The Great CCS vs CC Experiment: Introduction
Okay, I meant to do this over the summer but then I didn't so I decided I'd post it up and that'll make me commit to doing it little by little, whenever I have a spare moment.
So, presenting...
The Great CCS vs CC Experiment!
For those who don't know, there was once a manga by Clamp called Card Captor Sakura which became rather popular. So they made it into an anime with the same name.
Many years later, an North American dubbing company named Nelvana wanted to market the show to North American children. The result was called Cardcaptors. Rumor has it that it was bad. Really bad. The localization process along with some unneccessary editing mangled poor CCS within an inch of its life.
Or did it?
Was CC really that bad? Or was it simply a case of adult fans not liking it when a children's show was adapted to appeal to another group of children? Or is it a case of once you get used a certain way of doing it, you can't see it any other way?
Is the difference between CCS and CC really that significant? Are they both enjoyable shows within their own rights? Could it even be possible that CC might actually be the better of the two?
Let's find out!
How I will perform this experiment is by watching CCS and CC episodes one after the other. In other words, I'll watch, say, CCS Episode 6 then CC Episode 6 then CCS Episode 7 and so on. In cases where CC skipped that episode, I'll evaluate the merits or drawbacks of the CCS episode (ie was CC right to just skip it?). After I've watched every single episode, I'll make my determination of whether I can support or refute the null hypothesis which is...
Null: There is no significant difference between the Japanese version Card Captor Sakura and the English version Cardcaptors.
Alternative hypothesis 1: The Japanese version Card Captor Sakura is significantly better than the English version Cardcaptors.
Alternative hypothesis 2: The English version Cardcaptors is significantly better than the Japanese version Card Captor Sakura.
What would qualify as "significant"? My pure subjective opinion. What? I'm not doing this for school or work or anything, it's just for my own amusement.
Let's address some biases I have:
1. My exposure to the anime is spotty. I've seen both movies as well as I believe the Maze Card episode, an episode where it's New Year and that's all I understood because I was in Japan and there were no subtitles and I only know it was New Year's because my host mother told me that Sakura said some sort of traditional New Year's greeting, and the Change Card episode in Japanese. I saw the "pilot" of Cardcaptors and the Time Card episode in English. However, I've read all of the manga.
2. Syaoran is my favorite character. So, I'll try not to judge the quality of an episode based on whether or not Syaoran is in it a lot.
3. When CC came out, I was very much a sub fan. Nowadays, I lean more toward dubs unless there is something seriously wrong with the dub.
4. I am not this show's target audience. I'm about a decade or more too old so I might be irritated by certain things that I really shouldn't get worked up about. On the other hand, I am the right gender so that might help.
To my friends and any strangers who might read this experiment: I do appreciate any feedback or insights that you can provide during this experiment. Do you think I judged a line delivery too harshly? Tell me! Do you I'm being too generous about how much time Sakura and Syaoran's "will they or won't they" plotline should get? Tell me! I love a debate and I love discussing these issues. However, writing blanket statements such as "anime sucks" or "you're wasting your time" or "all dubs suck" or "the Japanese voice actors can't act" will just annoy me so don't do it.
Just so we're clear: I have no set schedule for this. If I take a few days to watch a set of episodes, then it'll be up in few days. If it takes me a year to find the time, then you'll be waiting a year. And I reserve the right to completely abandon the experiment at any time for any reason and pick it up again at yet another time for any reason.
Now let's start the experiment!
First Season
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10
Episode 11
Episode 12
Episode 13
Episode 14
Episode 15
Episode 16
Episode 17
Episode 18
Episode 19
Episode 20
Episode 21
Episode 22
Episode 23
Episode 24
Episode 25
Episode 26
Episode 27
Episode 28
Episode 29
Episode 30
Episode 31
Episode 32
Episode 33
Episode 34
Episode 35
The First Movie
Second Season
Episode 36
Episode 37
Episode 38
Episode 39
Episode 40
Episode 41
Episode 42
Episode 43
Episode 44
Episode 45
Episode 46
Third Season
Episode 47
Episode 48 (the first attempt)
Episode 48 (the second attempt)
Episode 49
Episode 50
Episode 51
Episode 52
Episode 53
Episode 54
Episode 55
Episode 56
Episode 57
Episode 58
Episode 59
Episode 60
Episode 61
So, presenting...
The Great CCS vs CC Experiment!
For those who don't know, there was once a manga by Clamp called Card Captor Sakura which became rather popular. So they made it into an anime with the same name.
Many years later, an North American dubbing company named Nelvana wanted to market the show to North American children. The result was called Cardcaptors. Rumor has it that it was bad. Really bad. The localization process along with some unneccessary editing mangled poor CCS within an inch of its life.
Or did it?
Was CC really that bad? Or was it simply a case of adult fans not liking it when a children's show was adapted to appeal to another group of children? Or is it a case of once you get used a certain way of doing it, you can't see it any other way?
Is the difference between CCS and CC really that significant? Are they both enjoyable shows within their own rights? Could it even be possible that CC might actually be the better of the two?
Let's find out!
How I will perform this experiment is by watching CCS and CC episodes one after the other. In other words, I'll watch, say, CCS Episode 6 then CC Episode 6 then CCS Episode 7 and so on. In cases where CC skipped that episode, I'll evaluate the merits or drawbacks of the CCS episode (ie was CC right to just skip it?). After I've watched every single episode, I'll make my determination of whether I can support or refute the null hypothesis which is...
Null: There is no significant difference between the Japanese version Card Captor Sakura and the English version Cardcaptors.
Alternative hypothesis 1: The Japanese version Card Captor Sakura is significantly better than the English version Cardcaptors.
Alternative hypothesis 2: The English version Cardcaptors is significantly better than the Japanese version Card Captor Sakura.
What would qualify as "significant"? My pure subjective opinion. What? I'm not doing this for school or work or anything, it's just for my own amusement.
Let's address some biases I have:
1. My exposure to the anime is spotty. I've seen both movies as well as I believe the Maze Card episode, an episode where it's New Year and that's all I understood because I was in Japan and there were no subtitles and I only know it was New Year's because my host mother told me that Sakura said some sort of traditional New Year's greeting, and the Change Card episode in Japanese. I saw the "pilot" of Cardcaptors and the Time Card episode in English. However, I've read all of the manga.
2. Syaoran is my favorite character. So, I'll try not to judge the quality of an episode based on whether or not Syaoran is in it a lot.
3. When CC came out, I was very much a sub fan. Nowadays, I lean more toward dubs unless there is something seriously wrong with the dub.
4. I am not this show's target audience. I'm about a decade or more too old so I might be irritated by certain things that I really shouldn't get worked up about. On the other hand, I am the right gender so that might help.
To my friends and any strangers who might read this experiment: I do appreciate any feedback or insights that you can provide during this experiment. Do you think I judged a line delivery too harshly? Tell me! Do you I'm being too generous about how much time Sakura and Syaoran's "will they or won't they" plotline should get? Tell me! I love a debate and I love discussing these issues. However, writing blanket statements such as "anime sucks" or "you're wasting your time" or "all dubs suck" or "the Japanese voice actors can't act" will just annoy me so don't do it.
Just so we're clear: I have no set schedule for this. If I take a few days to watch a set of episodes, then it'll be up in few days. If it takes me a year to find the time, then you'll be waiting a year. And I reserve the right to completely abandon the experiment at any time for any reason and pick it up again at yet another time for any reason.
Now let's start the experiment!
First Season
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10
Episode 11
Episode 12
Episode 13
Episode 14
Episode 15
Episode 16
Episode 17
Episode 18
Episode 19
Episode 20
Episode 21
Episode 22
Episode 23
Episode 24
Episode 25
Episode 26
Episode 27
Episode 28
Episode 29
Episode 30
Episode 31
Episode 32
Episode 33
Episode 34
Episode 35
The First Movie
Second Season
Episode 36
Episode 37
Episode 38
Episode 39
Episode 40
Episode 41
Episode 42
Episode 43
Episode 44
Episode 45
Episode 46
Third Season
Episode 47
Episode 48 (the first attempt)
Episode 48 (the second attempt)
Episode 49
Episode 50
Episode 51
Episode 52
Episode 53
Episode 54
Episode 55
Episode 56
Episode 57
Episode 58
Episode 59
Episode 60
Episode 61