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...

Wrestlemania 31 Review

Sorry people, I won't be talking about the tag match or the Battle Royal

Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back again with a brand new wrestling review. Another Wrestlemania has come and gone and boy oh boy, was it was a show. Let's dive into the matches that Wrestlemania 31 had to offer

The First Match:

The 7 man IC title Ladder Match

This match was a great way to start off the show. I was reminded of why Ladder matches at Wrestlemania are so fun to watch. All the competitors in the match delivered with memorable spots in the match just like Dean Ambrose's Elbow drop from the ladder, the superplex off a ladder between Wade Barrett and Stardust, the headbutting competition between Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler and of course the biggest and most memorable spot in the match was when Luke Harper Power bombed Dean Ambrose through a ladder and pretty much killed the guy (Figuratively, although I do wonder if Dean was seriously injured in that match). Overall, this wasn't the big match of the night like everyone (Myself included) was raving it was going to be, but it was fun none the less. 

Next Up: Randy Orton vs Seth Rollins

This match wasn't the last time we saw Seth that night *wink wink*

This was another solid match-up. Both Seth and Randy put on a good match (And I don't even think they were performing at their top level). There were plenty of great counters between the two. Seth got to do his high-flying thing and Randy got to pull of some RKOs out of nowhere. Speaking of which, THE FINISH to the match. Words simply can not do it any justice.

Following that match we have:

Triple H vs Sting

This was essentially a "nostalgia match". What I mean by that is that you have wrestlers from yesteryear coming back for another match. Although in this case, Sting was wrestling in a WWE ring for the first time ever and he looked to be in great shape and he put in his best efforts into making his In ring WWE Debut a memorable one. Now I called this match a "nostalgia match" because Sting wasn't the only one to make an appearance last night.

Nash?! I inducted you in the Hall Of Fame the night before this bro!!

Halfway into the match DX interfered on behalf of Triple to help their buddy out but they weren't the only stable from the past to show up. The NWO also appeared to even the score and lend Sting a hand. Soon the match turned into a giant clutter as the two factions were throwing fisticuffs at one another and then Triple H and Sting whipped out their trademark weapons: Trip's Sledgehammer and Sting's baseball bat. Overall, the match was overbooked, but it was fun nonetheless. My only issues are the way the match ended and who won the match. Plus a very goofy entrance by Triple H.

Hey Everyone! We inducted Arnold in The Hall of Fame! In case you didn't know already!!

Next up: AJ Lee and Paige vs The Bella Twins

There isn't much I have to say about this match. It was a very decent match (And for the divas on the WWE main roster, that's saying a lot). The real stars of this match were Paige and Nikki Bella. Both really brought their A-Game in this match. Paige was selling her tail off while Nikki looked pretty impressive (Once again I feel awfully dirty for complimenting a Bella Twin...). Brie had a nice missle dropkick in the match and AJ...well, she did stuff...she was outside of the ring the majority of the match doing jack sh*t until the last three minutes of the match. She must have been taking lessons from her husband CM Punk

  

Up next: John Cena vs Rusev for the United States Championship

Eh...This was another match I wasn't so excited for and I just couldn't get myself into it. The match itself wasn't so bad, but it wasn't so great. Although there was a really cool spot where Cena did this springboard stunner. That was unbelievable. It was a match with a very predictable ending. 

Next:

Before I talk about this match I have to say, I feel very emasculated after Taker's and Sting's matches because here you have two fifty year-old men and they are in much better shape than I'm currently in. Taker physically and in-ring wise looked great. Much healthier and much more alive than he did during his match last year against Brock Lesnar. With that all said, the match between these two were much slower than the other ones on the card, but what they lacked in fast paced wrestling, they made up for in storytelling. I paid very close attention to this match, more specifically Bray Wyatt's facial reactions. The story he told was that even when the Undertaker was punching his lights out, in a way he was happy to have resurrected the Undertaker just so he could finish him off again. Combine that with the story of the Undertaker and what happened last year and you questioning whether or not he still had it left in him and you'll see that this was a very entertaining match from a story perspective. Also near the end of the match. The moment where Bray Wyatt did his Spider Walk and then The Undertaker sat up was a great moment in itself.

Lastly: Let's talk about the big one, the main event: Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns

Whoops! Sorry, wrong picture

#SuplexCityBitch needs to be on a T-shirt. Seriously

Does anyone remember John Cena vs Brock Lesnar last year at SummerSlam? If you don't, refer to the Simpsons picture. People often called Roman Reigns John Cena 2.0 and well...the match between Brock and Roman was very much like Brock vs Cena, only this match was much much worse. In a way it was like fanservice to everyone that doesn't like Roman Reigns. I have to give the WWE props, while I hated the fact that Roman was booked like an underdog, it was done very effectively tonight. Of course I can't really talk about this main event without mentioning the BIG thing that happened near the tail end of the match.

Told ya it wouldn't be the last time you saw him.

Seth Rollins booked it down the ramp of Wrestlemania and he cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, a briefcase that allows for a title match any time the person holding it desires. I can honestly say that this was the most innovative Money in the Bank cash in since Edge first did it.  Before Wrestlemania, fans have speculated the moment Roman Reigns won the Royal Royal, that Seth Rollins would cash in his briefcase at Wrestlemania. But the way the cash in happened: During the middle of the main event match and turning it into a triple threat was a stroke of genius. Not only that, but the way the cash in happened, there was still that possibility available that Seth could possibly lose this match but that didn't happened. Seth Rollins walked out of Wrestlemania as the new WWE World Heavyweight champion. On top of that, Brock was never pinned in the match, which was even more smart booking as it keeps Brock's presentation as an unstoppable heel in tact and those that thought Roman Reigns didn't deserve the main event spot were happy as not only did he win the match, he got the ever living sh*t kicked out of him! This was a match that could've EASILY gone wrong in every single way, but it was an amazing main event.   

I had said in my Wrestlemania 31 predictions that this was one of the worst builds to a Wrestlemania I had ever seen. While I still hold on to that statement, I can safely say that Wrestlemania 31 delivered and was an entertaining event all around. There were no bad matches on the card and the ones that I cared the least for had a memorable moment in them. Solid Wrestling, great storytelling and a shocking ending that has me excited for what's to come next: What more can you ask for as a wrestling fan? Wrestlemania 31 is definitely a show worth watching. My one hope for next year is that there's a solid build to a solid show because it seems that the WWE can't have those two things go hand in hand with one another

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

Shaman's Wrestlemania 31 Preview & Predictions

Chances are I'm probably going to reuse the majority of these pictures for my WM review

Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back again with a new wrestling topic. We are just one day away from Wrestlemania: The grandest stage of them all, the biggest show in all of wrestling...or at least it's supposed to be. I say that because the build to this year's Wrestlemania has been one stinking steamy pile of HORSE SH--

But I'm getting ahead of myself folks. What I'm here to do today, is basically explain the biggest matches on this year's WM card and break down the build to some of these matches and give my thoughts and predictions on the victor. Note: The matches I discuss won't be in the same order as they will be in the Pay-Per-View.

First up, I suppose I should discuss the Kick-Off Show match for the Second Annual Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal

This is an over the top rope battle royal that features multiple superstars and winner gets a big trophy. Here are the problems I have for this match. All throughout the Raws building up to Wrestlemania, this battle royal has been talked about as such this prestigious, important match and how it can help make a star out of the winner. Both of those facts are pure lies: first of all, let's bring up last year's Battle Royal winner Cesaro

This was such a great moment last year...then it all went to sh*t...

Now Cesaro won the Battle Royal last year, he displayed an incredible amount of strength when he effortlessly picked up the Big Show and tossed him outside of the ring and the crowd loved it and were behind him. The night following that Cesaro teamed up with Paul Heyman and it seemed that Cesaro was only going up from there, but what truly happened was that he was stuck in something fans call: "Midcard Hell" where he was just thrown in pointless matches that did little to nothing for him in his career or his character and it was impossible for him to get over. Sure, now he's in a tag team champion with Tyson Kidd but that doesn't replace everything that happened before. Another big issue I have is that this match is on the Kickoff show! It won't be on the actual event but is essentially just a warm-up. Very Prestigious this battle royal match is.

My third problem is that fact that the WWE threw away solo stories that were being built up and could've been single matches on the card in favor of just shoehorning the stars in this battle royal. Feuds such as Goldust vs Stardust and Miz vs Mizdow, feuds that could have been matches on their own were cast to the side in favor of having them in this match. That's not a smart move WWE.

Two days ago NXT, WWE's developmental branch, held a tournament that would have the winner in the Battle Royal. That winner was Hideo Itami. As for who I think will win this match, I predict that either Hideo Itami will win or that there'll be a surprise return by Sheamus and he'll win the battle Royal. My hopes for this match is that the winner of it won't go on to do nothing for the next year. If the WWE wants this match to be taken seriously as a career booster then they need to do something with the winner.

The Next Match I will be discussing is:

AJ Lee and Paige vs The Bella Twins

This match in particular is a very important match for a reason some might not be aware of. You see, last month, after a thirty second match, there was a movement that started in concerns to the WWE's women's wrestlers, that movement is known as: Give Divas a chance. Fans were tired of the women's matches seen as a bathroom break or something you could fix something to eat to while it plays in the background. The WWE has seemingly been listening to this as this match does have some decent build going towards it with longer matches that help tell a story for this feud, some of the best the WWE has had for their women's division in recent years. The story is very simple: The Bellas are essentially the Queen B's of the divas division and have been tormenting the other divas for some time and AJ and Paige want to stop that. Very small and simple but if the WWE wants to change the divas division, it's a nice place to start. The matches building towards WM 31 have also given Nikki Bella a chance to showcase her abilities in the ring and as much as it makes me want to regurgitate my lunch saying it, she has proven that she is a decent talent in the ring. Although I will never like her or her sister (Look up the videos 'Growing up Bella' and their interview with Jerry Springer on YouTube if you wonder why). That little tangent aside, I hope this match isn't the end of the give divas a chance movement. My prediction is that AJ and Paige come out of this the winners

Next up: Randy Orton vs Seth Rollins

This is match that has been built up for quite some time. Four months ago, Seth Rollins curbstomped Randy Orton's head into steel steps, putting Orton out of Action. It was last month during Fastlane when Orton returned. They way they built this feud when Randy returned was a little...questionable. When Randy returned, he rejoined the authority as a way to get Seth alone and pick him apart. The way the WWE wrote this was that this is essentially build up to Randy getting his hands on Seth, my problem is that the build up to that moment already happened four months ago and Randy's return was supposed to be the fallout of that moment when he came back. But this might be more nitpicking on my part.

But another issue I have with this feud is the way Seth Rollins has been written. For this feud, Seth has been written as, well Red Forman could put it better than I could...

Thanks Red

The whole time Randy was back in the Authority, Seth never thought for a mere second that Randy might have something up his sleeve, that he might just wait until Rollins was all alone before the totally predictable beat down? Hell, Randy even said the night the beat down happened that when Seth was by himself and had no one to protect him he was going to, and this is Randy's own words here, "Make Seth his Bitch" and then go around and say that he was joking. 

Did it not occur once in Seth's mind that maybe Randy shouldn't be trusted, especially considering he tried shortening Orton's career? This is an especially glaring problem when you consider the fact that Seth Rollins is has been written in the past as a very smart heel. This is a guy who was built up as the glue that held the shield together. A guy who had the foresight to have Triple H put Dean Ambrose, a guy who had been coming out of nowhere and attacking him, in the Money in the Bank Ladder match just so Dean wouldn't show up during the match and do anything to screw him over. The fact that he didn't see this coming kind of hurts Rollins as a character.

Anyways, long winded speech aside, this is a very promising match between two incredbily talented wrestlers, my prediction is that Randy Orton comes out the victor of this match.

Next Up: The Intercontinental Title Ladder Match

Oh, I've got WORDS for this match...

Here's how this match was created (I'm not 100% sure HOW it even got to where it is) So it picked up where Dean Ambrose and Wade Barrett left off at Fastlane with Dean stealing Barrett's title, one Raw Barrett takes his title back, then one Smackdown R-Truth steals it...because R-Truth has been so relevant in the last three years. Then Luke Harper shows up for some reason and steals the IC title, then Stardust shows up and steals it because...the WWE said F**K Goldust vs Stardust for Wrestlemania. Then Dolph Ziggler steals the title because...reasons. And then a ladder match is announced because the WWE needed a reason to get the Wrestlers people really like ON the card. Then Daniel Bryan wants in on the match because he's not good enough to have his own single's match in the minds of the WWE. 

If my explanation of the build to this match sounds moronic and nonsensical, that's because THE ENTIRE BUILD TO THIS MATCH IS MORONIC AND NONSENSICAL!! The weeks building up to this ladder match, the Intercontinental title picture turned into a game of hot potato. The whole 'everyone is walking off with the IC title' angle is treated as this comedic thing but it's not. It makes your champion look like a joke (It's also not helping that he loses matches every week), it makes everyone involved in this a joke, and it makes the title look as if it's nothing more than a silly prop. The worst part about this match is that it's gonna be great, probably even match of the night. But the storytelling has been so awful, you could have just thrown a bunch of guys together and have them fight over a rock and it would feel just as important as this ladder match.

It's funny because the WWE continuously SAY how important the IC title is in the WWE and how it can make stars, hell they even went as far as having legends like Shawn Michaels and Edge go on in interviews about it, and then posting it on their website. But this whole story, this build, for the match only confirms what fans have been saying FOR YEARS: The Intercontinental Championship, this title that was once a stepping stone for wrestlers to get into the main event scene, is nothing more than just a toxic in the WWE now. It kills the momentum and the stunts the career of whoever holds it. My Prediction is that Daniel Bryan will win, proving once and for all that no matter how much fans love him and chant yes, Daniel Bryan is only an afterthought in the mind of Vince Mcmahon.

NEXT: Triple H vs Sting

Now this is one of the matches I'm looking the most forward to simply because this is Sting's first match EVER in the WWE, and no matter how old he is, this is something to be extremely giddy about. This seeds for this match were planted all the way back in Survivor Series of last year when Sting showed up in the main event and helped Dolph Ziggler get the pin, putting Triple H and Stephanie Mcmahon out of power in the WWE and forcing them to leave (which proved to be pointless since they came back three weeks later...).  The build to this match has been weird but interesting. Weird in the sense that throughout the majority of this feud, Triple H has been the one who's been talking and cutting promos. Up throughout the duration of the feud, Sting's only spoken twice (And one of those times was off air).

The story that has been told with this feud is that Sting comes to the WWE after fourteen years of never signing and wants to stop Triple H. What makes it so interesting is the use of WCW. Sting saw WCW go under because of people like Triple H, people with power who abused it and ruined a company and what made it special, and Sting doesn't want to watch the same thing to happen to another company...which is why he left TNA 

Sorry, I had to do it...

While I'm not one hundred percent sure this match will be top quality, I know both of these guys will give it everything they have to have the best match possible; and considering the years of experience between the two of them, the ring psychology will definitely be there. My money is on the Stinger for this match.

Next on the list: Bray Wyatt vs the Undertaker

This feud is much like HHH and Sting in the sense that it's only been one guy talking while the other has been mute except in the case of this feud The Undertaker hasn't been seen.at all. The most we got was a recording of him saying "You will Rest In Peace." The story has been interesting though as it plays off of what happened last year when Taker lost to Brock Lesnar, ending his undefeated Wrestlemania streak. Bray Wyatt at a time worshiped the Undertaker and wants to bring the Deadman back to his former glory just so he can end him himself. The story is definitely an intriguing one with Bray Wyatt cutting some of the best promos he's ever done but unfortunately, it just doesn't do anything for me. I think it might just be me unable to allow myself to be sold on this story because of what happened last year. The match will probably be alright, I highly doubt that it'll be as bad a match as last year considering that Bray Wyatt actually knows how to carry someone in a match and not throw them around forgetting how old they are and almost kill them. My money is on Taker. I'm getting the distinct feeling that next year, the WWE wants to do Sting vs Undertaker (And by that point no one will care about that match happening...) and they want them both to have a win going into the match.

Next we have: John Cena vs Rusev For the United States Title.

The 'Murican John Cena takes on the big bad Foreign monster Rusev, that's the build to this match in a nutshell. If it seems like I don't care about this match, it's because I don't. The foreign, America hating character is so old and overdone at this point in the WWE. Plus if they're match at Fastlane is any indication, this match will be a total snooze fest. Not to mention is the same thing that happens with every big heel: He has so much momentum in the world only to get fed to John Cena and then have his career plummet down into a giant pile of nothing. It happened to Bray Wyatt last year, it happened to R-Truth when he turned heel, it happened to Ryback when he turned Heel. If you are a heel and you face John Cena, you're career will be stunted for two to three years or you'll be lucky like Bray Wyatt and only do F**K all for a year. My prediction: Super Cena shows up and with his attitude adjusting heat vision will win and kill any sort of potential for Rusev (which wasn't much to begin with considering his sh*t character). As a matter of fact, I have so little faith that Rusev will win that if he does, I will watch the first season of Total Divas.

Last But Not Least, The Main Event

Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Boy oh boy, this match. THIS MATCH. This is the worst build to a WWE world title match I have ever seen. I never thought I would see a build worse than John Cena and the Rock for Wrestlemania 29, but by some holy miracle. The WWE managed to top that. 

How did this match come to be? It's real simple, Roman Reigns won the Royal Rumble, but because the fans both in live crowds and on the internet were like:

The WWE put Roman up against Daniel Bryan at Fastlane, the winner facing Brock Lesnar. A match which Roman won.

My problem with the build to this "feud" is the build itself which has just been Paul Heyman delivering promos. Don't get me wrong, these are PHENOMENAL promos, some of, if not, the best I've ever heard in my entire time watching wrestling and I want Brock Lesnar to win this match JUST to keep Paul Heyman on T.V. but the problem in that lies in the fact that it's just that: One guy cutting promos, and when one guy has to carry an entire feud, a feud for your main title, on your biggest show no less, something is seriously wrong. The Champion and Challenger have only been face to face with each other twice other the duration of the feud and the second time they did, they ended up having a tug of war over the title belt. No seriously, they had a tug of war, it's practically become a meme at this point

Hey come on man, you had a turn with it already

Let's address another elephant in the room here and talk about the challenger Roman Reigns. I've had a big problem with the way they've booked Roman, they try to paint Roman as this sympathetic underdog, a guy who's constantly told by the critics he isn't ready to main event Wrestlemania, that he doesn't deserve it and constantly told that he can't beat Brock Lesnar. Now there's nothing wrong with that, except Roman's answer is him feebly saying: "You know, you're allowed to have your opinion but I can beat Brock Lesnar. I can and I will." I honestly hate what the WWE is doing with this guy. If by some odd coincidence some in the WWE is reading this blog: If you wanted to have an underdog story going into Wrestlemania, YOU SHOULD HAVE PICKED DANIEL BRYAN TO WIN THE ROYAL RUMBLE!

On top of that, Roman Reigns hasn't been given a lot of material that would make fans say: "Yeah, this guy can beat Brock Lesnar". Brock has been one of the most dominant heels in the WWE ever: He ended The Undertaker's streak, something that was said to be impossible, he suplexed John Cena on his head SIXTEEN times, he was an unstoppable monster in the Royal Rumble. What do you give Roman Reigns? Constant matches with the Big Show and Kane and matches where he gets beaten by a schoolboy roll up. Sure, Roman's had some good moments on the road to Wrestlemania, but none of which have convinced that this guy is ready to main event a Wrestlemania (Not to mention the way he's been booked). They're trying SO DESPERATELY hard to make him this generic cookie cutter good guy like John Cena was but look at the guy!

Does this look like some hand shaking, baby kissing guy to you? NO!!!

Roman Reigns is 6'3, he can look Brock Lesnar SQUARE in the eye! This feud should've been Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar done right: Two very physically imposing men who are at the top of their game clashing against one another. I know WWE is sick of this meme, and I'm convinced it played a part in how Roman was booked during WM, but if this was gonna be the main event for WM, you should've made Roman look strong. All this did was show that you didn't have one hundred percent faith in the guy. And if you don't have complete faith in him, why should the fans? 

For the longest time I assumed that it was a forgone conclusion that Roman Reigns was walking out of Wrestlemania with the WWE World Heavyweight championship with a possible Rollins cash in but this past week broke the news that Brock Lesnar wouldn't be returning to the UFC and has resigned with the WWE. This leaves brand new possibilities for the ending to the main event and makes it that much more interesting. Some people think that Brock Lesnar is now going to walk out the main event still champion, some think Paul Heyman will turn on Brock and will now team with Reigns and Reigns will win.

My prediction for the main event of Wrestlemania is that the news of Brock resigning with the WWE is just some cheap trick to get fans to doubt Reigns winning at Wrestlemania. I predict Reigns will win cleanly as a face and Seth Rollins will cash it in. 

Overall, Wrestlemania 31 has been one of the worst overall builds to a Wrestlemania I've seen a part of. The shows building up to it felt like the WWE has completely forgotten that this was Wrestlemania season. I seriously hope that the show turns out good, because they really need this year to be a knock out of the park.

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

Ai Tenchi Muyo Review

Twenty Years Later, Tenchi Masaki is STILL Pimpin'...

Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back with a brand new review. Today, we'll be taking a look at Ai Tenchi Muyo. Ai Tenchi Muyo is a series that celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the the Tenchi Muyo franchise and it is directed by Hiroshi Negishi, the director of Tenchi Universe. But does this series deliver and is a worthy title in the Tenchi Franchise? That's what we're here to find out.

Synopsis: When one of Washu's experiments goes haywire and threatens to destroy the world, Tenchi Masaki must go undercover as a teacher in an all girls school in order to solve this problem. What he didn't count on was all the mayhem that would ensue in this school, such as the beef between the student council and the science club. This series has sixty episodes (technically about fifty since nine of these episodes are just recapping the episodes that came before...) and are roughly four to five minutes per episode.

The Good: This series feels very much like a reintroduction to the world of Tenchi Muyo in which none of the material that has come before this series isn't mentioned, which is a smart thing to do as you don't want to scare newcomers to the Tenchi verse with over twenty years of continuity (And Non-Continuity). The Art designer for this series is Suzuhito Yasuda, the man behind the art for Durarara. For the series, Yasuda redesigned the original cast of Tenchi characters and gave them more "modern" looks; looks that I both like and hate. I like the looks in the sense that they're different, but they aren't so radically different that I can't tell that the characters don't look like themselves...if that makes any sense.   

Although I do personally miss Ryoko's Sonic hair...

The original cast of characters, Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka, and others are all back and they all (except for Ayeka) have their respective voice actors back to reprise their roles. Seeing these characters togethe interacting with each other provides a great treat for long time fans of the franchise. The series is easily at its best when these characters are interacting with each other.  

The Bad: It was halfway through the story where I realized the biggest problem of Ai Tenchi Muyo. You see, this series has a pattern where you get three episodes of complete "Crazy anime high school hijinks" which is completely boring, then there'll be one episode where something actually interesting is happening, then it goes back to completely boring.

To further elaborate on this, the first ten episodes are set up establishing the plot: The majority of these episodes are essentially Tenchi as a teacher and him getting into a mess of shenanigans. Then there's one episode where Tenchi goes back in time and meets a younger version of one of his students and the rest...pretty much look like his students. Of all these ten episodes, the one with Tenchi back in time was the most interesting one. But instead of putting more focus on that, we get more focus with the high school stuff and it's supposed to be zany and over-the-top but by anime standards, it doesn't really stick out to me.

Hey everyone, it's the cast! On the furthest to the left you have...uh...

That isn't a joke people. Okay it is, but it's also the truth. This series introduces us to eight characters; and they aren't memorable. Throughout all sixty episodes, I only remembered the names of three  out of the eight characters: Momo and Beni (The Pink haired girl and the tan skinned girl next to Tenchi in the picture above) and Rui, the blue haired girl with a silly moon bang in her hair.Anyways back to Momo and Beni, the reason I remembered them the most out of all the girls because of how predominantly they were shown in both the art promoting the series and in the show itself. The show paints them as central and important characters, but I felt that they just weren't fleshed to where I cared about them when the events of the story played out.

Remember when I said earlier in the review that I liked and hated the new designs for the characters?

Looks like two of them are wearing nothing at all... nothing at all...nothing at all...

These designs (Well two of them anyway) play a part into a larger problem i have with this series, the fanservice. Now Tenchi Muyo is no stranger at all when it comes to fanservice (Especially Tenchi Muyo GXP but that's a whole different beast all together), but compared to a lot of the Tenchi series in the 90s, the fanservice is cranked up to eleven, and in all honesty, it feels a little unnecessary. 

Conclusion: When I first found out that a new T.V. series for Tenchi Muyo was being made, I was looking forward to seeing these characters that I loved come together again for brand new stories and adventures... For a Twenty year anniversary series, Ai Tenchi Muyo is disappointing, not bad, but could have been so much more as a modern day harem series, which is very disappointing because I find Tenchi Muyo to be the pioneer of harem series. Almost none of the new characters introduced are all that entertaining to watch and the moments where the characters fans really wanted to see come together feel short and are spare compared to all the new characters we don't care about. Whenever it seemed like the story was picking up, all interest in it was sapped away with the next episode or two.

Now in the series's defense, the last ten or so episodes were the strongest of the show and it did end the series on a good note, but that alone wasn't enough to save this whole series. If you aren't a fan of Tenchi Muyo then you can safely skip this series, and if you are, then proceed with very low expectations. The one hope I have is that this series will be the spark that kick starts something new with the Tenchi Muyo Franchise    

Til next time peeps, I'm the Shaman of Animation saying: Ryo-ohki was only in  two seconds of Ai Tenchi Muyo

Da F**K show, Da F**K....

Take Care...

DragonBall Z: Resurrection 'F' Trailer 3 Breakdown/Thoughts

Still a little cautious about this movie, but this trailer definitely piqued my interest.

Greetings Ladies and Gents, it is I, the Shaman of Animation back again. The newest trailer for Dragonball Z: Resurrection 'F' dropped. It's been a couple of months since the first trailer dropped and I did my thoughts on it, and we've gotten some more info since then. I'm here to do a brief breakdown and give my thoughts on the latest trailer.

The trailer kicks off with a mini flashback of the iconic scene of Future Trunks slicing Frieza up and completely obliterating him. It then cuts to Frieza in his ship flying over a city (My guess, probably West City) and he has his army with him and they're ready to raise hell and the Z-Fighters are prepared to fight.

Now as you see the line up of the Z-fighters, you'll also see a small purple man next to Gohan. That person is Jaco The Galactic Patrolman. He was the title character of an eleven chapter manga of the same name that's tied in to the DragonBall franchise. In that series, Jaco was sent to Earth to stop a saiyan (I think it's pretty obvious who it is). This character actually has some ties to Bulma's family, so it'll be interesting to see what the movie does with him.

What follows next is awesomeness as we see the Z-Fighters: Piccolo, Master Roshi, Krillin, Tien, and Gohan duking it out with multiple members of Frieza's army and a small snipet of Frieza vs Goku...and this is all happening as Maximum the Hormone's Insert Song for Frieza 'F' is playing in the background. If you've never heard this song before, find it on YouTube and listen to it, it's the most metal song ever...and the fact that it's going to be in this movie at some point gets me very excited. Near the halfway point in the trailer, we get to see Frieza's brand new form:

It's like his old form...except with more purple and gold...

Now the form is...a little strange at first glance, but it is something I can picture Toriyama doing for a more god-like form for Frieza. Dragonball Z has a running theme of powerful characters with nonthreatening looks (I.E, Majin Buu's original and kid form, Frieza's Final form, and most recently, Beerus and Super Saiyan God Goku). It will take some time to get used to seeing, but personally, I think it'll be quicker to get used to than SSG Goku. The prequel manga, Rebirth of Frieza has revealed that when Frieza first fought Goku, he hadn't trained at all, he was naturally as powerful as he was. Now that he's been brought back with the Dragon Balls (Which I'm still calling BS on), he decides now to train and unlock his latent potential. That's...a bit of a stretch, but considering I've read a lot of fan manga that pull Vegeta going Super Saiyan 3 JUST through training, I'm willing to buy it.

We get some more of Goku vs Frieza and there are some notable scenes of CG which look a bit jarring...I have yet to see CGI and 2D animation mesh well together in a series/movie and from the looks of things, this won't be the exception. The scenes that follow are pretty bleak, the Z-Fighters are getting taken out (once again Gohan is a jobber) and Frieza is actually kicking the crap out of Goku.

But of course, I'm sure everyone wants to see me address the big scenes featuring Vegeta such as:

Possibly God Form for Vegeta?

As I'm sure everyone knows, Toriyama has gone on record in interviews saying that he would like Vegeta to be the big hero in the next movie (I'm pretty meh on that issue considering in recent years I'm finding Vegeta to be more and more overrated, but I do see why fans are getting stoked). The last time I talked about this movie, I was unsure of how Frieza being brought back would be any sort of challenge to the Z-Fighters, but if this movie is more focused on Vegeta, I can see it as more of a personal story for him considering the long history he and Frieza have and it could provide for some nice character development for Vegeta. A nice little touch I enjoyed in the trailer was Vegeta standing over a beaten Goku. It definitely hearkened back to The Namek Saga where the roles were reversed and Vegeta begged Goku to avenge the Saiyan race.

The last thing to note here is Beerus and Whis, the two villains from Battle of Gods seemingly watching something. My guess is that it plays into the final shot of the trailer where a planet (probably Earth) is getting blown up and the two are theorizing that if Frieza isn't stopped, the planet will be destroyed, hence why there's a planet blowing up.  Battle of Gods took some time to establish the fact that Beerus and Frieza know each other. So I am interested in seeing what role they play in this movie. The popular fan theory is that Beerus and Whiss are training Goku and Vegeta, which is why they're in new gear and are seen with Whiss in the first trailer.

Overall, This new trailer for Resurrection 'F' is a step in the right direction as what it showed did get me a little more excited for the movie. Hopefully the movie can deliver. Til next time folks, I'm the Shaman of Animation. Take care...