DR. BELCH
09-25-2001, 12:02 PM
It seems one of the second-season Jackie Chans aired yesterday, for those of you who are wondering why they seem to be showing episodes out of order. My guess is, like Cardcaptors the initial run focused on the finding of the talismans, leaving out in-between eps dealing with talismans that were already found--that is to say, every ep is a new animal.
Anyway, in this one we meet Tohru's mother, who is a very demanding woman who doesn't approve of him leaving Valmont's employ (she doesn't know he's a crime boss) and working for the Chans. Several great running gags: everyone seems surprised Tohru has a mom (and, noting she's a very small woman, I have to wonder about the excrutiating pain of bringing the big fellow into this world, or if he took after his father)...the reference to an octopus statue as a "fish" (actually a multipod mollusk), and watching Uncle and Mama bicker constantly.
It seems a new crime syndicate, the Yokanawa mob, wants the octopus statue, and Jackie has to go undercover to save it...but Tohru, percieving himself as a failure and wanting to make his mother proud, is persuaded to help the Yokanawas make the heist. So there's an excellent chance to see Tohru as more than some dumb slab of muscle here--in actuality he's a gentle giant, torn between the call of his old life/his desire to please Mama and his loyalty to Jackie. Commendably he does the right thing (though ends up over a shark tank for his pains).
Probably the best part, besides seeing Uncle and Mama whip the blazes out of four men less than half their age, was the end, where Mama admits she's proud of her boy...and Tohru and Jade walk down the street together--which shows, again, that he's really a quiet, huggable marshmallow of a man.
I'm not sure who voiced Mama, but listening to her I was reminded of one of Margaret Cho's standup routines where, in heavily accented English, she imitates her mother. "Little girl speak two languages! [to Uncle] While you can barely speak English!" "I speak English better than you!"
Something I've observed for some time: as executive producer, Chan employs the Ruegger technique of hiring: there's a Willie Chan listed as producer, and one of the voice actresses (Jade, presumably) is a Stacie Chan.
Also caught a Pokemon episode I missed, "Fossil Fools". Apparantly a scientist and former student of Professor Oak's has discovered living examples of a long-thought-extinct Pokemon, Omastar. I'm reminded of the coelacanth, a fish thought to have died out millennia ago until one was caught off the coast of Madagascar. The Omastar are surfacing in the museum lagoon after their home has been decimated by Team Rocket, running a bottled water scam that drains their lake. When James discover one of the creatures in the vacuum hose (though Jessy is oddly blase), they get greedy (which is their downfall; one creature would've been plenty if they're so all-fired rare) and try to swipe the lot. Unfortunately they overload their balloon and can't escape.
Also, in a strange change of pace, it's Misty who gets gaga over the handsome scientist and Brock who drags her off by the earlobe like a basket case!
Anyway, in this one we meet Tohru's mother, who is a very demanding woman who doesn't approve of him leaving Valmont's employ (she doesn't know he's a crime boss) and working for the Chans. Several great running gags: everyone seems surprised Tohru has a mom (and, noting she's a very small woman, I have to wonder about the excrutiating pain of bringing the big fellow into this world, or if he took after his father)...the reference to an octopus statue as a "fish" (actually a multipod mollusk), and watching Uncle and Mama bicker constantly.
It seems a new crime syndicate, the Yokanawa mob, wants the octopus statue, and Jackie has to go undercover to save it...but Tohru, percieving himself as a failure and wanting to make his mother proud, is persuaded to help the Yokanawas make the heist. So there's an excellent chance to see Tohru as more than some dumb slab of muscle here--in actuality he's a gentle giant, torn between the call of his old life/his desire to please Mama and his loyalty to Jackie. Commendably he does the right thing (though ends up over a shark tank for his pains).
Probably the best part, besides seeing Uncle and Mama whip the blazes out of four men less than half their age, was the end, where Mama admits she's proud of her boy...and Tohru and Jade walk down the street together--which shows, again, that he's really a quiet, huggable marshmallow of a man.
I'm not sure who voiced Mama, but listening to her I was reminded of one of Margaret Cho's standup routines where, in heavily accented English, she imitates her mother. "Little girl speak two languages! [to Uncle] While you can barely speak English!" "I speak English better than you!"
Something I've observed for some time: as executive producer, Chan employs the Ruegger technique of hiring: there's a Willie Chan listed as producer, and one of the voice actresses (Jade, presumably) is a Stacie Chan.
Also caught a Pokemon episode I missed, "Fossil Fools". Apparantly a scientist and former student of Professor Oak's has discovered living examples of a long-thought-extinct Pokemon, Omastar. I'm reminded of the coelacanth, a fish thought to have died out millennia ago until one was caught off the coast of Madagascar. The Omastar are surfacing in the museum lagoon after their home has been decimated by Team Rocket, running a bottled water scam that drains their lake. When James discover one of the creatures in the vacuum hose (though Jessy is oddly blase), they get greedy (which is their downfall; one creature would've been plenty if they're so all-fired rare) and try to swipe the lot. Unfortunately they overload their balloon and can't escape.
Also, in a strange change of pace, it's Misty who gets gaga over the handsome scientist and Brock who drags her off by the earlobe like a basket case!