Bluff's Castle Corner

  I love indie video games, and Cuphead is no exception. Its' retro, rubberhose inkblot art style is quite appealing. Thus, it is the perfect video game to make into a cartoon. Let's take a sip of The Cuphead Show . Unfortunately, there are a lot of snobby elitists in the cartoon community who think every single show has to be dark and story-driven. Because of this, they all left bad reviews on the series because it is silly and self-contained. Prior to the series release, there were also ignoramuses who criticized the show's animation and directly insulted the animators. I hope you jerks step on a LEGO brick. Not everything has to be dramatic and deep. Why can't things be fun? And wouldn't you know it, the show IS fun! The show is not only retro in its bouncy animation (provided by the goated Mercury Filmworks), but the jazz music, general tropes used, and New York-accented voice acting genuinely feel like they are out of a classic cartoon, particularly the works o...

  (You get a cookie if you get the reference I put in the title) Smiling Friends is the latest [adult swim] series. It was originally a pilot, but proved so popular that [as] greenlit it. As expected, the full series received so much hype upon release, which surprisingly ran eight episodes at once. The show revolves about two Technicolor humanoids -- the ever-cheerful Australian Pim (pink) and the cynical Charlie (yellow) -- as they embark on a quest make people smile, hence the show title. Well, in every good show, you need conflict. Their attempts to bring happiness to the world prove to be rather difficult. Like with most [adult swim] cartoons, the animation is intentionally simplistic and choppy, yet it evokes a particular charm. It even mixes other mediums, such as CGI, claymation, and live-action, sort of like The Amazing World of Gumball.  Also, Zach Hadel, the co-creator of the series, is a Newgrounds user, which explains... a lot. There was a particular article b...

  El Deafo  is yet another awesome Apple TV production. It is based on the book of the same name by Cece Bell. It is semi-autobiographical about her being deaf, with cartoon rabbits. It is had now been made into a three-part miniseries.  Cece Bell narrates the series, while cartoon rabbit Cece is voiced by a real life deaf girl. The first episode demonstrates how a serious infection caused Cece to lose her hearing. It doesn’t hold back from showing all the new and scary thoughts little Cece head.  The sound design also muffles the characters’ speech, so you can really immerse yourself what it sounds like when you are hard of hearing. Bell’s narration also lampshades how back then, deaf kids didn’t use sign languages, so they use lip reading instead. And how TV shows didn’t have subtitles. Luckily, these have changed.  Speaking of TV, Cece witnesses a show where a deaf girl is bullied, and called "Deafo". While hurt by this at first, she reclaims this for her Sup...

  We Bare Bears was one of the best CN shows of the 2010s decade. It had a chill atmosphere and a lovable crew of characters. The episodes focusing on the trio when they were cubs became so popular that they almost overtook the show, and caused the main show to end and this presumably non-canon spinoff to be greenlit.  It seems as though baby spinoffs are making a come-back. First, Muppet Babies got a reboot. Then, we got Total DramaRama and Kamp Koral. Finally, We Baby Bears . If you haven't seen We Bare Bears, this show is still accessible, as it focuses on the characters traveling to different dimensions using a magic box, attempting to find a home. It's also VERY heavy on the anime influence, what with the shiny eyes, shoujo roses, and 'kawaii' aesthetic. Although, a K-pop group performs the theme song. The series also reminds me of the anime that Nick Jr aired in the 80s and 90s (yes, really) like Maya the Honey Bee, Adventures of the Little Koala, Maple Town Stor...

 In 2017, I made this video about some of my personal favorite cartoon Christmas specials. But truth be told, that list was highly weak and lacked some of my other favorites. The wait is over. It has come time to shine a light on other amazing Christmas specials. OLIVE THE OTHER REINDEER Olive the Other Reindeer  is an amusing little thing. It's based on a children's book, and so the special emulates the feel of a pop-up picture book. The result is very surreal and kinda awkward to watch today, but it was surely cutting edge for its time. Matt Groening was the director of this special (in fact, this is his only work aimed at kids), resulting in the special being incredibly hilarious and intelligent. Kids and adult alike will have a smile on their face almost the whole time. FROSTY THE SNOWMAN Frosty the Snowman  is one of Rankin/Bass' few works that aren't stop motion, but that's okay. Frosty is charming and adorable through and through. The character designs have ...

  Put on your yarmulke Here comes Hanukkah So much funukkah To celebrate Hanukkah! Even though I'm a goy, I enjoy learning about Jewish traditions, and Hanukkah cartoon episodes in particular taught me a lot as a youngster. Yesterday, The Ghost and Molly  McGee , a great show you should watch, premiered a special Hanukkah episode, "Festival of Lights". As tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, consider this editorial my Hanukkah present to my Jewish readers, subscribers, friends and followers. SPOILERS AHOY! As Libby has now found out about Scratch's existence, she invites the McGees and Scratch to celebrate Hanukkah with her and her mom in their family bookstore. There's a power outage in town, but luckily the bookstore has a generator. Molly and her family learn all about Hanukkah traditions, such as playing dreidel and eating latkes. Scratch in particular adores fried food. This is pretty basic stuff, but the way it's presented is so entertaining, like the...

  Series - Arcane I'm not fond of games with lots of microtransactions like PUBG or League of Legends. In fact, many players who started LoL regret it and actively advise against playing it. That's why I wasn't interested in this show at first. But then my Twitter mutuals began hyping it up, so I decided to give it a shot. After all, it was released weekly. I'm glad Netflix is dipping their toes into weekly releases, such as with Komi Can't Communicate . By far the best aspect of the show is the animation. Like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it's a unique blend of 2D and 3D, animated by a prestigious French animation studio - Fortiche. It also just so happens to share a lead voice actress with Spider-Verse -- Hailee Steinfeld, who once again proves to a compelling, emotional voice, like she was in Spider-Verse  and When Marnie Was There . It's a prequel to LoL, re-telling the characters' stories, but it can easily appeal to both people who don't...