Animation Revelation's Animation Blog

Of many little things that have occurred during my life in which I can remember, watching the classic Looney Tunes with my grandfather will remain one of the most memorable to me. You see, before there was TV or video to watch these fabled shorts, you’d have to go to a movie to see a cartoon short, and my grandfather was there when this was prevalent, so while I’d be making future memories, my grandfather was also reliving nostalgia, which added to our experiences. Now that we’ve been collecting the brilliant Golden Collections, we’ve been reliving good times, and I’ve been rediscovering why I appreciate animation so much; years of repeated viewings of Termite Terrace’s classics introduced how good timing and well-done animation can make entertainment all the better.

When volume six came out, I knew I’d have to get it, not only to watch the cartoons for old-times sakes, but also to give a darn-fine review of the set. One thing other Termite Terrace Traders may of noticed is that this set is scheduled to be the last of the famed Golden Collection, and when you look at the cartoons listed, it’s obvious how Jerry Beck and crew went all-out to commemorate this, but I’ll get to this later, as it’ll be best to tell you what you’re getting here.

On the first disc, which is typically noted for being primarily Bugs and Daffy related on each collection, the wave of cartoons starts off with yes, indeed, a Bugs Bunny cartoon, “Hare Trigger”, staring my grandfather’s ever-favorite Yosemite Sam. Strangely enough, however, this and disc 2’s “Herr Meets Hare” are the crowd-pleasing rabbit’s only contributions to this collection, and Daffy only has about 5 on this collection, as well. To me, this signalizes that this particular set isn’t meant for the general Looney Tunes fan who probably don’t know a character less obscure than Pussyfoot wouldn’t enjoy this set as much as the hardcore fans who could spot all the different scenes that were cut out of different syndication cycles that contained these cartoons.

So, while the duck and the rabbit are all but absent on the first disc, who do we have on it, then? Well, for a change we have some often overlooked characters by today’s standards like Foghorn Leghorn(my grandfather’s other favorite!), Pepe Le Pew, and even the Three Bears, as well as other favorites like Sylvester, Porky, and the Road Runner. Myself, I’m happy to get some Foghorns and Pepe on here for a change, since it seems by today’s standards that kids don’t know of them as well as Bugs and Daffy. After you’ll get through the initial 15 cartoons, bam la bam, check out the bonus features! There, we’ll discover the four bonus cartoons on the disc, which will help add to the collection’s total cartoon count of 75, 15 more than your typical Golden Collection, including a personal favorite, “Hippety Hopper”, which contains an underrated favorite series of shorts of mine, in which Sylvester and Junior trying to take on a “giant mouse”. As well as these bonus cartoons and your typical commentaries and audio-only tracks that fill up the extras, you get two TV specials staring the cartoons themselves, Bugs Bunny in King Arthur’s Court and Daffy Duck’s Easter Egg-Citement. Despite often having Friz Freleng and Chuck Jones’ involvement in these specials, they often suffer from bland animation, uninspired writing, and often even just recycle the classic cartoons that we admire the characters for so much in favor of making a full story, and while the latter isn‘t prevalent, the former two are quite true here. Overall, I’d consider these shippable.

Disc two focuses on wartime cartoons, which comes out with mixed results. I’ll always consider “Russian Rhapsody” the classic that it is, but most of these propagandized cartoons come out as dated and offensive, and even overly informative, as the last three cartoons, “By Word of Mouse“, “Heir-Conditioned“, and “Yankee Dood It“, are literally nothing more but Economics lessons with Sylvester and Elmer Fudd in them, give or take a cartoony gag or two. On the opposite, however, it’s best to remember that these cartoons were made over half a century ago, when the public needed a break to laugh at the perils of the WWII. Another way to think about these cartoons is that while film will never completely replace print(that’s a given, anyway, as long as we’re still using scripts), animation is capable of breaking more barriers to bring satirical comments to life. And thanks to daring pieces like what we’ve received in this disc, we’re able to have cartoons like The Simpsons and South Park today.

In addition to three bonus cartoons alongside the 15, we also get a few extra shorts from Friz Freleng’s brief tenure at MGM Studios. Unlike Tex Avery’s shorts from the bigger-budgeted cartoon studio, Friz’s cartoons from here are, for the most part, uninspired and unfunny, so much so, that after only 2 cartoons in I had to sit out on them. While it is interesting to see a fabled director try something different than what he’s known for, and watching some of the Captain’s escapades in action, these sure are different from Sylvester & Tweety.

Possibly the most talked about disc is the third, which is entirely full of classical cartoons. By classical here, though, I am referring to Warner’s Harman & Ising era of shorts. Before Warner was sprucing out the cartoons we all know and love, most of what was coming out from Termite Terrace were Disney-like productions, where the cartoons were treated as merely child’s fare instead of laugh riots. I dislike this notion as Tex Avery has always believed that if you’re thinking about what ten-year-olds would find funny, you’re going to end up slowing your project’s pacing and dumb it down, and looking at today’s cartoons aimed at children, I think this belief is quite right. At the end of the day, though, we have to understand that this was the common practice at the time these cartoons were made, and that they must of done their job well, as they lasted for quite a while.

The biggest star on this disc is easily Bosko, the talk-ink kid, who we’ve already had a taste of on the previous disc’s “Bosko the Doughboy”. While he isn’t as charismatic as Porky or psychotic as Daffy whom in only a matter of years would replace him as the studio’s lead stars, Bosko can at least put a smile on your face and a song in your heart, and he goes full out to entertain the masses on “Bosko in Person”. And to get it clear now, on the subtitles of “Bosko’s Picture Show”, the little guy merely said “The dirty fox!”, so keep that little novelty out of your heads.

I think the problem with these cartoons at the end of the day is that a majority of them are just advertisements for Warner’s song library and often forget to give a patricianly interesting or competent story alongside the pretty visuals. We get some cute shorts out of these, like “Smile, Darn Ya, Smile”, which is easily Foxy‘s, Warner’s most obvious Mickey clone, greatest appearance, while others, like “We’re in the Money”, are just dull(at the time this was made, weren’t we, in fact, NOT in the money?) The cartoons started to make more sense as the disc goes by, like with Buddy’s Our Gang-influenced shorts.

The initial 15 on the disc caps off with “A Cartoonist‘s Nightmare”, starring Beans, who was supposedly supposed to be Warner’s new Bosko but eventually got booted out in favor of his co-star in “I Haven’t Got a Hat”, a certain Mr. Pig. In this one, a somewhat-familiar cartoonist falls asleep in the middle of working on a Beans layout and somehow gets stuck inside the cartoon, forcing Beans to save him. The short was directed by Jack King, a popular director for another familiar duck over at Disney’s animation studio, and it shows, as the short focuses more on story rather than humor, which is what separates the two studio’s cartoons at the time; Disney was interested in plot, while Warner was just getting into funnies. As different as the cartoon may feel, it’s still a fun one to watch and worth looking over.

Four more charming-albeit-less-than-humorous follow in the extra’s department, as well as the main piece of the pie here; The World of Leon Schlesinger. This combines a great array of videos and other works left over from the cartooning site’s golden days and highlights that the people behind some of the greatest pieces of animation of all time are as crazy outside their heads as they are inside.

And the last disc features a massive supply of one-shot and experimental cartoons, which is probably my favorite of the four discs as a whole. It starts off with the Seuss-based classic “Horton Hatches the Egg”(appropriate considering that the big lug recently had a decent success at the box-office with Horton Hears a Who), which somehow manages to keep the crazy storybook writer’s insane visions to life. It’s also worth noting that even though this is the incredible Bob Clampett’s vision, fellow director Chuck Jones would one day bring to life the definitive interpretation of one of Seuss’ other most beloved characters, the Grinch. Of course, that ain’t all, folks.

I think the reason this disc is my favorite is that throughout the entire supply of shorts here, the reason the Looneys are so dear to us is highlighted all over. From the black comedy displayed in “Fresh Airdale” and “Chow Hound”, the satirical views of “Wild Wife” and “The Hole Idea”, to Jones’ groundbreaking “Now Hear This”, and even with the Golden book-esq “Bartholomew Versus the Wheel”, it’s all here, and it’s all good. One hidden gem I found in here was “Norman Normal”, a one-of-a-kind darling that stands on it’s own. Your general Looney Tuney cartoony style of visual humor is absent here, but what is here is a sense of wit and class that the animators of yore who’d recently left Warner’s animation department for dead never seemed to of matched.

The bonus feature to keep your eye on in here is Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices, which may just be the man behind the voice’s greatest piece of documentation. After seeing how much he loved his job and how he loved to entertain, whatever high amount of respect you have for the man most likely should increase tenfold.

To sum this collection up as a whole, the fair-weather fan of Looney Tunes probably will find this collection uninteresting(my grandfather had little interest in the second and third discs, and I had to finish the last one myself), but the lovers of cartoons, comedy, or just entertainment as a whole(like) will likely get a kick out of this one, but may also find some of the cartoons to be less-than-great. This Trader, at least, approves of this collection.

Avaitor out.

Originally posted on Sunday, November 9, 2008.

When the name of this show is mentioned to an American fan of animation, the first thing that would come to their mind is probably something along the lines of: “Wasn’t that the show that bombed on Nick?” Yes, its true that 6Teen received poor ratings when it aired on Nickelodeon, a while ago. However, as one might be able to tell from its style of animation alone, this series bares a striking resemblance in tone and detail to the very successful series known as Total Drama Island. Both shows are in fact produced by the same company, Nelvana Limited (a Canadian entertainment company), and also share the same creators, Jennifer Pertsch and Tom McGillis. Due to TDI’s recent popularity on Cartoon Network, in America, the channel has been wise enough to license the rights to air 6Teen, which has already become a hit in Canada, as well as in a few other countries. Unlike TDI, this series focuses on a group of 6 main characters, as well as a few supporting characters who spend most of their time hanging out at a mall, rather than a group of participants competing in a game-show and being eliminated one by one. In this way, for better or worse, 6Teen lacks an ongoing plot, and instead focuses on each individual episode, allowing newcomers to the series to jump into it at just about any time, without being required to have prior knowledge of any previous episodes of the show.

Billy & Mandy: man, it’s been too long. Back when the show was fresh. I’d catch it as much as I could and revel in the wit and charm that Maxwell Atoms pulled off in the show was great. I loved Billy’s stupidity, Mandy’s dark sass, and Grim’s frequently random mood swings were big turn-ons, but I think the best part of the show were the numerous recurring characters. People like Fred Fredburger, Hoss Delgado, and Dracula could easily brighten a weaker story. Imagine what I thought when I heard that the best of the recurring stars were getting their own spin-off special!

And imagine how distraught I was when I realized how long it’d take for that special to come out. After seeing storyboards on Atom’s blog shortly after announcing the show’s cancellation(in about early ‘07), I knew watching this special would be my destiny, but waiting until Halloween 2008 seemed nearly impossible. Note that this was shortly after Billy & Mandy’s Big Boogey Adventure came out, and I reveled in it’s excellence. In all my life, I don’t think I’ve seen another animated film with comedic timing as perfect as in this movie’s, and further cemented the fact that Maxwell Atom’s needs as much time as he can get to make you laugh. Sad to say that “Wrath of the Spider Queen”, the hour-long series finale, was so disappointing. Not that I’m looking for closure in a show this absurd, but there was much more that could have been done here to of made it a better finale, but didn’t happen. Fortunately I was rightfully award for my patience. After the disappointing “Wrath of the Spider Queen”, I feel that once again Billy & Mandy can prove that despite a hit-or-miss nature, this is one series that with extended time can tickle your funny bone unlike anything else.

The special starts off with Billy, Mandy, Grim, and the ever-lovable geek Irwin trick-or-treating, just like every Halloween. They stop over at Irwin’s grandpop, Dracula’s house along the way for some candy, as well. Now, as much as I loved the show’s Blacula-meets-James Brown approach to the dragon of blood himself, I just have to make a fan-wank note here and mention that it’s somewhat illogical that Dracula is Irwin’s grandfather when I distinctly remember in one three-minute short in which Dracula offered to help Irwin to impress Mandy that he acts as if he’s never seen him before in his life. At the same time, though, it’s also understandable if Dracula’s aging self just forgot about his grandson’s existence that one day. Even if not, then who really cares? If you’re going by continuity in Billy & Mandy, then Mandy would of remained as Billy’s pet cat Milkshakes and clawed the poor boy to death back in the show’s fourth short, “Get Out of My Head!”, and that’d of been the end of that. But hey, let’s not get geeky, now.

Moving on from that, next we get to see Hoss Delgado for what seems like the first time in ages. A cross between Bruce Campbell’s Ash from the Evil Dead trilogy and Kurt Russell’s Snake Plissken from Escape From New York, Hoss was bad to the bone that tickled you to wits end with awesomely random one-liners and a sweet chainsaw arm. Crazy, you say? That’s a good sense of Billy & Mandy then; where the arbitrary rules. I think his best episode is probably “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner”, where he and the ever-so-undevine Eris, the Goddess of chaos, pretend to be Billy’s parents when his principal comes over expecting to meet his parents to determine whether or not he deserves to go to a school for “geniuses”, which Billy is “one of am”. What sold it for me was Hoss and Eris’ weirdly positive chemistry towards each other. They really seemed to of played off of each other better than you’d expect, which is where part of the laughs came from. In fact, I’ll move more onto chemistry between the cast here in merely a moment.

After getting some Hoss time, we catch up with Jeff the Spider and Fred Fredburger. Jeff is an… interesting character. He initially came to life when Billy randomly sat on his egg for him, unaware of what’s to come, since he hates spiders. Jeff isn’t a very great character at the end of the day, since he’s mostly a wussified pushover that cares too much for an idiot boy who in reality despises him, but he has his moments. One thing I liked from “Wrath of the Spider Queen” was how near the end, the poor spider boy(well, girl, since he did have kids…) was able to step up and defend himself from his finance’s territorial reach on him. For once we got some character growth in the typically shallow-as-the-kiddy-pool B&M. Wonder if we’ll get some tonight as well…

Fred Fredburger is one of the most hit or miss aspects about the show. Some people love how random he is, while others hate him for being an annoying twit. Kids obviously liked him, though, since he and his catchphrase “YES” were the focus for a short-lived series of bumpers on Cartoon Network that focused on the more random side of things on the network. Me? I honestly did not mind him. Next to Big Boogey Adventure, I’d say that his debut ep “Keeper of the Reaper” is one of the best things the show’s ever done, his return “Be a Fred, Be Very a Fred” was also pretty good, if you laugh at how much of a nuisance he is to Grim, Billy, and Mandy rather than how annoying Fred himself is, and even his appearances in Big Boogey Adventure were charming themselves. I’d have to say that at the end of the day, Fred isn’t as bad as people put him out to be, or at least as he could have been. Fred’s creator, C.H Greenblatt, is currently the show runner of the equally-as-brilliant CN hit Chowder, which shines of his creative direction and great storyboarding.

One thing you’ll likely notice right out of the bat is Fred’s new design. When he first debuted, the guy has a big, huggable, green elephant, but here he’s been cut down in size to cut off any extra weight, I‘d like to assume. My verdict? Even cuter than before. Let’s hope if the special does well enough, we can get some plushies, mainly of Fred Fredburger, outside of Atlanta. YES!

And we end the foreshadowing saga with General Scarr, formerly of Evil Con Carne, Atom’s other show. Take Pinky & the Brain’s take-over-the-world recurring plots but subtract the wit and class from that show, and add a leftover talking brain and his companion leftover talking stomach to be in a purple bear’s possession, and you’ve got Con Carne. Scarr was one of Hector Con Carne’s chief assistants in taking over the world, alongside Major Doctor Ghastley, until Con Carne had to drop the funds to do so(I blame that on low ratings due to lack of good writing or creativity, but that’s merely my guess), leaving Scarr to move over to Endsville, where the poor guy is frequently harassed by Billy and whoever else comes his way.

Now that we’re done with introductions, we move in a little later to the story, when after failing to catch up with Grim, Billy, and Mandy, Irwin then feels at an all time low, so cut to end credits! After the editor realizes that we’re only 5 minutes in, our down-and-out lead catches up with the fairly snobbish Mindy who wants him to cross over across the street to get her some chocolates. All of a sudden, marshmallow bunnies attack! Now here’s one fault worth mentioning: the adversaries of the night come out of nowhere. There’s no foreshadowing, no introduction, no reason, nothing. Looking at it now it’s not really that big of a deal, and I’m really just shooting at straws here to come up with negative points.

Anyway, our marshmallow bunny sure can pack a wallop, attacking Endsville to ruins and kidnapping Mindy, which causes our recurring stars to come and save the day, mainly for Hoss to show why I love him so, even if inconsistency rears it‘s ugly head again(48? But in “Irwin Gets a Clue“, Hoss reveals himself to be 33!), but this is when we get some classic Billy & Mandy. During Hoss’ fight, for example, Fred starts spelling his name, ala “Keeper of the Reaper”. If that doesn’t scream “good times”, you need to catch up on some good B&M repeats. Once the group of 5 meet each other and realize what they must do(“We may not be able to save this little boy’s self-respect, but we might just save that little girl!”), this is when the meat of the story comes out of the oven. We get five completely different characters that are able to flow together far better than you’d expect.

Throughout the entire movie, we get to see the cast do just that, flow together like madness on their way to save the day, and even develop as characters. Jeff relents growing up and Fred follows him every step of the way, even coming up with the group’s name and uniform. Irwin discovers about his powers as part mummy-vampire and even sees what he can do as part mummy-vampire. Hoss, who generally is a man of extreme monster and one-eyed-freak prejudice, learns how it’s wrong to judge someone based off the origin of beast they be, and even Scarr gets some time in the light, how so, I will not say.

Also during the film, we get to see even Mindy show compassion. When we catch up with her after capture, she’s been condemned to that of a witch’s presence, causing her to of course take her current state out on the innocent, but near the end, even she regrets the problems she causes and shows an actual human side to her, which is more than we can say for Mandy, who takes things in charge her own way.

In the film, we get two songs; Mindy’s potion recipe done via musical performance, which runs on a weak cross between “I’ll Put a Spell on You” and “Be Prepared”, and indicates that Rachel MacFarlane choose well in not pursuing a recording contract; and Jeff and Fred’s duet about how they dislike growing up, which just runs on borderline awful. Listening to uninspired performances like these make me miss the show’s better musical sequences like “Keeper of the Reaper” and “Scary-O”, and to be honest, even these don’t last well on repeat listening. If there’s any negative side to this movie, these unnecessary songs, which nearly are comparable to that of a bad sequel to a Don Bluth animated movie, are, and I can honestly say that once I get this special on DVD, I’ll be more than likely to skip over both songs, and I‘d advise that first-time watchers do the same. Well, this, and I’d of also liked some more Dracula time, and maybe more of Billy’s dad outside being a watchguard.

Once we get to the end, we get to see the marshmallow bunny’s true evil side, which may just very well shake your thoughts on the whole Billy & Mandy universe. Not spoiling that, and finally ending this overlong review, the day is saved and many more sequels are hinted at. After watching through the top-notch performance of the first Underfist special, I can only hope for many more to come. It seems as if Cartoon Network has finally found a Halloween tradition far more promising than that of annually updating the zombie-like Scooby-Doo franchise, since remember, Warner and CN execs, all dogs DO go to heaven, and the pup that is Underfist is too young to kick the bucket.

Originally posted on Monday, October 13, 2008.

Well, its been a good couple of months since FUNimation released the surprisingly good, or in terms of action anime, well above average, first season of Yu Yu Hakusho. Now, really, what could it be that sets this series apart from another series that was airing around the same time, which went under the title….Dragon Ball Z, I believe? Well, with season 2 covering a majority of the Dark Tournament story arc that might be a question which someone looking to purchase this set would like an answer to. For some people, a 28-episode set of insane and over the top action is the only way that they’ll cough up the thirty bucks to view this bad boy. However, some might demand to see something more than just action, something that goes beyond expectations, and delves further to make a great, and even somewhat original style of story-telling, fulfilling the potential that many could see within the first season’s unique twists to this otherwise “generic shounen” genre. Well, Yu Yu Hakusho may undeniably be an action based shounen series, but I am confident in saying that this season will also please both audiences who want that DBZ style action, as well as those who crave something more than just that.

Getting onto the plot, things pick up right from where season one left off, in the middle of Kuwabara being on the verge of getting splattered from well over a hundred feet high, by the overjoyed brat known as Rinku, who holds him under his control at the tip of his….yo-yo’s? OK, weird choice of weaponry, but you’ve got to give the show some credit for using something “not so obvious.” At any rate, from what one would probably expect would come after the end of this fight, another fight will pursue, and another after that, and so on. Now, from that, most people who aren’t looking for another action-fest, would probably be turned off, feeling that this is just going to turn into another one of those long tournament arcs in anime, which have been overused in far too many shows. However, Yu Yu Hakusho’s Dark Tournament is generally thought of by many anime fans who have seen the series, to be the definitive tournament arc in any anime (and for good reason), even for people who aren’t too fond of these types of story lines (since, let’s face it, a fighting competition isn’t the most original plot device).

What one will see, though, should they choose to watch even the first five episodes of this seemingly mindless story, is something that will completely take them off guard. Yu Yu Hakusho, once again, brings plenty of its own unique twists, to an otherwise cliché concept, making it an entity all of its own. As Team Urameshi’s interesting band of characters progress through their matches, they face all sorts of different foes, and under various different conditions. Believe it or not, there will be plenty of tense situations which you would never see coming, some of which will keep you on the edge of your seat, anticipating how a character is going to crawl his or her way out of a situation that’s seemingly impossible to overcome. And if there is one factor which could be seen as the greatest contributor to the quality of season 2, it is the characters. And, in that respect, its not just the main characters who will compel you. Interestingly enough, it is the interactions that they have with the new and supporting characters who come into play, which makes the episodes so interesting to watch, and can also lead to some of the most memorable anime moments out there. What you will realize upon watching the advancement of the plot, is that not all of the subjects involved in this brawl-fest are just in it for the blood and gore. Each team, or even sometimes just individual characters within the team, has their own motivations, ranging from a group fighting for the right to roam freely in a land which they are forbidden to live in, to a team which is being forced to fight against their own wills. Along with each fight, or most of them, anyways, come little side-stories (which thankfully stay interesting without going too far off track from the events at hand) that add layers to the plot, and the chemistry between these different characters, with their personalities, commonalities, grudges, and differences. All of this serves to increase the intriguing setting of Hanging Neck Island (really, what a pleasant name to give to an island with a five-star hotel and lots of greedy old rich-men who do their business there).

Perhaps the most compelling conflict between characters, within this story line, though, is that of the history between Yusuke’s master, Genkai, and her former partner of the Dark Tournament event which had taken place over half a century ago, Toguro (the younger brother of the Toguro Brothers, to be specific), who is also the main villain of this portion of the series. In addition to him, there is Sakyo, the interesting, ingenious, and somewhat mentally fucked up (pardon my French) human who pulls the strings behind the scenes of the tournament committee, in order to achieve his “real goal” in having invited Team Urameshi to the current tournament. And perhaps it is the fact that there is actually a logical human reason to having this tournament, being the fact that it is good for business, which causes it to feel so much more than just another cliché. With all of the wagers underground businessmen place on who they think will win, in addition to the unimaginable amounts of money that must be made from the purchase of tickets to the event (even though most of its viewers happen to be demons), even more layers of well thought-out plot devices are piled onto the action, immediately stripping away the feeling that you are getting another DBZ clone. Its really only the fact that this season doesn’t end the Dark Tournament story arc, leaving the viewer at a complete cliffhanger toward the climax of the story, that may piss some people off.

What also adds to the entertainment value of this show, is the outstanding team of English voice actors participating with their talents for the various roles in this anime. Justin Cook really made wise decisions in casting the right voice actors to fit the right characters. While some might accuse Yu Yu Hakusho’s English dub of straying too far from the original script, it should be pointed out that it is impossible to keep one-hundred percent true to the original Japanese text, due to certain language and cultural barriers. So, in this respect, the dub does a fine job of keeping each character, as well as the overall story, in the same personalities and tones, while expressing them in a way that English speaking audiences can appreciate. It also adds in some undeniably great humor, which just happens to be good enough to excuse FUNimation from making those changes, even if they were admittedly uncalled for. Still, for those who are not pleased with the English voice acting of this series, the original Japanese audio, with English subtitles, is also at hand.

Music is something which plays an important role in any anime, and whether Yu Yu Hakusho’s music is good or not, is something that is purely up to the opinion and tastes of the viewer. However, the music does fit the theme of the series, with the right tunes kicking into play at the right moments, to increase the amount of emotional tension in certain atmospheres.

Honestly, I could go on talking about this season’s strengths long enough to make a book on them. So, to just sum up my overall thoughts on the aspect of this DVD’s main content, overall, you are getting a package of assorted goods (of stuff that you actually like), with bad-ass fights, great characters, great character-development (especially on Yusuke’s part), great and unique villains, interesting chemistry between the characters (including the heroes and villains), strong plot development, and plenty of innovation to the genre, that makes for a fresh take on the tournament style story arc, and adds its “dark” aspect to it in a fitting way (since its not called the “Dark Tournament” for nothing).

Still, it would be wrong of me to claim that anything is absolutely perfect, and Yu Yu Hakusho is no exception. Even though you will be getting a lot of quality entertainment, quite a few people would expect more than just the uncut TV episodes when purchasing the DVD box set of this season. Unfortunately, these discs merely contain the same content as Yu Yu Hakusho’s previous 8-volume releases of the series and aside from a few trailers and textless opening and ending credits in the dub and the original version, this box set won’t give you any sort of special-features, or worthy extras, whatsoever. Also, being that this series is well over a decade old, you shouldn’t expect any great quality animation, which wasn’t even great for its time, and can sometimes be swift and fluid during some action sequences, but often-times ends up being stale and lifeless during many scenes that don’t involve action (though, to be fair, this seems to be standard among many anime). The artwork, on the other hand, is a great mix of loveable anime style character designs and backgrounds, mixed with odd and unique cartoony details. The sound quality is mostly good, and plays in 2.0 stereo in both the English and Japanese audio tracks, but can sometimes sound a little off-key with voices, or produce some rather annoying static screeches during odd sound effects.

Even with all of those issues, though, the price-tag of $35 for a full season couldn’t be more reasonable, especially with the quantity of episodes that you’re getting, compared to other anime DVD’s which will give you far less content in terms of actual episodes, for that same price. In other words, there are very few reasons for why not to buy the Yu Yu Hakusho season 2 box set from FUNimation. The only people who I would not recommend to buy this release, are those who either already own the entire series on DVD in the form of previously released sets, have not yet seen the first season (in which case I’d recommend you to buy that set, watch it, and then buy this one), or who just can’t stand anime for some reason (but in that case, go screw yourself you biased jerk). If you are a Yu Yu Hakusho fan, or if you have seen and liked the first season, and wish to get through the rest of the series, then BUY THIS DVD! You will not be disappointed.

Alright, so Friday night, Cartoon Network’s new action block, You Are Here, just aired. Being two weeks since Toonami ended and the hype for The Secret Saturdays and Star Wars: The Clone Wars giving me enough interest to check in on them, I figured it was worth coming to. Now, initially, I wanted Foggle to review Saturdays and ensatsu-ken to do Clone Wars with me, but both of them need to get a DVR but good, so I decided since I played it smart and stayed home last night, I’ll give it a go to review both shows. To save our blog from clutter, I’ll just review both shows in the same entry. Oh, and before I begin, if you’ve been wondering when my season 1 of Freakazoid! review is coming, it’s not going to happen. But, to keep it brief: it’s good. Really good.

The Secret Saturdays:

Tutenstein. Anyone see this? I’m not a fan of Discovery Kids, nor do I watch it’s shows, so I’m not sure if it’s good or bad. What I do know, though, is that it’s creator, Jay Stephens, has recently received another chance at an animated series with The Secret Saturdays, CN’s latest action-cartoon hot off the trail of Ben 10’s breakaway success. Being my usual self, I hadn’t really paid much attention to the series development, but knowing that it’d be a new first-party cartoon on CN, I knew it would be worth a look anyway, even if Ben 10 still wasn’t very good. Looking at the grand scheme of things now, I can’t say that I was a huge fan of the show’s hour-long pilot, but I can at least say that I’m going to stick around for more.

The show starts off with the Saturday clan ; Doc, the head of the expedition and the father figure; Drew, the wife and mom; and Zak, your basic adventurous 11-year-old who‘s able to communicate with cryptids. Together, their goal is to search for cryptids, which are supposedly creatures of unusual proportions and great power which could question the fate of the world. Nice stuff. Alongside them is their own 7-foot-tall gorilla-cat cryptid, Fiskerton, which helps the Saturdays along the way. Overall, really he’s basically Chewbacca with Scooby-Doo’s manner of speaking. He’s cute for a bit, but I don’t see him becoming a favorite, or standing him at great lengths, at least not to me.

Apparently, one day Doc, Drew, and a group of colleague scientists found the legendary Kur Stone that has the ability to revive an ancient Cryptid that can potentially destroy the world, which is where V.V. Argost, our antagonist of the night, steps in. Between hosting the popular TV show Weird World, Argost tries to take over the world, because, well, it’s a step-up in pay, right?

Here he tries to find the three pieces of the stone that Doc and Drew split up to hide from the world. Argost is lucky enough to find two thirds of the stone and travels to Manaus, Brazil, to find the final third of the stone for himself. Early in the episode, the Saturdays had a run-in with a group of Argost’s minions to make sure that they don’t try to stop them, which leads Zak to regret not being able to help Doc and Drew defend themselves. Around the time they go to Brazil, Zak and Argost finally clash, and by some miracle, Zak wins for the day. All is safe, Zak gains a new cryptid pet, a Ornithocheirus (a pterodactyl-like creator) named Zon, and the story is built up to develop as the season goes on.

Good story and leaves me wanting more, but the thing with the show is that the characters are for the most part, well, flat. Although I love how Doc isn’t an imbecile barely able to take care of himself, let alone a child and his lovely crytids, there isn’t much about him to root for. Drew is able to kick some nice butt, and even got a tad bit beat up, but she‘s still basically your run-of-the-mill mother figure. Zak hardly adds anything different to the basic adventure-loving pre-pubescent boy. Overall, though, the biggest offender of weak characteristics must go to Argost. Maybe I’m just spoiled by Bruce Timm and Greg Weisman, who are able to give us nemesis’s with depth that don’t always even rank as sympathetic, but he’s horribly uninteresting as a villain, and barely a threat. I still can’t believe how close an 11-year-old kid was to beating him in only the pilot.

The fight scenes were cool to watch, but I honestly was disappointed at how restrained they were. It seems to me that there were a lot more that could of gone down, but the censors were probably too strict to let any great detail go on in them. I know how strict censors could be for a kids show(one of my all-time favorites, American Dragon: Jake Long, was horribly restrained by it’s Standards & Practices. For more information there, look up the Unofficial AmDrag Blog, particularly these entiries.), but it’s just hard to look back at the days of Justice League and Samurai Jack, when the BS&Ps had their panties under control. Still, I think it’s probably best if I realize that this was nearly half a decade ago, and CN has changed it’s climate since then, so what was OK then isn’t as much now. Besides, it’s not as if Ben 10 gets much better treatment.

My criticisms may seem harsh and unnecessary, but I only do it as I care. I’m still really looking forward to the rest of the season, and I dig the Saturday morning cartoon vibe I get from it, as well as the Quest-induced visuals. Not huge on the characters so far, but there’s always room to develop, and maybe the censors won’t be as strict as they go on, either. Overall, if you drop the original Ben 10’s annoying sibling quarrels and the “BUY OUR TOYS” atmosphere, and aim a bit more for Alien Force’s darker approach, but subtract the dull-and-drab vibe, and you’ve got The Secret Saturdays. Room to improve, but I’m game. If you’re looking for DCAU, you’ll be disappointed, but if you want something a bit more simple and accessible, you’ll get a kick out of this one.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars:

Star Wars is one of the few movies that everyone on Earth has an opinion on. A lot of people love it’s visual splendors, great action scenes, and awesome story-telling, and still get anything Star Wars related to this very. A lot of people also hate it for being THE blockbuster and how it dumbed down the general audience’s standards, during what was considered by many to be cinema’s peak, when some of the most artistic and moving films of all time were able to be box-office standards, and how people like Michael Bay are able to make multi-million smashes today. Then there’s the rest of the world, who liked it when they saw the films, but haven’t caught up with the alternate universe, and are hit-or-miss with the prequels. That’s basically me. I loved the original trilogy(well, A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, really. Wasn’t so hot on Return of the Jedi, and I think that Greg Weisman says it best), didn’t really care for the prequels, and have little interest in the books. The only two things Star Wars-wise I enjoyed outside of the first two movies were the brilliant video game Knights of the Old Republic(although that was more due to the fact that it was a BioWare game and less the fact that it was a Star Wars game. I still haven’t played the BioWare-less sequel), and Gennedy Tartakovsky’s animated serial Clone Wars.

These threee-to-fifteen minute shorts were pure excellence. While Samurai Jack’s lack of development, either plot or character-wise was hit-or-miss, Tartakovsky’s style-over-substance approach seemed to work in shorter intervals, and Paul Ruddish’s designs worked wonders, too. It’s a shame that General Grievous was such a waste in Revenge of the Sith, since his epic battle in episode 20 with him against four Jedi’s at once is still the definition of bad ass, while Anakin‘s three-episode-long dual against Asajj is still one of the most emotional scenes that our young Padawan has ever endured. After dropping Ventress to her fall, Anakin released a powerful scream with the facial expression that foreshadows his future legacy. While adults like myself obviously loved this, kid’s weren’t shy towards the micro-series either, giving Cartoon Network some of it’s highest ratings ever, so the fact that what started off as a 20-part series of shorts that rose to five more episodes at quintuple the length would eventually become a full series should surprise no one. Why it took so long, though, is beyond me.

We got our first sampling of the now CGI-induced The Clone Wars a few months ago as a feature film that did decently at the box-office. I didn’t get around to seeing it, but I believe this was supposed to introduce us to Ashoka, Anakin’s new Padawan, as well as get us the gist of the program to come. What I didn’t like was the negative reviews I’ve heard from it, how it wasn’t as engaging as the micro-series. This was to be expected, though, as Tartakovsky wasn’t on this project. Still, I wanted to give this a go.

For the past month, CN’s been putting the gravy train of advertisement on full speed, so much so that you couldn’t watch cable, let alone Cartoon Network for the past two weeks or so without seeing some form of advertisement for this show. The network KNOWS that they have a hit, and they KNOW that they’re going to beat Nick and Disney out for the night for a change.

And now we have it. The first two episodes have just aired, and I’m finally able to share my piece on them. According to the creative director, all of the show’s episodes will be unrelated, so you can watch one episode without seeing another and won’t be secluded, and how not ever character will appear in every episode.

The first episode of the evening, “Ambush”, starts us off with dropping Yoda and a group of clones to support him off to discuss a new treaty with Toydaria, the King of the planetary system. While here, Asajj sends out an army of droids to take on Yoda and his clan, on request of the all-mighty count Dooku. The first act was mostly talk, which keeps up one of the weakest parts of the prequels; the excessive, unnecessary dialogue. Fortunately, the action stepped up in the next act, and once again, Yoda proves how much of a badass he is, slicing up tons of droids with his skills. It’s a great change of pace to see tough-as-nails action here as compared to the tamer Secret Saturdays. I’ll chalk that up to the PG-V rating. Maybe one day Cartoon Network will make a PG-rated first-party series…

It’s a shame that we didn’t get to see a dual between him and Asajj, as that would of really been top-notch, since she really did nothing here. Even then, it’s nice to see that she’s still here. The major problem for me, though, is the lack of Anakin or Obi-Won in the premier. Even though I can respect the lack of them due to the fact that not every character will appear in every episode, it just seems sort of weird to me that the main characters don’t appear in the first episode.

They do in the next episode, “Rising Malevolence”. Well, mostly Anakin. Obi-Won only appears for a scene. This is Anakin and Ashoka’s episode, as they have to save the Jedi Master Plo Koon after the Speratist Army uses their new weapon against them. This one’s a lot darker than the first, even though it isn’t as engaging, mostly due to the slow-pacing. Ahsoka’s character is a bit whiny and hard to shallow. I’m willing to accept her, though, as remember, not only Anakin, but even Luke were whiny Padawans when they started out. Must come with the trade.

We also get a bit of Grievous, where he comes more as a vengeful little creature. Not so much of a step up from Sith, but if the series preview that came a week before show time is any indication, he should be an improvement over his last performance as time moves on, but I still find it hard to believe that Ahsoka can take him down so soon. She still has much to learn…

One problem I’ve heard from many viewers of the series is that even though the clones never talked much in the movies, they never shut up in the show. Personally, I don’t really care. I didn’t find them annoying, and from what I’ve seen from them in action, as irritating as they’ll be, it’ll all be justified as the action moves along.

As a whole, the premiers may not necessarily be anything to write home about, but I still found the first two episodes enjoyable, and can’t wait for the rest. I think Clone War’s first offerings were more enjoyable than Secret Saturdays, but I wouldn’t be surprised if one became more enjoyable than the other. Here’s hoping for some good times ahead that’ll make me forget Toonami’s demise.

Avaitor out

Originally posted on Sunday, October 5, 2008.

“Well, this is the end, beautiful friends. After more than 11 years, this is Toonami’s final broadcast. It’s been a lot of fun, and we’d like to thank each and every one of you who have made this journey with us. Toonami wouldn’t be the same without you. Hopefully, we’ve left you with some good memories. So, until we meet again, stay gold. Bang.”

And with that, the greatest action block in the world has just ended it’s run and it‘s leading show runner has drifted off to the rising sun. Thousands of fan boys all over the US are crying as their gateway to one of Japan’s most well-beloved-yet-most-niche exports closes it’s doors for future otakus to worship, and fans of great action cartoons are perplexed on whether or not if You Are Here will live up to the block name. You know, with the fans being there? Get it? It’s a joke.

Sorry…

I shouldn’t be joking right now. Although I stopped paying attention to Toonami once Justice League left and I realized that we’re never getting a good interpretation of the Fantastic Four outside of the comics, I kind of stopped caring. Caught a Samurai Jack every now and then when they brought it back, but never made a habit out of it. I was kind of done with generic Shonen around the time Naruto started airing, so I never could get into it. So, after hearing the news that Toonami was showing it’s final broadcast, I decided that it was worth checking into, at least for Jack. After watching TOM’s powerful closing, and adored the Cowboy Bebop reference, I remembered all of the good times the block gave me.

Earlier today, I watched an episode of Batman: The Animated Series, which is easily my favorite show to ever air on the block, as well as an episode of Dragon Ball Z, which… I can‘t say I‘m still into. I also want to watch some Sailor Moon and Tenchi Muyo!, but never got around to it. I had to rewatch what made Toonami so grand for me and the kids of my generation back in the day. Toonami was more than just an action bock, it was a way of life, and a step into the future of animation. Without it, there wouldn’t be anywhere near as big of an anime market in the US, or anywhere outside of Japan, for that matter. There’s a lot for me to share, and I’ll give you some of my favorite memories.

• The promotion. Seriously, this is what made not just Toonami, but Cartoon Network in general back in the day. Why does Toonami in general stand out? Peter. Fucking. Cullen. Tell me you don’t fawn over his epic Gundam Wing promo, in addition to Rurouni Kenshin’s and Outlaw Star’s, or his classic spot for Batman. “Good guys wear black.” Indeed. And how about those videos, with Daft Punk and Gorillaz set to clips of shows like Outlaw Star. These are what basically introduced the world to AMVs, which still flood YouTube, and are still untouched by the masters themselves.
• In addition to the promotion, how about them bumpers? You know, with TOM and Sara. Although Moltar predated him, to most everyone, TOM is where their ’Nami days come from, and you can thank Steven J. Blum’s brilliant voice acting for that. TOM and his lovely companion Sara interacting with each other between shows added depth to the blocks, kind of like there’s more to the block than just the cartoons.

One thing that stands out in the minds of everyone is the Intruder, which is still one of the coolest things the network has ever done. In it, TOM has to deal with an Intruder on the ship. What it was, he had no clue, but as the series continued, the Intruder became more and more involving, until it turned out to be a form of plasma that sucks him up. During this process, we get a new TOM who’s now out to take care of this Intruder once and for all. Ring a bell? This proves how the block and the network in general was ahead of it’s time, how the network wasn‘t afraid to add more to itself and not pull punches. You’d never see something like this on Nickelodeon. We eventually got more events like these with Lockdown and Trapped in Hyperspace, and while they’re both equally epic, I’d believe the Intruder to remain high above all else.

• Movies. Remember on Fridays when they’d show those cool action movies? You had the many Dragon Ball Z, Batman, and Sailor Moon flicks to catch, as well as Gundam Wing’s Endless Waltz and some weren’t that bad(Mask of the Phantasm in my opinion is a true classic, and Dead Zone was pretty good, if memory serves right, and I also remember Waltz to fucking rule.), as well as the masterpiece that is The Iron Giant. Remember when CN would give the movie a day-long marathon? When’s the last time they aired it, now? But I think the best thing they did out of recent memory was the Month of Miyazaki, where they aired what are probably some of the best animated films to of ever been made. Actually, thinking about it now, when Howl’s Moving Castle aired on a Sunday earlier this year, I think this was a sign of the block ending…
• Oh, and above else, THE SHOWS. The Dragon Ball saga is the Japanese equivalent to Action Comics, and seems to of built a legacy that could just match it, Sailor Moon was a girl’s show that guys could watch without attempting to do anything with a tampon, the Gundams brought space-age war and politics to kids without Jar Jar, Outlaw Star helped build up audiences to the other two western-themed anime classics of 1998 that’d later air on [adult swim], the DCAU brought stories and themes over from the US better than most other Japanese animators could ever dream of, ReBoot was epic, Tenchi! was an involving riot, Thundercats and Voltron came from the days of big hair and headbands on big hair, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest took the dark side of the classic Hanna-Barbera show and added the marvels of technology today to it, and Yu Yu Hakusho is one of the greatest things to of come out of Japan, end of story. Never got into Big O or Rurouni Kenshin, but I think they’re great for the fans, too. I remember Giant Robot Week, how they aired the first couple of episodes of various mecha shows, including what would later become my favorite anime of all time, Neon Genesis Evangelion. I missed it all, but I’d bet then I’d have no idea how much the show would impact on me later on in life. And to think I was too stubborn to give any of it a chance.

Looking on now, Toonami gave me and many geeks a lot of great memories, and built us up on how we are now. While at this point I prefer Western cartoons to Japanese, I’ll never forget the time I had with the block and how it helped me to respect not just anime, but geeks all over the world.

Gentlemen, it’s been an honor.

Avaitor out.

Originally posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008.

After having to make the ever-so-difficult decision of choosing whether to get Avatar Book 3 or the latest DBZ Double Feature, I finally decided to go with the former. At least then I can say that I actually completed one of my DVD series.

Packaging:
Looking at the packaging, it looks like the designers have done a good job of keeping things consistent with the previous two sets. However, one nitpick I found was that some logos were moved around or dropped completely (like the “Nick DVD” one). While stuff like this is really no big deal, it somewhat irks me when I see all the “books” together only to see on further inspection that the third one is slightly different. You will also notice that the back cover lacks a cheap stock picture of Aang on the back like the first two sets. While this doesn’t bother me, I personally think it’s something of an improvement, considering that in the previous releases we were greeted with crazy awesome front cover art only to turn the box over and see something that could have easily been done on MSPaint.

Further checking out the packaging itself, you will find that the inside of the set is the same as the previous two, with the discs being held in “digipacks” overlapping each other to make for better space, with exception to the fifth disc (odd numbers, y’see). Some may say that this setup annoys them to no end, since the discs overlapping means you might have to take out one disc before getting to the disc that you want underneath it or that the packaging cracks and is near impossible to replace, but I’ve personally had no problem with them. On the contrary, I think they look much nicer than just regular thin packs and shows that Nickelodeon actually put some effort into the release.

In the past two Complete Book releases, there was an insert listing of the episodes and special features found on each disc. The same goes for this release. However, there is an additional second insert with the map of the Avatar World with an advertisement for the upcoming Avatar MMORPG on the back. Nothing wrong with some self promotion, I guess. Though having that same image of the Avatar World Map as an insert in each set is a bit dull. You would have thought they’d have done something fancier like what they have on the official site, pinpointing exactly where each episode took place in that season. Man, that woulda been awesome.

Content – Bonus Disc
As you may have already known by now, the Avatar series is first released in single discs, with five episodes per disc (well, six in the last disc’s case). Going for about $12 in most places, that means that if you’re planning on collecting the entire season that way, you’re gonna have to hock over a total of $60. You don’t want to do that, do you? This Complete Book release collects each single disc from that season as well as a bonus disc of pretty snazzy extras for a total of $50 in most places.

Immediately going for the bonus disc upon opening, there was a total of three exclusives, each just as awesome as the next. Being an animation nerd, I first went to the Pencil Test Animation feature, which provides some rough animation of the fight scenes in the finale. It is interesting to note that at times, the animation switches from the rough pencil to the final completed animation. I’m not so sure why, but it’s probably because the bulk of that animation was rendered in 3D or maybe they just didn’t have those parts penciled. Not that big of a problem, though.

Next up was the Women of Avatar feature, going into detail on the main women in the series: Katara, Toph and Azula. The creators and voice actresses give their own opinions on the characters as do some fans (some may know “Avatar Mom” and “Isaia” from the online fandom). You would think that in this day and age, media would not be heavily biased in terms of things like gender. Sadly, that’s still a problem; if things are not heavily male oriented, they’re heavily female oriented. This feature does a good job of giving props to the series for reaching a happy medium, giving both genders in the series the ability to fight (with little to no fan service).

Last up is the Comic-Con feature; covering the Avatar Panel at Comic-Con preceding Book 3’s airing. While most have seen the panel online, this is a much cleaner version, from a camera that wasn’t from a random fan in the audience. Cleaner footage is always a good thing.

Sadly, the comic shorts included in each single release are not included in this set. But the content in the bonus disc gladly makes up for that. The features in total clock in at about an hour for just that disc (not including the audio commentary on the episode discs), so rest assured, this set definitely delivers in the extras department.

Content – Episode Discs
As great as the series as a whole is, I personally think the story dropped a bit during its final season, taking the route of combining incredibly plot-heavy episodes with incredibly light ones, rather than coming to a happy medium between the two, like the first two seasons did. Regardless, the season itself still holds up well, giving the series a fitting goodbye. Though I personally enjoyed the season two episodes best.

I haven’t gone through the entire set, though I have checked out the audio commentary from the final episode. The commentary is just as interesting as the ones in past sets, giving insight from the creators, cast and crew. There is audio commentary on every disc, but not on every episode. One thing I would have liked for the insert menu in the set to have was a listing for which episodes had commentary. The way it’s set up, you have to pop the DVD in and navigate through the menu to find which ones have it. Again, nothing major, though.

One gripe I had with all the Avatar episode discs (including the other two season releases) was how the episodes are lacking in chapters. The series itself is formatted like a novel, with each episode being called a “chapter” and the entire season a “book.” But terminology aside, I think that’s no reason for the episodes to not be divided into chapters (er, I guess “smaller chapters”) for easier navigation. Sure, there’s the fast forward option and you can always “click and drag” if you’re playing the discs on your computer, but really… chapter divisions are practically expected in all DVD releases. It just makes sense.

Another minus to these sets are the Nickelodeon promos that play at the beginning of each one. In some cases, you can go immediately to the menu screen if you hit the “Menu” or “Title” button on your remote, but with these discs, you have to hit “Next” for each trailer, which can get to be an annoyance especially if the disc has multiple trailers. I’m all for self promotion, but this is a bit ridiculous. I mean, is preventing me from getting to my episodes faster really going to make me want to pick up the next Spongebob releases?

Overall:
Taking into account both the pros and cons of the set, I think this is a definite buy for those who have been keeping up with the series already. And really, why wouldn’t you have been? Even for those who were disappointed with this final season, it still has everything Avatar fans have come to enjoy from the series. Just make sure you don’t get it for the retail price of $80. You can pick up the set from most places for $45-$50. It can be even cheaper if you’re willing to wait a couple years. But c’mon…

… you want this set now.

Originally posted on Wednesday, September 17, 2008.

While it feel like it goes without saying, there will be SPOILERS ahead:

So this is it. The one new alien that Ben has yet to transform into has finally debuted. But was it played off well? Um… yes and no.

Having expecting some kind of super spectacular appearance of Ben’s new alien, I was a bit disappointed when we get him right off the bat, showing up less than ten minutes into the episode. Having had his daughter kidnapped by Sevenseven, an enraged alien Emperor plans to destroy the planet that the kidnapper was last sensed on – Earth. Naturally, it’s up to Ben and the others to defend their planet. The episode itself, while entertaining enough, seemed more action oriented and felt more like the original Ben 10 episodes. No incredibly witty banter or deep plot, just your basic all-out fight with some kind of life-lesson attached to it as well as your standard humor (courtesy of the emperor’s guards).

The ever so mysterious Alien X has always blazed through in the opening credits in what viewers were led to believe was him covered in shadows. Well, it looks like that is how he actually looks. Alright, fine enough. It still looks awesome, right? And without a doubt, so are his special abilities, able to “bend the space/time continuum,” aiming what can only be described as a “beam” at specific places and reversing whatever happened there. Think of it as time travel, but only aimed at a specific place (like that one Jimmy Neutron invention for those who still remember).

But, like all super-awesome powers, there had to be some kind of drawback. In Alien X’s case, we’re faced with having to debate one’s reason for using their powers in the first place before doing anything… at all. Kinda sounds like the writers were trying to call out our government with that note, but it’s not like it takes away from the actual episode, so I don’t mind. With the series kicking off with Ben trying to come to a happy medium between punching first and asking questions later and vice-versa, it looks like the kid is still at an odds. Like the story is with all major power-ups, Ben vows never to use Alien X again, but in a slight twist, it’s not because it is too powerful, but because he despises the idea of having to debate and justify his actions before having them passed.

It’s some kind of progress, I guess.

Originally posted on Monday, September 1, 2008.

And, only a few weeks overdue, the Animation Revelation staff produces a second review! As the forum’s resident weeaboo faggot, I have taken it upon myself to review this DVD. How is it, you ask? Read on and find out!

Black Lagoon is often cited as being one of the greatest action anime in recent memory, and it certainly deserves the praise. For those unfamiliar with the series, it’s basically about four badasses (okay, Rock isn’t much of a badass, but he’s still cool in his own right) riding around on their torpedo boat, working for the mafia, delivering packages, and killing people for money. Because they’re hardcore.

And that’s all the back story you’ll need.

The disc opens up with two children (who happen to be twins; and I still can’t figure out which one is the male and which one is the female) discussing cannibalism and necrophilia before killing some people and then making out with each other. The first three episodes on the DVD comprise the Vampire Twins arc, which, completely unlike the first season, is morbid and depressing, not humorous and over-the-top (though there’s still the occasional black comedy). Dutch, Benny, and even Rock take a backseat to Balalaika, Mr. Chang, Revy, and Eda this time around, and the results are interesting, if not all that satisfying. These are some of the best episodes yet, though they’ll almost certainly leave you feeling empty.

The next episode is a return to the form of the first season, for better or worse, though it’s a lot goofier than anything we’ve seen in the show before. The first episode of the Greenback Jane arc is present on the DVD, and it really isn’t very good. The first half of the episode basically consists of 5000+ bullets being shot back and forth between two groups of people, panty shots of the one character no one wants to see panty shots of, and quite a bit of failed humor. It does get better in the second half, though, and shows promise for the rest of the arc to be an enjoyable romp.

The animation quality is great as always, and the transfer to the DVD is flawless and in anamorphic widescreen. The series has voice acting ranging from good to top-notch in both the original Japanese version and in the English dub of the series. While Revy and Rock (the two main characters) sound much better in Japanese, the rest of the English cast performs on par with or better than their Japanese counterparts (especially Dutch and Benny), so it really just boils down to personal preference.

The DVD case has a reversible cover (though the artwork on the other side is of low quality, in my opinion) and there are absolutely no special features on the disc, unless you count the “Geneon Previews.” If you order the Limited Edition, you receive a steel case that looks like this:

DaemonCorps @ 12:25 pm PST — For the handful of y’all who have actually discovered this blog, don’t worry, we haven’t all been killed off by the mob or anything. With Avaitor still working on his review for Freakazoid Season 1, I figured I’d distract you with not only a nice new banner for the blog, but a review of my own for Tiny Toon Adventures Season 1, Volume 1.

If you grew up in the late eighties or early to mid nineties, chances are you’ve heard of Tiny Toon Adventures. At first glance, it looks like WB’s cheap way of appealing to the kiddies by making kid-i-fied versions of the classic Loony Toons. While that’s true to a point, that doesn’t take away from the show’s greatness, making a new generation of Toon-sters fans out there.

PACKAGING:
When we were first shown the box art for both the Tiny Toons and Freakazoid (which has also been released on DVD July 29th) I assumed that it would be similar to the packaging for the Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain Season sets – nice, solid, fancy-schmancy digipacks. So, I was surprised when I go straight to the DVD section of Target to see that both shows are packaged slightly differently. Sure, the basic setup is the same as the A! and P&B sets, but instead of digipacks, we are treated to something else entirely. The DVDs are packaged in a clear standard-sized DVD case, with some funky-looking thingies to hold the four DVDs. They took advantage of the whole “clear DVD box” thing and printed on the back side of the DVD cover the episodes and which disc you may find them on. On top of all that, the DVD itself is given a cardboard sleeve, with the same cover as the one on the DVD itself (Yes, I know that pictures would be a big help right now).

To make things even stranger, the final disc is double sided – you know, that whole dealie with there being stuff on one side of the disc, and then turning it over and there being more stuff on the other side. Think cassette tapes except you can’t afford to get either side scratched up. The front cover said “4 discs” so I assumed we’d get one disc for each main character (Buster, Babs, Hamton and Plucky). Well… I was part right. They had 3/4 of the cast covered. So who got the boot? Plucky, of course (the duck gets no love). Ugh, I don’t really like double sided discs that much. Sure, the save space but they save space at a really crappy price. I feel the need to wear gloves and surround the set with pillows whenever taking out that fourth disc.

Quite the step down from their previous cartoon releases. Perhaps this has something to do with that “WB 30% post-recycled content” icon on the back of the cover…

CONTENT:
Considering that the first season is a whopping 65 episodes long, it makes sense for them to split up the season into (what I’m assuming will be) two volumes. The episodes themselves are not said to be remastered in any way and are the same quality as you would expect a well-taken-care-of VHS tape to be in: pretty clear, but still a tad on the grainy side. We hear from big companies that try to sell their product that they’ve gone back and remastered their footage (ie: Disney’s animated movies) but we still have to deal with stuff like this. It’s no big deal, really, but it just irks me to know that we could have gotten a clearer picture. I could be wrong, but I think it’s safe to assume that the episode masters are being kept by WB someplace just waiting for a nice remastering…

Having finally gone through the entire set, I can proudly say that most of the episodes still hold up. Then again, I could just be biased in that I remember watching these episodes in reruns while they played on Nickelodeon – you always have to consider the whole nostalgia factor. Not to go off on a tangent, but the previous season set I picked up before this was the final volume for Garfield and Friends. While I followed the series back when it was on Nick, as well, I still had no recollection of watching those later episodes, probably because Nick only picked up the earlier ones. With that in mind, I just didn’t enjoy those later Garfield episodes that much.

But even ignoring the whole nostalgia factor, I really think these episodes hold up in that they’re incredibly witty: something most kids’ cartoons seem to just be picking up on. The only thing is that this show was made back in 1990, so there are a bunch of weird references that the kiddies may not understand, like some references to Cher, Roseanne and even the ’89 Batman movie. Heck, I can’t even say that I get all the celebrity references myself! Taking that into consideration, some episodes will definitely be best enjoyed by the older audience, who will most likely be the ones buying these sets, anyways.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
The one special feature is on the final disc, and is a short documentary on the series. In a nutshell, I don’t really think it was anything special. It went over a good amount of what lead up to the making of Tiny Toons, but didn’t do the best job of actually covering the show itself. Eh, it was worth a watch, but I wouldn’t go back to it again, any time soon.

An awesome buy overall, though. The packaging may have been an upset on my part, but the episodes still hold up and since I actually remember these episodes, I can actually enjoy them while making dinner or whatnot without the fear of missing anything “new.” Daemon-approved thumbs-up!

Originally posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2008.