MY STADY

Our story begins at the North Pole. According to Duke, Cobra Commander was captured last month. That's all we learn about him in this episode. Duke goes on to talk to himself and introduce us to all the characters but I won't bore you with that. Shortly after we get to see Destro and the Baroness. Yes, there is a bit of fanservice! Not only is her face out of frame for one of the shots, she also manages to squeeze her boobs a little. It's subtle and almost goes unnoticed to the untrained eye. Good job Gonzo! You can always count on Gonzo for titty worship.

I guess I covered everything important. Not much else happens. Pretty average and I'm on the fence with this one.

I don't like the theme song at all. Typical 4kids garbage. The action? Well, there wasn't as much hand to hand combat as I would have liked. Mostly shooting stuff and watching it get blowed up good. Oh, and they still use laser rifles. Lots of missiles too. Yeah, and it seems the robots are called COBRA Bats.

No sign of Sgt. Slaughter yet. No lip synching. Speaking of which, the lines on this show are so cheesy! Towards the end of the show, Duke gets himself into a bit of a pinch. But all the drama is lost to these fucktarded cheesy lines. Then again, this show is 4kids (get it?) so maybe it's not supposed to be dramatic. Some of these lines hurt. For example after saving Duke, Scarlett says, "If it wasn't for our favorite techie, you'de be SPLATTERED all over the North Pole by now." Actually I like that like. Forget it.

I'm getting tired (and sick!) of hearing all the same Pokemon voices for these shows.

Opening Credits
None were shown!

The beginning is really slow and the Reducto stuff wasn't so great. But as soon as Birdman breaks through that door is when it gets funny. Really good writing here. I enjoyed it. In fact this episode is funnier than the entire last season of Sealab'. (I really wish this wasn't true.)

The comedy was mostly in the writing but there were still some great visual gags. A lot of it is unintentionally funny. I don't know what it was but old H&B action shows had numerous perspective problems. Whether it be distance or size a lot of times perspective is all fucked up. But kids never notice that shit, why should they? It's older cynical assholes like ME that notice!

The music was great too. They used a lot of lounge on that show. You can listen to it whenever Boomerang airs an old action show.

Favorite quote:
No Tab, Diet Rite, no Tab.

Jack has relations with a whale and delivers his own inter-species child.

Jack is summoned to operate on a 200 year-old man.

This time Jack mends a broken family.

Episode 7
Doc operates on a white lion. Hmmmmm.




Episode 8
A sushi chef's arms have to be amputated after a car accident. Instead of pressing charges on the driver, he lets him go free. On the condition that the driver become the chef's arms. Under the chef's tutelage, the driver gets very skilled at sushi making. The two of them become the best of friends. Unfortunately the former driver loses his life after saving a baby from a burning building. His dying wish is for the chef to have his arms. Of course, Black Jack is able to transplant the arms.

This summary doesn't do the episode justice. In fact I got teary-eyed watching it.

In the heat of battle Coop activates the Trans D Drive and it sends him and Gorrath to an alternate reality where New Jersey is a total dump. (SHUTUP!) That's all I can tell you. If you didn't catch it today, you better tune in tomorrow because it's a two-parter.

Yeah, I haven't done cartoons in a while. You know what the difference is? I cap the cartoons live. And it's not only that. With anime, I might end up with maybe 80 or so shots in my vidcaps directory. With cartoons that number easily balloons past 200. The difference is, anime uses limited animation. Not a lot will happen in a shot unless it's an action scene, and even then the animation might still be limited. In a cartoon there is always something going on, especially the action shows. And they rarely will reuse a shot. And they don't do those long panning shots either. It's like a comic book, you can't go back to the same shot. That's even when people are talking! In anime the same shots will get reused, especially when you have people talking.

Of course, because the animation is so limited, anime will often look better. Not always though. I'm pretty satisfied with majority of American TV animation nowadays. It's a lot better than how it was when we were growing up. And I don't mind the use of CG. I mean, and I'm guessing here, 80% of the shows we watch use CG. Wether it's for vehicles or for scaling/rotation, lighting, backgrounds, ink & paint, it's all cool with me. The product gets to us faster and looks cleaner. How can you not like that? Look at Ninja Turtles, the show looks GREAT! But pay attention to it next time you watch. HEAVY CG use. And it's better for it. I think when I was younger I didn't like how computers were 'taking over' but now I'm all for it. They're used as a tool afterall. The computer can't do everything. That human touch will always be there.

What was I saying?

So yeah, doing cartoons was a little burden, and that's why I was so lazy about it for a few months. But I intend to do more, especially for Ninja Turtles. That show has gotten so good! Have you seen Baxter lately? Holy shit!

A student is hit by a speeding motorcycle and may never walk again. Black Jack agrees to do the surgery, for 30,000,000¥. The child's homeroom teacher, feeling guilty for bullying him in class, throws himself into traffic. His dying request, "Tell Dr. Black Jack. When I die, I have life insurance... Give him the money as the surgery fee. Save his legs..."

After some silence Black Jack replies, "Sorry, but there will be no insurance money. Because... I will save him! I will operate on the kid and the teacher right now!" Drama! So yeah, Doc saves em' both. Black Jack is the greatest.

Note: Just a reminder that #3 was canceled due to an earthquake.

Episode 4
A school bully changes his ways after Jack cures his sister. Jack only asks for 1,000¥ this time.


Episode 5
Mannaka Hospital is left with a shortage of doctors after a bribery scandal. Who will take over as chairman? (It's not Jack.)

The good doctor helps a young man accomplish his goal and we learn more about Jack's rehabilitation.

EDIT: I failed to mention that there won't be an episode 3 summary. An earthquake recently hit Japan and people died. There's an earthquake in ep 3. So yeah, they didn't air it. I'm sure Invader Zim fans can relate.