WWE: Extreme Rules 2015 Review

EXTREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEME!!!!!

Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, the Shaman of Animation back again with another wrestling review. Tonight we'll be diving into Extreme Rules. So without further ado, let's dive into the show:

First up, we have Dean Ambrose vs Luke Harper in a Chicago Street Fight

A Battle of the Crazies

This match has everything you'd expect in a street fight: Chairs, Kendo Sticks, and two crazy guys beating the hell out of each other with them. Although the match itself was booked very interestingly, where as half way during the match Dean and Luke took off in a car and drove away from the building only for them to come back after the third match of the show and finish with, get this, Dean Ambrose winning. You heard right folks, Dean Ambrose actually WON a PPV match (I'm shocked too). Overall, it was fun and creatively booked match.

Up next we have Sheamus vs Dolph Ziggler in...a 'Kiss Me Arse' match. 

Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler are two guys that are very capable of putting on a good match, and while the match was a little slow in the beginning, it was alright overall. Dolph presented himself well as the scrappy underdog and Sheamus did a good job as the big strong guy. My problem with this match comes from the stipulation of the match. This isn't 2000 anymore WWE, no one wants to see a match where if a guy has to kiss the winner's ass. I said it on my Twitter (which you can follow me @trentonltbrown wink wink hint hint), That's not something I'd be proud of if you asked me. These are two talented guys and having a match like this is a bit of an insult to them. Especially when the stipulation causes the match to end abruptly (in my opinion) and be dragged out. The match ends with Dolph Ziggler winning but Sheamus giving him a low blow before giving him a brogue kick and rubbing Ziggler's face on his thigh which makes me question: Why didn't they just give Sheamus the win or better yet: Why did they have this stupid stipulation?

Next: Cesaro and Tyson Kidd vs The New Day For The Tag Team Championships

Because Daniel Bryan wasn't medically cleared to compete at Extreme Rules the Tag Team Title match between Cesaro and Tyson Kidd and the New Day was taken off the Preshow and put on the actual Pay-Per-View; and to be honest, I'm glad this match was on the actual show and that these guys got to showcase their abilities on. This was easily the match of the night, both teams just gelled so well with each and there were a ton of back and forths in it. Cesaro of course got to show why he's a BEAST in the ring and the New Day have amazing chemistry with one another. The match ends with Kofi Kingston getting a roll up pin while pulling on Cesaro's Tights, causing The New Day to become tag team champions. Okay Vince, we need to talk. The New Day are the tag team champions now.This is my hope for the new day: They lose the gimmick. I know the WWE is slowly teasing a Heel turn for the new day, but when it eventually happens, they have to have a brand new gimmick; their heel persona CAN NOT be just that they're annoyingly positive like Bo Dallas. That's not just why we hate the New Day Gimmick. We hate the gimmick because it's so painfully stereotypical to have black wrestlers be these church choir boys that are clapping and preaching in these matches. I like The New Day in the ring, but I want to be able to take them seriously; and with them as the tag team champs now, I want them to build to this.

Next: John Cena vs Rusev in a Russian Chain Match for The U.S. Title...if you've seen EVERY rope/strap match the WWE has done, you've seen this match. Moving on...

Nikki Bella vs Naomi for the Divas Title

I am really glad that this match got some time, because it was a good one. I said it before and I said it again Nikki Bella continues to impress me with her in ring ability (Uggghhh it hurts to say so badly to say it) and Naomi is in all honestly the most athletic diva in the main WWE Diva roster and her arsenal shows it (such as a split leg moonsault). One of the biggest complaints I have is that I didn't know just who was a face & who was a heel. Before the match, I assumed Naomi was a tweener (more of an antihero for the non wrestling readers). But her entrance said otherwise; not to mention Nikki was treated as a face that match but then they won the match in a heelish kind of way. If I could make any suggestions, it's that the WWE could make that any clearer in the future. The match ends with Nikki Bella STILL the divas champion. Which makes me wonder where does Naomi go in the future.

Next is Roman Reigns vs The Big Show in a Last Man Standing match

It's Roman Reigns vs The Big Show: A match that's been shown SEVENTY. FRICKEN.TIMES ALREADY (That's not an exaggeration people, someone actually counted), There were some cool spots in the match (The chokeslam through two tables, the spear through the announce table), but the match has been seen already and the result is exactly what you think it was. Word of advice WWE: If you want Roman Reigns to get over with the crowd, how about you have him face people he hasn't already beaten a million times...

The Main Event: Randy Orton vs Seth Rollins for the WWE Title in a Steel Cage

There was a particular rule in this match that Randy's RKO was banned. The match overall was alright, nothing really special. Although I do have a beef with the WWE in this match. So, this match was built around that none of the Authority could interfere in the match since there was a steel cage surrounding the two, but guess what happened? The Authority interfered. First with J&J security and then later with Kane (Who was assigned as the Gatekeeper). But yeah, the concept of the Steel Cage in the WWE is pretty much dead. The match ends with Rollins hitting an RKO (Outta Nowhere) on Orton and walking out of the cage still the champ.

Extreme Rules was...an okay show. Not Great by any stretch but there were some pretty good matches on there, so I'd say it's worth one watch. Til next time folks, I'm The Shaman of Animation signing off: 

Take Care...

  

Blast From the Past: Jackie Chan Adventures Episode 1

A guy on the internet talking about old cartoons, a novel concept, I know.

Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back once again! Peeps, I recently took a look at my blog and it reminded me of something I realized back a couple of months ago: My blog's lacking in animation talk. Seriously, only like HALF of the stuff on this blog's about animation.

And because this is a blog mainly about animation, I decided to start a little thing I like to call: Blast from the Past, where I take an episode (usually the first episode) from animated series that were coming out when I was growing up, and give them a review; and the lucky show I'm reviewing for this first installment is none other than Jackie Chan Adventures.

Jackie Chan Adventures...boy was it SO much better than it had any right to be. To those unaware, cartoons starring popular celebrities is a practice that dates back even to the 1960s. Tons of celebrities have been given their own animated series: The Beatles, Andre 3000, The Harlem Globetrotters. Hell, Chuck Norris was given two: Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos and...

That show was a cartoon in itself...and that's why it was amazing.

The point to this is that the majority of these celebrity starred cartoons are nothing more than just cheap cash-ins of a celebrity's popularity. But that' when Jackie Chan Adventures came in and broke the mold. The show aired in 2000, back when Jackie Chan was at the Height of his popularity. Jet Li wasn't as big as he was in the West yet, and Chan was still riding off the waves of Rush Hour's success, not to mention Rush Hour 2 was on the way. So it made sense to capitalize on that success. Let's not waste any more time and dive into the first episode.

Jackie Chan Adventures Episode 1 is titled: "The Dark Hand" and it starts off with archaeologist Jackie Chan (yes he's an archaeologist in this series), his archaeologist colleagues, and tourists inspecting a castle in search of artifacts. When they reach their designated area, one of the tourists sets off booby traps. In this scene we get a brief but very well animated scene of Jackie escaping the castle which involves him picking up a shield and blocking arrows and using said shield to escape the castle. After escaping, we're treated to two different groups watching Jackie from afar.

You could probably make a meme with this picture, someone get on that!

The next scene picks up with Jackie in his home/his uncle's shop training. Here we're introduced to two mainstay characters of the series: Jackie's Uncle...Uncle (They just call him that throughout the series), a crotchety yet wise old man who's easily the funniest character in the episode (and throughout the rest of the series) and Jade, Jackie's niece who moves in with him because she was struggling at her old school. 

Because he has no experience with kids, Jackie and Jade's first meeting doesn't go well. But they aren't given much time to bond when three strangers come in the shop in search of the shield Jackie acquired at the castle. Not liking the vibes these three were giving him Jackie lies about the shield and he receives a threat from this mysterious trio.

Get used to these faces people

Suspicious of these tree men, Jackie leaves Jade in the care of Uncle and secretly tails the car they're driving in the only way Jackie Chan can: By running across rooftops. Unfortunately, our hero slips up and lands right on top of the car he was following. This leads into a fast paced fight scene between Jackie and the thugs on the playground. The fight is again animated great and it's very creative, as Jackie is using every bit of the environment around him to fight these guys. After laying the smackdown the thugs leave and Jackie is knocked out by a mysterious person. This person turns out to be...

NICK FURY...

...Okay not really.The man above is Augustus Black (voiced by the great Clancy Brown), an old friend of Jackie's and the Captain of a secret spy organization called Section 13, who were following Jackie in search of the shield so the can keep it away from The Dark Hand, an organization who have had a hand in every crime in existence. Yes. Every crime.

The Dark hand, led by Valmont, are in pursuit of ancient artifacts and the shield is on their list. In the scene where we first meet Valmont, we also get a first look at Shendu, a talking dragon statue with magical abilities. with these said abilities, Shendu summons these ninja spirits known as the Shadow...

Sorry...I had to do it...

The Shadowkhan, along with Valmont's heavy hitter Tohru, work to get the shield, Tohru manages to kidnap Uncle and gives Jackie the ultimatum of giving him the shield for his (Jackie's) Uncle. 

The climax of the episode takes place on a rooftop, Jackie and Tohru are standing off demanding the shield for Jackie's Uncle. Jackie refuses the offer by throwing the shield back at himself. This small distraction allows for Jade (Who had followed Jackie to the location of the meeting) to sneak Uncle away from Tohru's grasp. Knowing the two had gotten to safety, Jackie makes a run for it, but is cut off by the Shadowkhan. 

This leads to the highlight of the episode: Jackie is fighting off all of the ShadowKhan using the shield. The animation for this fight is so fast paced and fluid (To my surprise, it still holds up after nearly fifteen years). As the fight's going on, Jade and Uncle are running downstairs trying to get out of the building while Tohru is following them via elevator. Jackie is soon surrounded by the Shadowkhan but Jade yells at him to throw her the shield. Jackie does this and Jade catches but she's unfortunately caught by Tohru who makes off with the shield, in return, causing the Shadowkhan to disappear.

BUT! There is a twist!

Shortly after Tohru and the Shadowkhan leave, Uncle reveals that it wasn't the shield The Dark Hand was after, but the talisman that was in the center of the shield; and as luck would have it, Jade had sneakingly removed the talisman from the shield, outsmarting Tohru. Now the chase is on, Jackie, Uncle, and Jade aid Section 13 as they hunt for the eleven other talismans before the Dark Hand can get to them.

Jackie Chan Adventures does what every good first episode of a series should: it introduces us to our heroes, our villains, and sets up the plot for the series (Or at least, the first season). The thing that separated this series from a lot of Celebrity cartoons and probably the reason it lasted for five seasons is that, it feels very much like something you would see from a Jackie Chan movie and it captures the "essence" of Jackie Chan so to speak: Crazy stunts, silly comedic moments, great to watch martial arts fights. Combine that with the three main characters (Jackie, Jade, and Uncle) who all have great personalities that play off each other so well, you have a recipe for success. If you haven't seen Jackie Chan Adventures, give the first episode a try, you might like it.

Til next time folks, I'm the Shaman of Animation. Take Care...

   

   

School Days April Fools' Review

So very special...

Greetings Ladies and Gents. It is I, The Shaman of Animation back again with a brand new anime review. People, I've been watching anime for quite some time. Since I was a child and had no idea that cartoons could come from Japan, I have seen multiple anime, each packing their own unique stories, characters, and themes. But throughout all my years of viewing anime, none of the shows I've seen today have the thought provoking themes, the memorable characters, or the out of this world story like the series I'm about to review today. 

If the picture above is giving you all any indication, you are wrong. The series I'm talking about isn't Neon Genesis Evangelion, the series I'm talking about is the one and only diamond series of an anime: School Days.

Strap yourselves in folks, we're looking at a true masterpiece

Synopsis: School Days is the story of an average boy named Makoto Itou, who has a crush on  

the cutest girl in his school Kotonoha. When a girl in his class Sekai finds out about this, she decides to hook Makoto up with Kotonoha, but when the two get together, Sekai kisses Makoto, ensuing a love triangle.

The Good: While having decent animation (The last episode in particular being the most stand out), the true selling point of this fantastic series is it's engaging story. You'll be on the edge of your seat. The characters are fun to watch. Such as for example the main character.

Trust me, you'll love this guy as the series goes on

I love every action this guy takes in this story, it's so wonderful. The two love interests: Sekai and Kotonoha, are very great characters and the love triangle is done masterfully. This series truly takes harem anime and deconstructs it and...Nope. No, can't do this. Can't do this at all. This was meant to be an April Fools review where I jokingly made School Days out to be a great series but NO! No this series is God Awful. A stinky steamy pile of stink and here's why.

The Bad: One of the common defenses I hear for School Days is that it's a deconstruction of the harem genre of anime.

You guys have no idea how long I've wanted to use this meme in something.

To say that School Days is a deconstruction is to say that the story is smart and is aware of the tropes (Tropes being constantly used story elements/plot devices to those uninformed) of the genre is being placed in and plays with those. You could say that Madoka Magica is a deconstruction because it toys with the idea of what being a magical girl is. Despite what some may feel about the franchise, you could say Evangelion is a deconstruction because it shows what could realistically happen if you put children in giant robots and tell them that it's up to them to save the world.

The point is, to deconstruct, you would have to be clever and have smartly written characters.  After watching this entire series, it is safe to say that not a SINGLE IOTA of Intelligence was put into writing this series. Even in the first episode, the stupid punches you in the face like it was Ivan Drago. 

As the synopsis of this series said. Makoto likes Kotonoha. Sekai does Makoto a solid and hooks him up with her, and when Makoto goes and thanks Sekai for doing so, Sekai kisses him, implying that she has feelings for him. Which begs the question: IF Sekai LIKED Makoto, then why didn't she just try and get with him herself?!?

Yeah, I'm gonna make out with you after I helped you get with this other girl for...reasons...

But some of you may be saying: "Well, that's not so bad. It just builds up to a love triangle." Which, you might be right. But it was the end of episode three where things go down hill when Makoto tells Sekai his relationship with Kotonoha is boring and it's too much work (What he really meant was they weren't having sex, so he wanted to break it off). Sekai helps Makoto by giving him romantic practice (Which is pretty much her letting him get to second base with her).

After that occasion, Makoto decides he wants to be with Sekai because... It'd be a lot easier hitting that (No he doesn't actually say that, but he might as well have). By the end of the fifth episode, they are "together" and are, to quote The Zohan, having The Bang-Boom. I'm sure you all are thinking: "That's kind of messed up, but he at least called it off with Kotonoha right"? 

As a matter of fact, he NEVER breaks it off with her, he keeps going around with Sekai while Kotonoha's heart keeps getting broken. And by the end of the series, she is a sad, psychotic, broken mess. How does this get worse, some may be asking? Well, our good old buddy Makoto doesn't just cheat on Kotonoha with Sekai, he cheats on Sekai with the following:

His Childhood Friend

Sekai's Best friend

ANOTHER one of Sekai's friends

And three other girls whose pictures I couldn't find (All three girls at the same time). Which brings me to another point I have: The girls in this series are all F**KING IDIOTS!! Not only do you have The Sekai example I stated earlier in the review, you have Kotonoha. She hears people constantly say she and Makoto aren't a couple or have broken up, but instead of confronting Makoto about it, she just wallows to herself. Then you have Otome, Makoto's childhood friend who after sleeping with her, more or less tells her: "Yeah, I'm in this pinch with Sekai". Instead of being a reasonable person, she's all: "Yeah, that's cool." Then there's Setsuna, Sekai's best friend, who finds out about Makoto sneaking around and convinces him he shouldn't be sleeping around with other girls behind Sekai's back anymore...by sleeping with him...Then there's Hikari, who tries to get Makoto to go see Sekai who was upset. But that ends up with those two having sex! These girls only stop messing with Makoto when they find out he got a girl pregnant. You will be bashing your skull against a wall with some of the actions these characters take. 

Now, let's talk about the main man himself: Makoto!

The Prime Definition of an Idiot!!

In case the earlier section of the review didn't convince you, let me reiterate here. Half of the problems that Makoto goes through could have easily...EASILY been avoided if he used the upper head for even a second! But instead, he bangs everything with lady parts. The worst part in all of this is that he never takes any responsibility for his actions. He never breaks up with Kotonoha because she'll be mad; or the best example, Like when he finds out Sekai could be pregnant with Makoto's child. You'd think he'd do the right thing and want to do what he can to take care of the child. Dean Ambrose?

Thank you...

Instead what he does is break up with Sekai and crawls back to Kotonoha, further cementing the fact that not just her but EVERY character in this series is a complete moron. This of course leads to the only memorable thing in this entire series: Sekai killing Makoto and Kotonoha finding out then killing Sekai.

Conclusion: I had friends in high school tell me about this series. They spoiled the ending for me, just so I wouldn't see it. But I saw it anyway, I had to see if it was as bad as people made it out to be. Long story short: it is. There's a reason School Days is as Infamous as it is. The notion of common sense seemed to elude every character in this series. As stated earlier, the majority of bad things that happened in this show could have been avoided if the characters took time to actually THINK. Combine that a totally unlikable main character and a story that's only noteworthy thing is its ending and you have one of the worst anime of all time. School days is not a deconstruction series. If anyone tells you that, they're lying to themselves. This is merely a giant melodrama that proves much much stupid into a series. If you're at all curious about this series, just look up the ending on YouTube. You can find it in about ten seconds and it'll save you a lot of time.

Til next time folks I'm the Shaman of Animation saying: Happy April Fools Day (Or Belated considering when I get this posted). Take Care...