Cartoon Sunday: Blue Exorcist's Season 1 Episode 1

How's it going lurkers? It has been a while, since I last talked about, much less watched the Shonen Jump Supernatural Acion Anime, Blue Exorcist. 

Nearly 2 years ago, I published a Cartoon Sunday blog, which consisted of the series' bloopers. Early on, I noticed that Blue Exorcist was somewhat similar to Vampire Knight.

     Vampire Knight (2008)

 

Blue Exorcist (2011)

 

I spent HOURS last night and earlier this morning trying to find pictures showing the physical similarities between Vampire Knight and Blue Exorcist. 

 

The preceding images were the closest I could find regarding the similarities in high school academy uniforms. Both are Horror and Supernatural Action Anime.

Vampire Knight is a Shojo Anime meant for female viewers whereas Blue Exorcist is a Shonen Anime meant for male viewers. 

In order to give a better understanding of both Action Anime, I have compiled a list showing the similarities and differences between Vampire Knight and Blue Exorcist.

Vampire Knight: 

* Shojo Horror Romance Action Anime meant for female viewers, which heavily revolves around tragedy

* Somewhat considered Horror because it has some horror elements to it, that being vampires

* Cross Academy is named after the vampire hunter now turned headmaster, Kaein Cross

* Cross Academy is a segregated high school comprised of  vampire students attending night classes and human students attending day classes

* With long distance barriers, human and vampire students can socialize with each other on campus without being attacked 

* Yuki Cross is the female protagonist, who was adopted by Cross Academy's headmmaster and later discovers that she is a Pureblood Vampire

Blue Exorcist:

* Shonen Supernatural Action Dramedy Anime meant for male viewers, which has some tragedy

* True Cross Academy is a prestigious Exorcist Cram School, which is the Japanese branch of the True Cross Order

* True Cross Order is the main organization of Exorcists and a global exorcist institution that is controlled by the Vatican

* True Cross Order has roots to Christianity and was founded by Medieval Christian Knights

* Some Biblical scripture is used in this series

* Rin Okumura is the male protagonist with the ability to see demons

* Rin and his twin brother Yukio were adopted and raised by Father Shiro Fujimoto, who was an Exorcist

* Before Father Shiro Fujimoto sacrificed his own life to protect Rin from the demons of Gehenna, Rin discovers that he and Yukio are both Satan's bastard sons

Judging by the list of these particular Action Anime, BOTH use "Cross Academy" in their high school academy names, have protagonists discovering they were adopted because they're NOT fully human, and possess supernatural powers.

In addition to what has been listed about Vampire Knight and Blue Exorcist, BOTH series have male brunette characters wearing eye patches in high positions at both the Cross Academies.

It would've been so much better if I could've found a split screen picture of Vampire Knight's Toga Yagari and Blue Exorcist's Igor Neuhaus. They wear eye patches, have brown hair, and have COLD personalities.

If you have NEVER watched Vampire Knight or Blue Exorcist, you should definitely watch them both and observe their similarities.

It would be nice to see the 2nd season of Blue Exorcist and the entire Vampire Knight series air on Adult Swim or possibly on another network. We all know that Adult Swim will NEVER air Vampire Knight.

The men running Adult Swim not only show disrespect towards their OWN viewers in general, but also love discriminating against women. The assholes in charge of Adult Swim and the creeps that posted on their official forum for over a dozen or so years expect women to be inferior to them.

Otherwise, the teams at Adult Swim and Toonami put on facades by pretending to promote "women's empowerment," all the while showing female characters with very LITTLE self-respect and respect for other characters.

In spite of Adult Swim and Toonami Teams' facades, I really hope Adult Swim and those running the Toonami block renew their license to re-air Blue Exorcist's 1st season, then air its 2nd season, Kyoto Saga. Its 2nd season finished premiering in Japan, a few months ago.  

There have been claims by Toonami fans that Blue Exorcist's license expired for it to be re-aired on Adult Swim, and that the Shonen Jump Supernatural Action Anime supposedly did badly in ratings. 

Considering the negativity bias coming from Toonami zealots, who fixate on cartoon ratings for every series ad nauseam, I don't know if the bad ratings statement is true.

Some of us already know how much of zealots certain Toonami fans are, when it comes to the Nielsen Ratings. 

Because Blue Exorcist uses some excerpts from the Bible, has trained exorcists, students training to become exorcists, and the protagonist just happens to be 1 of Satan's bastard sons, I believe certain viewers are or will be repulsed by this series.

Judging from the ilk of Toonami sycophants and rabid zealots I have endured on Adult Swim's forum (before it was shut down), they are threatened by Christianity, Satanism, and religion in general.

Religion "triggers" this particular ilk of fans. They CANNOT  handle the sound of religion much like the rest of us can't handle them throwing temper tantrums like 2-year-olds over a cartoon's low ratings.

I advise viewers to watch and enjoy a show for yourself, NOT  because of a show's ratings. Much like polls can be rigged, ratings can be rigged too. Every household does NOT  own a Nielsen's box.

The fact that there are men, women, and children allowing a show's ratings to control them is pathetic in itself. If you need to obsess over a show's ratings, you will NEVER enjoy ANY show.

Since TONIGHT'S Cartoon Sunday blog is mostly about Blue Exorcist, let's start from the very beginning. Simply click on the link below.

Blue Exorcist Season 1: Episode 1 (2011)

Cartoon Sunday: Pitchfork TV's A Brief History Of Emo

How's it going lurkers? Today I wanted to switch things up a little for Cartoon Sunday. Every so often, I like discussing a variety of different topics, including the different types of animation not affiliated with Adult Swim's programming.

Next month, I will be sharing another cartoon that aired on MTV shortly before the network canceled it. Some, if not most of you already noticed that I constantly talk about Adult Swim.

As I have said many times in the past, I was watching Liquid Television Animation on MTV, during the 1990's. This was YEARS before Cartoon Network launched the original Toonami block and before Adult Swim was ever launched.

More recently, younger Millennials and Gen Z have been discovering older cartoons that used to air on MTV, during the '90s. Here's the real kicker, Adult Swim's latest animated promos for the network are only imitations of some of MTV's promos from the 1990's (circa 1992 and after to be more exact).

MTV Promo: "Ding-Dong" (1992)

This promo for MTV is only 1 example. I believe that Adult Swim is currently trying to copy what MTV started doing more than 2 decades or so ago with Adult Swim's latest promos. 

Don't believe me? 

Watch Adult Swim during the commercial breaks, especially on the weekends.

It is an absolute disgrace to see how so many networks and the people running them have LOST  their integrity. 

Rather than showing quality entertainment, local, cable, and satellite channels intentionally launch more low-brow Reality TV shows to pander, glorify, and normalize self-centered, attention-seeking, and highly entitled men, women, children, and pregnant teenage girls.

Speaking of entertainment, you may recall that earlier this year, I published several blogs about the Goth Sub-culture. 

In fact, I published a Cartoon Sunday blog about Pitchfork TV giving a brief yet comedic history lesson about the Goth Sub-culture. In case you missed this blog, click on the following link.

Cartoon Sunday: Pitchfork TV's History Lesson About The Goth Sub-culture (2017)

For the last 10-15 years, I've had some people, including an ignorant and estranged, affluenza man-child for a so-called college "friend," label me as being Emo. By no means am I Emo and have never dressed Emo. 

South Park Season 17: Episode 4 "The Difference Between Goths & Emos" (2013)

Regardless of the clothes I wear, the music I listen to, and TV shows and movies I watch, I have been Goth, since childhood.

Friends and classmates from 6th to 12th grade would not know it because my physical appearance was NOT  Goth, at the time. However, I did have some Goth friends in high school and my interests were always dark and morbid.

Decades later, I am STILL Goth.

Despite the negative depictions of Goths in the media, every Goth is NOT  a horrible person. Also, Goth Fashion does not always translate well, when you are in the workforce.

Depending on the company's dress code, you have to wear "normal" clothing, in order to assimilate. If you work at a company that allows you to wear whatever you want, OR happen to be self-employed, you can Goth it up as much as you want. Most companies in the workforce will NOT  allow it.

As I was saying about Emos, they are NOT  the same as Goths. The gif above is of the character, Sasuke Uchiha from the Naruto franchise. 

For the last 16 years, there have been plenty of gifs and memes about Sasuke because this character looks and acts like the stereotypical Emo brat and HURTS. 

I'm really surprised there hasn't been a meme with "Woe is Sasuke" captioned on it. Sasuke Uchiha memes captioned with "I'm so Emo" have been floating around the Internet, since 2005.

Emos normally listen to shitty Pop-Punk bands and "Crybaby" Rock Music whereas some Emos may physically appear as Goth because of their make-up, hair, and some clothing.

When you see someone with dyed black hair, an asymmetrical and/or spiky haircut, swept over bangs like Sasuke's, and possibly wearing horned-rimmed glasses, THAT person is without a doubt an Emo.

During my last 2 years at Carthage, an estranged guy friend continuously mocked and mislabeled me as being Emo-Goth. That's excluding his need to disguise his snide remarks and cheap shots as jokes. 

BTW: This was coming from an affluenza man-child, who gave a speech about his ACTION FIGURES in Speech Class! A female friend's roommate told us about it in their dorm room, which is the only reason why I know about it. Little does the affluenza man-child know that the joke's really on him. 

Because such a so-called "friend" had his tendency to mock me and disguise his cheap shots as jokes, I distanced myself from him, after graduating. That's not including he and his homely-looking girlfriend at the time causing division among us and mutual friends. Those were some other great reasons for dumping him. Welp, that's enough about me being intentionally mislabeled as an Emo-Goth.

When you watch Pitchfork TV's informative yet humorous cartoon about the history of Emo, you should realize that Emo is different from Goth Rock and the Goth Sub-culture in general. 

You should especially notice that I have NEVER featured ANY  Emo Rock bands in previous Song Saturday blogs.

Listening to songs by A.F.I. is MY ONLY EXCEPTION to Emo. Otherwise, like most people, I HATE Emo Rock Music! Anyway, here is Pitchfork TV's "A Brief History Of Emo" for Cartoon Sunday.

Pitchfork TV: "A Brief History Of Emo" (2017)

RANT: Toonami's One Piece Fandom & Their Incessant Crying

How's it going lurkers? I have been trying to decide what to share for the next 2 Cartoon Sunday blogs.

Would you like it if I shared more Animated Horror Shorts under 5 minutes long, OR would you prefer to watch something 5 minutes or longer?

Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

Aside from the next 2 Cartoon Sunday blogs, those of you, who have been subscribed to yours truly for the last several years on Xanga, Blogster, It's Not All Gumdrops & Unicorns, etc. have read my complaints about Toonami, its fanbases, and fandoms. 

Recently, I stumbled upon a blog by The Beacon explaining the differences between a fandom and a fanbase. I never really knew there was a difference. 

I always thought fanbase and fandom were used interchangeably. Apparently, that's not the case. Welp, you learn something new everyday.

According to The Beacon, a fanbase is simply a group of like-minded people, who share the same interests and show their pride as fans. Meanwhile, a fandom is more like a gatekeeping group of zealots for fans. 

In other words, EXTREMISTS that tend to alienate and can sometimes shun fellow fans if they don't share their views about certain characters, movies, shows, music, etc. with their EXTREME dedication, passion, and views.

Judging by the preceding explanation, fandoms might as well be considered loudmouth "activists" because they are extremely vocal about being an obnoxious fan. This can most definitely be said about some Toonami fans in general.

I CANNOT  help reiterating how much of obnoxious brats Toonami fans can be. 

Yes, I know that every Toonami fan is NOT  a crybaby. However, the crybabies overshadow the fans, who genuinely enjoy other types of Action Anime as well as other genres and sub-genres.

Every time a certain Action Anime fandom does not get their way about an Anime, they will act like the BIGGEST  toddlers on forums and social media sites. Otherwise, they will maliciously mock other fanbases because they didn't get their way about a series.

Some One Piece zealots are currently throwing toddler tantrums because Adult Swim's Toonami block is airing the Seinen Horror Action Anime, Tokyo Ghoul as One Piece's replacement. One Piece fans DO have a right to be upset.

Since the time Toonami chose to premiere this Shonen Jump Action Anime at episode 207 in 2013 rather than premiere it at episode 1 like most normal shows, One Piece fans got the shaft.

Premiering an Action Anime at episode 207 rather than the beginning only demonstrated, that those running this revival of Toonami have no respect for One Piece fans. Therefore, I can understand their anger and feel they are justified in feeling angry at both Adult Swim and The Toonami Teams. 

Toonami did a TERRIBLE job of handling their programming, One Piece fans, and de-escalating their toddler tantrums. 

Even though I can sympathize and empathize with One Piece fans, it does NOT give their fandom the right to maliciously mock other fanbases.

Currently, there are some EXTREMELY bitter fans within the One Piece fandom maliciously mocking us Tokyo Ghoul fans, while crying in their Monkey D. Luffy boxer shorts over Toonami replacing One Piece with Tokyo Ghoul.

Some are purposely alleging that Tokyo Ghoul is a terrible Anime, that it "glorifies cannibalism," it's intentionally "edgy" to panders to Emos and Goths, that Toonami dislikes Tokyo Ghoul because they haven't created newer promos for it, etc.

About a month or 2 ago, those within the One Piece fandom on the current makeshift forum for Adult Swim worked my last nerve so badly, I gave some of them a piece of my mind. 

So, what did I tell those bitter incels within Toonami's One Piece fandom on the makeshift forum for Adult Swim?

1) They are NOT  the only viewers watching Adult Swim

2) Those running Toonami are TRYING to attract different types of viewers by adding a Seinen Horror Action Anime like Tokyo Ghoul, for example, to the block

3) They whine TOO MUCH about EVERY little thing

4) If they depend on a show's ratings to simply like a show, they would NEVER enjoy anything 

5) Their constant nitpicking repulses other viewers like yours truly from wanting to watch other Anime premiering on the Toonami block.

Was it NOT  bad enough, that Toonami zealots spent YEARS bawling their eyes out all over the Internet about Cartoon Network canceling Toonami in 2008?

After canceling Toonami ~9 years ago, Cartoon Network's programming went to hell in a hand basket. It started premiering more boy-centric reality shows, low-brow animation, and mostly vapid cartoons from Canada. The ONLY Canadian cartoon I enjoyed watching was 6teen.

Had 6teen premiered in its entirety on Cartoon Network, it could've been aired at an earlier time on Adult Swim. Some of 6teen's episodes had nudity and other mature content, which was meant for supposedly teenagers in Canada.

Here in the good old U.S. of A. helicopter parents would've been outraged by some of 6teen's content because Cartoon Network is meant for children, whereas Adult Swim is meant for adults.

Since Cartoon Network no longer wanted the Toonami block, they dumped it on Adult Swim. 

Originally, Adult Swim was supposed to be airing more mature content because all those children, who grew up watching Toonami, in the late 1990's and early 21st Century, are now ADULTS.

The Toonami  Team claimed they wanted to grow up its veteran viewers. 

If they wanted to supposedly grow up their veteran viewers so badly, why is Toonami premiering the most childish-looking and cartoonishly generic Japanese animation on a network, which was meant for adult viewers, mainly men? How much longer until a Kodomo Anime like Pokemon is premiering on Adult Swim?

Here is something I have recently noticed about the veteran Toonami fans. They hate Anime meant for their own age group. That being Action Anime meant for adults and Anime with more MATURE subject matters. This makes me question how many ADULTS are actually watching this version of Adult Swim's Toonami block.

Judging from what I have observed over these last 5 years, veteran Toonami fans are too fixated on their childhood nostalgia and cartoon ratings. They depend on cartoon ratings (which CAN be rigged like polls and awards for awards shows and voting).

In addition, these zealots DEPEND on a patronizing CGI robot and his talking computer to get excited about watching their favorite cartoons! This is something you would expect from a damn 5-year-old, NOT someone who is in his/her 20's and 30's (Dare I even say 40's and older?)

When I was a toddler watching the Mecha Anime, Robotech in the mid-80's, having a patronizing CGI robot with a talking computer were highly unnecessary to get me excited about watching the series or any other type of animation Japanese or otherwise. 

Listening to the announcement that my favorite cartoons would be starting was satisfying enough!

Even though I enjoyed watching some of the Action Anime, that aired on Adult Swim's Toonami block over these last 5 years, a number of us veteran Adult Swim viewers are still disgusted with the fact, that Adult Swim uprooted us to pander to crybaby man-children.

Adult Swim mostly panders to Toonami sycophants that desperately cling to their childhood nostalgia on Saturday nights and early Sunday mornings. All the while, zealots continuously cry about wanting to watch the most childish programming on a network meant for adult animation.

Then, some of the other Toonami zealots fear that Toonami is getting canceled again because of the crybabies within their own fandoms constantly throwing tantrums over shows. They fail to realize that they contributed to the cancellation of Chiller TV's Anime Wednesday block, 2 summers ago.

It was bad enough that Chiller TV put almost NO effort in promoting their own Anime block this last time. That's not including the fact that only people with Direct TV and Dish Network, at the time were the only viewers with Chiller TV on our packages.

Adult Swim's Toonami fans wasted so much time nitpicking Is This A Zombie? which was only 1 out of 4 Anime premiering on Anime Wednesday, that Chiller TV canceled the block after only 3 weeks.

Most people today don't understand that we have the ability to make or BREAK entertainment, especially over the Internet.

To give a better understanding about this fandom right now, there is a LOT of infighting among Toonami fans. 

In fact, the fandoms within Toonami have just as much infighting, if not more than The Republican Party. It's THAT  bad.

If Toonami zealots including the One Piece zealots do NOT stop acting like bitter, entitled, spoiled brats and get their acts together, they WILL be the cause of Toonami getting canceled once again. 

Then, they will only have themselves to blame for their precious block getting re-canceled. This is if it DOES happen again with relentless cyberbullying, death threats, maliciously mocking other fanbases, toddler tantrums, and their extreme obsession with cartoon ratings.

With that being said, what are your thoughts about the current state of fandoms within Toonami, including the One Piece fandom?

What We Didn't Know About Saint Patrick's Day

How's it going lurkers? Today is Saint Patrick's Day! Most people, who know me, don't know that I have Irish blood.

Over the years, I've had ignorami accuse me of lying about being Irish. It is mostly because I have a Caramel skin complexion as opposed to appearing a ghostly white.

Apparently, they assume that every Irish person (if not everyone with European blood) is pale, never had interracial relationships, or any flings with other people outside their races.

Talk about some dumb ass Americans! Our educational system in America is so low compared to other countries. This is why people from other countries laugh at us.

Here's a shocker about yours truly. You know the Irish engineer, Casey Jones? He is an ancestor of MINE. In fact, when my great-grandmother was still alive, she despised Casey Jones. It was mostly because she ALWAYS heard stories about the man throwing Peppermint Candy to children on the Indian Reservation, as a child.

Throughout that woman's life, she HATED Peppermint Candy. Meanwhile, I LOVE Peppermint Candy and anything containing mint in general. It normally cures my nausea, too.

Whenever I feel nauseated, I always try eating or drinking something with Peppermint or Spearmint in it. 

This Saint Patrick's Day blog is not necessarily intended to explain more about me. If the preceding does give you more insight about me personally, then I'm glad it helps you.

Since it's Saint Patrick's Day, I know there will be some zombies roaming around drunk, if not drugged up because of the holiday. 

Some already had an early start to celebrating Saint Patrick's Day, 2 days ago. Believe it or not, there WAS an actual purpose for Saint Patrick's Day, that most of us didn't know.

As we already know, the holiday fell on a weekday this year compared to a weekend. 

Some Irish Americans really hate the way most meatheaded zombies celebrate Saint Patrick's Day. The zombies use it as an excuse to get shit faced.

Instead of me publishing a long blog about the holiday, I'm sharing an informative vlog by YouTube vlogger, MrBettsClass.

In this vlog, Mr. Betts teaches his viewers about Saint Patrick's Day's original purpose and about Saint Patrick.

Mr. Betts: A Beginners Guide To St. Patrick's Day (2013)

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!!!