Card Captor Sakura 20th Anniversary Artbook Review (Happy Birthday Sakura!)

I posted over on the New Trials Facebook group on whether I should get the Cardcaptor Sakura 20th Anniversary 20th Anniversary Illustration Collection, and of course, I did give in and buy it at the bookstore on April 1, for Sakura's birthday. The main reason I debated on whether to buy this artbook was because it is a compilation of older, already published artwork, and I wished it included some of the newer pictures CLAMP drew. There are 100 pictures supposedly handpicked by CLAMP, and while the book did not include all the pictures I liked, since there are so many out there, it included many pieces I do love. I knew I had to get it after seeing the book in person, though it is somewhat pricey, and more pricey because it's imported. I believe its 3,600 yen in Japan. There are several books that I really regret I was not able to get a hold of, such as the Card Captor Sakura Nakayoshi 60th Anniversary Edition Vol. 9 Special Edition version. Another limited edition artbook I've been dying to get my hands on is the Card Captor Sakura Animated Artworks. Please do let me know if you any of you have any information on how to get a hold of these for a reasonable price!

First off, when I picked up the 20th Anniversary artbook, which I've been debating purchasing since it was released one week ago on March 24, I was very happy with the size and how it fits in my hand. I don't like oversized books, and this one is just the perfect size. The books is hardcover and pink and pretty, with new artwork on the cover of a dress that will be a collaboration project with lolita brand Baby, the Stars Shine Bright. I was introduced to the brand through the 2004 film Kamikaze Girls, an awesome movie. I love that the artbook comes with a clear plastic case, which is printed with a gold border. I guess to better to protect the book's pretty cover. I love the back just as well because it has Sakura's two magic circles in gold. And the chronology poster, above, I don't think I will unfold again because it's so huge, I could barely find a flat surface large enough to photograph it. But it is very interesting, looking back at the "history" of CCS. 



As for the artbook itself, I would say it is very Sakura-centric, as can be said about the entire CCS franchise. If I have a secret confession to make, I could do less with less solo Sakura pictures in general and more group pictures. Which is why I'm loving all the new artwork that has been streaming out. I don't think there is a shoujo heroine who has had more solo pictures of her in different outfits than any other franchise. I have included some of my favorite spreads though. Some pictures I like were missing, such as Touya playing the violin. But I do love how some of the artwork was paired, and there was clearly thought put into their arrangement and order. I wish I could read CLAMP's descriptions in the back though. The spread with Sakura with the clear flowers on the left and Sakura and Syaoran holding the star on the right might be one of my favorite face-to-face pages in the book because that is probably one of my favorite solo Sakura artwork, while the star picture as you know is used on my website, and I think the picture that best represents the two together.

 

And this spread with Tomoyo, paired with the Eriol and Clow Reed reflection.They go so well together. Surely CLAMP secretly ships the two based on that spread. The artbook progresses to the Card Captor Sakura Movie 2 artwork toward the end, and generally does a good job in including most of the iconic S+S artwork. It also includes Sakura in her most most popular outfits as well. I love CLAMP's new artwork and the details in them, as well as the more sophisticated coloring style. But I rather prefer Syaoran's old character design, where his features were sharper and less shouta-fied. 
 

Based on the selection of this artbook, I'm very confident a second compilation artbook will be released in the near future with the newer artworks, for there were definitely key artwork that I think could have been included in this one and were purposefully withheld. Or so I want to believe. One of my favorite pieces with Sakura and Syaoran in the tree with their teddy bears was missing. So, hopefully, this artbook sells very well, which can warrant a new artbook, whether it be at the end of this year, or more likely, the next anniversary or special occasion. But I hope we don't have to wait till the 25th anniversary for a compilation of the new artwork. And this artbook is definitely a wonderful trip down the memory lane, 20 years back into my childhood, and will be much treasured.

In other news, I've been working on New Trials Chapter 72 like mad to make it in time for Sakura's birthday. And didn't. Hides under a rock. I think I might be able to have Part 1 of 3 up by this weekend, though no guarantees. Who knows, this could be the April Fools' Day joke. My fingers are achy these days and I am sleep deprived.

I included the listing of artworks included for reference, for I'm sure there are those of you wondering if your favorite artwork was included. 

 

 Happy Birthday Sakura April 1, 2016! So pretty.

 

Highlight for spoiler for Chapter 72:

“Syaoran! Syaoran! Oh my gosh, Code Red!” exclaimed Meilin, her black pigtails streaming behind her.  

Syaoran bolted up from his seat. “What is it? Is the Tang Clan attacking? Is Uncle Wutai staging a coup d’état? Don’t tell me it’s Wu Zino again! Or is it Wu Zilai?”

Meilin shook her head rapidly. “No, it’s worse! Much worse!” She slammed both hands on Syaoran’s desk. “Your sister’s coming to Japan, Syaoran!”

Syaoran paled and gaped at his cousin. “Which one?”

“Fuutie,” replied Meilin, catching her breath. “I heard directly from Wei.”

Syaoran groaned. “Why?”

“She’s always been threatening to come to Japan forever,” replied Meilin. “You know that Cousin Dairen’s business delegation’s arriving in Tokyo—for the Li Group Japan’s board meeting.”

“Oh, they’re flying in next week, right?” asked Syaoran. “We’ve got several days to prepare.”

“No, she’s flying in today—Wei already went to the airport to pick up Fuutie,” replied Meilin.

Syaoran turned sheet white as he pushed back his seat. “We’ve got to go find Leiyun.”  

 

I also saw the first cherry blossoms of the spring today. How befitting on April 1 to celebrate Sakura's birthday! 

 

Wacom Intuos4 Review

As you all know, I've been eying the Wacom Intuos4 Tablet for the longest time. I have been using the precursor to the Wacom Bamboo series, a Wacom Graphire3 Sapphire. After much thought and hesitation, I finally justified that I've been working hard enough, and I deserve a present for myself. I ordered it on Sunday and got it on Tuesday, so I was very excited (after like 11 months of coveting it). I started out by stalking E-bay for a while, but in the end, I gave in and purchased a new one, because I was tempted by the sensation of opening up a pretty new box and E-bay prices were not that much cheaper. I enclosed some pictures of the box, inside the box, the tablet, the pen and the mouse. Everything is very sleek and pretty in black.

I had the hardest dilemma of choosing between an Intuos Small and Medium (the most popular and recommended size). In the end, I chose a Small because as an amateur hobbyist, I couldn't justify paying over $100 more for a couple square inches more of drawing space. I'm glad I chose the Small, because firstly, I just don't have space on my desk (though I like drawing on my bed), and also, I use a laptop with a 15.5 screen, hence having a bigger tablet won't do much for me anyway. Plus, the Intuos working space dimensions is still bigger than my old Graphire. I ended up getting a good deal on my Intuos4 Small, the best deal I found on the net, so I'm pretty satisfied. I would like to one day try drawing on a Medium though.

Truthfully, I haven't used my Intuos a whole lot yet because I'm a bit afraid to touch it. Lol. Off the top, the Inuos4 pen has a 2048 levels of sensitivity, twice more than its predecessor, Intuos3. My Graphire had 0 sensitivity because I dropped the pen very early on, and the nib end went dead, so I have been using the eraser end to paint all this time, which is basically like using a mouse in the shape of stick. So, yes, I never really got to experience the whole "pressure sensitivity" before, and it was amazing to have tilt recognition and actually be able to sketch straight into Photoshop/ Paint Tool SAI. And I like how the Intuos pen is heavier and more solid feeling, and with the pen holder, hopefully I won't drop this pen as much.

I'm rather used to the smooth, slippery plastic feel of the Graphire tablet, whereas Intuos4 has a rough, papery texture which some people love, some people don't. There have been some complaints on the net regarding pen nib-wear, which I guess I will experience eventually. The pen-holder comes with 10 replacement nibs, which I have yet to play around with, which come niftily inside the pen holder. The mouse seems pretty useless as usual, but is at least more functional than the Graphire mouse. The biggest difference on the Intuos4 tablet is the ExpressKey buttons and the I-Pod like radial scroll button, which is very useful. I have yet to fiddle around with the different functions of the ExpressKey.

The biggest issue I had was in the beginning, getting the drivers to function properly. The latest driver was useless--it made Photoshop crash. Anyhow, after two hours of fiddling around with different drivers, everything worked. Truthfully, the first time I used the Intuos, I sort of missed my Graphire and having to do everything manually, from changing pressure to switching between functions. And then, perhaps it was the papery texture of the tablet that I began to miss traditional medium, the feeling of paper and pencil, of watercolor and color pencils, of my brush. Of course the first thing I drew was Sakura and Syaoran--it didn't take me too long to adjust to the Intuos, because after using the eraser end of a pressureless Graphire, you realize how little effort you need to be able to sketch with an Intuos4 (which still requires more hand-eye coordination than drawing on traditional medium). I haven't really painted with Intuos much, but hopefully I'll get a chance to. I might put some comparison pictures up of my Graphire and Intuos for reference if anyone wants it, because I know I would have liked some reference pics.

I haven't really finished inking the sketch yet (so you can see the rough sketch underneath) and began on another piece, but I might finish this one up later. Truthfully, I'm having the worse case of a writer's block at the moment. January and February have been pretty crazy, but I've finally been trying to catch up on emails. I've been staring at Chapter 65 for the past two weeks without making a dent (though I had quite a bit written from back in December/ January). Drawing CCS related stuff usually is a first step to recovering from a writer's block for me which I failed to mention in my fanfiction writing process guide.

Kobato Episode 2

Episode 2 is about as sweet as the first episode. I didn't really notice the background music in the first episode but this time around, I remember being pleasantly surprised by some of the bgm numbers. I'm not sure if the OST would become as iconic as the Card Captor Sakura bgms (which I think represents a series where the bgm itself embodies the series) or as in Tsbasa Reservoir Chronicle, which I think the soundtrack MAKES the anime.

Kobato is so adorable, I can't help loving her despite her ditziness and lack of common sense. Which is rare. CLAMP's heroes and heroines are usually a hit or miss for me ie. Hikaru from Magic Knight Rayearth may be one of my least favorite characters, though I have no idea why. I think she is so bright and optimistic, it grates my nerves. Then again, I adore Fuu and Umi is one of my favorite female CLAMP characters (mainly because she is pretty). CCS Sakura inevitably has become my favorite female CLAMP character and is probably one of the most iconic female majou shoujo heroines in the history of anime. Now, Kobato is a little bit older but probably has the mental capacity of someone younger than Sakura. She is loveable nonetheless because rather than being plain stupid, I find that she is just genuinely childlike and naive in an alienesque sort of way. And she's adorable. In a 'I want to pull her hair and pinch her cheeks sort of way.' I know, it's horrible. I want a younger sister like Sakura-chan that I would squeeze into a tight hug, but with Kobato, I want to tease her or something. Yes, I am very much sympathetic to Ioryogi-san.

I like how CLAMP made Sakura and Syaoran's character design reflected each other, like how Kobato and Fujimoto's designs reflect each other (with their layered hairstyle and long hair). Their colorings are even sort of similiar, but Fujimoto's eyes seem a little greener while Kobato's is a bit more hazel (I find the anime made her eyes greener than I anticipated). I find Fujimoto's character design really appealing because it's very unique for a CLAMP character to have the perfect balance between "tough cool guy" and "bishounen," and I dig his glasses and piercings juxtaposed to his gentle occupation. The most nostalgic part about the series though is the way Madhouse did the eyes of the characters so much like they did Card Captor Sakura eyes. Especially the kids looked like they would pop up in CCS.

The encounters between Fujimoto and Kobato this episode reminded me of Sakura and Syaoran's relationship in the beginning. Kobato's indignant reactions to Fujimoto's crassness was very reminiscent of Sakura's reactions to Syaoran when he was being mean. Fujimoto playing the organ reminded me of Kinomoto Touya, as well. I find Fujimoto's personality a cross between Syaoran and Touya (their love child?), while Ioryogi makes me think that Tomoyo-hime one day decided to punish Kurogane and turn him into a blue plush dog doll. They sound the same and they act the same). I adore Ioryogi-san and think he's the most badass "magical animal" sidekick any shoujo heroine has had.

Fumiko Orikasa is wonderful as usual as Sayaka and never fails to impress me with her versatility. I swear, she never sounds the same. Kobato's seiyuu is perfect for the part, albeit sounding sort of like a Clannad girl, as is Inada Tetsu as Ioryogi.

It's been a while since I've seen a "magical girl" theme anime, and forgot the doki doki sense of anticipation waiting for the potential hero to appear at the opportunate moment and the fact that they don't appear all the time. I remember going through episodes of CCS where Syaoran barely showed up or did not show up at all. And in those days, I judged how good an episode was by the role Syaoran played in it. The only episode I really enjoyed without Syaoran in it was Sakura and the Calendar of Memories, the episode about Touya and Nadeshiko and the organ. Anyhow, Fujimoto might make it to my list of top 3 favorite CLAMP males. I've only read the manga on and off, but I'm looking forward to some character development and the appearance of Okiura (Shinichiro Miki).

Tsubasa Shunraiki 1 and Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Brotherhood 1

"I want to be together, forever, with the person I love. Before this simple wish can be granted, we go our separate ways."

- "Sonic Boom" - Maaya Sakamoto, Tsubasa Chronicle Shunraiki Opening

I finally got to watch the Tsubasa Shunraiki OAD/OVA. As I thought, I definitely like the new opening, "Sonic Boom," sung by our Tomoyo-hime's seiyuu Maaya Sakamoto after another listen. The lyrics are quite beautiful, as expected from Maaya. I have mixed feelings about the actual episode itself. Overall, I was more awed by the production quality of Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations. It annoys me that the whole Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles franchise has gotten such a shoddy animation treatment. Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic about the possibility of getting even these OVAs, but I would have preferred a solid third season without missing arcs, without having to wait months for a single episode. Lol. I don't mind that we skipped several arcs straight to the Nippon arc because we get to see our darling Tomoyo-hime again!

The best part about this first episode is Tomoyo-hime. Some of the character designs were unstable throughout the episode, but Tomoyo-hime was very lovely as usual. And it was so nostalgic to hear Maaya Sakamoto using a princess-voice again after her run of boyish-sounding characters, ie. Haruhi, Ciel and Crona. Nippon Arc is all about Kurogane, so we see little of Sakura-hime and Syaoran. But next episode will be exciting with Syaoran vs. Clone!Syaoran. Kurogane is a character that has really grown on me through the course of TRC.

On a side note, I have grown very desensitized to limbs chopped off here and there and eyeballs gouged out and whatnot. Sighs... I'm so squeamish with gore, too. Watching the scene where Kurogane chops off his arm in color made me wince a bit. But it segues very nicely into my next review.... The return of Fullmetal Kurogane!... Oops, I meant, Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric.

Fullmetal Alchemist 2: Brotherhood is awesomeness! I was a little wary at first, as I mentioned earlier, but the first episode brought me straight back into nostalgic mode for good old Edward, Al, Roy Mustang and Maes Hughes! It's taking me time to get adjusted to Roy's new seiyuu (who is King Touya in Tsubasa), but then again, Roy is one of the characters who diverges a lot from the manga to the first Bones anime adaptation. I actually like the first Bones character designs better because they're more suited for fluid animation, whereas this adaptation sticks closer to the original Hiromu Arakawa manga designs. But as can be expected from a Studio Bones project, the action, the production quality, the music, everything is executed superbly. I noticed a bit more manga elements in this first episode though, which was just an action-packed, character-slammed, never still for a moment introduction episode. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to the upcoming episodes which return back to the beginning.

I think I'm going to get very addicted to the new opening and ending soon. I originally thought Sid's "Uso" would be a better Opening Theme and Yui's "Again" a better Ending Theme, because I heard it first and was addicted immediately. But both songs are so catchy, I bet they'll wind up on my playlist. I've always liked Yui, and I wasn't sure if I would like the new opening for FMA 2, but it's grown on me really fast. The chibi ending animation for Sid's "Uso" is cute, but I would have preferred a more serious animation to match such a beautiful song (but Bones seems to have used up their budget on the Opening sequence.)