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.