Episode 38: "Sakura's Fun Strawberry Picking Adventure" or "A Berry Strange Day"
Introduction to the Experiment
Episode 37
Episode 38: Sakura's Fun Strawberry Picking Adventure (Card Captor Sakura) or A Berry Strange Day (Cardcaptors)
Sakura and her classmates are going to a place that lets them pick strawberries and the class will learn how to make dishes with the strawberries. Once the students start filing in, Sakura literally bumps into Julian. It turns out that Tori and Julian have no school and are working at this strawberry farm that day. Sakura asks if Julian will try one of her desserts. He agrees and off she goes. Meanwhile, Li is looking strangely at a door that leads into a warehouse. Zachary explains that it's the information center/supply room (English/Japanese) and runs off. Before Li can investigate, Meilin shows up and pushes him to get moving as Ms. Mackenzie looks on. The audience then gets to see the door get all wavy. It's on to strawberry picking. Sakura hasn't picked any by the time Julian sees her. Sakura explains that she doesn't know which ones to pick. Julian gives her a lesson on how to tell which strawberries are ripe and how to pick them. Li comes over and show the pair his big bowl of picked strawberries. The English version is vague as to whether he's offering them to either Julian or Sakura or merely showing off (it has Sakura note that Li "picked all those?") while the Japanese version has Yukito asks if they are for him, which makes Li nod. Tori comes over to remind Julian about their break and, in the Japanese version, Toya and Li have a glare fest. In the English version, their glare fest seems to have been cut (although this may be youtube messing it up) but Li certainly growls and Sakura looks concerned as she thinks that "Tori sure doesn't like Li!". Miss Mackenzie looks on. And then it's time for lunch. The children admire how many strawberries they've picked and talk about how they'll cook them next. Meanwhile, Meilin is trying to feed Li her elaborate lunch. Sakura notices and admires Meilin's lunch. Meilin is pleased and lets her have some. But, shock horror, Nikki reveals that afternoon's plans are canceled because the door to the information center won't open. Sakura and Madison decide to go investigate and Li and Meilin follow. Sakura and Madison are able to open the door fine and step inside. Li and Meilin then come, with Li warning the two girls to be careful because he senses something, while they step inside. Unfortunately, the door slams shut. Meanwhile, Ms. Mackenzie is startled and gets up to leave. In the Japanese version, Toya and Yukito discuss how Ms. Mizuki is Sakura's new teacher and how Toya knew her but Toya isn't up to discuss it. Anyway, back to the Cardcaptors and their sidekicks. So, they're locked in and the door won't budge. Meilin tries breaking the window but she gets thrown back. The walls get all wavy and Li concludes that it's the Lock Card. Unfortunately, the Lock Card is so special that even Li doesn't know how to defeat it. So, they call Kero but Kero, who is away from the phone looking in the fridge, fantasizing about strawberries, doesn't answer so they're on their own. At this point, Nikki and Rita come to investigate the door. Meilin calls out for their help but Li tells her to stop because no one out there can open the door and they can't do their magic with people around. Too bad for Li, Nikki and Rita go to get help. Madison then suggests looking for a magic key to open the magic lock. Li tries his Lasin Board but it's no good: like with Maze, they are inside the Card so they have to manually look. Meanwhile, Nikki and Rita are with Tori and Julian, explaining what happened. As Tori gripes and grumbles, eventually it comes out that Ms. Mackenzie is missing as well. Back to the kids and they're searching high and low for the key. Sakura is on the top shelf when she notices people coming. This freaks Li out and causes Sakura to fall. Luckily, she manages to catch herself and then notices Ms. Mackenzie sitting on a tree limb, staring at her. Ms. Mackenzie points to her chest before Li offers Sakura a hand up. Now safe, Sakura explains that she saw Ms. Mackenzie outside. Li looks but she's gone. Sakura feels like she was trying to her something and then she remembers her Key of Clow. Outside, Tori is open to unlock the door when something stops him (by the way, it's not like a force or anything. He just doesn't do it) and Ms. Mackenzie explains that the door will open now. Inside, Sakura puts her Key into the lock and then a mighty wind swirls up. The Lock Card is out of the lock but before it can go back, Li blocks it with one of his ofuda and Sakura seals it. The door now opens and everyone is revealed about the well-being of the locked-in kids. They then make their desserts and Sakura gives hers to Julian. Back home, after relating her day off screen, Kero asks for his share. Oops. Sakura gave it all to Julian so no strawberries for Kero.
Wanna see it?
Cardcaptors Episode 38: Part 1/3
Cardcaptors Episode 38: Part 2/3
Cardcaptors Episode 38: Part 3/3
Card Captor Sakura Episode 38: Part 1/3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42VjXHKucfE
Card Captor Sakura Episode 38: Part 2/3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fyctNbgfDw
Card Captor Sakura Episode 38: Part 3/3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLToRWdtHlU
I will admit right now that I procrastinated in watching this one. I saw the preview on the Japanese episode last time and went, "Oh God, it mentioned Yukito and it's about strawberry picking of all things and they're going to get locked in somewhere. Oh God, will I have to endure a ten minute sequence of Yukito and Sakura locked in somewhere and they talk for ten minutes about believing in yourself or something?" So, I stalled on this one. Luckily, it wasn't that bad, although riddled with plot holes.
Card Tally
Sakura: Windy, Fly, Shadow, Watery, Rain, Wood, Jump, Illusion, Silence, Thunder, Sword, Flower, Shield, Power, Mist, Float, Erase, Glow, Move, Fight, Loop, Sleep, Song, Little, Mirror, Maze, Shot, Sweet, Big, Create, Change, Firey, Arrow, Snow, Voice, Lock
Current number: 36
Li: Time, Storm, Return, Dash, Freeze
Current number: 5
Oh, God, these titles are so bad. Both are horrible. The Japanese one is pretty typical in its badness (being locked in is fun?) but the English title is just so horrible this time. They went with a berry pun this time around? What happened to their pun title writer? Bring back the good puns! They're both horrible, I can't choose.
There aren't many changes this time around. Just a lot of cut moments and modified scenes.
First of all, a lot of Yukito gushing is cut. In the Japanese version, Sakura is all about making something for Yukito and having dream sequences about making food for Yukito and yeah, it gets a little repetitive. I'm fine with her having a crush on Yukito, I'm fine with her wanting to make a dessert for him, but must we hear about it so incessantly? And those scenes don't really add anything to the story except to show just how much Sakura wants to bake a cake for Yukito. It's seriously episode 38, Japanese producers, we got it.
Speaking of Yukito and repetitiveness, I guess this episode is where Toya starts having his "I need to tell you something... but not until later" moments with Yukito. The manga didn't start this until Sakura had captured all the Cards but perhaps they bumped it up? Anyway, if that's the case, Toya fails here because no one even interrupted him so if he's trying to say what I think he's trying to say (and no, it's not "By the way, I'm gay"), then he really had no excuse as to why he kept his knowledge hidden. In the English version, Tori is just acting weird and brushes Julian off by saying he's tired. It could be about this or it could be about Li flirting with his little sister.
Which brings me to the next change. Whoever was in charge for these past couple of episodes is a Sakura/Li shipper because they definitely took advantage of the odd angle of the strawberry picking scene and Li's face. In the Japanese version, they make it quite clear that Li is offering his strawberries to Yukito. In the English version, they play it a little more vaguely. For one, Julian doesn't talk in this moment, it's Sakura who responds to Li, saying that he picked a lot of strawberries, to which he nods. So, instead of Yukito and Li interaction, it's now a Sakura and Li interaction. When I originally watched the English version of this scene, I thought he was supposed to be offering the strawberries to both of them (in his currently bicurious way) and the English version was simply making Sakura say something neutral ("you picked all those?" is more neutral than "those are for us?") to tone down the romantic, bisexual element in the scene. But since he was never offering them to Sakura at all, that means they deliberately made a decision to have Sakura be the speaker so it turns it into a Sakura/Li moment instead. What really did it for me though was Sakura's additional line about how Tori doesn't like Li. In the Japanese version, Li and Toya merely have a glaredown as Sakura looks on, but in the English version, they cut that moment and have Sakura talk about it instead. Keep in mind that Li is no longer offering the strawberries to Julian or even saying anything nasty to Sakura so why would Tori suddenly remember he doesn't like Li? Especially since that staredown was cut? Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Okay, I'll admit it, I might be reading too much into that change but that fact remains is that Li is blushing in both versions. So, he's either gay for Yukito, bisexual for the both of them, or straightly crushing on Sakura.
Two whole scenes were cut but they contributed nothing. There is a scene at the beginning where Kero talks about how he wants to eat strawberries. It is boring and contributes no new information. It was so pointless that I didn't even include it in the summary. There is another scene, which made it into the summary, about Yukito and Toya talking about Ms. Mizuki being Sakura's teacher. This is stuff that the audience already knows (Ms. Mizuki is Sakura's new teacher, Toya has a history with her, etc) and since that scene had even less information than we actually already have, it was pointless. Thanks for the reminder, I guess?
Other scenes get trimmed up, such as the cooking scene, but nothing really major is removed. But, regarding the cuts in general, they were smoothly done so I never realized I was missing a scene until I watched the Japanese version although I did notice that the English version seemed to moving briskly along, to my relief.
Plot holes. Hoo boy, there are plot holes.
1. You know what? Let's talk about Toya's constant jobs. Does he get fired a lot? Because we never hear of these jobs again. Why is he working at this place, on this day? And why is Yukito working with him as well? No one can have that many jobs and go to school.
2. Why doesn't Li tell Sakura about the freaky door first thing? Are they still competitors? It's never quite clear to me.
3. Why is it so shocking that Yukito knows how to pick the strawberries? He kind of works there, Sakura, duh.
4. Why is Tomoyo allowed to have her video camera on this trip? Shouldn't she be focusing on picking strawberries? And why didn't she have her video camera later on during the capture?
5. There is a lot of stuff about cooking in this episode that made me go, "Did everyone lose their memories?"
a. The English version has Julian actually ask if Sakura can bake. Um, Julian, you've kind of had the fruits of her labor before, don't you remember?
b. All of the girls make some reference about being able to bake their cakes. You had an entire lesson devoted to it, guys, don't you remember? Risa is the weirdest by saying that it's the first time she's baked it. Um, no, she was apparently the expert on strawberry shortcake during the cake lesson and she even gave some to Mr. Terada and supposedly makes it all the time for her dad.
c. Meilin says there is nothing she can't cook. Except, um, cakes? Okay, maybe Meilin is just bragging here but still.
d. In the Japanese version, Sakura says she wishes she could cook. She cooks all the time. It's one of her chores.
6. If the door is locked, why is there no maintenance man in the area trying to fix the lock? Okay, maybe he's coming but still.
7. Why are the kids even allowed to go wandering around, investigating the broken door?
8. If the door was magically locked, then how did Sakura and her friends get inside? Because Sakura and Li are magical? Maybe?
9. If Li felt the weird presence, and then warns Sakura to be careful, why does he just walk in the same way she did? Shouldn't he try to figure out where the presence is coming from before perhaps walking into it?
10. How did Li get up on that ledge so fast to help Sakura up without making any noise? Did he teleport up there?
11. If the room was locked and broken, why doesn't Toya ask how Sakura and her friends even got into the room?
12. Furthermore, why did Toya think bringing the keys would even work? Didn't they already establish that no one can get inside? Did no one else try using the damn keys?
13. So what exactly stopped Toya from using the key to unlock the door? There is no indication of a "force" stopping him. He just... stops while Ms. Mizuki gets to be all mysterious. Did he realize that bringing the keys was a plot hole?
14. When Ms. Mizuki says that the door will open now, why does Toya just stand there like a doofus? If it'll open, try opening it!
15. It's clear that the people outside can hear the people inside the room so why does no one comment on
a. The four kids screaming?
b. Both Li and Sakura doing magical spells?
c. And the room getting trashed?
Everyone at the end is just "Oh, you're safe! That's great!" and no one goes, "So what was all that horrified screaming about? What the hell were you 'releasing'? What did you guys do this room?!"
16. Since Ms. Mizuki was clearly watching her and gave her the clue about the Key of Clow, why doesn't Sakura ask about why Ms. Mizuki was sitting, grinning, in that tree and, oh, not getting help, if not actually asking her what she knows about the Clow Cards?
In conclusion, because the changes done neither contributed nor detracted from the enjoyment of the episode, I judge these episodes to be...
Equal!
Episode 39
Episode 37
Episode 38: Sakura's Fun Strawberry Picking Adventure (Card Captor Sakura) or A Berry Strange Day (Cardcaptors)
Sakura and her classmates are going to a place that lets them pick strawberries and the class will learn how to make dishes with the strawberries. Once the students start filing in, Sakura literally bumps into Julian. It turns out that Tori and Julian have no school and are working at this strawberry farm that day. Sakura asks if Julian will try one of her desserts. He agrees and off she goes. Meanwhile, Li is looking strangely at a door that leads into a warehouse. Zachary explains that it's the information center/supply room (English/Japanese) and runs off. Before Li can investigate, Meilin shows up and pushes him to get moving as Ms. Mackenzie looks on. The audience then gets to see the door get all wavy. It's on to strawberry picking. Sakura hasn't picked any by the time Julian sees her. Sakura explains that she doesn't know which ones to pick. Julian gives her a lesson on how to tell which strawberries are ripe and how to pick them. Li comes over and show the pair his big bowl of picked strawberries. The English version is vague as to whether he's offering them to either Julian or Sakura or merely showing off (it has Sakura note that Li "picked all those?") while the Japanese version has Yukito asks if they are for him, which makes Li nod. Tori comes over to remind Julian about their break and, in the Japanese version, Toya and Li have a glare fest. In the English version, their glare fest seems to have been cut (although this may be youtube messing it up) but Li certainly growls and Sakura looks concerned as she thinks that "Tori sure doesn't like Li!". Miss Mackenzie looks on. And then it's time for lunch. The children admire how many strawberries they've picked and talk about how they'll cook them next. Meanwhile, Meilin is trying to feed Li her elaborate lunch. Sakura notices and admires Meilin's lunch. Meilin is pleased and lets her have some. But, shock horror, Nikki reveals that afternoon's plans are canceled because the door to the information center won't open. Sakura and Madison decide to go investigate and Li and Meilin follow. Sakura and Madison are able to open the door fine and step inside. Li and Meilin then come, with Li warning the two girls to be careful because he senses something, while they step inside. Unfortunately, the door slams shut. Meanwhile, Ms. Mackenzie is startled and gets up to leave. In the Japanese version, Toya and Yukito discuss how Ms. Mizuki is Sakura's new teacher and how Toya knew her but Toya isn't up to discuss it. Anyway, back to the Cardcaptors and their sidekicks. So, they're locked in and the door won't budge. Meilin tries breaking the window but she gets thrown back. The walls get all wavy and Li concludes that it's the Lock Card. Unfortunately, the Lock Card is so special that even Li doesn't know how to defeat it. So, they call Kero but Kero, who is away from the phone looking in the fridge, fantasizing about strawberries, doesn't answer so they're on their own. At this point, Nikki and Rita come to investigate the door. Meilin calls out for their help but Li tells her to stop because no one out there can open the door and they can't do their magic with people around. Too bad for Li, Nikki and Rita go to get help. Madison then suggests looking for a magic key to open the magic lock. Li tries his Lasin Board but it's no good: like with Maze, they are inside the Card so they have to manually look. Meanwhile, Nikki and Rita are with Tori and Julian, explaining what happened. As Tori gripes and grumbles, eventually it comes out that Ms. Mackenzie is missing as well. Back to the kids and they're searching high and low for the key. Sakura is on the top shelf when she notices people coming. This freaks Li out and causes Sakura to fall. Luckily, she manages to catch herself and then notices Ms. Mackenzie sitting on a tree limb, staring at her. Ms. Mackenzie points to her chest before Li offers Sakura a hand up. Now safe, Sakura explains that she saw Ms. Mackenzie outside. Li looks but she's gone. Sakura feels like she was trying to her something and then she remembers her Key of Clow. Outside, Tori is open to unlock the door when something stops him (by the way, it's not like a force or anything. He just doesn't do it) and Ms. Mackenzie explains that the door will open now. Inside, Sakura puts her Key into the lock and then a mighty wind swirls up. The Lock Card is out of the lock but before it can go back, Li blocks it with one of his ofuda and Sakura seals it. The door now opens and everyone is revealed about the well-being of the locked-in kids. They then make their desserts and Sakura gives hers to Julian. Back home, after relating her day off screen, Kero asks for his share. Oops. Sakura gave it all to Julian so no strawberries for Kero.
Wanna see it?
Cardcaptors Episode 38: Part 1/3
Click to viewCardcaptors Episode 38: Part 2/3
Cardcaptors Episode 38: Part 3/3
Card Captor Sakura Episode 38: Part 1/3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42VjXHKucfE
Card Captor Sakura Episode 38: Part 2/3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fyctNbgfDw
Card Captor Sakura Episode 38: Part 3/3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLToRWdtHlU
I will admit right now that I procrastinated in watching this one. I saw the preview on the Japanese episode last time and went, "Oh God, it mentioned Yukito and it's about strawberry picking of all things and they're going to get locked in somewhere. Oh God, will I have to endure a ten minute sequence of Yukito and Sakura locked in somewhere and they talk for ten minutes about believing in yourself or something?" So, I stalled on this one. Luckily, it wasn't that bad, although riddled with plot holes.
Card Tally
Sakura: Windy, Fly, Shadow, Watery, Rain, Wood, Jump, Illusion, Silence, Thunder, Sword, Flower, Shield, Power, Mist, Float, Erase, Glow, Move, Fight, Loop, Sleep, Song, Little, Mirror, Maze, Shot, Sweet, Big, Create, Change, Firey, Arrow, Snow, Voice, Lock
Current number: 36
Li: Time, Storm, Return, Dash, Freeze
Current number: 5
Oh, God, these titles are so bad. Both are horrible. The Japanese one is pretty typical in its badness (being locked in is fun?) but the English title is just so horrible this time. They went with a berry pun this time around? What happened to their pun title writer? Bring back the good puns! They're both horrible, I can't choose.
There aren't many changes this time around. Just a lot of cut moments and modified scenes.
First of all, a lot of Yukito gushing is cut. In the Japanese version, Sakura is all about making something for Yukito and having dream sequences about making food for Yukito and yeah, it gets a little repetitive. I'm fine with her having a crush on Yukito, I'm fine with her wanting to make a dessert for him, but must we hear about it so incessantly? And those scenes don't really add anything to the story except to show just how much Sakura wants to bake a cake for Yukito. It's seriously episode 38, Japanese producers, we got it.
Speaking of Yukito and repetitiveness, I guess this episode is where Toya starts having his "I need to tell you something... but not until later" moments with Yukito. The manga didn't start this until Sakura had captured all the Cards but perhaps they bumped it up? Anyway, if that's the case, Toya fails here because no one even interrupted him so if he's trying to say what I think he's trying to say (and no, it's not "By the way, I'm gay"), then he really had no excuse as to why he kept his knowledge hidden. In the English version, Tori is just acting weird and brushes Julian off by saying he's tired. It could be about this or it could be about Li flirting with his little sister.
Which brings me to the next change. Whoever was in charge for these past couple of episodes is a Sakura/Li shipper because they definitely took advantage of the odd angle of the strawberry picking scene and Li's face. In the Japanese version, they make it quite clear that Li is offering his strawberries to Yukito. In the English version, they play it a little more vaguely. For one, Julian doesn't talk in this moment, it's Sakura who responds to Li, saying that he picked a lot of strawberries, to which he nods. So, instead of Yukito and Li interaction, it's now a Sakura and Li interaction. When I originally watched the English version of this scene, I thought he was supposed to be offering the strawberries to both of them (in his currently bicurious way) and the English version was simply making Sakura say something neutral ("you picked all those?" is more neutral than "those are for us?") to tone down the romantic, bisexual element in the scene. But since he was never offering them to Sakura at all, that means they deliberately made a decision to have Sakura be the speaker so it turns it into a Sakura/Li moment instead. What really did it for me though was Sakura's additional line about how Tori doesn't like Li. In the Japanese version, Li and Toya merely have a glaredown as Sakura looks on, but in the English version, they cut that moment and have Sakura talk about it instead. Keep in mind that Li is no longer offering the strawberries to Julian or even saying anything nasty to Sakura so why would Tori suddenly remember he doesn't like Li? Especially since that staredown was cut? Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Okay, I'll admit it, I might be reading too much into that change but that fact remains is that Li is blushing in both versions. So, he's either gay for Yukito, bisexual for the both of them, or straightly crushing on Sakura.
Two whole scenes were cut but they contributed nothing. There is a scene at the beginning where Kero talks about how he wants to eat strawberries. It is boring and contributes no new information. It was so pointless that I didn't even include it in the summary. There is another scene, which made it into the summary, about Yukito and Toya talking about Ms. Mizuki being Sakura's teacher. This is stuff that the audience already knows (Ms. Mizuki is Sakura's new teacher, Toya has a history with her, etc) and since that scene had even less information than we actually already have, it was pointless. Thanks for the reminder, I guess?
Other scenes get trimmed up, such as the cooking scene, but nothing really major is removed. But, regarding the cuts in general, they were smoothly done so I never realized I was missing a scene until I watched the Japanese version although I did notice that the English version seemed to moving briskly along, to my relief.
Plot holes. Hoo boy, there are plot holes.
1. You know what? Let's talk about Toya's constant jobs. Does he get fired a lot? Because we never hear of these jobs again. Why is he working at this place, on this day? And why is Yukito working with him as well? No one can have that many jobs and go to school.
2. Why doesn't Li tell Sakura about the freaky door first thing? Are they still competitors? It's never quite clear to me.
3. Why is it so shocking that Yukito knows how to pick the strawberries? He kind of works there, Sakura, duh.
4. Why is Tomoyo allowed to have her video camera on this trip? Shouldn't she be focusing on picking strawberries? And why didn't she have her video camera later on during the capture?
5. There is a lot of stuff about cooking in this episode that made me go, "Did everyone lose their memories?"
a. The English version has Julian actually ask if Sakura can bake. Um, Julian, you've kind of had the fruits of her labor before, don't you remember?
b. All of the girls make some reference about being able to bake their cakes. You had an entire lesson devoted to it, guys, don't you remember? Risa is the weirdest by saying that it's the first time she's baked it. Um, no, she was apparently the expert on strawberry shortcake during the cake lesson and she even gave some to Mr. Terada and supposedly makes it all the time for her dad.
c. Meilin says there is nothing she can't cook. Except, um, cakes? Okay, maybe Meilin is just bragging here but still.
d. In the Japanese version, Sakura says she wishes she could cook. She cooks all the time. It's one of her chores.
6. If the door is locked, why is there no maintenance man in the area trying to fix the lock? Okay, maybe he's coming but still.
7. Why are the kids even allowed to go wandering around, investigating the broken door?
8. If the door was magically locked, then how did Sakura and her friends get inside? Because Sakura and Li are magical? Maybe?
9. If Li felt the weird presence, and then warns Sakura to be careful, why does he just walk in the same way she did? Shouldn't he try to figure out where the presence is coming from before perhaps walking into it?
10. How did Li get up on that ledge so fast to help Sakura up without making any noise? Did he teleport up there?
11. If the room was locked and broken, why doesn't Toya ask how Sakura and her friends even got into the room?
12. Furthermore, why did Toya think bringing the keys would even work? Didn't they already establish that no one can get inside? Did no one else try using the damn keys?
13. So what exactly stopped Toya from using the key to unlock the door? There is no indication of a "force" stopping him. He just... stops while Ms. Mizuki gets to be all mysterious. Did he realize that bringing the keys was a plot hole?
14. When Ms. Mizuki says that the door will open now, why does Toya just stand there like a doofus? If it'll open, try opening it!
15. It's clear that the people outside can hear the people inside the room so why does no one comment on
a. The four kids screaming?
b. Both Li and Sakura doing magical spells?
c. And the room getting trashed?
Everyone at the end is just "Oh, you're safe! That's great!" and no one goes, "So what was all that horrified screaming about? What the hell were you 'releasing'? What did you guys do this room?!"
16. Since Ms. Mizuki was clearly watching her and gave her the clue about the Key of Clow, why doesn't Sakura ask about why Ms. Mizuki was sitting, grinning, in that tree and, oh, not getting help, if not actually asking her what she knows about the Clow Cards?
In conclusion, because the changes done neither contributed nor detracted from the enjoyment of the episode, I judge these episodes to be...
Equal!
Episode 39