[TRC Arc 2] Episode 14: Black Steel

[Xiao_Lang]

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I can see it now...

Fai: Oh snap and darn, Syaoran. You tore out my eye.

Kurogane: That really wasn't very fair y'know Kid. but, who cares, because now I get to hold Fai for the next 3+ chapters.

Clone!Syaoran: Terribly sorry, but I need this eye in order to continue gathering feathers.

Sakura: *sob* I am quite worried.

Kamui: ...*files nails*

Oh SUPER-DUPER. I just can't wait until they get to animating chapters 119+!! [/sarcasm]

LOL. exactly.

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Maybe we'll see Kamui slash out but the screen goes black so the little kids can't see it. but we adults know whats happened.... >___<
My Japanese teacher said she used to watch loads of violent anime as a kid, even those that were for children got quite violent! why is bee train being such a spoil sport?

¬__¬

[Mina]

I just watched it...  surprisingly, I liked it. I wasn't as disappointed as I thought I would be...

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I started to tear up as the scene of Kuro's mother's death approached and then started to cry when she died  I'm so emotional...

I was actually happy with this episode's animation. It was better compared to others. Kuro's mother sure looked pretty and Kuro's father looked very cool. And the famous Syaoran crying scene... I thought that was done well.  They didn't skip the fact that Fai tried to pull the book first and didn't work but Kuro could pull it.

I was annoyed by the missing beginning... I wish they had added that and divided this episode into two. I think that would have worked out much better.

I wonder if next week's episode will have C!Syaoran showing his real self... I hope they make it as creepy as it was in the manga... I remember being really creeped out by that Syaoran o.O

[Airashii]

...
...
>___>
Frickin'  BEETRAIN.

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Uhm... Okay... Confusion galore! They immediately started with the damn book! And Syaoran wasn't shown once during ANY of the flashbacks! You see him for like... 30 seconds at the end. No indication to how he got the book, or how it works. >__>
The first 8 minutes are filled with flashbacks that, as far as I can remember, were NOT in the manga. Something about Kurogane catching fish, and a seemingly boring conversation between mommy and daddy. On the plus side... Kurogane in a bathtub! Naked! =P
Still, they could've cut a bit (like 5 minutes) of that useless beginning, to do a decent Lecourt intro. >_>

The violence was toned down horribly. I squeed at the blood on Fei Wang's sword, but then I saw that Kurogane's mommy wasn't bleeding at all, and felt my heart sink again.
I squeed at the arm of Kurogane's daddy. Then it fell and shattered into stoney pieces. I felt my heart sink again.
Kurogane was going on a slight murderous rampage, clutching his mommy's body .Okay, fair. Tomoyo binds him to the pillar by using a couple of rings who wrap themselves around Kuro-chan. ... WTF? What happened to Kurogane's scar?! DAMN YOU, BEETRAIN!

The music was good though. Chibi Kurogane made me squeal, and Kuro's daddy is HAWT!

At least the episode wasn't that bad. Hehehehe, I thought that it could be worse. Still, it seems as if BeeTrain is scared of blood. Kuorgane's mother didn't bleed, that's kinda stupid, after all a sword passed through her for god's sake! *sigh* I wonder what will they do with the Tokyo arc?, I mean there is so much blood!

I still haven't watched the episode, it's still on 20%...ARGH!! ButI watched some pics andthe animationlooks great! *squeel*

[Airashii]

I finished already downloading it! Thisepisode was very beautiful, I loved it! The emotions that the characters portrade were very nicely done. I was even crying when Kurogane cried...it was too emotional that scene...I mean he

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loses his whole family in seconds

. 

[Kjesta]

Oh my gawd, I'm already afraid of watching this... But at least it seems that Kuro's dad is as hot as he was in the manga

[Airashii]

Oh my gawd, I'm already afraid of watching this... But at least it seems that Kuro's dad is as hot as he was in the manga

Don't worry it isn't that bad, and the animation is great!

[wetheril]

I just watched this episode, and I agree--very beautiful animation in Kurogane's flashback, and over all, very touching.

However, I did not the fact they didn't show how the group came to Lecourt at all. It just feels like Syaoran randomly picked up an enchanted book, and started to read Kurogane's story in it.

At the end, you feel like the episode was inserted there at random. >__<

[Emiko]

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Kurogane as a kid is the most freaking adorable thing I have ever seen. T_T I think I'm dead from the cuteness.

[Capella]

The animation this episode was definitely on the high end of Tsubasa-animation quality. The way it was set up was weird, though (no idea why it's there until the end). Kurogane's family was so cute! T.T

[Sailor Yue-chan]

wasnt kuro's voice a tad too high for a 15/16 year old? just s amall nit pick :S

[wetheril]

wasnt kuro's voice a tad too high for a 15/16 year old? just s amall nit pick :S

I agree. It's like he had the same voice actress as a little child and as a teenager. I'd like to know how you change from THAT into the voice he has now...

[Sailor Yue-chan]

I agree. It's like he had the same voice actress as a little child and as a teenager. I'd like to know how you change from THAT into the voice he has now...

right. it didnt have to be kuro's current voice, but it SHOULD have atleast been a LITTLE deeper =P

[Airashii]

True, his voice should have sounded a tad bit deeper, but oh well... I liked how he sounded when

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he cried over his mother and fathers death at the end

, very sentimental! 

[Sailor Yue-chan]

pst! incomplete spoiler tag >_o

hey, i recently had a dream where i went to japan to threaten and/or bribe beetrain to NOT screw up when they animate ch 112. which i think they wqill. theyve managaed to destroy every single kuro-fai interaction so far. ch 112 is vital, not only for kuro-fai, but for fai himself! V_V

[Airashii]

True, true...BeeTrain is like the KuroFai destroyer.

pst! incomplete spoiler tag >_o

hey, i recently had a dream where i went to japan to threaten and/or bribe beetrain to NOT screw up when they animate ch 112. which i think they wqill. theyve managaed to destroy every single kuro-fai interaction so far. ch 112 is vital, not only for kuro-fai, but for fai himself! V_V

And thanks for seeing my incomplete spoiler tag! I'll edite it now!

[kuromori]

I liked this episode a lot actually. It's probably the best one that we've seen this season. (though it would seem that it doesn't take much) I don't believe that Bee-train is necessarily bad, sure they make poor choices, but they're also responsible for so many fans joining the fandom.  Speaking for myself, I probably would have never bothered with it until I happened to come across the first season about a year ago, and from there I got into the manga.

The anime must be taken with a grain of salt. It's not going to be perfect, it's not going to please every one, they're just trying to entertain and make some money while they're at it. Also, no one is being forced to watch it, every one views at their own risk. If the anime destroys  the series for you, the answer is simple, just don't watch it.  Anime   is never meant to be an exact replica of a manga. A different media requires a different method of story telling. And while we might not agree with what they do, there isn't a whole that can be done about it. They're going to do what they're going to do, and it's up to us to watch it or not.

I would also like to throw in this little tid bit:

I am currently showing TRC to one of my male friends, who has never seen the manga. He's just as far long as the subs are now, and when he talks about it, it sounds like he's not missing anything in particular. He still managed to get a lot of the things, we manga readers did. Fay's darkness, Kurogane's Gentleness, and so on... He thought the Chii ep wasn't a pairing but a showing of a fatherxdaughter bond...  He also notices the KuroxFayness (which makes me happy! He's such a good boy!)

So while we might be upset about the changes here and there, it doesn't seem to detach from the heart of the story. Anime isn't made just for the manga readers, it is made to bring a story to a broader audience. But the Japanese manga fans are not forgotten about either. In Japan slight changes in an anime adaptation of a manga are generally very well received. Who really wants to watch something that they've already seen?? (I'm not speaking for every case... just in general)

Forgive my boldness in this post, I just kinda felt like it had to be said... I shall go back and hide behind a rock and run away from the bricks. ^_^

[Emiko]

Hyuu! Well said, kuromori-san! Well said!

Though it's no secret that I am not entirely happy with some (most of) Bee Train's decisions, I really don't mind things being changed in theory. The Holic anime people have made a few changes that I enjoyed (the Zashiki Warashi introduction was different, but I really enjoyed it.) In fact, I like fillers in general. It gives us a chance to see something new, and it doesn't take away from the manga. However, I just don't like the way Bee Train handles the story as a whole.

You probably could get most of the essential story and underlying weight from watching the anime alone, but I think it's safe to say that you get much, much more from the manga. The main problem I have with the anime is that it seems to scratch away a lot of the depth that was present in the manga, almost too much. You get the bare minimum with the anime.

Also, the fillers have been rather lacklustre.  There are ways to make fillers that benefit the series as a whole, but Bee Train really hasn't done this (the doodle episode was awesome, though XD).

Your post was interesting, kuromori-san, and I agree with you for the most part. I think I might have enjoyed the anime a bit more had I not read the manga first. Though I don't think I would have liked the trucker episodes, no matter how much of a manga virgin I was.

But, in an attempt to remain OT: <3 Little Kuro-rin was so cute. Kuro-daddy was sexy. The whole Kuro-family makes me want to hug something. :3

[kuromori]

Yeah... the trucker eps were special... *sweatdrop* But I kinda look at this way... aren't filler eps just animated Fanfiction? I'm sure a good portion of us read fanfics, and don't complain nearly as badly as we do  about a filler ep. Just like there are good fanfics and bad fanfics, there are good fillers and bad fillers. (Only Bee-train makes money either way....)

[Sailor Yue-chan]

Yeah... the trucker eps were special... *sweatdrop* But I kinda look at this way... aren't filler eps just animated Fanfiction? I'm sure a good portion of us read fanfics, and don't complain nearly as badly about a filler ep. Just like there are good fanfics and bad fanfics, there are good fillers and bad fillers. (Only Bee-train makes money either way....)

seems like it. i swear thats how they got a fai-chi ep O_o

as for kurofai...TRC isnt just about sakura and syaoran. this isnt "CCS part 2" the interactions with kurogane and fai are very important. heck, i did not become a kurofai fangirl UNTIL i read the manga. you oughta see the complaint i made int the kurofai forum on ff.net. i was so POed that there was little to no non-kurfai fics boy have i changed, thanks to the manga.

the anime makes it seem like kuro REALLY hates fai, like in the outo ep, with the oni fight. i roginilay thogut that kuro loathed fai from that ep. i didnt see the meaning behind his words till i read the manga perhaps he'll have it before waking up to have his little chat with kuro about what he saw.

IG shoulda gotten the anime. they did the movie right? at first i didnt like the movie cuz the animation was diferent from the anime. looking back, only a few desinges need to be fixed...fai and syaoran's eye color for one thing. movie fai looks more like his manga counter part than anime fai does. anime fai has the perfect eye color, but movie fai has the hair

anyways, to the ep, it was really good. i hope that the rest of the arc, and this season are this quality or better. they REALLY need to have syaoran have the nightmare. [spoiler=recent manga]the nightmare is what tricks us into thinkiong that the other syao is evil. ^^;; when in fact he's a good person[/spoiler]

[kuromori]

Hehe maybe it was the Yaoi fangirl deep down inside of me, but I paired those two together almost right away. From watching the anime I never once thought that Kurogane hated Fai... Having been into anime for ten years now I've seen his character several times, and in several different ways. The strong bad *** that doesn't understand true strength... but deep down... he's just as frail as any one else...  And Fai struck me as the boy that pulls on the little girl's pig tails because he doesn't know how else to express the fact that he likes her.

My friend picked up on the KuroxFayness a little bit in the beginning... but then the bar scene in Otou is what did it to him. He actually likes the couple, and finds them interesting and highly entertaining. ( it's so nice having a guy friend that's not like...EWW Gayness!! and he also doesn't get the KuroxTomo pairing.... so much love for that boy)

Yes, Bee-Train takes away a lot of the KuroxFay fuzzy moments.... and I do agree that TRC isn't CCS2... and Bee-Train doesn't make a lot of good choices, but they're doing what they can. It would be nice if IG had gotten it, but they didn't. So we're stuck with what we have. I will continue to watch the anime, but consider it a separate entity from the manga.

And no matter how you look at it... it would seem that it's impossible to correctly animate most CLAMP works... I mean look at X (TV) That was one of the first cases where I choose to stop watching, rather than view.... *shudders*