3+ Years and Still No Swat Kats

Was cleaning out my laptop of old files as I am transferring stuff to my desktop when I stumbled across these pics from the Swat Kats Revolution Kickstarter. The pics were dated in 2016 (the day I DLed them), which hinted it's been that long since I last heard of Swat Kats.

Decided to check out their Kickstarer and as of 2018 they received over $100k in pledges. But beyond that, nothing. While I haven't thought about Swat Kats until now, I do feel bad for those who pledged for this revival with virtually no news about it.

Twelve Forever Production Complete

Twelve Forever was a animated pilot short created by Julia Vickerman (Supervising Director for Clarence and Animator for Yo Gabba Gabba), which premiered in 2016 as one of many potential shows to be given a full series order by Cartoon Network. Twelve Forever was sadly cut, though Vickerman continued working on Cartoon Network as writer for the Powerpuff Girls Reboot. Twelve Forever would find a new home on Netflix, when the latter announced the series order in 2017.

Shadi Petosky, who is currently one of the writers for the Netflix series, has made tweets that the show has completed production and it's all up to Netflix as to its eventual release date. 

The story of Twelve Forever is of Reggie and her friend Shane engaging in adventures within Reggie's created outer world, where she is seen as the superhero Twelve.

Steven Universe Season 6 plans

Full Disclosure: I pretty much dropped Steven Universe after Season 4. So I'm pretty much out of the loop as to what happened up until the finale. I may check Season 5 eventually if I feel like it.

On the Steven Universe podcast, creator Rebecca Sugar, co-Executive Producers Kat Morris and Joe Johnston, writers Matt Burnett and Ben Levin, and former Executive Producer Ian Jones-Quartey discuss about plans for Season 6 of Steven Universe.

Below are some highlights of the podcast:
- The episode starts with the rainbow worm in Steven’s dream, who is voiced by Deedee. This is the last homage to the princess references in the arc. The worm is from the Kyanite colony and was brought to Homeworld by Pink, which Blue allowed, but then Pink released all worms in the ballroom. Rebecca mentions this links with Pink’s desire to be free by releasing animals from their colonies.

- This specific princess reference was to Jasmine (in Aladdin) opening the cage and allowing the birds to fly free. It was also a reference to Pink’s love of animals and wanting to set them free, which isn’t out of character for Steven either.

- For Diamond Days, they picked the most common princess tropes for Steven’s time on Homeworld and made this experience alienating for him.

- Rebecca states that the Diamonds are meant to exist as a body- the inspiration for the ship. Pink is the Id, Blue and Yellow are the Ego, and White is the Super Ego. This is represented in Change Your Mind where the collective mind experiences embarrassment when the Id demands they enjoy something.

- Kat admits that they came up with the new outfits by continuously emailing each other with ideas. Rebecca said they considered everything but there were some concepts that they really wanted, for example, Rainbow 2.0 would have a scarf and a jacket. It was important either way that the fusions would notably have Steven’s clothes and the gems. However, the fusions would hint at the new forms and Pearl didn’t end up having a scarf, but she did have the jacket. Later, McKenzie asked if the jacket was a throwback to Bad Pearl and Rebecca confirmed that it represented her independence.

- One of Garnet’s new designs included transparent glasses and Peridot’s glasses in the shape of a star. Kat came up with the idea for the shredded shorts and star pockets for Amethyst.

- All of the new outfits represent how the gems have changed and learned from Steven.

- Rebecca mentioned that Pearl has been ‘playing the field’ and ‘exploring who she is’, which started in Last One Out of Beach City.

- Lapis has gold accents on her new outfit to match the real-life gem stone. Kat said that Rebecca really wanted the sandals for Lapis and it makes for comfortable cosplay.

- Joe said that he enjoyed a lot of Garnet’s new designs. Most ideas were based off superheroes and had a more ‘nightly’ aspect.

- They confirmed that they tried Peridot’s new design with star hair but it was too much. Rebecca said that the glasses already change her silhouette and expose her gem more.

- Peridot also has boots this time. Before, she had socks because she used to wear limb enhancers.

- Mary Poppins and Bert were the inspiration for Rainbow 2.0. These concepts were made by Joe around 2-3 years ago. Sunstone was a newer concept.

- Rebecca said that all Garnet fusions can break the fourth wall, but with Steven, it would break it to give advice to children. The suction cups are also a combination of Steven’s shield and Garnet’s gauntlets. When creating Sunstone, Rebecca wanted her to look like a toy that you could stick in the back window of a car with suction cups.

- Alistair James auditioned for Rainbow 2.0 by doing an impression of his grandmother with a British accent. Rebecca said that Shoniqua was perfect and she knew immediately that she wanted her for Sunstone. She sounded exactly like how Miki Brewster pitched her.

- For Obsidian, they’d had her concept from the very beginning since she was shown as the temple. It was a hidden in sight visual that would eventually pay off.

- Obsidian’s sword is in the ocean, which is a part of the temple. It’s first seen in Bubble Buddies and seen again in Ocean Gem when the ocean is cleared. The sword design changed over time to ensure that all the Crystal Gem’s weapons could fit into the design.

- The earliest inspiration for White Diamond is traced back to the beginning of the show. She was inspired by the film ‘A Story of Menstruation’, which was made in 1946. It was a film by Disney played in schools to teach children what to expect in menstruation, and the narrator’s voice was a kindly older woman. Rebecca said that she found the designs really interesting and cute.

- From the film, the inspiration came from a scene where a woman cried into her arms but in the reflection of her mirror, she straightens up and starts smiling before going out dancing. The narrator says: “Don’t forget that people are around you and you’ll have to be more pleasant if you want people to like you”. The scene passes by and it ignores that fact that the woman was crying earlier, because she’s now seen being ‘correct’. This is the voice and the feeling that she went for with White Diamond and Homeworld.

- Homeworld is inspired by Busby Berkeley, and White is inspired by Hedy Lamarr in Ziegfeld Girl and Nell Brinkley drawings, all within an era where women were seen as beautiful pieces of furniture. Rebecca states: Women are like lamps, smiling and there, part of the scenery. It all originates from the idea that people thought it was lovely and seen as an escape from reality.

- Those early inspirations were also used for the wall gems- the idea that people are in the background as if turned to stone and function solely as architecture. These faces we see in the architecture are gems and that’s their function.

- White has always been associated as a mother, especially in terms of her storyline with Steven in this arc, and how gems are viewed as her children. This arc wanted to being to explore her relationship with them.

- Rebecca says that White’s way of thinking is that she is everyone and everyone is her. She considers herself the default white light that passes through other gems, so when she sees gems absorb other colours from that light, she considers it a variation of her but lesser. In that way, she has no identity at all because she considers herself just light. She feels that people can be turned into her because they are all the same.

- Rebecca also stated that White is wrong about how she views the world and herself. It’s an antithesis to Rose’s journey- expression and repression. She lives in a delusion that everything is fine but it isn’t.

- Matt and Ben said that the whole episode was balanced by ensuring that every single character got their moment. It was an accumulation of ideas from over the years that they tried to fit into one episode, such as Amethyst greeting Jasper after she was uncorrupted. They felt they did everything they wanted to do before they left.

- All past episodes, especially for Diamond Days, were made to build up to the scene with White and Steven where she pulled out his gem. Mirror Gem is the first time they introduce the concept that a sentient gem can be trapped inside an object and that object is Steven. They’ve been planting hints that Pink may be trapped inside him ever since.

- From the beginning, they’ve wanted there to be doubt that Steven was his own person and have the audience question if Pink/Rose could still be alive. Even when the gem was pulled out, they still wanted the viewer to doubt if he was Steven. They planted enough hints that the viewer would think it could go either way.

- Between the crew, the hottest debates were about the storyline between Steven and Rose/Pink, about who Steven would be if they were separated. One of the most recent arguments was about Steven’s gem self and the fact he was devoid of any feeling, that there was none at all. That emotion came from Steven.

- Rebecca had planned the split perspective scene since the start of development and storyboarded it early in the process. It’s still from Steven’s point of view. Ian noted that if the show wasn’t completely from his perspective, it wouldn’t work. The split perspective was to also represent how torn and disoriented Steven was in that moment.

- Pink Steven is him as a default. If you take away his personality and emotion, he is empty. He’s been separated from his humanity and all that’s left is power. There have been nods to this in the past by showing how his power is greater because of his humanity and his capacity to love.

- Ian said that Rebecca has always had the idea of the final confrontation being about Steven’s relationship with his powers and that connection showing who he really is. Steven wants that human side of him, even if it slows him down, because it’s what makes him who he is.

- The scene of Steven returning to himself was originally written for episode 10. It was going to be a part of Giant Woman where they establish fusion.

- Rebecca confirms that James Baxter animated the scene where Steven reunites with Pink Steven. She met him by doing a drawing for his daughter’s birthday.

- The fusion sequence with the two Stevens was the ultimate princess trope- a rotating dancing scene specifically boarded by James Baxter. He completed the whole sequence himself apart from the inking.

- Ian mentioned that he wanted the uncorrupted gems scene for a long time. He said they always knew the arc would come back to the corrupted gems as that was the original conflict of the series, but now they finally get to see it through.

- On top of that, Ian went through every single episode that had a corrupted gem and designed their healed versions, while Rebecca added some of the quartz designs. He mentioned that the longer they were in their ‘monster’ form, the more they will look like that form, even when they’re healed. That’s why several of the healed gems look more like their original designs.

- Rebecca added that Ian helped with the fusion designs and their sequence, as that was a wishlist moment for him. He wanted Steven to fuse with all the gems in a row.

- Ian said that he had been most excited about Rainbow 2.0 and that Colin Howard had done most of the groundwork already.

- Rainbow is they/them and he/him, and Sunstone is they/them and she/her.

- Rainbow 2.0 is mixed with Pearl’s properness and Steven’s pension for making jokes. Rainbow 2.0 loves to make puns and is a throwback to Steven’s puns in the earlier series. In the episode, Ian also came up with the idea that RQ 2.0 could ride their umbrella and have a rainbow shoot out of the end- a reference to Pearl being able to shoot lasers out of her spear.

- With Sunstone and Rainbow 2.0, they wanted to be able to show common traits in Sardonyx. The break in the fourth wall comes from Garnet. but loving to hear themselves talk comes from Pearl. Steven enables the both of them to embrace their silly sides.

- The ship foot falling on them was a slight reference to Monty Python but also a reference to the giant foot mentioned in Arcade Mania.

- Rebecca stated that the song Change Your Mind was not written for the show, but a personal song she wrote while fighting for the wedding arc. She was hesitant at first to include it.

- Change Your Mind isn’t for the end of the Steven Universe franchise but for this arc, Ian mentions. He adds that even though it was written for the process of including the wedding, it perfectly captures the theme of the show. As a coming of age story, Rebecca notes that this is something that had to happen for Steven to start making decisions for himself.

· Rebecca also admits it has been hard to write for Steven because he always puts others before himself. It’s always about what others want and what he thinks they want. However, he finally comes to a realization in this arc that he doesn’t have to be anyone else other than himself or pamper to other’s expectations.

· Ian states that this arc was incredibly important for Steven’s development, in terms of who he is, who he thinks he is, and who others believe him to be. Moving forward, everything will be different from Steven’s perspective. There’s going to be more but it will have changed, because Steven has changed.

Final Four Episode Titles of Adventure Time revealed

From the Adventure Time subreddit, which got the info from CN Korea's Customer Service, the final four episodes of Adventure Time (compiled under the title "The Ultimate Adventure") has its four titles revealed:

• Back Then.
• Nowadays.
• Tomorrow.
• Come Along With Me.

No release date yet of the finale as of this writing.

The previous four episodes of the show's final season (Blenanas; Jake The Starchild; Temple of Mars; Gumbaldia) were aired on Cartoon Network USA on March 18th of this year, with the digital releases a week or two before. 

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.

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 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.

Adventure Time Season 8(?) Finale Review

It's becoming quite the norm from Cartoon Network in which they will be airing new episodes of their shows first on the Cartoon Network app before the broadcast release. And the next set of episodes from Adventure Time is one of them, which came out this weekend in the US.

There is some confusion as to whether or not these 5 episodes are to wrap up Season 8, or these are part of Season 9, the show's final. When you watch the episodes on the Cartoon Network website, it lists "Orb" as the Season 9 premiere.

However, according to showrunner Adam Muto, these five episodes indeed close out Season 8. It's just that for whatever the reason, the top brass of Cartoon Network decided to change the division and instead places Orb onwards as part of Season 9. We've seen this done before in the case of Steven Universe and Uncle Grandpa. So again, it's all the weird shenanigans Cartoon Network is doing.

Another thing to note is from Jack Perndarvis, who works on the show as writer and storyline artist. He pretty much spelt it out in this tweet from 2016 that Adventure Time got the axe, and this was not mentioned in any of the news articles on the show. However, they are given time to wrap things up, with the final episode scheduled to air in 2018.

The only thing left I have to confirm is the number of episodes left after these 5. From what I am told, there are 18. Again, I cannot confirm if that's the case or there are more. But I will have to assume that 18 is how many episodes are left in the series. And that makes me very sad. But before the sadness takes over, here's my take on the 5 episodes.

"Abstract" is the first of the five and begins shortly after the events of Elements. Jake isn't doing very well adjusting to his life in his Shapeshifter form, so much so that everyone around him, including Finn, gets weirded out by his appearance.

One night, Jake had a series of abstract dreams, as the title of this episode suggests. Jake, being Jake, doesn't get any of it at all, but he does notice two key visuals - the Shapeshifter that birthed him, and Jermaine, who has switched from painting landscapes to doing abstract art.

Seeking answers, Jake journeyed to the wastelands and confronts his brother, suspecting Jermaine is under some mind-control because of the change in his style of painting. Jermaine assures his brother that even though he has indeed changed his style of painting, he is still the same Jermaine as before. As Jake looks over the rest of Jermaine's paintings, he begins to understand himself better, making him revert back to his old self, though he didn't notice this until Finn told him much later.

This episode of Adventure Time is co-storyboarded by Graham Falk, which made me lower my expectations. Ever since Falk did the episode "Sad Face", which is one of my least (if not THE least) likable episode of Adventure Time, I pretty much placed Falk at the bottom tier of storyboarders. Thankfully, this episode isn't as bad as "Sad Face", but it's not something to excite about either.

As the title suggests, Abstract is essential an episode about, well..., 'abstracts' and how Jake and Jermaine perceive it. The viewers are also taken to view the abstracts in the episode and interpret in in their own way. I appreciate the gesture from Falk, but the big letdown is Jake's own arc of his Shapshifter form being resolved in this episode, allowing the rest of the series to go as if nothing happened to him. I was hoping this would go on a few more episodes so we learn more of Jake and the Shapeshifter so Jake's story comes to a proper close. I don't know if there is room for that at this point, given that we are ever closer to the series finale.

"Ketchup" is about Marceline's interaction with BMO throughout this entire episode, which is something I do not recall that was done before, save snippets of scenes of Marceline and BMO together.

It begins with BMO visiting Marceline to help her ridding the vampires from the Stakes mini-series, except BMO completely forgot that happened 6 months ago and Marceline's back to being the only vampire left. She nevertheless needs BMO's help in reading an old USB drive and figuring out its contents. While BMO scans the Flash drive, the two decided to catch up, which is what this episode is about.

First is BMO's point of view on the events of Islands, which, given it's BMO is full of shenanigans that was fun to watch, and is given a special animation sequence for his story. What I didn't expect was JG Quintel, the creator of Regular Show, making a cameo appearance as a wailing Blue Jay, obviously a reference fo Mordecai.

Afterwards it was Marceline's turn, this time doing her own version of the Elements mini-series before she turned into candy. Like BMO, her tale is full of shenanigans that's chock full of great visuals. However, unlike BMO's, Marceline's story ended abruptly, though understandable. She admits she hasn't talked much about herself, which implies she's an introvert who really wants to open up more to others, but is very hesitant in doing so.

When BMO's scanning of the Flash drive was completed, it actually contains old photos of Marceline as a little girl and her mom. When BMO asked who were the two in the picture, Marceline chose not to say  and let BMO make up a story of the two instead.

I hate to bring back Bee & Puppycat into this as I'd rather have that show dead and buried for being so awful and not worth the investment. That said, Bee & Puppycat had a similar episode in which it feature a short story done in a completely different style of animation. The difference is that Bee & Puppycat's short story has virtually no relevance whatsoever to the plot in general, while Ketchup does. Not only was Ketchup's sequences a twisted fun recap of Islands and Elements, but it also lets us explore a litlte bit deeper into Marceline's character.

As a vampire, Marceline feels quite lonely for living for centuries while everyone else has a set lifespan. Bubblegum shares the feeling as she is just a sentient piece of candy that's been around for just as long as Marceline. So the two are kindred spirits that eventually became best friends.

As Marceline tells it, her relationship with Bubblegum tends to get quite complicated due mainly to their differencing personalities. It's not hard to see why. A person who does loud music a lot pairing up with a science nerd isn't exactly a good combination. That resulted in the breakdown of their friendship prior to the 1st Season of Adventure Time, but the two have since patched up.

I forgot to mention by the way that the special sequences were animated by none other than Alex and Lindsay Small-Butera, the couple behind the Baman Piderman shorts. I believe they also did one for Clarence, though I do not know exactly which episode.

"Fionna and Cake and Fionna" is the latest of the Fionna and Cake episodes in Adventure Time. This time, the Ice King reads out the latest chapter of his fan fiction series towards an audience in Turtle Princess's library, who are either interested with the story, or are forced to by Ice King. (I say the latter)

Then suddenly, an old woman, claiming herself to be the REAL Fionna, pops up to criticize Ice King's work as being baloney and wants to show everyone what really happened via an old VHS tape. The tape shows Fionna and Cake getting a sarcophagus made out of Emerald. As Fionna and Cake leave their latest loot in their treasure room, a mummy slowly creeps out, but Fionna stops the tape before continuing.

Naturally, I had the same thinking as Finn as having a lot of questions. Does Fionna REALLY exist and not a mere fan fiction made from Ice King's head? Besides that, everyone wants to see the rest of the tape. Fionna refuses at first, but reluctantly decides to play a little more. At this point, I can see that 'Fionna' isn't who she claims to be, but I decided to play along.

Ice King invites Fionna to live at the Ice Kingdom, to which Fionna accepts and shows signs of taking over while poor Simon remains oblivious to what she's doing, still acting like a total fanboy over meeting his character.

As this is going on, we see the rest of the tape. The mummy is apparently none other than the Queen of Ooo wrapped in bandages to scam Fionna and Cake in order to steal their treasure. Ice King realizes the scam and confronts the imposter who confesses she's not the real Fionna, but just an old lady in costume.

In her backstory, the old lady loves tinkering with electronics until one day she got a satellite transmission of a Fionna and Cake episode, which she recorded on tape. She then traveled around Ooo to find more until she learned of Ice King's book reading, believing Simon has other episodes on tape, to which he insists there ain't any. The old lady then leaves the Ice King heartbroken because of her deception, but he quickly recovered in just a few seconds. Later, as Simon sleeps, a beam of red light, showing images of Fionna and Cake, came from the window and zapped into Ice King's forehead.

Now earlier in the episode, when asked about how Ice King was able to come up with these stories, he responded that the stories were beamed to his brain at night. So we know he is very much aware of the red light, which is likely the same transmission the Old Lady received in getting the Fionna and Cake episode.

This episode reveals two things: 1) Ice King is NOT the creator of Fionna and Cake, and 2) it's apparently a television series. So a lot of questions remain. However, I just don't know how will all of these get resolved in the final season. Personally, I think it would've been better if it remains just something out of the Ice King's head and not having to delve too deep and have a plot over it. I do want Fiionna to be actually real and meet Finn, but as the series is reaching its conclusion, I find that to be more of in the way and it's better to not let that idea happen at all.

"Whispers" is the first of a two-parter arc of sorts. Fern, aka Grass Finn, isn't doing so well as he feels that he's a total failure, unable to protect Ooo during the events of Elements, this is despite Finn's encouragement. Sweet Pea appears running and crying and as Finn and Fern try to stop him, they were dragged deep into the forest. After the duo calmed Sweet Pea down, he then tells of how he hears whispers of the Lich. Finn and Fern of course know Sweet Pea IS the Lich transformed into a baby. So the two decide to look after him for the night before returning him to Tree Trunks in the morning.

Turns out the one that's haunting Sweet Pea was the Lich's hand, which Finn cut off during the crossover episode with Farmworld Finn and the Lich's hand spread across the multiverse. The hand is obviously trying to awaken the Lich inside Sweet Pea. Fern is tasked to look after Sweet Pea while Finn hunts down the hand. However, the Lich has communicated with Sweet Pea and is controlling him, though Sweet Pea tries to resist the hand's influence.

Finn and the hand battle it out at the Lich's old lair. But the hand was prepared this time and tricks Finn to nearly falling down the same pit that melted Princess Bubblegum. Sweet Pea comes on time and destroyed the hand, fully rejecting the Lich's control.

With the Lich seemed gone for good, Finn and Fern take Sweet Pea back to his parents. Unfortunately Fern isn't having the same kind of enthusiasm as Finn does, despite having his memories. This is due mainly to his constant failures as hero, and his desire to solve virtually anything through violence. We then see a glimpse of the the creature within the Grass Sword grasping the Finn from the Finn Sword. Fern then decides that in order to be the hero that he wants to be, he needs to take out Finn.

"Three Buckets" continues where Whispers left off, starting with Fern pulling a prank on Jake and BMO by transforming into a total lookalike of Finn. He then invites Finn to explore a dungeon, obviously as part of his plan to get rid of him. As the two travel, he becomes frustrated when he constantly loses to Finn in a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

In the secret dungeon, which the outside is surrounded by apparent nuclear bombs that didn't go off, Fern places Finn into a stone prison while the former heads out. As Finn is infuriated over Fern's betrayal, he discovers that his robot arm apparently can transform into a variety of tools he can use, which includes a brief message to him from Princess Bubblegum.

Finn gets out of the dungeon and he and Fern battle it out. Finn tries to reason with Fern, but kills him by accident when his robot arm misheard his command to land a fatal blow. As Finn returns home grieving over killing Fern, the latter's remains were picked up by a mysterious stranger, which ends the episode.

With the Lich now likely gone for good as Sweet Pea rejects him, it seems that Grass Finn and the mysterious stranger will likely be the antagonists of the final season. Some say the stranger is likely Finn's father, Martin Mertens. That's not true. He's apparently Gumbald, Bubblegum's father whom she imprisoned as told by one of the Banana Guards in the episode "The Thin Yellow Line".

Of these five episodes, I would say Ketchup as my most favorite. Besides the great animation by the Buteras, it's also a fun take on the two of the Adventure Time mini-series events, and we see another layer of Marceline's character, which does give a lot of feels. And obviously because I'm not fond of Graham Falk's storyboarding very much, I'm very disappointed with Jake's arc. Therefore, I'm putting Abstract on the bottom list.

With 18 episodes to go (unless someone corrects me on this), I honestly don't know how the show will wrap everything up. There's Fern and Gumbald, who created Fionna and Cake, the Shapeshifter, Betty, etc. I'm also very saddened that yes, Adventure Time is ending, and probably sooner than I thought. Is Cartoon Network going to do another bomb and end it this year, or hold it off for several months and air the final episodes in January, which is also what they did with Regular Show? Personally, I prefer the Regular Show method. Have Adventure Time air the finale in 2018, thus signifying the end of an era of Cartoon Network originals and the start of a new one.

In any case, these 5 episodes are great, save one. And I will patiently wait for the final episodes to come. I don't know how to title this exactly, so on a scale of 1 to 5, I give these 5 episodes of Adventure Time, an average score of 4 out of 5.

OK, K.O. First Impressions

It won't be out on Cartoon Network until this August, but the channel has decided nonetheless to upload the first 6 episodes of OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes to their Video On Demand service. So if you have the V.O.D., you can watch them in advance. Naturally, I got to watch them, so here's my first impressions on the show.

Before I get to that, however, a little brief history. The show was originally titled "Lakewood Plaza Turbo" and was created by Ian Jones-Quartey, best known for working with Rebecca Sugar on Steven Universe. He also worked on Adventure Time with series creator Pendleton Ward, as well as the voice of Wallow in Bravest Warriors.

After working on Steven Universe, Quartey began developing his own cartoon and in 2013, his animated pilot "Lakewood Plaza Turbo" was released. Done in an 80's aesthetic with a superhero concept, protagonist K.O. and his super-powered friends, defend Lakewood Plaza from their neighboring villains in the retail business.

No, seriously, they're just fighting over selling stuff. Imagine Spongebob Squarepants being focused entirely of the rivalry between the Krusty Krab and the Chum Bucket, with everyone having superpowers. It's a crazy concept that, for Lakewood Plaza Turbo, it actually worked. The pilot was well received by critics and fans that Cartoon Network has decided to order it into a full series. After four years of development, the series, renamed as "OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes", is ready for its grand debut.

OK K.O. follows the same premise as Lakewood Plaza Turbo, but this time it's a  more story-based series and less episodic, at least for these first 6 episodes. K.O. long dreams of becoming a hero like the many superheroes he admires, especially Mr. Gar, the plaza's owner. K.O., decides to learn everything on becoming a hero by working as an employee at Lakewood Plaza. Our main bad guy Lord Boxman just cringes at the thought of friendship and wants it ruined by any means necessary. Boxman's character made me think if at one point he called up Black Hat from Villainous for some stuff he can use against K.O. and company.

The show's intro is a mix of 70's funk and 80's style action sequences, which gives a nostalgic feel for someone like me. Also worth noting the opening sequence is made by Hiroyuki Imaishi, the co-founder of Studio TRIGGER. Like Steven Universe, the character designs vary depending on the storyboarder. The ending theme is performed by Rebecca Sugar, with the end scenes being unique to each episode. It's probably one of the reasons these 6 episodes were on V.O.D. this early, as you will not be able to view these unique, individual end credits in the broadcast version.

It's hard not to see so many references to other works in animation and games in this series - Megaman, Dragon Ball, My Hero Academia, even Steven Universe and from Studio TRIGGER as well. The overall presentation is so over the top that I was shedding tears from laughing so hard. The voice acting is great with a number of talented people lending their voices - Quartey himself plays Rad; Enid is played by Ashly Burch, whom anime fans know as the voice of Sasha in the Englsh dub version of Attack on Titan; Voice acting legend Jim Cummings is Lord Boxman; and K.O. is played by two voice actresses depending on the episode - Courtenay Taylor, who played Ada Wong in the Resident Evil franchise, as well as Starla in Regular Show, voices K.O. in the first 3 episdoes. While in episodes 4 to 6, as well as the pilot, K.O. is voiced by Stephanie Nadolny, the voice of Kid Goku and Gohan in the FUNimation version of Dragon Ball, and Dragon Ball Z, respectively.

Four years is quite a long time to develop OK K.O. as a series, but it's well worth the wait as the end product turns up really good. A nod to great animation and video games of the past, incredibly funny, and a great cast and staff. Among the newly released Cartoon Network originals, OK K.O. Let's Be Heroes is the one show I will definitely be watching on a regular basis.

OK K.O. Let's Be Heroes will premiere on Cartoon Network in the US this August, but the first 6 episodes are now available online via the channel's Video On Demand service or the Cartoon Network app.

OK, K.O. Episode 1 Screenshots and Preview

Here are the images and the first 2 minutes of the debut episode of OK, KO - Let's Be Heroes, from former Steven Universe Director Ian Jones-Quartey.

Screenshots:

Click Here for 2-Min Preview

Steven Universe - Wanted Review

Last week, Cartoon Network USA aired the 5th (and possibly final) season premiere of Steven Universe. As part of the promotion, the first four episodes of the 5th season premiered under the "Wanted" event. Unlike the Stevenbomb events where viewers watch a week of new episodes, "Wanted" aired the first four on the same day. Another reason for this is that Lars plays a major role in this story arc.

The first episode, "Stuck Together" was actually leaked weeks before the broadcast premiere and it continued where the last season left off. As Steven remains under the custody of Topaz and Aquamarine, he runs into Lars, who was hiding in the ship the entire time. During their captivity, Lars confessed that his insecurities and cowardice got the better of him and ditched his arrival to the pot luck with Buck Dewey and the Kool Kids before he was captured (uhhh, what a waste of that delicious Ube Cake...).

 Steven for his part revealed his insecurities with the responsibility left to him by his mother. Steven and Lars's conversation leads to a sentimental moment between the two, which got Topaz to finally speak and sympathize with them. Topaz tries to help them escape, but was stopped by Aquamarine.

"The Trial" is as the name implies, where Steven is put on trial for crimes committed by Rose Quartz. We are introduced to the Zircons - gems whose primary purpose is to act as attorneys. Steven is given a Blue Zircon to act as his defense attorney, while the Diamonds serve as Judge and Jury.

During the trial, Yellow Diamond was very eager to end it quickly and have Steven executed. (I know it's supposedly "shattered", but let's not put up with the word game charade. We all know Yellow Diamond wants Steven dead)

Blue Diamond, however, constantly intervenes as she wants to know the details regarding Pink Diamond's death by Rose, demanding Steven, who claims he is Rose, to provide answers. So the revelation is that Pink Diamond's death is part of a grand conspiracy regarding the Diamonds themselves, with Rose framed to take the fall. The Blue Zircon presents this, which got Yellow Diamond furious and poofs her, along with the Green Zircon who was the prosecutor. As Blue Diamond restrains Yellow Diamond for the latter's outburst, Steven and Lars made their escape.

It was clear from this episode that Yellow Diamond was the mastermind behind the conspiracy and set up Pink Diamond for her death, then pinning the blame on Rose Quartz. It gives merit to Yellow Diamond wanting Earth to be swallowed up by the Cluster, so to speak, as it will remove any traces of evidence that lead to her pulling the strings. The motive for this is a mystery for now, but we can theorize that Pink Diamond may have the same feelings as Rose Quartz in which the inhabitants of Earth are worth protecting and not to be transformed into a gem cluster.

In "Off-Colors", as Steven and Lars flee from the drones that are hunting them down, they are taken in by the 'Off-Colors'. To put it more bluntly, the Off-Colors are gem rejects that are deemed as outcasts within Homeworld and are to be shattered on sight. The Off-Colors remain in hiding for thousands of years, in fear of the Homeworld Gems, something Lars could relate to.

Eventually, the drones arrive to attack Steven and the Off-Colors. But Lars, being human with no gems, cannot be detected by the drones. In a rare feat of showing courage, Lars takes down the drones, but was killed after destroying the last one.

Now this would've been quite a shocker seeing an on-screen death of a character. But this is Steven Universe. And as with the unwritten rules regarding American animation for kids, Lars's death is not a permanent one. In fact, he's been dead for just a full minute! Besides, the next episode is titled "Lars's Head", so that's a giveaway already.

Anyhow, Steven's healing powers allowed his tears to revive Lars, though the latter was brought back with his skin color changed completely - pink. At this point, everything is predictable within seconds. Lars is basically the same as Lion, with their hair serving as a gateway to a another dimension. Steven would be able to return to Earth by going inside Lars's hair, and out through Lion's mane.

So Lion, for his part, was a pet that Rose adored, and when he died under unknown circumstances, Rose revived him, and used his mane to store some of her valuables.

Lars made the resolve to remain in Homeworld to serve as a bridge between the planet and Earth, while Steven makes his way home. The Off-Colors, being offered a chance to go to Earth with Steven, chose to stay with Lars to guide him around Homeworld. Steven returns home to reunite with the Crystal Gems, Greg, and Connie, just as they also arrived home via the Warp Pad.

As of this recording, 132 of the planned 156 or so episodes have been aired. This means there are 24 episodes left in this series unless Cartoon Network announced it has ordered a new of episodes. But give that the CN Upfront has already passed, and there are 24 episodes left, and we heard nothing from Cartoon Network or the staff of Steven Universe so far, the chances of a Season 6 are very, very slim.

The way the first four episodes of the 5th Season are presented, these final 24 episodes will be pretty much story-based, with probably a few breaks here and there. It would be weird if the next episode is Steven going off on a random slice-of-life episode, given what has happened. How would everyone react, especially Sadie, upon learning what happened with Lars? What are they going to do now that they can go to Homeworld directly? Exactly what is Yellow Diamond's grand plan? We can expect these and more to come up much sooner than we think...

...episode-wise of course. The show is once again on another hiatus, which is expected and has been the norm for Cartoon Network. Personally, I hope it goes back to the weekly format and enough with the Stevenbombs as it only makes the lifespan of the show much shorter than it already is. Cartoon Network should only look at Adult Swim and how the final season of Samurai Jack was so successful, airing 10 episodes on a weekly basis.

As for this "Wanted" event, the 4-episode premiere is a great start for this season, and a great follow up from the last one. Honestly I find no problems with it other than something new viewers should not jump in unless the watched the previous seasons to catch up. While some may be disappointed that this arc is focused on Lars rather than Steven, I personally find his character development great.

Looking back, Lars from the beginning was very mean to Steven, but as the series progresses, the two do become friends, and Steven is the one who Lars opens up to. Some may probably go for a Steven x Lars ship at this point. I've already seen fan shippings of Steven with other male characters (as very few as they are in this show), so eh, why not?

Anyhow, expect more revelations and resolutions from Steven and the gang in their conflict against Homeworld as this series continues. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Steven Universe's "Wanted" event, a 4 out of 5.

Samurai Jack Season 5 Review

After 16  years, the saga of Samurai Jack has officially reached its end. It may not be the best ending out there, but an end, nonetheless.

Beginning in 2001, Samurai Jack is the tale of the titular character, who was sent into the future by the shape-shifting demon Aku, where the latter has already conquered the world. Jack wonders in the future for a way to return to the past, defeat Aku, and change history.

Unlike the previous seasons where the series is episodic with some continuities here and there, the fifth season of Samurai Jack is a 10-episode story arc that ends with the final confrontation between Jack and Aku. Fortunately, for new viewers, it is not a requirement to watch the past seasons, as the start of Season 5 marks as an entry point for those said viewers. For Samurai Jack fans, they will be happy seeing connections to past seasons, though relatively minor.

The first 8 episodes deal mostly with Jack's character, as he goes into a downward spiral of guilt. As Jack noted in his opening monologue, he and Aku have been fighitng for 50 years in the future, but continues to end in a stalemate. Aku is just too powerful to be defeated by the Jack's Magic Sword, while Jack is simply too persistent to be killed by Aku or his minions. This stalemate, however, did not stop the indiscriminate attacks by Aku's forces against the rest of the world, turning it into a wasteland along with an incredibly high death count. The grim depiction of the future is a stark reminder that for Jack to truly defeat Aku and save the world from destruction, as the show's description tells it from the very beginning - he must get back to the past.

However, that goal has become complicated when in the first episode of the final season, it was revealed that Jack has long since lost the Magic Sword. Despite this, Jack still shows he's a formidable warrior, defeating many of Aku's minions and even one of his top hitmen, Scaramouche.

As this was going on, we are introduced to a new character who will play a key role that would end the conflict for good - Ashi. She, along with her other siblings, are trained since birth by an all-female cult that worships Aku as their god. Calling themselves the "Daughters of Aku", Ashi and the other girls are given the sole task of hunting and assassinating Jack.

Ashi would eventually end up being the only surviving member of her siblings, and the cult overall. Her relationship with Jack is trope-ish, but well executed. She first sees Jack as an enemy, then eventually her ally, friend, and ultimately lover.

On the part of being Jack's significant other, the negative reactions from the minority within social media outlets is for the most part, very laughable. In defense of this suddent development when it happened, it's true that the final season was only 10 episodes long, so there are points in the narrative, especially coming to the end, that ends up rather rushed. But in the case of Jack and Ashi, it was already clear cut from the visuals in one or two episodes that they have been travelling togehter for quite some time. This was already a foreshadowing that two would eventually become a couple and that relationship turns out to be vital in the final battle with Aku.

We then learn that when Jack lost the only remaining means of returning to the past, it left him in a blind rage, which made him lose his sword, not just literally, but figuratively as well, as he is deemed no longer worthy of being its wielder. Kind of like what happened to Thor Odinson in Marvel when he is no longer worthy of wileding Mjolnir, passing it instead to Jane Foster. Jack's loss of the sword also put him into a downward spiral. He does eventually returns to his old self, thus getting his sword back. And allowing him and Ashi to prepare for their fight against Aku.

At this point, a narrative in the original series was retconned. There was a prophecy in which Jack would never return to the past, but has came to terms with it and become the King of the Future, leading an army of his allies in the fight against Aku. This was explored furhter in the comics, which was deemed canon at the time until the final season of the show was announced, making the comic's canonity moot.

Instead, in the final battle with Aku, it was revealed that Ashi was indeed literally his daughter, having Aku's blood flowing in her. Ashi was turned into Aku's minion and Jack is forced to surrender. Aku then announced to the world of Jack's capture, causing all of his allies to make one last charge against Aku to save Jack.

One of the things I enjoyed in this moment is that for Aku's announcement, Genndy Tartakovsky used pre-recorded clips of the late Mako, who provided the original voice of Aku, as the intro monologue to the series is played. Then it is followed by Aku's present monologue this time by Greg Baldwin, who took over as Mako's replacement for not just as Aku in Samurai Jack, but also Iroh in the Avatar series. The transition from Mako's to Baldwin's in the dialogue is seamless and you virtually could not tell the diference between the two. That's where I praise Baldwin for being able to emulate Mako's voice in playing Aku.

On the other hand, I find it weird that Aku is the only one present in his fortress and none of his own army showed up for the final battle. I get that it's because of the rather rushed production and Aku can easily take out the intruders and has done so in the most brutal way possible. Still, it's just weird Aku doesn't have any minions nearby. 

Jack's love for Ashi allowed the latter to break free of Aku's control, which also meant she too has Aku's powers. This allows her to open a new Time Portal, allowing her and Jack to finally return to the ending of the first episode, moments after Jack was sent to the future, and Jack finally kills Aku for good.

Jack's victory however, was a bittersweet one. By killing Aku in the past, it also meant that his friends from the future are erased from existence, and that also includes Ashi, who dies moments before the two are married. It ends with Jack now standing alone as he watches the fields, no longer touched by Aku's evil. Unfortunately, I didn't get emotional on this as it was done before in the anime series Gurren Lagann. It was good and well executed, no doubt. I was just slightly turned off by its similarities with Gurren Lagann.

Looking back at the season in general, it is indeed one long story arc to end the series on a high note, and it has done quite well, despite a few loose spots and a somewhat rushed ending. Jack's character development is great, as is the animation and smart use of the soundtrack. You do see moments of violence, slightly disturbing imagery, and even nudity, but they serve as more of a garnish than the highlight. Jack and Ashi's progression as characters, along with the main plot, remain the center of attention throughout the season.

16 years is a long wait for a series to finally reach its conclusion. But it ends well and is very satisfactory. I praise Tartakovky, the voice actors, and the staff for doing such great work on this series. Whether you are new to Samurai Jack, or have seen it before in the past, it was an incredible journey to the end and is well worth it. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the final season of Samurai Jack, a 4 out of 5.

Steven Universe Season 4 Finale Review

So the latest round of episodes of Steven Universe is airing this week on Cartoon Network in the US. I did post some previews of the episodes on my Toon Inferno blog, and personally I wasn't that much impressed, and even dare I say it made me lose interest even more in the show than it already had. I made a video giving my thoughts on my current standing with Steven Universe back in April, with the link in the video description so you can see for yourself.

In any event, I did watched the latest Stevenbomb episodes anyway, which is now available on the Cartoon Network app, with my expectation bar set virtually to the bottom. Hopefully these episodes are good enough that it restored my confidence in the show. As I said earlier, my review of these episodes will contain spoilers, so last chance to back out right now.

We begin with the episode "Lion 4: Alternate Ending", which was actually uploaded to the Cartoon Network's On-Demand service weeks ago, but was quickly pulled out - Not until the fans already saw the whole thing. Now it's back up.

To recap, Steven is obsessed in finding his true purpose for being around, and searches for clues in the video message Rose left him. This led him to a wild goose chase until he stumbles across another tape titled "For Nora". As the title of the episode suggests, "For Nora" is an alternate version of Rose's video to Steven in the event that Steven was born instead as a girl. Basically, everything Steven has done in this episode is indeed just one wild goose chase that's all for nothing, and this has some fans upset on the show's progress in the narrative. At the very least, Steven learns that rather than being born as some sort of grand scheme Rose cooked up, he was born simply as Rose's son and to live and grow like any other human being, nothing more.

Given that Steven is actually in his teens, I expected that he would've been smart enough to figure out about the Nora tape, rather than let Greg explain it to him. Then again, since his shape-shifting powers allow him to control his age, and he changed himself to be as old as Connie, I'm guessing this may have affected his noggin as well.

Now that I mentioned it, I do remember a conversation on how Steven's height varies episode by episode, mainly due to the way he is designed by each storyboarder. So the birthday episode was likely a way to explain it by saying Steven intentionally or unintentionally changes his height (it unfortunately doesn't explain the other characters, though).

In "Doug Out", Steven, Connie, and Doug Maheswaran investigate some strange happenings going on in Beach City Funland. After a series of rather painful situations for Mr. Maheswaran, they eventually found Onion and deduced him as the intruder, despite the latter showing gestures implying it wasn't him. Doug would let Onion off the hook and the trio returned home before Onion is taken by the real intruders.

Until this episode, Doug Maheswaran wasn't given much focus as a character. So this is a good way to know more about him. Despite being a security guard, Doug is almost like the show's version of Disney's Goofy, who wants to experience the same kind of adventures as Steven has. It does make me wonder how he and Priyanka, Connie's mother, hooked up given their distinct personalities.

I had three issues with the episode. The first, which a very minor one, is that I had a hard time listening to Crispin Freeman as Doug Maheswaran. American anime fans will remember Freeman as the voice of Itachi in Naruto, Alucard in Hellsing, and Zelgadis in Slayers. He also provided the voice of Roy Harper in Young Justice, and recently, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract. I guess I find Freeman's voice somehow doesn't quite fit with Doug.

The second, which was my biggest issue, is that throughout the second half of the episode, Steven does his Mario impersonation. Comedy isn't Steven Universe's strongest trait, and this is one of them. The fact that Steven continued his impersonation throughout the 2nd half has made it less funny, and more irritating.

The third is the plot hole at the end. How could Steven, Connie, and Doug leave Onion by himself in Funland when they left? Sure, Onion can be quite scary at times, but he's still around kindergarten or younger and it's baffling for the trio to just left him there instead of giving him the ride home. I'm aware the writing staff wanted Onion to be captured, but surely they could've done a much better job writing a scenario that would make Onion reach that point.

Next up is "The Good Lars". In this episode, Lars is showing off his baking skills when he, Sadie, and Steven are invited to a potluck by Buck Dewey. Lars, being who he is, doesn't show that he can bake. But he is encouraged by Sadie and Steven to show it off at the potluck. In what is perhaps the most unexpected thing I would see in a Steven Universe cartoon, Lars has settled for an Ube Cake Roll. As Lars explains it, Ube is another name for Purple Yams, which are much sweeter than other yams and is known for its distinct purple color. Purple Yam is often used for preparing desserts like cakes and ice cream, and is quite well-known in the Philippines.

I know so, because I have tried the Purple Yam or Ube desserts and let me tell you - It is indeed amazing. Once you dig into it, there is no turning back and you would want more of it. Even Beerus of Dragon Ball Super would be blown away if he tried Purple Yam cake or ice cream, and he and Whis would probably have a fight over it!

Despite all this, Lars has a moment of revealing how insecure he is in showing his baking skills, as he feels that his love of baking doesn't quite mix well with his personality. In other words, Lars doesn't feel "manly" in a sense if he reveals he can do desserts. We get a moment of Steven showing some maturity as he provides words of encouragement for Lars.

At the potluck, everyone but Lars showed up so Steven went out to look for him, only to find he is nowhere to be found and his Ube Cake Roll is in the trash. Steven thinks Lars's insecurity got the better of him, leaving Sadie by herself with Buck and the others, to which she does well. After the party, Steven and Sadie went their separate ways, with Sadie being followed by Onion's kidnappers.

In "Are You My Dad?", the disappearances of Lars, Sadie, and Onion, and Jamie being the latest, has caught Steven's attention. While searching for them, Steven runs into a gem who asks "Are You My Dad?" before flying away. When Steven tells the Crystal Gems and Connie about it, it lead to the only part of this Stevenbomb where I really had a good laugh when the four showed off their drawings based on Steven's description.

The group decides to split up for their search, with Steven and Connie together as a team. During their search they have indeed found the gem, named Aquamarine, who then orders another gem, Topaz, to take Connie while Steven gets stuck in a tree stump for some reason. Topaz is revealed to have Lars and the others trapped in her body. Steven tries to rescue Connie as she is taken, but is quickly taken down by Aquamarine.

The story concludes in "I Am My Mom", when Steven rendezvous with the Crystal Gems and heads back to Beach City Funland. There they encounter Topaz and Aquamarine, who reveal they were sent by Yellow Diamond to capture a number of people known by Steven, with the last one being "my dad". Turns out they were part of a list Steven told Peridot when the two first met and Peridot was still working under Yellow Diamond.

Unable to engage Topaz without harming the others, Steven claims he is the "my dad" on the list to be intentionally captured, so he can use his Bubble powers to escape with everyone. Turns out that was a very bad idea. Nevertheless, Steven did eventually Bubble himself out and a battle ensues. Because they're fighting inside Aquamarine's ship and is already airborne, Steven notes that fusing with Connie will further complicate things. Add to the fact that Steven blames himself for being the catalyst of this incident. Meanwhile, Lars has shown how much an Old Yeller he is by not helping Sadie when she is in trouble, and instead has gone into hiding.

Aquamarine has shown how powerful she is by paralyzing even Alexandrite very easily. Things looking grim, Steven offered himself to be taken again by revealing that he is Rose Quartz, making Aquamarine let everyone go and taking Steven instead as they left for Homeworld. It's worth noting that while Aquamarine has released everyone to take Steven, Lars remains hidden, making him pretty much Steven's only ally and likely play a huge role in the episodes to come.

Not only does this mark the end of the latest Stevenbomb, it also marks the end of the 4th Season. For a long time, we've known that Steven will play a huge role in the current conflict between the Homeworld and Earth, and we have pretty much reached that point. The good news is we won't have to wait that long, as the 5th Season will start May 31st (in the US, of course). The bad news is that there are only 26 episodes left in the series, and as I said in my previous video on Steven Universe, there is no confirmation of a 6th Season. So we can very much see the end of the road for this series.

Quite frankly, I'm satisfied with this Stevenbomb. Other than my issues with the first 2 episodes, Rebecca Sugar and the Steven Universe staff are taking the narrative of the show into full gear. I can expect the 5th Season to be heavily story-based to wrap things up. So yes, this Stevenbomb has indeed restored my confidence in the show.

My favorite episode? Obviously "The Good Lars" because of course, the Purple Yam or Ube Cake Roll. It's both nostalgia, and it's one of my most favorite sweets in the world, and I'd be floating in heaven to be able to have some of it again. Lion 4 is my least favorite, for the obvious reasons.

Looking back, it's hard to believe Season 4 is over and it felt like it passed by so quickly, despite the fact Season 4 started in August of last year and ended just this month. So that's 26 episodes in the span of 10 months. I'll be honest, Season 4 did have some lackluster episodes, while others are forgettable. However, it is balanced out by the good ones like we see in the last two Stevenbombs, and with how this Season ended, it makes it all quite worthwhile.

If you feel bummed with Steven Universe recently, this latest Stevenbomb will restore your confidence, just as much as I did. It's a great Season 4 finale and you don't have to wait long for the next one. I will close this video by giving two ratings - one for the latest Stevenbomb, and one for the 4th Season overall. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the latest Stevenbomb a 4 out of 5. And for the 4th Season overall, I give it a 3 out of 5.

And seriously, you MUST try the Ube Cake Roll or Ice Cream if you ever managed to get the chance to.