Sunday, September 23, 2018

'Toon Reviews 21: Xiaolin Showdown Season 1 Episode 13: In the Flesh + Final Thoughts


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In the Flesh
Our look at Season 1 ends with the series stepping out of its formulaic roots becoming grander than ever, and the way to the change leaves a lot to discuss. 
Among the first scenes are Omi, Kimiko, and Clay adjusting to their new titles of Xiaolin Apprentice and it upgrades them from their old titles. I should note however that their sash colors are the same as their old ones despite Apprentice sashes being dark blue instead of black in all episodes after this.  Anyway, they can now fight with the elements they represent, and bring out special element moves from certain Shen Gong Wu.  It’s a nice way to introduce the game changer and ease into its full display in seasons to come. 
Then there’s Raimundo, the only Xiaolin Warrior who didn’t upgrade.  On one hand, his brood is unreasonable since he brought his lack of progress on himself for being cocky in the last episode, and that put his friends in danger.  Still, his frustrations are deeper than they seem.  He feels like he’s not appreciated for his efforts to do what’s right and ponders over the point of what he was taught.  This is meaningful for the proof of Raimundo coming a long way from barely paying attention to the important side of being a Xiaolin Warrior.  He’s been way more competent and taken a stronger initiative to protect the world. 
While Raimundo goes through his complicated feelings, he’s approached by Wuya who’s now been dubbed obsolete after losing Mala Mala Jong.  When she approaches Raimundo, he hesitates falling for her sways at first.  Then Wuya brings up his lack of appreciation, and he falls for her bribe of a luxurious life that praises him.  It’s not right for Raimundo to turn to this being of evil, but for his true desire being something legit that everyone should have, his actions are acceptable enough. 
When Wuya senses a Shen Gong Wu called the Reversing Mirror which reverses a Shen Gong Wu's effects, her excitement foreshadows something more unsettling than usual.  Via an exciting flashlight tag Xiaolin Showdown in big fragments of a lighthouse, Raimundo wins and proudly declares he’s on the dark side now.  This gets his friends depressed that someone they’ve been close to for so long went bad, bringing a rarely seen emotional aspect to the group dynamic. Omi does lighten the situation with hope that Raimundo’s actions are part of a “secret elaborate plan.” Sadly yet unsurprisingly, the hope is shot down when Raimundo betrays them more through stealing one of their own Shen Gong Wu, the Serpent’s Tail. 
If that’s not enough, the shakeup to the formula is put into motion. The Serpent’s Tail and Reversing Mirror together can turn Wuya from a ghost back into a powerful human witch.  Given how the act is carried out, it doesn’t really make sense as to how this works.  Raimundo uses the Serpent’s Tail and Wuya uses the Reversing Mirror meaning that Raimundo should be made solid when transparent while nothing happens to Wuya.  Wouldn’t it make more sense if it went the other way around?  Either way, there’s a huge cliffhanger ending when Wuya succeeds in turning back to human with a dark and fiery change in scenery to depict the darkness unfolding.  There’s clear magnitude with nothing resolved in the end and the only thing to do is hope for things to get better next season. 
This season finale is a well-told story where all events come together impactfully and shake up team dynamics and the well-being of this show’s world, leaving you wanting more.
A



The Ranking
  1. Mala Mala Jong
  2. Night of the Sapphire Dragon
  3. Shen Yi Bu
  4. In the Flesh
  5. Royal Rumble
  6. Chameleon
  7. Katnappe
  8. The Journey of a Thousand Miles
  9. My Homey Omi
  10. Like a Rock
  11. Big as Texas
  12. Ring of the Nine Dragons
  13. Tangled Web

Final Thoughts
It’s been a while since I’ve given Xiaolin Showdown significant attention, but going through the first season has been a most entertaining experience.  It shows that a lot of thought and care has gone into its creation, bringing the audience along for an unforgettable ride that keeps them on their toes with every new adventure.  For that, this show is an unsung animated highlight of the 2000s.
The biggest point of appeal to this show is its creative premise.  Creative gets a huge emphasis with nearly all aspects bringing something new to see with every episode.  There’s always a point of intrigue with every new Shen Gong Wu for the characters to go after.  It would be too easy to just make them all shooting-based weapons. While a vast number of Shen Gong Wu are designed to shoot things , they overall embrace animation’s versatility splendidly.  It’s always exciting to see what a new one does, sometimes with a truly extraordinary ability.  They could have you twirl through the air with the flip of a coin, turn you into a monkey, turn you invisible, go through solid objects, turn your limbs into rubber, and allow you to travel anywhere you want with just a scratch at the air. 
The lore of Shen Gong Wu becomes even vaster when you consider how dangerous some of them can be.  They include a ring that makes clones of you that divide your maturity and a mirror that reverses the effects of all other magical artifacts and can turn a ghost into a mortal.  I think we can all agree though that the Shen Gong Wu are seen at their most dangerous with a dragon bent on turning literally anyone into lifeless sapphire statues.  As a result, it’s fitting that as more Shen Gong Wu are collected, the tone of the show slowly shifts from light-hearted to fairly serious.  The season finale especially shows this with one of the protagonists going bad and the world being thrown into darkness.  However, how serious the show gets with this season is nothing compared to the events of seasons to come.  The Shen Gong Wu in a sense are the heart of the show investing in how animation can make anything happen and keep you guessing with what can and will be done with them.
Along with the general nature of Shen Gong Wu are how the process of finding them brings a surprising variety to the episodes.  Whether it’s through watching a piece of media or going about real life, I’m always up for a change in scenery. Each Shen Gong Wu hunt makes for a different place for the action to unfold.  The adventure could take you to a city, a forest, a beach, one of the characters’ homes, a castle, or even inside a volcano.  It keeps up with the adventurous feel of the premise with a different place to go to and different things to see.  Whenever a hero and villain find a Shen Gong Wu, initiating a Xiaolin Showdown, the locations reach a high point in visual appeal. The surrounding area turns into huge arenas for the action as if it’s a big sporting event.  Along with the abilities of the Shen Gong Wu, the showdowns are other big exercises of creativity. Different Shen Gong Wu are on full display and keep you guessing what the challenges will be like.  Though many are simple challenges like races, power battles, games of tag, finding something in a haystack, and even a basketball, there is variation to every Showdown.  The size of the arenas feel big and immersive that give the impression of how each showdown helps determine the fate of the world.  You end up not caring that these challenges are standard because in execution, they appear to be so much more which helps keeping the show feeling fresh.  The fact that episodes show anyone, even the bad guys, winning the showdowns requires the viewers to pay attention to who has what Shen Gong Wu.  This alone broadens the viewing experience with the audience being challenged as well as entertained.  The sense of variety is perfectly clear with the powers of the main objects, their locations and the fights to claim them which makes the show a valued asset to animation.
Although I hold this show in high regard, analyzing this season has made me feel that as great as it is in many aspects, it falls a bit short of the top-10 of all time leagues.  A big reason for that is that a lot of it feels a little too basic to appeal to a universal audience, coming off as something more for just kids than people of all ages.  An example of this comes from the characterization of the show, especially from the protagonists.  The bulk of their personalities lies within their interests and where they come from easily being described with single statements.  Omi is a sheltered monk with an ego problem who wants to learn the customs of his friends.  Raimundo is a street-smart Brazilian who enjoys slacking off and pulling pranks.  Kimiko is into electronics and fashions while also prone to fits of anger.  Clay is a Texas cowboy who’s easy to get along with.  Dojo is a smart-talking dragon who serves as the warriors’ animal guide and senses the Shen Gong Wu.  Master Fung is as cut and dry wise, proverb-stating kung-fu master as you can get.  These simple descriptions are basically all there is to the characters and they hardly change past that as the show goes on.  Even the group’s banter in certain episodes doesn’t feel very engaging with petty reasons.  Examples include the boys thinking Kimiko isn’t capable of being a warrior because she’s a girl and their menial annoyance with each other’s interests interfering with larger matters.  There’s also a few minor yet noticeable qualms with the lore of their battle strategies. During fight scenes, there’s a cut to them saying the name of their element against a stylized background, yet they hardly ever actually use their element. Sometimes there aren't very strong explanations of how certain Shen Gong Wu stunts work especially in the season finale. 
These setbacks are noticeable, but that doesn’t mean the characters are bad.  In fact, most of their quirks come off as quite entertaining, basic as they are.  They even make for some great running gags, particularly Omi’s constant misuses of slang terms.  There are even occasional breaks in the basic personas like Dojo growing a backbone and Master Fung becoming much stricter and authoritative.  Of the main heroes, Raimundo is easily the most interesting.  He starts out with the most flaws of the team, joking around and rarely paying attention. Some of this season’s strongest moments are when he owns up to his mistakes and strives to grow from them and be the best warrior he can be.  Even his brash actions have weight for them through wanting to make something of his teachings.  This gives his decision to go bad in the finale after not getting promoted to Xiaolin Apprentice weight of feeling underappreciated.  Raimundo’s appeal as a character only grows from here as looks at other seasons will show. 
Plus, for every basic hero moment, there’s a more exciting villain moment fitting to the show’s versatility.  They’re technically basic too, wanting to take over the world for power’s sake, but their solid entertainment nullifies what could’ve potentially weakened their appeal.  Jack Spicer is one of the funniest villains created.  He's a whiny boy clamoring for attention but never gets annoying, especially since he has legit talent with robot-building and his schemes actually succeed at times.  In addition, this comedic villain has an exact opposite type of villain to work off of.  Wuya is a seriously cunning villain whose threatening where Jack is not.  Because of this, there's a great balance of feeling annoyed over Jack’s quirks and expressing true evil right down to aiming to actually crush her opponents at one point.  The villains also keeps things fresh through some of them fighting with class and style through their obsessions and professions like Katnappe and ninja Tubbimura.  Others are just being impressive creations like the shapeshifting Chameleon-bot or the multi-Shen Gong Wu hybrid Mala Mala Jong.  While the characterization is clearly not what the show will be best-remembered for, it’s not a factor that ruins any potential fun. Like many other things, they're kept fresh through occasional big things done with them.
The first season of Xiaolin Showdown is a strong introduction with a very creative premises used to a grand extent with variety among its many elements.  It may feel basic or under-explained in parts, but the show is greatly entertaining and well-suited for the realm of animation regardless.  Find this season on DVD and digital, and see what you can get out of it, and I’ll await the day I return to this show to discuss what wonders the other two seasons hold.
Highly Recommended

That's all for now with Xiaolin Showdown.  After this set of reviews, the MC Toon Reviews schedule is going to change for the coming week only:
I'll see you tomorrow with the next OK K.O.! review. Until then:


Stay Animated Folks!

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