Yes, I stole this topic idea from Icehawk. I fully admit to this.
Anyway, Netflix has added both of these shows to their watch instantly list. I've seen TAS before and loved it, I watched Evolution for awhile and never liked it as much. However, the critic in me makes me think that is probably more nostalgia that made me love the original despite its now apparent flaws, and never give Evolution a fair chance.
And so I decided to do a watchthrough of both and find out which one is really better. Then I remembered Icehawks great One Piece vs Naruto and Pokemon vs Yugioh topics and figured I would see if anyone is interested in this.
I'll get started on it this weekend, following Icehawks style of watching one episode of each and giving it them seperate write-ups and scores. Show with the higher rating for that episode gets a point and we will see which one comes out on topic.
To note: While I am a big fan of comics and X-men I am in no way and expert and will likely not get caught up on how things changed from the comics. At least not that much. I also enjoy criticizing and picking shows apart more than complimenting them, so expect a lot of nitpicking and overanalyzing.
I will try and be objective, but those darn nostalgia glasses will likely give TAS a slight edge.
Now to find out if anyone else actually cares.
-- (Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~ All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.
And to fully recapture watching the original TAS again, be sure to replay the one where they fall down the waterfall at least ten times through your watchthrough.
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"Oh my God MWIS. I just really want to ask, if this is a SMALL CYOA.... what in the name of holy blue christ is a big one?!" - ExTha
While I remember enjoying both, even as a kid the only thing Evolution had over TAS was Kitty Pryde. Aside from having a crush on her, I preferred TAS all the way.
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"I'm Commander Shepard, and you're standing in the biggest library in Citadel Space. Look me up."
I love Evolution. I went back and watched the entire series a couple years ago on Youtube/Hulu. I remember watching and liking some of TAS as a kid, but I never really got into it and kept up with the story. I caught an episode one night recently, and it seems dated.
Love this opening. The video is good and the song still rocks! Wait, why is Thunderbird on the Brotherhood side? Is he even in this show?
The episode starts with Sabertooth trashing a city and beating up a bunch of what appears to be motorcycle gang members. THe reporter states that "the perpetrator is believed to be a mutant?" Believed to be a mutant? Have you ever seen Sabertooth?
Anyway, then we are introduced to Jubilee and her parents. She is a mutant, they are upset, and she is now enroled in some government mutant program or something. And then a sentinel shows up and tries to crush their dog with its barehands. Clearly he is evil. Also, it is clearly just a coincidence that it showed up the same day as she is registered. But Jubilee has run off to the local arcade. Because when your ability fries electronics clearly an arcade is the place to go. Also, her sunglasses are ridiculous. And apparently the Sentinel can follow her footsteps through a crowded city sidewalk. I have no idea how that is supposed to work, so I'm just going to go with "cause he can".
We finally start to meet some X-men after Jubilee plows into and then yells at Rogue and Storm. Man, I remember liking Rogues voice, but it seemed really grating in that first sentence. Gambit however still has a great voice as he buys some cards and flirts with some random chick. Also, while Rogue and Storm are wearing normal clothes, Gambit is still in his ugly as sin uniform (with its awesome coat).
And we get the first Storm quote! God I love how ridiculously over the top her VA is, it is the best kind of cheesy. It's like she is a bad Shakespearean actress. She stands in the middle of the mall with lightning coming out of her hands and calls out "Storm, Mistress of the Elements, commands you to release that child!. For her, that's actually pretty tame. Rogue just looks at her like she is crazy (which she is) and tells here to stop the speeches. You can keep saying that Rogue, but it will never happen.
Wait, How do lightning bolts make Storms uniform appear? That makes 0 sense.
This dialogue is just amazingly cheesey. "How did you do that?" "With style"
The first fight scene is a good display of powers, ending with an OPTIC BLAST! beheading.
Oh good, Beast is here now. "It would be disconcerting if this were to detonate. Disconcerting, yet provactive". wtf...
Mikey! I love Mikey, and if I had his power I would probably use it much the same way. to imitate and mock the TV.
Man, the X mansion has terrible security.
I love that Gambit and Wolverine have their own training setting which is basically, 'throw obstacles at us as we try to kill each other' And then Jubilee owns him and everybody just starts laughing at him for it (totally deserved).
Oh man, Storm's VA is so terrible when she isn't doing over the top speeches. They totally make her character as over the top with showing off as you would expect from someone who makes those statements. She would have been an awesome goddess.
I love the Sentinal hiding by just standing next to a building. It's terrible, and yet somehow Jubilee doesn't notice when she runs right past it.
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"Hope is allowed to be stupid, unwise, and naive." ~Sir Chris
Xavier makes a mission to rescue Jubilee, sending a three man team of Morph, Beast, and Wolverince. Then we skip to the mission where the whole team is there. What happened to the three man team? You people are terrible at following orders. Oh wait, the rest of the crew just went to watch, except Storm who decides she is going to join after making her cloud cover.
"You will see them as well. As the mist rises" Sometimes it sounds like she is an RPG character casting a spell.
Apparently Beast's statement in his lab isn't unusual, he really does just randomly talk to himself out loud.
And then the episode ends as Morph jinxes everybody. "Looks like clear sailing from here". WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT!
Overall this was a fun start to the episode which did a good job of introducing a large number of characters, personalities, and info while still keeping the action going. And man those VAs. I'd forgotten how cheesy ALL of them are, but the dialogue is ridiculous enough that it actually works a lot of the time. This is a solid and enjoyable opening to a show and a two-parter
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"Hope is allowed to be stupid, unwise, and naive." ~Sir Chris
Wait, why is Thunderbird on the Brotherhood side? Is he even in this show?
I always figured it was some guy I didn't know who looked like Thunderbird, but according to Wikipedia it's supposed to be Thunderbird. Hm. He has a cameo in the show later on.
And a cookie for the person who can tell me who the hell that weird bald guy in the green suit is on the Brotherhood side in the opening sequence.
We start at a high school football, and I have to admit it is immediately visible that the animation is better. Though the weird style this show uses sometimes gets to me. Jean little runs onto the field to take pictures with her giant camera. You can't do that Jean. The team at mutant high is winning the football game, so much so that the coach lets a bunch of his players run off to go find Toad, who is pick pocketing. You know, this show makes a big point of how much Toad smells, but nobody notices this smell when he is pickpocketing?
Oh, a "sunglasses" at night joke against Cyke. Nice. Scott fights the QB, then Jean shows up and distracts him so that he gets his glasses punched off and blows up a concession stand. Woops. Definitely not starting off as cool as your TAS counterpart there Scott.
The opening video for this show is actually really good as well. The song isn't as good as the originals, but the video is honestly better. Though the whole thing kind of has a Buffy feel to it for me, which is kind of weird.
Xavier shows up to brainwash a cop into coming to the obvious conclusion. Are we supposed to think his first thought was "a mutant did it"? that seems unlikely, unless you guys have this happen that much.
Xavier's VA is way better in this series. Wolvie's is really similar. Overall they seem to be much better quality (thank god).
Man, Jean is a serious flirt in this show. She actually asks what "special gift" brought Nightcrawler here. Cause being blue, fuzzy, and having three fingers isn't enough?
We get introduced to Guidence Counselor Mystique who turns into a demon to intimidate people.
Kurt is really obsessed with his appearance and seems pretty insecure overall. I much prefer the regular, priest nightcrawler who has gotten over the appearance thing.
Wait, how can Xavier know who is calling? That isn't really something psychic power would do. Or maybe he's just using caller ID and Cyclops is a moron. I think I'm going to just assume the later. And apparently this cerebro can only sense someone when they use their powers. How does that thiing ever find people whose mutation is purely physical? Really, I don't get how it senses Toad just because he jumps.
Oh and this X mansion also has terrible security. Is it a bad thing that when Storm was sent out to challenge Toad I was kind of hoping for a redo of the "Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning" scene from the movie? Instead we quickly switch to Toad vs Nightcrawler. This is kind of a fun challenge, mostly because Nightcrawler can just toy with him him nobody else.
Wait, why did Xavier need to do this to find out if Toad has powers? I thought Cerebro already told you? Does it have a tendency to do false readings or something?
Oh god, I can't stand Toad's dialogue. It's just awkward.
Man, the defenses of the danger room can't even stop Toad and Kurt, even whn using "Everything its got". That's just sad. This room must bore the snot out of Wolverine.
Kurt to Jean:"You are an angel" "On occasion, how about you, are you demon?" Actually yes, he is. At least on his father's side.
Toad smartly gets the f out of there. And while no one has any issue with him running out, Nighcrawler leaving is apparently unacceptable.
Wolverine is back, and they establish that he and Xavier are old friends. With everyone else just being teens, that could actually be a very cool dynamic.
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"Hope is allowed to be stupid, unwise, and naive." ~Sir Chris
And now for the scene I can't stand in this episode. Prepare for a rant.
Mystique chews out Toad. We also establish that Xavier has not issue wiping out people's memory. Nice to see we are establishing that xavier isn't the pure good guy he pretends to be immediately.
But none of that is important. What is important is Magneto showing up. Here is the sum total of what he does: knocks over some bicycles, vibrates a few small objects off of Mystique's desk and then makes them float before chasing her with a bunch of paperclips. That's it. Yet it is all presented as if it is a frightening display of raw power. I mean is that really supposed to be intimidating? Casper the friendly ghost could duplicate all of that.
And then there is his character design, which was clearly made with Darth Vader in mind. You can't see anything but black inside his helmet except his glowing purple eyes. It is all meant to give him a very evil and almost inhuman look. Except that it also gives me the feeling that there is a 50% chance of him removing the helmet to reveal that he is a scrawny geeky kid with a voice changer who is trying to look cool and evil.
Here's what really annoys me though, he is clearly being put in that pure evil light. But that's not Magneto. I love Magneto, and one of the best things about him is that he isn't some super evil villain, he's closer to an anti hero who is fighting for what he believes in and trying to save the mutant race. He just disagrees with Xavier on what that means and how it should be done, and has a tendency to go way to far in accomplishing his goals. Ends justify the means and all that. I could go into this for awhile, but I will cut myself off here. But this first impression really annoys me as it presents a very different Magneto from the one I love.
Overall it is a solid episode that establishes a lot of what this show will be like. It is a little light on action and doesn't have the sense of humor of TAS. It does however have much better VA's, less ridiculous dialogue, and better animation. The character are solid and some of them seem like they will be very interesting. It's a good pilot.
X-men TAS vs Evolution Episode 1
It's not an easy choice. Neither show was amazing, but the were both still good. Evolution has much better production values and a more serious tone (despite having younger characters). TAS has a better sense of humor and a...let's call it a "unique style" that I did enjoy. From a character standpoint I definitely liked TAS's cast better. In the end this one will come down to one simple thing, which one was more enjoyable?
X-men TAS: 1 X-men Evolution: 0
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"Hope is allowed to be stupid, unwise, and naive." ~Sir Chris
Mr Lasastryke posted... Wait, why is Thunderbird on the Brotherhood side? Is he even in this show?
I always figured it was some guy I didn't know who looked like Thunderbird, but according to Wikipedia it's supposed to be Thunderbird. Hm. He has a cameo in the show later on.
And a cookie for the person who can tell me who the hell that weird bald guy in the green suit is on the Brotherhood side in the opening sequence.
*rewatches opening with pause button at the ready*
I...I have no idea. He reminds me of a Hulk villain.
EDIT: After a bit of digging this is the only thing I could find. It is a hulk villain though so I have no idea why he would be there.
Also, notice that the guy who looks like Thunderbird on the Brotherhood side could also be Warpath, as he looks exactly like Thunderbird and is known as the second Thunderbird. Not that that makes more sense as Warpath is also supposed to be a good guy, but yeah.
Kirby hands you a cookie (>^.^)>O </kawaiifan imitation>
I've always wondered who that guy was, it's awesome to finally have the answer! If I'm not mistaken, he has a few cameos in the series too.
As for him being a Hulk villain and it therefore not making sense that he's there - in the 90s Marvel cartoons, like the comics, all the characters share the same universe, and so anyone can appear everywhere. You'll see that there'll be more characters from non-X-related series in TAS later on.
If it helps with the Hulk villain thing, Captain America legitimately exists in the series beyond a few cameos. He and Wolverine are old war buddies or something. I know at that point it was a little more common to do crossovers, but still, it's not unheard of.
Captain America legitimately exists in the series beyond a few cameos. He and Wolverine are old war buddies or something.
Chris Claremont once wrote a story in Uncanny X-Men where Captain America and Wolverine were in World War II together. Perhaps they adapted that for Evolution, that'd be cool.
Of course the Claremont story was in contradiction with Secret Wars, where Cap also met Wolvie and they didn't know each other, but hey >_>
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“So we’ve cornered Andy and Kyle in the Swarts stairwell and then this guy comes out of NO WHERE like ****ing Batman or something.” ; ExTha is the man
Wolverine and the X-Men really did hold its own despite getting shut down for commercial issues. I felt it was probably the only series that portrayed a few of the well known characters(Kurt) properly. Evolution was a joke.
My god, Rogue’s metaphors are ridiculous. “You look like a long tailed cat in a furniture outlet” or something like that. Wtf?
I have no idea what Beast is saying a good chunk of the time, and I don’t care because he’s awesome.
Meanwhile is a derelict factory in Detroit Gyrich is questioning Jubilee. He states she will become a danger to everyone, clearly he doesn’t know what her powers are. Oh come on, you can not use Jubilee as an example of how difficult catching Mutants are.
Man this script is soooo corny. Only Gambits taunts are legitimately good. Maybe he can give some lessons to Rogue, because hers are terrible.
Stop jinxing everything Morph. Anyway, time for the famous start, Morph’s shocking death. It’s so out of nowhere and abrupt, especially considering this was a cartoon. I’m pretty sure I read that he was meant to stay dead as well, which is tragic. I still can’t believe this show went there so quickly. And watching the X-men’s very real reactions to everything is still powerful. Not something you typically get in shows like this, especially in episode 2.
Man, the Sentinels were actually really tough early on. And I love that when everything goes to hell Gambit is the one who initially takes over and gets everything turned around for them.
Nice animation blooper with Rogue’s bare hand being green like her sleeve. Oops. They don’t really go into how she gets people’s memories with her touch.
Ah, Beast in prison. The scenes that made me first love the character.
Whoa, female president.
I think this is the only cartoon where they actually make Wolverine short.
“People fear what they don’t understand”. Man, that is basically the “Great Power et…” line for X-men.
“This chicken’s going home to roost”. Oh Rogue. Really?
And Detroits economy was saved thanks to government funding of Sentinels. Oh wait, they are taking it overseas now. Probably to Japan, they know how to make giant fighting robots.
“Jubilee! Duck!” And then Cyclops fires 20 feet above her head. She was down at the sentinels feet Scott, did you really think you might hit her while aiming for her head?
I love how they just play the opening song whenever they have a big fight scene. I guess they can save money buy only paying for one song. Not that they are spending much on animation or voice acting (Cyclops has voiced at least two characters in this episode).
I summon the power of Thunder and Lightning” Come on Storm step it up! Even your overdramatic tone can’t make that line all that impressive.
And we end with Jubilee arriving at the mansion and Cyclops questioning his leadership and decision to abandon Morph and Beast.
A good follow up to the premier. Some serious issues brought up, especially with Morph’s death. The characters different styles and personalities have been shown very well. And another solid mix of action, plot, and comedy.
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"Hope is allowed to be stupid, unwise, and naive." ~Sir Chris
However, Evolution handles the concept of prejudice and intolerance better. 90s cartoon starts with the bigotry issues but then it goes way off course in the later seasons.. O_o
Oh Kitty is here now. And it looks like her powers are kicking off for the first time. Man, that would be terrifying to just fall through the floor. Her parents know this is legit as well, since her sheet and pillow are now partly phased through the floor. If anyone asks, just call it modern art.
Nightcrawler manages to be late to school, which is kind of impressive considering his powers. Apparently this happens a lot.
Kitty says "like" a lot. This whole dialogue is definitely a case of adult writers trying to sound like teens.
Jean and Xavier are really bad at approaching the parents.
Sabertooth is in town, and apparently they can both smell each other miles away. I also just noticed that Wolverine has blue hair. Why does he have blue hair? Anyway, his outfit is good, and its time for round one of the great rivalry.
"Lower profile ride" means a bright red convertible? Sorry Cyke, but I bet the van would have been less noticeable.
Meanwhile in the world of high school delinquency, Kitty is in a locker and Avalanche is doing graffiti. Wait, didn't Cyclops and Nightcrawler just get out of school? I'm now confused as to whether these plots are supposed to be happening at the same time or not.
Av is really excited to see another mutant. It still is weird to me to see this version of Avalanche, as opposed to the random thug that is the old Avalanche. And apparently this one got lessons on cheesy taunts from the TAS crew.
One of Avalanche's crew is clearly voiced by Cyclops trying to do a deep voice. And after Lance makes a point of how he can’t use his powers without others noticing, he then uses his powers cause his thug annoys him. Then he uses it on the chick teasing city. No one notices (except Kitty). Even though the earth split and there was a sand geyser.
Kitty proceeds to beat up parts of a theatre set, which as a former theatre kid really annoys me. Jean tries to give the “mutant gifts” speech and it isn’t bad, but Kitty really doesn’t want to hear it. And then she lets her know that she is reading her thoughts. That really isn’t the kind of thing to throw at someone like this. Why is she the only one in this show who talks like a valley girl?
Haha, Lance is better at identifying with a teen girl than Jean is. How are you losing this Jean? Also, after all the stuff with Toad last week Xavier has clearly written off Lance immediately.
Stairs! My greatest enemy! Poor Xavier, has to go find a handicap exit.
Pops vs Bub, round 1. FIGHT!
Scott’s car is immediately wrecked. Guess you should have listened to Kurt.
And there is apparently some prophesy about Wolverine and Sabertooth having to fight to the death. As a Buffy fan I can say that should probably just be ignored.
Kitty has some bad boy issues and let’s herself gets blatantly tricked by Avalanche. And yet this actually isn’t a terrible relationship, they have some chemistry. Lance is going to edit grades cause “they are holding us down”, this plan would work better if it wasn’t pointed out that Kitty is a straight A student earlier. Also if he didn’t attack her parents.
Jean’s costume is not very good.
NOT THE THEATRE BUILDING! Darn you Avalanche!
There’s a really obvious Kitty death fake. Man, Kitty really is mastering her powers quickly.
And the trend of each side gaining someone continues in ep two with Mystique showing up at the end to recruit Avalanche.
Unlike TAS which introduced everyone at once, Evolution is focusing each episode around one or two characters. The good part of this is that you get much deeper characters early on. The downside is that the group dynamics which I love watching aren’t there early on.
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"Hope is allowed to be stupid, unwise, and naive." ~Sir Chris
X-men TAS vs Evolution Episode 1 Once again both shows have good episodes, but the Morph’s death plotline beats everything Evolution did. Especially since Morph was such a fun and easy to love character, and his sudden death was completely shocking and out of nowhere (the first time I saw it). Also, I get the feeling I won’t like this Kitty as much as the comic book one. Avalanche on the other hand is already much better than his TAS counterpart.
X-men TAS: 2 X-men Evolution: 0
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"Hope is allowed to be stupid, unwise, and naive." ~Sir Chris
TAS is really good, but Evolution does the whole "mutant living in the real world" kind of thing really well
A large part of that is likely due to the age difference in characters. TAS is full of adult characters who have already been dealing with this for years. Evolution has kids experiencing it all for the first time.
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"Hope is allowed to be stupid, unwise, and naive." ~Sir Chris