoran to face his feelings, then left and stayed at Tomoyo's house? And all Meiling and Tomoyo themselves did in the 2nd movie to make sure Sakura and Shaoran confessed their love for each other?
Sure, Meiling loved Shaoran, but she had enough common sense to realize he wouldn't love her the way she wanted him to, and made a graceful exit just in time. So, repeat after me: Meiling loves Shaoran. Meiling loves him enough to let him go and make sure he's happy with Sakura. Meiling does NOT stand in the way anymore. Meiling should now go and find comfort in Tomoyo's arms.... Whoops, the last line was my fangirl side speaking, sorry. ^^
Damn, but that felt GOOD.