It was this or a gag about how Sakura scrambling to get a whole summer's worth of homework done in one day is a lot like how I get most of my cartooning done... except Sakura has other people doing most of the work for her, and it ultimately ends up getting done. So, really, it's not an apt comparison.
Ultimately, though, I went with this idea just because I wanted to draw that first panel. Despite what this comic might suggest, I'm actually really excited that Meiling's in ...
2021-07-22 18:45:51 +0000 UTC
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See? SEE? Didn't I tell you I'd be doing more of these once the Jenna comics were put on pause?
I started to rejoice over how much less time it takes to ink up one of these already-penciled pages than one of those Jenna pages that has to be drawn up from scratch... but then I looked at that tandem bike again and realized I have nothing to be happy about here. Today I learned that bicycles were specially designed by God to be EVERYTHING I have trouble drawing all rolled...
2021-07-16 11:58:23 +0000 UTC
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Anybody who can remember as far back as last December will recall that I put out not one, but TWO blogs on my 25 Most Listened To songs on iTunes. Aside from the established fact that I’ll happily latch onto ANY excuse to talk about Christmas stuff, those blogs happened because I had just swapped computers. Since the iTunes stats from the old computer wouldn’t carry over to the new one, I wrote down the old Top 25 so that I could compare it to whatever the new Top 25 would be once the mon...
2021-07-16 09:34:42 +0000 UTC
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Conventional Wisdom is coming back! I mean, it’s never technically gone away, I’m posting a new comic the same day as this blog. What I mean is, Conventional Wisdom is GOING back to cons again! Remember all those times I said I wasn’t even gonna try to make it to any conventions before next year? Yeah, it turns out that was a big lie. I’ll be heading down to Charlotte August 20th-22nd for Queen City Anime Con! Real Life Con Comics are BACK!
Funny story: I was actually starting t...
2021-07-15 06:02:48 +0000 UTC
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So, I’m sitting there, watching episode 18 and... Look, I know Kyubey isn't a rabbit and lacks a nose and doesn't wear clothes... but those eyes... THOSE EYES...
Also, this wasn't comic-worthy itself, but the weirdly colored "tea" seen in this episode sent my brain in weird directions.
Also, fun fact: I accidentally posted this over on deviantArt for a good half an hour bef...
2021-07-14 09:19:36 +0000 UTC
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THE BEEFCAKE APPEARS!!
...or what's even more astonishing, A NEW COMIC APPEARS! Yeah, I have obviously stumbled once again into the terrifying hell-realm that is Schedule Slippage, but there IS hope! ...sort of! See, remember back when I said the Jenna comics and the MadLib comics would be on a rotating schedule until Jenna's comics reached a natural cliffhanger? Well, HERE IT IS! As of right now, Jenna & the Fanclub from Planet Heart Throb is on hiatus again...
2021-07-08 01:48:32 +0000 UTC
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Get it? Because Yamazaki tells lies all the time. This is biting social satire, here.
...yeah, I know. Look, it was this, or snarking about the creepiness of doing a beach episode in a show full of ten-year-olds, and I really am trying to not have EVERY comic be caling CLAMP a bunch of pervs over and over.
Also, I almost put "and support me over on Patreon" to the list... but then I remembered that people on Patreon are THE ONLY GOOD AND TRUSTWORTHY PEOPLE ON THE...
2021-07-07 20:27:05 +0000 UTC
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...AND IT REALLY IS A VERY SWEET EPISODE, TOO! As always, CLAMP bends over backwards to carefully construct a situation where, IN THIS SPECIFIC CASE, everything works out fine and it's all safe and nothing is remotely questionable. It's just the seeming obliviousness to the notion of a world existing OUTSIDE of this warm, fuzzy bubble that concerns me. Seriously, I always hated those PSA messages they stuck on the end of kids shows back in the day, but the more I revisit thi...
2021-07-02 03:11:17 +0000 UTC
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Anyone who’s spent a decent amount of time down the MST3k rabbit hole knows how important music is to the experience. Sure, clever one-liners and recyclable memes and, ya know, the movies themselves rank much higher in priority, but the body of recognizable songs the franchise as accumulated over the years is pretty important as well. And just to be clear, I’m not talking about the original compositions written by the MST3k crew to sing during skits. Not to diminish the importance of gems...
2021-06-29 19:59:26 +0000 UTC
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GO!GO!7188 were one of the very first Japanese bands of whom I ever became an active fan, and while I’m not one hundred percent certain, I THINK “Aa Seishun” is the first song of theirs I ever heard. Whether it was at a convention panel or the result of blindly fumbling across YouTube, I couldn’t tell ya, but it’s their song that I have the most nostalgic feels for. The timing’s certainly right for it to make a massive impact on me. My first deep dive into contemporary Japanese Ro...
2021-06-28 18:11:41 +0000 UTC
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Look, if I'm gonna feel old, then dang it, I'm dragging as many of you with me as I can!
Also, look! Those Kids made it onto a page! I think that's a Weekly Anime Comics first, right?
2021-06-24 18:05:53 +0000 UTC
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So, last time we looked at the hastily-assembled soundtrack for Madam Ventricle, and if she’s gonna pop up, Kiki’s sure to be right behind. Again, these two characters REALLY deserve to show up in Far Out There more often, and I really wish I could mind more opportunities to flesh the pair out more. As I said last time, it’s easy to look at the “grumpy short girl, happy tall girl” dynamic and think it’s just the Layla/Tabitha act all over again. While I like to THINK I’ve got en...
2021-06-21 08:36:57 +0000 UTC
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Yeah, yeah, I know. Wailing on tumblr probably the lowest-hanging fruit I've gone after yet... but the alternative is me picking on all the inappropriate Yukito-related shipping in this episode, and I'm REALLY trying to quit repeating myself so much.
...although, speaking of Yukito, what's up with that "can of mackerel" gag? Is that just supposed to be a pun that didn't survive the translation process? I legit don't know.
2021-06-17 16:45:47 +0000 UTC
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Whooooaaaa, Tabitha and her Dad have fallen into a '60s Pop Art painting!
2021-06-15 23:45:00 +0000 UTC
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IF I CAN'T UNSEE IT, I'M GONNA MAKE SURE YOU CAN'T UNSEE IT EITHER!
And again, I know everything CCS eventually explains about Yukito. This obviously isn't what CLAMP had in mind... but maaaaaaaaaan you don't have to change much to make it look super creepy. And at some point, SOMEBODY really should have stopped and asked what all this was going to look like to viewers who hadn't already agreed to not ask questions just go along with whatever CLAMP did.
...and if you s...
2021-06-10 23:10:09 +0000 UTC
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Uh oh, we're starting to slip a bit, aren't we? Sorry about that. Also, it's only just now dawned on me that mean ol' Mr. Jixit had pointy ears when I first drew him all the way back in page 21, but I've been drawing him with round ears ever since the comic started back up. Uh, whoops?
2021-06-09 10:46:45 +0000 UTC
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YAY! I finally managed to make a comic that's not just complaining about how creepy CLAMP can be! ...although if you know anything about the backstory of Indiana Jones, you know I totally COULD draw comparisons between Indy/Marion and Fujitaka/Nadeshiko.
But seriously, does the anime ever actually give us any real details on how Sakura's Dad wound up with this fantastically powerful book of spell cards in his basement? I mean, I know the manga drops some pretty big details about h...
2021-06-03 17:14:02 +0000 UTC
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GIVE ME SOMETHING ELSE TO TALK ABOUT, CCS! I mean, at least this time I was able to make it specifically about a character doing something in-universe instead of another jab at CLAMP themselves. Still, I'm ready to point and laugh at something else, please!
...wait, what am I even complaining about? Remember back when I could watch a whole twelve episode series and only barely manage to get three comics out of it? I should be glad that a show is giving me anythin...
2021-05-27 17:38:19 +0000 UTC
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Okay, I’m gonna go and change plans on myself here. Back when I put these Character Soundtracks on hold so I could focus on website/comic work, my ORIGINAL intention was to bring them back with a focus on the new Nitpickers introduced over Christmas. Yes, there was Blip’s thing as a kinda sorta April Fools joke, but as a general trend I was going to use these blogs to big up the new folks instead of the old cast. After all, just in case you missed me saying it a HUNDRED times before, I ac...
2021-05-24 12:06:06 +0000 UTC
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THE WEEK'S NOT OVER YET! I TECHNICALLY HAVEN'T MISSED A WEEK ON THIS SERIES YET! THE STREAK LIVES ON!
...and yeah, I know. ANOTHER comic about this stuff. Look, I'll stop calling the show out when it stops giving me stuff TO call it out on. But yeah, episode 10 is where we first meet Tomoyo's Mom AND learn the incredibly questionable nature of Sakura's parents' marriage, and come on, I can't just let that stuff slide without SOME kind of acknowledgement. &n...
2021-05-22 12:22:13 +0000 UTC
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Okay, it’s taken me waaaaay longer that it should have for me to realize, if I’m gonna charge money for these music blogs, I probably shouldn’t go giving away what the songs are in the blog title that everyone can see for free. I don’t see a way to get Patreon to embed a video into the body of the blog, so I still gotta put the video up top, but hopefully I can avoid giving the song away before you paying customers get to read the thing. Whoops.
“Do You B...
2021-05-14 05:50:46 +0000 UTC
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This is absolutely how science works.
2021-05-13 22:24:57 +0000 UTC
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Well, to be honest, the BIGGER problem here is me trying to draw that lanky, willowy, intricate shoujo art from Utena. I have a hard enough time just trying to get the regular SAKURA art right.
2021-05-12 22:15:55 +0000 UTC
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Oh yeah, we're going there. What, you though just because I haven't brought up the weirdness between Sakura and Yukito yet (emphasis: "YET") that meant that meant I wasn't gonna get into this? Oh no, we're going there. This is happening.
Just for the record, though, I'm not such a stick in the mud that I require absolutely all media I consume to reflect my own morally and ethical convictions. If I did, I'd be living under a rock in a cave on the moon. Also,...
2021-05-05 22:13:58 +0000 UTC
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I actually have no idea what burned parsnips would smell like.
2021-05-02 20:55:37 +0000 UTC
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Wow, I made it THIS many pages in to a series about an anime that was dubbed by a major company before complaining about edits? What kind of otaku do I think I am? That's supposed to the the FIRST thing we whinge about! But yeah, if you've only seen the version of CCS that's on Crunchyroll now, you have no idea how badly the Kids WB airing of "Cardcaptors" wanted to downplay Sakura as the main character. I mean, just look at the title!
Also, I'm glad in retrospec...
2021-04-28 11:02:44 +0000 UTC
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Waaaay back when I first started doing Patreon blogs, I penned a fairly long account of how I got into anime in the first place. One of the running themes of that blog was how I actually missed out on a lot of the formative hallmarks of most North American anime fans of my generation. Probably the biggest repeat offender was Toonami. A whole wave of 90s Kid otaku tell tales of how Toonami was their daily anime education, but I grew up with the one cable provider in all of North Georgia that D...
2021-04-22 06:58:43 +0000 UTC
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Wait, something presented as sweet and innocent but seems really uncomfortable in retrospect? That's so unlike CCS! But seriously, there's plenty of anime that could have triggered a reverse Homestuck reference, but Card Captor Sakura was probably the one I least expected.
And yes, for those of you keeping track, I am skipping episodes again. This is from episode 7, because even MY snarkiness failed to come up with a usable joke about Sakura's dead Mom. And Lord ...
2021-04-21 07:45:04 +0000 UTC
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Slowly but surely, the new Madlib series inches forward (and here's a quick link back to page one, in case you're understandably fuzzy on what happened last time) Don't worry, this'll go much faster once the Jenna comics make it to their natural cliffhanger.
Oh, and if this isn't enough of a Tabitha fix for you, I've also FINALLY restarted that Voting Incentive series on Top WebComics, so you can always...
2021-04-17 22:12:46 +0000 UTC
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...but seriously, some of you people have NO idea how little us content creators actually know about ANYTHING we use as part of this thing we laughably call a "job."
Also, I'm surprised we've made it more than a month into this before I actually skipped over an episode without doing a comic. Heck, I technically got TWO pages out of episode one. There's hope yet that we'll get through this in less than a year!
But speaking of the episode I skipped, I DID want to point o...
2021-04-16 23:01:14 +0000 UTC
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