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Today’s show is new to this blog and is one you don’t hear a
lot of people talk about these days, but as someone with a lot of fond memories
of it, I’m excited to bring it to mind, especially since I find it to be one of
the most creative action cartoon series:
Xiaolin Showdown (Season 1)
Basic Premise
When
it comes to shows from Kids WB, I have to admit that they’re not programs I
particularly grew up with, mostly because I was too attached to shows on other
networks to find out what channel the block was on. Even older shows from the block, one of which
I looked into not too long ago, were ones I didn’t watch when they initially
aired. It wasn’t until long after that
time when I got the urge to look into some of them, and Xiaolin Showdown was one of those Kids WB shows. My exposure to it was through reruns on
Cartoon Network running from 2006 to 2007.
At the time, I was just opening up to action-oriented shows with lots of
travelling to exotic locations, creative setups to the series universe, and
strong continuity between episodes to bring all events together and ensure the
audience keeps watching. This show
turned out to be a great fit to my interests.
It
follows a young Xiaolin monk named Omi who’s young and ambitious as he trains
to become a fully-realized warrior along with new companions, Raimundo, a
street-smart jock from Brazil, Kimiko, a stylish tech wizard from Japan, and
Clay, a kind-hearted cowboy. Their
mission is to travel around the world looking for mystical artifacts called
Shen Gong Wu sensed by a cowardly shapeshifting dragon named Dojo. Each Shen Gong Wu has its own unique power which makes their reveals a huge point of
interest. Their quest to find them
however is made challenging with a vast collection of villains who are also
after the Shen Gong Wu for more evil purposes, mostly a self-proclaimed boy
genius, Jack Spicer, with the guidance of a ghostly head named Wuya who has
experienced their power thousands of years ago.
As for the showdown portion of the series, they come up when two
opponents fight over one or more Shen Gong Wu too much. This brings about creatively conceived
challenges varying in every episode and is a clear demonstration of the
imaginations of this show’s crew.
This
certainly makes Xiaolin Showdown
sound like a fun and exciting series, and I enjoyed and held it in high regard
for a couple of years now, but as I’ve been reviewing a lot, I’ll be able to
analyze it enough to determine if it truly holds up well today and if it should
be better remembered than it is now. I
am most pleased to start finding that out as I look into this series, starting
with this review set on Season 1.
Without further ado, Gong Yi Tanpai!
Now on with the reviews:
The Journey of a Thousand Miles
This premiere episode sets the show into motion,
but while it’s designed to introduce the series elements and major characters,
it’s still pretty great. It wastes no
time explaining what the show is all about with the first scene being on the
origins of Shen Gong Wu, powerful artifacts used by a brave Xiaolin Warrior
named Dashi against the evil witch Wuya in a battle for the fate of the world
which were later spread all over the world to not fall into the hands of evil.
It’s after this opening information where we
get to know the characters. Omi is
established as passionate about being a Xiaolin Warrior in training giving
great attention to perfecting his fighting moves while under the guidance of
his mentor, Master Fung. However, making
Omi better-rounded is a relatable character flaw of having a big ego when he
meets the new students, Raimundo, Kimiko, and Clay, and acts like he knows
better than them through training them at his skills when they’re perfectly
capable of their own. It does bring out
some comedy and fun banter between the characters though.
On the villains’ side, we meet the first of
many well-crafted baddies, Jack Spicer, who may be your typical evil genius
bent on world domination and robotics, but is made incredibly entertaining
through his childish behaviors with similar ego problems and freaking out
easily. He gains much more relevance
when he opens the puzzle box holding Wuya, now interestingly reduced to a
floating ghost head who’s more sinister, and begrudgingly has to put up with
Jack’s insanity to find the Shen Gong Wu and put the world into darkness.
With Wuya out, the Shen Gong
Wu start going active one-by-one, prompting Omi and his new companions to
travel all over the world to find them as they reveal, with Dojo as their guide. This
episode leads them to three specific Shen Gong Wu, setting up their interesting
quest for peace on Earth. Each Shen Gong
Wu has its own unique power like the Mantis Flip Coin allowing the holder to
jump great heights, the heavy armor called the Two Ton Tunic, and the Eye of
Dashi that shoots lightning. They also
allow for changes of scenery being hidden in different locations to keep
finding them feeling fresh and interesting be it the bustling city of San
Francisco, the canals of Italy, or just a calm field.
When finding the Eye of Dashi, things get
really interesting when Omi and Jack, who have their own Shen Gong Wu, both get
to it leading to the titular Xiaolin Showdown.
This is where the crew’s imagination goes all out when the showdown
brings them to a mystical location in which they use their Shen Gong Wu in a
given physical challenge to win the featured Shen Gong Wu and their opponents’,
in this case a race over stone columns, presenting them as the show’s biggest
highlight. This one stands out for
featuring character growth from Omi as he utilizes all the different skills his
new friends taught him to win, from Raimundo’s pranking, to
Kimiko’s knowledge on off switches, and Clay’s more humble fighting
techniques.
Ultimately, the episode
stands as a strong introduction to what to expect from the series while also
selling it as a fun and exciting setup with identifiable characters, individual
creativity in what they’re set to find, and everything building up to an
exciting showdown. It’s a basic
introduction, but still an effective one.
A
The next Xiaolin Showdown review features Clay putting up a strong fight without throwing any punches while the other warriors get trapped in an invisible box by a mime.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes episode, "Just Be a Pebble."
If you would like to check out other Xiaolin Showdown reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
This was a great way to introduce this show. I am massively impressed with how well you used links to your other reviews.
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