thundercats 2011

I gotta end this watchthrough with a rotten pun. Sorry.

So after skipping a week so I could watch some OG Dragonball (a decision I do NOT regret), it’s time to cover these final few episodes. Long story short, they’re good but so good it really hurts when one realizes that after the final scene, it is all we’ve got. Short story long? Well… let’s see what interested me about this.

Coming out of Episode 22 I expected the following episode (“Recipe for Disaster”) to reunite the bunch for the next Stone. Instead we get another filler episode involving a disturbingly large, if sweet caterpillar, her snake oil salesman master (a species from the original series), and of course Lion-O’s attempt to woo Pumyra. The last one makes for amusing moments, given how Lion-O is socially awkward in being sweet to her, which not only involves her face getting an allergic reaction to a flower to Tygra drinking a love potion from aforementioned snake oil salesman meant for her. The last part makes this episode worthwhile, since Matt Mercer really nails how out of it the usually snarky and sometimes super serial Tygra is when under the spell of a potion that makes him all touchy feely. Plus he calls Panthro a ‘silly goose’. read more

With Lion-O once again righting his course, it would appear this series is prepping for its finale with this small set of episodes. At my initial viewing, I thought it would be a ‘one-and-done’ at their latest locale: a desert dog town. Instead, it unfurls into a semi-lengthy mini-arc of lore and loss. The latter part is not just any loss, but multiple losses of life, plot devices, and even personal effects. Who knew?

The big draw of all this however is the introduction to a new ThunderCat to the mix: Pumyra. With the exception of Bengali (who probably would’ve been in the second season), all the primary ThunderCats from the original show are accounted for in the first season. Pumyra from the original show is kindof an inoffensive, and eventually nonexistent entity. Juxtaposed with the warrior Cheetara, she was more the nice nurturer. However in 2011, it appears the roles are reversed. Cheetara’s role as a cleric, never mind her encouragement of Lion-O in the first half, makes her the nurturer in this iteration. Pumyra? All warrior, what with her introduction of her being badass in a gladiator’s arena. read more

So after seeing his adopted bro making out with his crush, we start this next batch of episodes with a fuming Lion-O. Yeah he seems to have gotten the hang of the Sword of Omens, and has gained enough respect from his fellow felines that herding them together so he can disparage Mumm-Ra as a loose woman is easier, but… that’s only before the cockblock. 3/5ths of this episode batch involve Lion-O coming to grips with Cheetara picking Tygra over him, and by god he tries. It’s actually a nice bit of development for him, since the show has him try to act above his heartbreak as possible, but once the big two-parter begins it shows he still has a lot to work with even with his team’s loyalty present. read more

The article title for this week’s watchthrough is not meant to be a disparagement towards the series, nor an implication it gets TOO sentimental. In fact… the introduction of further feeling into the show is welcome in ways I could not imagine back in the day.

So with this block of episodes, I’m halfway through the series, and I am beginning to see it invest more into the characters. Just at the start of this batch of episodes (“Sight Beyond Sight”), it begins with a race between Lion-O and Tygra, acting like rival brothers for once, which cascades into a group race between all ThunderCats to the main plot of the episode (and this further arc): one of the Stones of power seen in the episode “Legacy”. It is at their destination we meet another set of species seen in “Legacy”: The Elephants. Like the industrious Berbils or the adventurous Petalars, the Elephants imbue their own unique charm to Third Earth: what with their Buddhism-inspired motif, and their penchant to be forgetful alongside being wise. read more

Man alive, I thought it would be a few episodes after what I had watched before I would be won over by the show. Yet about halfway through this one, I was already won over not just by the episode proper, but the whole show in general. Had I ONLY watched this after the previous episode, I would’ve probably finished this show earlier. Alas, that was not to be the case, but better late than never.

This week, we’re introduced to the Berbils, which are pretty much robot bears with a natural penchant for technological building. They are unaltered from the original series counterparts in both design and concept (although these ones have a more appealing face design), but the way they are handled makes for the most charming the series has ever been. Lion-O, Tygra, and Cheetara take these new creatures in stride and with much amusement; Wileykit and Wileykat are so hopped up on Candy Fruit they spend most of the episode in a trancelike state of hyperactivity as if they were Bart and Milhouse on a Full Syrup Squishie; and Panthro? read more

Some unexpected computer problems the last week created a delay in my rewatch of the ThunderCats 2011 I had already seen. Instead of going through with my plan of watching smaller chunks, I watched the whole cat and kiboodle instead. So let’s end this so we can get to what I think of the episodes I HAVEN’T seen.

In a strange bit of irony, SEVEN years after the first time, I find my position reversed. Once I loved the premiere and didn’t care for the rest of the episodes. Now, I don’t care for the premiere but have grown to enjoy (if not LOVE) what follows. This is bit of a boon to me since I was not sure how they would fare after my current lukewarm thoughts about the premiere. Then I ask myself… read more