Lessons in Alternative Lterature-by CCS on Influence

Muahahaha...yes my friends, it's the almighty 5337 CARD CAPTOR SAKURA! I've decided to finally let loose, go stark raving bonkers and adorn this blog with what could probably not be a more incongruous backdrop. I mean, you'd probably expect someone with such a blog to StArT TyPiNg LyK DiS. BuT I DoWaN bCoS dEn SOOOOOOO HaRd to ReaD, So I SToP LIAOZZZZ, k3K3???

Because lets face it-Card Captor Sakura was targeted at girls probably no older than 13 who are gullible enough to lap it all up and adorn their blogs with similar skins and go DIE SAKURA SYAORAN IS MINEzzZ (or perhaps Yukito, Lyn? =P)!!! So sue me for having pursued this series with undying passion for the past 2 years or more, and unabashedly proclaiming that it has played a major role in the nurturing my passion for not just anime but also Science, all forms of Literature, Music and more. Seriously crazy the amount of influence one single anime could have on a person's life. They obviously weren't joking in GP lessons about the power of the mass media.

Though it's ironic my tendency to overanalyze CCS led to my gradual depreciation of the original anime. In all honesty, on a scale of 10 I think it deserves no more than 7.5. Cheap marketing techs like coincidental Christmas birthdays and annoyingly overused clichés make the show lose its value if you rip it down to such intricate details as I have. Though its drawings were nice and most of its songs mind-blowing, the storyline was just cheap. Perhaps what keeps my interest is the toying with ideas on that fanfic I'm working on. CCS seems to have had this certain allure that grabs me. I have not been able to identify it and at any rate it still seems very much there.

But perhaps unbeknownst to the 12 year olds who've sworn their hearts to all them Bishounens might be CCS's darker side. According to Wilkipedia , due in part to its animation, CCS also has a wide fanbase in the internet, particularly in the Yaoi, Yuri (gay and lesbian) and Lolicon (sexual/erotic representations of underage girls) fandom. A link to the definition for Lolicon is also given there, accompanied by a picture that is thankfully enough not too explicit.

I'm not surprised of the existence of CCS Yaoi and Yuri. I'd known about how many like to think that Tomoyo likes Sakura and how Touya likes Yukito in such a sense. I was first introduced to the idea when I saw it on the message board http://www.sakuramb.com/. It shocked me outta my skin when I saw it and what followed was an animated debate with me opposing both notions, and almost everyone who came opposing me. I doubt I convinced anyone in the end but they in turn failed in convincing me. The end result was a sorta compromise that everyone was entitled to their own opinion before some technical fault happened to the board and it temporarily shut down.

http://www.sakuramb.com/ is up again. CCS, however, has been reduced to a little corner and is rarely talked about. Some of its regulars are people who would openly give the thumbs up for porn, and self-proclaimed homophobes are immediately subjected to a torrent of insults about being prejudiced. I can live with homosexuality but porn!? NO WAY. I gave a post slamming it (see here).The dude who rebutted me seemed to take it as a personal attack, which it seriously wasn't. However, since to date I got the last word, I suppose that means they'd accepted my view for now.

And even the people who watch porn are against sexual abuse of children, I'd probably be even more so. So my knee-jerk reaction to CCS being attributed to Lolicon sectors of fandom was understandably "How DARE you defame CCS like that!!!" I shouldn't have been surprised either however. My apologies Sakura, I'm gonna ditch political correctness from now on. Look at how long their skirts are. Even Tomoyo's costume designs reveal surprising amounts of leg. Though the boys are properly dressed, the girls' costumes aren't likely to have been an accident. Tomoyo I had more faith in you, you know! LOL, of course how she thinks is controlled by CLAMP, but tell me-is this a causative agent of a Japanese society that is often associated with Hentai and short skirts or is it a by-product of it? In other words, which came first-the chicken or the egg?

Short skirts notwithstanding, CCS is the picture of innocence. There aren't any bad guys or displays of evil. Even the antagonists (who aren't "bad" here) perform their deeds with motives often related to virtues such as love and duty. And in the end, everyone lives happily ever after. Not all anime may be as feel-good as CCS, but I think many of them-or at least many of CLAMP's are drawn in similar ways-IE with similar clothing. And Clamp's popularity is by no means small. It's the classic influence by mass media scenario-people see extreme violence, people try it out for themselves. Except this time, the violence is replaced by skimpy clothing and its something hidden beneath layer upon layer of wooly feel-good themes that does not make it very easily detectable.

The beauty of anime is its ability to hide a million and one complex themes, both good and bad, within the innocent facade of animation. The average Hollywood cartoon is straightforwardly simple-it's either 101% kiddy like Toy Story or slightly more- like Batman or Spider Man cartoons, which have a bit more violence, but neither of which appeared as a cartoon on the silver screen. Thus kids, perhaps even ill-informed parents as well, have in their mind that cartoons are good and suitable. It's this mindset that's likely to make them accept everything they see in innocent anime/cartoons and if normal films can exert such influences what more cartoons? So young Japanese girls start wearing short skirts and come to forums and people start telling them that porn is OK and that homophobes are idiots. Not all forums are like Sakura MB and exert age restrictions on unsuitable content. Like those will work that well-but at least they try. But in any case, it's up to you to imagine what happens when they don't.

It was just one innocent-looking anime, but while it brought out the best in me, it could also have brought out the worst in others. Just fascinating that a single show could hold so much. Alternative Literature-perhaps that's what keeps me coming back to CCS in hopes for more. I think I've totally drained this anime of its literary juices though. Try giving me one of those CCS quizzes and tell me to assume the persona of Sakura/Tomoyo/Eriol etc. I can assure you that I can do it with my eyes shut and get the exact same response you requested for. LOL...it doesn't seem that CCS upped their linguistic skills much. I think in terms of the general CCS fan base, the area that CCS helped them in is IT. Many CCS/anime fans make absolutely breathtaking web layouts. Obviously not me though. =X

Anyway, cheers all-to the anime that started it all, and a very happy 2005 for everyone in advance!!!