Me: Alright! Time to buy Prison of Plastic! But the whole audio book is almost 10 hours and it's late after work and I'm tired. I'll just start reading a little bit . . .

Me, 10 Hours Later:

Wait, so does this mean we have vampires in Detective Conan?

Me in 2002:

Me in 2020, remembering those feelings while watching Adventure Time: Obsidian:

Me: Okay, Ducktales and Animaniacs are doing my 90's soul the absolute justice in these tiring times. On my list of reboots can I finally get Swat Kats back? Can you give me that?

Life: What about instead we gave you something tiny, toony, and just a little loony?

Me: . . . You have my attention.

You truly are doing the Gods' work here HULU.

Ducktales "Let's Get Dangerous" Watch Ramblings

Okay, so. That was amazing.

WHO DID THIS!? WHAT MAD GENIUS SNIPED IN BONKERS!? I CAME TO THIS PARTY FOR SPECIFICALLY INFORMED FUN AND THEN THE HOST JUST THROWS GOLD AT MY FACE!!

- The episode feels like a proper dedication to everything Darkwing Duck. The atmosphere of St.Canard still feels like Gotham City so much. If Launchpad is doing double time moving between Duckberg daytime and St.Canard nighttime it’ll hold that vibe the city and DW have. But I can’t help but believe this is the start of his transition to St.Canard. The responsibilities may just be too big to juggle together. Also, this found family of Drake, Launchpad, and Gosalyn is just too good together. Like Launchpad creates a different vibe for himself when he’s with him. He just taps into a whole different side to care for and support them.

-  So yeah, I’m glad Darkwing is still somewhat underappreciated in St.Canard since it didn’t seem like anyone knows about his efforts in the lab. Gizmoduck didn’t even make it halfway across the bridge into the city and gets all the credit. So now we get to see DW work towards that recognition he deserves.

- It was the best blending of nostalgia and new age. They drop a massive Easter egg in one of my favorite scenes, from one of my favorite episodes “A Whale of A Bad Time”, of my favorite story arc where Scrooge and Glomgold race to deliver their fortunes for weighing in a bet to win a lucrative contract. Also love the Fluppy Dogs shot-out. Wasn’t my jam but I gotta respect that attention given.

- F.O.W.L. involvement made the Missing Mysteries tie-in more logical. Huey is getting more involved here since this season is supposed to be this triplet’s turn in the spotlight. I bet this encounter spurs him into action now that F.O.W.L. is exposed to have interest in the mysteries. Speaking of exposed, poor Bradford. Like he would be more successful in his organized bureaucratic villainy if everyone who works for him didn’t revel in the theatrics.

- With Taurus Bulba falling out with F.O.W.L. it leaves me to believe he’ll stay in St. Canard to be a recurring villain for him. If he keeps the “Bulba’s Super Villain Solutions” thing I expect something like the Spectacular Spiderman animated series. Like Norman Osborn he’ll turn out villains for profit while acting behind the scenes and exploiting the chaos. Bonus points if his cybernetic enhancements keep coming in via collateral damage like with Major Bludd in G.I. Joe: Renegades. Since only Megavolt, Quackerjack, Liquidator, and Bushroot seem to be the only returning OG villains (aside from a couple of cool cameos from some C-Listers, haha) now the writers have a nice say in picking and choosing who gets rolled into the reboot reality. Negaduck is basically confirmed as a reboot villain now since they called themselves the Fearsome Four and Justice Ducks got a name drop but not who’s in it. Gizmoduck was a member but is here as a reboot character and they can just grab Neptunia, Stegmutt and Morgana. Real talk, they’ll probably redo all their designs but I hope we keep Morgana’s vibe close to her original which had such a wonderful goofy Elvira feel. Also let’s get a good Batman/Catwoman thing going.

- Bushroot’s redesign and dialogue silence may have been out of respect to his original voice actor Tino Insana’s passing, also the same year the Ducktales reboot came out. Everyone else is alive but the only reprised role was Michael Bell’s Quackerjack and everyone sounded great. Still hope he left like a seedling clone of himself behind so we can explore more of him.

- Gosalyn was well handled. I loved her reboot personality still feeling like OG but with more smarts and skill. Giving her skill with a crossbow was great (she gets a matching outfit and Huntress much) as well as leaning into the Batman & Robin parallels by making her a proper partner/sidekick, instead of a stubborn tag-along.  I want to see her meet Webby because I feel like she will complete a certain dynamic. Webby is an all rounder being good with magic, quite smart and a top fighter. Webby doesn’t hold top mark in any particular area. Lena is basically becoming sorceress supreme and Violet is very intelligent and composed with her reading situations better than the others. So I want Gosalyn to be surprisingly good at keeping up with Webby in a fight.

The second other series that may actually get this kind of dedication in the reboot feels to me like Talespin.

- We have plenty of mentions of Cape Suzette and a Don Karnage. I say “a” because the Season 3 poster revealed what looked like an older Kit and Molly. This leads me to believe the OG Talespin adventures do take place decades prior to closer match the aesthetics of the OGand current era Karnage is a descendant. Della may have also learned to pilot from or was a fan of Baloo so that can be a good background to add to her character. I feel like Shere Khan will be a David Xanatos type character. He was already a fierce, morally ambiguous self serving businessman. But give him that Xanatos pizazz, keen intellect and foresight to make him be the sharpest of the sharpies that Scrooge will ever deal with.

- So all in all it was everything I didn’t know I wanted and gives me such joy for heights this show can reach being this successful in its ambition. I hope further inclusions from other Disney Afternoon characters will start building themselves up in this reboot just as well. I’m excited for more of the world explored from the sides of the Rescue Rangers and Goofy’s suburban slice of life. Oh, and of course cop/detective work from freaking Bonkers! Like this is how you know your reboot is in good hands. When you keep the appeal of and appreciate the old while introducing well defined new takes, bridging the gap between generations so everyone enjoys it. Man, I need that Animaniacs reboot right now.

[Takes deep breath]

. . . MOTHER FUCKING BONKERS!!!?!!?!!!

Thoughts/Theories on Ducktales 2017′s Darkwing Duck Special

Okay, so. I am a 90′s child. I grew up on practically all the channels’ children blocks. The Disney Afternoon was one of the big ones for me. Ducktales was such a phenomenal show for me growing up and Darkwing Duck was different but just as strong of a show. So when Ducktales started introducing Darkwing Duck into the show at a natural rate of progression from fictional series easter eggs to in real world superhero in the tertiary cast to now what seems like the star focus of several future episodes and/or spin-off series well color me impressed.

The “Let’s Get Dangerous” special is gearing up to introduce and set up several different things. One of those being Gosalyn. First, the last sneak peek featuring her had her wearing her OG outfit in her flashback was a nice touch. Gosalyn is definitely still her stubborn and strong willed self. Like she feels somehow the same but is quite different besides visually. Gosalyn feels more efficient character wise. Also side note, back in “Raiders of The Doomsday Vault” didn’t Ludwig Von Drake reference the nursery rhyme Gosalyn’s grandfather taught her in OG Darkwing Duck series premiere? Did he know him or meet Gosalyn at one point? We don’t seem to have Webby along for the trip this time around which feeds my idea that it was so Gosalyn could meet Webby under bad terms and have them fight/be rivals at first. Taurus Bulba is our opening bad guy once more for Darkwing Duck and with that Kingpin vibe of “I look good publicly, but I bury bodies secretly”. Since this seems to be a McDuck operation it also gives a better means for him to operate for F.O.W.L. under the radar but this also may end up revealing them to the main cast as being back. From the looks of things he’ll also be on his way to getting his cybernetic enhancements. I also don’t think St. Canard really recognizes DW as a bigtime hero since the city (efficiently ran by newly appointed mayor Owlson, go her she deserves it) cleaned up and he hasn’t gotten a chance to prove himself as anything other than a cosplaying good Samaritan helping old ladies cross the street. So the first half sets up Bulba’s conflict with them and ends with the bad guys coming through the portal. When things go bad they’ll call Gizmoduck in as their hero but he will prove ineffective. DW, Launchpad and Gosalyn save the day but Gizmoduck takes the credit and Darkwing ends up being the hero the city needs but doesn’t deserve. The Fearsome Five minus Negaduck are kinda-but-not-really back to wreak havoc in St. Carnard (efficiently run by newly appointed mayor Owlson, go her she deserves it) and boy are they an actual threat. I mean they have always been but like OG Darkwing Duck  played on the humor side of things to keep them subdued but the reboot has a more realistic(?) approach to how the world and characters operate and they seem to be really doing some damage. So with Megavolt, Liquidator, and Quackerjack here I feel like they’ll be only around for the episodes to give Darkwing his entry to the big leagues. Bushroot however, seems to have been given a new vibe. He now has this black and white classic monster movie look and that falls well in line with his origin story. So I want to believe they’ll make Bushroot into a tragic villain and have him take a Batman: TAS approach like with Mr. Freeze. So somehow he gets left behind and Negaduck finds him. He shows to be a conflicted force for evil and we now have increased emotional depth to our adventures. Now since this is Ducktales the vehicle of our adventures is still revolving around its main cast. So while still not its own show Darkwing Duck adventures can’t be the focus of an episode without any of the kids involved. Which is why having Scrooge and the triplets here is the starter for all this. Once we get the adventure rolling we can shift the focus to DW, Gosalyn and Lauchpad with Launchpad still acting as the vehicle for Ducktales. Now once everything is over, Gosalyn will most likely be adopted by Drake and a decision for Launchpad will come up. To continue our Darkwing adventures we need Launchpad here. This is where after seeing the kind of good dynamic he has he may end up staying. Or at the very least working between the two cities but eventually dedicate himself to St.Canard. This also gives Della and Donald more screen time as the pilots of their respective fields. Now we can start building up Darkwing Duck characters, his own adventures and get used to his side of the world to the point of a possible spin-off. Like with all the Disney Afternoon shows in Ducktales I’m going to need a whole resurgence of reboot spin-offs. Give me Rescue Rangers back, Disney!

Thoughts On Some of The Animation Shenanigans This Week

So what a week for animation, huh? Start it off with an Animaniacs reboot footage trailer. As a 90's child I grew up with it as one of the cornerstones of my cartoon tastes. Witty, sharp, meta before it was a thing, you don't get the joke it's still funny but if you get it you may lose the ability to process oxygen for an extended period of time. Which makes it better when you age with it and can revisit a show and still find it funny and enjoyable to watch while also finding new ways to laugh from it. So I'm not speaking with hyperbole when I say the trailer had me laughing out tears of joy (”I RE-ANIMATED THEM” made me laugh harder than it legally should have been allowed to). Then a new trailer for the Darkwing Duck special for Ducktales '17 comes out the next day and I lose it. Again, 90's child. So DT '17 was already killing it and then they're like "but what if we rolled in other Disney Afternoon shows?" So DW becoming his own operation inside of the show feels amazing.

Kipo and The Age of Wonderbeasts was a wonderful series. I completely forgot that the show started this year and wrapped up this year. Season 3 felt a little rapid-fire with different plot threads but it still went out on a high note. Speaking of Season 3′s, Last Kids on Earth was also good, keeping the series going strong. Felt stretched on some issues and plot wavy on certain threat levels, but the last three episodes kept up the intensity and still had more to give with the set up for next season. Amphibia’s Halloween special was amazingly horrifying. Seriously after Gravity Falls Disney decided it found a good niche in Goth/Emo stories for most of the animated series with edgy, surprisingly dark and drama filled. But damn, each story was Goosebumps/Are You Afraid of The Dark/Eerie Indiana levels of surprisingly child appropriate horror.

Okay, so. The Amphibia Halloween episode comes out tomorrow and I am excited for the spoopy. But what gets me is Anne with a scrunchie in her hair. Like that's a Sasha aesthetic. My brain is like either she was matching with Sasha by choice for a while or she gave the look to Sasha and now her look has more emotional depth for her.

The holy trinity is complete.

Netflix’s Carmen Sandiego Season 3 Watch Ramblings

So I already said my crack theories prior to this post for Season 3 of Carmen Sandiego before release/watching, so now here are my thoughts on what went down. Spoilers, of course.

- First off, I always love when villains have personality outside of just being evil/the bad guy or doing evil things. Like last season when they were just doing a meeting at the diner. I loved their Halloween fun time shenanigans. Also The Cleaners seem to be having fun with the dress-up.

- So I didn’t know that Season 3 was only five episodes. Guess we reached that point in the Netflix animated series where they cut a season in half to cut down hiatus time and/or stretch the series out. Also, have I missed that opening music and all. It’s so good.

- A little on the nose with the new VILE headquarters but sometimes you gotta do it up classic villain style.

- Carmen still has some PTSD when dealing with Coach Brunt. Like there seems to recoil when she becomes directly confronted with her and I guess that will always be there since she always saw her as a mother figure.

- I did believe Julia would be sidelined someway after everything Season 2, I just didn’t think she would do it herself so forcefully. With The Chief becoming embittered to Carmen after the hack she was less receptive to Julia’s analysis of her activities. She had a whole backup career ready to go and everything. Though unlike Chase she gets to come back whenever due to being a valuable agent. Bringing in Chase was less for his skills and really more for his persistence and knack for always getting close to Carmen.

Side Note: I just love that throughout Season 2 Chase was out of action and little to no mention of him from Carmen whenever she runs into Julia. We get the flip Season 3 and every chance she gets Carmen makes note of Julia’s absence and preference to her in a situation, even after Stockholm and the ACME hack she seems to still trust Julia to do her right.

-So most likely events in Season 4 will have her new job site be the spot for a new caper. Seeing her separated from ACME will probably have Carmen constantly interact with Julia like with Graham when the chance arrives. Though when ACME/VILE gets wind of this in some form it may just complicate things for everyone.

- I wonder if we’ll get new agents besides Spinkick and Flytrap or just for this and next season before new VILE operatives start showing up. Though, with Roundabout no longer being their man on the inside who could pass around “Get Out Of Jail Free” cards to VILE when someone gets arrested, we’ll probably start seeing more one-off agents so they can have ACME start getting wins and possibly making Devineaux look better. VILE lost a major safety net so now they’ll walk a very dangerous high wire. Also Chase’s experience in Season 2 has raised his perception well. If the pieces lay before him he’ll connect the dots. The gears started turning to him thinking that maybe La Femme Rouge is not the person he thought and Julia was right.

- Speaking of agents, Mime Bomb is still MVP for VILE isn’t he? Like even on missions he is a part of that fail it never seems to be on him for the failure. He does his part perfectly, putting up with everyone else’s antics on either side. Watch Mime Bomb never get caught by the end of this series, no longer VILE and just out in the world. Or the moment he gets put out of commission everything just starts to go way south fast for VILE operatives. Also, does this mean Neal The Eel is mind wiped the next time we see him or was Graham really that unlucky with his failure and capture?

- Zack and Ivy seem to be toned down this season. Well, Ivy at least. She feels like her humor factor is being given more finesse so she can still be funny but not obnoxiously so. Zack gets less of a jokester back and forth with her because of it and becomes the funny guy to her straight man. So his antics get toned down to a degree and they show more personality outside of being constant comedy relief or having a showcase episode.

- Player didn’t really get to stand out much this season. Shadow san always get to be at his best and even got an episode for him. So with VILE introducing their own elite hacker in The Troll Season 4 might give Player some great moments to shine as a character.

- Looks like Graham gets to be brought in to meet ACME and whether the mind wipe also left him as a sleeper agent or not I can’t wait to find out. But before that I wonder how ACME will approach him and how he and ACME will speak of their activities with Carmen.

- All in all, when seasons get split like this they sometimes feel more like build up to the next season and this left me wanting more because of how short it felt. Like it was a long Halloween special. There was a building overarching plot but not big enough of a payoff that the season finale couldn’t have happened at any time during the season and Roundabout being defeated and outed as a VILE agent so quickly probably feels better together with Season 4 and its plot. A good season, but just shy of feeling entirely like filler. Depends even more on how key points are brought up next season.

So right before I watch Season 3 of Netflix's Carmen Sandiego as it drops I'll blab about some theories I have about it. So let's see how well this ages. Chase Devineaux was absent from Season 2 trailers which kept his involvement in things hidden. So same for Julia Argent, with Chief probably moving her from the field because of her support for Carmen but still with ACME since she is a valuable asset. Chase may also be more capable after his deduction skills leveled up last season. Carmen notices Julia's absence and first is indifferent but slowly starts to miss her favorite ACME agent. So Carmen tracks down Julia and they start hanging out and becoming close. For angst I kinda want Roundabout to find out, seeing a brainwashed Julia working for VILE would be cool. Like Carmen's ultimate rival.

Shadow-san's recap of events has shown that flashbacks don't have to show the actual event. The situation with Chief and how she operates ACME tells a lot. ACME uses non lethal weapons. She knew The Wolf and accidentally shooting him left her scarred. The empty casket was for her alias. She pursued The Wolf as law enforcement, got close to him over time and he was helping her take down VILE so he could live with his family. Fakes alias' death which cuts her ties to Wolf who he then leads her to the house to get VILE information. She shoots him by mistake and before she can do anything further house burns and she loses everything.

Now if Chief is Carmen's mother then her devotion to taking down VILE makes sense if it is in regret. If not her but someone she was close with like a partner or sister was the one who got close with Wolf same situation but she didn't know Wolf would be there at the raid or didn't know him at all but Carmen's mother let Chief have it about the night's events. This still weighs heavy on Chief who of course sets up ACME and uses non lethal weapons to fight VILE and its criminals.

Reasons Why Retail Jobs are Harder than Office Jobs.

Guess what daaaaay it isssss!

Happy Earth, Wind, and Fire Day! Boogie down now, y’all.