Sad News for Sonic The Hedgehog Comic Fans

Some of the characters from the Sonic The Hedgehog series from Archie Comics will not likely to return at all when it moves to IDW Publishing.

In the Q&A portion of the Bumblekast Podcast, Ian Flynn, former chief writer for the Sonic The Hedgehog comic books for Archie, has confirmed that characters that were originally made in the Archie comics will not transition to the IDW version. Flynn reprises his role as chief writer for the IDW series.

Released in 1991 for the Sega Genesis, Sonic The Hedgehog was a huge success and launched SEGA into a leading video game company, rivaling Nintendo throughout the 1990's. Sonic became the company's official mascot and numerous video games of the character have been released. The most recent entry, Sonic Forces, came out for the PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch in November of 2017.

Running from 1993 to 2016 at 290 issues, Archie Comics's adaptation of the Sonic The Hedgehog video game franchise by SEGA was formally recognized by the Guinness World Records as the longest running series based on a video game. In 2013, former writer Ken Penders filed a lawsuit against Archie Comics for ownership of the characters he created in the comics. 3 years later, a similar lawsuit was filed by Scott Fulop, also a former writer for the Sonic series in the comics.

Following these lawsuits, SEGA, which owns the Sonic franchise, announced in July 19 of 2017 that it's ending its partnership with Archie Comics. IDW would be announced as the new publisher of the comics 2 days later and the IDW version will be a reboot of the series. The first issue of IDW's Sonic The Hedgehog will be released in April of 2018.

Quick Thoughts on DBS's Aniraza from Episode 121

Aniraza is a unique case in Dragon Ball wherein his brief, yet incredible performance raises a lot of What-Ifs. In context, the remaining fighters of Universe 3 fused to form the giant Aniraza. Despite his incredibly huge size, Aniraza is shown to be so powerful that it required team effort from everyone in Universe 7, including Frieza, to take him on. Goku and Vegeta activated their Super Saiyan Blue forms while Frieza used his Golden Form in this battle, along with Gohan who used his Awakened/Ultimate/Mystic form. In addition, it was Android 17 who figured out Aniraza's weakness that turn the tide into the Z Fighters' favor.

Given the fact that Aniraza is partly mechanical, he has the same attribute as the Androids in which he has a virtually infinite amount of stamina, allowing him to fight for long periods of time without ever tiring out.

Knowing that, questions arise if anyone could defeat Aniraza in a one-on-one battle without discovering his weakness. Would Goku be able to defeat Aniraza on his own if he were to use Ultra Instinct? It's certain Goku using UI can dodge all of Aniraza's attacks even if the latter uses wormholes to throw punches from a distance in various directions. But because the UI technique doesn't give Goku any kind of power boost, he may not be able to knock out Aniraza using pure melee or using a Kamehameha.

Would Vegito Blue be able to defeat Aniraza? Given that Goku and Vegeta already used their SSB forms and it was still insufficient to knock Aniraza out, this is a strong suggestion the two fusing to Vegito wouldn't make much of a difference. Even Kefla may not be powerful enough to defeat Aniraza on her own.

Which leaves the question if Jiren would be able to defeat Aniraza, as he, Toppo, and Dyspo did not particilate in the battle. Given that we don't know the full extent of Jiren's power, and that he is reserived to give his all exclusively to Goku, we honestly do not know at this point.

We can say to date that Aniraza is the most powerful opponent Goku has ever faced that is not a God of Destruction, and we may never see such a character again for the remainder of the show's lifetime.

Mob Psycho 100 Webcomic Finale This Week

ONE, the creator of One Punch Man, has announced on Twitter that his other series, Mob Psycho 100, is complete. The final chapter of the webcomic series will be released this week. Due to ONE focusing his work on Mob Psycho 100, the original One Punch Man webcomic has been placed on hiatus for several months.

Published in Ura Sunday as a digital webcomic series in 2012, Mob Psycho 100 is of the title character Mob, a naive teenager who happens to be the world's most powerful esper. Mob keeps his emotions in check to prevent his psychic abilities from being unleashed to its full potential as they extremely powerful and destructive. The webcomic was adapted to an anime series by Studio Bones (My Hero Academia) that aired in Japan in 2016. An English-dubbed version was produced by FUNimation that same year. A live-action adaptation of Mob Psycho 100 is planned for release on Netflix in 2018.

One Punch Man is an ongoing, self-published webcomic series in 2009. It depicts Saitama, an overpowered superhero who, after defeating his enemies with one punch, grows bored and seeks to find an opponent worthy of him unleashing his full power. It was proved to be so popular that in 2012, it was adapted into a manga series with illustrations by Yusuke Murata and published in Young Jump's Web Comics site. The manga remake would serve as the basis for the anime series produced by Studio Madhouse (Daeth Note, Black Lagoon, Hunter x Hunter) in 2016. The second season is planned for release in 2018 and will be produced by JC Staff (Food Wars, A Certain Magical Index). English versions of the manga and anime adaptations are available by Viz Media.

Some Cartoon Network Rumors

A little bird told me about these, but take them with a grain of salt as they are all unconfirmed rumors:

- Infinity Train is greenlit but production will not occur until creator Owen Dennis finishes his contract with TBS as he is working with JG Quintel on Close Enough.

- Pilots for Infinity Train as well as Victor and Valentino are said to be being done in the same office that developed the CN Minisodes.

- There is a delay in producing the Apple and Onion series due to conflicts of interest with its creator.

- OK KO is now producing episodes for Season 2.

- Despite the hate towards the PPG Reboot, it is well received in other countries and merchandise sales are said to be satisfactory, which is enough to give it a 2nd Season. The same goes with the Ben 10 reboot.

- Production on episodes for Steven Universe is on halt for a time due to a plan on creating a Musical-themed TV movie. Sugar and the staff are back at work. The series is said to last for a grand total of 9 seasons.

- CN is planning to be more active in social media by making deals with content creators and fandoms of various series. So expect Youtubers making promotional content for Steven Universe, of which CN will be prioritizing.

Again, these are UNCONFIRMED rumors.

Megaman in Super Robot Wars?!

Just woke up this morning to find out about this: Rockman (Megaman to you 'Murricans) is officially added to the Super Robot Wars X-Omega game and will make its debut in January.

FYI: Super Robot Wars is a crossover video game franchise featuring various mecha anime that spans from the 60s until today. Notable mecha anime included in the games are GoLion (Voltron), Macross (Robotech), the Gundam franchise, Code Geass, The Big O, Evangelion, and Gurren Lagann. More recently, the franchise expanded itself to include mecha featured in games, manga, toys, and even live-action. Series such as Virtual-On, Xenogears, Zyuranger (Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers) and even Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla are officially included. Despite the franchise being exclusively available in Japan, Super Robot Wars has an international fanbase.

A few days ago, Super Robot Wars X is announced for the PS4 and PS Vita to be released in 2018 and will feature characters from Gundam Wing, Nadia: Secret of Blue Water, Cross Ange, and Buddy Complex, among others. And English version of the game is announced for Asian countries.

Super Robot Wars X-Omega, which will feature Megaman in January, is available only in Japan for the iOS and Android.

Official English Trailer for SRW X for the PS4/Vita

Venom Inc. Alpha Review

The classic team-up of Spider-Man and Venom returns in the 6-part crossover series! Venom Inc. is part of Marvel’s Legacy event that celebrates various characters taking up the mantle of Marvel’s iconic superheroes through the generations.

The story is set after the events of Venomverse and The Fall of Parker. Eddie Brock, the original Venom, now has the symbiote under his possession. However, their bond is not what it was before as the symbiote craves to kill its victims, conflicting with Brock’s desire to be a crime-fighter. Brock seeks help from the Alchemax Corporation in keeping the symbiote under his control.

After being forced to shut down Parker Industries thanks to Dr. Octopus, Peter Parker is left penniless and both he and Spider-Man are viciously hated by the public. Bobbi Morse, aka Mockingbird, took Peter under her wing and the two are in a relationship. Peter slowly works to rebuild his life by returning to work for the Daily Bugle as a science editor, while still patrolling the streets as Spider-Man…

After learning that Eddie Brock now has the original symbiote, Andrea “Andi” Benton, who possesses the Mania symbiote (a clone/spawn of the original Venom symbiote), aids Flash Thompson in finding him in an attempt bring the symbiote back to Flash, so the latter can once again become Agent Venom. Andi was suddenly ambushed by Lee Price, who previously bonded with the original symbiote. Lee and his men forcefully separates Andi and the Mania symbiote and captures the latter.

With Andi hospitalized, Flash seeks help from Peter Parker and informs him of the situation, hoping the message will be passed to Spider-Man. However, Flash backs off upon knowing that Spider-Man may attempt to destroy the symbiote instead of helping it return to Flash. Flash is unaware that as Peter leaves, a Spider-Tracer is placed on him to track his movements.

Meanwhile, Eddie Brock continues to struggle keeping the symbiote under his control as its desire to kill intensifies, nearly killing The Looter, a low-end criminal. Eddie decides to return to Alchemax for a new treatment to keep the symbiote under control, much to the protest of the latter. Flash sneaks into Alchemax and finds Eddie, and demands that the symbiote be returned to him, leaving the symbiote conflicted as to which host to bond with. As the two engage in a tug of war, Spider-Man crashes in and douses the symbiote with the new treatment compound, thinking it would destroy the symbiote for good. Instead, Flash then re-emerges as the new Anti-Venom.

At an underground bar, Lee has bonded with the Mania symbiote and assumes the name “Maniac”. He infects The Looter with the Mania symbiote and recruits him to his army.

1993’s “Maximum Carnage” was one of the most memorable arcs of Spider-Man as it featured the team-up between the web-slinger and his arch-enemy Venom. Indeed, Maximum Carnage helped raise Venom’s profile to being a fan favorite that continues to this day. With the Marvel brand now running its Legacy series, Venom Inc. is an attempt to re-ignite the spark that made Maximum Carnage memorable – just without Carnage, and maybe not so much with the team-up part.

What I enjoyed when I first started reading Venom Inc. is how easy it is to get into the story without having to backtrack to reading past arcs. The first few pages with the visuals by Ryan Stegman provides a quick, easy to define memo that a lot of stuff happened, but none of them too important in getting into Venom Inc.’s plot. Even though I never read how Andi, Flash, and Lee became Venom/Venom spawns, just knowing that they had was more than enough.

The issue focuses so heavily on Venom that Spider-Man can be seen here as a bit of a nuisance. Indeed, Peter is totally out of the loop on what the symbiote has been doing for these past few decades, and still thinks of it as a threat that must be disposed of. This results in unintended consequences as Peter is the one responsible for turning Flash into Anti-Venom, which may affect not only relations with the major characters involved in this arc, but themselves moving forward.

The absence of Cletus Kassidy/Carnage in this arc meant that Lee Price/Maniac would have to fill in as the main antagonist. Those are indeed big shoes to fill given that Carnage, like Venom, has made a name for himself over the years. Only time will tell if Venom Inc. pushes Maniac to a status that will make him likable and memorable by comic book fans, or be left out as a mere footnote like The Looter.

All-in-all, Venom Inc. is off to a good start. Peter and Eddie are once again back in the mix, along with several characters old and new coming from Venom line to form what may be an interesting story arc. With part 2 being just around the corner, you don’t have to wait too long to see what happens next. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Venom Inc. Alpha, a 3 out of 5.

Alita Battle Angel Trailer Released

The first trailer for "Alita Battle Angel" is finally made available on Youtube.

The movie is an adaptation of the manga series "Battle Angel Alita" (known in Japan as "Gunnm") by Yukito Kishiro in 1990. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, it depicts a female cyborg brought back to life by a scientist. Having no memory of her past, the cyborg Alita becomes a bounty hunter in hopes of finding clues as to her origins.

A two-episode OVA (Original Video Animation), incorporating elements from the first two volumeso of the manga was released in 1993. Both the manga and anime received critical praise when released in the US. James Cameron, famous for directing movies like Titantic and Avatar, has long been a fan of Battle Angel and has acquired the rights to produced the live-action film.

Cameron serves as co-producer for the film, while Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) serves as director. The film stars Rosa Salazar (The Maze Runner, The Divergent Series) as Alita, and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained, Spectre) as Dr. Ido. Other notable actors includes Jennifer Connelly (Betty Ross from Ang Lee's Hulk), and Mahershala Ali (Cottonmouth from Netflix's Luke Cage). The film is scheduled to be released in theaters in the Summer of 2018.

Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie Review

Not too long ago, Nickelodeon made the announcement that they will be reviving some of their older IPs for today's viewers and to bring in the nostalgia factor for the older fans. Invader Zim and Rocko's Modern Life are among those IPs given a revival. Just this weekend in the US, Nickelodeon released the first of their revived properties - Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie.

The movie is itself a continuation of the Hey Arnold! television series that aired from 1996 to 2002. In particular, it is a follow-up to the two-part episode "The Journal" from Season 5, as well as the first Hey Arnold! movie back in 2002. For a quick refresher for those aren't familiar, Hey Arnold! it's essentially about the everyday life of the title character, distinguishable by his football-shaped head, and his sense of optimism and quick thinking. It was a very popular series at the time and the original ending has Arnold finding a journal that provide clues on the possible whereabouts of his missing parents, Miles and Stella.

The Jungle Movie begins with Arnold entering a contest where he showcases his humanitarian efforts for the local town, with the grand prize being a field trip to San Lorenzo, the place where Arnold's parents where last seen. Things went bad for Arnold when the homeless raided his project. But with the assistance of his rival Helga, the mean girl who is secretly in love with him, along with his best friend Gerald, and the rest of the townsfolk, Arnold's project was completed and he wins the contest.

In San Lorenzo, Arnold meets Eduardo, the local guide who also happens to be his parents' best friend. Eduardo informs Arnold of the Green-Eyed people, a local tribe who have hidden themselves from the outside world, but have close ties to Miles and Stella. Eduardo believes that by finding the Green-Eyed people, they would know the whereabouts of Arnold's parents. Eduardo also warns Arnold of the pirate La Sombra, who had a run in with Arnold's parents before.

Arnold is told not to give this revelation to anyone, which results in a strained relationship with Gerald, who along with the rest of the class, found out anyway after their boat came under attack and everyone later being captured. La Sombra reveals himself to be masquerading as Eduardo and masterminded the contest to lure Arnold to San Lorenzo. He is after the treasure of the Green-Eyed people known as the "Corazon", and Arnold is the key to its location.

With help from Gerald and Helga, and after a brief reconciliation, Arnold escapes and the trio began looking for the Green-Eyed people, unaware that they are being tracked by La Sombra. After some puzzle solving and a pinch of Indiana Jones here and there, the trio finally entered the city of the Green-Eyed people and are surprised that it consists entirely of children. They then learn of the tribe's history.

A sleeping sickness befalls all the adults of the tribe, leaving the children to fend for themselves. Miles and Stella first arrived with the cure, but did not bring enough, so they spent their time with the tribe developing more but succumbed to the sickness. The Corazon is a heart made of gold that is locked in a trapped puzzle chest that only Arnold can open.

La Sombra arrives and captures Arnold and coerces him to open the puzzle chest. Unaware of the trap, La Sombra was hit by a poisoned dart on the head and falls off the cliff. The real Eduardo arrives to the rescue, revealing that he's been trailing Arnold's class ever since arriving in San Lorenzo. La Sombra comes back and after a brief scuffle, falls down the cliff a second time after succumbing to the poison, along with the Corazon.

The Corazon turns out to be a key in operating a machine that would spread the cure to the Green-Eyed people. Using Helga's heart-shaped locket of Arnold as a substitute, they managed to operate the machine and spread the cure. Arnold is hailed as the tribe's hero and he is reunited with his parents. Arnold then speaks to Helga and finally deduces that she is in love with him and the two kiss. The movie ends with Arnold back at school for 6th grade, but this time with his parents accompanying him.

I find it a bit of a letdown that the introduction of the main villain La Sombra was already foreshadowed in the opening film. The trope is expected, yes. But it also drowns out any tension in the film of La Sombra's acts, and his big reveal is like "Well, duh! It was so obvious even a 5-year old can tell!". Fortunately, this does not carry to the second half of the film.

Another is Helga's confession to Arnold a quarter of a way into the film, which felt somewhat rushed. Personally it would've been better if she did it a little later. But thankfully, it didn't really wrinkle the film and it worked out in the end and Arnold and Helga became an actual couple, though I am amused that Helga still does her Tsundere persona towards Arnold, even though she no longer has to. Helga also steals the movie as her solo monologues where she struggles over her feelings for Arnold are the movie's best parts.

I won't lie the writing does have a number of plotholes here and there. For one, how weird is it that you're only 11 and your parents entrusted you on a dangerous mission when you haven't seen them in 10 years? Nevertheless I enjoy the writing overall and the way the narrative is handled from a child's point of view. The movie also has a lot of laughs and even though it's the first one in 15 years, it retains the charm of the television series.

I'm amazed that even though The Jungle Movie is a continuation of the TV series, it is structured in a such manner that even if you never watched Hey Arnold! before or you pretty much have forgotten about it, you can easily dive in and not get lost in the plot. For the movie's 1 hour 20 minute runtime, you are re-introduced to the world of Hey Arnold! and its cast and just like that, you've got everything you need to sit back and enjoy the movie like you would with the original show.

I got to hand it to creator Craig Bartlett on how he handled Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie. He managed to maintain the charm of the TV series without straying too far off, and is attractive to both fans and non-fans. At the same time, the movie serves as closure to the series overall. And frankly, it was well deserved. Some would like to have more adventures of Arnold, but I believe the movie closes the book for good. Besides, you are leaving the movie feeling quite optimistic for a better tomorrow, just as Arnold has from the very beginning. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie. A 4 out of 5.

Rurouni Kenshin Creator Arrested

The creator of Rurouni Kenshin and Buso Renkin, Nobuhiro Watsuki, is arrested on possession of child pornography, according to Yahoo News Japan, and the Yomiuri Shinbun.

According to reports, police had uncovered DVDs of women aged 15 and under at Watsuki’s office in Tokyo, as well as inside his home. Watsuki quoted to the police “I liked girls from the upper grades of elementary school to around the second year of junior high school”.

Possession of child pornography is illegal in Japan (with the exception of lolicon or sexual depictions of fictional young women under the age of 18). If convicted, Watsuki would face one-year in prison, as well as having to pay a fine of 1 million yen (around $9000).

Serialized in Shonen Jump from 1994 to 1999, Watsuki’s Rurouni Kenshin depicts a former assassin defending the people of Meiji-era Japan, while vowing to never kill again. It was adapted to an anime series that aired in Japan from 1996 to 1998. Columbia Pictures Television (a division of Sony) would release the series internationally under the title “Samurai X”. Media Blasters acquired the rights for the US release and aired on Cartoon Network’s Toonami block in 2003. Three live-action films adapting the manga were released from 2012 to 2014.

In September of this year, Watsuki produced a sequel manga series of Rurouni Kenshin, which is serialized in Jump Square. Publisher Shueisha has announced that in light of Watsuki’s arrest, the Rurouni Kenshin sequel manga will be put on hiatus, according to a report from Buzzfeed Japan.

In addition to Rurouni Kenshin, Watsuki also created the manga series Buso Renkin, of a young teenager who uses the power of alchemy to combat various monsters. It was serialized in Shonen Jump from 2003to 2005, and was adapted into an anime series airing from 2006 to 2007.

The Reflection Anime Review

In case you haven't noticed, Stan Lee did made a few anime and manga titles in his career. In 2009, he teamed up with Shaman King creator Hiroyuki Takei to produce the manga series Ultimo. 2010's Heroman was Lee first anime series that received critical praise. 5 years later, he would team up with Mushishi creator Hiroshi Nagahama to produce Lee's 2nd anime series "The Reflection", which came out this year.

"The Reflection" is a cataclysmic event that wiped out a good portion of the Earth's population. Those who survived were granted superhuman powers and are called as the Reflected. Tensions rise as the Reflected face discrimination due to their powers.

Three years later in New York City, a group of Reflected waged a campaign against the human race and calling on other Reflected to join their cause. Standing in their way are the mysterious X-On and the self-proclaimed superhero I-Guy. A young woman named Eleanor Everts begins investigating on the rogue Reflected, and seeking the identity of its leader, Wraith.

If you are familiar with the the TV series "Heroes" by Tim Kring, this is essentially the anime version of it, but under the guidance of the creator of Mushishi, concepts provided by the Grand Ambassador of Comics, and the same animation studio behind Ranma 1/2, Hetalia, Hell Girl, and the When They Cry and Fate franchises. You'd think with those big names (especially Stan himself) that The Reflection would be something epic and worth watching to. You are solely mistaken as it is quite a mess.

Starting with the characters, most of them are taken loosely from the characters Stan created back at Marvel. Eleanor can teleport at short distances a la Nightcrawler; X-On has the appearance of Spider-Man, but with the power mimicry of Rogue (minus the other person getting drained out); Ian Izetti/I-Guy's singing voice can destroy anything in its path like Black Bolt, while donning an Iron Man-like armor; Steel Ruler and Flaming Fury are genderbent versions of Magneto and the Human Torch, respectively. The list goes on. It's not unusual to have such characters with similar powers as found on Marvel and DC, but the comparison of the characters to those of the top two comic book brands overshadow whatever uniqueness (if any) each of the Reflected has in their character.

The first episode, despite its faults, gave an impression that makes you come back to watch the rest in terms of the plot. However, it drags out for so long that it ends up boring and uninteresting. This is due mainly to the writing of Yasuyuki Suzuki, who only wrote episodes for the Naruto and Yu-Gi-Oh franchises to his credit, which isn't saying much. Studio DEEN's approach to the animation in The Reflection only made things worse. I get that they're trying to provide a comic-like approach similar to the classic Marvel cartoons of the 60's, but it's such an eyesore that even the horrendous 3D animation of the second Berserk TV series is way better.

The one thing that really gets on my nerves is the inclusion of 9nine (pronounced "nine), a Japanese idol group who played as themselves in the anime series as among the Reflected. 9nine's appearance in the first episode mistakenly suggests the plot of The Reflection is global in scale, much like in Heroes. In reality, the plot is mostly centered in America while 9nine makes a few appearances doing random things that have no involvement in the overall story whatsoever until the final episode. 9nine's inclusion to the show's plot is just mere fan-service and nothing else.

Stan's only involvement in the production of The Reflection is being the series's co-creator, as well as providing the voice of Mr. Mystic. While Stan Lee is no stranger in voice-acting, this is, to the best of my memory, the very first time he took on the role of a villain. This is the only reason you would put up to listening to the English dub. Despite the number of talented individuals at FUNimation, which also dubs Dragon Ball Super, doing the English dub of The Reflection (which is how it's meant to be presented), it is just plain terrible.

There is one part of the series that does stand out as amazing, and that is its soundtrack. This is all thanks to Trevor Horn, a huge name in the music industry whose production and songwriting credits include The Buggles hit "Video Killed The Radio Star", Seal's "Kiss From A Rose", and Yes's "Owner of A Lonely Heart". He produced both The Reflection's OP and ED themes (the latter performed by 9nine) and sang the insert theme "Sky Show", which is one of the best anime insert themes I've heard in a while. I personally recommended getting the soundtrack as part of your music collection.

It's quite disappointing that Stan Lee's 2nd anime series isn't as good as Heroman. The concept is there and is great, as is the soundtrack. But the execution of the plot, the animation, and the English dub ruins it. Still, it is at least watchable until the very end, and there are far worse anime out there than The Reflection. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Stan Lee's The Reflection, a 2 out of 5.

Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 4 Review

Previously in Voltron: Legendary Defender - Shiro, who was missing for a few episodes after knocking out Zarkon at the end of Season 2, finally pops up and rejoins the team, who has already adjusted to having Keith as their new leader, and Allura taking the Blue Lion spot. Lotor finally shows up with his harem soldiers and is a rebel with a plan of his own, and is quite a match for the Voltron team. Meanwhile, Haggar, as she helps recover Zarkon, remembers her being his wife and the catalyst for the conflict thanks to her obsession with the quintessence having virtually infinite power, which explains why Voltron is so powerful.

With Shiro now back on the team, Keith feels less obligated as team leader and spends more time with the Blades of Marmorra. This causes a rift within the group, resulting with Keith leaving the team to be with the Blades, while Shiro re-assumes the position of Black Lion pilot. Later on, Pidge is reunited with her brother Matt and the two geniuses worked together to help Shiro and the others.

Zarkon's loss to Voltron is spread across the universe, causing many civilizations to revolt and form the Voltron Coalition, with the mission to liberate the rest of the universe from Galra control. The Voltron team are tasked to strengthen the coalition by performing a series of stage shows (I kid you not). The coalition then began their campaign and by the end of the season, have liberated a third of the Galra territory.

Meanwhile, Zarkon is back and orders a search and destroy operation against Lotor, now deemed a traitor to the Galra Empire. This forces Lotor to speed up his plan of re-opening the gates between dimensions, in order to mine the quintessence for his own use. This complicates things, however, when he kills one of his own harem soldiers suspected of being under Haggar's spell, causing the rest to plot to bring Lotor to Zarkon in exchange for leniency. Lotor then is forced to take drastic measures - an unholy alliance with the Voltron team.

Season 4 of Voltron: Legendary Defender has the smallest number of episodes with just 6. I suspect that extending the series to 6-7 Seasons or so is just wordplay when in actuality the episodes were divided into smaller chunks and stamping the season number with it. We've seen this practice before with Cartoon Network on their handling of Steven Universe, Uncle Grandpa, and more recently Adventure Time. It's awfully annoying, to be honest.

Word has it Shiro's return happened sooner than the staff wanted it to be due to the insistence of the top brass from either Dreamworks or Netflix. The reason is explained in the fourth episode of this season - Shiro is the most popular character of the show. This of course, resulted in re-writing the plot, that in effect not only removes Keith from the Voltron team, but also demotes him to a supporting role, pretty much crashing down all the build up that was made for him in past episodes.

I have mixed feelings for this. On the one hand, I am glad Shiro is back. He is indeed my most favorite character. But I don't want him back in the leadership position, and especially taking back the Black Lion. It makes the concept and requirements of being a Paladin of Voltron and piloting a lion virtually redundant. I'm more than ok giving Shiro a supporting role and just have him give commands in the Altean Castle.

And I do feel bad for Keith because like I said earlier, Shiro's return has him demoted to being a supporting character. So all that build up and development seemed to tantamount to nothing. I also get the impression this would make him less popular among the fanbase.

If there is a silver lining to this, there's still Operation Kuron, of which Shiro is unknowingly an agent of the Galra. So chances are Shiro's revelation about this will result in him giving the Black Lion and the position of team leader back to Keith. However, I'm no longer as hyped over that revelation because we've already seen the switch between Shiro and Keith, then a switchback, and with Operation Kuron, if that is the case, likely another switch.

There's also the matter of how grand is the war against the Galra really is. The show wants to say that 'when we say universal, we mean it'. It does open a bunch of questions that the series won't answer in terms of world-building. So as to not bore you with science stuff, let's just say that if Voltron, who is on one end of the universe, travels to the other end where Zarkon is, the time of travel between those two points is like taking a non-stop flight from New York to Australia and Zarkon didn't grow old during the whole process.

So am I to believe that all the ships featured in Voltron Legendary Defender are capable of travelling across the universe with virtually no time dilation whatsoever? In other words if Shiro and the team left Earth to travel across the universe and back, it only took them a couple of months. If they did that in the real world, when they return to Earth, hundreds, maybe even thousands of years have already passed!

Granted, even in the original Voltron series, the conflict is said to be universal. But it's mainly hyperbole and the conflict is more between Planet Arus and Planet Doom, rather than expanding through galaxies. What I'm trying to sayis I prefer less is more in terms of the scale of the Galra conflict. If the staff really wants this to be literally universal in scale, at least provide more details to maintain the claim a la Star Trek or Gundam or Macross. If that's not possible, then make it something like Gurren Lagann. The way Voltron: Legendary Defender explains it is smack right in the middle which ends up neither appealing nor interesting.

And it doesn't stop there. The whole writing pretty much suffers everywhere throughout the season. Lotor, who was shown to be incredibly cunning and tough, takes a full 180 in this one. An entire episode is made dedicated to being pure comedy, but it ends up more cringy than funny. And there isn't anything that gives Voltron a true sense of challenge or struggle. I can't help but blame the sudden return of Shiro and putting him back in the leadership position as the cause of all this.

With only 6 episodes, and a totally messed up writing, there's not much else to say other than this season is my least favorite of the bunch. All I can hope is that it's just a huge fallback for the staff and that they would work hard to make it better in the seasons to come. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the 4th Season of Voltron: Legendary Defender, a 2 out of 5.

My Little Pony: The Movie Review

So this weekend, the theatrical film of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic made its debut in US cinemas. While it is not surprising that MLP gets a theatrical film, what I do wonder is the target audience - is the MLP movie meant for the brony community, who've watched the series since Season 1, or can those who've never seen My Litte Pony: Friendship is Magic be able to dive in and enjoy?

I wasn't sure if MLP was mainstream popular enough that they are just as recognizable as say, the Avengers or the Justice League. And of course, whether or not you need to be familiar with the series to understand the movie's plot. Given that I have stopped watching the series after Season 3, or whichever episode got Twilight Sparkle to become a princess, the movie serves as a good experiment if I would enjoy it even though I haven't watched MLP for so long, or do I really need to watch the other seasons to catch up.

It begins with Twilight making preparations for the Friendship Festival. Now I don't know if this is a yearly thing or once in a century or whatever. But regardless, every pony from all over the world are coming for the celebration. Twilight, ever the bookworm, is in charge of organizing the festival the way you'd typically expect out of her.

The preparations were halted by the arrival of of the forces of Stormking, who seeks the magic of the four princesses for world domination. With his lackey Tempest running things, three of the four princesses were captured. As the Mane 6 and Spike are the only ones that escaped Stormking's army, they head off on a journey to find the Queen of The Hippogriffs to ask for her assistance in fighting against the Stormking, and save Equestria and the other princesses.

I will admit, the very first few seconds of the film, I started to groan. It started off with a very beautiful, and I do mean beautiful, 2.5D animation sequence. What I mean is that the characters are drawn in 2D, but the way they move around and their animation sequences, are done as though it's in 3D.

But that got drowned out when the film did their own Pony-version of the pop song "We've Got The Beat" by The Go-Go's. Never have I recalled in watching the first 3 Seasons of MLP, or from all the Equestria Girls movies, did the musical numbers do an actual cover of a pop song. But the moment I heard the cover of "We've Got The Beat" playing, the first thing that popped onto my head were the Alvin and The Chipmunks films and to me, this is the direction the movie is going. And I cannot help but cringe at the whole music number. Thankfully, it was short, but it was still cringy.

With respect to Daniel Ingram, who did the song and score since the first season of MLP, the original songs are ok to listen to, but nothing memorable. Even the songs from the Disney movie "Frozen", as much as everyone has gotten sick and tired of it, still sticks to you like glue. I can still remember the songs from the earlier seasons of My Little Pony, and by extension Equestria Girls. But not so with this movie's soundtrack.

As for the overall plot, if I'm to put it bluntly, it's a rehash of the first two episodes of the MLP series, thematically speaking. What I mean is that the theme of friendship is placed centerstage again for the nth time for the next set of characters the Mane 6 encounters in the film, and the movie pretends that the Mane 6 still haven't gotten around the concept of friendship even though they've been doing it for 7 bloody years!

I get it, though. It's in order to help draw in viewers who never saw the TV series. But I still find it disappointing Meghan McCarthy and Joe Ballarini, who wrote the script, couldn't think of something a little more original. Much of the plot can be compared to the earlier Disney Princess films, as well as those from Don Bluth like All Dogs Go To Heaven. The introduction of Stormking as the antagonist does bring a bit of seriousness, but that goes away because his persona makes him somewhat of a rip-off of James Woods's version of Hades in Disney's Hercules film.

It doesn't help either that after the first few minutes, you can pretty much see how the plot goes. You also find a number the tropes that, while common and not surprising, the overall execution turns out bland. The same goes to its humor. I recall how I enjoyed the comedy featured in the earlier seasons, but I only laughed at one joke in the entire film.

That's nothing compared to the one part of the movie that really grinds my gears - the Mane 6's journey to seek help in order to defeat the Stormking, is nothing more than a MacGuffin.

I really hate to compare, but the Equestria Girls movies have far better storytelling than the MLP film, and it's from the same team. On the plus side, we are introduced to several new characters that aren't ponies. That's about it, though. As for the celebrity voices, you'd hardly even notice and, like virtually every other animated film these days, these celebrities only voice the characters for marketing purposes, rather than their actual talent for voice acting. The MLP movie isn't terrible by any means, but if you're expecting something totally epic, don't.

So to answer the question at the beginning of this review - is My Little Pony: The Movie worth seeing for someone who's not into MLP or for fans of the franchise? If you are a die-hard fan of the Mane 6, you will enjoy this film no matter what. Kids no doubt will enjoy this film too. For an ex-brony like myself, it's not a terrible film, but not something I would 'squee' at, either. As for those who've never seen it before, I'd say it's better you get the film as a video rental rather than watch it in a movie theater, then decide for yourself if you are into the franchise or not. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give My Little Pony: The Movie, a 2 out of 5.

The Powerpuff Girls - "Power of Four" Review

On Sept 10th, the Powerpuff Girls movie event "Power of Four" made its debut on Cartoon Network in the US. It was the "anticipated" episode where the fourth Powerpuff Girl is to be revealed. Cartoon Network and other outlets released teasers for the character, which is weird because the character was already revealed months ago via the CN Reel and her name is Bliss.

What's even weirder is that Bliss's voice in the English version varies by country. For North America, Bliss is voiced by South African singer Tony DeLazy. Though others say it's actually Adventure Time's Olivia Olson. However, when the movie came out, some reported that Bliss was voiced by DeLazy, while others by Olson.

In the Australia and New Zealand versions, Bliss is voiced by Youtuber Wengie. And mind you, Bliss is the only character who would have a different voice actor by country, all in English, whereas everyone else remains the same.

I'm told the reason for the voice actor change per country is for promotion and marketing purposes, which still doesn't make sense to me. Imagine if in the next Star Wars film, Luke Skywalker is played by 15 different actors to be aired in each English-speaking country. If Mark Hamill plays Luke in the American version, then the UK version would have Luke be played by what - Mr. Bean? I just don't get how is this going to help Bliss as a character, let alone the show.

Anyhow, I'm digressing here, so let's jump in to the main plot of the Power of Four movie, which I finally got to watch this weekend. But before that, full disclosure, I am reviewing a version of the movie where Bliss is voiced by Olivia Olson.

It begins with Blossom and Buttercup scolding Bubbles for messing things up again, while the latter swears it wasn't her, but Bliss. But because Bliss is nowhere to be seen, Blossom and Buttercup see this as another one of Bubbles's shenanigans of imaginary friends. This is going on for pretty much the first 9 minutes.

While the girls are watching a movie at their local cinema, a villain named Earthplow appears and pins them down. This is where Bliss FINALLY shows up and takes care of business, but was later put into stasis by Prof. Utonium.

According to Utonium, Bliss was the very first Powerpuff Girl he created. A prototype if you will. Apparently the reason Utonium wanted to create Bliss was because of his rivalty with another Professor who created a similar Powerpuff-like character, who happens to be a boy. Bliss is basically Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup all rolled into one. But because her powers are unstable, she blows things up whenever she expresses any kind of emotion. 

I gotta stop for a moment because not only is Bliss's origin story a total retcon of the origin of the Powerpuff Girls, but her emotions causing things go kaboom is virtually taken from the anime series Mob Psycho 100. If you've never heard of Mob Psycho 100, it's from the creator on One Punch Man where the protagonist Mob has to keep his emotions in check, as said emotions allows Mob to unleash his psychic powers, which are incredibly powerful and destructive.

And when Utonium mentioned having a rival that created a boy with superpowers, it's another reference to two different anime shows - Astro Boy, and Powerpuff Girls Z, which is the anime version of the franchise. I don't know about you, but it seems Haley Mancini and Jacob Goldman, the writers of this movie, who also did the infamous "Horn, Sweet Horn" episode, seems to be unable to come up with ideas and just borrowed concepts from other shows. Such a practice is quite common, but it's only good if it's well executed. This is anything but!

And when Bliss finally wakes up from her status, her first face-to-face conversation with her younger sisters is one of the cringiest I've ever seen.

So later Bliss continues telling her origin story where Utonium left off. After learning she's a danger to the professor, Bliss goes into exile on a place called Bird Poop Island. I kid you not, that is the name of the island. There, she met a tiny little elephant named "Me". Yes, his name is "Me" as in M-E, "Me". If you happen to be incredibly smart, then you know at this point where the story is going.

After Bliss's origin story ended, Mojo Jojo shows up with Utonium as his hostage. Mojo and Bliss apparently knew each other while Mojo was stilll a regular monkey. Mojo invites Bliss to join him, while the others discourage her. Bliss's confusion of the matter causes her powers to go unstable again, and poofs away. Jojo leaves disappointed while Bliss is apparently with the professor for a chat and decided to stick around.

In Act 3 of this film, (in actually, Power of Four is just four regular episodes compiled into one movie), the girls try to help Bliss fit in as a Powerpuff Girl, with each of the sisters giving their own take on boosting Bliss's confidence. Naturally none of them work out. This is made worse when a random villain named "Gnat" verbally attacks Bliss, which messes her emotions, ergo her powers, with her sisters getting caught in the crossfire.

Confident that he can defeat the Powerpuff Girls for good, Gnat goes on another assault. But this time, Bliss takes full control of her powers and uses it against Ned and beating him. Bliss receives admiration from her sisters, and the people of Townsville for saving the day.

Utonium, however, isn't convinced and forbids Bliss from saving the world until her powers are truly stabilized. Me then starts talking to Bliss telling her that her sisters and Utonium are a bad influence and must be dealt with. When the girls give Bliss another chance of convincing Utonium by taking down another villain, Bliss does so with ease, but goes too far by attempting to kill the villain and forcing the girls to get in the line of fire.

And this is where Me finally starts talking and if you still don't know at this point, Me is in reality Him in disguise. He convinces Bliss to join him against the girls and the two merged. Him wreaks havoc around Townsville and even pulls in Saturn to slice the Earth in half. The girls were powerless against Him, but with Mojo's help, they were able to separate Him and Bliss. However Him still has Bliss's powers and continues his rampage. To stop Him, Bliss and the Powerpuff Girls fused to become one mega giant Powerpuff Girl. Enter a giant monster or kaiju battle and Him was eventually defeated. Bliss leaves Earth as she is off to send Saturn back in its original position to maintain the balance of the Solar System. As Utonium and the girls wave goodbye to Bliss, Mojo Jojo cries in the distance, ending the episode.

I have questions here. If Him was spending 10 years attending to Bliss, how was he able to do so while attacking the Powerpuff Girls? There's no way Him can be in two places at once, and he has spent quite a long amount of time NOT with Bliss. Granted, I never bothered paying attention to the Powerpuff Girls reboot so I may have missed some key lore elements if there are any. But even still, it's hard to imagine why it's only now Him decided to take advantage of Bliss's powers when he probably could've done so many years earlier?

As for Bliss, I find her to be a character with a totally blank slate, and I believe that was intentional. What I mean is that Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup each have unique personalities that made them who they are. Bliss doesn't have anything that makes her stand out. Even Bunny, the other Powerpuff Girl from the original series, had a character that made her stand out and be memorable. Not so much with Bliss. Her blank slate is even worse thanks to her having different voice actors in other places, despite the release of said places also in English. And I believe that was intentional because of whatever crap Cartoon Network came up with behind the scenes.

Bliss is being marketed as the fourth Powerpuff Girl, but at the same time, she is NOT a series regular and is only around for the movie and that's it. If she's ever comes back, then Cartoon Network would have to re-hire all the voice actors to do her lines again, unless they decide to ditch that because it's too costly, and just go with one voice actor - which is what they should've done! It still makes no sense to me why they would do this and just makes Bliss a non-relevant character in the end!

No sense talking about the comedy in The Powerpuff Girls as the comedy was never funny at all. What's with the Japanese rock song in the background and a random person having anime eyes? If it's meant to be funny by parodying anime, it didn't work and I doubt kids get the reference. Even Teen Titans Go, as much as everyone hates it, at least has moments where it was pretty damn funny. But the Powerpuff Girls reboot? And the entire plot is so predictable, you already have a good idea how this would turn out in the end and you'd be absolutely correct.

So what do we get out of all of this? Nothing! Everything goes back to the status quo and by the time The Powerpuff Girls airs new episodes, it'll be as though Bliss never existed at all. And from what I hear, the Power of Four movie didn't do so well, ratings-wise. So it's safe to say, the movie was a waste of time for everyone. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give The Powerpuff Girls movie "Power of Four", a 1 out of 5.

Teen Titans GO - "Classic Titans" Review

This review was originally created on Sept. 17, 2017 and posted on Youtube.

Earlier in the week, Cartoon Network teased another crossover from Teen Titans Go, in which the cast would meet their 'classic' selves. Naturally, a lot of Youtubers who like to bash the show, because it's TTG, made videos thinking that the TTG cast would meet the original Teen Titans cast, and get a total beatdown. Unfortunately, the show does have a reputation of trolling with the viewers and fans of the original Teen Titans cartoon. And because TTG makes a lot of money for Cartoon Network than any other show in their lineup, it doesn't matter how many times people bash the show so long as it makes the network rich.

And in this episode, "Classic Titans", is another troll episode to spite the show's critics. Instead of featuring the original cast of the Teen Titans cartoon, they instead feature the CLASSIC Teen Titans characters from the comics. Despite this, however, I get a lot of feedback from those who have watched the episode and found it to be actually pretty good and funny. Now I did review the crossover episode with Young Justice and I did gave it high marks because it was indeed funny and I loved it. It doesn't mean I love the show, but a good episode is a good episode. So is "Classic Titans" one of theose episodes?

The episode begins with a scene of a talking dog and a baby being assaulted by a horde of zombie burritos, that somehow looks a bit like Rick from Rick and Morty. It's apparently a TV show called "Babies vs Dogs" the Titans are watching, which happens to be a classic show, according to Beast Boy. Enter Control Freak to bash the show when compared to action shows while the Titans defend it. Obviously the scene is another reference to how a lot of people bash TTG when compared to the original Teen Titans and Young Justice.

So to make his point, Control Freak send the Titans into a show featuring themselves as the classic comic book characters, complete with everything that made Superhero shows the way they were back in the 70's and 80's. Now for those who weren't born during that decades, here's what a typical action cartoon from DC (and by extension, Marvel) looked like back in the day.

So the Titans have to play out the entire episode in the classic format in order to restore to their original selves. Of course, Control Freak just wants to see the characters act out like the cartoons back in the day. But because the Titans are, well, 'Titans', their shenanigans get in the way so much that it ruined Control Freak's experience. And when the Titans were having trouble taking down a T-Rex, Raven summons the characters from "Babies vs Dogs" to finish the job. Control Freak realizes the pros and cons of old vs new cartoons, but was ignored by the Titans as they want back to watching "Babies vs Dogs", ending the episode.

Personally, this episode wasn't as funny as the Young Justice one, but it did gave me a lot of chuckles, and the reference to the classic cartoons was a nice touch. I just don't know if kids will ever get the joke, or at least be entertained by it. I was not aware of the references featured in the Gumball episode "The Singing", but I enjoyed it anyway. I'm just not sure if the writers for TTG pulled it off on this one. If I were decades younger, I'd give an honest answer about it.

Aside from trolling the haters and all that, overall, "Classic Titans" wasn't a bad episode at all. It's not the funniest, either, but still a good one nonetheless. Also not something that I would put as a 'must-see' episode, but if you do watch it, you'd be fine and it's not a total waste. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the Teen Titans Go episode "Classic Titans", a 3 out of 5.

Ducktales Reboot First Impressions

In case you missed it, the much anticipated reboot of the Ducktales series made its debut on August 12th on Disney XD in the US. Disney is so confident about the series that it aired the premiere all day for 24 hours on the network, then have it up on streaming services like Amazon Prime, all the way to being easily available on Youtube. Seriously, Disney REALLY wants you to pay attention to Ducktales. As you may or may not have already known, Ducktales is a reboot of the original series of the same name back in the 80s, itself a loose adaptation of the Duck Universe comics written by Carl Barks and later by Don Rosa.

The series premiere begins with Donald and his nephews pretty much behaving as they are best known for in the classic short films. When Donald has to go to a job interview and the boys getting rid of their babysitter, Donald reluctantly takes Huey, Dewey, and Louie under the care of his uncle, Scrooge McDuck. However, Donald and Scrooge have an estranged relationship that isn't explained as to why, though it's been noted they haven't had any contact with each other in 10 years.

As the richest duck in the world, Scrooge appears very cold towards his nephews and the latter do question what became of him as Scrooge was famous as an adventurer during his younger years. Nevertheless, the boys' attraction to trouble led them to dangerous situations that sparked the fire back inside Scrooge, which motivates him to bring them along on a expedition to find the Lost City of Atlantis and its treasures. Donald would unknowingly join them as his job application has him work as a sailor for Scrooge's rival, Flintheart Glomgold, who is also after Atlantis.

First off, I am very happy that Donald has a more active role in this series as opposed to the original Ducktales where he is a guest character. I mentioned it before that it's because of Donald, who is my all-time favorite Disney character that I was drawn into Ducktales, eventually warming up to Uncle Scrooge as the protagonist. Donald's larger role in the reboot is much needed indeed as he hasn't had a series with him in a major role since the failed Quack Pack series. Yes, there's the Mickey Mouse shorts, but he is mostly a supporting character there.

Storywise, as expected of Ducktales, it has a more adventure-based narrative. But it also has a bit of drama thrown in with Scrooge and Donald having a very tense relationship. As Don Rosa's "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck" was said to be a required reading for all the staffers involved with the reboot, I'm very interested if this new Ducktales will contain the same amount of drama and seriousness as in the comic book. While Gravity Falls and the Goofy movies have similar themes at some points, the scale is smaller when compared to the Duck Universe comics. I'd give a huge respect to Disney if they did made the reboot give just as much an emotional impact as would the comics.

That's not to say Ducktales shouldn't have any light-heartedness. I do welcome the shenanigans it brings. While there isn't anything in the first two episodes that would make you laugh (I mean, Disney is NOT known for their comedy, but that's another story), it did gave me a few chuckles. My favorite is Huey giving Launchpad instructions and Launchpad follows through instantaneously even though he is taking orders from a kid whom he just met.

The 1-hour premiere reveals that Ducktales will have plenty of lore that's waiting to be discovered. Observant viewers will notice the show gives many references to previous Disney shows like Darkwing Duck and Goof Troop, among others. Of course, these could be just mere Easter Eggs, or it is possible that Ducktales is intended to create an animated, interconnected Disney universe, similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The biggest lore that got many viewers interested in is with regards to Scrooge's past. In the reboot, Donald was Scrooge's companion when he was still an adventurer. But it turns out Scrooge has a 2nd companion - Della Duck, Donald's sister and the mother of Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Since then, there has been a lot of fanart and maybe a few fan fictions as well of Donald and Della together, painting them as incredibly close. You could say that the fans' interpretations of Donald and Della are similar to that of Dipper and Mabel in Gravity Falls.

In the comics, Donald became the legal guardian of the boys when Della met a tragic fate. It's unknown at this point if the reboot will follow through with that story, or just say Della went missing for several years. Regardless, the fate of Della Duck serves as the catalyst for the breakdown in relations between Scrooge and Donald, the latter becoming the nephews' legal guardian, explains his over-protectiveness to the boys, and the latter's troublesome behavior towards their uncle.

From what I've heard, a number of people who worked on the reboot have also worked on the Italian Disney comics. The Italian Disney comics are well known for further expanding the stories of the Disney characters and placing them in a number of genres and tones that are very popular. It does explain why the art style and animation of the Ducktales reboot seems a bit more in-tune with the comics.

Some people complained about the voices of the characters being not as good as the classic ones, especially that of Huey, Dewey, and Louie, who are given much older voices even though they're supposed to be pre-teens. Honestly, after watching the first few minutes, I was already accustomed to their voices. What's surprising to me is that although Huey, Dewey, and Louie are played by three different voice actors, I still couldn't tell them apart from their voices because they all sound quite similar to one another.

Mrs. Beakley is another surprise. She's supposed to be an elderly housekeeper at the McDuck manor except she's far more than that. While we don't know exactly how old she is other than she is Webby's grandmother, the best way I could describe Beakley is she is Ducktale's counterpart to Brock Samson of the Venture Bros. with a cool British accent. Best guess is Beakley is a retired Secret Service agent whom Scrooge hired as housekeeper and secretary, much to Beakley's chagrin with regards to the latter.

As for David Tennant as Scrooge McDuck, he fits the role perfectly. This is mainly because Scrooge is supposed to be Scottish and Tennant is a native Scotsman himself. So the two blend so seamlessly you actually believe Scrooge is a native Scotsman.

Out of all the voices in the series, the biggest surprise is Donald. Tony Anselmo has been playing the character for years. But Donald's voice wasn't meant to be used when talking seriously, and it's always used as a gag. If you've seen the classic Donald Duck shorts, you know his voice is part of that gag. Imagine Donald as Michael Stevens from VSauce and explaining serious science subject, and it would sound awkward with that voice of his.

But Anselmo has somehow managed to get that part of Donald's voice to work. When Donald speaks to the boys, he speaks as a parent. And when he shows his disdain towards Scrooge, he legitimately shows it - all while in the classic Donald voice. When you hear it, it doesn't sound awkward at all, but more like Donald's voice just comes out naturally you wouldn't even think about it. Now I want to hear Anselmo doing Donald's voice in the Paperinik and Double Duck stories as those place Donald in an even more serious role than he is in Ducktales.

And to all the aspiring voice actors out there, take Anselmo's role as Donald in Ducktales as study material. If you could do Donald's voice while engaging in a normal conversation, or reading Shakespeare while maintaining character and not sounding too awkward, you'd be hired.

All-in-all, I am very very impressed with the Ducktales reboot and is definitely THE Disney show I will be devotiing my full attention to when the series returns in September. It does justice to both the original series and the comics and Donald Duck is given his proper due that fans and critics truly appreciate. I do recommend you check it out if you haven't so already. The first two episodes of the Ducktales reboot is easily available almost everywhere, even on Youtube, while the series will return with weekly episodes coming this September on Disney XD in the US.

Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 3 Review

In case you missed it, Voltron: Legendary Defender came out last week in the US on Netflix. To my surprise, the third season's number of episodes was shorter, with just 7 episodes total. However, the 4th Season is said to be coming this October, which is two months from now as of this recording. I had the feeling Netflix is taking cues from Cartoon Network and started splitting episodes just because.

When I learned that the series will have 78 episodes total, I was both surprised and a bit concerned. It's because it's been awhile since we had an action-oriented animated series with an ongoing story arc that lasted for more than 50 episodes. In Japan, most anime wrap themselves up between 12 and 24 episodes. Sure, we have Dragon Ball Super and One Piece who are well beyond the 100 episode mark. But look up the rest of the pack and you will notice a number of them don't last that very long.

Of course, the US has a number of animated shows that go beyond 50 episodes, but that's mainly because the episodes themselves have almost no overarching plot. Even Batman: The Animated Series and Samurai Jack have mainly standalone episodes and only a number of them are part of a major story arc. The last series I can remember where you have to watch the show where it's an ongoing arc from beginning to end would be the Avatar franchise. Unless I am mistaken, there's only like a couple of episodes where it is a standalone, or a recap episode of sorts.

Long story short, I was expecting Voltron: Legendary Defender to wrap itself up after 3 seasons. But if the show is to have 78 episodes total, I just wonder how they can keep the show going without appearing like it's dragging itself for too long.

Anyhow, the main plot of the 3rd season of Legendary Defender can be divided into three parts - the search for the missing Shiro, who disappeared at the end of Season 2; the eventual transition of the pilots to the status quo we know from the original Voltron and GoLion anime; and the team's battle with Lotor. With this season only 7 episodes long, these major arcs get resolved rather quickly.

The search for Shiro was pretty much resolved within two episodes total, mainly in episodes 1 and 5. The first episode has Keith and the team desperately looking for Shiro. At the same time, within the span of 3 episodes, Keith and the gang would transition into the Voltron team we all know. I had no issues with the transition as it went smoothly and feels natural. Keith still has his hot-headedness, but he slowly shows markings of being a leader, just as Shiro wanted him to be.

Shiro's arc is exclusively in the 5th episode, as we see what became of him after Season 2, and eventually reuniting with the team. At that point, he can no longer pilot the Black Lion, as Keith is now it's new.....owner? Master? Anyhow, he does replace Allura's post as he commandeers the castle with Coran.

That being said, the episode slightly reveals that Shiro is more than he appears to be. As Shiro makes his escape from Galran captivity, he had a vision of him being subject in a series of experiments as part of "Operation: Kuron", highly implying Shiro is unknowingly playing as a sleeper agent for the Galra. Does that mean he will eventually betray the team? And what then? We will not know until many episodes later, not necessarily the next season.

I really do like the way Lotor is written in Legendary Defender. He is shown to be far more cunning and skilled than his Defender of The Universe counterpart, and has proven to be just as much an arch-enemy to the Voltron team as Zarkon. While he and Zarkon have the same goal of ruling the universe, Lotor's way of ruling differ from his father's that the two have an estranged relationship. Lotor also has an entourage of female Galra fighters by his side who are just as fearless as they are loyal, if not enamored to him.

I did not expect the series to play the multiverse card and that Voltron's origins and power stems from an ore that travels through alternate realities. The Quintessence, which is the power source of Voltron and Zarkon, actually originated from another dimension. Zarkon becoming a bad guy was mainly due to the overexposure of the Dark Quintessence that corrupted him and his wife Honerva, now the witch Hagar.

At this point, Zarkon's obsession with the Black Lion and Voltron now makes a lot of sense. Zarkon needs Voltron to open up the rift and extract the Pure Quintessence for himself. Lotor has the same idea and is following through with his plan. Though I do wonder if Lotor is also aware of his parents being corrupted by the Dark Quintessence and if it's a possibilty that he plans to use the Pure Quintessence to cure them. Or maybe he really just wants it for himself. Who knows?

Going back to the multiverse concept, although subtle and doesn't really say much, I get the impression that Voltron: Legendary Defender is not a reboot of the original Defender of The Universe series. Think something like the Powerpuff Girls or the Ben 10 reboots in which they are in actuality continuations of their past shows. In the case of Legendary Defender, the multiverse concept suggests the previous Voltron shows exist in other realities that are tied to the universe in Legendary Defender.

In episode 4, when the Voltron team entered an alternate universe where the Alteans are the bad guys, they encounter Sven, who is that universe's version of Shiro. Obviously, the Sven character is a reference to the original Sven in Defender of The Universe. But thanks to the multiverse concept, it could also mean that Sven in Legendary Defender is also a counterpart to the original Sven in Defender of The Universe.

I highly doubt that Legendary Defender will go far enough that the characters would cross over with the previous Voltron incarnations, let alone the GoLion anime. But it would be interesting to see if the two Pidges from Defender of The Universe and Legendary Defender meet and how they would interact, given that they have opposite genders. Hell, if Legendary Defender can somehow use the multiverse concept to introduce the Vehicle Team Voltron aka Dairugger, or the Gladiator Voltron aka Arbegas, I'd have them take my money along with my Netflix subscription.

Although short at 7 episodes, the third season of Voltron: Legendary Defender does a lot better than the last one. And I admit, I was wrong about the dragging part. The series has a lot of stories to tell and the writers did a very good job keeping it interesting and the viewer engaged in its plot. In the end, I am left vey satisfied overall and looking forward to its next season. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the 3rd Season of Voltron: Legendary Defender, a 4 out of 5.

In A Heartbeat Review

So just recently, the short film "In A Hearbeat" was made available and as of this recording, it was the #5 Trending video on Youtube. The movie has been hyped up for quite some time and it's finally out for us to see.

By looking at this promotional poster, you can pretty much get the idea what the short film is about. Ginger-haired boy has a crush on the Cool Guy and you get this anthropomorphic heart who's all giggidy on the whole thing it wants to make the shipping of the two happen.

What I didn't expect was that the heart was actually Ginger-Head Boy's own heart who bursts out of his chest and having a life of its own, then chases after Cool Guy unapologetically showing its affections. Ginger-Head Boy tries to stop his own heart to save the embarrassment.

I have a question about that, believe me. Shouldn't Ginger-Head Boy be dead after his heart bursted out? I know it's just make-believe, but still even an 8-year old can tell if your heart gets ripped out, you should be as dead as Kano's Fatality in Mortal Kombat.

Moving on, the whole fiasco got everyone's attention, Ginger-Head Boy feels so bad, his heart becomes broken, quite literally, and leaves the school. Cool Guy finds him, gets his heart back together, then the two sat next to each other while their hearts glow and formed into one. The End.

Yes, it's THAT short. And quite frankly, that is my biggest rant on the film. It has a lot of potential to be a great romantic short that it just fell apart! Ok, so a guy trying to win a girl's heart, or in this case, another guy's heart, is trope-ish. But if it's well written and well executed, it's gonna do wonders and no one will rant about it. But because the film is so incredibly short that there is virtually no build-up and it just falls apart after the halfway point! There is just no room for the viewer to invest in the characters! I WANT to care for these characters but the film doesn't give me a solid reason why I should other than do it for the movie's own sake!

What I would do, if I were to write this film (I'm not a writer, but if I were...), I would make the runtime go longer. Ginger-Head Boy's heart, instead of being this ultra-affectionate thingamajig, would be more of a matchmaker. Help the boy get closer to the guy; build a relationship; do a number of funny moments along the way; the two get closer; THEN we get to the broken heart part; THEN Cool Guy repairs the heart; THEN we get the ending. If that were to happen, I would appreciate this film a lot more.

The message is there. If you really love someone,  there's nothing wrong with that, no matter who that person is. It's just that the film is too short and the execution less than average that the message has very little impact.

I'm disappointed. I'm really, really disappointed. In A Heartbeat had a LOT of potential to be a really good film, and the animation is incredible you'd think it's from Pixar. But it just did not make the cut for me. I'm not saying it's bad film as it's not. But I won't call it as one of the best animated shorts out there either. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the animated short, "In A Heartbeat", a 3 out of 5.

The Fairly Oddparents is FINALLY(?) Over

So last night in the US, Nicktoons, the subscription-based premium channel of Nickelodeon, aired what is apparently THE final episode of The Fairly Oddparents. This is according to the Twitter account of "Nick and More" a news group dedicated to report the ins and outs of the Nickelodeon brand. So their reporting is indeed legitimate.

Now to clarify, Nick and More did say that the episode that aired last night was the 167th episode. The last production-ordered episode actually aired back in February. So this season of The Fairly Oddparents are being aired out of order and that the 167th episode was the last one on the list.

Nick and More also said that neither Nickelodeon or FOP creator Butch Hartman has announced a new season of the Fairly Oddparents. Hartman himself has not said anything about FOP since the last episode aired. I did tweeted him about it but have yet to get a reply.

Normally a new season is to be announced either during the current season's broadcast, or shortly after the last season ended so the production team can get to work before the next season's premiere date. I would probably give it a week. If neither Hartman nor Nickelodeon say anything, then we can safely say that yes, The Fairly Oddparents is indeed over after 16 years and over 160episodes.

The Fairly Oddparents as I said has been around for 16 years and until recently is always aired on Nickelodeon. But when it moved to Nicktoons a few months ago, it's a bad omen. For those unfamiliar, Nicktoons is only available for Cable and Satellite subscribers who pay the higher premiums and is not available on basic cable. This means that Nicktoons has a much smaller audience compared to the main Nickelodeon channel. And if an ongoing series is to moved from Nickelodeon to Nicktoons, it usually means the network wants to burn off the series and get rid of it for good. This has happened in the case of Harvey Beaks, and unless my memory is screwed up, the Legend of Korra as well.

I believe I can speak for everyone that we are all relieved that the show is finally over. When it first aired in 2001, it was a great series with its comedy, characters, and even has a plot that makes you care for the show. But it has far overstayed its welcome. Many elements of the show's lore are either retconned or removed entirely. Characters like Tootie and Trixie leave the show and replaced with Chloe. And the show just ain't funny anymore. No pun intended, but all the magic that made The Fairly Oddparents great has long since disappeared.

Furthermore, 16 years is way too long for a kids show. If you've watched the first episode as a 10 year old, you'd be in your mid-twenties by now. And this isn't like Doraemon or the Simpsons where the show is almost always episodic in nature with no end in sight. My only disappointment is that, if this is indeed the end of The Fairly Oddparents, it was never given a proper ending. So it did not end with bang, but with a whimper. Or in this case, Timmy in a girl's outfit for the nth time.

Dragon Ball Super 100th Episode Review

So this weekend, Dragon Ball Super celebrated its commemorative 100th episode, which is no small feat by any means. Sure, we have Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece as those who have hundreds of episodes, but for most anime, they don't go beyond 50 or so. It just seems like Japan can produce these shows more quickly, and at times more efficiently, when compared to places like the US where it would take anywhere between 3-5 years for a show to reach its 100th episode.

For the 100th episode of Dragon Ball Super, you'd think the show would do something a bit special. In a way, yes. The 100th episode is where we finally get to see Kale aka the female Broly in action in the Tournament of Power.

Now just a quick crash course for those not up to speed, the current arc of Dragon Ball Super has Goku and his companions engaged in a battle royale against warriors from other universes, where the last team members that survive has their universe spared from erasure by the Omni-Kings.

In the highlights of this episode, Caulifla, the fighting genius of Universe 6, finally faces Goku and demands that he teaches her the Super Saiyan Blue form, in return to activate it and take on Goku at full strength. To show that she's serious, she goes Super Saiyan, but with bigger muscles. This is similar to the form Trunks used back in Dragon Ball Z against Cell. Goku of course notes the weaknesses of Cauliflas's form and demonstrates Super Saiyan 2. Caulifla naturally fangirls over this and Goku's more than happy to teach her the form, much to Beerus's chagrin.

I think I can speak for everyone that in this brief encounter, Goku and Caulifla would make quite a couple if Goku never married Chichi. The two are just kindred spirits as Caulifla is more than eager to learn on how to become stronger and take on stronger opponents. You could say that Caulifia is Goku's true counterpart of Universe 6. Or to put it another way, Caulifla is a gender bent Goku as Fionna is to Finn in Adventure Time.

Unfortunately, this goody-goody relationship between the two is making Kale jealous, who at this point is unable to transform into a Super Saiyan at will and can only do so in extreme anger. While the show never addresses it, I'll put it out there and say Caulifla and Kale are a lesbian couple. subtly speaking. This is because the two share opposite personalities that draws them both together - Caulifla is what anime and manga fans call a 'Tsundere', where she shows off as being a bully, but is actually a kinder person on the inside. Evangelion's Asuka Langley-Soryu popularized that particular character trait. Kale on the other hand is a 'Yandere', which is the opposite of a Tsundere character. She appears shy and timid, but if you want to live up to old age, don't ever screw with her.

So when Kale sees Caulifla and Goku, no pun intended, 'hit it off', Kale's Yandere trait kicks in and transforms into a Super Saiyan with only one thing in her mind - kill Son Goku.

For fans of the character Broly, who only appears in the non-canon Dragon Ball Z movies, Kale is without a doubt his counterpart in Dragon Ball Super, quite literally. Furthermore, Kale has shown in this episode that she is far more powerful than Broly could ever be. This may upset some Broly fans who in their mind still places Broly as the most powerful of all the Super Saiyans, including Goku. Nevertheless, Kale has such unprecedented power that she forces Goku to go Super Saiyan Blue and throw a Kamehameha. But Kale just walks through it without a flinch.

Compare this when Goku, in his SSB form, through a Kamehameha against Merged Zamasu back in the Future Trunks arc. Merged Zamasu is totally unaffected thanks to his half-immortality. Kale of course doesn't have that feat, but is able to tank the Kamehameha anyway.

As expected, some fans argue that Goku isn't even using the SSB form at full power and actually lowered the power of his Kamehameha as a way of 'testing' Kale's power. I've made a video months ago about that subject, which you can find in the video description if you want my detailed opinion on that. But my short reply is, given that the fate of Universe 7 is at stake, Goku is in no position to 'test' someone's power. If Goku were to lower his guard and power at this point, he will be pushed out of the ring, and in the past few episodes, he was very much close to that.

That said, it is true Goku is trying to conserve as much of his energy as possible. Whis has stated that as powerful as the Super Saiyan Blue form is, it eats up quite an amount of stamina. And since healing items like Senzu Beans are forbidden in the tournament, Goku as much as possible, has to avoid using the SSB form until the final stretch. Otherwise, Goku would be too worn out in the closing moments. However, Goku has been forced to use this form a number of times already the past few weeks, and has to use that form yet again to avoid being pushed out by Kale.

As exciting as the highlights of this episode may be, I am actually quite disappointed. For the 100th episode, I was expecting Toei to at least feature what we would call 'Sakuga', which are moments in which the overall animation in one scene or another is done with incredible detail. Toei has done this with Goku Black in the Future Trunks arc. But for this episode, you don't get any Sakuga and instead have moments of bad character design and animation. Not as terrible as the infamous episode 5, or what we see with Goku and Golden Frieza, but it is there and is quite noticeable.

Another reason I didn't like this is the writing and direction of this episode. Kale has Goku at her mercy and the latter's only option at that point is to go Super Saiyan Blue + Kaioh-ken, if not his yet to be revealed new power-up. Instead, Kale tosses Goku aside and rains a barrage of Ki blasts over the entire ring, destroying much of the place before looking for Goku again. Piccolo explains that Kale is losing control of her powers, but doesn't really appear that way and is more of Toei having trouble with Kale's rampage while making sure Goku doesn't get beaten up or eliminated in the process. Time constraints may also play a role as the show doesn't get season breaks and Toei has little time to polish things up.

And what is perhaps the most disappointing part, as Kale's shows off more of her power, Jiren steps in and knocks her out in one shot. All of a sudden Jiren shows he is far more powerful than Goku has ever faced previously and is eager to fight him right away, this is despite his beat up by Kale. The latter wasn't eliminated, but is out cold.

What I'm saying is that I want Kale to be around for a few episodes and engaged in multiple battles against other characters before finally getting eliminated. Sure, she wasn't pushed out, but it feels so anti-climactic that Jiren takes her out easily with one shot, and that's not even him at his full power. So at this point Kale's time is done and is no longer relevant because now we have Jiren who, based on this performance, can take out everyone else with very little effort.

On that note, I wanna go back to the part where fans are saying "Goku isn't taking Kale seriously" when he went SSB. So Goku threw a Kamehameha and Kale was unaffected, but when Kale is hit by Jiren's attack, she was knocked out. It's clear Jiren wasn't attacking Kale at full power. So if Jiren had no trouble taking out Kale with a small portion of his power, why did Goku struggle? If Goku is as strong as fans say he is, then Goku should have no problems in handling Kale even if he used a small portion of his power as a Super Saiyan Blue as fans claim him to be. That is not the case. Kale was going Berserk and Goku had to take her seriously if he wants to stay in the game. Goku didn't turn SSB to test Kale's strength, he used it because Kale is about to do some serious damage to him.

Kale wants Goku dead, so there is no reason for her to be holding back. Even Hit has mentioned that Kale would be disqualified if she kills Goku and Caulifia is trying to calm her down. Was Goku holding back with Broly when the latter wants him dead? Of course not. Was Goku holding back in his SSB form when he took on Frieza's Golden Form for the first time? No. In fact, in the TV version of DBS, Goku has said that he is keeping his guard up on Frieza rather than be excited for their rematch. Why? Because Goku knows Frieza is not someone he should take lightly. So he must fight Frieza at full strength. Same when he faced Merged Zamasu, and same when the Trio de Dangers are using their ultimate attack, and the same when Kale was out for his blood. Never mind the crappy writing from Toei.

If I am to describe this episode, it's like watching an episode of WWE RAW where they hype up the next big feud between their biggest stars, and though it has its moments, in the end, you spent 2-3 hours of watching a WWE program for virtually nothing at all. You'd complain about it, but Vince McMahon doesn't care as long as his shows are always at full house, high ratings on TV or online, people buying their merchandise, and saying New Japan Pro Wrestling is total crap, despite the contrary NJPW is a far better product. Same thing with Toei's handling of DBS. They don't care how bad it is as long as it's a ratings hit in Japan, more people buy the merchandise, and the fanbase thinking it's the greatest anime of all time that everything else is pile of bullsh--.