[[ Jackie Chan Adventures has a 25th anniversary coming up in a few weeks on September 9th. I wanted to share a fun little challenge with the fandom if anyone is interested. The challenge starts the 9th and you do one topic for that day and each day after, which would basically lead up to 31 different show related topics. I did something similar many years ago, but I wanted to revamp it in honor of the upcoming special occasion. Feel free to share and tag so others can follow! ^^ ]]
Day 1 – Favorite protagonist
Day 2 – Least favorite protagonist
Day 3 – Favorite antagonist
Day 4 – Least favorite antagonist
Day 5 – Underrated character
Day 6 – How did you come across Jackie Chan Adventures?
Day 7 – Favorite episode
Day 8 – Least favorite episode
Day 9 – Favorite pairing
Day 10 – Name your favorite JCA references to the real Jackie Chan
Day 11 – Favorite season
Day 12 – Least favorite season
Day 13 – What you like about the show
Day 14 – Saddest moment
Day 15 – Funniest moment
Day 16 – Any criticisms, dislikes?
Day 17 – Favorite talisman
Day 18 – Least favorite talisman
Day 19 – What would you add and/or change?
Day 20 – Best fight scene
Day 21 – Favorite Shadowkhan tribe
Day 22 – Least favorite Shadowkhan tribe
Day 23 – Best magic scene
Day 24 – Favorite mythological character/creature from the show
Day 25 – Favorite demon chi
Day 26 – Least favorite demon chi
Day 27 – Favorite artifact
Day 28 – What is your Chinese Zodiac sign? What would you do if you had that sign's power?
Day 29 – Memorable quote
Day 30 – How would you spend a day with the characters?
Day 31 – If you were in the world of JCA, what would you want to be? Why?
If Shen Du has a million haters, I am one of them.
If he has one hater, it is I.
If he has zero haters, I have died.
If the world is against Shen Du, I am with the world.
And if the world is for Shen Du, I am against the world.
I understand Shen Du is a villain and us as the audience aren't meant to like him. But I don't care about all that, Shen Du's overrated. Get this demon off my screen! I don't trust him!
He's my least favorite Demon Sorcerer and least favorite demon in the show. Never really liked him or cared much for him. I was happy every time he didn't get a talisman in season 1 and in season 2 when he got bullied all the time by his siblings. I was also happy when he only got 2 seconds of freedom in J2 just to be put right back into stone. I was cheering on Drago when he was laying hands on his dad in the series finale! Too bad Tarakudo didn't get the chance to jump in too, since he stole part of the ability to summon Shadowkhan while Tarakudo and his kin were in masks.
All funny stuff aside, I really don't hate Shen Du. I just find his siblings and other magical characters to be more interesting. But somehow, someway this guy has to make his presence known in every season. And I get it, since the entirety of the show started with him, so I can give him credit with that. But I can't help but be an unashamed Shen Du hater. MAY HE NEVER KNOW PEACE
here we go, another long list. A good portion of it can be rambling bc I have a lotta ideas, okay
Add:
Darker elements for the show. They don't have to be super dark, but darker than what was already established.
More morally grey Jackie moments. I want to see him when he's sometimes not in the right
More female characters in the show. Villains especially.
More Viper
More... development for Tarakudo and the Oni? If that's even a good way to describe this.
More development on Drago too.
Beef between Tarakudo and Shen Du. It's only right for Tarakudo to get his lick back.
Hmm... I actually want to see more of Chi Master Fong, or what Uncle's training was like back in the day? How was Uncle's journey in being a chi wizard? I actually liked listening to Uncle's backstory every once in a while when it came around.
More episodes for season 4, maybe some fillers related to the arc.
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I'd actually like to see more of Jade's parents. Like since the J-Team visited them in Hong Kong, they decide to come to America to see her and all hell breaks loose!
I'm curious to see more ideas of Captain Black working to expand Section 13 to develop stronger methods on taking on magic.
I'd add in Mama Tohru more to season 4. It'd be good for her to at least be a prominent player one time, especially because she's Japanese AND she was the one who told Tohru about tales of the Oni. Given that she didn't have a complete mental breakdown at the sight of the Dark Chi Warriors, being invisible, her son helping out Santa, etc., this season could've been a key moment for her.
You're telling me Uncle was struggling with Japanese and Tohru wouldn't have secretly went behind Uncle's back to ask his mom for help, much to Uncle's chagrin? Despite them near hating each other, they actually work really well with each other when they're focusing on the same goals. So if the goal was to find an Oni mask, take down Ratso and the Razorkhan, or even just to get more knowledge of the Oni and Tarakudo legends, she's literally your guide.
Change:
All of the Monkey King episodes would be more formulated towards the Journey of the West tale and/or characters. I'd change his introduction episode to explain his origins and WHY he was reduced to a puppet. Like either MK became too much of a menace, MK became corrupted by dark chi and this was Buddha's last resort to restrain him. There's a lot of opportunity here.
EVEN BETTER: He isn't the real Sun Wukong, but the Six-Eared Macaque, who's by Chinese legend SW's evil twin, whose more of a demon who wants to take the real SW's place and wreak havoc everywhere. This would prompt the real SW, along with Tang Monk Tang, Zhu the Pig, Sha the Sand, and the Dragon Horse to show up, team up with the Chans, and everyone saves the day.
The ending of the first J2. A part of me feels like I'd maybe have Drago escape from being captured, another part of me would have Drago be seen somewhere inbetween J2's ending and Ninja Twilight.
Season 4's finale. I'd make it into a 2-parter, the first episode where the last mask is discovered, someone puts it on, the Shadowkhan come out, you know the drill. By this episode's end, the mask is reclaimed by the Chans and saved in S.13 with the rest of the masks. At that point, then the masks break, the souls of the Oni generals come out. Then the following episode is wrapping stuff up while Tarakudo gets stronger since he's already in his full body form.
(also, Shen Du and Drago are IN SECTION 13 while that takeover was happening. So throw them in the mix a bit)
The show got me more interested in Chinese mythology, so I'd throw in more episodes, filler or not, about Lo Pei and the Eight Immortals.
Hmm, is it crazy if I'd say I'd change the Agent Tag episode and remake it into a more Rush Hour-based episode? The first 2 movies had already been out before the show premiered and were already super popular at this time. Would've been a great episode and an addition to the J-Team (ofc you make it for a fam-friendly audience)
Capt. Black pairs Jackie up with another agent (like a female black agent named Carter) to take down a magical threat. They both don't really like each other like that at first, but they learn later on that they're actually more similar and start getting along. Maybe Jade tags along in the mission and somehow complicates things, so now Jackie and Carter really gotta get down to stop the bad guys, save the day and the world, and now they're cool. Bonus if Carter gets initiated into the J-Team for her bravery and knowledge of magic.
J2 Revisited? Don't have much ideas for them.
Change Drago's introduction to maybe season 3's finale
Maybe tweaking a bit of Attack of the J-Clones, where instead Chang and Wong team up to destroy the J-Team and their reputation by manufactoring the J-Clones to do crimes. @artbyoddity mentioned it just recently and it gave me an idea to expand on
El Toro and Paco remain as my least favorite protagonists. It's not that I hate them or even I generally dislike them. When they are present in the J-Team episodes, they definitely help get the job done of beating the criminal/magical threat of the week. I just like them the least because they sometimes annoy me.
Paco can be extremely petty at times, like arguing with Jade about why El Toro is the greatest. Like okay, we get it, El Toro is the greatest, he's very awesome. Now can we please focus on the task at hand now? There's a demon that needs to be put down. He's cute, don't get me wrong. But his focus can get divided at the most unnecessary times. Like in the Halloween episode where he was upset about possibly being defeated in a scary mask contest he took the Oni mask from Jackie's desk to wear in the contest. A part of me wants to give Paco a bit of grace considering that he's still a child and is bound to have many immature moments, just like Jade does. But I can't help but get irked when he starts being silly.
I've always felt the least amount for El Toro in the J-Team. I don't like that his running gag is somehow getting in Jackie's way to get hurt every time there's some group melee going down. This guy either lacks situational awareness, or he secretly has something in it against Jackie. I dunno. It may have been funny a few times, but how can it be every time Jackie is catching strays while trying to focus on his own plate of mooks? I'm always a mix of whether I should laugh or shake my head. Again, I don't hate or dislike El Toro. He has his funny moments and has had some development in the series like in his debut episodes and the Halloween special. Maybe the best word to describe how I feel for him is tolerance? I like El Toro enough that he is loyal to Jackie whenever the latter gets overwhelmed by fighting the forces of darkness. But I don't feel as much for him like I do other protagonists.
[[ Alrighty! You know what time it is! JCA birthday!! It's been 25 years, a quarter of a century, that the first episode debuted on Kids WB and continued on for a solid 5 years. I say very commendable for a show in its time then. Here I am to celebrate this special occasion by kicking off the 1st day of the 31 Days of JCA challenge. Wish me luck to go through each prompt! ]]
The Chan Clan
Uncle is such a wild card with so many elements and personality to him. His first scene on the show is him with wide open arms to Jackie like he's this loving elder, only to reprimand Jackie for not giving him coffee! Talk about a bait and switch. And to see he's a man of such creative arts, like being in the Chinese theatre when he was younger! I won't lie when I say at first, I didn't think I'd really warm up to him because of how he always seemed cranky and he'd be giving other characters a hard time. But in time, I could see how Uncle is so loyal to his family and to the greater cause of restoring balance to the world, especially in the magic-knowing areas.
Tohru is the best, man. From the start of the show when he was a mook for Valmont and Shen Du to graduating to a full chi wizard by the end, Tohru has been through so much and has come such a long way. The writers put a lot of thought and process into him because his development is something I didn't expect at all. The development didn't just stop at Tohru turning a new leaf to become a good guy, he had to earn Uncle's trust and be tested so many times whenever the next magical threat came knocking. Then, there were many times where he was presented with the idea to turn his back on the Chans and become a villain again, but Tohru rejected those ideas each and every time because he wanted better for himself. There's one post someone made on Twitter some time ago where it was sort of comparing Tohru's journey to Zuko's from ATLA. Everyone needs a Tohru in their life, immensly the biggest loyal friend to the end.
Between both Uncle and Tohru, I love their master-protege dynamic, which I've thought sometimes could almost be seen like father-son? Or maybe like uncle-nephew? Either way, their bond is truly a heartwarming one so I was a little sad at them fighting in the Demon Behind episode, or like when Uncle felt disappointed that Tohru's life was about to be thrown away to be a criminal again in Glove Story, or even when Tohru lost his memory in Tohru Who?. I love them so much
Jackie may have some flaws and annoying bits here and there, but I feel that's what makes him a pretty well-rounded character. Very much a "do no harm, take no shit" altogether, which I feel is a solid way to life life. He's thoughtful, naive, protective, responsible, and worrisome. A healthy mix of an individual. Quick to think first, quick to react later. There's not many people in life who can advocate against violence, yet have the power to take down so many people in one go. I'd like an uncle like Jackie in my life; even if he's not right all the time, at least he's trying his best.
Jade is what every 11/12 year old lowkey aspires to be. Well, maybe that's just me. Jade has so much courage and fight in her that it's not all too surprising that one of her future selves grew up to be the head of Section 13. Even though Jade has a lot of flaws like being impatient and rushing into things headfirst without asking questions and stopping to think, I'll never knock her for having heart to do the right thing when the right thing needs to be done. I think she'd be a cool friend to hang out with, especially knowing that she'd literally fight the world just to have your back.
I went over the four horsemen of JCA. Literally never a dull moment when they're on the screen.
cracks knuckles Okay, let's get to it. If you've been following me for some time on this blog, I'm sure you will know some of what I'm going to say since I've discussed it on here before.
There aren't as many prominent women/female characters around. Jade and Viper seem to make up like a majority of the girls and women on the main protagonist's side. Both Jade's mother and Tohru's mother only go by those terms in the show, they don't actually have real first names to go by. Simone, Abila, Xu Lin are other girl characters from some of the fillers. Then Bai Tza, Po Kong, Vanessa Barone are some of the more prominent female antagonists I can recall off the top of my head. I wish there were more female characters, especially for the villains. More female wizards/witches, more female demons, more female villains.
The shots of the Eight Immortals when they defeated the Demon Sorcerers in The J-Team are mostly incorrect. The only one I believe that looks to be right is the Hung Guolao (the old guy w/ the scroll wearing red and yellow) with Po Kong. All the other Immortals don't have the correct pairing. It's so confusing and it's kind of a nitpick of mine, since I now am able to recognize who's who since they are based off real Chinese mythological figures. Some of them are even holding their official symbols too, like Lu Dongbin holding the sword for Xiao Fung, even though the Immortal __ who defeated him is literally holding a fan for someone else.
I remember having a conversation with a Chinese fan who was able to explain to me how some Chinese cultural aspects of the show weren't correct, like the Yin/Yang simplification or Monkey King's flanderization were off. Sometimes, even names like Xiao Fung, Tchang Zu, Shen Du's treasure from Qin Shu Huang was mispronounced. The last bit may be more of a nitpick tho, but still.
I didn't like how seasons 3 and 5 felt like almost exact repeats of seasons 1 and 2, where the focus went from finding the talismans to finding the talisman-powered animals and from finding the DS portals to finding the DS chi. I would've liked the seasons more if extra information was added to what we knew already, which could raise the stakes of the seasons and/or make it worth engaging with. That's what made season 4 special. Like yes, we have seen the Shadowkhan so many times before, but did we know they have their own origin outside of just being shadow henchmen? Give us something more than just the animals having the talisman abilities or that a piece of the Demon Sorcerers' chis are left behind with the Immortal who defeated them. What about the Immortals themselves, did they know about this?
Season 4 was too short for comfort. There should have been some "fillers" where they're not quite so, but they're still important to the seasonal arc, ie. Queen of the Shadowkhan or Warrior Incarnate. Call me an instigator, but I want to see the Oni jumping Shen Du while he was in Section 13. Maybe Drago too, idk.
All the season finales should've been a two-parter type of thing, but Ninja Twilight deserved that the most since I feel the pacing of the episode was a bit fast for my liking. In the beginning of the episode, the last mask gets discovered and by the episode's end (which is also the season finale), everything gets wrapped up. How? There's no way you guys wrapped up the last Oni mask, a near world takeover, and wrapped up Tarakudo within 24 hours. We didn't even get to go over the last mask or any other details of the Oni, Shadowkhan, or anything.
I feel the show should've given some background for Jackie and maybe some development for him too. He was somewhat stagnant through the show. I guess a part of me is sort of okay with this, since Jackie's not usurping time away from the other characters. It's easier to expand on others like Jade, Tohru, Uncle since they are fictionally based on people JC knows in real life. But I feel outside of the action department, Jackie didn't have as many personal growth moments as I would've liked. Like most, if not, all of the protagonists had villainous/villain-like moments. Captain Black had a mask, Viper was a thief, Paco had an Oni mask, Jade had several, Uncle was a chi vampire, Tohru was a criminal. The deepest Jackie has gone to the dark side was his Yin self and him being briefly possesed by Shen Du, which doesn't count because that's a half of his real self. Give me some villainous Jackie!
Season 5's intro was criminally short since they used the outro song for also the intro. Like why?
Drago was introduced to the show a bit late. It almost feels like he was thrown in as a last-minute idea, which I feel kinda missed the mark on really making himself known in the show. Considering he is Shen Du's son and is a nephew to the other Demon Sorcerers and he came from the future, there are too many plotholes surrounding him and his being. Why wasn't he considered to be the noble dragon in season 3's finale? Where's Drago's mother? How old is he? Like if the Future!Jade left Drago in the past, where is that current Drago?
Seasons 4 and 5 deserved more episodes, maybe 16 or 17. I feel like what made season 1 shine the most is that adding those 3 out-of-place "fillers", there was more room to focus on the main season's plot while still having it's own episodal thing. I wouldn't loved that for the last 2 seasons as well, the villains deserved more screentime.
My definition of 'underrated' is 'underappreciated' or 'underutilized' mostly by the show's standards, maybe just a little bit of the fandom. Like they don't get enough respect, recognition, and/or screen time, and I wish they had more. It's all a subjective and a matter of opinion. For this day, I didn't have the characters in the title because there's quite a bit to go through. Walk with me here.
Viper is a founding member of the J-Team! So she should have more episodes where she's featured helping the Chans in episodes that aren't J-Team-centered, in both filler and the seasonal arc episodes. This should be automatic, no need for mention. She's already worked her way into legal good graces, we should see her get some time in to actually be a trusted J-Team member, you know?
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Lo Pei only had one episode, and I kinda wish he had more. Even if he was he just a statue, I thought it was good getting to know the man who lead the charge on turn Shen Du to stone and scattering the talismans to the many corners of the world. I'd love to know more about his journey as a Sacred Warrior from the Ling Dynasty and how he became a master of scroll magic. I also need to mention that he's one of the few characters in the show who know how to wield scroll magic? Just so cool all around
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Frank, Charlie, and Rocko have shown to be a bit troublesome, but kinda adorable too. I feel like if you're already a fan of the Enforcers, you can't help being a fan of the boys too. I really liked their back-and-forth with Jade, almost mirroring Jackie doing the same with the Enforcers. It was a bit sad that they aren't aware of their uncle's extensive criminal histories, but I think it's best that the Enforcers are the ones to be honest with their nephews about it. But yeah, I'd love to see them kinda form a friendship with Jade, which would put so much stress on the Enforcers and Jackie on the back end.
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Tarakudo and the Oni Generals are so underrated, IDC that they're the main villains of season 4. The fact that the show is able to expand on each of the Demon Sorcerer's names, personalities, and even their own voices whilst the Oni only have this with just Tarakudo and Ikazuki. There's so much I'd like to know about each Oni general individually and as a group other than who controls which Shadowkhan. What are their names? What happened that Tarakudo was reduced to being a telekinetic floating head? How did he and the other come to control Shadowkhan? Just so many questions that went unanswered. The disrespect
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Is it just me, or do I feel like Vanessa Barone had so much potential to be like a fold for Viper? A part of me is okay with Jackie and her going head-to-head since he doesn't like theives and people who don't hold the same respect forarchaeology ass he does, but I feel like Viper would be a better match for her. Remember how Black put Viper up with that cat thief guy in the J-Tots episode since they both share a criminal background? Yeah, Barone would've been good to see again in another filler standalone, this time maybe where she could be taken more seriously. That blink and miss moment in the season 5 where she teamed up with the other filler villains didn't feel thought out.
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Ohhh, Monkey King is eh to me, don't dislike him, but I'm not so fond of him either. I am aware of the real Chinese mythological lore in in the Journey to the West classic where the Monkey King (real name being Sun Wukong) is a trickster who has lots of positive and negative bits of personality that is kept in check by the Buddhist monk Tang as they, the Pig Demon, the Dragon Horse and Friar Sand travel together. (There are so many different Journey of the West tellings out there, I believe generally speaking he's supposed to be more on the heroic end as he saves Tang from a lot of villains on their travels. So if Monkey King is a full out villain in JCA, I have so many questions about his existence. Is he really the Sun Wukong, or someone with a very similar name? Where is Tang to keep this guy in check? Did the Monkey King abandon his journey and say "screw you" to Budda? How old is he? I wish his episodes were focused a bit more on that instead of just jokes.
Almost any Uncle-ism, from the 2-fingered slaps to "one more thing!"
His first time being introduced was the best! Had me and Jackie fooled by faking to be a loving old man to thwacking him on the head for not making him coffee.
Never. Mock. The cookie.
Yang!Jackie and Yin!Jackie are treasures in Tiger and the Pussycat, I tell you. Yang! does the chasing, the beating, and posing looking cool in Chow's stolen jacket while Ying!Jackie runs away from any sight of trouble.
Nearly everything after the characters landed in China in The J-Team was funny. The fight scene in the hotel, the J-Team bickering, and then when the J-Team was fighting with the Dark Hand.
The Demon Sorcerors going into an all-out brawl once they saw another chance to escape the Netherworld was a classic moment. Even they knew that it would turn out to that once the opportunity would present itself
The Chans accidentally imperonating each other in Chi of the Vampire was pretty funny. Jade's one of Uncle was probably the best, I need more of that please.
The first time Mama Tohru and Uncle argue in Mother of All Battles is hilarious, and literally every time they go back and forth is great too. I'm a lowkey instigator, i know…
Uncle: "'Too much garlic'! Uncle knew you were vampire!"
I'll never forget when Uncle was yelling at Yin/Yang Jackies about not having eel saliva and Yang! proceeds to tell him to 'pull his tongue out of his mouth and wring out the spit'. :D screaming, like damn Jackie that's how you feel?
Baby Jackie giving Tohru a wet willi
Every time Captain Black had to learn a hard lesson, magic must defeat magic.
Chi of the Vampire shenangians. Jade's version of Uncle was the best because I'm sure she's already had enough practice of it beforehand.
