Saying Goodbye To Regular Show

Howdy ladies and gents, how’s it going? I know its been a little while since I wrote any film or TV reviews, but today I return with a topic that just needed to be talked about. The other day I finally got around to watching the three-part finale for season 8 of Regular Show, and the fact that one of my favourite cartoons has come to end has me feeling a lot of emotions. And I don’t think I could let this blog continue without addressing the show’s 8th and final season, the finale and my feelings on the show overall. MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD…

Now some of you may already know about my love for Regular Show as I did a post about it a while ago, but season 7 and more recently season 8 has done a fair amount to reinforce that love not with only the quality of the storytelling and character development, but also the ability to mix up the basic formula by creating new and interesting scenarios, adding to the existing mythology of the world, and building off of the foundations of previous seasons. And yet it still retains the balance between humour and more relatable/dramatic material which fans have come to appreciate.

I will admit, for all the love I’ve had for this cartoon over the years, its consistency in overall seasons hasn’t always been on point. I remember I think after season 4, some ways into season 5 things started to slow down for me, and while there were certainly moments in season 6, again, I didn’t feel like I was having as many great episodes as had come in the show before. That being said, it was during these later seasons that there was more continuity and on-going storylines taking place from what I recall. Season 7 was when things really picked up with the humour and crazy material that made me fall in love with the show, but also bringing up plot points from previous seasons, having character-driven stories and a greater focus on Rigby and his journey to get a high school diploma. And the way that season ended, bloody hell, it totally took me by surprise (SPOILERS with the dome leaving Earth taking the main primary cast into space). And season 8 has featured a lot of really random and bizarre material for the characters to deal with stuff like being homesick, understanding the different rules of space, making new allies and enemies, learning about the history of the space dome and dealing Pops’ key storyline. I had a lot of fun watching this season with all the inventive ways the people behind this show were able to give us more of the same in the simplest/normal of ways, but at the same time was able to provide larger than life circumstances in various ways, some of my favourite episodes include:

• Space Creds
• Ugly Moons
• The Brain of Evil
• Fries Night (one of my absolute favourites)
• Stuck in an Elevator
• The Space Race
• The Ice Tape
• The Key to the Universe
• No Train No Gain
• Christmas in Space (one of my absolute favourites)
• Kill ‘Em with Kindness
• Meet the Seer

But then you have that finale, “A Regular Epic Final Battle” where we got a lot of information from learning about the planet Pops came from to the history of the many battles between Pops and Anti-Pops to the all-out battle between good and evil and how everything got resolved. Good gravy it was a lot to take in, but it was one hell of a ride. The humour was on-point from the dialogue to the visual material, but it also brought in so many characters and elements from previous seasons together for this absolutely fun and action-packed session. It felt like a mini event, like Regular Show had tapped into Captain America: Civil War‘s style of taking most of the best elements from what’s come before and put it all in one place and made it work. But then there was two major surprises: 1) The way Mordecai, Rigby and ultimately Pops finally dealt with Anti-Pops was unexpected, yet natural and quite sad. And 2) That ending montage… Good gravy, I know that there have been shows that have ended like this; with a montage of future events, but to see how long the characters were in space and more importantly where their lives went after they went their separate ways, it was some heavy stuff, but it felt natural, cute, beautiful and most importantly relatable. And the fact that it was set to “Heroes” by David Bowie, damn, that brought the feels on a whole new level. I love that song, and with it being the final music in the Regular Show finale, it meant so much more to me and felt so perfect. While I wish I had seen what had happened to Margret and CJ, and possibly even Thomas, I feel like the conclusion to this show was very appropriate.

It has been like two days since I finished Regular Show and I honestly felt a little empty after I finished the episode. Regular show has been part of my life for around 5 years and for it to be over, it does make me feel sad. Not since Parks and Recreation ended in 2015 have I felt such a loss in the world of TV (check out my thoughts here), funnily enough both shows share a lot of similarities in terms of its characters, humour and emotional material too. Even at the time of writing this, it feels surreal talking about Regular Show in past tense, but I’m glad the show ended on a high with the show having a satisfying conclusion.

It sucks that one of my favourite TV shows has left the airwaves, but I am so thankful for the memories and the fact that it ended on a good note. Regular Show is one of the best shows Cartoon Network has released and I will miss it greatly. So now I ask you ladies and gents, if you’re a fan of this cartoon did you watch the finale and if so what did you think of it? Drop me a comment below! And if you’re not on this hype already, sort your life out watch some Regular Show, it’s damn good! 😀 😀

 

QUICK REVIEW: The Powerpuff Girls (2016) “Man Up”

Howdy people of the internet, I return to you today with an interesting review as I am going to talk about the first episode released for the 2016 version of The Powerpuff Girls! Now I remember when this show was announced, saw that the primary voice cast besides Tom Kenny was changing and even saw one of the clips released online for this show a little while ago, but I was a little skeptical mainly due to my nostalgia for the old series. But I just saw the first episode and I thought I’d share my quick thoughts on it.

What is apparent from the beginning is that this is a different interpretation to the 90’s show much the way that you have the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the late 1980’s and the 2012 version, both shows are very different from each, but still retain the core elements that you like and associate with said show. The Powerpuff Girls (2016) is like a modern re-imagining of the classic show, you still have your three main heroines having fun and beating up bad guys, but the world they inhabit, the dialogue and situations definitely feel more modern than anything else.

For what its worth I did really enjoy “Man Up” it was a simple yet effective episode to bring the PPG back into the public consciousness. It was mainly focused on Buttercup and her anger issues and how she should adopt a calm attitude through meditation. The sense of humour was nice too, it had good timing and felt appropriate. While this episode worked on its own, I think why I liked it was because I have the prior knowledge of this show and it’s characters, so when I saw the characters bring up Buttercup’s anger it was great because it was done in a way that I don’t believe has been done before and it was effective because it felt in-line with what’s comes before. I was worried I wouldn’t like this new cartoon because the original voice actresses were gone, but luckily Amanda Leighton, Kristen Li, and Natalie Palamides do pretty well as Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, their interaction and solo performances are good, and in small cases I could hear that they sounded like the original voices too.

Oh and Man-Boy, bloody hell. That dude was frigging crazy and while his personality and motivations were standard fare, I did enjoy how strange, cocky and obnoxious he was. Visually the show’s nice, it feels like it fits in with the likes of Steven Universe and Adventure Time with the style of animation, art style and line thickness. The colour scheme is vivid and attractive and the animation doesn’t come across as lazy and that’s always a good thing. And for those who haven’t seen this show before I think that they’ll enjoy it, it has the same kind of zany, charismatic and funny aspects that make some of the current Cartoon Network shows so popular.

Now when it comes to the fans and how they’ll enjoy this show, that’ll be completely down to your specific preference and how open you are to change. There are a lot of differences and things certain aspects missing from the original show (most notably *SPOILERS* the new intro and ending songs), and I can see diehard fans complaining like hell. But if “Man Up” is any indication of what what’s coming for this new version of the PPG then I’m game.

So have you seen the first episode of The Powerpuff Girls (2016) and if so what did you think of it? Were you accepting of the changes or did the episode not do anything for you? Be sure to comment below and let me know and I’ll see ya on the next review laters! 😀

 

Samurai Jack is Back in 2016, Hallelujah!

Howdy ladies and gents, quick news update, so I read yesterday via ComicBook.com that my old show from Cartoon Network; Samurai Jack is coming back to TV in 2016 and I pretty much freaked out. Here’s the official article:

Adult Swim has just announced a new season of Samurai Jack to launch in 2016. The show will return during Adult Swim’s Toonami block and is currently in production in Los Angeles.

You read that right folks, the 4 time Primetime Emmy Award winning series that has its roots in the early 2000’s is back! Samurai Jack, created by Genndy Tartakovsky follows Jack, a samurai who travelled through time with the quest to head back to where he came from and defeat the demon Aku.

The show ended in 2004 but not before cultivating a die hard fanbase that has been clamoring for it’s return for just over 10 years. Fans looking for their Jack fix got a small taste in comic form, thanks to IDW.

“I feel like it’s culminating to a fever pitch almost.” said Tartakovsky in a previous interview with ComicBook.com. “I feel like it’s time to maybe finish the story. We’ve been trying to get the feature off the ground but maybe that’s just fate’s way of saying this is a television thing and maybe it should be a mini-series or something like that.”

For me Samurai Jack was one of my favourite shows back in school, it was so different from all the other cartoons that were on. It was full of action, adventure and comedy, but it was also tragic, emotional, large in scope and unless the episodes were directly linked, no two episodes were the same. Jack’s mission to get home took him to various locations meeting allies and villains and even though the end game for Jack was always the same, the stories were always different and didn’t lack creativity. When the show aired “Jack and the Baby” in 2004, leaving the show’s story unfinished I was devastated. To know that there’d be no proper conclusion to the show has dwelled on my mind for years and  I prayed that it would get brought back, and before this month the only way for fans to see more of this franchise was in the comics that fan from 2013-2015… But no more. My show is getting resurrected from the dead and it is the best news I could ever get.

Now I do have a few questions like:

1. Will this revived series keep the visual style the same as it was before? Those who have watched the show before know that SJ had a very specific art style, tone and atmosphere and I wonder if today’s better technology in animation will influence the look and feel of the show or if they will keep everything the same. The short teaser indicates that things will stay fairly faithful the old show, but I just hope that it will stay that way.
2. Who will they get to replace Mako? One huge hole that will be felt in relation to this show returning is the return of Aku without Mako. For those unaware, Mako Iwamatsu was the Japanese actor who provided the voice for the main antagonist Aku and he passed away in 2006. And while it’s not unheard of for voice actors to be replaced after death with someone new, it will be interesting to see who gets picked that will have the right level of charisma, charm, humour and menace that Mako so brilliantly brought to this character.
3. How long will the new seasons last? So we know the show’s returning for season 5, but how many more episodes will there be? I know it’s too early to tell now and we probably won’t know until we see how many people watch it and how well it’ll be received from fans and critics, but I can only hope that we’ll get 3 or 4 more seasons of SJ, because we need it.

In the end I’m just glad that my man Jack will be back on TV after all these years, and hopefully they production team won’t fuck this up because Samurai Jack is due for a return to the public eye and it should be done right. Now if we can revive Megas XLR then life will be complete.

So have you heard about Samurai Jack‘s return to TV and if so what do you think about it? Be sure to comment below and I’ll see ya on the next blog post, laters! 😀

 

Powerpuff Girls To Be Rebooted in 2016 on Cartoon Network!

Good day to you ladies and gents, time to talk about some TV news and today its related to some interesting and exciting news concerning a reboot of one of my favourite cartoons from my childhood; The Powerpuff Girls. The following information comes from ComicBookMovie:

In some totally left field news sure to please nostalgic nineties kids and little girls everywhere, Cartoon Network announced today that their iconic crime fighting trio, the Powerpuff Girls, will be making their triumphant return to television in 2016.

“The original Powerpuff Girls was a franchise phenomenon for Cartoon Network, paving the way for a new generation of innovative storytellers and enthusiastic fans worldwide,” said Cartoon Network chief content officer Rob Sorcher, “We are calling these girls back into action based upon an overwhelming demand for sugar, spice and Chemical X.”

Craig McCracken’s ‘The Powerpuff Girls’ is one of Cartoon Network’s most successful brands to date, with retail profits totaling over $2.5 billion. Endowed with the powers of sugar, spice, everything nice, and Chemical X (originally ‘a can of whoop-ass’), the girls fought their way through seventy-eight television episodes, a feature film, an anime spin-off, and a one-off special earlier this year featuring former Beatle Ringo Starr.

Though its appearance may be shocking to some, this new incarnation of The Powerpuff Girls promises to offer something fresh in a largely male dominated marketplace of superheroes.

When I read this I had to do a double-take because I thought it might have been a joke, but no, it’s happening, The Powerpuff Girls are coming back and I couldn’t be happier. I’d say this news is surprising and it is, but at the same time it really isn’t. This show when it was in its prime was one of the most beloved and successful shows on Cartoon Network, so it makes sense to bring it back for new audiences to enjoy. And since the release of The Powerpuff Girls: Dance Pantsed, I pretty much said to myself, “This special is great and all, but I would really like a new PPG series to watch.” And it seems like my secret thoughts have become a reality.

Now I make it no secret that I am a massive fan of this show and it was one of my favourite cartoons back in my childhood and believe me it wasn’t an easy thing to admit to when I was younger especially when it is viewed as a show for girls and most guys didn’t care for it. But now that I’m older I show my love for PPG with pride and I don’t care what anyone says, its badass. I am curious to know how much of the basic material the makers behind the show will keep the same and how much they will update, I also want to know what visual design they will go for too. Will it be the original 2D style or will they go the route of The Powerpuff Girls: Dance Pantsed and go with CGI? And speaking of The Powerpuff Girls: Dance Pantsed, will this new show re related to that or will it be its own thing? I thought Dance Pantsed was pretty good so I wouldn’t mind things similar to that, but I just hope they don’t hurt the show by modernizing it too much because there are some things that don’t below in the realm of cartoons. I also wonder if Craig McCracken will have any creative imput or will he be separate from this version of the PPG like he was with the recent special? It’s probably the former but I would hop that he would be around to do something because this is his creation after all.

So what do think about this news? Whatever your thoughts are, be sure to leave a comment below yo. Laters. 🙂

 

The Powerpuff Girls: Dance Pantsed Review

Okay time for a very special review, today I’m gonna be reviewing The Powerpuff Girls: Dance Pantsed, the TV special that makes the return of one of my favourite cartoons of all time! Ever since I heard about this a month ago I knew I had to see it. Even though the new look is a lot to take it and the fact that Craig McCracken isn’t involved is cause for concern, I still have to give it a watch just to know how this turned out. So is it good or bad? Read on and find out!

So the plot of the special involves classic villain Mojo Jojo kidnap Fibonacci along with an opera singer and a badger. The girls rescue all of them, and defeat Mojo yet again with his kidnapping plan. Not deterred he then goes on to invent an evil video game called “Dance Pants R-EVILution 2,” to take over Townsville.

The plot feels like something made for the old TV show, it is simple and effective, though there are moments where you notice the differences or inconsistencies. This special feels like a mixture between old and new in terms of the pop culture references and it is still funny and light-hearted. Things that people will notice are a few changes that mess with the continuity of the old show like:

• Bubbles and Buttercup having ice powers
• The girls seem incapable of doing some easy tasks unless they’re a team
• Townsville city hall now being on a patch of grass in the middle of town rather than be on a main street
• Professor Utonium’s backstory being changed a little

But since it was a special I didn’t consider it canon to the show. For all its efforts it feels like it is missing something. I kind of wish there was more action, classic characters and just a bit more of the old style from the TV show, but then I guess this is the result of not having Craig McCracken on-board.

As for the characters they all seem to be on-form for the most part and reflect their former selves. Let’s start with the girls. Blossom is still the righteous leader, Bubbles is happy-go-lucky free spirit and Buttercup is the grumpy tomboy. They’re all this pretty spot-on and Cathy Cavadini, Tara Strong and E.G. Daily sound like they never left their roles. My only complaints are that the girls squabble a little too much and Bubbles like a bit more a dummy than usual.

Professor Utonium is still the loving father figure and creator of the girls, he seems fine for the most part but for some reason he came across a being a bit sillier and stranger than usual, thankfully he still sounds normal thanks to Tom Kane. Tom Kenny is still doing his thing as the Major of Townsville, still a bit stupid and still obsessed with those pickles, though it is hard to hear the Major not think of the Ice King from Adventure Time as the voices are practically the same. Ms. Bellum while not in the special that much is still pretty good and has one really strange/funny moment too and her voice still sounds lovely thanks to Jennifer Martin. And finally Mojo Jojo is back and he is still evil, strange and over-the-top with his planning and monologues. Roger L. Jackson still sounds good too, my only issue is that Mojo seemed a little sillier than the one of old.

When it comes to the presentation, I have mixed feelings about it. The PPG has always been traditionally 2D in its animation and art style and only adopted CGI once the movie came out and in the latter  part of TV series too (from what I recall of it). But here everything is CGI and it looks odd, while the animation during the action scenes and sequences is good, individual movements on characters look stiff, awkward and jerky. I like how Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup have small yet noticeable traits in regards to their eyes and hair and some of the other character updates are decent, though hate what they did to Professor Utonium, he looks ugly and Mojo looks weird too. I was gutted that there was no sign of the original PPG theme song or end credits songs too (one of my favourite things about the old show was the music).

In conclusion The Powerpuff Girls: Dance Pantsed is a pretty awesome special which takes all the classic elements of the old TV and fuses it with some modern ones too for a fun cartoon. The new art style and animation may not be to everyone’s liking but once you get past it, but it feels like the Powerpuff Girls of old with the story, humour and characters being mostly intact. It may not please everyone but If you’re a fan of the PPG then you owe it to yourself to check it out, it is nostalgic and cool.

Rating: 7.5/10 (Look past the visual and you still have at its core the essence of classic Powerpuff awesomeness)

So what did you think of The Powerpuff Girls: Dance Pantsed and how do you think it fared in relation to the old cartoon series? Whatever your thoughts are drop in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next blog post, laters! 😀

 

Random Blog 08: Regular Show

Howdy ladies and gentlemen, time for another random blog instalment. Today I’m gonna be doing a quick blog post on what has become one of my favourite TV shows in recent times, Regular Show.

So yeah Regular Show, what can I say? It is a truly unique cartoon which is so close to reality and so far from it at the same time. For those of you not in the know, this cartoon centers on the lives of Mordecai and Rigby (pictured above in name order) , they’re two best friends who work together at this park along with an array of other colourful characters who are co-workers and superiors. And episodes mainly focus on Mordecai and Rigby’s everyday lives which always seems to go from normal to frigging insanely weird in just a few moments in each episode.

Now I think for around almost two years I’ve known about Regular Show because I sort of caught just around the time I started watching Adventure Time, and at first I thought this show was some knock-off which was alright but not nearly as good as AT. But after my flatemate told me how good RS was, every time I went home I watched a bit of it and over the course of last year it really started to grow on me, and in 2013 I feel like more appreciation for the show has gone up significantly to the point where I actually like it more than AT (I’ll discuss this more at another point).

I think what makes this cartoon so unique is that is so true to life in the sense that the two main characters are friends, their lazy, silly, bicker with each other all the time and the way they act and behave is so similar to most friends in the real world. Plus when the show’s not doing some of its supernatural-based stuff it does deal with issues that most people go through in real life like: sibling rivalry, the highs and lows of relationships, secrets, trust, father issues and so much more and while its never taken to the point where its a life-changing experience, for a kids cartoon it does get pretty deep sometimes. Oh and speaking of it being a kids show, at the same time RS rocks because it has so much stuff there that isn’t meant for kids like guns, the use of the word ‘death’, very adult references to kissing, sex and cursing, I love it. And then of course there is the over-the-top, weird, supernatural elements of the show. RS is one of the most a random shows I have ever seen, just the amount of ‘WTF?’ moments in the show are beyond counting, somehow things just go from simple to frigging unnatural in a matter of seconds and sometimes it gets worse and worse. But again that’s the reason I adore the show so much, because it leads to some absurdly funny scenarios.

In the last week and a bit I’ve been watching the show from the beginning non-stop and I can’t get enough. I’ve just started season 4 and I’m already in love with it. I have never laughed so hard at a TV show since the days when the IT Crowd used be on-air (oh and possibly PhoneShop). This is the best kind of TV for me and it is one of the few reasons why Cartoon Network (a shell of its former self) is still alive these days.

To conclude Regular Show is something I highly recommend for anyone who are either fans of Adventure Time, have lost faith in good cartoons or just fancy something weird and funny yo.

 

First Promo for Teen Titans Go! And It’s Terrible!

FAIL, FAIL, FAIL!

I loved the Teen Titans cartoon that used to be on Cartoon Network back in 2004 and I always hoped that it would return in some shape or form. So when I heard about the announcement about Teen Titans Go! I was hyped… That is until I found out about the changed format from the original TV to the new one where it would focus less on superhero stuff and more on comedy. That already broke my heart, but now this new promo for the show has killed my beautiful TV show. Just have a look below:

This has to be some kind of joke right? What the hell is this crap? Teen Titans from what I hear is a great comic book series and the old TV on Cartoon Network was a really great cartoon that had a little anime charm to it too. So why the in the holy mother of hell would anyone think it was smart idea to create a show like this? Just look at it. The art style is very minimalistic and the animation is simple too, anyone who remembers the original Teen Titans will see how they’ve simplified the character designs and made them resemble something cheap and ugly-looking. They all have big heads and small bodies and look so silly; this must be for the sake of kids but still, why? All of this physical humour and stupid situations the announcer talks about is all the stuff I dislike about Ultimate Spider-Man and other children’s TV shows of present times. Everything just looks and comes across as loud, stupid and irregular!

It just looks like a cheaper, lazy and more stupid version of the former show. I thought Ultimate Spider-Man was a disgrace both as children’s TV show and a disgrace to the Spider-Man cartoons that came before it, but Teen Titans Go! looks like it’ll be even worse than that show, and Ultimate Spider-Man is really stupid! I remember back in the 90s when children’s cartoon shows were smart, accessible to people of all ages and didn’t treat its audience like idiots. I can’t believe that a brilliant show like Young Justice is ending to make way for this crap. Why can’t we have the old Teen Titans back? Why is life so cruel? It seems like no one in the TV animation business knows how to create good cartoons these days example for Adventure Time and Regular Show.

Anyways to conclude, I think Teen Titans Go! looks disastrous and is an insult to the original show and will probably suck terribly. I’ll probably have a look just for the sake of curiosity, but I don’t have much hope.