Star vs. The Forces of Evil Review 2: "My New Wand / Ludo in the Wild" (SEASON 2 PREMIERE)

Star vs. The Forces of Evil is back!!
Our favorite Fish out of Water and her long-suffering, but-always-by-her-side Guide-- have retuned for more adventures, misadventures, laughs, loves and whatever else.

So, here's where we left off last season (it seems like I need the catch-up more since I'm so late with these reviews);

Star Butterfly is of royalty; she is princess of the the kingdom in the faraway land of Mewni. On her 14th birthday, she is given a powerful royal wand by her parents, King and Queen Butterfly. But because of her behavior (as shown earlier, she's hyper, rambunctious and headstrong. Plus she fights monsters...which as it stands now, is a horrible, disgusting custom to all Mewnians), mom and dad send her to Earth as a training ground to control her powers and aditude before retuning home. After enrolling at Echo Creek Academy, she meets Marco Diaz, who (by the school's Principal Skeeves) is giving the task of watching over Star and helping her learn Earth customs. But in their wake are a sinister ... and his group of minions ready to fight for her Wand and take over the kingdom, Mewni itself and possibly the entire dimension. But, as all of Season 1 proved, Star had a lot learn about Earth and everything about it, and -with Marco by her side- she took up to the challenge and largely succeded--a new family, new friends, a love interest, prom night with the ex, lotsa new memories and a newfound life away from home. But with two evil forces in the wings to take over her wand and power, it was a tense battle for power that lead up to the final episodes and the finale, where Toffee took Ludo's empire, throwing him and Buff Frog out of his Castle and taking his henchmen with him. And his diabolical plan to take her wand ended in a shocking twist: Toffee didn't want the wand, but wanted Star to destroy it. But that lead to an explosive end (to Toffee and the henchnen), a bittersweet Starco reunion and a much sweeter payoff in respect from King and Queen Butterfly. But another shocker came at the very end when the Wand is cleaved in half. Leaving Star with half her power...and someone else in Mewni with the other half.

Now that  Season 1 is done, let's start Season 2! And let's get the Review started with Episode 1!!

Let's re-kick it off with...

"My New Wand!"

In it:
"Star must learn how to free Marco from a magically locked closet without using her new wand"

This episode was a really good start to the season with Starco becoming more and more closer through discovery, slight betrayal and new acceptance.

Star's Wand is pretty new, while worse for wear, and everything in Echo Creek is back in normalsville. That is until the Wand starts acting strange (reasonable side effect of it losing half its power).

Seeing conflict between Star and Marco felt real and kinda heartbreaking. Especially when Marc tried to learn Star. If anyone read my diary and leaened of my secret personal thoughts, I'd be close to killing them...

Random Thoughts:
-While we don't know and won't know Star's secret, you have to admit for a moment it was juicy to think about.
-It's great to see StarFan13 again! Her appearance makes me smile because of hoe chummy the two have become, despite that back in late late season 1, she was stalking her. Which "she" stalking "her"? Both.

-Glossaryk is back too! Back when he first appeared, I immediately fell in love with him. Now, my lovr has blossomed. He's still hilarious, still entertaining and still worth watching in each episode he appears in. Also he got a new place to sleep in a new tower in Star's Expansion Pack Bedroom. A nice-as-Heck upgrade from the Spellbook.

Fave Lines:
"...I almost died." -Star
(I know, it's kinda dark. But the way she says that makes me chuckle every time. Like when I rewind and it comes up again, chuckley chuckle!)
""
"Stop eating my flesh!" -Marco
(See note under first quote)

Again, great start to the season, great conflict, great resolution and great expansion to the Expansion.

---

You know? We haven't seen Ludo since his home was destroyed, his henchmen gone, his second-in-command become a stay-at-home dad and his eternal replacement disintegrated. What's he been up to. We're gonna find out in...

"Ludo in the Wild"


To be honest, I've missed Ludo. It's truly entertaining to see him and his minions try to steal Star's wand...and fail every time. Lots of things about him are memorable to me--his evil-ish plans, his obsession with Star and her wand, his gruff old gravely voice, his attire, his ugly bird face, his Dark and Dreary Castle and his

So fortunately, this episode wastes no time catching us up on what he's been up to lately. And it was HI-larious!

Trapped in a void in time and space for a seemingly infinite amount of time, Ludo prepares for eternal damnation via the void (and an easy free look at the stars; maybe he might take a look at the stars! Maybe he might glace the Big Dipper!)

A reach for a bag of chips and a striking meteor lead Ludo into a large wooded area, where he is put into an unknown and compromising situation that he cannot fix without magic.

For those three months, Ludo fought hard to survive in the wilderness: and as you watch his progress, he becomes a different being. During that time (despite being the villain and wanting to root against him), you feel sorry for him and start to root for him to fight the elements and creatures to come out on top! (or at least less scathed and scared). And when he does, and cheer him on, wide-eyed and grinning ear-to-ear. Seeing him fight with his mind and his hands to redemption felt amazing, palpable and fulfilling. And again, this is the villain.

And speaking of Fight, Ludo's match with the spider was fucking awesome! The fight itself (which was for the bag of chips), the tense twists and turns were heavy and the result--with Ludo winning and turning thr spider from his adversary to his pet was satisfyingly great.

In those 3+ months for him (or 11 minutes for us), Ludo went from a crazed, ditsy diminutive villain wannabe with an obsession with a royal teenager's powerful instrument--to a brilliant, fearless, powerful diminutive warrior who conquered the elements and made the creatures his royal subjects.

At this point on, Ludo is now the king of his own kingdom...thst is until he sees Star, and almost all of this is undone. That is...until he finds...the missing half of the power of the Magic Wand.
HOLY SHIT.
And...he was, this whole time...in Mewni.
HOLY. SHIT.

This episode...was spectacular.

The animation (even in it's soft, smooth, candy-coated state) was darkly riveting, the voice acting (mostly, but especially from Ludo's actor Alan Tudyk) was top-notch, the execution was perfect, the use of transitional cards was genius (as you see the number of days pass, it feels like you're suffering with Ludo during his rise to the bottom), and right there as he slides his way back to the top as cock of the walk. All of this made for an entertaining 11 minutes.

The use of minimal music in this (and I'm talking original music; the use of "Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, No. 2" by Frédéric Chopin doesn't count; although it's in) was fantastic! The two songs fit the scenes perfectly and added tension, suspense, action and gravitas to  the scenes and episode itself. Shout-out to composer Brad Brees for the amazing music in the ep (along with the compositions in previous episodes). Such exceptional talent.

Fave Moments:
-Ludo's internal monologue
-Ludo's reaching for the chips
-Ludo's entrance into the Wild Dimension
-LUDO'S BIG FIGHT TO THE DEATH WITH THE SPIDER
-Ludo's progression from Wimp to Warrior
-Ludo finding the cleaved Wand half

I cannot wait until the next episode to see where this goes from here. I'm biting my lips in anticipation!

Random Thoughts:
-After Eagle Drop #3, when Ludo's egg shell shorts breaks, I thought for a second that he'd end up naked.

The revelation that he was wearing a diaper this whole time was hilarious.
-During the Day 37 scene, when Ludo got under the spider, I thought for a second that it'll turn into a kid-friendly version of THAT scene from The Revenent. You KNOW THAT scene.
-Honestly this episode was like, a kid-friendly version of Naked and Afraid. Except he's wearing a diaper, sooo...
-When the transitional cue cards came on, I just think of the iconic soundbyte from Law & Order or the beeping byte from 24. Makes them more exciting, don't you think?
-you know what? Maybe Dating Naked, because the spider... Or, All in the Family. And Ludo is...Archie.
-if put in Ludo's situation, I'd rather just let the spider just eat me, as I have nothing else to live for... (well, except... :) this blog, of course! Heh-heh...hehhh)

So Ludo has a long way before he gets his vengeance on Starco for...changing his life for the better...? Ehh, who knows.

Oh yeah, THIS EPISODE WAS BALLS-OUT AMAZING!! We got to see our three favorite characters start up again with new adventures but with the same attitudes and behaviors (with changes more or less).

Both were a great watch, but my favorite has to be "Ludo in the Wild". Everything about it was just stupendous.

-The episodes are written and directed fantastically by co-writers, co-directors and co-storyboard artists Dominic Bisignano and Aaron Hammersley (along with creator Daron Nefcy [story creator] and Evon Freeman [storyboard artist]). Shout-out to everyone for putting together such a fantastic (and fantastical) episode.

Also, Shout-out to the new animation companies taking over production this season: SUGARCUBE Animation and Rough Draft Korea. The animation I've seen in episodes so far look great. They're much smoother, more fluid, more easy on the eyes and sugary and peppery as the show itself. Also, the latter studio worked on Gravity Falls, so automatically that's a plus (another plus, look at for subtle nods toward GF later on in this season. They're good fun).

What's your thoughts on the episode and what's to come in this season from here on out? Lemme know in the comments section below.

And also good fun is this season so far. I can't wait to share my excitement with you guys, as much as you guys can't wait for me to actually post. AND, to be serious for a minute, I've said "I'm sorry" to you more times than Justin Bieber hasn't, but I really mean "I'm sorry" for not posting these reviews earlier. I hope to do all I can to make it up to you next month. So more reviews a week throughout October--Maybe three to four. Hope you'll enjoy them.

See you then. For now, I'm Andrew saying "Reach for the Star, and Keep Looking Up!...at your TV screen."

Regular Show is Ending

Everyone...One of Cartoon Network's best, brightest and most irreverent original series will shout one last "OOOOHHHH!". Regular Show is coming to an end.

As announced this morning, Cartoon Network has announced that a ninth season will not happen, making its upcoming eigth (premiering on the 26th) the final season.

And during the final season, the cast is making a major move. After seven seasons of hijinks and slacking at the park, they've moved to an even bigger locale: SPAAACE! Why? I don't know. Here"s a sneak peek from CN's YT channel to possibly explain.


After this clip, a few questions are asked from me:
-How did the park crew end up off Earth?
-What's the big button?
-What will the guys (and Eileen) do to get back home?
-Where's Thomas? (uhh, nevermind; I understand.)

Seems like taking advantage of it being the final season to change up everything for better or worse, but I don't mind it at all. And I'm pretty excited to see where the (animated) crew goes from here and where the (real life) crew takes this new direction.

Because in my opinion, I'm happy the series is ending. It started out great; an amazing plot, original relatable characters, brilliantly off-the-wall storylines, cool unexpected twists and turns and memorable moments to talk about hours after. If the tagline before the premiere to this series was "It's Anything But", you better take it seriously. And boy was it.

Then in later seasons, the spark kinda fizzled, with plots not as great, moments that left you scratching your head, and characterizations that left a bad taste in your mouth. There were some great episodes in the mix, but by then the show we knew and loved had changed. Over 250 episodes across 8 seasons will do that to ya.

I've watched on and off since it debuted in September 2010 (along with the pilot on YouTube), which is still as hilarious now as it was then) and I've made it one of my must-watch. Since then, it (along with Adenture Time with Finn and Jake) helped revive Cartoon Network back to a venerable destination for great, bold animated series. I wouldn't know where CN would've been without it, but I know where it is now with it, and I (as well as the rest of us) am eternally grateful to it for leading the way.
I'm gonna miss this Show a lot, but I'm cery happy to see it end the way the producers intended it.

So...a big thank you to creator and EP JG Quintel, the cast, the crew and Cartoon Network for this series, its awesome characters, memorable moments and everything else that made us all go "OOOHHHH!" and "GOOD SHOW!" and "MY MOM!" and "YOU'RE FIRED!" (errh, or maybe not that last one). Thank you all, and jolly good show.