just drawn that way
Jun. 24th, 2010 03:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xparrotI love kids' cartoons. I love kids' anime, too, but I also just enjoy the heck out of a good American kids' cartoon. Some of this is nostalgic holdover from my younger years - I didn't watch much live-action TV as a kid, and DuckTales was probably the first TV show I really fanned on (I remember coming up with elaborate plotlines in my head for most of the Disney Afternoon - h/c-focused, natch.) But there's things about kids' cartoons that I love even now, especially action/adventure/superhero shows. Maybe it's the no-holds-barred crack that comes from trying to cram a movie-length plot into 22 minutes of animation, or maybe it's how you can be sure the good guys aren't going to be killed off. And it doesn't hurt that romance pretty much always takes a backseat to friendship in kids' stories.
My favorite cartoon is a tie between Gargoyles (I was a loyal viewer from the first airing of the pilot, back when I was in high school; it's the show which got me into tracking voice actors, years before I started fanning on anime seiyuu. Jonathan Frakes! Marina Sirtis! And Keith David still has one of the sexist voices in the business. Mmmm. I fondly remember freaking out over the 24-hour wait between parts 1 & 2 of "The Gathering") and Avatar: The Last Airbender (after Babylon 5, Avatar has the most satisfying and thought-out story arc of any American TV show I've seen.) with ReBoot and the whole JLU/DCU Animated 'Verse coming in as close seconds.
Which brings me to my point: is anybody watching Ben 10? Because my brother and I have been blasting through it, and having nearly caught up with the third series now, I'm really quite taken. It's no Avatar, but then, it's not trying to be. Technically I believe what it's supposed to be is a vehicle to sell toys, but what it really feels like is a bunch of comic book geeks getting together and coming up with their own original superhero universe. While the first series might be a bit too silly/childish for some, the second and the ongoing third series are helmed by Dwayne McDuffie, one of the main writers of JLU as well as the creator of my beloved Static Shock, and the later Ben 10's got most of my favorite elements from both of those - superheroes who have their flaws but are ultimately true-blue save-the-universe heroes, and adorable friendship/team stuff. Not to mention crazy space opera dramatics, intergalactic civilizations and supervillains from beyond the stars. Add in a central sibling dynamic (technically cousins but they act more like brother & sister) and former arch-nemesis turned best friend, and I'm sold. (Especially because as far as I can tell, the latter was added to the cast because they needed a sidekick/damsel-in-distress, and the main girl char would not oblige as either; she's way too kick-ass for that!)
I really quite enjoyed the original Ben 10 - especially the last couple seasons, when it went from being standard little-kid-superhero-show to standard little-kid-superhero-show with MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF CRACK - the wedding episode, zomgwtflol. Really the whole show was always one step off normal; the aliens were just a little too weird, Grandpa Max was just a little too awesome (okay, a lot too awesome. So much love for Max. I'm still not convinced he could take Uncle Iroh, even if he had time to prepare his arsenal, but the fact that the bro and I can debate the battle says something for him right there.)
Then, Ben 10: Alien Force, I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first - in the beginning it seemed to be trying too hard to be cooler or more mature or whatever; and Max was gone and Gwen seemed toned down. But it quickly found its footing and got its sense of humor back. And really Gwen's development, and Ben's too, feels true to the chars; it's easy to see how their 10-year-old selves became the teenagers they are. Plus, them being closer and more supportive is just awww. And then, Kevin, well, it'd be hard for me not to like Kevin; he's too much my type of char to resist. If the Gwen/Kevin stuff had been any more played up it might have annoyed me, but keeping the relationship low-key ended up selling me on it and now I kind of love them, even if they're one of those couples that really shouldn't work, what with her being a bright and motivated superhero and Kevin being a not-very-reformed juvenile delinquent. But then, you can kind of see why it works, too, beyond the obvious hormonal attraction, because Gwen probably intimidates most boys, and Kevin's not one to be intimidated, and that he's not really the chivalrous type helps, too, because Gwen would not put up with a guy who tried to protect her whenever they charged into battle together. Kevin's cool with Gwen being the one protecting him, and only jumps to her defense when she actually needs it...(which isn't that often, and I love that most of the time when Gwen is seriously imperiled she gets herself out of it. Sometimes with a glowing purple vengeance.)
(also they're hilarious. "Look, Gwen, you have to treat a car like you treat a woman." "...Go on." "...No. I sense I've made a mistake of some kind.")
I actually am very fond of Ben himself, but then, I usually do like the straightforward hero-types, especially those who enjoy their way-cool powers rather than angst about them all the time. Plus you gotta love how much Ben wants to make friends with his enemies, more than beating them down, however much he enjoys a good battle. And he and Gwen are adorable practically-siblings, and he and Kevin have a great guy-best-friends thing going on, that they never call each other such but they hang out all the time and always have each other's backs. Their hero dynamic is interesting, too, what with Ben having the classic superhero mentality of not letting any foe perish and Kevin not sharing that impulse so much.
So, yeah, I like the show. Even if it simultaneously frustrates and amuses me how much plot they try to cram into tiny short episodes - everything happens so dang fast! I would that the eps were at least five minutes longer, to allow for the plot resolution and character development that the writers pretty obviously want to do, but end up having only brief moments for. 10 seconds of h/c or presumed-dead is just not enough! Sigh. Then, too, there's all the unanswered questions, especially in the transition from the first series - how and why did Ben take the Omnitrix off? How long was Kevin in the Null-Void and how did he get out of it? Are Plumbers specifically encouraged to have hybrid kids or is it just that once you've met aliens, ordinary intra-species tail doesn't cut it anymore?
We're now onto Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and so far it's been at least as awesome as its predecessors, if not more so - oh man, the ep with the multiple Echo-Bens, LOLOLOL ("If I wasn't running for my life I'd totally demand an explanation!") Gonna be disappointed when we run out of eps now, but at least there's plenty more to come!
Also, for those David McCallum fans among us, he's got a recurring role on the show as a mad scientist - not a bad guy, in fact Paradox is one of the heroes' most powerful if less than reliable allies. Pretty sure DmC was cast because the char is more than a little Doctor Who-inspired, and he sounds the part perfectly. Also he's got great lines. ("Yes. Dead. You! ...Why are we talking this way?")
In related news - new Futurama tonight! The bro is beyond ecstatic (it's his favorite TV show of all time) but I must admit I'm way looking forward to it myself...
My favorite cartoon is a tie between Gargoyles (I was a loyal viewer from the first airing of the pilot, back when I was in high school; it's the show which got me into tracking voice actors, years before I started fanning on anime seiyuu. Jonathan Frakes! Marina Sirtis! And Keith David still has one of the sexist voices in the business. Mmmm. I fondly remember freaking out over the 24-hour wait between parts 1 & 2 of "The Gathering") and Avatar: The Last Airbender (after Babylon 5, Avatar has the most satisfying and thought-out story arc of any American TV show I've seen.) with ReBoot and the whole JLU/DCU Animated 'Verse coming in as close seconds.
Which brings me to my point: is anybody watching Ben 10? Because my brother and I have been blasting through it, and having nearly caught up with the third series now, I'm really quite taken. It's no Avatar, but then, it's not trying to be. Technically I believe what it's supposed to be is a vehicle to sell toys, but what it really feels like is a bunch of comic book geeks getting together and coming up with their own original superhero universe. While the first series might be a bit too silly/childish for some, the second and the ongoing third series are helmed by Dwayne McDuffie, one of the main writers of JLU as well as the creator of my beloved Static Shock, and the later Ben 10's got most of my favorite elements from both of those - superheroes who have their flaws but are ultimately true-blue save-the-universe heroes, and adorable friendship/team stuff. Not to mention crazy space opera dramatics, intergalactic civilizations and supervillains from beyond the stars. Add in a central sibling dynamic (technically cousins but they act more like brother & sister) and former arch-nemesis turned best friend, and I'm sold. (Especially because as far as I can tell, the latter was added to the cast because they needed a sidekick/damsel-in-distress, and the main girl char would not oblige as either; she's way too kick-ass for that!)
I really quite enjoyed the original Ben 10 - especially the last couple seasons, when it went from being standard little-kid-superhero-show to standard little-kid-superhero-show with MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF CRACK - the wedding episode, zomgwtflol. Really the whole show was always one step off normal; the aliens were just a little too weird, Grandpa Max was just a little too awesome (okay, a lot too awesome. So much love for Max. I'm still not convinced he could take Uncle Iroh, even if he had time to prepare his arsenal, but the fact that the bro and I can debate the battle says something for him right there.)
Then, Ben 10: Alien Force, I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first - in the beginning it seemed to be trying too hard to be cooler or more mature or whatever; and Max was gone and Gwen seemed toned down. But it quickly found its footing and got its sense of humor back. And really Gwen's development, and Ben's too, feels true to the chars; it's easy to see how their 10-year-old selves became the teenagers they are. Plus, them being closer and more supportive is just awww. And then, Kevin, well, it'd be hard for me not to like Kevin; he's too much my type of char to resist. If the Gwen/Kevin stuff had been any more played up it might have annoyed me, but keeping the relationship low-key ended up selling me on it and now I kind of love them, even if they're one of those couples that really shouldn't work, what with her being a bright and motivated superhero and Kevin being a not-very-reformed juvenile delinquent. But then, you can kind of see why it works, too, beyond the obvious hormonal attraction, because Gwen probably intimidates most boys, and Kevin's not one to be intimidated, and that he's not really the chivalrous type helps, too, because Gwen would not put up with a guy who tried to protect her whenever they charged into battle together. Kevin's cool with Gwen being the one protecting him, and only jumps to her defense when she actually needs it...(which isn't that often, and I love that most of the time when Gwen is seriously imperiled she gets herself out of it. Sometimes with a glowing purple vengeance.)
(also they're hilarious. "Look, Gwen, you have to treat a car like you treat a woman." "...Go on." "...No. I sense I've made a mistake of some kind.")
I actually am very fond of Ben himself, but then, I usually do like the straightforward hero-types, especially those who enjoy their way-cool powers rather than angst about them all the time. Plus you gotta love how much Ben wants to make friends with his enemies, more than beating them down, however much he enjoys a good battle. And he and Gwen are adorable practically-siblings, and he and Kevin have a great guy-best-friends thing going on, that they never call each other such but they hang out all the time and always have each other's backs. Their hero dynamic is interesting, too, what with Ben having the classic superhero mentality of not letting any foe perish and Kevin not sharing that impulse so much.
So, yeah, I like the show. Even if it simultaneously frustrates and amuses me how much plot they try to cram into tiny short episodes - everything happens so dang fast! I would that the eps were at least five minutes longer, to allow for the plot resolution and character development that the writers pretty obviously want to do, but end up having only brief moments for. 10 seconds of h/c or presumed-dead is just not enough! Sigh. Then, too, there's all the unanswered questions, especially in the transition from the first series - how and why did Ben take the Omnitrix off? How long was Kevin in the Null-Void and how did he get out of it? Are Plumbers specifically encouraged to have hybrid kids or is it just that once you've met aliens, ordinary intra-species tail doesn't cut it anymore?
We're now onto Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and so far it's been at least as awesome as its predecessors, if not more so - oh man, the ep with the multiple Echo-Bens, LOLOLOL ("If I wasn't running for my life I'd totally demand an explanation!") Gonna be disappointed when we run out of eps now, but at least there's plenty more to come!
Also, for those David McCallum fans among us, he's got a recurring role on the show as a mad scientist - not a bad guy, in fact Paradox is one of the heroes' most powerful if less than reliable allies. Pretty sure DmC was cast because the char is more than a little Doctor Who-inspired, and he sounds the part perfectly. Also he's got great lines. ("Yes. Dead. You! ...Why are we talking this way?")
In related news - new Futurama tonight! The bro is beyond ecstatic (it's his favorite TV show of all time) but I must admit I'm way looking forward to it myself...
