{"id":35,"date":"2012-02-06T00:16:42","date_gmt":"2012-02-06T06:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/animationrevelation.com\/readables\/?p=35"},"modified":"2026-07-17T11:07:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T17:07:56","slug":"i-am-here-and-so-is-an-all-right-time-avaitor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/animationrevelation.com\/readables\/?p=35","title":{"rendered":"I Am Here – And So Is An All-Right Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alright, so Friday night, Cartoon Network\u2019s new action block, You Are Here, just aired. Being two weeks since Toonami ended and the hype for The Secret Saturdays<\/em> and Star Wars: The Clone Wars<\/em> giving me enough interest to check in on them, I figured it was worth coming to. Now, initially, I wanted Foggle to review Saturdays<\/em> and ensatsu-ken to do Clone Wars<\/em> 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\u2019ll give it a go to review both shows. To save our blog from clutter, I\u2019ll just review both shows in the same entry. Oh, and before I begin, if you\u2019ve been wondering when my season 1 of Freakazoid!<\/em> review is coming, it\u2019s not going to happen. But, to keep it brief: it\u2019s good. Really good.<\/p>\n

The Secret Saturdays:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tutenstein<\/em>. Anyone see this? I\u2019m not a fan of Discovery Kids, nor do I watch it\u2019s shows, so I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s good or bad. What I do know, though, is that it\u2019s creator, Jay Stephens, has recently received another chance at an animated series with The Secret Saturdays<\/em>, CN\u2019s latest action-cartoon hot off the trail of Ben 10\u2019s breakaway success. Being my usual self, I hadn\u2019t really paid much attention to the series development, but knowing that it\u2019d be a new first-party cartoon on CN, I knew it would be worth a look anyway, even if Ben 10<\/em> still wasn\u2019t very good. Looking at the grand scheme of things now, I can\u2019t say that I was a huge fan of the show\u2019s hour-long pilot, but I can at least say that I\u2019m going to stick around for more.<\/p>\n

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\u2018s 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\u2019s basically Chewbacca with Scooby-Doo\u2019s manner of speaking. He\u2019s cute for a bit, but I don\u2019t see him becoming a favorite, or standing him at great lengths, at least not to me.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s a step-up in pay, right?<\/p>\n

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\u2019s minions to make sure that they don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t an imbecile barely able to take care of himself, let alone a child and his lovely crytids, there isn\u2019t much about him to root for. Drew is able to kick some nice butt, and even got a tad bit beat up, but she\u2018s 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\u2019m just spoiled by Bruce Timm and Greg Weisman, who are able to give us nemesis\u2019s with depth that don\u2019t always even rank as sympathetic, but he\u2019s horribly uninteresting as a villain, and barely a threat. I still can\u2019t believe how close an 11-year-old kid was to beating him in only the pilot.<\/p>\n

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<\/em>, was horribly restrained by it\u2019s Standards & Practices. For more information there, look up the Unofficial AmDrag Blog, particularly these<\/a> entiries<\/a>.), but it\u2019s 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\u2019s probably best if I realize that this was nearly half a decade ago, and CN has changed it\u2019s climate since then, so what was OK then isn\u2019t as much now. Besides, it\u2019s not as if Ben 10 gets much better treatment.<\/p>\n

My criticisms may seem harsh and unnecessary, but I only do it as I care. I\u2019m 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\u2019s always room to develop, and maybe the censors won\u2019t be as strict as they go on, either. Overall, if you drop the original Ben 10<\/em>\u2019s annoying sibling quarrels and the \u201cBUY OUR TOYS\u201d atmosphere, and aim a bit more for Alien Force<\/em>\u2019s darker approach, but subtract the dull-and-drab vibe, and you\u2019ve got The Secret Saturdays<\/em>. Room to improve, but I\u2019m game. If you\u2019re looking for DCAU, you\u2019ll be disappointed, but if you want something a bit more simple and accessible, you\u2019ll get a kick out of this one.<\/p>\n

Star Wars: The Clone Wars:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Star Wars<\/em> is one of the few movies that everyone on Earth has an opinion on. A lot of people love it\u2019s visual splendors, great action scenes, and awesome story-telling, and still get anything Star Wars<\/em> related to this very. A lot of people also hate it for being THE blockbuster and how it dumbed down the general audience\u2019s standards, during what was considered by many to be cinema\u2019s 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\u2019s the rest of the world, who liked it when they saw the films, but haven\u2019t caught up with the alternate universe, and are hit-or-miss with the prequels. That\u2019s basically me. I loved the original trilogy(well, A New Hope<\/em> and Empire Strikes Back<\/em>, really. Wasn\u2019t so hot on Return of the Jedi<\/em>, and I think that Greg Weisman says it best<\/a>), didn\u2019t 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<\/em>(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\u2019t played the BioWare-less sequel), and Gennedy Tartakovsky\u2019s animated serial Clone Wars<\/em>.<\/p>\n

These threee-to-fifteen minute shorts were pure excellence. While Samurai Jack<\/em>\u2019s lack of development, either plot or character-wise was hit-or-miss, Tartakovsky\u2019s style-over-substance approach seemed to work in shorter intervals, and Paul Ruddish\u2019s designs worked wonders, too. It\u2019s a shame that General Grievous was such a waste in Revenge of the Sith<\/em>, since his epic battle in episode 20 with him against four Jedi\u2019s at once is still the definition of bad ass, while Anakin\u2018s 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\u2019s weren\u2019t shy towards the micro-series either, giving Cartoon Network some of it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

We got our first sampling of the now CGI-induced The Clone Wars<\/em> a few months ago as a feature film that did decently at the box-office. I didn\u2019t get around to seeing it, but I believe this was supposed to introduce us to Ashoka, Anakin\u2019s new Padawan, as well as get us the gist of the program to come. What I didn\u2019t like was the negative reviews I\u2019ve heard from it, how it wasn\u2019t as engaging as the micro-series. This was to be expected, though, as Tartakovsky wasn\u2019t on this project. Still, I wanted to give this a go.<\/p>\n

For the past month, CN\u2019s been putting the gravy train of advertisement on full speed, so much so that you couldn\u2019t 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\u2019re going to beat Nick and Disney out for the night for a change.<\/p>\n

And now we have it. The first two episodes have just aired, and I\u2019m finally able to share my piece on them. According to the creative director, all of the show\u2019s episodes will be unrelated, so you can watch one episode without seeing another and won\u2019t be secluded, and how not ever character will appear in every episode.<\/p>\n

The first episode of the evening, \u201cAmbush\u201d, 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\u2019s a great change of pace to see tough-as-nails action here as compared to the tamer Secret Saturdays. I\u2019ll chalk that up to the PG-V rating. Maybe one day Cartoon Network will make a PG-rated first-party series\u2026<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a shame that we didn\u2019t 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\u2019s nice to see that she\u2019s 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\u2019t appear in the first episode.<\/p>\n

They do in the next episode, \u201cRising Malevolence\u201d. Well, mostly Anakin. Obi-Won only appears for a scene. This is Anakin and Ashoka\u2019s episode, as they have to save the Jedi Master Plo Koon after the Speratist Army uses their new weapon against them. This one\u2019s a lot darker than the first, even though it isn\u2019t as engaging, mostly due to the slow-pacing. Ahsoka\u2019s character is a bit whiny and hard to shallow. I\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n

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<\/em>, 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\u2026<\/p>\n

One problem I\u2019ve 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\u2019t really care. I didn\u2019t find them annoying, and from what I\u2019ve seen from them in action, as irritating as they\u2019ll be, it\u2019ll all be justified as the action moves along.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t wait for the rest. I think Clone War<\/em>\u2019s first offerings were more enjoyable than Secret Saturdays<\/em>, but I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if one became more enjoyable than the other. Here\u2019s hoping for some good times ahead that\u2019ll make me forget Toonami\u2019s demise.<\/p>\n

Avaitor out<\/p>\n

Originally posted on Sunday, October 5, 2008.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alright, so Friday night, Cartoon Network\u2019s 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…<\/p>\n

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