The Atlantean Problem

So the big reveal of the first minutes is that Estabans forefathers is from Atlantis, which Tao overhears, establishing a couple of episodes of antagonism between the main characters. Which feels rather forced. IT'S OVER 10 000 YEARS!!! JESUS! Did his parents brainwash him into hating atlantiens that was belived destroyed at the same time? That's plausible I guess, but he has known Estaban for months, he saved him from the Olmecs and so forth, why should it matter? And really, both civilizations destroyed each other in a cold war turned nuclear as said by the High-Priest of the city of Gold aka Estabans father... oh, alright, maybe Tao has legimitate concerns in disbeliveing it, but it still feels forced on screen.

Anyway, Ambrosius brings forward the Mu pyramid which they blast with the dragon statue revealing semi-holographic shapes were one seems like a encycopedia with blue-prints, symbols and text in Mu. One symbol they identify as a carving in the gobian desert so after taking the old man to his home they head west to an oasis. There they refill their rations and promis to guard a merchants wares so they can stay. Meanwhile the fued gets worse between Tao and Estaban until the night after a swim... where I guess we get a throwback to one of the Manchu Pichu-episodes of the first season where Tao and Estaban bathed in the nude, but this time with Zia (of course completely covered by the water). She fakes a Jaws-moment to get the boys to save her and stop feuding each other. Doesn't help and after an interlude by a camel Tao accidently scares it and Estaban gets lost in the desert. Tao and Zia gets to him, a sandstorm breaks out and the fued reach it's climax and Tao disapears in the storm.

I can see how it on papers seems like an epic downpoint in the story, the kids seeing a split based on their forefathes who caused the destruction of the greatest civilizations on earth. Sadly it feels a bit rushed with just that fact caussing it. Maybe it also linked toward Tao's inferiority complex toward the other kids since in the lastest episodes he wasn't of much use since he isn't one of the chosen and doesn't have a medalion, he also almost caused their death. Still, lashing out on a close friend, also the only friends he have had is a bit hard to take just at face-value. Maybe with flashback from his parents or the story of the evil atlanteans to make us symphatize, at the moment it just feels out of nowhere and stubborness from his side.

The Child of the Sun

So Estaban is dying and they showed the scorpion sting again so I just missed it. How to save him? Zia gets flashbacks to flashbacks when her father talked about healing snake venom and then when she met the head monk of the shaolin temple and got some herbs. Or more accuratley seeds. How to get the blades necessary? Go back to the secret garden and open a glass container and replace the seed since the "flame oven" seems to create a 5-seconds life cycle of each plant. Then I made the connection that this must be a seedbank in case of the destruction of mankind (which in the show happened with the thermalnuclear war berween Atlantis and Mu). Of course replacing an unknown plant with a common herb feels abit... destructive. Well, they get back and put them on the wound and they have to wait the night out. Now we also goes back to the ravine and a hand is show, perspective shift, and we see someone climb ups walking toward the kids. Obviously the old man survived. He and Tao searches for an exit until dawn.

Meanwhile the grown-ups sneak above the wall in the airship and Mendoza sneaks in checking out a mirror where a crystal pyramid is hidden behind. Why? Is it really Mendoza? I might imagine things, but sometimes when he move it sounds like a thump, is it Zares? Anyway, Ambrosius compass acts up and they land finding an opening in the earth. They procced to blow it up.

Of course this is near the kids and the blast lets the sun in filling the cave with light, and of course this awakens the child of the sun, Estaban. They get out and the children run around in the light with a music score that sounds a lot like something from original series. To be continue!

The Secret Garden

So Estaban and Zia finally gets out of the maze and enter, what I pressume is what the title alludes to, the garden (still with fantastic music). Some sort of flowers that grows as they come near encased in glass. Some sort of fire burn in a container. They place the golden statue in front of it and the black pearls comes of and rolls into the fire (one must question if it rolled accidently right since it seemed to roll of center or if something drew it in). Then it procceds to levitate out and back to the statue, the statue glows up blinding the screen and then... nothing. Except maybe the pearl glowing. They decide to get out.

Meanwhile Tao tries to climb down, but are trapped on a cliff (with scorpions appearing on the wall). The old man notice a disturband in the vegitation and avoids getting chrushed, but destroying the door mechanism. Of course it's the captain. After a chase the old man is cornered at a ravine ith only a dagger to decend himself. The captain charges with his sword. It ends with both falling backwards and we see the captain fall down (I assume the old man clings on to the cliff or something like that since it is a kid show). Our second death everyone (if Mayuka isn't released from the temple that is).

Mendoza and gang tries to fix the airship and of course Sancho and Pedro fires of a couple of smoke bombs. A neat thing is that the preview from last episode made it look like the mongols would attack them, but in actuallity they fled, leaving this kid behind who Mendoza captures. After clearing out that missunderstanding they finally flies of.

Outside the maze Estaban climbs up and rescue Tao from the cliff and scorpions and they take the elevator up, closing the hole below them. Zia and Tao starts looking for the old man, Estaban meanwhile starts to loose sight and then falls, stinged by a scorpion. Poisoned near death, I know how it feels buddy. If we saw him get stung I don't know, I probably missed that. Will he survive? Well, yeah obviously, but how is the question. And the answer is on the next episode.

Doin' the Omoralisk Schlagerfestival '14 (4)

And here it comes, the hard rock group with the very similair sounding bas and drum pattern. I don't know exactly which song or artist for that matter, could be either Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica or Marilyn Manson for what I know. Oblivious plagiarism. Sadly that was one of the better songs. Other remarkable songs, or more correctly noticable, was some ballad with a girl all dressed in blue. Not much of a stage show, but it was decent enough. The other one was another rock group with a girl as a singer... they didn't make. Really better stage presence, but the song really wasn't as good as the hard rock group. The first two went to the second chance, the finalist was this boy... copy of all other boy... acts? And lastely this veteran schlager group... appearing in this disco ball with a song about disco. The rest... unnoticable for me... I belive, might as well have been easily forgotten which is a huge problem for this kind of songs.

The Wall of China

So leaving Peking they head for the chinease wall in search of a friend from the head monk and someone who knew Estabans father. They try to sneak in, but a sand storm appear sepperating the kids from the grown-ups and also makes Ambrosius crash on the prairie. At the same time some mongols attacks to take back their horses the chinese military caught. One of soldiers is about to cut down a kid so Zia warns him and gets kidnapped as thanks while the boys are thrown in prison and relieved of the golden statue by the comanding officer and later put away to a work camp. Zia convince te kid to help her reach the old man they searched for and distract the guards. Succesful the old man, who is the leader of the chinese camp, put all right and leads the kids to the stomach of Buddah who he and Estabans father found. Meanwhile the grown-ups find Ambrosius and help him fix the airship all the while the mongols are surrounding them.

As they enter the stomach the best thing ever happens... syntheziser music pleasuring my ears. They activate a mechanic that only the chosen children can which leads them to a maze made of orichalcum. It opens and closes of free will and as they enter and try the henzel and gretel breadcrumb trick it backfires as the walls come chrushing down, the tempo of the music rises and an amazing escape scene plays out with music that comes close to the original. I LOVE IT!!! The maze more or less theows them out a couple of times until Zia makes a stand inside the maze and let them be trapped ending on a to be continue. Really, the series get better as they get closer to the sci-fi elements of the show since it seems to really use the CGI for it and it looks good for it, couple that with the increased use of synth-music really throwing me back to the original cartoon.  Question is of it's the second city or not, if it is it will mostley be destroyed by the chinese commander who has followed them, no Gaspared or Gomez for sure.

Pekingtown

Well, lets recap a couple of episodes. The golden condor gang meets up with Ambrosius outside of Peking. Mendoza and Ambrosius set out in search for a temple in the city. The kids goes into town for some fun while Sancho and Pedro try to keep up with them. They find the temple and the head monk shows the kids a passageway under a fountain that only the children of the sun can pass. The kids evade certain traps and finally gets their hand on a small golden statue of a dragon holding a black pearl, but as they get out the piece is stolen by a guy with a black dragon tattoo on his hand. He takes it to the Forbidden City and gives it to an adviser to the emperor. Estaban follows inside and the head monk must get him out without being seen, unfortunately the prince (who the monk tutor) overhears and takes Esteban place since he wants to see the world. 

From here Tao and Ambrosius arms the flying ship with smoke bombs after a short battle with Zares. Zia must babysit the prince when the switch is exposed showing him "the real world". Mendoza and the others search for Zia when Mendoza is kidnapped and brought to a djonk... our it looks like one on the outside, the inside look like a technicolor spaceship with some cryochamber containing.... Zares? First thought was robot. Second was maybe a surviving Olmec. No, not this kind of Olmec, rather this one. A third option would be Estabans father, the great profet and the high priest, although he didn't seem so ruthless, although surviving poisinous fumes from a volcano might cause something. Or it might be his mother in a cybernetic suit. After this episode Mendoza just leaves, he also feels rather differnt, almost more violent. Changed personality? Mind switch?

The high monk tries to get Estaban out of the palace but is incapacitaited and thrown in a well by the black dragon tattoo guy. Estaban takes back the golden dragon and the advisor is arrested for giving the emperor a roasted pig. At nightfall the others sneaks in with the airship under the firework display, the head monk gets out and spokes the tattoo guyas hes about to kill Estaban to get the dragon. The prince returns, Estaban boards the ship and the next morning they are of with Zares looking at them. This marks the halfway point of this season which I guess will end in Shangri-La, or at least in Himalaya and that points toward Shangri-La.

Doin' the Omoralisk Schlagerfestival '14 (3)

Well excuse me, it is three more weeks of this. Even more outrageous. So yesterday began with some... heavier sound with Hannibal Lecture costumes and cages. Didn't thrill me eventhough many would likely believe that. Song was called Echo. The thrid group was called Eko (which means echo) who felt like an 80's synth pop/rock number which had potential... if the female singer either had pushed her voice to the limit or she had stayed as a background singer and instead taken in an melodic hard rock singer like Bob Catley from Magnum (or that might be due to Magnum and Bob Catley songs playing at my computer at the moment). Of course I liked them and they ended last, go figure. Most other songs just droned in and out, some group called State of Drama with a choir singing about "this is what we are" or like that... except what we are was never pointed out. Second to last song performed by some girl named Wilder on the outer hand, genius, at least in the build-up portions of the song. An earworm in the making with lyrics like "being busy doin' nothing at all", "making money sleeping" all the while with signs of don't work in the background. As mentioned it has a great build-up, is fast, nice beat... but the choursus don't give that payoff.

Doin' the Omoralisk Schlagerfestival '14 (2)

So before tonights show I might as well recap last week. The short version is that everything sounds like it was on the radio. Not only the sound, but also the stage shows mimicked the artist you hear on the radio. The first group named J.E.M. sounded and looked a lot like Black Eyed Peas. Really, they are copying Black Eyed Peas note for note. And then the name, god, it shows this is a generation born in the 90's cause I like one song with JEM, known as Jem and the Holograms in the 80's doing a duet with The Misfits:

Truly outrageous! Other performers is a Lady Gaga wanna-be without the hooks and beats or sound that at least makes Gaga intresting. And then Sanna Nielsen, last weeks old guard. I don't know who's music copying cause the only name that pops up is Imagin Dragons or what ever they are called and that's wrong. It's one of the songs that played ad nausseum on the radio last summer, it goes like "you belong with me da da da da", "only missing home when your gone"??? Now the name Luminares pop instead. Doesn't matter, sounds the same anyway.

God, and tonight... and it's still two weeks to go. THIS is truly outrageous!!!

Kung-Fu Action

So yada yada, one of the monks can read the languish in Ambrosius book, Tao and Estaban go get it while Zia learns some healing science while tending to Mendoza acompanied by flashbacks from her father. The boys get captured by the pirates and Sancho and Pedro tries to outsmart a monk to avoid getting a bath and clean clothes. This leads them to help the monk traitor open a secret passage into the temple and he does the Vulcan nerve pinch on them, paralyzing them. How will it end?

Well, the boys are saved by two kids monk and they are able to hold the door for awhile until the other monks are ready. The monk that helped them fight of the traitor for awhile until Estaban does the one move he learnt and tosses the traitor into a well. The same monk reads the book and figures out it contains prophecies regarding the children, although he doesn't tell them it would lead to a certain date and time which could possibly mean the death of one of them. So after they left on the condor the monk tells the leader who sends him out to find them again and help them. Could have said it earlier and hitched a ride? Well, ending shot of Peking and Zeres looking over the city, and then turns toward the audience. What an ending!

Enter the Dragon

Seems like I ended on a cliffhanger, well let continue from there. Of course it was an airship, they fly away with the pirate leader as a stowaway. After some time he is bound up and released and our new friends agrees to travel to Peking/Beijing, Ambrosius on his airship and the others in the condor. Tao also gets a book to dechiffer with some kind of Mu-writing. The next episode starts at them landing near the Shaolin Temple and Estaban uncovers a conspiracy between one of the monks and a new gang of bandits. They are saved by another monk and the unthinkable happens, Mendoza is wounded and need medical care in the temple. So we are gonna stop here for a while. The traitor monk then sets out to kill the kids with a snake left in the room. Estaban is set up as paranoid and so and Zeres is back threatening the bandits on his way to Peking.

All I can end on is I begin to feel annoyed by the parrot.

The Alchemist

So, did the children survive the aligator? Well, obviously since there is 21 other episodes. They were rescued by this short frencch fellow Ambrosius, who is an alchemist. He drugs the aligator, puts several guards to sleep with some potion and escapes with Tao and Estaban under a smoke bomb putting the whole pirate camp under fire. The confor arrives picking up Tao, but Estaban, Ambrosius and Mendoza are left behind. After some time and usual buffonery Sancho makes the condor crash in mud, making it impossible to move since it ain't able to absorb the sun. Of course this unite our friends and they head for Ambrosius ship, which obviously is an airship. The pirates follow and it ends on a cliffhanger.

Interesting stuff revealed in this episode is that the golden condor isn't made out of gold, but orichalcum somewhat explaing the otherwise impossible feat of a flying golden statue. Apparently it's a super conductor of sorts that amasses the sunlight and powers the machines within. This was pointed out by Ambrosius who also has a compass pointing out large deposits and a book with ancient writings similair to Mu, but not enough for Tao to translate. Ambrosius himself is hard to pinpoint, he seems kind and nice, but mentioning the mysterious cities makes his eyes gleem with either evil intent or greed. He also are travelling in China to meet some monks to share secrets with. Is he a good character or is he part of a secret brotherhood of alchemist from Atlantis bent on world domination, including members like Zeres? I don't know. The only reason why not would be that he's french like the production company (besides his nice act I mean). Maybe the writers try to create another Mendoza-character that we don't know until the very end that he has a heart of gold. Also a last thing, when the condor landed to pick up Tao, we finally hear some condor sounding synth thene and it was pretty decent, did they change sound suppervisor or something?

China and Pirates

Two more episodes, 3-4, and we have reached China. Did we do timeskip? Well, the Condor stops working and lands, a panda steals Zia's medallion and they meet up with this kid who lives in the village. Coincidentally next to an old Mu relic. Well I be damned. Since the spaniards have no chance of catching up with them our villains for this season seems to be water pirates. They take Sancho nd Pedro captive to force the others to give them gold since they obviously must have it with the golden condor. After some hijinx they have freed them, scared the pirates of, but they are back putting a siege on the village. After a failed escape Tao and Estaban is captured and about to be feed to some crocodiles while the others have reached the condor and of to save them. This time with Zia as pilot.

Really, the animation begins to bug me. It's either to slow or the movement is so exagerated, especially the mouths. Good thing though is that there is some synth music when Zia opens the condor and ain't bad. Also there is a real attempt making the story serious enough, you have an old man trapped in a cave, Estaban almost shot, threatened to kill a dad and his son, throwing a pirate to some crocodiles and now Estaban and Tao. It's really trying for some PG violence. Sadly it feels like a bleak copy of the original were we had children threatened as sacrifices or given to warrior ants, or the spaniards who fell to their death by the hands of the children or the mayans killed by the Olmecs war-machine and the like. Then again, it's just the beginning.

Also a thing I forgot last time, the monk/proest who could let Estaban be adopted? Looks an awefull lot like the monk/priest who comforted him after father Rodrigues died. Was it necessary to use the same look on those two cause it really confused me. Then in these episodes there was a freaking "love triangle" between Zia, Estaban and the chinese boy. Hope he doesn't stay more than 1-2 episodes after this. Estaban + Zia = Forever! You got that?

Mysterious Cities of Gold 2012: Back to Barcelona 1-2

So I watched yesterdays episodes, which was episode 1-2 so I saw the first episode twice. It was for the better cause in the beginning you see a robed figure running up some stairs when one of the guards take aim and I now get it was Zeres (the big bad of the series for now) running to stop the guard from killing Estaban. Also when Zeres is walking down the temple his fotsteps sound starnge, heavier than normal people. Is it alludibg to something? Hopefully we will get a reveal at the end of this season. The next episode continues of were the first ended. Estaban has run to the monestary were he grew up where one of the monks proposes that he can find a family for him (he run away since he has no need to travel as his father is dead). The others pursade him not, they find out the medallions only work for Estaban and Zia, they escape Barcelona and flies away on the Condor. We find out the prisoner in the first epsiode works for Zeres, the bartender that helped them was blackmailed to supply Zeres with information as they kidnapped his son (the prisoner was supposed to kill them afterwards, but he let them escape) and Zeres work for Charles Quint. Who is Charles Quint you may ask? I wondered that too until they showed the education ending and lo and behold in Sweden he is known as Karl V, in english that is Charles V. God dammit swedish translators.

Otherwise, the music sucks.maybe not bad music, but it ain't the original and it's too low. Doesn't create the mysterious feeling or the awesome flight of the condor. The educational segmentmay have bits of the original music, but it is to silent. I will still watch the series cause I want to knows what happens and I will probably buy the dvd when I get a job, but it will probably not share the cult staus the original series does.

Mysterious Cities of Gold 2012

I don't care that I've already written one post today, I have to mention this. As a coincidense my father happened to watch the Avatar: The Last Airbender-marathon at Nickelodeon and found out that they showed the first episode of the Mysterious Cities of Gold. As it was Nickelodeon I just had to see if it was the original Swedish voices or a new dub, or it might have been in english and that's just fine and dandy. So wesit down, watch the final episode of the Last Airbender while a clock is counting down in the corner. It reaches zero and... it is the second season they show, dubbed in Swedish. Talk about childlike surprise. I fully enjoyed it, with small complaints that the art don't feel fluid and some times just feels of. Not mentioning that the swedish dub is... not that good. Joked that the voice cast for Avatar would be the same and lo and behold, that was true. Doesn't say much since the original english was superb and the swedish one just passable. This made me look up who the english dub was and I couldn't find it and people discussing it remarked how bad it was. Has to look up an english version online to make a judgment call which sound better, but apparently non of the original voices reprised or cameoed which make it a shame. Well, at least I know what I will be watching for the next 26 days.

The episode itself began 6 months after the original series ended  for a short look at the current action and transport us then back 6 months with the old man Mayuka (which shows I was right) being forced to show the location of a hidden temple for this priest with no face. They enter and discover that a map supposed to be there was taken earlier by the protagonist children. The priest leaves locking the temple afterwards and trapping Mayuka. Flash forward 6 months and the children rescues  Mendoza and his two companions from the same priest who even helps them escape by saving Estaban from being shot by one of the guards. They escape out of Barcelona and Estaban asks Mendoza if the high priest of the Golden city was his father. Sadden by the news they go to sleep and the next morning Estaban is gone. What follows is a short narration of the next episode and some education segment, just like the original show so a great thumbs up for the creators to adopt the similarities of the original show. Tomorrow I must focus closer on the music to see if that holds up.

Doin' the Omoralisk Schlagerfestival '14 (1)

This year it took me by surprise, I had totally forgotten it began yesterday. Of course it is hard to forget it when all newspaper talk about it, all advertisment is about it, but somehow I didn't register until yesterday morning. But I wasn't supposed to watch it, none in my family was supposed to watch it and I thought I would boycott it this year, "I don't feel like watching". But then 20:00 comes closer and my mom suddenly changes her mind and I am forced to join her. And then it begins, and I gotta say, I don't think you are supposed to show the danish winner contribution that much and with red and white ballons everywhere (the colors of the danish flag), but since it's shown from Skåne which is practiclly half-danish I might let it slip. The songs then? All gone, nothing stands out, with maybe exception of the 23-year old blonde girl in the revealing outfit, but I might take a gamble here and say it wasn't because the song. There was also one song which had some catchy nonsense words in it, but that didn't make it at all and without repeat listenings the song is gone from my mind. Now it's five more weeks of this... God help us all!