Glitching through Infinity on the way to Owl House - Tooned Up #14
In the latest Tooned Up, Cam and Mike cover all the latest news, including the news of Scooby-Doo co-creator Joe Ruby’s passing, the X-Files’ upcoming comedic animated spinoff series (what are they even thinking?), and another planned misfire, the Powerpuff Girls live-action adaptation. But that’s not all! The Guru and the Captain review the second half of Infinity Train’s third season, Disney’s Owl House, Nickelodeon’s Glitch Techs, Netflix’s anime project The Great Pretender, and Hoops, which is also from the Big N. Let’s have at it, shall we?
Note from the Editor: We are dedicating our current episodes to the memory of Chadwick Boseman, the actor who portrayed Marvel’s Black Panther, aka King T’Challa, as well as many other unforgettable characters such as Jackie Robinson in 42, and James Brown in Get On Up. Boseman passed on due to colon cancer, and was only 43 years old. Such a tragic loss. We here at RPC send our condolences to his family and friends, and stand in solidarity with those who are mourning at this time. If you’d like to donate to cancer research, please visit the American Cancer Society’s website. Thank you.
Hoops is up first, starring one of the worst lead characters in all of animation, according to Cameron. Mike also stands by Cameron’s assessment and adds that the main character does not develop by the end of the show, but regresses even further than his usual toxic man-child self. Yikes. Do not watch!
“It has maybe a few tiny chuckles and some decent ideas for joke setups, but you have to get through some of the worst dialogue, and some of the meanest characters in all of 2020 to get to some really terrible payoffs. No one grows as characters, and the show is all the rainbows of terrible. It has cheap animation, cheap designs, it’s every kind of phobic from fatphobic to homophobic. Also, I hope you aren’t hoping for a strong POC or female lead, because unless you are the toxic manchild protagonist, you are awful and wrong about everything.”
“Guys, I gotta be honest, if I didn’t host an animation podcast, I wouldn’t have watched past the pilot. This is one of the worst shows I’ve seen in a long time, but a perfect demonstration of the difference between “mature” and “adult” entertainment. Does it have its moments? Sure, a broken clock is right twice a day. It has a great voice cast, including people like Jake Johnson and Ron Funches, who I know can be funny with the right material. But this is just terrible, edgy for the sake of being edgy material.”
Infinity Train book three comes to a close with a lot of character development for Grace and Simon, who have served as the leads this season. It’s a trippy yet deep show with a lot of personality to its characters, and a shocking character death or two! Even I’ve enjoyed it. Hopefully HBO Max renews the show. As Cam mentions, please keep supporting and watching the show! Highly recommended!
“With something as disastrous as HOOPS, and how it was a show made for adults that comes off wildly immature and childish, you don’t realize until after watching it, how refreshing a show like Infinity Train is. The irony of it all is that Infinity Train is a show made for and aimed at a younger audience, but is one of the most mature, complex, and philosophical shows of the past decade and the current year.”
“This show is fucking incredible, the things they get away with while still aiming for a younger demographic are astounding, particularly the resolution of the antagonist’s story arc. I want to see this story continue, and if you feel the same way, you need to support the series by watching it on HBO Max!”
Owl House is up next on the show, with Mike and Cameron both raving about Disney’s latest animated series. The show deals with a diverse cast of characters, led by a young woman named Luz who befriends a witch from a magical realm named Eda. Luz becomes close friends with Eda and decides to become her apprentice. Apparently many fans have compared this series to the Harry Potter saga, which seems like an apt comparison. Cameron actually claims it’s better, and I have no reason to doubt his assessment, particularly when it comes to the inclusion of a bisexual lead character and her relationship. Highly recommended!
“I’m okay with saying that The Owl House is a superior witch/magic series to Harry Potter in about every single way possible... I adore how they set up everything from the magic system, the wildlife, the races, and while you don’t know everything, it’s a world that feels lively and full of personality. The main cast of characters is also delightful. Luz is a great lead character and is Disney’s first official bisexual character. She’s bubbly, ready to learn, but is flawed in a very relatable way.”
“I really enjoyed this inaugural season as a whole. The finale was a touch disappointing compared to the expectations built up after the previous episode, but I love what they’re setting up for the next season, and can’t wait to see more of Emperor Belos and his plans for the Day of Unity!”
Glitch Techs is a Nickelodeon-produced sci-fi adventure series and airing on Netflix, with two seasons already produced. Mike says it’s the most fun he’s had watching a Nick-produced show since the first two seasons of Danny Phantom, while Cameron enjoys the video game-inspired action in the show, as well as the clever dialogue in the show and its inclusivity and diversity. While the show is based on games and the culture surrounding it, Glitch Techs does not pander to its audience or to gamers’ sensibilities. Recommended!
“I also adore the main cast of characters that, while starting simple, leave some very interesting mysteries that the show has hinted at, but haven’t fully revealed. I think my only real issues is that sometimes the gamer lingo sounds a bit clunky, but it wasn’t as bad as some other stuff I have seen. I also wish some of the more non-action animation looked less stiff. This show could really use your help as it’s stuck in a really bad situation where its fate is in the hands of how many views and viewers it gets. If you want to have a fun and action-packed show to watch with your kids, or like action animation in general, this is a great show to check out on Netflix! Please do watch it.”
“Imagine if you put Ghostbusters, Men in Black and Wreck-it Ralph in a blender, and that’s the basic premise. It has all the right ingredients, from great world building, a fun and memorable cast of characters, and as a metalhead, one of the coolest scores for an animated series. I hope that there’s more to this story than where things left off!”
Last but not least, the duo talks about The Great Pretender, Netflix’s latest original anime, which follows a young Japanese con man (or as the dub refers to him, “confidence man”) named Edamura, who falls in with an experienced Frenchman named Laurent. Cameron calls it “Ocean’s 11 meets Leverage,” as a point of comparison, which does sound like the most anime premise I’ve ever heard. It’s very much a heist comedy, and a well done one at that! Highly recommended!
“If I had to pick an anime to show anyone for the first time. It has to be an anime that can universally grab anyone from any walk of life. Thankfully, Great Pretender is a fantastic stepping off point to anyone who wants to get into it, and it’s a unique anime and animated show in general that revolves around cons and heists. It’s something I don’t personally see in animation. It’s on Netflix right now, and at some point in the future, we will be getting the next 9 episodes that will come sometime in the future. It’s easily one of my favorite anime of the year, and is one of the best new cartoons of 2020. If you love heist shows or films, then please check this show out. It also has a killer jazz soundtrack by composer Yutaka Yamada, who also composed the music for Vinland Saga and Babylon. If that isn’t enough, the entire show’s title and ending sequence are based on The Great Pretender by Freddie Mercury.”
“I can only really describe this series as the anime equivalent of the Oceans trilogy, with a cast of characters as charismatic as Leonardo DiCaprio from Catch Me if you Can. The capers they pull are all entertainingly elaborate, and while that would be fun on its own, the real secret to this show’s success is how much you are emotionally invested in each character’s arcs. Out of the three cases, it’s hard to choose a favorite, though I’d be lying if I said Case 3 didn’t have me fighting tears. Great Pretender is now streaming on Netflix, with new episodes expected towards the end of the year.”
And another episode of Tooned Up has come and gone! Thank you all for listening, and please remember to support quality animated shows like Infinity Train, Owl House, and Glitch Techs, as we need more excellent all-ages content for everyone to enjoy! Extra special thanks to Cameron the Animation Guru and Mike the Captain for taking us on another technicolor-filled journey through the wilds of animation, and we’ll see you back here soon for the X-Men X-travaganza! Be safe, wear a mask, and take care of each other!
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Previously on Renegade Animation, Captain Kaye, The Animation Guru, Haley, and Teresa dove head first into the Spring anime season and took in the good, the bad, and the bizarre. And now… Squid Game: The Anime.