My Poke-Pinions #58 and 59 – The Guard Dog Line

Growlithe

Name: Growlithe and Arcanine are two of my absolute favorite Pokemon ever. I love dogs, Fire Pokemon are my favorite Type – they’re the perfect combination.

Growlithe’s name is a combination of “growl” and…..”lithe” Wow, thanks a bunch, Bulbapedia. That was really helpful. I didn’t know what “lithe” meant, so I googled it, and it means “thin, supple and graceful.” Uhm….I mean….I….guess? Those aren’t really traits that immediately jump out at me when I think of Growlithe, but okay? The “growl” part of the name obviously works very well, but I have no idea what the thought process was with the “lithe” part. It’s still a good name in regards to being memorable and snappy, but I just don’t quite get it.

In Japan, it’s originally known as Gardie, which seems to be indicative of “guard” or “guardian” I think like guard dogs. I prefer Growlithe, but Gardie is a bit more of a fitting name. It kinda just sounds like a name someone would give a Growlithe, if that makes any sense.

Fun Fact: In the beta version of RB, it was going to be named Flamie, which is……very not creative, but cute.

Design: Growlithe is one of the most perfect Pokemon designs. Fight me. It does indeed just look like a dog, but the absolute perfect shade of orange for the short fur with stark black stripes all over the body really help it stand out, and it definitely portrays the Fire Type quite well.

On its longer fur, it has shaping and spiky features that resemble flames, making the fire connection even stronger. I think Growlithe is absolutely adorable. I love its face, it ears, the little hair tuft on top of its head, its paws, its tail – just everything about Growlithe. I especially think the eyes are the perfect shape. They’re adorable and friendly while still having enough angle to them to convey a truly threatening expression if need be.

Sprite-wise, Gen I…pbbbtthhhahahaha…Sorry. R/B is really cute, but it comes off a bit too much like a real puppy/animal than it should. Also, I don’t much care for the tail being so tiny.

Yellow looks pretty normal, and R/G looks—PBBBTTAHAHAHAHAHA! It’s looks so doofy. It’s cute, don’t get me wrong, but it’s so doofy. It almost doesn’t even look like a real Pokemon. It’s kinda more like a plushie.

Gen II is quite the tonal shift, making all of the sprites for the Gen look really friggin’ angry.

Gen III is a bit better, but I have no clue what the animation for Emerald is doing.

Gen IV is pretty cute, but the animations for DPP are a bit too hyper for my tastes.

HG/SS is very adorable, though.

Absolutely adore the animations for Gen V. It’s such a playful pup in those sprites.

Everything else looks pretty good.

Shiny:

I hate you, Pokemon. First you spit in my face with Vulpix’s shiny, and now poor Growlithe? How dare you?

Granted, Growlithe’s situation isn’t quite as bad as Vulpix’s. Growlithe’s shiny is more stark yellow than anything, but still this is just insulting. It looks like it did a fusion dance with a mustard bottle.

In Gen II, its shiny looks…lame, but better. The orange parts were simply turned to a brown color, which kinda just makes it look like a regular dog.

Hisuian Growlithe

Oooooohhhhhhhhhhwwoooooooooooooooowwwwwwwww……Okay, uhm…I’ve never seen this version of Growlithe until this very moment, and it’s…..a lot to take in.

First of all, I’m not against the idea of having like a half-shaggy dog and half-short haired dog – I actually find that very cute – my issue is with the way they styled the hair. The fur on its head looks ridiculous. It looks kinda like a helmet, which is a neat idea, but it’s giving off seriously strong “I was desperately trying to look cool in 1967” vibes.

The fur on its chest is just confusing. Are those balls? Why are they balls? I don’t understand. The tail is fine. It kinda reminds me too much of Wartortle’s tail, though.

The other noticeable detail is that they changed the orange color to being a much deeper orange-red, heavy on the red. I don’t think it looks that bad, but it kinda looks unnatural.

The shiny version is shit, because they just did the exact same color scheme as shiny normal Growlithe.

Dex Entries and Backstory: Growlithe is noted as being extremely loyal, brave, friendly and territorial. It will bite enemies, and it will remain motionless unless commanded by its owner/Trainer. BW also mentions that it’s so protective of its Trainer that it will bark at enemies and run them out of town. It has such a good sense of smell that it never forgets the scents of those it smells, and it can use scents to determine the emotions of others.

Gen VII explains that Growlithe’s natural enemy is Rockruff, and Growlithe are said to have been living and working alongside humans since the stone age.

The only Dex entry for Hisuian Growlithe explains that they patrol their territory in pairs, and it’s believed their typing changed to be dual Fire/Rock Type because of nearby volcanic activity, which is kinda cool. This design doesn’t give off Rock Type or volcano vibes, though.

Growlithe’s design is based off of shisa, which are Japanese statues meant to resemble a mix between a dog and a lion. I can definitely see it. Shisa are guardians meant to protect people from evil spirits, which is very much like Growlithe.

It’s theorized that its striped pattern is either based on tigers, which I don’t buy because it doesn’t have anything to do with tigers, a thylacine, otherwise known as a Tasmanian wolf, which I believe a bit more, or a Kai Ken, also known as a Tora Inu/Tiger Dog, which is one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen.

Hisuian Growlithe’s Rock typing is seemingly based off of komainu statues, which, as far as I’ve researched, are pretty damn similar to shisa legends. The only difference I can see is that shisa are from Okinawan mythology while komainu are more generally used all over Japan and are primarily guardians for Shinto shrines? Correct me if I’m wrong there.

I don’t really understand this Type change if this is accurate. If Growlithe are already based off of statues, then it doesn’t make much sense for Hisuian Growlithe to be part Rock just because it’s based off of a statue and legend that is almost identical to the one its original form was based from. Why didn’t they just say it was because of volcanoes like the Dex entry stated?

Additionally, while the Wiki doesn’t note this, the fact that Hisuian Growlithe work in pairs is also taken from both shisa and komainu legends since they’re always put out in pairs – one with its mouth open and the other with its mouth closed. The shisa legends states that one pair is always male while the other is female. The male will have its mouth closed to keep evil out of the home while the female keeps hers open to share goodness.

In the komainu legend, the one with its mouth open is pronouncing “A” the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet while the one with the closed mouth is saying “Um,” which is the last letter. This is meant to symbolize the beginning and end of all things. Both combined create “aum” which is a sacred syllable in Sanskrit that has many meanings – far too many for me to go over here – but check out that link. It’s fascinating.

Arcanine

Name: As much love as I have for Growlithe, and it’s an awful lot, I have a tiny bit more for Arcanine. It’s a beautiful, adorable, powerful giant fire dog, and I love it to bits.

Arcanine’s name is a mixture of “Arcane” and “Canine” which kinda surprised me because I always thought the first part was meant to be based off of “Arf” like the dog noise, but “Arcane” is a much better origin for that part. So fitting, and such a cool word. I love Arcanine’s name. It has such a majestic and cool flair to it that it could easily be a Legendary name.

Speaking of legendary, while I usually don’t discuss category names, Arcanine is called the Legendary Pokemon, and this has lead to a lot of confusion. Arcanine is obviously not a Legendary Pokemon, but it is classified as THE Legendary Pokemon because it is a Pokemon of many legends and tales….Do you get it? Yeah, I don’t either. Maybe because it’s so relatively common given that Growlithe is so common it can be called a Pokemon of legend, but it’s not rare enough to be considered a Pokemon so few people have seen it’s considered simply a legend, making it Legendary?

Also doesn’t help that in episode two of the anime, Arcanine was included on a depiction of an ancient tablet with Legendary Pokemon including the Legendary Birds.

Back on topic, its Japanese name is Windie, which I was never really a fan of. It sounds overly simple and like something you’d expect them to use as a name for a Flying Type. It’s meant to be in reference to the fact that Arcanine supposedly runs faster than the wind, which I also think is flimsy. You have this awesome majestic Pokemon and your only thought is it runs faster than the wind?

Fun Fact: In the beta version of RB, it was called Blaze, which is cool, but also a bit too overly simplistic. I much prefer Arcanine.

Design: Arcanine’s design is amazing. It still has the cute characteristics of a dog, but it’s big and intimidating without looking scary. The lion attributes, though still subtle, come through much more with Arcanine than Growlithe, and it’s just the right balance here. I love that it’s big enough to ride on. When I was a kid, I always wanted to ride on an Arcanine, and I still do, to be honest. I want to give one a hug too. It’s such a cuddly-looking Pokemon.

Sprite-wise, RB looks pretty cool, actually. They made the longer parts of the fur more flowy instead of spiky and I actually think it looks awesome.

Yellow also has this really cool attitude to it. I love it.

RG looks doofy, though.

Gen II looks really cool except for Crystal where he looks like he’s about to sneeze and stops himself by gently putting his paw down.

Gen III looks really good. The animation for Emerald makes it look like it’s barking before growling really intensely, which is cool.

I don’t really have much else to say about the rest of the sprites. They’re all varying amounts of cool and cute.

Shiny:

They committed the same shiny sin to Arcanine as they did to Growlithe. He now comes in lemon flavor. The least I can say is that some versions, specifically Gen IV and V, make him look golden instead of yellow, but it’s not much consolation.

Gen II’s shiny is also brown, but it’s a bad shade of brown. Like Arcanine hasn’t taken a bath in three years and spends his days running in dirt.

Hisuian Arcanine

Aaaaggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…..pbfft.

Where do I start with this thing? I don’t hate it, I just don’t like it that much. I think the tail is the best part. I like how it looks like a smoke plume, especially with the shade of dark gray they chose for the longer fur areas. I don’t dislike how the mane looks.

My opinion on it seems to vary by the minute. I never really like it that much, but I can’t bring myself to really hate it. However, if I do hate one aspect, it’s the way they changed the head design. It looks awful. I also don’t care for the shade of red they chose for the rest of the body. Unlike Hisuian Growlithe, this shade is a bit too red to the point where it’s basically fire truck red. I think having more orange in it is necessary, especially if they’re trying to pull off a lava/magma vibe. Lava/magma is not pure red.

Its shiny is, again, bright yellow. However, it works a tiny bit better with this version, because it comes off more like Arcanine changed to an Electric Type. Then I realized that this shiny looks a bit too much like a Raikou. I was going to make an Entei comparison with the main version, but I didn’t think it looked quite similar enough. But then I saw the shiny and couldn’t get Raikou out of my head.

Why yellow for ALL of the shiny versions of this line? It’s so bad. Please, if another version of this line ever comes out, choose a color besides yellow for their shiny.

Dex Entries and Backstory: Arcanine, like Growlithe, are known for their intense loyalty and bravery. They are incredibly fast and graceful runners. When running, they are considered captivating by many. They can run around 6,200 miles in 24 hours, which is insane. The fire within their bodies is said to help power it to run so far and fast. They are world-renowned for their beauty, and they are said to look like they have wings and are running on air.

In a bit of surprise, the early Dexes note that it is a legendary Pokemon in China specifically (this is later changed to “the east.”) There are legends of Arcanine working alongside military generals and conquering an entire country.

It has a bark so powerful and majestic that people actually grovel when they hear it.

Hisuian Arcanine has a fierce look, especially with fangs that they can cloak in fire, but it mostly feints and avoids fighting fairly often, choosing to playfully chase after and dance around its opponents instead…..Wait, that’s it? That’s all they have to say about Hisuian Arcanine? That’s kinda lame, actually. No notes about volcanoes or lava or rocks or what have you? Why even bother then?

Not many additional design notes for Arcanine except that it might have also been based off of Xiezhi, which…..maybe, but I doubt it? Bulbapedia says it’s a fire-breathing dog with similarities to lions and tigers, but the Wiki page for that legend specifically says it’s an ox, sheep or a goat, and there’s no mention of fire anywhere.

According to legend, the Xiezhi was called upon as a figure of justice. It could accurately detect who was guilty and who was innocent with a glance. They would signify who was guilty and innocent by ramming whomever was guilty and sparing whomever was innocent. That doesn’t sound like anything Arcanine does so….*shrug*

Hisuian Arcanine also doesn’t have any additional notes besides the very obvious fact that the tail and ankle fur look like smoke, which is very disappointing.

And that was the – eh, what should I call this one?….The Guard Dog line. I would’ve said “Legendary Dogs” but then people would probably get confused with the three Legendary cats/dogs/beasts…ya know. I still love Growlithe and Arcanine to bits and pieces, even if their only alternate versions are underwhelming. They’re just such awesome Pokemon, and they’re always high on my favorites list. I wish they existed in real life. Or at least I wish they were a bigger part of the anime. I still have trouble accepting that they wouldn’t let James keep Growly with him. Gary had an Arcanine, but we barely see him.

Next up, the Poli line!

---

If you enjoy my work and would like to help support my blog, please consider donating at my Ko-Fi page. Thank you! ♥

AVAHS – Bear in the Big Blue House: A Berry Bear Christmas Review

Plot: Bear and the residents of the Big Blue House prepare to celebrate Christmas together when they meet an old dog suffering out in the cold named Jack. They take him in and discover the poor pup is homeless, having been recently kicked out of his old home. Bear and the others try to make an extra special holiday for Jack while trying their best to understand his situation and extend a kind hand.

Breakdown: Ah Bear in the Big Blue House. This special was suggested to me by a commenter named Joseph. Thank you for your suggestion, and have a very happy holiday! 🙂

My background with Bear in the Big Blue House isn’t that vast. I did watch the show a bit when I was younger, but I think I was just starting to grow out of Playhouse Disney, Nick Jr. and the like at that point. I definitely remembering watching it and enjoying it, but I just didn’t watch it all that much. I definitely don’t remember ever watching this special, which is a shame because this is an extremely enjoyable special, even as an adult.

There’s something very heartwarming and special about how some shows aimed at much younger viewers interact with their audiences. Yeah, some of them talk a bit too far down to their viewers and make interactions seem more condescending than anything, but shows like Bear in the Big Blue House make you feel like an old friend they’re always happy to see. I honestly couldn’t stop myself from smiling whenever Bear and the others would talk to ‘me’.

Initially, this special seemed like it was aiming for the typical message of “Don’t be greedy on Christmas (or in general)” which isn’t a bad message at all, and it’s one that a lot of little kids probably need to hear this time of year, but then the special shifted about halfway in when we’re introduced to Jack the dog. He’s howling outside in the cold and snow, about to pass out, and Bear and the others bring him inside to warm him up. When he awakens, he explains that he’s homeless, and most of the members of the Big Blue House don’t understand what that entails.

Homelessness/poverty really isn’t a foreign subject for holiday specials. In fact, it’s used quite often. It’s just that, when it’s tackled, it’s typically done in a manner that doesn’t really discuss it so much as just have the characters feel bad for poor people and then give to charity or volunteer at a homeless shelter or something for the holiday. That’s not a bad way of approaching it at all, and it’s still a good message, but actually discussing the topic of poverty and homelessness would most certainly drive the point home of why it’s important to give to charities, volunteer at homeless shelters and, most importantly, be kind to homeless people.

Now, I haven’t really reviewed a special that explored homelessness since…since The Proud Family Kwanzaa special……*huff*

To say they didn’t explore the topic in a satisfactory manner is a bit of an understatement. They were pretty much treated like subhumans by nearly everyone for a majority of the runtime, and, to make matters worse, the homeless family themselves weren’t really likable either. They gave major holier-than-thou attitude to the Proud family every five seconds. They rejected very kind gifts because they didn’t want to buy into the consumerism of Christmas. The mother acted as if she was better than Trudy because Trudy cared about her home and cleaned her dishes. The father basically chastised Oscar for working for a living instead of spending all of his time with his family. They didn’t tell the Prouds that they were vegan and proceeded to disgust everyone out of their family dinner of turkey by sharing horror stories at the table of how turkeys are tormented and slaughtered for meat.

Then the message basically seemed backwards in the end because they clearly were, intentionally or otherwise, telling the audience that working, valuing money and buying things, even a home, were not the right path to an enlightened and happy life, but then they direct the Prouds to helping another homeless family by giving the father a job so he can get money to buy his family things, including a home……

If there is one thing I will give The Proud Family Kwanzaa special in regards to their depiction of homelessness is that they definitely shined a light on the stigma of homelessness. Many of the characters, such as Oscar, Penny and Penny’s awful friends judged the family without getting to know them or after learning some aspects of their homeless lives, which is wrong. It’s just that the other half of that equation should be showing the audience that this family is a normal family just like anyone else and they just try to make the best of their situation to be happy. Instead, they’re a literal family of spirits who come off more as cult-y and conceited above all else. And their holier-than-thou attitude is fully justified in the end because they are, seemingly, the legitimate spirits of Kwanzaa and may actually be….I dunno. Angels? Demigods? I have no idea. They’re just depicted as celestial beings up in the clouds looking down on the Proud family.

Bear in the Big Blue House, on the other hand, takes a more meaningful approach. Jack the dog is just an old dog. He doesn’t want to bother anybody, he’s polite, he’s kind, and he’s just tired and cold. He also speaks of his circumstances in a manner that is very realistic. He doesn’t sound bitter about his life, but he also clearly has a bit of embarrassment about it. He mentions that he was abandoned, but decides to phrase his situation initially as being “between homes.”

Likewise, the residents of the Big Blue House don’t quite understand homelessness, but they’re not rude to Jack. Much of the questions they ask him are asked and phrased in manners many children would ask.

Later, Tutter has a moment where he becomes concerned that one day the Big Blue House will be gone and he’ll be homeless as well, but Bear assuages his concerns by saying the Big Blue House will always be there and his place is in that house with them, which….not sure I’m 100% on board for. I’m not saying you should let kids spiral into anxious thoughts of becoming homeless one day, but the reality is that becoming homeless can happen to anyone for a wide variety of many circumstances, and responding to fears of that happening by saying that it won’t kinda doesn’t really address the concern.

Maybe they’re more saying that, as long as you have people who love you and are willing to help you, like Bear points out, that you can get through those tough circumstances should they arise, which is a better response, but I think they could have been a little clearer with it. This is definitely a conversation that needs follow-up with a parent or guardian.

In the end of that portion, however, Tutter suggests that they offer as much kindness to Jack as they can, which is a great idea and very sweet.

What I find especially great about this storyline is that it actually addresses another serious issue of homeless pets. I think it was an awesome idea to make Jack a dog character. Everyone in Bear in the Big Blue House is some form of animal, but I think that having Jack be a dog was particularly poignant because not only are there tons of dogs on the streets who wind up suffering in the cold winter months, but many dogs (and other pets) are abandoned around the holidays because people buy/adopt them for someone for Christmas but then realize that the recipient either didn’t want the dog or they were too lazy/young/what have you to properly care for them, so they just dump them on the side of the road either expecting someone else will adopt them or not caring what happens to them.

That’s not what happened to Jack – he explains that his last family abandoned him because he dug up rose bushes – but it happens an awful lot. Having Jack serve the dual purpose of showing children, in an understanding manner, the homeless problems of both people and the abandonment problems of animals will hopefully drive them to make positive strides to help resolve these issues as they get older. Even simply sharing what they learned in the special can have a strong effect and change people’s perceptions.

The fact that Jack is also an older dog adds another layer to the situation. Approximately half of the homeless population in the United States is over the age of 50, and older individuals are the fastest growing age group in America for poverty and homelessness. In addition, continuing on with the abandoned dog parallel, many pets are abandoned because they’re elderly. Their owners don’t want to put up with them as they age, become sick and have difficulty doing everyday activities.

I know I’m putting a lot more thought into this than the target audience for this would, but you have to keep in mind that kids do carry small details with them from the media they consume, whether they know it or not. Even subconsciously recognizing these details and being able to kinda recall them as they get older might help shape their attitudes and behaviors towards issues like homeless, poverty and abandoned animals. That’s one of the reasons why I get so irritated when people brush off kids’ media as being allowed to be stupid, hollow or just flat-out bad. Kids can have silly fun with the shows and movies they watch, and I’m not saying everything needs to inject a heavy topic or message, but give them more credit and expect more from your children’s sources of entertainment at least.

Of course there’s a happy ending for Jack (or maybe I shouldn’t say it’s an ending, per se) when he finds a home with Doc Hogg. After Doc Hogg randomly finds a dog house buried in the snow of his yard (….??? Just go with it.) he invites Jack to come live with him, and Jack accepts.

They don’t even brush off Jack like a one-off ‘very special episode’-ish character. He reappears in the show a few times and even becomes the fire chief. Good for ol’ Jack!

The special also briefly explores other holidays such as Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. It doesn’t spend more than a minute or two on either, but I appreciate that they do include them and even give each holiday their own songs.

Something I’ve failed to mention in the other muppet features I’ve covered is how great the puppetry is. Bear in the Big Blue House is a Jim Henson production, and they do such a wonderful job both crafting puppets/muppets and bringing them to life with skilled puppetry. The facial expressions, their gestures, the way they move, they way they interact with their environments – it’s all very natural and impressive.

Over the two parts, there were a lot of songs, and many of them were very well-composed and enjoyable. Not sure I’ll remember all of them after a while, but I’d certainly like to hear them again.

Overall, this was a fantastic Christmas special. It wasn’t too heavy for its younger audience despite the themes that it tackled, it was heartwarming, and it had a lot of holiday fun. I’d gladly watch it again, and if you have never seen it, I recommend giving it a watch this holiday season. Only part one is available on Disney+, for whatever reason, but the second half is readily available online. I watched it on Archive.org.

I hope all you amazing visitors of my blog have a very merry Christmas, a wonderful holiday season and a fantastic new year! 🙂

---

If my work makes you feel jolly and you’d like to send some Christmas cheer my way, please consider leaving a gift under my Ko-Fi tree. Every donation goes to helping me pay my bills and keeping this blog running like Santa’s Workshop. Thank you! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and have a Wonderful New Year! 🎄☃️

AVAHS – A Pinky and the Brain Christmas Review

Plot: Brain has a plan to take over the minds of people across the globe by planting his mind-controlling Noodle Noggin dolls in Santa’s sleigh.

Breakdown: I watched a lot of Pinky and the Brain when I was a kid. I wasn’t as big of a fan of the series as Animaniacs, the series on which Pinky and the Brain spun off, or even Tiny Toon Adventures, but I did like it quite a lot.

I only vaguely remember this special, but I’m very glad I rediscovered it because this is a really great Christmas special. Not only does Brain have a pretty good plan that very nearly works, not only do they get into some pretty funny shenanigans in the meantime, but they also manage to end on a legitimately heartwarming moment. It was kinda predictable, admittedly, but it was also super sweet. I audibly said “Aww!” at least four times when watching the final five minutes. Pinky is just the sweetest sweetheart in the world.

What’s weird is that the quality of the footage is quite bad on Hulu. It’s available on DVD, but the quality of the episode on Hulu is kinda bad for some reason.

Anyhoo, this is a very sweet and funny Christmas special that I recommend to anyone.

---

If my work makes you feel jolly and you’d like to send some Christmas cheer my way, please consider leaving a gift under my Ko-Fi tree. Every donation goes to helping me pay my bills and keeping this blog running like Santa’s Workshop. Thank you! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and have a Wonderful New Year! 🎄☃️

AVAHS – Prep and Landing Review

Plot: Prep and Landing is a special covert team of elves who go out every Christmas Eve night to prepare the homes of children all across the globe for Santa’s arrival. Their services are vital to ensuring that Santa can land, deliver gifts without being seen and leave without being caught. Wayne is a legendary member of Prep and Landing, but he’s burned out and ready to leave those days behind him for a cushy life in a higher position. When that doesn’t work out, he becomes lackadaisical and uncaring about his job, which leads to a major catastrophe that puts the Christmas spirit of an innocent child on the line.

Breakdown: This is an interesting one for me, because I know for a fact that I heard of this special when it first came out, and it seems kinda familiar, but for the life of me I don’t remember sitting down and watching it. Shame if I didn’t, because this is an excellent Christmas special.

Someone said this seemed very reminiscent of Arthur Christmas, and I agree, to an extent. While it doesn’t have the Aardman style to the artwork, the way Santa and the elves are portrayed comes off a lot like the way they were portrayed in Arthur Christmas, only not in a negative slant. In Arthur Christmas, they were getting so reliant on technology that it really seemed like Santa didn’t need to go out to visit houses every year, the elves were being phased out or just made to be tech specialists, and the spirit of Christmas was dying as the use of technology was increasing.

However, this special portrays the integration of technology in a much more positive light. Santa’s still Santa, and the elves are still the elves, but they have new jobs to ensure that Christmas magic stays alive and well. For example, while they treat the launching of Santa’s sleigh almost as if it’s a rocket launch, they toy with the process to not diminish the original roles of Santa’s reindeer and sleigh. When they say to “Rev up the engines” they send down an elf who basically acts as the hype man for the reindeer who gets them super excited before they head out.

It’s a much more natural and fun integration than they had in Arthur Christmas, but, then again, that was the point in that movie. The technology here is more of a fun backdrop for the antics of the story, not a focal part of the story.

I really like how Prep and Landing is made out to be such an integral part of the process. It’s a pretty unique idea to have elves who prepare the house before Santa visits to help ensure everything goes smoothly. It’s pretty realistic, too – at least in regards to the Santa mythos. An operation like Santa’s would want to make their activities as efficient and covert as humanly possible, and having a special team of elves preparing the house beforehand while also doing everything in their power to streamline everything back at the North Pole makes it much easier to pull off this job every year.

In regards to the story, I feel like this plot lends itself more to adults than children, and not because it’s mature or anything, but the themes surrounding it give me a feeling like if I watched it and enjoyed it as a child I’d have more of an appreciation for it as an adult.

Wayne starts out the special being arrogant and uncaring. We don’t really spend a lot of time with him as a young and enthusiastic Prep and Landing agent. Once we learn of his backstory, we see him as a cocky guy who thinks he’s about to land (hehe) a fancy promotion to being head of the naughty list. While he is being arrogant and kinda rude, he’s not being so bad that he’s obnoxious or your don’t sympathize with him.

As we learn later, he’s just a very, very burned out elf who, despite being top of his game in Prep and Landing, wants to go higher and get more respect. That position is ripped from him for no given reason, and the promotion is handed to his partner – an elf he trained. We never learn much about his partner nor do we ever see him after the backstory portion. Him getting the job doesn’t matter as much as Wayne not getting it.

Being burned out, wanting more out of your job and losing promotions to younger people who may or may not have snaked them from you are all very real situations adults find themselves in more and more. Not to mention that the office-esque vibe the entire factory gives off (while still being loaded with Christmas stuff, of course) makes it feel, almost sadly, very familiar to adults. They’re not really aspects of the story that kids get – and they don’t really have to connect with that aspect of the story. They really just need to know that Wayne is a grump who is fed up with doing the same stuff over and over, and he needs to rediscover his Christmas spirit to get back in the swing of things.

Wayne does get dangerously close to being obnoxious when they enter their first house. Wayne is so done with his job after losing his promotion that he leaves every task in the home up to the brand-new rookie, Lanny, who, despite being enthusiastic and skilled, is still extremely inexperienced and self-conscious. He idolizes Wayne since he’s such a legend in Prep and Landing, but Wayne just dumps all of the work on him while he goes to laze around and take advantage of the comforts of the home.

Lanny does his best, but he still screws up some stuff because he’s never done this before. Wayne won’t help him because he doesn’t take his job seriously anymore.

This, of course, leads to them getting caught by the kid in the house. He’s a nice young lad who immediately starts taking pictures of them, because, well duh. Most kids, especially after the advent of digital cameras and smartphones, would immediately jump on taking pictures of elves in the house. Though Lanny was smart enough to delete the pictures when they managed to knock the kid out.

Wayne still doesn’t care all that much about causing this mess until he realizes that they still haven’t prepared the landing strip on the roof, and there’s a big snowstorm coming through. Santa is unable to land safely, so they’re forced to do something they almost never do – call off a visit to a house.

Only then, when he completely screws up Christmas for an innocent boy, does he both see how badly he’s messed up and how important their job truly is. They save Christmas for the boy together, and Wayne isn’t hailed as a hero or anything (which he shouldn’t) but he’s offered a promotion to director of the nice list, and he turns it down because his true place is with Prep and Landing.

All the way through, this special was very entertaining. It wasn’t the most emotional thing it the world, but it’s not trying to be, and I think it could have stood being a little longer, but it was funny, well-animated, a little heartwarming and managed to create fairly memorable, likable and relatable characters in a short 22 minute time frame. It’s a special I really feel would instantly become a classic for families. I’m certainly thinking about putting it on my annual watch list for the holiday season.

It received an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less than One Hour), it was nominated for nine Annie awards – winning three – and it was so popular that it actually dethroned the Rankin-Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer special as the number one Christmas special on TV.

Prep and Landing went on to have a sequel called Prep and Landing: Naughty vs. Nice, which I may get around to watching and reviewing this month, several shorter spin-offs and even a comic book crossover where Wayne and Lanny prepare the Avengers mansion for Christmas. However, nowadays, Prep and Landing is all but dead, and it seems the sequel is kinda the reason for that. There was a third Prep and Landing special meant to come out some time after 2011, but the plans were scrapped because reception for the second special was too disappointing.

Still, Prep and Landing and Naughty vs. Nice air every year to this day (although, for some reason, they stopped in 2020, they’re set to return to Freeform, ABC and the Disney Channel this year.) and it seems to be a well-remembered short for many people. I certainly enjoyed myself, and I recommend anyone reading to give it a shot. It’s available on Disney+, but will also be airing on Disney Channel, Freeform and ABC throughout the month.

---

If my work makes you feel jolly and you’d like to send some Christmas cheer my way, please consider leaving a gift under my Ko-Fi tree. Every donation goes to helping me pay my bills and keeping this blog running like Santa’s Workshop. Thank you! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and have a Wonderful New Year! 🎄☃️

SSBS – Beyblade Episode 5: Draciel of Approval Review

Plot: It’s the semi-finals of the regional tournament, and Max is up against Kai! Max has a brand new Beyblade weighted for balance and defense, but Kai has no intentions of losing to Tyson’s new friend. Can Max manage to win a battle without a Bit Beast or will one manage to find him before it’s too late?

Bey-Battles

Segmented Battle

Round 1: Max (Draciel Metal Ball Defenser) vs Kai (Dranzer S) – Victor: Kai

Round 2: Max (Draciel Metal Ball Defenser) vs Kai (Dranzer S) – Victor: Max

Round 3: Max (Draciel Metal Ball Defenser) vs Kai (Dranzer S) – Victor: Kai

Overall Winner: Kai

Breakdown: There are only four participants left in the tournament – Tyson, Max, Kai and the mysterious specially invited guest, Ray. Max is set to go up against Kai while Tyson’s match with Ray will come right after. Before Max’s bout, his father gives him a pendant that was Max’s grandmother’s.

They introduce a new BeyStadium, the first trick BeyStadium we’ve seen in the series – the Saucer Bowl. In this stadium, it’s not the Beyblade that stays spinning the longest that wins – it’s whichever manages to get in the top of the centerpiece and stay there for ten seconds. In this battle, it’s a best of three matchup.

I know I said I’d stop talking about this, and I promise I’m trying, but this is one of those situations where it’s insanely hard to ignore how little the mechanics of this series makes sense. The announcers are all “It takes great skill and concentration to get up there!” but like….from who? They’re literally just standing there watching their Beyblades do stuff.

Anyway, Max reveals his newly altered Beyblade has ball bearings in it to make it heavier and more balanced.

Max manages to get to the center for a while, but Dranzer slams down on his blade, causing it fly out of the arena. Dranzer stays in the center for ten seconds, giving Kai the first round win.

Encouraged by Tyson to face him in the finals, Max trudges on and plots a new strategy for defeating Kai. As they enter round two, Max launches his blade with a reverse pull and immediately shoots up into the center. No one can figure out what Max’s plan is with the reverse launch until Kai does the exact same attack move he did before, landing on Max’s blade with a deafening thud. This time, Max’s blade stays standing, though stops spinning, while Dranzer spins on top of it.

Max launched his blade with a reverse pull to send it spinning in the opposite direction, which would absorb Kai’s attack and leave his blade spinning…….Which…uh…yeah, that’s…no. First of all, I don’t care how many ball bearings you have in that thing, there’s no way it’s balanced enough to stay standing without spinning, especially if a Beyblade just body slammed into it from 30 feet in the air. Second, this plan relied entirely on Dranzer hitting Draciel smack dab in the middle. If it hit even a little bit on either side, it would easily lose balance and fall over.

Also, Draciel stopped spinning…..Doesn’t that mean it should be out of the match? I wasn’t aware that a blade can technically stay in the game if it’s upright but not spinning.

Kai calls for a final attack before the ten seconds is up, but Max reveals the rest of his plan. Absorbing the energy from Dranzer’s spinning, Draciel is able to spin in the other direction, causing Dranzer to stop spinning and be booted out of the arena while the ten seconds is called.

Uhm…..Uh???

Okay, I should specify something here – that explanation I just gave was my interpretation on what happened. Max just says Draciel will start spinning in the opposite direction now. He doesn’t explain how or why this is happening, he just says that it will, like he can call for it by demand or something. It also doesn’t explain why Dranzer would just stop spinning when he does this. You’d think if Draciel started spinning in the same direction it would actually make Dranzer spin more, not stop. And I checked – Draciel is going counter-clockwise when he starts spinning again, and Dranzer is going counter-clockwise when it stops.

I have no clue what happened. I’m so confused.

Anyway, Max wins round two. Draciel’s cracked bit chip (the top part where a Bit Beast goes – it’s just a generic filler piece if there’s no Bit Beast in there.) suddenly shatters after he’s declared winner. This causes the blade to bounce out of control and fly off toward Max, hitting him square in his grandmother’s pendant, which also shatters, much to Max’s complete shock.

Announcer: “Where’s all the king’s horses and all the king’s men when you really need them?” Who cares? They didn’t/couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again, so how would they be helpful here?

Apparently, losing just the bit chip is enough for them to start disqualifying Max if he can’t fix it. Uhm, every single person here has a little case with them that I assume is filled with replacement parts and tools and such. Max’s dad also owns a Beyblade store. How is it possible Max doesn’t have the means of repairing that piece right now? It’s not even an important piece. As I said, without a Bit Beast in it, the bit chip is entirely for aesthetics.

Okay, we had to jump through some hoops to accept the manner in which Tyson got Dragoon. But why did Max’s grandma just randomly have a Bit Beast? And why did she keep it in a pendant?

“Grandma must have meant for me to find this!” You never would have discovered that if your blade didn’t randomly shatter the pendant off your neck. And why wouldn’t she just give it to you instead of hiding it in a pendant?

The final round starts, and both Dranzer and Draciel stay in the center for ten seconds at the same time. As a result, they have to go into overtime, which is just a typical BeyBattle until one or the other falls. Kai actually gives a compliment to Max, telling him he performed well, but he’s ready to end it now. As the blades clash, Max’s Beyblade glows purple and unleashes the power of Draciel.

Draciel manages to knock Dranzer up and away, and it seems like he’s got the win in the bag, but Kai unleashes his own Bit Beast and sends Dranzer after him. With one swift attack, Draciel is knocked out of the arena. At a score of one to two, Kai wins and moves onto the finals while Max concedes defeat.

Backstage, Max congratulates Kai for his victory, which he hesitantly accepts before leaving. Max is bummed about losing, but he has high hopes for next time, and he absolutely adores his new Bit Beast. Tyson and Kenny meet him backstage to raise his spirits after his defeat, declaring him the true champion since he put up such a good fight.

That night, the boys relax in some hot springs when they hear the sounds of a Beyblade over the dividing wall. Peeking over, they see Ray in a cloud of smoke, surrounded by deep cuts in the ground left from practicing with his Beyblade. His and Tyson’s match is up next, and Tyson couldn’t be more excited.

—————————————

This was a pretty good episode. I thought the new BeyStadium was simplistic but cool. I like creative BeyStadiums that could actually exist and be used in real life. I thought Max’s strategy, while not really making much sense out of universe, was interesting in the second round. He didn’t really have any strategy for round three outside of using Draciel, and he didn’t even know how to activate him.

I appreciate Kai actually being fairly respectful towards Max during this entire episode. For a guy who thrives on trash talk and has a massive ego, he didn’t really sling any shit towards Max. He even complimented him verbally once and internally a few times.

It was fairly clear that Max was going to lose this bout. Just like it’s pretty clear Tyson is going to win his match with Ray so they can have the finals be the big rematch between Tyson and Kai. However, he did give Kai a pretty good run for his money. He even won one round, which is pretty good. He takes everything in stride, so, while you feel bad for him, you don’t feel too bad. He had fun, so that’s all that matters.

If there’s one big complaint I have about this episode, it’s that it sucks as a debut episode for Draciel. It’s hard to think much of Draciel when it lost in one shot and didn’t even actually do anything on its first time out. Max managed to win one round without Draciel installed, and he loses in one hit with him installed. If anything, it actually makes Max’s blade seem worse now.

Next time, it’s Tyson vs. Ray and the debut of Driger!

---

If you enjoy my work and would like to help support my blog, please consider donating at my Ko-Fi page. Thank you! ♥

AVAHS – Casper’s First Christmas Review

Plot: Casper tries to celebrate Christmas while waiting for the impending demolition of his home. Meanwhile, the other Hanna-Barbera characters visit the home, not realizing it’s haunted, to have a fun Christmas together.

Breakdown: Ladies and gentlemen….we have been lied to.

Yogi Bear is in this special.

He’s supposed to be hibernating.

This deception cannot go unpunished!

Blatant filthy lies aside, this is a pretty okay special, although there is something inherently depressing about a dead child trying to celebrate Christmas. Also, doesn’t that technically mean the title is incorrect? Casper certainly had to have had Christmases while he was alive, right?

I honestly don’t have much to say about this special because nothing much happens. Hairy Scary scares the other characters when they visit the house and is a grump about Christmas, but then he changes his mind, his house is saved, and everyone has a merry Christmas. It’s plenty Christmassy, there’s just not much to it. If you like Casper and Hanna-Barbera stuff, it’s a fine little special to watch around the holidays.

---

If my work makes you feel jolly and you’d like to send some Christmas cheer my way, please consider leaving a gift under my Ko-Fi tree. Every donation goes to helping me pay my bills and keeping this blog running like Santa’s Workshop. Thank you! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and have a Wonderful New Year! 🎄☃️

Tokyo Mew Mew New Episode 2: What Makes a Real Friend? Review

Lettuce’s debut! Or should I say De-Mew–Nonono! Must stop! *ahem* Anyhoo, Lettuce is here! How did they cover everyone’s favorite finless porpoise? Let’s check my notes.

– So apparently all legendary creatures are actually Chimera Animas?…..Mmm….Okay.

– Also, the reason they chose endangered species for the Mew Project was because those animals are naturally more motivated for fight for their survival? I guess that’s cool, but doesn’t really make much sense. How do animals know they’re endangered?

– She can change back from her Mew form by just saying “Change back”? I wonder if that will work on her full cat form. Probably not. That is a slightly interesting inclusion, though.

– Wow, Shirogane. It’s rude as hell to call her a bioweapon…

– I like that Mint snickers when Ichigo spills the parfait on one of the bitchy girls. I think I’m liking their dynamic a tiny bit more in this version, even if the differences between versions aren’t that stark. Mint is still a bossy stuck up girl, but she’s a little less abrasive and meshes with Ichigo just a tiny bit better here.

– While it is really cool that Lettuce gets powers over water when she’s really upset, why doesn’t she get all mermaid-y like Ichigo gets cat traits, ears and a tail? It’s weird that once again the series explains that Ichigo has cat traits because of her powers but they never adequately explain why the other girls don’t have traits of their animals. At least, not yet, I guess. Kinda doubt they will go down that route, but I feel I can have some hope.

– OOOOHHHH Mint’s new transformation is awesome! I like how they had the door shift to being on bottom so they could show the birds flying up out of it instead of just out of the door.

Not crazy about her pose, though, because she seems like she’s turned too much. She’s not facing the same direction as the bird, and she’s not facing us. I get that she’s meant to be facing up towards the sky, but I still feel like maybe turning her a little would feel more natural. Maybe that’s just me. I love the added touch of the sunbeams, though.

– Disappointed that we didn’t get to see Lettuce’s true transformation today nor her proper attack animation, but that’s fine. I’m sure we’ll see it in the future…….Does give me bad flashbacks to 4Kids’ basically all but removing her transformation entirely, though.

– As for her new look when transformed, I like it. I particularly like how they styled her hair. Not crazy about the skirt, but that’s about it.

– I like the minor tweaks they did to Lettuce’s breakdown here. It’s not her taking advantage of her powers to lash out. She’s losing control of her powers and basically herself because she’s having a massive breakdown over her internal struggles with making friends. I also like that they included brief glimpses of Lettuce throughout her life showing that, no matter what she did or how much she tried to make friends she’d always end up alone.

I always kinda disliked the original version (whether sub or dub anime version or manga – though the dub was the worst offender) because it’s like they were shaming her for how she was feeling when it was totally validated. Here, Ichigo’s not only making the effort to ensure that Lettuce knows she legitimately wants to be her friend because she’s nice and cares about others, but she’s also saying that learning to love herself is more important than pleasing others, and that friendship is more than just spending time with people.

They actually managed to pull off a very emotional scene here where it always frustrated me in the original versions. It really struck a chord with me, personally. I actually kinda felt like tearing up. I am quite impressed, TMMN.

And they showed her rejecting the bitchy friends! AND doing her best to be more legitimately sociable! AND the customers cheering her on!

This is pretty much everything I ever wanted from Lettuce’s reveal. Bravo!

In the end, this is definitely the best version of Lettuce’s debut, and the episode as a whole was very enjoyable. I like they ended with her not only getting some legitimate friends but also showing that she’s becoming a bit more confident, even if she clearly has more work to do. I hope we see some cool things from Lettuce in the future. She was always one of my favorite characters.

Next episode is Pudding’s debut. Will TMMN continue to impress me? I certainly hope so.

---

If you enjoy my work and would like to help support my blog, please consider donating at my Ko-Fi page. Thank you! ♥

AVAHS – Thomas and Friends: Percy the Snowman Review

Plot: Thomas gets a special job for the holiday, but Percy is stuck in the snow. Thomas is determined to share his special with Percy, but he may be doing more harm than good.

Breakdown: I watched my fair share of Thomas the Tank Engine back in the day. It was a quaint and unique, if not somewhat creepy in its presentation, little show that holds a special place in my heart. When I heard they were rebooting the series in CGI and actually animating the characters I kinda had mixed feelings. I wasn’t really going to watch it either way, but I felt like it would lose a special little something having it animated like that. Sure, their non-moving faces were creepy, but their creepiness was, oddly, part of their charm.

No harm, no foul, though. This is for a new generation, so they can do whatever they want. I’m probably just being an old curmudgeon anyway.

I was actually looking forward to checking out this episode because it’s been a LONG time since I’ve seen anything Thomas the Tank Engine that wasn’t a meme. When I Googled the episode, I found the IMDB page for it, and uh…….It had a 2/10 rating (with 36 ratings) with no written reviews. I got a little baffled, to say the least.

I haven’t heard anything about this reboot, and I don’t think people who are grumpy old curmudgeons would bother review bombing a random episode of this series, so I didn’t know how to take this.

There were two versions of the show on the (Official?) Thomas the Tank Engine HD version Youtube channel – The UK version and the US version. I was more than curious to see how the two versions differed, so I watched both side-by-side. Basically, the entirety of the show is completely the same outside of the accents (and voices) and two details. The first is the most obvious – when referring to Sir Topham Hatt, the UK version constantly calls him the Fat Controller, but the US version always says Sir Topham Hatt to avoid offensive language. The second was when Sir Topham Hatt came out dressed up like Santa, the UK version called him Father Christmas while the US version called him Santa Claus. No idea why they felt that had to be changed. Pretty sure US kids know that term for Santa, but whatever.

As I was watching, I thought it was a pretty cute little show. I think it retained enough of the spirit of the original, though maybe a more hardcore Thomas fan would disagree with me.

But as I got about halfway through, I started noticing something concerning.

The plot is that Percy’s railcars slipped on the track because of the ice and snow, causing him to get stuck, but Thomas has a big plow so the snow isn’t a problem for him. Thomas gets assigned a special job to transport Sir Topham Hatt to the Town Square later to light up the town Christmas tree. Percy is upset that he basically can’t do anything while he’s stuck in the snow, so Thomas promises to finish up his jobs for the day as quickly as possible and share his special job with Percy somehow.

Each time Thomas passes back and forth past Percy as he does his jobs, he covers Percy in more and more snow. It takes until he’s done with his jobs to realize Percy is now entirely buried in snow….and also that, of course, being stuck in snow in the first place means he can’t participate in Thomas’ special.

Thomas rushes to town to bring the kids and Sir Topham Hatt to Percy so he can share in his special with him. (By the way, I’m not typoing “special job.” They consistently just call it a special.) He tells the kids that the snow-covered Percy is a Snow Engine, which makes both the children and Percy very happy.

That’s great and all…………Is uh…..anyone gonna get him out of the goddamn snowbank? Why is the solution to this problem bringing people to Percy to have fun instead of finding a way to help him escape from his snowy purgatory?

I went through this entire episode expecting the big climax to be Percy getting out of the snow, but no. No one cares enough to get him out. Is he going to be stuck there for the entire winter? Why is no one even concerned about him?

I was also disappointed that they didn’t do anything to Percy to actually make him look like a snowman or something to that effect. It’s literally just that he’s a snowbank with his face peeking out. And, for some reason, the kids are incredibly impressed by this. (Bear in mind they live in a world where they already know the trains are sentient and can talk.)

This special isn’t that Christmassy either. It showed one Christmas tree, and Sir Topham Hatt dressed up like Santa in the end. Other than that, there wasn’t much Christmas in this Christmas episode. Maybe I should give it some leeway because the title doesn’t imply it’s explicitly a Christmas special, but still. It takes place around Christmas, a Christmas tree is part of the plot, and a character dresses as Santa. You’re a Christmas special, Charlie Brown.

Do I think this episode deserves a 2/10? No, not by a long shot. But I definitely think either just the ending or the story as a whole should have been changed quite a bit to not leave Percy forever stuck in a mound of snow. Like what happens after the kids have to go home? Everyone just abandons Percy and the only times they ever see him again is when they look to the side and see a big pile of snow as they do their jobs, and then they remember he exists when the snow melts? Imagine if Percy was a human. How messed up would this be? It’s already pretty messed up. Even if Percy can’t die in there, he can still go mad being stuck in one spot for months – eventually being blinded and deafened to the world around him.

Still, I managed to enjoy it before I got distracted by the blatant train neglect. If you’re a fan of Thomas, either classic or the new stuff, this episode is fine. Not sure it’s a Christmas staple, but it’s fine for a quaint little brief watch during the holiday season.

---

If my work makes you feel jolly and you’d like to send some Christmas cheer my way, please consider leaving a gift under my Ko-Fi tree. Every donation goes to helping me pay my bills and keeping this blog running like Santa’s Workshop. Thank you! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and have a Wonderful New Year! 🎄☃️

SSBS – Bakugan: Battle Brawlers | Episode 5: Runo Rules Review

Plot: Dan learns that Runo lives in his town after bumping into her while running an errand. After accidentally leaving his BakuPod behind after their meeting, Runo intercepts a challenge message from Masquerade to Dan. Having lost Bakugan to Masquerade, she takes the challenge on herself. Dan rushes to the scene to get his BakuPod back, and they both learn that Masquerade isn’t there. In his place is the local bully, Tatsuya, who is working for Masquerade and was meant to challenge Dan.

Runo asks to take Dan’s place, however, itching for revenge against Masquerade. Dan agrees, and Runo and Tatsuya brawl. With some patience and strategy, Runo is able to defeat the hot-headed Tatsuya.

Breakdown: Alright, Bakugan…..Let’s just dispense with the niceties. Please don’t suck today.

We start with Dan talking with his friends online about him patching things up with Drago until his mom comes upstairs to get him to do an errand.

Dan: “WHAT?! Yeah, but can’t you see I’m busy with my boys right now, mom?”……Three of the four people you’re talking with right now are girls…..

His mom convinces him to do it by explaining she needs him to go to the supermarket since there’s a big sale on loin tips – his favorite dinner.

Meanwhile, at the park, enter asshole kid number, what are we on, six now? Anyway, his name’s Tatsuya. He’s bullying some other Bakugan players, and apparently this little twerp’s so scary that him merely yelling is enough to get all three of these kids to haul ass out of there screaming.

They’re doing some weird distortion thing to Masquerade’s voice this time around. I don’t know why. He challenges Tatsuya to a brawl. I’m not going to bother recapping it because it doesn’t matter.

The point is, Tatsuya….well, I would say ‘loses’ but he only lost two Bakugan, so I guess he conceded.

Meanwhile, Runo’s whining about her job waitressing at her parents’ restaurant, even though there’s literally no one there.

Her mom sends her out on an errand to get some meat for the restaurant. If she goes, she’ll make her favorite dinner – liver kabobs….ew.

Hey, wait. What are the odds that there’s a huge meat sale not going on in the exact place Dan is right now? I smell a mighty big coinky dink.

Runo assumes she’ll bump into Dan at the store. We see that they’re similar doofs because they get excited about their respective meatstuffs and even sing about it incessantly as they head to the store.

Runo: *to Dan* “Do you live around here?!” Why would you assume you’d bump into Dan at the store if you didn’t think he lived around where you live?

Runo challenges Dan to a Bakugan Brawl later in the park, he accepts and they part. Runo discovers that he dropped his watch thing, which we now learn, five friggin’ episodes in, that it’s called a BakuPod. Also, judging from your empty bags, neither of you have been to the store yet, so why are you guys separating right now?

Dan gets a message over it, and Runo, being ever so respectful of the privacy of others, opens it. It’s a challenge from Masquerade, and Runo’s going to take it.

Meanwhile, Dan realizes his BakuPod is gone. I love how they flashback to Dan losing his BakuPod when he bumped into Runo because you can only barely tell it happened. I watched the shot three times – you can only just barely see it on the edge of the screen.

He goes back to where he bumped into Runo, but finds nothing. He rightfully assumes Runo must’ve taken it.

Meanwhile, Runo meets with Tatsuya, who has taken Masquerade’s place in the challenge. I just learned that apparently you can enter the Bakugan dimension, or whatever this is, if you run fast enough to avoid being halted in time. Okie dokie.

Runo complains as she gives Dan’s BakuPod back to him even though she both read/watched his messages and stole his challenge. So when do I get likable characters? Sometime soon, I hope?

I guess, at the very least, Dan’s understanding about the situation, given that Runo has lost Bakugan to Masquerade (but….this isn’t Masquerade, so….) He even cheers her on.

They both throw out their gate cards, and Runo sends out Juggernoid first. Tatsuya sends out a Gargonoid. Being stronger than Juggernoid, Gargonoid attacks. Runo counters with the ability card, Lightning Shield, which lowers Juggernoid’s attack by 100. Despite being only 10gs stronger than Juggernoid, it still gets sent to the Doom Dimension….Still not sure why some attacks are strong enough to destroy other Bakugan but others are only strong enough to….send them back to ball form or whatever. Sure would be helpful if the show told us basically anything about the rules of this game the show is centered on. But I suppose that’s just asking too much.

Help me out – is Bakugan plural on its own? From the way the characters have been talking this whole series, I thought it was Bakugan singular and plural not Bakugans. I looked online, but all I found was an obviously incorrect answer on Answers.com that said it’s Bakugans like how Pokemon plural is Pokemons (it is not)…..I’m 99.99% certain it’s Bakugan, but Runo just said ‘Bakugans.’

I find it funny that Runo said several lines about how everything was riding on Gargonoid at the start, but it’s gone now and she is still brawling.

Runo throws out a Saurus, Tatsuya continues to be annoying and then sends Gargonoid out again. He uses the ability card, Fire Judge (really just adoring this never ending cascade of creative names) which increases its power to 430g.

Runo: “I’m down to my last chance to win!” You’ve been saying that since literally before the match started. You still have one more Bakugan to go and a trump card in Tigrerra. Chill out.

Using an Ability Counter card, she neutralizes Fire Judge’s effects, bringing it back down to 330g, which is still higher than Saurus’ 290g.

Dan: “He’s right, Runo. That wasn’t much of a move. His Gargonoid’s got power. Loads of it.” Not much of a move? She got rid of 100g of his advantage. Now he only has 40g over her. I know I don’t understand this game very well (I wonder why) but that’s not THAT much more powerful. If it was, Tatsuya wouldn’t have felt the need to use Fire Judge in the first place.

Tatsuya attacks, but Runo uses her Gate Card to switch the attack of her Saurus with that of her strongest Bakugan, which is her Tigrerra. At 340g, he beats Gargonoid (I guess? The Wiki counts it as a win, but Gargonoid wasn’t destroyed because it didn’t get sent to the Doom Dimension, and they’re seemingly acting as if a 10g advantage shouldn’t be enough to destroy Bakugan….I dunno. Is it just three victories overall? Because that’s even more confusing.)

Runo sends Saurus back out and Tatsuya calls on a Griffon. He uses Fire Wall to lower Saurus’ attack by 50g, making it 360g vs. 240g. He attacks, but Runo uses her latest Gate Card, Pyrus, which swaps the attacks of each combating creature, giving Saurus the win.

Dan: “That was awesome! How did you figure out that counter move?” Using a card specifically meant to counter attacks by stronger opponents as you’re being attacked by a stronger opponent? Yeah, Runo, how did you come up with that one?

Runo sends out another Gate Card and Saurus again. Tatsuya sends out his last Bakugan, Fear Ripper, and calls for an attack. This guy’s whole strategy is nothing but blindly attacking. He uses ability cards, sure, but he doesn’t counter anything. Meanwhile, Runo’s whole strategy has been built on just waiting for him to attack because she keeps laying traps, which he always falls into because he’s an idiot. He’s terribly boring as an opponent.

Not like we should have expected much of him anyway if he surrendered to Masquerade after losing two Bakugan.

Runo uses some sort of wall card that stops Fear Ripper’s attack. Now she calls upon Tigrerra after she’s been spending the whole match begging to be put in the fight.

Runo: “I figure with your power, we can finish off his Gargonoid and walk away with a win!” Yeah……except you beat Gargonoid two rounds ago and are currently fighting Fear Ripper…..

The wall goes down, and Tatsuya attacks Saurus with Fear Ripper….but it doesn’t defeat it? Then Tigrerra attacks, Fear Ripper counter attacks, but that also doesn’t defeat anyone? Saurus then grapples Fear Ripper, Tigrerra jumps on his back, Runo activates the ability card…or gate card Crystal Fang that….makes Tigrerra’s claws grow?……Fear Ripper is defeated, okay?

We’re robbed of seeing Tatsuya post-loss and instead immediately jump to Dan and Runo talking about it while lying in a field.

Dan: (About Tigrerra reacting to Runo calling her cute) “Hey look, she’s blushing!”

*they all laugh for a few seconds*

Runo: “I’m so funny, ya know?”……….You….didn’t make the joke…..Dan barely made a joke. What are you talking about?

The episode ends with Runo, Dan and their parents having a cookout so they can argue about meat.

———————————

Well, that certainly was a thing I watched. What an utterly pointless episode. Granted, it’s a breath of fresh air to watch someone besides Dan brawl, and Runo’s a pretty good player, even if she, as a character, is annoying as hell. Her relationship with Tigrerra is also much more interesting to watch than Dan and Drago’s.

However, Tatsuya is a really boring and irritating opponent. He’s every little snot-nosed bully brat you’ve ever seen in shounen gaming anime. He laughs at every Bakugan the protagonist throws out and talks so much shit you’d think their mouth was a septic tank.

He’s focused purely on attack power with absolutely no strategy. Even though Runo wins time and again with traps, he just keeps attacking like an idiot.

Plus, it’s not the best writing choice in the world to have the big antagonist of the day get handily defeated in the first five minutes of the episode.

The only thing this episode really served to do was show that Dan and Runo can now hang out in real life, and we got to see Runo actually do things. She’s too annoying for me to really care, however.

Next time, more Runo. Dan and Runo enter the first team up match we’ve seen in the series, so that should at least be interesting.

…..Previous Episode

---

If you enjoy my work and would like to help support my blog, please consider donating at my Ko-Fi page. Thank you! ♥

AVAHS – Veggietales: Saint Nicholas – A Story of Joyful Giving Review

Plot: Bob and Larry recount the story of Saint Nicholas to the kids in order for them to grasp the true meaning of Christmas.

Breakdown: I was never really into Veggietales when I was younger. It was just ever so slightly beyond my time, despite growing up in a Christian household. It didn’t really look that appealing to me when I finally did start seeing little bits of it around. I didn’t even really know much about it (outside of some Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything trailers I remember seeing when I was younger) until a few months ago when I watched a very interesting video on it by Saberspark. Go watch it. It’s fascinating.

I have heard pretty good things about Veggietales over the years. People have been praising it quite highly for being a rare Christian/religious program that is both entertaining and doesn’t tend to really alienate non-Christian/religious audiences.

So here I am finally giving something of Veggietales a true watch, and, yeah, I can see the appeal. I wasn’t blown away or anything, but it was indeed genuinely entertaining and, while the subject matter was very heavy in the realm of religion, I don’t think it was presented in such a way that it would alienate anyone watching, especially considering that Saint Nicholas was a religious figure.

While they obviously take a lot of liberties in the tale of how Saint Nicholas became Santa Claus, and I mean a lot, they kinda acknowledge that they’re taking these liberties since many of the things that are added or changed for the sake of making Santa connections are blatantly pointed out. However, they almost completely fabricate the backstory of Santa Claus as a child and his reasons for becoming such a giving figure.

They pretty much get a pass for this because we really don’t know much for certain about Saint Nicholas besides a handful of details. However, even these details they get wrong. One of the details, which is Saint Nicholas saving three girls, is changed for understandable reasons. Instead of saving them from lives of prostitution by paying their marriage dowries, the Nicholas in this story saved them from being sent to prison for giving gifts and being unable to pay the fine of one gold coin each.

What’s especially funny is that a detail they add is Nicholas’ parents suddenly dying of illness and Nicholas abandoning his friend to the mercy of demanding townsfolk and an oppressive fisherman because he thinks his friend’s presence will remind him too much of his parents as he journeys.

In this interpretation, Nicholas’ parents were religious, but he, as a kid who didn’t understand or care about that kinda stuff, just brushed it off whenever it came up. He even thought it was weird that his parents were so giving and caring. As local fishers, they would give away their fish to those who needed it, and would help anyone whenever they could. Nicholas didn’t understand truly why they did this until he traveled somewhere and found religion on his own. Then he made it his mission to pick up where his parents left off and start giving to the town again. When he returned to his hometown, he discovered that it was overtaken by the rival fisherman I mentioned, Gustav, who declared himself mayor and basically took over the whole town in tyranny. Everyone worked for him, and no one was allowed to ever give any gifts.

According to this version, Nicholas adopted his trademark outfit only eventually as a means to disguising himself to avoid getting caught while giving the townsfolk gifts.

This story is being told by Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber to a group of kids who are focused entirely on getting gifts for Christmas. Like in the story, a jerk named Gus is basically keeping a guy’s truck hostage when he needs to finish his delivery route in time to go get a Christmas tree with his daughter. And I mean it, he straight up stole this guy’s truck. He takes it from him, locks it in his garage and tells him he can’t get it out unless he pays for it – which he can’t afford.

The story of Saint Nicholas that they made up is believable enough, for the most part, and I was never bored or anything. Plus, it did manage to really get me in the Christmas spirit.

………I’m sorry, I can’t not talk about this anymore. How do they hold things?! They have no arms or hands. Things just float in front of them! It’s like they have telekinesis. It was freaking me out!

Sorry, I needed to get that off my chest.

Anyhoo, if you’re a Veggietales fan or even if you’re simply open to a more religious take on the origins of Santa Claus, check this out. I enjoyed it well enough, and I’d like to see more Veggietales stuff in the future.

---

If my work makes you feel jolly and you’d like to send some Christmas cheer my way, please consider leaving a gift under my Ko-Fi tree. Every donation goes to helping me pay my bills and keeping this blog running like Santa’s Workshop. Thank you! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and have a Wonderful New Year! 🎄☃️