You can call me Anne! I'm rewatching slugterra for the first time in 6 years, and I have thoughts but was too embarrassed to put it on main, so sideblog be upon ye.
Basically, expect one post per episode as I watch them, some fanart, and long periods of radio silence.
Tags I Will Use:
#Rewatch Rambles for posts noting random interesting details in the rewatch.
#Anne's Art Cavern for MY fanart
#Slugterra Art Gallery for OTHERS' fanart that I reblog
#Anne's Adventure Log for textposts
Personal info under the cut if you care
About Me:
They/she, aroace, I'm an adult, but will never post nsfw
Anxious introvert with a job. If I don't respond, it's not you, it's me
I will generally keep shipping at arm's length for Slugterra. No hate to the people who enjoy it, but I always liked that it's a show with no romance and generally don't engage with shipping content.
Favorite character is Trixie, favorite slug is Rookie.
I'm not really expecting engagement, I just find articulating my thoughts comes easily in the form of tumblr posts. This is basically my personal slugterra notebook and if other people read it great I guess.
Hi I'm not dead, I just moved out of my parents house several months ago, which ate into my free time a LOT more than I expected! I did warn you about long periods of radio silence. Anyway, welcome back to my Slugterra rewatch where I go over random details I find interesting. Full series spoiler warning in effect! Previous installments can be found under my tag #Rewatch Rambles
Alright, let's actually break down this commercial monologue bit by bit:
"Do you spend hours on tedious dueling and your slugs still aren't learning new moves?"
-There are two ways to take this. The first is to believe the commercial and suddenly we know slugs work on Pokémon rules where they CAN be taught new moves deliberately, but they also just figure new ones out while working on basics.
-The second is to believe the commercial is being misleading, because the Pokémon game logic doesn't make a lot of sense compared to the rest of the show where training seems to be a very deliberate practice. You don't learn to do new archery tricks by shooting at the same targets over and over again, and you don't teach your dog new tricks by running them through the same old agility course.
-Given the outcome of this episode, I'm inclined to take the second route and say Skill Issue
"Are the other slingers gettin the best slugs leaving you with floppers?"
-Sir, that is a Flatulorhinkus you are holding, and as Pronto will demonstrate multiple times over in this series, it's actually very effective if you know how to use it (even if he constantly complains about Stinky being useless). False advertising.
"Tired of never knowing what slug to use or even if it's worth using at all?"
-This comment is par for the course culturally in the 99 Caverns, but SIR, Club Slug is literally just illegal steroids with bad side effects, how does that increase the SLINGER'S knowledge of which slugs are gonna be effective in which fight? I'm not even blaming the commercial, the people who buy this are dumb. Hence why Pronto buys it.
Also, OH MY GOSH you can tell the "satisfied customer" is being paid extra to do this and is not a trained actor, he sounds so tired and bored lol.
Fantastic terrible dumb commercial, good to know malevolent and bad advertising is a universal experience!
OH MY GOD I WAS WONDERING WHAT EPISODE THIS ONE WAS IN!!!
Eli and Kord PRACTICE their smack talk as religiously as they practice dueling. I think Trixie insulting Eli's one-liners in The Trade got to him more than he's letting in. This is the kind of absolute tomfoolery and cringe teenager behavior I LIVE for. And of course, Trixie OWNS them both because she is ACTUALLY cool while Eli and Kord just WISH they were.
Also, timeline! It has officially been A Few Months since the gang got together, which does a lot for justifying how skilled Eli (and everyone else) will be in these next episodes!
That actually makes me retract some previous statements about how fast Blakk has gotten his ghouls perfected and distributed. We now know that multiple weeks can be passing between these episodes!
Oh my gosh, Club Slug's THEME MUSIC even reeks of terrible exercise commercial. It sparks some deep internal inexplicable rage in me just from hearing it, this is fabulously awful
This whole opening scene actually has really great casual characterization. It's this kind of silliness that provides character depth that I feel has been lost in some modern TV shows. Trixie shows off that she's knowledgeable about Slugterran media and entertainment (makes sense given she's a vlogger), Kord shows that he's a bit jealous of Eli surpassing him, Pronto is impulsive and gullible and spent all their money without asking, and Eli is appropriately wary of something that sounds too good to be true! Good instincts buddy!
Speaking of money!
Eli: "We all worked hard for that gold Pronto"
YOU DID?! DO YOU HAVE A JOB?! HOW ARE YOU MAKING MONEY ELI SHANE, I NEED TO KNOW THIS?! WHERE IS IT COMING FROM?!
I think I've mentioned this before, but my current theory is that Trixie gets revenue from her Slugnet videos (and probably knows where to pick up odd jobs) and Kord makes money servicing mecha beasts for people, but I genuinely have no idea how Eli and Pronto are making money. Like even if Pronto took something with him in his self-imposed exile, it's definitely gone by now (hence his squatting in the Shane hideout), and Eli is waaaaaayyyyy too nice to ask for a tip when he saves people or does them favors. HOW are you not BROKE, boy, do NOT look me in the eyes and tell me you're working part time at 7/11!!!
Seriously though, WHY are the slugs so eager to get into the Illegal Stimulants machine? Does it smell yummy or something? Slugs---and especially slugs that choose to go with Eli---are genuinely very happy to train with a good slinger and become more powerful. It definitely seems fun for them. But this is very sketchy, and generally the slugs are good judges of character. What about this specific machine is throwing off their instincts? Even Burpy seems excited about this and he almost always knows a bad situation when he sees one.
Like I understand that this is the drug abuse metaphor episode, but you don't find drugs appealing and addictive before you even try them, you are wary and worried about the awful effects. It takes at least one use for them to start messing with your neurotransmitters and changing your brain chemistry.
Eli: "Did someone say duel? Count me in!"
I'd also like to add, I'm not surprised that Trixie goes for the machine, even though she's usually the type to be suspicious. She's NOT a traditionalist, and while she's skilled she doesn't have Eli's natural talent or understanding of slugs and how they work. This early in the series, she's still thinking of them more as tools than friends, and this seems like as good a way as any to sharpen her tools, while Eli is approaching this from the "I'm worried about my friends" angle.
Aaaaand there's that shonen braincell. Eli is much smarter and a better judge of character than your classic Goku archetype who is only focused on Food Fighting and Friendship, but he definitely has a similar priority list.
Sargeant Slug: "Takes a few rounds for them to get seasoned like Old Butch here"
CUT TO OLD BUTCH AND HIS SHADY YELLOW STONER EYEBALLS! They're really not being subtle on the drug abuse metaphor.
Also, more of Eli and Kord having a very sweet bromance where Eli is genuinely happy that Kord got one over on him, just confused on the method, and Kord is genuinely worried that he hurt Eli. UGH! FRIENDSHIP!
And! Eli's a graceful loser! This is more of what I'm talking about where he's just such a fundamentally good person. And while it is inspiring to some people, it's also ANNOYING AS HELL to others like the three extras in this episode, and honestly? Most of Slugterra, who have been conditioned for cynicism by the chaotic lawless lifestyle. It's why a lot of people aren't actually inclined to listen to him until he proves himself. He seems naive with how kind he is.
Even though Eli's been on top of his game for months now, he's still a beginner who makes dumb mistakes like firing Bolo straight into a Tornado. He's still got. What? 4 seasons and a couple movies to go before he's REALLY unbeatable!
A NEW ONE FOR THE BURPY LOSS COUNTER! Burpy does actually take a solid hint against one of the jacked up threshers.
Trixie is STILL dissing Eli's one-liners in this fjght and she's not even winning lol! Good job girlfriend, don't let his ego get too high just because he's right!
Side note about this whole episode, I love that Seargant Slug has nothing to do with Dr. Blakk, he's just a garden variety scammer doing dangerous stuff. Hammers home that ordinary people can be just as big of a problem as the big bad if nobody stops them, AND keeps Dr. Blakk from getting overexposure and losing his menace!
My personal headcanons (mostly off the cuff, but I had fun writing these)
Grandmamma Shane: Jimmo's sister and Will's mom was a protector of the 99 caverns and got herself killed saving people from a fatal cavern collapse when Will was in his 20s
Grandpappy Shane: Not in the picture. Grandmamma had a number of whirlwind romances in her youth both on The Surface and in Slugterra, and while she has heavy suspicions, she could never confirm which man was Will's father and didn't want to complicate things by hunting the guy down. Will grew up with no dad and an Uncle Jimmo instead.
Maternal Grandparents: The fun whacky grandparents who aren't super involved. They've had a lifelong dream of traveling the globe and using their retirement to go on adventures together, so they haven't had a stable home base since their daughter moved out and started her own life. While this has always been a benign desire of theirs, I also sort of like to think there was a time in their life when they were participants in organized crime which is why they're so eager to be on the move and stay away from their daughter and her family. They don't want their past catching up with them or coming to bother her.
This is how I justify my headcanon that Eli's mom is In The Know about Slugterra despite being a surface girl. She's already very good at keeping secrets, and her parents raised her to be intelligent, wary, and badass (she shoots a real gun better than Will shoots a blaster and he fell for her when a series of misunderstandings made her think he was attempting to rob her and she beat him to hell, then apologized and bought him dinner when it was cleared up). She was very quick to learn that her new friend Will was keeping secrets that were dangerous for him and wanted to help, and Will decided he could trust her.
Anyway, Nana and Papa used to see Eli every 3 to 4 years at family reunions and would send him cool stuff for the holidays, but there's never been any question about them raising him because their general lifestyle and their sketchy past keeps them from being fit emergency guardians. Add in the whole Slugterra thing and Eli's parents were VERY adamant that should anything happen to them, Eli is to be raised by Great Uncle Jimmo.
a frostcrawler/narwaddle, cause I get really tired and anxious basically whenever im in direct sunlight/heat, plus my eyes refuse to open in brightness either so...I think it would be nice to have a chill slug give me a little cloud/some snowflakes when it's too hot outside. It would probs make my quality of life improve dramatically lol. I hate the sun!!! I hate heat!
though a slyren would be cool. They move in perfect 5ths and remind me of pre-renaissance music, back before the church decided parallel fifths were demonic. A creature naturally singing parallel fifths in the real world would make some of the greatest historical music/mathematician purists drown themselves into the sea and it's great
ALSO a conversation I had with Goblin Brother that will certainly come up in my rewatch:
Eli is an extremely overpowered protagonist, which is normal for kids media and for chosen one characters. But he's a bit unique for two reasons:
1. While Eli does grow a LOT as the series progresses, he STARTS the show overpowered. He competes in a tournament with zero prior experience slug slinging and totally wins the whole thing, and he will only get more overpowered from there.
2. Despite this, His OP status doesn't feel at all un-earned or imbalanced, because it's not actually Eli himself that is OP, it's his SLUGS and his leadership skills. He uses his big brain and his ENORMOUS heart to get good allies that he trusts and listens to, and that he is absolutely ride-or-die with. Consequently, he has a small army of cool and powerful slugs that all adore him and would follow him anywhere, and that he's smart enough to know how to use in the best ways.
It's just a really elegant writing solution. Theoretically, anyone could be just as powerful as Eli. But they won't because having that kind of compassion and impulse to help people isn't something they've been culturally trained for, and even if it WAS a lot of people just still couldn't pull it off.
(Also Burpy is. . . Burpy, so that's helping a whole lot).
It lets us have all the fun of an OP protagonist with none of the drawbacks. I think it's genuinely so cool that by the end of the show, you can't fire most of Eli's slugs unless you have a good blaster because they're too powerful for the cheap kind. Even on Eli's extremely good blaster from RedHook, some of his moves like the double-barrel fusion shot STILL require a lengthy cool-down. That's just straight up awesome and I love it so much.
Hi! Sorry about the long wait, I've recently moved and am still settling in. I will most likely pick up episode breakdowns again tomorrow.
The GOOD news is that I have moved in with my brother who INTRODUCED me to Slugterra and we spent some time chit-chatting about it last night. He brought up something really interesting to me!
So we constantly talk about how weird it is that pretty much nobody names their slugs. Everyone (including the Shane Gang at first) thinks it's EXTREMELY weird that Eli does this, along with the fact that he does things like ask the slugs for opinions and advice, and just generally treats them like valuable sapient members of the team. Even the people who are good slingers who love their slugs think this is a weird thing to do.
As I rewatch the show, it's been difficult to find a comparison for how the rest of the caverns treats their slugs, but my dear beloved goblin brother finally found the perfect one:
The Slugs Are Livestock
Like livestock, they are extremely important to the day-to-day lives and livelihoods of pretty much everybody down there. Like livestock, they are treated much less as beings deserving of respect, and much more like *property.* Like livestock, some good slugslingers are extremely fond of their slugs and consider them beloved pets that they would never give up, while some good slingers are more cynical and detached. They want their slugs treated well, but they feel it's necessary to treat them as a resource, not as friends. Like livestock, the slugs are frequently traded as a kind of currency despite being living beings. And like livestock, there are PLENTY of terrible people who abuse their slugs and even do straight up crimes against nature on them because "they're just slugs" and it will make them more rich and powerful.
I still question HOW the Caverns got to the point where these obviously intelligent creatures who are the most important beings to the health of the caverns and some of whom are basically gods got to this point. That's a fanfic I'd be really interested in---the slow slide of public perception towards the slugs changing as more and more greedy and selfish people gain power and become the model for how to treat them. But this livestock analogy is gonna be great for me when trying to see through the eyes of an average cavern-dweller.
something i wanna know is does nobody in slugterra have parents? like why are there so many kids and teens ripping and running slinging slugs in the street. baby where’s your mom? don’t you have chores?
Welcome to another slugterra rewatch where I point out random details I found interesting. Previous installments can be found under #Rewatch Rambles, and a Full Series Spoiler Warning is in effect!
The intro to this one cracked me up so bad. I don't usually go through the effort to get pictures for these, but I need you all to appreciate the body language happening in this encounter:
Kord: "How about we do that after we catch some [frostcrawler slugs]?"
Trixie: "I'll get the snares!"
Pronto: "I have the gloves!"
Eli: "Why don't we just talk to them?"
Eli looks relaxed and casual. The rest of the gang doesn't just look high strung, they look absolutely ridiculous. Remembering the slugs are intelligent and treating them with respect isn't just the morally correct choice---it's also so much easier in every way.
*Sighs.* Okay, this is how you DON'T do failure comedy with Pronto. He's allowed to create problems for them, but this feels like he's being an obtuse idiot for no reason. At least it's in character. He periodically demonstrates that he is the least compassionate towards his slugs---I'd even say he's less kind to them than average Slugterrans. Love-hate relationshiop is pretty much the only type he knows how to have.
Kord: "Your slugs have gotten too powerful for a blaster like that!"
Fascinating. Eli got that blaster from his dad's stuff. Does that mean that Eli's slugs are even more powerful than Will's? It's a possibility, but for now I'm assuming the hideout Eli found was more like a backup safehouse. With the exception of Eli's mecha Lucky (LKE), he wouldn't have been keeping very high quality stuff in there. Which also explains why it's not the most hidden thing in the world, and why nobody but Pronto took up residence there or tried to loot it.
Okay, I was gonna make fun of Eli for picking a high stakes fight with a broken blaster, but Billy's even dumber. We've established there are very few laws down here and even fewer enforcers. WHO would Eli have gone to if he DID claim he deserved a do-over? Nobody! This isn't a practicality thing, it's an ego thing---Billy is so full of himself that he's willing to remove the curb-stomp disadvantage Eli has just so Billy can prove he's better.
Kord is SO sweet. He's Eli's best friend and number one hype man, and it's too cute. He might be exasperated by Eli's impulsiveness, but he'll also be the first of any of them to sing his praises. I think a lot of the pride comes from the fact that he basically taught Eli to sling slugs, so this isn't just a testament to Eli's talent, it's also means he was LISTENING to Kord and proves Kord is and has been a great teacher to him.
Eli's had the frostcrawler for a few hours at most and it's ALREADY beating a tried and tested Flaringo. Another one of the advantages to ASKING if the slugs want to come is that it naturally selects for the most adventurous and tough slugs (as well as ones that like Eli and will bond fast with him).
Tbh I actually forgot that Doc used to belong to Billy. I also forgot just how awful the Hooligang was in their first appearance, since their later ones are far more comedic and light hearted. The slugs get threatened with ghouling on the daily, but it's very rare that anyone actually tries to KILL a slug. Early show Billy might take the cake for the most despicable enemy our heroes have.
Also, I LOVE how quiet and intense Eli's rage is when he BODY-SLAMS Billie and goes "Careful there. You almost stepped on that slug." If you've got a quiet Eli, you've got a PROBLEM.
No wait, that's a good question Pronto! Did he go by Red Hook before or after he got the hook? What do ya'll think? After makes more sense, but I like before better for the irony.
The redhook ebcounter IS how you do failure comedy with Pronto! Not no stakes, but lower stakes, and thers's immediate catharsis about it. You can buy that he IS actually trying to help in this situation and just isn't self aware enough to know he's doing the opposite of helping.
When Blakk raises his hand to grab Billy's slug, Billy startles and covers himself like he thinks he's going to be hit. Since Maurice had to introduce Billy, this is his first time meeting Blakk. Do we think hitting children is considered normal in Slugterra? Do we think Billy specifically has been surrounded by bad adults who hit him a lot and now he assumes all of them are like that? Or have Blakk's agents roughed him up before? All three seem equally plausible to me. It may even be all of them.
Alright, so between Blakk saying it's not surprising that Will has a son and Red Hook's teasing, amused inflection when he says he never knew Will had a kid, I think we can safely assume Will was the rakish hero archetype.
One of the awesome things about this series is that even the most serious fights aren't exempt from slapstick. They do a really good job of incorporating the characters' personalities and the slug's whacky powers into basically every single one. Which means we can get moments like Pronto successfully taking someone out by holding his gun backwards and firing THE WHOLE GUN at his opponent. And it doesn't make the fight feel lower stakes at all!
Ooh, and here we see another interesting difference between Eli and Trixie's approach to heroism. Trixie is really focused on recruiting the residents of the cavern so they can help them help themselves. She's way more frustrated by their spinelessness than the others. Because she's seen this happen over and over again---she stood up because nobody else would, and it's driving her a bit crazy because she didn't have anything special that made her a hero except willpower. Eli wants to keep them safe, and wants them to defend themselves too, but he's less aggravates by their passivity because he hasn't been stuck in the same situation Trixie's been in.
He doesn't understand how common of an occurrence this is and how difficult it is to get people to stand up to Blakk. It highlights Eli's hopefulness, but it also highlights Trixie's because it shows she's still going on and being a hero DESPITE her lack of success in inspiring others. It might also be why Trixie was drawn to him in the first place---Eli DOES find her inspiring and actually listens to her good advice.
And of course, when they're on the backfoot and Eli says they need to recruit the residents of the cavern, he's talking about the slugs, which is an oversight for Trixie. They complement each other. She's jaded but determined and more focused on the people, he's naive but a natural leader and more focused on the slugs.
The Small World of Voice Acting: Featuring My Childhood
Soooo, for yesterday's episode I noted that Brian Drummond absolutely brings the menace to a character with a name as dumb as Diablos Nacho.
That made me decide to look up the VA credits, which is always fun because voice acting is a small world. Before I get into the individual credits, I want it known that most of these people also worked on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Littlest Pet Shop, Barbie, and Ninjago, and most of them have seasoned careers dubbing anime. I don't watch much Anime, but some of these stood out even to me (almost all of them have been on Death Note for example).
Here's some of the cast and their voice roles that made me personally go "NO WAY," but I highly recommend going to their Wikipedia pages and taking a look for yourself!
Eli's VA: Sam Vincent---Also the voice of Lloyd Garmadon from Ninjago and Flim (of the Flim Flam duo) from MLP:FiM, Daffy and Bugs from Baby Loony Tunes and Jerry from the Tom and Jerry Show (which I didn't watch but I did watch the originals). . .And also Will Shane lol.
Trixie's VA: Shannon Chan-Kent---The singing voice of Pinkie Pie from MLP:FiM, Amy Rose in Sonic Prime, and then like a billion side characters in multiple barbie movies, littlest pet shop, and strawberry short cake. She's also been Belle in the Vancouver stage production of Beauty and the Beast.
Kord's VA: Andrew Francis---has had a long career of acting and voice acting, but the only one personally important to me is that he's Shining Armor on MLP:FiM, which is close enough to his Kord voice that I won't be able to unhear it.
Pronto's VA: Lee Tockar---who is also Bibble in the Barbie Fairytopia movies, Snips AND Steven Magnet from MLP, Bling-Bling Boy from Johnny Test (I was upset to be reminded that exists), Inky from Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, and has also been some side characters from Dinosaur Train.
Dr. Blakk's VA: Mark Oliver---Doesn't have a wikipedia page because he mostly does bit parts. Key word being mostly---He's Lord Garmadon from Ninjago. I want you all to think about this for a second. Eli's VA is Lloyd Garmadon. Blakk's VA is Lord Garmadon. I am losing my mind. He's also HIM in Powerpuff Girls Z, and Hue the butterfly from Barbie Fairytopia.
Diablos Nacho's VA: Brian Drummond---Vegeta in the Ocean Group dub of Dragonball Z; Ryuk in the English dub of Death Note; a whole bunch of people on Dinosaur Train; a whole bunch of people on He-Man Masters of the Universe; Clyde from Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures; Eddie Brock and Venom in Spiderman Unlimited; Dr. Eggman in Sonic Prime; Knuckles in Sonic Underground; Wolverine in Wolverine: Origin, Wolverine versus Sabretooth, and Wolverine: Weapon X; and in Slugterra itself he's also the voice of Redhook and a ton of one-off characters.
Twist's VA: David Kaye---Very very long list that had less properties I knew of. He's a whole bunch of people on Ben 10 which I didn't watch, and a recurring side voice for Scooby Doo (but nobody significant enough to make me double take). We do have some games I know though! He's Clank from Ratchet and Clank; Comissioner Gordon from Batman: Arkham City; and also Sesshomaru from Inuyasha which I didn't watch but have absorbed some things second-hand about.
Junjie's VA: Vincent Tong---Kai and apparently half the extras from Ninjago; Garble, Flash Sentry, and Sandbar from MLP (as well as a large number of bit parts like Doughnut Joe); and also Zuko in the Avatar video game Avatar The Last Airbender: Quest for Balance.
This all barely scratches the surface! I didn't look up most of the side characters! If any of you have an afternoon and would like your brain exploded, spend some time looking through the acting credits of all the minor characters. I think you'll have fun :)
Welcome back to my slugterra rewatch where I go over random details I find interesting! Full series spoiler warning in effect! Previous installments can be found under my tag #Rewatch Rambles
WOW! Blakk got those ghouls distributed FAST! I mean I know he has the train and a powerful reputation and that a lot of slingers out there don't give two whiffs about their slugs beyond strength. But still! In episode 2, he said he'd just barely perfected ghouling (we saw his volatile previous attempts send Will Shane to the shadow realm). He's not wasting any time!
Eli: "Are you gonna go quietly, or is this gonna get loud?"
Trixie: "Really?"
Kord: "Give him a break Trixie, he's still figuring out this hero thing."
LOL THE SHADE?!?!?! Like, that's not the best one-liner in the world but it's not terrible either! It's interesting here because I think Trixie's judging him off her OWN experience being a wise-cracking hero (which she's good at, so she's not being forgiving), while Kord is judging him off of past encounters/experience with Will Shane (Will was an adult and probably had an embarrassing period himself, so Kord expects Eli will grow into it).
More really great establishing character in the CC fight here! We see that ghouls are really quite OP, which means our heroes aren't just underdogs, but every fight they win shows they are VERY skilled at slug slinging. We see Eli's trademark confidence on display again, and most importantly, we see that confidence comes from trusting the slugs and his team. He wins this fight by utilizing a flatulorhinkus and by totally sacrificing himself, relying on his team to make the winning shots.
Speak of which. . .Trixie, Kord, and Pronto threaten to open-fire their slugs on CC at point-blank range, which is a pretty normal position for the winners of a fight. In the show, this is almost universally met with surrender, but like. Are all duels technically to the death in Slugterra? If your opponent doesn't surrender, how unusual would it be to follow through on your threat and basically kill them from sheer force? Gonna have to keep an eye out for the general opinions on lethal methodology.
We can also see that Trixie is probably the most people-oriented member of the gang---she's been helping out and making videos through lots of caverns for a while. She's the one who's actually familiar with the residents of Slugterra (marked by her knowing who CC is well enough to feel betrayed). It doesn't come up much in the show, but I imagine Trixie has a reputation of her own that ISN'T related to Eli, and especially in the early days, I bet she's the thing that makes people trust him.
. . . Finding the Shane hideout can NOT have been that easy. Nobody except Pronto even touched it for like 5 years after Will disappeared, and it's implied he came upon it by accident and just decided to start squatting. Blakk TOTALLY would have ransacked it if he'd known where it was before. Either Blakk was hellbent on finding it so he could deal with Eli ASAP, or Eli is the most unsubtle person in the world. Given the number of practice duels Eli and Kord have on the front porch, I'm inclined to say it's the second one.
Kord and Trixie are good people who are bonded with their slugs and treat them with respect, but even they trade their slugs for gear with nary a second thought. It's so routine down here, they didn't even think to warn Eli beforehand and are straight up annoyed when he decides to go back on the deal. The mistreatment of slugs is FREAKISHLY normalized, and I have to wonder when that started happening. I'm SURE it wasn't always like this. Just how recently has this attitude developed? I think my key to figuring it out will be looking at the Shadow Clan lore, since their main reason for being so hostile is trying to protect the slugs and the caverns from the other thoughtless residents.
Love that Joules hasn't been with Eli for very long but is already remarkably powerful. It's little moments like these that make me buy every improbable fight Eli wins. Being bonded to your slugs really does accomplish THAT much. Even ignoring the kinds of crazy maneuvers he can pull off when he includes the slugs in the plan, it STILL gives them a sizable raw power boost.
Alright, it's been brought up before, but WHO decided to name the evil second-in-command "Diablos Nacho?" It's such a stupid name, but the worst part is that his voice actor put SO much sauce into the performance that he STILL seems menacing! Major credit to Brian Drummond, you did a lot with not very much!
Eli is SMART! And even a little genre savvy! We're only on episode 3 and he's already cottoned on to his main character priviliges. He knows he's Blakk's biggest problem right now and is already weaponizing it to demand the bad guys' attention.
Also, he asks one of these guys "Sooo, did you always wanna be a henchman or was it something you just kinda fell into?" Which. Eli, honey, you can't just call people henchmen to their face. You are so lucky Trixie and Kord weren't here, they would have made so much fun of you.
And Pronto pulls his weight by being able to tunnel! And through pretty thick material too. Why don't they use this skill more? Did Blakk start making everything out of industrial grade steel after this? Questions for the ages.
I forgot to mention it in episode 1, but Blakk personally manufactures the red cans for The Aesthetic. We see it here, too, with Joules. Like, we know dark water does turn the cans red, and it's entirely possible that just firing a ghouled slug can change the cans color, but Blakk is extra enough and committed to branding enough that he pre-makes the red ones. Fabulous villain behavior, I love it.
Blakk, menacingly walking towards Eli with a blaster: "Sons do have a way of repeating their father's mistakes," ALRIGHT SO THIS IS TO THE DEATH AND THAT'S JUST FRICKING NORMAL AROUND HERE! This is gonna be so much fun to watch now that I know death is technically a possibility in EVERY serious duel. I don't think the Shane Gang is ever PLANNING to kill (they're assuming most folks have self preservation instincts and will surrender, but barring that they could always just fire some arachnus slugs to tie them up). But it is not out of the question!
Joules and Burpy were absolutely the MVPs of this episode. Which is important for showing off the things you can pull off by treating them like friends and equals. But it's also just fun. I love how opinionated they are---Especially Burpy. He should hang out with Ash's Pikachu sometime, it would be hilarious chaos.
Slugterra Rewatch: The World Beneath Our Feet Part 2
Welcome back to my slugterra rewatch where I note random interesting details I found! Full spoiler warning in effect. This one's pretty dense so, buckle up!
Alright, so I don't like Pronto, but I'm going to make an effort to stay positive in these reviews. He and Eli took the dangerous route instead of the road and almost died 4 times, but they DID actually make it to the tournament, so this early on we can confirm that Pronto's tracking skills are actually functional even if his common sense is not. So he's not exactly pulling his weight right now but it could be worse (it will get worse).
SO, second episode is confirming my theory that Slugterra has an exagerrated level of lawlessness comparable to a post-apocalypse (or more like a post-post-apocalypse). We already know they don't care about safety from last time because they let Eli join the tournament at all, but here we introduced to Thresher slugs by seeing one of them CHOP OFF A TRAINING DUMMY'S HEAD, and Kord tells Eli to try not to DIE. We know from Maurice's dialogue that this is a random backwater tournament that happens all the freaking time. I genuinely love how messed up the implications of the setting get in children's media.
Fortunately for Eli, he's got exactly the right attitude to deal with this setting. Lava explodes almost right on top of him, and what's his reaction? "Okay, that was kinda scary, but kinda awesome!" His standard issue idiotic levels of courage are actually required for the plot and are usually going to be more of a help than a hindrance.
It's interesting to me that while most Slugterrans don't name their slugs and find Eli's habit of it weird, they are very clearly loving and bonded towards the little guys. This first rando Eli fights is deeply caring towards his thresher slug and looks genuinely heartbroken when he thinks they'll have to separate (and so does the slug). It's like Will Shane said---the slugs are the key to everything down there. The show regularly reinforces that genuinely loving your slugs is the natural way of the world and makes everything work better. This key principle is what makes Twist so freaky when he shows up.
There's an early King of Sling cameo in this episode! It's gonna be so fun to see how much Trixie grows in skill as the show goes on and how much her early opponent DOESN'T. We can also immediately see Trixie using her three favorite slugs to win---An arachnus, a tormato (Bluster! <3), and a rammstone.
Awww! They had such a cute little dnd party "share your character motivation" bonding moment here! I love that they all have different reasons for sticking together and doing what they do. It creates a really fun dynamic. Kord's in it for fun, Trixie and Eli are in it to help people because it's the right thing to do, and Pronto apparently just couldn't think of anything better (since he's basically in self-enforced exile, but that's a different episode).
The entire shadow clan encounter is a delight! In addition to just establishing them as a thing that exists since they're a pretty load-bearing element of the plot and worldbuilding, it's fun seeing how different this early encounter is compared to later. Eli doesn't consider them dangerous at all until they have him cornered, but he'll maintain a healthy amount of respect and caution for them in the future (this incident may have contributed).
Kord has no idea whether they should run in and try to rescue their idiot protagonist, but they'll quickly learn that yeah, this maneuver is standard for Eli. Because he is a numbskull teenager with no frontal lobe. Trixie is completely flabbergasted and tells Eli "Your dad was WILL SHANE! You? You're just crazy!" Which totally hits him where it hurts, but she doesn't know that yet.
Speak of which, Will apparently didn't tell Eli that the shadow clan are super territorial, don't trust slugterrans, and are plenty dangerous when they want to be. Which could have been an oversight, but I think it was on purpose. The shadow clan have an extremely negative reputation in the 99 caverns and I think he wanted Eli to be as free of that bias as possible so that he would be willing to work with them, trust them, and treat them as allies right out the gate. Which worked! Will definitely gave Eli a rose-tinted view of Slugterra, but I think that optimistic outlook works in his favor more often than not. Eli might be naive, but he's also so hopeful and determined that he inspires literally everyone else he meets.
I love me a good gilligan cut! Right from Eli asking "what's the worst that could happen" to them getting clobbered! Great for comedy. Anyway, more disturbing implications for my "The 99 caverns are comparable to a post-apocalypse," the Powers Triplets have apparently been training together SINCE THEY WERE BORN? EXCUSE ME? Apparently, training gunfighters with a gimmick from birth is just a thing that happens down here. That's so messed up, I love it.
We also see Eli's natural leadership skills on display! Every team leader, real or fictional, needs to have a source of charisma that makes people want to follow them, otherwise they won't be very good at it. Eli's charisma is this casual, unobtrusive confidence. He very seldom doubts himself, and he doubts his teammates and his slugs even less. Somebody having that kind of confidence in you makes them easy to follow. Which he demonstrates very well when he immediately makes a plan and fully trusts Trixie, Kord, and Banger to pull it off (and it works)!
I don't think Kord knows what a high-five is. I love these little moments where Eli Does A Weird Surface Thing and everyone else just looks on in confusion. I needed so many more of them. I love when big secrects between the cast does stuff like that, it's my bread and butter. Nothing that threatens the sanctity of the secret, but little things that makes everyone else go "what is their deal?!"
So the main form of transportation in Slugterra is high speed magnet rail, which firmly establishes this as a slightly high tech setting despite the Lawless Wild West vibes. We also learn that some form of capitalism is still intact because Blakk owns the only train and it gives him effectively infinite money, which is pretty standard fare for the Big Bad. However, this does beg the question of where the Shane Gang is getting their money, since none of them appear to be employed. My current theory is Trixie gets some small revenue from her videos and Kord picks some up from doing comissions on other people's mecha beasts, but that scavenging/foraging is really standard for Slugterrans and is how most slingers cover their necessities.
I think it's interesting that Blakk is very clearly projecting his hatred of Will onto Eli. Which does make sense---Eli is very much his father's son, with similar goals and the same ideology on life, and the same unwillingness to let Blakk create ghouls and destroy the caverns. But you can tell from the first moment Eli repeats his father's words, that Blakk isn't seeing a 15 year old kid who is his own person, he's seeing his old rival and is going to treat Eli like a replacement for Will. This is especially interesting because a lot of people like Dana Por do exactly the same thing, and they're basically always wrong.
Eli's comment about how nobody handed him anything and his dad has been gone a long time breaks my heart a bit. Poor kid has already been through SO much, which makes his easygoing and fun-loving nature all the more impressive.
I think it's so important that as much as Will loved Slugterra, he loved Eli more and made it abundantly clear that all of this is his choice---he firmly stated that he'll be proud of Eli no matter what he decides to do, on Slugterra or on the surface, or otherwise. He loves his son and knows he raised him right, and it makes Eli feel like a hero doing this because he genuinely wants to do good instead of someone with a family obligation. Let's hear it for awesome dad Will Shane.
I think I'm gonna be keeping a Burpy loss counter, because we all know he's one of the most powerful slugs, but he's not unbeatable and I think it's gonna be interesting to keep track of!
Slugterra Rewatch: The World Beneath Our Feet Part 1
Welcome to my Slugterra Rewatch, where I will be noting interesting details, usually without pictures because that's exhausting. Full Spoiler Warning in Effect!
Ah the nostalgia!!!! I remember the first time I watched this show, I was around 11 or 12 years old, and my brother turned it on and I was totally caught by the adorable slugs and the banger theme music!
The soundtrack in here seriously goes hard. Nothing says "we're here for a good time, not a long time" like funky synth and a sick guitar
And here we establish that slugterra is a show where if there isn't a body, then they didn't die! I might have been shocked by Will's return the first time I watched this show, but they knew EXACTLY what they were doing in that first scene.
I love that the Shane color is orange. People hate on orange too much. Justice for one of my two favorite colors! I genuinely think it contributes to the really unique color setting of the world---the backgrounds can all be soft blues and greens and purples and provide high contrast to our protagonist.
They did SUCH a good job of stylizing slugs to make them cute without making it feel like anything other than a slug. The biggest thing they did was definitely moving the eyes off the stalks and onto the head and then making them nice and huge for expressiveness and Mascot Cuteness Charm TM. Having them stand upright also helps significantly, but the squishiness of their animation and the wet slapping sound effects still sell that this is a gooey invertebrate.
Pronto isn't too annoying in this first episode because Eli knows literally nothing, so any help is welcome. But he will quickly become downright painful to watch. One of the dangers of watching kids media as an adult. For now, his supportive presence actually makes him quite welcome.
Eli is soooooooo 15 years old. Yes, people will absolutely respect you because your family has historically been peacekeepers even if you are short, inexperienced, can't prove your identity, and there's been nobody enforcing that reputation for 5 years. Go stop that criminal, absolutely nothing wrong with this plan. Eli's a smart kid, but he is still a kid which means he's an idiot a lot of the time and I love him for it.
Kord is actually adorable. I love how immediately hyped he is to be besties with Eli. He's also EXACTLY the right teacher for him, because Eli learns best through fun and on the fly, which Kord 100% facilitates in their practice duel.
Trixie is also the coolest character in slugterra and I will not be taking feedback at this time. Kid who hated to see her home overrun by criminals and bullies, so she put her nose to the grindstone and became not just a journalist, but also a talented gun fighter with encyclopedic knowledge of slugs, and then immediately threw in her lot with the untested protector of the caverns because she recognized his heart and believed in his cause. She's so freaking cool.
All in all, excellent establishing character moments for all our main cast right out the gate! Pronto is clingy, somewhat incompetent, and totally full of himself, but is very loyal to Eli for giving him a shot. Trixie is extremely intelligent and observant, as well as a great shot AND a great judge of character who's always willing to stick her neck out for someone in need of help. Kord is big and fun-loving and enthusiastic, and is super pumped to have friends. Eli is smart, scrappy, resourceful, and talented, but is also inexperienced and terminally 15.
I love that Slugterra just does not freaking care about safety in any sense of the word. "Yeah, let's open a slug-slinging tournament that we'll let completely inexperienced children enter and have them fight against grown adults over a pit of lava! Nothing will go wrong! And if it does it's not our fault!" No wonder they need a Shane, there's no legal system or law enforcement to speak of! Also, no wonder they have to be kept separate from the surface. That kind of cultural clash would get really ugly really quick even WITHOUT the intelligent miniature nukes.
A great start to a great series! See ya'll in the next one!
