How Do The Magical Wands In Sugar Sugar Rune Work?

The magical world and the magic system in the Sugar Sugar Rune anime and manga series by Moyoco Anno is really quite interesting and fascinating. So it's really too bad that this part of the series wasn't fleshed out more. What's wrong, you ask?

For starters, let's focus on the magical wands that some of the characters of Sugar Sugar Rune have.

These items look flashy and cool, nothing at all like how the wands in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling looks like (not that there's anything wrong with the appearance of either of these wands).

The problem is with the inconsistencies regarding the Sugar Sugar Rune wands. For instance, how come not everyone uses them? So far, we've only seen Queen Candy, Chocolat Meilleure / Kato and Vanilla Mieux / Ice with wands.

What about all the other magical people like Rockin' Robin? How come they don't have wands? So, what, is everyone else an expert in wandless magic or something?

I mean, in the Harry Potter series, all the witches and wizards get a wand, but a few of them know how to cast silent spells and even spells without the use of wands. They still have wands though, so it's consistent. But what about in Sugar Sugar Rune? How does this magic stuff work in this series?

I talk more about this issue in this post here on Soyuz Mir. I'd have moved this one here on Anime Archives (Anime Meta) too, but it's already got some comments and notes on Tumblr, so I decided to keep it there indefinitely. I'm mentioning it here for reference as the rest of the anime posts on there will eventually be moved here.

*Notes:
- Pic is from Amazon.com; link shown above

Platinum Cardcaptor Sakura Song Quote Analysis

“There is nothing that I can’t overcome if I only believe.”
- Platinum (song from Card Captor Sakura)

Platinum or Purachina is the third opening theme song from the Cardcaptor Sakura anime and manga series by CLAMP. It was sung by Sakamoto Maaya.

CCS is a fantasy story about a girl named Sakura Kinomoto who is tasked to find and seal magical items known as the Clow Cards before they cause chaos and wreak havoc in her neighborhood.

Platinum is a feel-good song with inspirational lyrics as you can see from the quote above. The quote encourages us to keep on hoping and believing and to never give up no matter how tough everything seems.

It urges us to keep on moving forward even if there are obstacles in our way because we can do anything and overcome everything if we just keep on believing in ourselves.

Sounds nice, right? Of course, saying the phrase is much easier than actually doing it and that’s probably why Platinum repeats this quote twice - so we won’t forget.

So, what do you think about this quote and the song from Card Captor Sakura? Like it or not?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki based on the image by Lel4nd (CC:BY) from flickr
- Pic is meant to symbolize the featured quote from the Platinum / Purachina song
- Card Captor Sakura pic is from Amazon.com; link shown above

Thoughts On The Hearts System In Sugar Sugar Rune

(*Warning for possible spoilers for episode 1 of Sugar Sugar Rune)

Episode 1 of the Sugar Sugar Rune anime series by Moyoco Anno introduces us to the concept of heart crystals. Those with magical abilities are able to turn the feelings of people, their hearts, into crystals. These crystal hearts are then collected. But why and what for?

What do they need these hearts for? If this was just for the queen selection contest between Chocolat Meilleure / Kato and Vanilla Mieux / Ice, then it can easily be seen as a way to determine the winner of said contest (whoever collects the most hearts will become queen of the Magical World).

But even Robin collects these hearts. Why is that?

Chocolat says that hearts are hard to come by in their world, but why is that?

Robin regularly collects lots of hearts (like from his concert), so what does he do with all those hearts then? Why does he need them? What will he use them for?

Then there’s also how Chocolat and the others take the hearts of people, but nothing bad happens to these people.

They don’t die or get sick or anything like that. And it seems to be implied that their hearts can be taken all over again, so what’s up with that?

And why was the explanation on the meanings of the heart colors incomplete? So far, we’ve only gotten the meanings for yellow, red and pink. What about purple and orange hearts?

*Notes:
- Sugar Sugar Rune pic is from Amazon.com; link shown above

Pray Hunter x Hunter Song Quote Analysis

“As this pain rips me to shreds, I live in the real world by my strength alone.”
- Pray (song from Hunter x Hunter Greed Island OVA)

Pray is the first opening theme song of the Hunter x Hunter Greed Island OVA anime. It was sung by Wish.

The Greed Island OVA is part of the Hunter x Hunter series. Here, the story focuses mostly on Gon and Killua as they attempt to join a virtual reality game in search of Gon’s father.

This quote from the song Pray can be classified as both depressing and inspirational. The first part is definitely the former while the second part is the latter.

For you to feel like you’re being ripped to shreds, the pain you’re experiencing must be really bad, to say the least. Who would want to experience something like this? We all want everything to be okay, right?

We don’t want to have all these problems. We don’t want to have to deal with fear, misery and anxiety.

We just want to live in peace without pain or suffering. But, sometimes, that’s easier said than done.

The fact that you’re alive right now - that means that you’re strong, right? Because it means that you haven’t given up and that you’ve continued to move forward no matter what, no matter how painful everything is.

Reality isn’t always good. It can be really painful at times, and, yet, if you’re still trying or continuing to live in the “real world,” this can be a sign of strength, and, of course, that’s a good thing. We should be strong. We shouldn’t give up. We just have to keep on hoping and believing.

If you look closely at the second part of the quote from the Hunter x Hunter song, you’ll soon realize that it’s not as inspiring as it first seemed. Sure, being strong is a good thing and all of us could use some strength, right? But look at that word “alone.”

This part of the Pray song pretty much says: "I am experiencing so much pain that it feels like I’m being physically hurt.

"But, even if this is the case, I haven’t given up. I’m still here, living in reality even if it sucks and I’m managing just fine with 'my strength alone'".

That last part hurts because it implies or pretty much says that the speaker is dealing with their problems all by themselves and there’s no one out there to help them. See that? They’re all alone. They have to deal with all this pain on their own.

They may be strong and capable, but who doesn’t want some friends or family to be there for them? Who doesn’t want some help or even just a shoulder to cry on every once in a while?

It’s depressing to have to be alone and to have to live in this cold, harsh, unforgiving, unrelenting reality all by your lonesome, isn’t it? Who would be able to take such pain?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki based on the image by Dane-of-Celestia (CC:BY) from deviantArt
- Hunter x Hunter Greed Island OVA pic is from Amazon.com; link shown above

How The Golden Apples Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Is Related To Hercules' 11th Labor?

How can you relate The Golden Apples Yu-Gi-Oh! trap card to the 11th labor of Hercules? Who is Hercules anyway? What is this 11th labor and what does it have to do with The Golden Apples?

But first, let's start with the answer to who exactly is Hercules? He is a hero from Greek Mythology, but his Greek name is actually Heracles.

Hercules is his Roman name and this is the name that is familiar to most people thanks to movies like Disney's Hercules.

He is the son of Zeus, the Greek king of the gods, and Alcmene, a mortal woman, which makes him a demi-god. He is most well-known for his powerful and immense strength.

Being the son of Zeus with another woman, he was hated by the goddess Hera, who is Zeus' wife and the queen of the gods. Hera did a lot of things to torment and hurt Heracles because of her hatred for him. One of these was to drive him mad, which caused him to kill his own wife, Megara, and their children.

Once Hercules regained his sanity, he deeply regretted his crime and wished to atone for it, so he went to see the Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle directed him to serve King Eurystheus for 12 years, doing whatever the guy asked him to do to pay for his crimes.

He was supposed to perform 10 labors, and, afterward, he would be rewarded with immortality. Hercules did all 10 tasks, however, King Eurystheus said that two of the tasks didn't count and so he gave the demigod 2 more labors. All of these labors are collectively known as the 12 Labors of Hercules.

The labor that is related to The Golden Apples Yu-Gi-Oh! card is the 11th labor because this is the one that tasked Hercules to bring back some of the apples from the Garden of the Hesperides.

This garden and the apples belonged to Hera. Nymphs known as the Hesperides tended to the garden and the apples while a dragon called Ladon guarded the entire place.

The apples were golden in color and they were said to be able to grant immortality, which explains why The Golden Apples trap card is so powerful and has such great effects.

Just like how the golden apples of the Hesperides can grant one immortality, the Yu-Gi-Oh! trap card can be a game-changer for you depending on how you use it.

If you're able to special summon a very high-powered Malus token, it can be very bad for your opponent but very good for you.

However, you can't just activate The Golden Apples whenever you want to. You have to fulfill all of the requirements and conditions before being able to make use of this card.

In the same way, Hercules wasn't just handed the golden apples for his 11th labor in a silver platter. He had to work hard and really exert effort in order to complete this task.

It took him some time and he even had a number of other adventures on the way, but he was eventually able to find or locate the Garden of the Hesperides.

He killed Ladon the dragon then asked Atlas, who was tasked to carry the world or hold up the sky on his shoulders, to get the apples for him.

While Atlas went to get the golden apples, Hercules took his place in holding up the sky. When Atlas came back with the apples, he was supposed to give them to Heracles and get back to his job of holding up the sky, but Atlas didn't want to do that anymore.

Hercules said that was okay and he'd do Atlas' job for him from now on, but, could Atlas maybe hold up the sky again, temporarily, while he adjusted his cloak and made himself more comfortable with having to bear the entire weight of the world on his shoulders?

Atlas readily agreed, not knowing that he was being tricked. As soon as the sky was no longer his burden to bear, Hercules picked up the golden apples and ran off to deliver them to King Eurystheus. Only then was his 11th labor finally complete.

All these can be related to all the conditions and requirements that one has to fulfill and accomplish if they want to be able to activate the aforementioned trap card.

So you first need to make sure that you control no monsters on your side of the field when your opponent attacks you and you take battle damage.

Only then can you activate The Golden Apples. Only then can you gain back the life points that you lost and only then can you special summon a Malus token.

But if you're able to fulfill all the requirements and conditions, then you can finally make use of The Golden Apples and really get the chance and opportunity to benefit from such a powerful and useful card just like how Hercules was eventually able to finish and complete, not just his 11th labor, but all 12 of his labors. Of course, he got his reward, his immortality, in the end.

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki based on the image by Ricciardo Meacci (Public Domain) from Wikimedia Commons
- Pic depicts the Garden of the Hesperides, the nymphs and the Golden Apples of the Hesperides
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

Problems With The Use Of Spells In Sugar Sugar Rune

After seeing the first episode of the Sugar Sugar Rune anime series by Moyoco Anno, all I can say is that the magic system in said show is very confusing, to say the least. Seriously, what’s with the spells or the usage of spells?

(*Warning for possible spoilers for episode 1 of Sugar Sugar Rune)

Chocolat Meilleure / Kato used the spell or incantation “Sugar Sugar Rune Choco Rune” to transform into her magical witch outfit.

But we can’t actually say that the above spell is only for transformation purposes because of the following:

• Chocolat tries to summon the guard dog of hell
• She tries to stop herself and her best friend, Vanilla Mieux / Ice, from falling out of the sky when they first arrived in the Human World

Guess what spell she uses to do the above tasks? Yep, it’s still “Sugar Sugar Rune Choco Rune”. So, what’s with that spell then? What is it for? Some all-around spell or something?

That’s not the spell that Robin uses though (for instance, he says, “Fleur Tempete,” when he summons flowers to catch Chocolat and Vanilla and prevent them from falling to their deaths), which implies that “Sugar Sugar Rune Choco Rune” isn’t an all-around spell and that there are actually a lot of other spells.

But if that’s the case, then how come Chocolat only uses that spell? We can say that maybe that’s because that’s the only spell that she knows, but that doesn’t answer the question of exactly what that spell is for. Using that spell:

• She was able to transform into her magical outfit
• She was able to summon a dog
• She was able to summon some petals

So, what’s up with that? It’s so weird and confusing, isn’t it?

Let’s compare and contrast that with other series like, for instance, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. The witches and wizards in said series use spells too.

But there are spells for everything and each of these spells have a purpose, so if, for example, you say, “Wingardium Leviosa,” you’ll be able to make objects fly or levitate.

But that’s all you’ll ever be able to do. You can’t use the same spell to do other things like, say, open and unlock doors (you’ll need to use the “Alohomora” spell for that).

So, as we can see, in the HP series, each spell has a purpose. But what about in Sugar Sugar Rune? How does it work in that anime? What do you think?

*Notes:
- Both Sugar Sugar Rune pics are from Amazon.com; links shown above