Toon Closet Review: Avengers: United They Stand

With Avengers 2: Age of Ultron coming out I figure I look into the first Avengers cartoon which premiered on Fox back in 1999. In this series the team’s roster is of Ant Man, Wasp, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Vision, Tigra and Wonder Man (who’s been gone for most of the series). Pretty much they went with the West Coast Avengers instead of the original team (Iron Man, Captain America and Thor). Oh they make an appearance (except for Thor)….ONLY FOR ONE EPISODE! This is really pitiful considering that these three are shown in the opening credits but evidentially they’re reduced to secondary cameos. Not saying that the show’s characters are bad just under-utilized; from the way the show handles they’re like the B-Squad of the Avengers. The show really smells of EXTREME 90s giving how some the characters are designed with such flashy armor which frankly is a moot design choice. Especially in episode 6 where the show implies that they’re practically useless without them. And what’s even more moot is how they’re wearing different armor in certain episodes. Clearly this is their way of advertising the toy line. This series just doesn’t feel it has arcing stories but more like a villain of the week plots. How the series end was lackluster with its unresolved cliffhangers such as how the Zodiac leader Taurus has claim a certain item to rule the world. Or when Wonder Man’s powers have gone out of whack it’s sorta revealed that Ultron was messing around with his molecular structure. For what reason, I don’t know.

The series never came back for a second season which unfortunately renders the cliffhangers to have no point to the story at all.

My Final Verdict: When I first saw this show I enjoyed as a kid but now with today’s take on the Avengers cartoons, this show just doesn’t carry the same torch as the current ones. Yes I’m including Avengers Assemble as a decent series; if you have your own opinions about the show go with it. Point is Avengers: United They Stand is all flashy but no substance to back it up. The characters are a bit underdeveloped at times, the villains ranged from cheesy to meh and the animation just feels too flashy in quality.

Toon Closet Review: Project Blue Earth SOS

Its been awhile since I’ve done this so here we go again. I got in to this anime almost immediately when I first watched it; so much so that I brought the first volume disc at a convention (Anime Crossroads). The plot is simple but has its own interesting twist; earth is under attack by alien invaders and it’s up to a special defense force to stop them. The setting is a nice as well taking place in Retro-future (characterized by a blend of old-fashioned styles with futuristic technology) of the 1990s. The main characters are impressive for the part of the series and very likable in their own right. I don’t want to spoiler too much if you hadn’t seen it yet. But I can say the series is well scripted and beautifully animated. The series itself has a nice inspiration from those 50s sci-fi films. For a six episode series it does keep the story straightforward and self-explanatory within their 40+ minute marks.

My Final Verdict: There’s a plethora of animes out there these days but I believe Project Blue Earth SOS is a good way to start off. This anime displays some really amazing action and subtle drama; I highly recommend watching this anime.

Toon Closet Review: Ghost Hunt

So out of respect for Halloween here's Ghost Hunt which premiered on October of 2006. The series follows the Shibuya Psychic Research Center as they investigate paranormal activities around Japan. The main characters in question have interesting character chemistry among each other throughout the series. Mai Taniyama high school student who joins Kazuya Shibuya after the first three episodes. Kazuya Shibuya a paranormal researcher in charge of the Shibuya Psychic Research Center but he goes by through the series as "Naru the narcissistic" a nickname given by Mai. Hōshō Takigawa a Buddhist monk who is apparently in a popular band and wears fashionable clothes through the series he goes by Monk. Ayako Matsuzaki a self-styled shrine maiden. John Brown a young Catholic priest from Australia...very interesting. And then there's Masako Hara a famous spirit medium with her own TV show no less. There are two other characters in the series Lin Kōjo a Chinese onmyoji who is Naru's solemn and taciturn assistant and Osamu Yasuhara who is a high school student who joins SPR after the Forbidden Pastimes arc. With most of the main characters (except for Osamu Yasuhara) have their own abilities to confront paranormal forces. Mai begins to develop a few psychic abilities which includes postcognitive dreams, clairvoyance, and astral projection as the series progresses. The entire series has up to seven story arcs that are split down into three to four episodes. Minus the "Ghost Story in the Park" story which only had one episode. Each of the story arcs are set up rather nicely with a beginning, a middle, and an end that doesn't feel too short or too padded out. Furthermore, each of the story arcs have satisfying conclusions not feeling like some guy in a monster mask ending which that's a real plus.

My Final Verdict: This series is well-thought out and entertaining. Some of the story arc are actually scary at points and are really subtle. The main characters have chemistry with each other and are enjoyable to watch. If you can't get the DVD box set then you can watch the complete series on Funimation.com both dubbed and subtitle.

Toon Closet Review: The Pirates of Dark Warter

Hey everyone and welcome back to Toon Closet this time we're going on an adventure on an alien world of Mer that's being devour by Dark Water. And only a long lost prince can stop it by finding the lost Thirteen Treasures of Rule. Yeah that was the opening credit narration of The Pirates of Dark Water which aired on February 25, 1991. Before the series premiered on ABC it was originally aired on Fox as a five part mini-series called Dark Water. However, chances were made by Hanna-Barbera and the series was rebroadcast on ABC later in 1991. The bulk of the series revolves around an evil substance known as Dark Water that's bend on consuming the planet. And it's up to a small group of adventurers with the help of the Thirteen Treasures of Rule to stop the Dark Water. In the first few episodes we're introduce to the series main characters. Ren an orphan who learns that he's a prince of once great kingdom of Octopon. Tula an ecomancer with the ability to control the elements and biological life, both sentient and non-sentient, as well as a natural affinity towards nature and animals. Ioz a rogue and pirate who joins up with Ren and Tula initially for the promise of treasure. And Niddler a monkey-bird who once belonged to Bloth (the series' antagonist), until he escaped by aiding Ren's own escape from the pirate lord. Although that each of the characters have their own agendas, their main goal is to find the Thirteen Treasures of Rule which processes mysterious powers of stopping the Dark Water. Aside from the Dark Water that the heroes must face there's also Bloth the evil Pirate Lord who pursues Ren and crew just to keep the Treasures for himself and was the one responsible for the destruction of Octopon.

The series lasted for two seasons with only 21 episodes and was abruptly canceled due to expensive production costs and failing to meet the airdates (according to Wikipedia). Resulting that the series was never completed and that Ren and crew found eight of the thirteen treasures.

My Final Verdict: Pirates of Dark Water is visually stunning, well scripted, and by far an entertaining cartoon series that came out from the 90s. This is a series for all ages to watch and enjoy it's just unfortunate that the series ended without any resolution. Pirates of Dark Water can be found on DVD through the Warner Bros. online store website.

Toon Closet Review: WildC.A.T.s

Hey everyone and welcome to my new segment called Toon Closet here on the Film Vindicator blog. This is where I review toons from American cartoons to Japanese anime whether good or god awful. So let's get started with the WildC.A.T.s, cartoons based on popular comic book characters have been the norm since the 40s. But the early 90s was the milestone for upstarted independent comic companies would get into comics to cartoons genre. One of which was Image Comics with one of comic series the WildC.A.T.s. The series came on the air in October 1, 1994, lasting only one season with only 13 episodes aired. The story goes that long when earth was still primitive two warring alien starships arrived that the orbit of Earth, the immortal humanoid Kherubims and the monstrous Daemonites. After sustaning heavy damage the two ships crashed on Earth, while the Daemonites went into hiding the Kherubims integrated with the naives. In present time a multi-millionaire and owner of the Halo Corporation Jacob Marlowe formed the Covert Action Team (C.A.Ts WildC.A.T.s) to fight the Daemonites after discovering Void the Kherubim starship's AI. Each member of the WildC.A.T.s is a human/Kherubim hybrid possessing genetic traits of Kherubim abilities. When the series went from comic to TV format there were a few chances to make the series family-friendly. BIG chances, such as the human character Jacob Marlowe is a Kherubim named Lord Emp in the comics. The character Voodoo was chance from an ex-stripper to an orphan ballet dancer, and Void is not a starship AI in the comics. Despite the big chances the series by itself is a good series, the plot is self-contain, there's tad of drama that doesn't oversaturate among the characters. And the overall voice-acting and animation is well standard, even though I never the comics back then I love this series. Looking back on it now to this day I still love it just the same as I love the Batman animated series or the X-Men animate series.

Final verdict if you grown up with comics that went to cartoons in the 90s this is the series for you. Don't even need to read the WildC.A.T.s comic to get in to it the series is self-explanatory. If you're lucky you can find the complete series on YouTube or you can buy it on DVD that was released by Funimation.