In the Lemon-Limelight:Ultimate Muscle:The Kinnikuman Legacy

 

150 posts! ALL RIIIIIGHT!! 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): 

 

Ultimate Muscle Vol. 1

 





 

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:

 

Kinnikuman.com

 



 

 

 

"Bulging Biceps!"



 

 

 

 

Something I just had to add:

 

 

 

*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.

 

*****A second DVD was planned, but regrettably, never made. :-(

 

And that's the end of that! :-D





Domo? Arigato!

Look out! Here comes Domo!

 

 

Domo:The Manga is an Ameri-manga produced by Tokyopop, starring Tsuneo Goda's iconic monster. The comic, which is drawn by several different artists(two of whom being Jared Hodges and Lindsay Cibos of Peach Fuzz fame), follows the adventures of Domo and his(super-cute!) forest friends: the wise old rabbit Mr. Usaji, the sensible weasel Tashanna, the mother and son bats Maya and Mario(No relation), who are little more than background characters, the shy, sweet Bear Boy, the fox trio, consisting of Brother Fox, the moody oldest sibling, Fox Boy, the easygoing middle child, and Esther, the prank-loving youngest, and Hungry Bear, who's uhm, well...a rather large, hungry bear! :-D

 

Much of the humor of these comics derives from Domo's tendency to overdo things, which often leads to a bigger problem than the one he's currently trying to solve.

 

The comic consists of six short stories:

 

Don't Try This at Home-Domo enjoys watching a samurai movie a little too much!

 

Hero For a Day-After watching a superhero movie, Domo decides to become a superhero...but ends up doing much more harm than good!*

 

"Fix, fix, fix, fix...FIXED!" Too funny! :-D

 

Soapbox Road Warrior-Domo and the others compete in a soapbox derby for the prize of a month's supply of delicious peaches. Who will win?

 

The Ultimate Beetle-Domo trains a beetle for a beetle fight, but as usual, things don't go as planned.

 

Life Is Just a Game-Tashanna invites a bored Domo over to her house to play video games; when he ends up breaking her video game system, he remedies(and we use this term loosely) the situation by having the other animals act out a "real-life" video game.

 

 

 

Living in the Now-Tashanna endeavors to improve the quality of everyone's lives by introducing them to cell phones...but will the animals ever figure them out?**

 

 

My Thoughts:This is a very funny, enjoyable, very well-written and well-drawn comic. The characters(especially Domo himself) are very cute, likeable and full of personality, and the storylines are very fun and entertaining. The book even contains a(very nifty) Domo Fanart section. All in all, a very nifty comic that any Domo aficionado is sure to love.

 

 

Buy it on Amazon!

 

 

 

There were several humorous short films(Which were briefly seen on Nickelodeon) made of Domo's escapades, which are now available on DVD:

 

Domo Volume One

 

 

 

"Domo? DOMOOOO!"

 

 

 

*Hmm, might this, perhaps, make him a "Less-than hero?" :-D

 

 

 

**Watch for cameos made by Hee and Haw, two flower pixies that only Domo can see, and a ghost simply named the Ghost, who appears and disappears at will, in this chapter.(Some humorous stuff is done here!)



 

 

 



 

 

 

Just Peachy

Peach Fuzz is a nifty little ameri-manga series written by husband and wife team Jared Hodges and Lindsay Cibos. This short-lived series, which was the winner of Tokyopop's second Rising Stars of Manga competition, chronicles the adventures of sweet fourth-grader Amanda Keller and her wacky, lovable pet ferret, Peach.(No relation.)

Volume One:

The first volume establishes the story and characters. Nine-year-old Amanda's mother has finally consented to let her have a pet, but Amanda doesn't want an ordinary one, such as the usual dog, cat, fish, hamster et al. One look at the ferrets, however, and she's instantly smitten. She picks one and names her Peach(due to her fuzziness), little knowing that Peach is a very prissy ferret who fancies herself a princess(Princess Peach?), and has the Walter Mitty-esque tendency to fantasize ordinary things as extraordinary, such as envisioning her cage as a dungeon, Amanda's toys as monsters, and Amanda's hand as a vicious, five-headed beast called the Handra!

Worse still, when set upon by this "Handra", Peach bites in defense! It's up to Amanda to train Peach to behave...but will she be successful?

Volume Two:

 

Amanda has successfully trained Peach(Finally!) and plans to take her to school for show-and-tell. Amanda isn't very popular in school, and hopes that her new pet will stack the odds in her favor;unfortunately, while Peach is quite popular with the class, Amanda herself still gets left out. :-(  A plan is hatched by Amanda's popular(and sometimes sassy) friend Kim Chang(pictured on the cover, above) to get her in good with the class: a ferret costume, made by Kim herself!

Unfortunately, after Amanda gets good props from the teacher for her costume, the(VERY nasty!) school bullies Phil and Tim conspire against her. These guys are really mean, but fortunately, they get their well-deserved comeuppance in the end.

Also introduced in this book is Kim's pet ferret Pavaratty, or "Pava" for short.(Pictured with her on the cover.) Pava is a conceited sort who fancies himself a famous actor/singer/dancer; he rudely chides Peach, denying that she could ever be considered a princess, at which she then gives him what for!

Volume Three:

After Peach escapes from her cage yet again, Amanda's athletic(and rather superstitious) friend Mimi Santini(pictured on the cover, above) suggests that Peach may simply be lonely. At Amanda's request, her mom consents to let her buy a second ferret; Amanda selects a fancy ferret(Peach is a sable) whom her mom names Edwin(after a hero in her favorite novel). Peach is elated by Edwin's presence, fancying him the ferret prince she's been pining for...an emotion that's quickly shattered once she gets to know him. Edwin is very klutzy, goofy, ill-mannered, overly dramatic, and very, very loopy(He believes that vets are aliens, 'nuff said), far from the prince she'd envisioned.

Amanda pays a visit to Mimi's house, where she meets Mimi's equally superstitious family, who are all unnaturally obsessed with mushrooms(...Huh? Mushrooms?), as well as Mimi's albino ferrets Truffle and Spore, with mention also made of the late Puffball(All three of whom are pictured with her on the cover). Like their owner, Truffle and Spore are very superstitious sorts(But also somewhat creepy!); they warn Peach of the curse plaguing their land, and suggest that she and Edwin might be its next victims. Peach, however doesn't believe them...at least, not at first!

Have mercy, those albino ferrets are creepy...but sorta' creepy cool, though.

My thoughts:Overall, this is a very cool, interesting, hard-to-put-down series of comics, with a very clever concept(A comic about a ferret). The comics are well-written, with ginger-peachy artwork, and likeable, relatable characters; the ferrets in particular are cute, funny, and lovable. Each of the books also have some very nifty extra features, such as:

-Peach's Monster Compendium, chronicling the various "beasts" Peach has encountered throughout the story.

-Pavaratty's Ferret Terminology,  in which Pava educates the reading audience on various ferret facts.

-Bios of each major character, complete with sketches.

-Sketches diagramming each major story location(Amanda's house, Mimi's house, the school et al.)

My only major beefs about this series were: 

-The series didn't last very long, which IMHO was quite a shame, considering how good it was. :-(

-Although the storylines concerning the ferrets were given closure, the storylines concerning the humans never were.

-It would have been nice to see Edwin and the white ferrets a little more. (I may be slightly biased because I like Edwin, though.)

-We never get to know Puffball before he dies, save for the snippets of information given about him in book three.

 

Overall, this is a very cool manga series, worth plenty of re-reads. As the ever-quotable Brighteyes once said, it's "Super peachy-keen!" :-D 

 

 

Buy Volume One on Amazon!

 

Buy Volume Two on Amazon!

 

Buy Volume Three on Amazon!



Here also, though not related to the books, is a(very cute!) ferret princess plushie, perfect for those who might want a "Peach" of their own, or knows someone who does.

 

 

Aurora Princess Farrah plushie

 

Aurora Princess Farrah plushie with carrier

 

 

A couple of things I just had to add:

 

Okay, well...

 

 

FERRRRRET KOMBAAAAAAT!!!

 

Love Edwin's expression in this pic, "Huh?"

 

 

Fun fact:Lindsay Cibos based the concept off of her own pet ferrets, Momoko and Elf.