BTW, here are some pictures of a few of the story's characters:
The story's main focus, Jinx, the self-proclaimed bad luck cat. I purposely gave her a similar color scheme to Taboo, the dog from the original story(though she's a bit more of a grayish-black), and she even has the same drooping tail that he does(her tail droops due to the fact that she's a bit down-in-the-mouth).
Waggster and Mittens, the little puppy and kitten the Pound Puppies find a home for in chapter one. Their names are borrowed from the 2010 series, and Waggster's appearance is based off of that of a dog that appears in this book.
And finally, Stacie, the teenage girl who visits the pound in chapter four. She's a little ditzy, but very sweet. (BTW, it may be a little hard to tell from the picture, but she has painted toenails.)
A ferret walks into a diner and orders a grilled cheese sandwich with a dill pickle and a side order of onion straws. The waiter brings the ferret the food; as he's eating, the ferret notices a guy sitting on the stool next to him staring at him.
"Do you think it's strange for a ferret to come into a diner and order a grilled cheese sandwich with a dill pickle and a side order of onion straws?" the ferret asks.
"Oh, not at all," the guy replies. "I often order that myself."
Can Chowder catch 'em all? This very nifty story takes the plot of the Pokemon video games/TV series and replaces the human cast with the cast of Cartoon Network's ever-popular comedy series, Chowder. In this story, Chowder, Panini, and Gorgonzola(taking the places of Ash, Misty, and Brock, respectively) set out on a journey to become Pokemon masters. Please enjoy!
Frankie goes in to his doctor one day. "I'm having this weird problem," he says. "My leg talks to me whenever I put my ear to it."
"Hmm," the doctor says. "Let me have a look at it."
He puts his ear to Frankie's knee and hears a small voice say, "I need money."
"Oh, this is quite serious." the doctor says.
He puts his ear to Frankie's thigh and hears voice again. "I really need money." Then he puts his ear to Frankie's ankle and hears it again. "I really, really need money."
"What do you suppose it is?" asks Frankie.
"Well, this is even more serious than I thought," the doctor replies. "Your leg is broke in three places."
150 posts! ALLRIIIIIGHT!! YEAH! YEAH! WOO! WOO! HEY! HEY! Ah...ahem, where was I? Oh yes...
Ultimate Muscle:The Kinnikuman Legacy was an anime series dubbed into English by 4kids Entertainment and broadcast on FOX as part of the FoxBox block in 2002. Interestingly, although this franchise never became very popular in America, it's had a rather sizeable fanbase in Japan for over 30 years.
The franchise began in 1979 as Kinnikuman(which literally means "Muscle Man" in Japanese), a comic apprearing in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The series chronicled the adventures of King Muscle(or Kinnikuman), a dumb but brave wrestling hero. In 1998, the current series Ultimate Muscle came along, which stars King Muscle's son Kid Muscle, a dumb but not-so-brave wrestler...Actually, this is putting it lightly! Kid Muscle, basically, is a whiny, cowardly,lazy,klutzy nitwit. Fortunately, however, he certainly lucked out when it came to inheriting his dad's powers. Whenever his friends are in danger, he lays the smackdown to the villains with his powers of Ultimate Muscle!
Kid Muscle's group of friends includes the feisty cowboy Terry "The Grand" Kenyon, who is his best friend(and the son of King Muscle's own best friend Terryman), the conceited, antelope-costumed Dik Dik Van Dik(who, despite all his bragging, is not really that good at wrestling), the optomistic, walrus-costumed Wally Tuskett(who loves to eat fish*), the quiet German wrestler Jaeger, and the polite, bashful, chess piece-costumed Checkmate, who was a reformed villain. Kid Muscle also has a rival in the form of the ill-tempered, knight's helmet-wearing Kevin Mask**(who is the son of King Muscle's own rival Robin Mask). Kid Muscle was also joined on his adventures by his personal trainer Mr. Meat(who had previously been King Muscle's personal trainer), and his on-again-off-again girlfriend Roxanne, and her two friends Trixie(No relation) and Kiki.
Episode plots often concerned Kid and his friends wrestling in tournaments and battling villainous wrestlers such as the evil DMP. The various legendary wrestlers(including King Muscle himself) would also appear from time to time.
Overall, this is a fun, interesting, and utterly HILARIOUS show***; a standout among most anime series, which make a point of taking themselves seriously. The art style is beautiful, the storylines are well-written, the characters are likeable and relatable, and the voices are expertly dubbed(a rarity for 4kids, to be sure****). It's particularly impressive how the writers had managed to imbue their many characters with distinct personalities and abilities. Honestly, it's quite a shame that this show was never as popular as some of the bigger anime franchises, such as Yu-Gi-Oh! and Dragonball Z, because it's every bit as good. An underrated anime classic(which is also one of my personal faves, BTW) that's certainly worth a look.
The opening theme is mighty catchy, too!
Although the complete English dub regrettably hasn't been released on DVD yet, a DVD of the first few episodes is available at the link below*****(A few episodes are also availabe on Youtube now):
Several sets of mini figures, as well as a number of(very cool!) action figures of the characters were also made. These figures occasionally show up on ebay and Amazon.
Also made were a couple of Ultimate Muscle video games, which I plan to review in future Game Show sections. :)
There's even an Ultimate Muscle fansite, complete with character bios, episode recaps, a forum, and lots of other cool stuff:
*Many of the show's running gags concern his appetite for fish, even.
**IMHO he kinda' looks like a knight going to a punk rock concert! :-D
***I highly reccomend watching this show in a room with a soft rug, because anyone who does will be rolling on the floor laughing! :-D
****Someone reviewing the DVD had even commented that the dub job was an improvement, to which I certainly agree; 4kids added more humor, gave the characters better voices and names et al.
