"The triumphant return or how Rob finally gets what he wants" Sunday - November 12th, 2006

Well I know one person who will be happy with today's comic. For those of you who haven't been waiting breathlessly for the return of Mr. VanBrocklin and don't even remember who he is, he is Kawasaki High's star middle linebacker. Waaaay back in Chapter Two, Tom strolled into town and demolished Van Brocklin which resulted in the latter's season ending injury. I don't know about you, but it sure looks like Dawson is ready to inflict some payback.

Yeah and so Joe looks like he kinda wimped out half way with his asking Key to the dance. However the important thing for him I guess is that Key said yes. The fist pump after having a girl say yes to a date, even a pseudo one, is something most guy's should've done in their lifetime. This is of course after he's played it cool in front of or while talking to said girl. I know I have. It's like one of the greatest feelings in the world. I wonder if girl's have an equivalent when they have some guy they liked ask them out?

In other news, I've been hooked on the Powerpuff Girls Z anime. I know,... but I really liked the original PPG and this is just like one of those weird things that I end up getting hooked on like Last Action Hero. It's definitely more childish then even the original PPG, but it's been something I can watch and just zone out watching... For those not in the know, Toei Animation got permission from Cartoon Network to make an anime version of  PPG to be shown in Japan. The basic premise is the same, but the show plays out very, very different from the original. I wont go into specifics, but I did want to mention something about the series.

The first few episodes looked and were absolute crap as far as J anime standards go. It was like Toei was like let's try bringing this hit American show over here and spend like all of 2 dollars on it and see what happens. I mean normally the pilot episode of any anime features top line animators and looks stunning compared to those drawn by stock animators. PPG Z started out with the back up to the stock animators, but then something happened. I think even though the show is radically different, there's something about the PPG characters and the J version of the US show's quirkiness surreal feel that sucks you in. I think it's doing well and all of a sudden by the twelfth or thirteenth episode you get this huge bump in production costs and the show starts hitting its stride in tone and writing. Then just like that, PPG Z is a pretty decent show.

Can you compare the anime to the original? I don't think you can. I like both, but there will undoubtedly be those who only like one or the other. Check it out and see if it strikes your fancy. you can find pretty much all the episodes dubbed on YouTube. Here are some links to short clips from the show...

Oh and the first clip provides the opening movie to the show with the opening theme being sung by gothic loli superstar Nana Kitade. You might recognize her voice as she sang one of the FMA ending songs. If you're so inclined here is a clip of Nana's video for the song they used as the opening theme for PPG Z...

Well I guess I'll see you on Thursday where it's Brisket V VanBrocklin II!!