Embracing the Dark Side

I enjoyed the new Clone Wars animated series Benedict showed me so much that I couldn’t help it: I bought a few Revenge of the Sith action figures when I saw them at the mall this afternoon. I have General Grievous, Emperor Palpatine (with lightsabre), Shaak Ti, and Mace Windu. The Jedi-killing General Grievous can hold four lightsabers at once (theoretically, he can hold five… if you watch it ‘til the end, you’ll know what I mean). I also love Shaak Ti! She is one ass-kicking Jedi. Anyway, the toys aren’t as articulate or sturdy as any of the superhero/fantasy action figure lines today, but they’re just as damn expensive. And yeah, I’m weak, so I bought a few anyway. I still have some of the worn-out figures from the eighties, which were really popular with collectors back when the original trilogy was released in the country. They really look like relics now compared to their improved counterparts. I remember nagging my mom periodically to buy me Return of the Jedi toys, which were selling at an expensive 29 pesos each back then at Mini Dau in Parañaque. But they were worth it for me; I had fun recreating scenes and making up new ones with the characters that I had. And yes, these days, I'm still the toy geek. I open my toys and play with them (I don't do sound effects and battle scenes all afternoon anymore, though), and later display them in my humble, dust-gathering toy shelf.

Back to the cartoons: Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars is airing this week over Cartoon Network Asia, I think. The five remaining chapters are longer per installment (slightly over ten minutes each), and it focuses on Anakin’s Skywalker’s recent acceptance to Jedi Knighthood. It leads directly to Episode III: Revenge of the Sith next month. The action scenes are, to quote Anakin in Chapter 21, “Impressive. Most impressive!”. The young Jedi’s ominous vision in the final chapter was also nicely done. I like how Anakin looked with the temporary blue tatoos. The distracting thing about this shirtless look, though, as Benedict also pointed out, is Anakin's armpit hair. Weird-looking brown tufts, they were.