If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:
The
Ed-Touchables
Although
this cartoon is part of the second episode produced, this is looked at as the
show’s official introduction to the world.
For that, it’s kind of appropriate that the opening has the best
clashing of the Eds’ personalities by far, showing their vast differences yet
still working together as a group.
Double D’s main traits are revealed here as the first scene presents him
in an overly-analytical state as he labels literally everything in his
room. Eddy’s status as quick-thinking
and ambitious despite frequently getting impatient with his friends’ quirks is much
better defined. This is mainly shown in
his hidden yet harmless pranks on Double D while frequently ringing the
doorbell and ditching him before coming in.
Ed’s friendly qualities are also on a fuller display as he spends the
cartoon just being happy to go along with his friends’ plan despite lacking the
brains. As you can tell, even if this
technically wasn’t the first work produced, this cartoon is the best real
introduction to the Eds’ interesting chemistry.
With that defined, the plot unfolds, and it’s a very well executed one
at that.
During his spree of labelling
things, Double D notices his magnifying glass is gone and he humorously breaks
down over it in accordance with his obsessive need to be tidy. If that’s not enough, Sarah, Ed’s total brat
of a little sister, goes on an angry rampage over her doll being lost too. These occurrences lead Eddy to jump to the
conclusion that someone is loose in the cul-de-sac touching and stealing other
people’s belongings. The delivery of the
announcement to the other kids that a “serial toucher” is on the loose even
comes with a bold execution that’s quite impressive that it got under the
radar.
Anyway, keeping with the Eds’
only way they can possibly connect with the outside world, Eddy manages to make
some good cash out of attempting to catch the toucher. Just through setting up Ed with a tempting
‘don’t touch’ sign, he and his friends prove to deserve the cash when Ed is
soon touched by one of the cast’s most memorable pairings. Jonny is shown to be a basic innocent
character at first despite his bolder quirks coming later in the series, but
the biggest thing to him comes from his best friend. It’s just a simple plank of wood with an
unchanging happy face named Plank, although he’s clearly the whole world to
Jonny as what later happens shows. When
he has Plank rub Ed’s head, there’s a fun chase scene with the Eds concluding
that these two guys are the toucher. In
addition to the fast music and further ways the Eds stand out from the
different ways they run and go through a fence is Jonny’s true value in Plank. When he’s tripped and tells Plank to save
himself, there’s genuine concern for his well-being even if it is
overly-dramatic.
They both get captured
and are connected to a lie detector to be interrogated about stealing
everyone’s things. Jonny is believably
unclear with his readings, but somehow Plank is reported to be lying about
being innocent, suggesting there’s deeper meaning to this board. This scene also gets creative with
interrogations as a squirt gun threatens to wash off Plank’s face and as sounds
and straining animation show make Johnny need the bathroom. When he admits to the theft out of desperation,
it seems that the Eds are successful in their efforts. They have Jonny and
Plank leave in a tire and go spend their money on jawbreakers.
However, both the magnifying glass and the
doll were simply misplaced, though the Eds visibly don’t care. As a result, the ending works in two
ways. The Eds get their jawbreakers,
something that will happen rarely, but chasing after them when Jonny rolling
by forces them out is appropriate karma.
It allows the cartoon to end as a grand show of character appeal and
chemistry as well as inventive story ideas at play.
A+
Nagged to Ed
With
this cartoon, the official episode order gets confusing. I mean the last episode was produced first
and had a cartoon featured the Kanker sisters, but the plot of this cartoon
acts as if the Eds meet them for the first time. The biggest confusion speaks for itself, and
the best reason for this I can think of is that Episode 1 may have been meant to be the series
pilot based on the rougher visuals and voices.
Now, this wouldn’t stick out much if this cartoon was a better
introduction to the Kankers. It kind of
is, but the main story is still not very good and hurts their reputation for
the rest of the series.
It starts off
fine with the Eds going bug collecting in the woods. Following comments about the surroundings and
messing around, there’s a huge foreboding atmosphere as they all feel that
someone is watching them. The creepy
female voices and intense music sell the fear.
They all end up falling in mud when they’re finally caught. It’s after this when they meet the Kanker
sisters, Lee, Marie, and May, and their roles get more unsettling as the
cartoon goes on. They stalked them in
the woods, frightened them immensely, and then placed them in nothing but
robes. That’s messed up, yet the story
tries to make them believe that they’re nice and hospitable as they cater to
the Eds’ needs in their trailer park home.
Honestly though, the most pleasing parts of the cartoon are the Eds
commenting on random knick-knacks. Among
them are drawings of each sister with their respective Ed, showcasing romantic
lust for the guys. Said drawings start
making the setup disturbing when you consider the Kankers just moved here, yet
know a lot about the Eds suggesting that they’re total stalkers.
Despite this, the cartoon tries to make them
sympathetic. They offer food and comfort
for the Eds which feels genuine even if they wouldn’t need this if it wasn’t
for them to begin with. Then they show
up in nice clothes and try to get them to notice them. Their frustrations over being ignored also
feel genuine and they act like they should be getting their way. Even so, when they turn on the Eds and make
them clean everything, they feel like the ultimate abusive housewives. All throughout, despite how clear it is that
the Eds hanging at the Kankers is not good after all and that they can just
leave, they don’t do the logical thing for some reason. That’s why it becomes frustrating the longer
they put up with the Kankers’ sudden abuse, especially since the moments are
not even very fun. The Eds may have
ignored them, but they’re really not deserving of attention.
Eventually, Eddy snaps at them breaking their
authority over the gang, and are delighted when they later tell them to get
out. However, being shown dolls of their
‘children’ before they go make the meaning of this clear. All of this was a stunt to force the Eds into
family life them and the Kankers were going through the motions culminating in
divorce and dumping kids with their ‘husbands’.
In other words, the Kankers become shockingly accurate to people who try
to force other people into loving them no matter how uninterested they are of them. Although it’s more defining that they act out
of lust instead of just being nasty to others like in “Over Your Ed,” it still
makes them very creepy and unenjoyable.
The fact that they become regular characters from here threatens to hold
the show back.
As for this cartoon, it
has a good share of charm, mostly from the Eds, but for starting all the
trouble with the Kankers, it’s a huge sting in appeal.
C-
The Ranking
1. The Ed-Touchables
2. Pop Goes the Ed
3. Over Your Ed
4. Nagged to Ed
The next Ed Edd n Eddy review is a babysitting plot of the ultimate brat of the series, Sarah, and Eddy is caught in a plot of wanting to be taller.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews, you're invited to "The Big Show" in Steven Universe.
If you would like to check out other Ed Edd n Eddy reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
The Ed-Touchables:
ReplyDeleteThis is a great start to the show. While not fully developed, the Eds each have unique characteristics that identify them. Not only that, but all the other kids have unique looks to them, and portray their unique characteristics like Sarah being a brat, Kevin being a jerk, and Jonny being alone with Plank, and not even shown before in the crowd shot.
To be honest, I can remember seeing this for the first time and I was creeped out a bit by Ed being this big guy who casually put two of his friends in a headlock... Also, what the heck was he WATCHING on TV?
One thing I really like is the fact that Eddy first decides to catch the serial toucher and THEN figures that he can make money off of doing it. It's a small moment, but I like to think that Eddy did want to stop a criminal before thinking how he could profit from it, showing more layers of his character than the "greedy sleazebag" that everyone makes him out to be.
Nagged to Ed:
While I did find the episode's plot kind of funny, with the Eds going bug-hunting and ending up in a weird place, it quickly gets to disturbing levels if you think about it too much. First with the Kanker Sisters being supposedly new to town and are quickly smitten with the Eds for reasons untold. Then you realize that they stalked, abducted, and stripped the Eds naked while putting robes on them.
It goes from disturbing to downright scary when the Kankers act as though they're married to the Eds, and it's around that point that I realized that unlike "The Ed-Touchables" where the Eds and some of the kids were introduced with unique characteristics to them, we learn little to nothing about the Kankers aside from them being sisters and they have a strange attraction towards the Eds that has them either want to kiss them or kill them. Aside from each of them having a distinct look from one another, they're all essentially the same character.
This episode could've done much better if we actually got some character from the Kankers instead of them being the same deranged violent psycho-girl yandere character you see in anime and cartoons.