Skip to main content

Nighthood

A huge part of my childhood was spent watching cartoons on the TV. Some of the more memorable shows include The Uncanny X-Men, Batman: The Animated Series, Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, Voltron, and of course, The Visionaries.

Who could forget the Visionaries?

But I digress. One of the best parts of growing up during the 80’s and the 90’s was the fact that quality cartoons were produced during that era (some of them were even developed here in the Philippines!). I don’t know what my generation’d be like if we didn’t have the regular Friday and Saturday morning shows to look forward to. Back then, we kids didn’t have access to cable and Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon was only a two-hour slot on (I think) RPN 9. We didn’t have the luxury of wall-to-wall cartoons, and we had to content ourselves with what we got.

And, truth be told, we were generally pretty happy with what we did get. Ain’t that right, fellow 80’s kids?

Nighthood’s a gem that very few Filipinos know (or remember) from the golden age of Saturday morning cartoons. When you start talking about Lupin these days, you usually either talk about Maurice LeBlanc’s character, or the anime spun off from the aforementioned property, Lupin III. I generally don’t have anything against the former, and the latter is like white noise filling up the gaps between Arsene Lupin and Sherlock Holmes. What I don’t get is why very few people remember that, for a short period of time, Arsene Lupin, the most critically-acclaimed gentleman thief who is said to rival Holmes in both intellect, and bedside manner, was immortalized in a short-lived but nonetheless impressive Saturday morning (or Friday evening, as it were) cartoon?

The series, if you look at it closely, resembles the lines and grittiness that the Batman: TAS was known for. Except that where the solid polygons on Bruce Wayne finished, the wispy, Alfons Mucha-esque lines on Arsene Lupin began. If you watch Lupin closely as he emerges from the shadows, monocle first, you’d see hints of anime and Batman; I’d even go as far as to say that for a French-produced series, Nighthood featured a lot of salient qualities that, despite the poor quality of technology back then, made Saturday morning cartoons worth watching.

What were these qualities? Good pacing, a decent storyline, and characters that you could really get into. Those are some things that we rarely encounter in cartoons these days. And I can’t help but feel that my nieces, my nephews, and my future kids (if any) are missing out on something that made my generation extra special.

Or I could be waxing whimsical here. It doesn’t matter. I could say, with utmost certainty, that my cartoons were awesome, and I believe that Nighthood was a good example of what the TV had to offer back when I was a kid.

Comments

  1. i loved "visionaries!" and i remember that was tagalized back then, too. haha!

    they're like medieval-modern-carebear-shapeshifters! :P

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. that previous comment was supposed to be mine. lol.

    it went something like this:

    medieval modern care...wut?

    haha, that's the zaniest description for the visionaries i've ever read. i love it!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maynilad Water Chronicles: The Clusterf$%#, Part 2

This is the third post in our Maynilad Water chronicles. This time, we will talk about just how inept their record keeping skills are in the face of a massive overhaul in a given area. This involves a technique used by Meralco in high-risk areas called clustering, and is efficient – if utilized correctly. Needless to say, Maynilad has yet to be able to do this.

Clarity in Three Parts

i Maraming beses na kitang nilayasan Iniwanan at iba ang pinuntahan Parang babaeng mahirap talagang malimutan Ikaw lamang ang aking laging binabalikan Manila, Manila I keep coming back to Manila Simply no place like Manila Manila, I'm coming home I walked the streets of San Francisco I've tried the rides in Disneyland Dated a million girls in Sydney Somehow I feel like I don't belong Hinahanap-hanap kita Manila Ang ingay mong kay sarap sa tenga Mga Jeepney mong nagliliparan Mga babae mong naggagandahan Take me back in your arms Manila And promise me you'll never let go Promise me you'll never let go Manila, Manila Miss you like hell, Manila No place in the world like Manila I'm coming here to stay ii. Too, uh, cheesy to mention. Check the lyrics here . iii. I've been drunk or inebriated every day of this week since Saturday last week; since I'm holding an inuman party

Manila Series: Parks of Manila

The other day, I read the post of a friend who was ranting about how Manila can only be beautiful when seen from a specific light. I could understand what he means, because Manila is the center of traffic in the NCR. The poor are here in full force, the most corrupt policemen are here, and honestly, there is no discipline whatsoever. But here’s something that I’ve discovered. You walk Manila. You don't drive it. It isn't the most walkable city in the world, but what can be seen when you do walk it is fantastic. And when you walk around the city, you don’t encounter the corrupt cops (because they’re going after the drivers), you don’t deal with traffic. You can’t do anything about the poor, though. Unless they’re doing something productive, and not just begging, I avoid them. If they’re cleaning up trash, or something similar, then I give them cash.