omg yes cardcaptor sakura is one of my fav works of all time but it was srsly weird at times. ppl say that clamp writes w no concept of sex existing in their universe so its not technically pedophilia but that lwk sounds like bs, imo its still weird. ESPECIALLY the romance w sakura's grown ass teacher and her 10 year old classmate. i had no clue that existed until years later because i watched the nelvana dub and they thankfully removed that bit. but abt the other ships, even 10 year old me knew ts was wrong like wdym toya and his teacher were together and sakuras own fucking parents were student-teacher???
and honestly it got away for it for so long because this was considered normal in the genre. if u look at nearly any other old shoujo i guarantee there was weird shit like this. gakuen alice had it, so did fruits basket if i remember correctly.
Yess fruits basket too! I dont remember galuen alive having it cos i remember it as this fever dream im not sure if i finished it or dreamed the rest, but i digress. And the cardcaptor anime was surprisingly tamer regarding sakura’s classmate and their grown ass teacher. Cos im today years old to know that they were very confirmed in the manga. Like wdym a grown ass man nearing thirties would give a 10 yo an “engagement ring” and wishing it to be a wedding ring in the future. Like sir?! R u well? Also that is bs having no concept of “sex/ sexual desires” to justify cos how the hell did sakura and toya emerged? By card magic?
But gotta say they did well masking these criminal themes with shoujo innocence. They they were convincing in making if seem like just an innocent romance. The only questionable relationship acceptable was eriols (sakura’s classmate) and toya’s ex cos eriol is an adult who stopped ageing. Still love it tho. Cos it shipped the first lowkey mainstream bl ship
Rewatching Cardcaptor Sakura cos its on Nflix and i miss the first bl ship that freaking sailed #Yukitoya. As an adult its such a nostalgia and blast from the past feeling rewatching my childhood fantasy of being a magical girl, to see one of my first crushes Yue, and realized how problematic the early 2000s were with their themes cos wdym we have not just 1, but 3 cases of big age gap minor relationships?? Im talking as young as 12 years old to oldest being 16 in relationships with young adults and adult (21-29). doesnt excuse that the minor ones initiated or had feelings first or that the relationship was cutesy and innocent(?). No hate to the adults cos they honestly good ppl in the anime and it seems they live in a world where these kind of relationships is acceptable(?) or common. They were so nonchalant about it 10 year old me thinks it made sense. But now wow, how did this get away for so long. Gotta be cos of those cards and wands and Yue