Finished watching Sailor Moon

Finished watching Sailor Moon (1992, Toei Animation, 46 epi) on 6/12/2018.

   Tsukino Usagi is your average middle school girl. Or she would be if she wasn't late to school so much and her grades a little better. Not only that but now her life is even further from being average after meeting a talking, black cat named Luna who grants Usagi powers that turn her into Sailor Moon, a magical warrior of love. And with these powers she must fight the evil monsters of the Dark Kingdom, as she gathers together the remaining Sailor Soldiers to help her find the fabled Moon Princess!

   Sailor Moon has been a crazy ride of ups and downs for me. I've started reading the manga last year and I found it to be abysmal... but I'll leave that for the manga review. The anime however... blew my mind. It was so much better, I dare use the word superior even. And the funny thing is, I feel like it's only half based on the manga as most of the episodes stories didn't happen in the manga, and even the events that do take place tend to be very different. So a lot of it ends up being original stories that just happen to follow the base plot of the manga. Usually I'd scoff at that amount of filler content but this ended up working beautifully for something based on an original work where the only good thing it had for it was its basic concept. So the animated series ends up being what the manga should've been from the start. Heck, even the main character, who I despised the most in the manga, was pretty entertaining in the show. But that's why all the filler content is good. Because in this case it's used to flesh out characters and develop them in ways that the manga lacked.
   Okay, enough about the manga though. I want to talk about the background art and the music. As they are both amazing! I don't know whose idea was to create such magical backgrounds with colorful gradients and tones, but I'm in love with the style. And then there's the music. It was the 90's so it certainly has that city pop hint on some of the tracks, but I also think everything was recorded organically, or at least it sounds like it might've been. Not sure what the sampling technology was like back then. For anime productions, at least. The tracks used really convey the emotions they were intended for, and these range quite widely with a great variety in instruments.

8/10 - It's a really great show overall, and now I understand where the legacy of the franchise comes from, but for the time it was released storytelling techniques in anime were still developing and so there are some hiccups here and there.

Finished reading Cardcaptor Sakura

Finished reading Cardcaptor Sakura (1996, Clamp, 50 chapters) on 04/21/2017.

Kinomoto Sakura is an elementary-school student by day and magical card-collecting girl by... well, whenever magical trouble arises. When Sakura opened a dusty, ornamented book she found in her basement, magical Clow cards flew out into the world and began causing chaos and mischief. Guided by the book's guardian, Cerberus (or Kero for short) and a magical wand he bestowed upon her, Sakura vows to return all the Clow Cards back to their book before they cause too much trouble.

7/10 - Uhm... gee. Where do I even start. Alright, look, here's the deal. I watched the show before reading the manga. If you're familiar with both iterations of the franchise then you might know how I might be feeling about the manga. So, what are my thoughts? Well, a little confused. Y'see, even though the anime is the adaptation of the original work, the manga to me felt like I read a rushed adaptation of the anime. The two seem to have some, well, I wouldn't call them major differences, but they're pretty different for sure. I have to say though, I'm glad the anime decided to change a couple of things, specially toning down on - and brace yourself for this one -  the pedophiliac themes that the manga made somewhat blunt. Yeah, that's right! I really was not expecting that out of CLAMP, a group of female mangaka. Why did they do it? Why did their publisher approve it? Obviously they knew that stuff wasn't gonna fly when they adapted the manga into the show. Well, anyways, I don't wanna drag that subject longer than it needs because aside from it, it's a pretty good manga and just like in the show I just loved the whole thing between Sakura and Shyaoran. I feel like that was what kept me reading more than the magical aspect of the story. But, anyways, I think what I got out of the manga is that the anime adaptation has differences that really improved the story, added to the characters and... well, took away the unnecessary stuff. It just really makes me wonder how I would've felt if I had read the manga first.

Finished watching Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira

Finished watching Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira (2011, Studio Deen, 4 OVAs) on 01/16/2015.

With the Hinamizawa murder mysteries long gone and out of the way, the show has no other option but to resort to the legendary powers of fan service for the series 10th anniversary! Watch as your favorite Hinamizawa heroes don themselves in controversial magical attire to fight evil syndicates or just for the sole purpose of serving your questionable moe entertainment needs!

8/10 - Hahahah! This show was a f**king ride from start to finish! A friend of mine warned me about some sort of weird concept called "jail bait" if I were to watch this show. But I've no idea what she was talking about, honestly, this show was unbelievable! I recommend it! Now excuse me, some angry men at violently knocking on my door shouting my name for some reason.

Finished watching Cardcaptor Sakura

Finished rewatching Cardcaptor Sakura for the second time (1998 – 2000, Madhouse, 70 epi., 2 movies) on 12/18/2015.

Elementary-school student, Kinomoto Sakura comes across a magical book in her basement. After opening it she accidentally releases the magical Clow Cards inside and Keroberos, their guardian from slumber. With Kero-chan's help and a magical staff he bestows upon her, it is now her task to retrieve all the cards back into the book. But it's not an easy task as the cards take their sprite form and use their powers to keep Sakura from overcoming them.

8/10 – I had already watched this wonderful series a few years ago but had forgotten how great it is and why I was always so psyched for Sakura and Syaoran #otp. The movies were great as well with incredible quality and animation. All the characters are wonderfull, even the bad guys. Also, gotta love Tomoyo-chan. I believe she could be a Batgirl if she wanted to. The soundtrack is quite memorable as well.