Mega Megane Moé
Hell and Heaven Moéltdown
A Cardcaptor in the 21st Century: Shugo Chara 25, changing of the guardians
It’s quite ironic that shortly after a lengthy meta-post on how side characters tend to have their characteristics amplified (since they only usually have a single one) to the point that their image eclipses their true merit, I find myself stumbling upon the a similar concept in characters, and that is ending the lifespan of a character early.
Thankfully for our sanity, I mean that only in the chronological sense in Shugo Chara, as a character is removed from the plotline not by force, but by circumstances, but still it circles around to the same point, as suddenly I find myself wishing for a lot more of said character.
It’s probably something about how we always desire more than we have, and since side characters and those who don’t stick around for the full series get less screentime, we wish they had more attention paid to them, and take to flying the banner for them as a way of pseudo-protest. But I’m no psychology major.
What I am is very glad that Shugo Chara is restoring (or keeping, at least) my faith in its cast and in the genre as a whole. I’ve found the magical girl genre to be bar none the best for establishing a mood of warm fuzziness, with a level of sweetness that can stir hearts without rotting teeth.
Shugo Chara has this done pretty well in having more than just a lot of pink and shiny transformations, adding in some great character dynamics and development that really show just why shows like Cardcaptor Sakura can hit it so big in being appealing to viewers both young and old.
To me, Shugo Chara really feels like the Cardcaptor Sakura, like the definitive magical girl show, of this decade, and the most recently released episode, the 25th, only reinforces this belief.
(Pretty major character spoilers, be forewarned.)
I went into this episode not expecting a whole lot. Having been spoiled on the fact that Nadeshiko is a guy from early on, I had been long dreading the big reveal as destroying the refined character that is Nadeshiko.
Traps don’t tend to make very appealing characters and are often played off for comedy – the infamous Mako-cakes from Minami-ke is one example. Having a character whose gender-swapping adds dynamics to the plot is quite rare, and as a result I was quite surprised at Nadeshiko’s excellent form in this episode.
Perhaps this is also due to the fact I was expecting a blunt reveal along the lines of Hamaji’s “Hey look what I have, Takuma!” – a bit of a stretch but essentially what the scene was conveying – but rather, Nadeshiko … or I suppose, I should begin to call her – him – Nagehiko … didn’t really ever come out and out and say it, instead opting for some subtle hints and passing himself off as “Nadeshiko’s twin brother”.
It’s just as smooth as we’ve come to expect from the guardian’s best mediator, who’s always mature and ready to offer a helping hand or some sound advice. (Hilarious yandere Character Change notwithstanding.)
The male side to Nagehiko is really just as classy and doubly entertaining, as shown in this episode, where he coyly flirts with Amu while guiding her confused mind along the right path. In a sense it’s dramatic irony done right, where the audience knows – or at least, should begin to figure out – that Amu’s the only one locked out of the loop here.
This allows for Nagehiko to play the role of the friendly outsider and start the relationship from ’scratch’, and the dynamics of how Amu interacts with Nagehiko in his male and female forms look to be quite interesting to watch.
Sensibly, when it’s Nadeshiko, things like holding hands and having heart-to-heart discussions are natural and a sign of friendship, and Amu is likely quite more receptive to feedback when it comes from a friend instead of a love rival. But Nagehiko gets to be more flirty as the same actions have a romantic overtone when it’s between a guy and a girl, which flusters Amu’s already conflicted heart.
It’s a great contrast to see just how the gender relations change things, even when one side of the equation – Nadeshiko and her mature demeanor – remains constant.
Doubly so when you try to consider how Nagehiko is approaching Amu as well; is she a friend either way? Has he, as a guy and a girl, always been approaching Amu as a love interest? Or does it depend on his persona? It’s just as much a mystery as to Amu’s feelings themself, and I only wish Nagehiko was around more so that we could find out.
The way I talk about Nagehiko the more and more he sounds like a Tomoyo parallel as well; the classy demeanor, the helping hand always available, the ability to know just a bit more than everyone else in the situation. It’s well known that Tomoyo subtly pined for Sakura in the romantic sense; could Nagehiko repeat the same story, except with a more legitimate shot at being truly considered? (Because, in the end, you tend to see more canon heterosexual pairings.)
No doubt it would probably end the same way, with Nagehiko backing off to clear the path for Tadase, Ikuto, or possibly both (Amu is just throwing Kukai in her daydreams for completion’s sake) to claim Amu’s heart.
All I can hope for is this scenario before the show ends; Nagehiko will hopefully be back with time to spare before the end of the series, and if she can keep up this character balancing act, she might be just as intricate, entertaining, and personal a character as Amu has proved to be over the course of Shugo Chara.
Although, if I were Amu and had the choice right now, even Ikuto pales to the appeals of Nagehiko.
I’ve always thought that traps could never be taken seriously, could never be as full and developed a character as those with less to hide (as the whole reasoning behind gender-swapping tends not to be horribly expounded on), but once again a bias has been smashed.
Nagehiko proves that traps can be done in a enjoyable yet touching manner, and Shugo Chara proves that a good shoujo show can make any character archetype (as diverse as shoujo shows tend to be) into a well-rounded, empathetic personality.
As Shugo Chara turns over into its second half, I look forward to seeing this trend of blending the blacks and whites of a personality, seen clearly in Nikaidou and hinted at for Ikuto, to continue with the many other characters of the show, as nothing is more entertaining and more real than a story with no true villains and no true heroes, just a bunch of people with real conflicts and real personalities.
-CCY
(I’ve got a MyAnimeList now to document my relatively pitiful amount of anime viewing. Oooh, ahhh. I’ve started a little mini-blog over there as well – Mini Megane Moe – for brief episode commentary, a la the dead Track Two feature. You can access it on the right-hand bar.)
April 23, 2008 - 5:42 pm
Dunno, for me you’re giving Shugo Chara too much credit by naming it to be the next Cardcaptor Sakura in terms of popular appeal. I’d personally compare it to Full Moon wo Sagashite, as a somewhat darker take on the mahou shoujo genre. Unfortunately for the two shows, characters become too complex in that the younger audience would get shafted later on.
Cardcaptor Sakura provided a perfect balance of typical mahou shoujo goodness with the character dynamics popular in CLAMP series, they just got it right so as to not alienate kids too much. Shugo Chara is still a great show, for us, but for Japanese youngsters, I think they’re more inclined to tune in to Pretty Cure instead.
April 23, 2008 - 6:49 pm
Nagihiko will never be at par with Ikuto, coz badass naughty guys with a mysterious past shall prevail in the end! :P
That said, I really have to catch up with the Shugo Chara anime x_x
April 23, 2008 - 7:11 pm
oh, and Happy Anniversary CCYoshi! =D
April 26, 2008 - 10:34 pm
I don’t know about bluemist but according to tj, for a show that started airing last year (as opposed to Pretty Cure’s debut in 2004), it’s doing pretty well in terms of ratings. What’s with giving CCS so much credit, anyway? It’s nothing particularly special, considering that CLAMP threw in ridiculous amounts of (implied) fanservice that I doubt would work all that well today.
Or maybe lolicon and its ilk weren’t all that common then, but I have no proof of this, so yeah.
April 26, 2008 - 10:51 pm
To me, Shugo Chara will never be even half as good as CCS. Everything from the formula to character design to character depth are all sub-par in comparison to CCS. But you’re right – it does somewhat revive the mahou shoujo genre to some degree.
April 28, 2008 - 3:09 pm
@usagijen: I heard Ikuto was a lot cooler in the manga (people like Hinano have said he’s way more emo compared to manga Ikuto … I can’t tell, personally), is that true? He’s a good and flirty character now and great fun to watch but as he is now I would prefer to be all innocent and ‘pure rabu-rabu’ and support someone like Nagehiko, who is equally crafty, more wise, and less harassing.
@Everyone else (since it’s one giant “CCS is better!” “No it isn’t!” discussion): Let me preface this by saying SC! and CCS are really my two main magical girl experiences, NanaDrops is the only other thing in between, so I don’t have much of a landmark with which to use as a middle ground.
CCS is a curious show, mainly because I think it’s impossible to judge objectively. It’s one of those ‘gateway anime’, the first anime for a lot of people, and so that will taint a lot of people’s views on it (mine included). Undoubtedly it’s an anime that is Quite Good but the question is whether it really is a legend or just an inflated image as a result of the rose-colored memories?
(Additionally, for me it was back in sixth grade, before I knew what pedophilia was.)
Shugo Chara feels like it can match Cardcaptor Sakura in terms of depth and character development on a good level, shown in the fleshing-out of the guardians (Amu needs no explanation; Nagehiko’s top-notch, personally; Kukai is a cool-headed character with a good head on his feet; Yaya and Tadase are the weak links) and of the villains (Ikuto and Utau both have questionable loyalties; we’ve seen Nikaidou change as well).
The ending episodes of Shugo Chara are probably what will decide it; Cardcaptor Sakura did a great job at having no Big Evil, instead a bunch of characters with motives that seemed malicious but were actually constructive in purpose. Everyone was a respectable character, and it’s no doubt that we got to see them grow over the course of the show. Whether Shugo Chara can accomplish that will be the critical point for me.
I think the two of them are in relatively the same ‘feel-good’ genre, unlike what bluemist suggests; there are some more mature themes with characters like Ikuto, but in the end it’s still all about the characters feeling confident in themselves and happy in general. That’s the main reason why I likened Shugo Chara to CCS; even if it doesn’t top it (which is a tough bar, personally), matching it will be more than a treat.
Sorry for being so wordy; it was an interesting topic, and perhaps I’ll expand it to a post later on in the show’s run.
April 29, 2008 - 11:58 pm
Yup, CCS and Shugo Chara is a generation apart so we can’t exactly compare each because their circumstances are different. As both you and Owen suggested, ‘maybe’ CCS was before ‘lolicon’ became a household name in anime, before eroge and before bishoujo-posing-as-mahou-shoujo animes. Mainstream anime markets and otaku markets may have changed since then. Even my personal outlook may have changed. Maybe looking back now CCS may not be the revolutionary show that I had thought of it as before (it is one of my very first anime shows watched), if I count my fandom angle out of it.
Beyond that though, I would agree that Shugo Chara embodies the same character development and themes that made Cardcaptor Sakura great. I was just pointing out about mainstream popularity, in which maybe this kind of formula won’t appeal to today’s ‘kids’.