First things first, so let’s start with the OP:
I liked the song better than Blaze (big thanks to the electric guitar) but Kinya is not really my kind of singer so… it’s a nice song nevertheless.
The OP animation looks like a 2nd prototype of the 1st OP, which is not really a critic since it’s pretty much normal for a series to have similar OPs through the seasons.
The guys fighting with their own shadow is a good metaphor of “fighting with themselves/their past”, however, I think it would look better to have only Syaoran withing with himself which would represent the other!Syaoran. I can’t deny the fight scenes are quite awesome and they follow the rhythm of the song, which is good.
*sees Fei Wang opening his arms wide* LOL! That was a bit lame xDDD
*sees Xing Huo caressing the broken mirror* That was quite nice…
I think they abused on the still images (6 in total !!), and they aren’t that nice you know? Some of them have lame background while others are really pointless… I think it would look so much better if they added still images about the countries they are about to land on this season, the watchers would be curious to watch it.
The chara design is great on the OP, probably done by Minako Shiba (the series’s main chara designer).
The ending shot is a lame image with the 4 of them and the mirror (?) in a lame background (honestly, there are better ways to close an OP).
Now to the episode itself…
The first scenes are pretty much like in the manga (always good), the dream then the World view (which reminded me of The Jetsons xD). Then when Syaoran goes outside we get introduced to the other charas of the series, instead of just Fye explaining the whole thing to Syaoran. Sakura’s clothes are very cute xD
Then Yuuko shows up ! (I unfortunately am watching Live-Evil version… unfortunately because they insist on making Kurogane call every woman a “bitch”). She looks pretty fine (in fact, finer than in some particular shots of the xxxholic anime itself xD), but I REALLY wish they could change her clothes more often u.u
Then they kinda used her as a recap device, which IMO was a good call (Yuuko is always welcoming) instead of using flashbacks over flashbacks.
And she mentions the White Day ! XDDD Nice ! They won’t cut it off the series (any reason to see Yuuko is a good reason to me xD). Here Live-Evil makes another blooper ¬¬ they made Sakura said “I’ll send you those chocolate fondants that I made before” when in fact she says that she’ll “pay the chocolates back”, but not necessarily with chocolate fondants as well ¬¬
This also proves that apparently the reason for no crossovers on XXXHOLiC anime is not due to copyrights, since we ARE seeing Yuuko here at Tsubasa. I don’t see why they can’t do that as well with XXXHOLiC.
When they are practicing with the dragonflies, a rather weird thing happens… Syaoran is at the right side of the vehicle while Sakura is on the left, then she wants to try out how to ride it, and suddenly they change sits right on the next scene ! In the middle of the air, how come? (Nice spotted, Ali-chan xD).
Tomoyo… well she was animated in the best way, nothing to complain about it, but Maaya seems too calm for Tomoyo you know? XD She was perfect for Princess Tomoyo from Nihon since she’s serene and all, but her craziness for Sakura was a bit compromised here. However, in a defensive way, we have to consider that Tomoyo is now around 14.
Btw, when Tomoyo grabs Sakura and goes all freak “You’re my heroin!”, Sakura says “Hoee~” Just like CCS!Sakura ^0^ I really enjoyed it !
The scene with Fei Wang… that image on his mirror… that’s not Piffle O.o what is that?
Not changing the commercial breaks eyecatches for the new season: lame !
The race…
Since we didn’t see Karen yet, she’s not among the racers. The fat guy and his gang is, though (I don’t know what’s up with BeeTrain and the fat guy ¬¬), as well as the couple of the original world from episode 16.
Everybody else is pretty much there.
They didn’t show the announcer’s face not even once T-T I hope we can see him on the next episodes, as well as I hope Tamayo and Yamasaki will be there.
The scene with the race itself has a very nice soundtrack (with lots of guitars xD) and the dragonflies fly pretty fast, which is good (Some animes tend to be really bad on animating things that run/flies fast). The SFX representing the dragonflies cutting the wind are appropriate as well.
The audience is FLAT! In a very explicit way…. which is awful, because the race sounds dead apart from the racers, not enough cheers, energy, you know?
12 people, instead of 20 like in the manga, qualified for the real race. And Syaoran got the last place instead of Sakura. I was kinda sad that Yuzuriha was replaced by the annoying fat guy telling him “I’m gonna win and you’re gonna die”, I was like “ow shut up ¬¬”
At least for the first time (I think) they show that Sakura have faith on Syaoran, and the promise thing was cute BUT… Syaoran coming out of the fire was WAY too much… there was no need for such heroism (although his smile at the end is cute and very Syaoran-like ^0^).
The ED:
The song is… both nice and weird… Maaya Sakamoto is great as always and her voice is not the problem here… but the music solo, the one that plays at the very start and at the very end, is so weird and sounds old-fashioned. I think guitars would go much better here.
The ED itself is a mix of old scenes from last season and new scenes. They show the past of Syaoran and Sakura, Kurogane and omg! Fye’s too. I do hope they got some basis, though. And he’s like, playing with a cute little weird animal, wearing royal clothes O.o And we see little!Kurogane too in the middle of a devastated Nihon (the sakura petals give a special touch xD). And a random scene with Tomoyo (?) with Mokona and a cat (???) on her lap O.o
Overall, it was a good first episode of a new season, the complains were mostly nitpicking than anything else. I didn’t mind the script changes because:
1. They weren’t that crucial, some of them were very well-accepted to me, in fact. Like the way they did the sabotage part, with the dragonflies itself breaking apart instead of a “sparkling powder” XDDDD
2. I’m being relevant with XXXHOLiC’s changes, so I shall be relevant to Tsubasa’s as well.
I can see why they picked Piffle instead of The Country of Idols. Piffle is full of action, they revived some mysteries such as Fye’s past, and the episode ended with the nice cliffhanger of “who sabotaged the race?”.
The animation, in terms of Tsubasa, was excellent and it’s definitely among the greatest ones of the series. All the characters were well-drawn and well-animated.
Finally, I really enjoyed the episode while watching it, and I think that is very important. It gave me good feelings, it was nice, and I can’t wait for the next episode.
Good points:
Very well-animated. I hope they keep it up for the rest of the series.
The episode flowed very well from start to finish, though it seemed a little rushed.
The race looked fast and cool as well as it’s soundtrack.
Yuuko and the White Day reminder !
Bad points:
Not enough Tomoyo going crazy over Sakura, you know?
The race (here I mean the “event”, not the race itself) didn’t look as cheerful and festive as it looked in the manga.
Syaoran coming out of the explosion at the end like The Terminator. Please…
Staff for episode 2 – Three Badges:
Script: Hiroyuki Kawasaki (as always)
Episode Director: Ohta Tomoaki (not that experienced).
Storyboard: Koji Sawai (also did the storyboard for episodes 2, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 19, 21, 22, 24).
Animation Director: Shun’ei Chou (chinese guy O.o and it doesn’t seem like he worked on many projects as well).
Judging by the preview, the animation seems to be quite good O.o Let’s wait and see.
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34 thoughts on “Tsubasa Chronicle (2nd season) #1”
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>reminded me of The Jetsons xD
OMG, WORD!!!! LOL!!!! xDDDDDDD
*goes to re-watch the episode to comment properly ^///^*
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xDDDDD Seeing it all moving really made me remember of it !
Yeah, go re-watch it and comment here later, I’ll be looking forward to it ^__^
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see, it reminded me of the “star wars” prequels: tall buildings + flying cars + racing. ^_^
yuuto-san, i agree it was well animated, but i kind of think they forgot how to draw kurogane, his face looked wierd to me. and personally i hated the op song, but i didn’t like “blaze” that much either. and i want kero! but overall, though, i loved it.
(but what the heck was with chibi fai?)
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Kurogane? Yeah, definitely… when I wrote this: “All the characters were well-drawn and well-animated.” I kept thinking for at least 2 minutes “Should I add that Kurogane only was a bit weird?” but in the end I didn’t bother. But I definitely agree. He was awesome at the end of season 1, but here his head looks bit weird indeed u.u
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I agree, Maaya’s voice isn’t as perky as this version of Tomoyo requires. And… depressed Syaoran, semi-depressed Sakura, depressed Kurogane, and then, UBERGAY!Fai in the ED? WTF? As pretty as some of the pics were, overall I was disappointed with the ED. Though the art -was- pretty. And the fat guy- get over him already! He only showed up, what once or twice in the manga. (I can’t remember if the manga had him show up outside of Hanshin, but I don’t actually think so.) But this is the third time he’s shown up in the anime. >< But overall it was a good episode. There will always be things we don't like about a series, after all.
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Oh, and amen to the Syaoran and the fire thing. Was that really necessary? XD
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Yeah, Maaya, unfortunately, didn’t really “get” into the role u.u I hope in the next episodes she’ll be better… she needs to let herself go ! XD
>and then, UBERGAY!Fai in the ED? WTF?
Indeed O.o Unless he really did have a nice childhood? And his problems showed up later at his life? o.O
>As pretty as some of the pics were, overall I was disappointed with the ED.
Yeah, it was nice, period. But nothing more. I still prefer last season’s.
>He only showed up, what once or twice in the manga.
WORD ! Get over him already, geez! I don’t think he showed up anywhere apart from Hanshin.
>There will always be things we don’t like about a series, after all.
Yes indeed. I liked it muchly, but the manga will always be the manga ^^
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Actually, wrote a really good fanfic where Fai’s childhood was pretty good- really good, actually, for the most part. I could possibly see Fai having a good childhood. And I’ll always prefer the manga too.
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“The end like The Terminator” XD – I believed I was the only one that complained about that ^o^
And I still prefer see Sakura VS Yuzuriha that was full of action ^^ not like Syaoran VS Kanio that is a little exaggerated.
But in spite of this I hope a good second season.
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>I believed I was the only one that complained about that ^o^
Hahahaha I believe *I* was the only one who thought that xDDDD But really, that was like, too much xD
Too bad Yuzuriha only showed up for 5 secs, right? Well, at least she’ll be back for X’s arc ^^ (I just hope they will let the fat guy AWAY from that world too XDDD)
>But in spite of this I hope a good second season.
Word ! I’m putting all my faith in it!
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Yeah I have a lot of hope for X’s arc, but is so far to see it animated right now.
-I just hope they will let the fat guy AWAY from that world too XDDD – you’re right there are many characters, why always him?
Just let’s hope they do a good work with the other arcs that are included in this second season. Just have faith XD
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I find DB/L-E’s subs to be horribly rushed and not at all worth the watch, so I guess I’m stuck waiting for a more competent group (A-Keep!) to sub the series.
However, I did download the raw and was completely blown away by the sheer quality of the episode. Sure, the OP sequence was a bit… Yeah… And the ED song/sequence was… Yeah… But I liked the OP song. (Kinya, where did your awesome Gravitation-esque songs go?)
The moment I saw Yuuko, my fears for the season were assuaged. I mean, come on: Yuuko looks a hundred times better now than she did 26 episodes ago.
I didn’t notice the “hoe~~” until you mentioned it. Fun stuff!
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>A-Keep!
ARE THEY DOING IT? If so, I’m soooo taking it ! Live-Evil has bad translation mistakes—-!
I like the OP song too, not nearly as 19 Sai, of course, but it’s a cool song.
>Yuuko looks a hundred times better now than she did 26 episodes ago.
Definitely ! Which is very very nice >.I didn’t notice the “hoe~~” until you mentioned it. Fun stuff!
Me neither ! If it weren’t for my friend, I wouldn’t notice it either… she needs to do it more often !
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It could just be as simple as that the fat guy is easy to draw. >_>
Hee, I guess I’ll have to go back and watch the full ed then, the moment I saw the first second with Sakura I got annoyed and closed it. XD
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>It could just be as simple as that the fat guy is easy to draw. >_>
Ow that’s an interesting reason u.u Maybe…
Omg ! Sure, get back at the ED and you’ll see xDDDD
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Hahahaha, I really liked the HOEE~ included, it was a nice touch 😀
I thought Yuuko looked a lot nicer in this episode of Tsubasa than she does in the Holic anime, cos she looks really weird sometimes.
If I had rolled my eyes any harder when Syaoran walked out of the explosion with all the flames and smoke billowing behing him, they’d have fallen out of my head. So lame.
Although I am not sure what, there was something a bit weird about the way Fye looked when Kurogane mentioned the person he’s running from and his eyes went all O_O I can’t pinpoint what it was, it just looked odd.
I think I am the only person who liked the intro song to the first season XD The opening seemed a bit like they a Sakura fashion shoot with all the still pictures of her in different outfits. I really liked the parts where they are fighting their shadow selves, it looks really cool, I think. The Sakura and shadow Sakura running is kinda lame though, it would have been funny if she had to fight herself, but that doesn’t seem in character hahaha.
I wonder what is going on with Mokona’s size though, cos it seems that it’s a different size in every anime it appears in (even just the Tsubasa movie vs. the show).
When Sakura&Syaoran crashed into Fye and Kurogane, I like how the parachuted just appeared out of nowhere on the side -_- surprisingly, that’s the part that bothered me the most.
I loved how the bodyguards appeared when Kurogane approached Tomoyo’s car, it was really funny how they just sort of flashed in from nowhere.
I thought Tomoyo was cute, but I agree she doesn’t really sound Tomoyo-esque.
The ending was nice, though I am wondering why Fye and Kurogane don’t have their older versions looking at them too like Sakura and Syaoran did.
Overall, I thought it was an interesting episode. I’m still just a little bitter they didn’t start at the right place, but what can you do. I’m just glad that it’s back on!
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>Hahahaha, I really liked the HOEE~ included, it was a nice touch 😀
It sure was ! Kinda of an homage to CCS ^-^
Yes, Yuuko sometimes look weird at the xxxholic anime, she was really nice at this episode (it was Minako Shiba doing the animation direction, after all).
>If I had rolled my eyes any harder when Syaoran walked out of the explosion with all the flames and smoke billowing behing him, they’d have fallen out of my head. So lame.
HAHAHAHAHA omg ! Way too forced… It was the WAY he came out of it that was forced.
>there was something a bit weird about the way Fye looked when Kurogane mentioned the person he’s running from and his eyes went all O_O
Ow you didn’t like it? I thought it looked so nice ! O.o
>The opening seemed a bit like they a Sakura fashion shoot with all the still pictures of her in different outfits.
Indeed~ They even have one of Minnie Mouse xDDDDDD bit lame xDDD Honestly, the still images are pointless… it would be so much coller to show still images of Sha/Shurano, Rekort and such u.u
>it would have been funny if she had to fight herself, but that doesn’t seem in character hahaha.
Hahahahaha *images the scene* yeah… a bit weird xD
>I like how the parachuted just appeared out of nowhere on the side -_-
You “liked” that ? I thought it bugged you O.o It bugged me too.
>I loved how the bodyguards appeared when Kurogane approached Tomoyo’s car
I loved that too! And how they applauded Tomoyo’s crazyness xDDDDD
>though I am wondering why Fye and Kurogane don’t have their older versions looking at them too like Sakura and Syaoran did
Indeed O.o good point, haven’t thought about that.
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Haha, the “like” about the parachutes was sarcastic. I think they could have looked more closely at that scene, because they seriously appeared substantially far away from the crash to make it look like they just materialized XD
It’s not that I didn’t like the way Fye looked after Kuro was talking to him about why he doesn’t want to return to Celes, I think it’s just that it was a little unusual because scenes like that focus more on the eyes and how their pupils constrict when they’re shocked, but this scene they focused more on panning up and not on his eyes so when they reached his face his eyes had already showed his reaction that we didn’t see. It didn’t bother me or anything, it was just odd that they chose to do it that way.
Wah, I want Yuuko to look that nice all the time, I swear, sometimes during Holic she gets this crazy lazy eye and I can’t help but stifle a laugh since she appears to be looking in different directions.
I really want to know when the Tsubasa characters will show up in Holic, if when. *sigh* It would be so mean of them to include Yuuko in Tsubasa and not crossover Tsubasa into xxxHOLiC T_T
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>the “like” about the parachutes was sarcastic
Lol! Sorry xD
>It didn’t bother me or anything, it was just odd that they chose to do it that way.
Owww I got it now… yeah, it’s very normal to show the face/eyes at first.
>I swear, sometimes during Holic she gets this crazy lazy eye and I can’t help but stifle a laugh since she appears to be looking in different directions.
Hahahaha I -totally- know what you mean xDDDD Nobody REALLY knows how to make that “indifferent” look of hers better than Mokona-sensei herself.
>It would be so mean of them to include Yuuko in Tsubasa and not crossover Tsubasa into xxxHOLiC T_T
I know !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! T__T We’re not asking for the links to happen at the same week on both animes, no ! We don’t care about chronological orders, we just want the links! Even if they already happened last year on Tsubasa T-T
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>Fei Wang opening his arms wide
OMG! A brand new original character! ….TEH Black Pope!!!! XDDDDD
I share with you the opinion about the final image of the opening…is totally lame… I would prefer more the TRC wing symbol over that!, but the song I really liked it, altough my favourite is still “Blaze” ^^U
The ending is nice, and I think the Tomoyo´s hand scene might be changed when the world changes, But I am not sure… a new ending from the half of the season won´t be a bad idea (ne? bee Train? XD). Oh and the Fye Scene kinda bothers me…is it going to be like that? I mean Fye´s Past? O.oU …
>Not changing the commercial breaks eyecatches for the new season: lame !
WORD!…. and which makes it more lame is that it is not actually something that takes too much work to do it…laaaaaaaazy bee train XD
As you say Tomoyo´s voice doesn´t sound entirely fitting…but oh well I hope we get more Tomoyo crazyness in the next chapters ^^U
>The audience is FLAT!
HAHAHAHA!!! Reminded me to the old Pc games stage designs!!! XDDDDD It was more like a big sign planted there than an actual amount of people! XD
Anyways, besides of all the lame points, I have to admit…this chapter is good! The animation was good, the characters look great, the narrative is absolutely better…so it makes me so happy!!! ^0^ It gives me hope! *cryes* hahaha XD
Unbelieveble *in the good way* review Yuuto-san!!! ^0^ …You trully were sneecky today!!! xDDDD I LOVE IT!!!! I know it takes A LOT of time and work, so Thank you so much! *I was expecting yours I didn´t read any other: SOooo WORTH IT!*
Claudio
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>is totally lame… I would prefer more the TRC wing symbol over that!
Ow yes, definitely, all the way. It wouldn’t hurt to work more on that image, it’s too much simple. That kind of image is killing for us who enjoys graphic design XD
>and I think the Tomoyo´s hand scene might be changed when the world changes
I have a feeling that won’t really happen xDDDD But it wouldn’t be bad to have a second ED, or second ED theme.
>and which makes it more lame is that it is not actually something that takes too much work to do it…laaaaaaaazy bee train XD
So true >>
>It was more like a big sign planted there than an actual amount of people! XD
I miss the cut paper too ! And the fireworks… it didn’t look very festive. At the manga, it looked like EVERYBODY from that world was there.
Yes, the episode was very nice ! Like I said, this is all nitpicking of my part, I really enjoyed the episode !
Awww did you really like it? Thank you ! ^___^ So happy you appreciate it !!!! And to think that I -almost- lost everything because the energy got down for a sec but the PC still remained on, then I saved the post JUST IN CASE, and 2 secs later the energy went down for good xDDDDD
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Well, now I wonder why there are no crossovers in xxxHolic? If not copyrights then… pure stupidity?
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I wonder that too T-T For one thing is good because yay, at least Tsubasa crossovers will be there. But on the other hand, I don’t get at all why they can’t do it on xxxholic as well.
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I liked the OP song, though I was a bit let down… It’s so different from Blaze, which was more ‘heroic’ or something like that.
The episode was great, I loved the HOEE, Tomoyo’s “women in black” bodyguards (i mean, there were 100 of them or something XD), Syaoran coming out of fire (yes it was lame, but so lame that it was funny and I liked it XD) and the new OST tracks.
I really hope that Yamazaki will show up…
The ED… I just loved it, it was so amazing, both song and animation. Maybe just Fye too gay XD. The Kurogane scene was beautiful, now I’m really looking forward for the Lecourt arc.
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Tomoyo’s bodyguards are love ! I hope we’ll see more of Tomoyo’s craziness towards Sakura, it’s so much fun !
I wasn’t very fond of the “music” of the ED… the what’s look like to be a keyboard solo u.u But Maaya’s voice is, as always, gorgeous.
>now I’m really looking forward for the Lecourt arc.
Ah, did you see the first still pic at the OP has Fye with his Lecourt arc clothes ^^
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>>He only showed up, what once or twice in the manga.
>WORD ! Get over him already, geez! I don’t think he showed up anywhere apart from Hanshin
they’re like obsessed with the guy or something–he even appeared in oto, didn’t he? hashin..piffle…oto…
im sure they’ll have a cameo entrance with him in all the rest too…¬¬
stupids.
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Ow they might ¬¬ They are like saving money by using the same seiyuu XD
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its worst ep EVER
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Hahahaha omg, Narsil-san, don’t be too radical ! It was a good episode~
You really sound like Touya saying that xD
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No Tsubasa Chronicle arc is complete without Syaoran coming out of an explosion/dangerous stunt with none or barely some scratches! Personal Bee Train trademark. Ka-ching.
About Goron-man the fat guy, I have the theory the screenwriter is a fat guy from Kansai, so he feels identified. Still, annoying.
The Valentine scene still didn’t feel entirely Yuuko-like; she lacks character, she’s not that whimsical, she doesn’t do threats. And this gives me more arguments to think anime!white Mokona isn’t Soel, either. Soel would never tell them what White Day is until Yuuko was gone, because it’s that mean. And also, Sakura going “ooh, I’ll make you chocolates!” will kill the only-Sakura-gives-presents surprise.
No animators can reproduce the pure yuukoness. This makes me sad.
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Indeed it’s the way he came out of it that bothers me… he could have shown up very bruised you know, but no, they have to show how perfect and heroic he is.
>I have the theory the screenwriter is a fat guy from Kansai, so he feels identified
LOL! XDDDD That would explain a lot !
I missed the threats from Yuuko as well u.u Specially towards Kurogane xD
>And also, Sakura going “ooh, I’ll make you chocolates!” will kill the only-Sakura-gives-presents surprise.
Ow, that was a mistake from Live-Evil, she actually said that she’ll “pay her back”, but not necessarily with chocolates… and I think she says that in the manga as well O.o
>No animators can reproduce the pure yuukoness.
Maybe madhouse? the best studio for a CLAMP work?
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The episode looks great! The animation was well done, but when you mention the mirror in the end of the OP, I think that it may symbolize something VERY important. So anyways, about Sakura and Syaoran switching seats. You could clearly see Kurogane and Fai afterwards just floating and not flying. If the dragonfly floats still, they could easily switch places. Syaoran walking through the flames was just AWESOME! I don’t know how in the world those people couldn’t cheer for that. They are DEFINITELY FLAT!
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the HOEEE is the best. that just made moi day.
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I thought this episode was okay. It was cute, but there were still those parts where I just stared at the screen, thinking, Why the hell didn’t they just MAKE IT BETTER? If you work hard on most of it, follow through on ALL OF IT. I loved the Faboo!Fai in the ending. Because we’ve only seen little Kuro, seeing little Fai made me do a double-take. I now really can’t wait until more manga comes out in hopes of seeing little Fai!
Oh, and I thought at the very end of the ED that it was Yuuko with Mokona and the random cat on her lap. But, now that I look at it, I’m not sure. I don’t understand why they’d throw Tomoyo in there with the four main characters, but I can see why they’d put Yuuko in it. Eh, but I don’t know.
Thanks for your review! It was very optimistic, and I miss that with all the bashing Tsubasa and xxxHolic have gotten lately. Not that they don’t have their problems…but I’m just happing to see my favorites animated.
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