Blogs and Ends: The Slow News Day Edition

Very slow news cycle in popculture at the moment.  January is usually a slow month for this kind of stuff as it is but January in the middle of a “plague” is glacial.  Also, I am exceptionally busy today.

But fear not beloved readers.  The Dark Herald has not abandoned you… Completely.

Here is a roundup of some items that weren’t in-depth enough to rate separate posts of their own.

FIRST

Star Wars the High Republic Shorts

This is low rent.  

I know I just did a huge three part post going on at length about how Disney animation has fallen. But I wasn’t expecting them to pick up that ball and run with it.

It’s about a diverse green girl…of…color?  I think?  I’m guessing here.  But since this is by the Star Wars Story Group and they put diversity on their whiteboard of really important things they needed to remind themselves of, twice, I’m going to go with that.

But the animation is crap.  Which isn’t a surprise given what the career life expectancy for an animator has become in the last ten years.  I was honestly shocked when I found out just how many experienced hands get thrown out for good at forty now.  This is an art that takes time to learn.  Disney used to keep their “old men” for decades because they were viewed as an invaluable resource.  Both for running major projects and more importantly teaching the next generation how it’s done.

But now they are getting chucked out left and right.  And this is during a period when animation is supposed to be booming.

The results speak for themselves.

As you can see it’s not just Disney but it really stands out at the House of Mouse because: It. Is. Disney.

NEXT

Batwoman

I didn’t think it could any funnier, but I was so wrong.  I will do a more thorough gutting of this later after I’ve seen a few more episodes.  Seriously, the only thing this show is good for is the hate LOLs and I’m beginning to think they are actively pursuing this audience.

Last season’s mike drop line that left people groaning was (in effect), “(The Bat-suit will be literal perfection)… When it fits a WOMAN!”

This year’s is, “Time to be powerful!”

Like I said, I think they actually are pursing the audience that wants to make fun of it.

LAST

Lupin

A bit woke but surprisingly tolerable. 

The new Netflix series, Lupin is probably going to go beneath the radar by the typical American audience. Understandably so. However, in the French-speaking world, he is just as, or possibly better, known than Sherlock Holmes. 

Arsène Lupin was a gentleman thief who was usually a force for good while operating on the wrong side of the law.  And Lupin really has been very influential. In Japan, Maurice Leblanc’s creation gave birth to a long-lasting manga called Lupin III.  For those of you who into international copyright law it has a fascinating history because Monkey Punch didn’t bother to secure the rights. And given Japanese law there was no reason to as the manga didn’t copy character design, behavior, or face. Consequently, the Leblanc estate was out of luck. Until anime took off in America which does recognize French copyright law.

If you are not familiar with the anime movie by Miyazaki, the Castle of Cagliostro, you probably did play the video game that was based on it, if you are the right age.  

English speaking audiences are a bit more familiar with the knockoff version of Lupin called The Phantom in the first Pink Panther movie.

Bottom line, he’s been around awhile.  I watched the 1st episode of Lupin on Netflix. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. If you can tolerate a little bit of wokeness and really like caper flicks, this might be for you. I should stress this is a first impressions not a proper review. 

That’s it for now. I’ll have something better for you tomorrow.

Okay, I’m done here.