Too Fond of Books

I've long been a fan of "Adventure Time with Finn and Jake", and blogged about it several times before, but after the most recent, superlative episode, I feel the need to blog about it again, because this is one of the best things on TV right now, and almost every time I watch it, there's something new/meaningful/different that sticks with me.

The latest episode, "Simon and Marcy", is part of two characters' background story. The Ice King (or, Simon because he was the Ice King) has long been the series' go-to one-shot villain. Like Donkey Kong or Bowser, his motives are simple: kidnap the princess and cause arbitrary trouble for the heroes. (Fortunately, it's been quickly established that some, if not all, princesses in the Land of Ooo are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves.) Marceline, on the other hand, is an ally and friend to Finn and Jake, although her moral code is less rigid than theirs. It's been established previously that Marceline and Simon/Ice King have a history together, and the show is slowly getting around to the idea that they're the two oldest residents of Ooo. Last season's episode, "I Remember You" contained an unexpected moment of pathos when an impromptu jam session that the Ice King insists on turns into a revelation about his past with Marceline, and their survival of the post-apocalyptic landscape together. Marceline sets the Ice King/Simon's last words to music in the clip below:



(Note: apologies for the ad at the beginning, but I figured that the official Cartoon Network youtube upload was less likely to disappear.)

This song is one of Rebecca Sugar's best: it starts off disorganized and strange, but then it builds to an effective crescendo, and the second time through, the meaning becomes fully clear, contrasted with the fact that the Ice King has lost his previous self who wrote the words. (The writers get additional props for breaking up the bleakness of the sequence with the shot of Finn and Jake watching the action, clueless about what's really happening.) This is a lot more emotional depth than I expect from any kid's TV show, and especially one on Cartoon Network. (I cannot lie: the first time I saw this episode, I teared up. There's something about the desperation in Marceline's voice as she grabs her guitar.)

And then, Monday's episode came along, and there was yet more depth and pathos--again, unexpected, but engrossing and touching. I'm not usually a fan of post-apocalyptic stories, unless there's a good amount of time between said apocalypse and the actual narrative. However, for "Adventure Time", I will make an exception: the apocalypse lurks around the edges of the show, yet its bleakness never overtakes the main thrust of the story or becomes overly dark simply for the sake of dark. Character building is far more important to the show's writers than creating a horror movie, although horrific aspects certainly abound.( Spoilers ahead. )

While the show isn't flawless overall, it's episodes like this that make the whole thing worth watching. There's so much more to the Ice King than kidnapping princesses and getting thwarted by our heroes. And there's a lot more to land of Ooo than meets the eye. And I should say here that this storytelling was accomplished in less than 22 minutes. There are a lot of shows and movies that could do well to learn how to build a world and/or develop characters in this amount of time, and I'm thrilled that at least one pop culture entity has it so right.

In Books:

Ghost Story, by Jim Butcher: I promise this review will be SPOILER FREE because yebisu9 hasn't read the book yet and has had to put up with my comments and exclamations as I read. (Things like, "No way!", "Whoa!", and general fist shaking at Jim Butcher.) I've had vague discussions with him about the plot: It takes place in Chicago. There are some characters. They do important stuff. These jellyfish-like accolades are so deliberately vague that it drives me crazy to even say them, but Yebisu is fanatic about not being spoiled, and I don't want to ruin the reading experience. Anyway, in slightly more helpful (but still not too spoilery) terms, there are some characters, and the stakes are really, really high for all of them. If Changes (the previous installment) was The Empire Strikes Back of The Dresden Files series, Ghost Story has shades of Return of the Jedi, but its conflicts are different, and the outcome is by no means a tidy "everyone is happy with their lot" ending. (Definitely no Ewok dance party, either, and I'm sure the majority of characters in the story would be appalled with me even suggesting that one might happen to occur.) This is an incredibly satisfying read, and I have to give Butcher major props for juggling so many plot points so efficiently. In one case, I thought he had simply forgotten about [plot point X], but nope! With fifty pages left, he picked it right back up! Very nicely done, sir. I bow to you! To all fans of this series, I do not think you'll be disappointed. Newbies, this is not the place to start the series, but it is a series that's well worth starting.

(Thanks again for the hardcover, orichalcum!)

In Manga:

Read or Dream, Vol. 1: Mostly harmless. I mean, I read it, and it was cute, but it didn't wow me, or make me wish I could rush out immediately to buy the next volume. I suppose it's a bit like the vague spoilers that I mention above: there are characters. They are three sisters who love books and have magical powers over paper. They do stuff, like helping people find stolen books and aid sick, adorable children. For no apparent reason, the story takes place in Singapore. Or Hong Kong, I can't remember which. The artwork is pretty standard shoujo manga, but nothing special.

On TV:

Adventure Time With Finn & Jake: I am trying to have an embargo against new shows, especially with the distressing news about TV taking lots of minutes off your life. But this show is on when I'm feeding R., and it's so completely silly and wonderful that I'm completely taken in. It nurtures my inner 8-10 year-old boy as well as entertaining my female, adult self with a combination of witty writing, wacky/gross humor, and great comic timing from the voice actors. The viewing experience is made even more awesome by the artwork of one of the character designers, particularly the fact that she draws suggestive pictures of the two main female characters. I hadn't intended to blog about the show, though, except for the latest revelation: that one of the episodes next season will feature a gender-swapped cast!



This is made of so much awesome and win, because this is basically what my imaginary stories were like around age 8 or so. (Although I wouldn't have known what the word 'ice-blocking,' and its ruder variant, meant.) (Further awesome in the form of Neil Patrick Harris as the voice of Prince Blowpop.) I wish more shows were open to this sort of experimentation with storytelling format! However, given the flack that the creators of the show are receiving over this, I'm worried that Cartoon Network will get scared and back away. Please, don't! This is too awesome not to keep going with!