Even though it's still early, I thought I'd start things off.
I don't know too much about this show, except that it's from the same creator of one of my favorite European shows, Winx Club. From what I saw in the promos, it looks very exciting!
I just wanted to make sure nobody misses the premiere. It comes on at 10:30 A.M.
So, in fairness, I must ask everyone to hold the talkbacks until after the show airs.
Huntik: Secrets & Seekers: Episode 1: A Seeker is Born
Original air date: January 3, 2008
High school student Lok Lambert discovers his Seeker heritage, and gains the attention of classmate Sophie Casterwill and The Organization's Suits.
The players:
Lok Lambert: Lok was just a normal, fun-loving high school kid, trying to stay awake in his classes and wishing for a life of adventure. After finding his father's amulet and becoming a Seeker, Lok puts his enthusiasm, intuition and natural talent to the test. A childhood playing games with his father has gifted him with an uncanny knack for puzzles, and now he takes on ancient riddles every day of the week. Learning under fire, Lok improves by leaps and bounds, well on his way to becoming a top Huntik Seeker. When he needs a hand, he calls on Cherit, a capricious winged titan who is filled with wise advice on the world of Seekers.
Sophie Casterwill: Sophie is a book-smart, athletic, honorable and clever young lady of about Lok's age She seems to be quite proper and mature, but she's not afraid to dish out some punishment when the action gets rolling. Sophie thinks that what she learns in books can prepare her for the real world, and that gets her into trouble. As the last surviving noble of the Casterwill family, Sophie has been raised from birth to be a Seeker. She's not actually part of the Huntik Foundation, but they have an alliance based on the need to fight evil. When talking gets her nowhere, Sophie uses powerful attack and defense magic along with Sabriel, an elegant Titan that favors speed over brawn.
Dante Vale: As the top Operative of the Huntik Foundation, Dante is the king of treasure hunters. With the mind of a hard-boiled detective, the body of an extreme sports athlete and the nerves of a cowboy gunslinger at High Noon, Dante leads the team and serves as a big-brother to Lok. Normally cool, collected and in control, Dante has a soft spot for the bedridden leader of the Foundation, Metz. He never hesitates to throw it down and take on The Organization. His magic grants him superhuman strength and speed, and he can Invoke the Titan Caliban, a monster martial artist who fights with a cleaving sword.
Zhalia Moon: Zhalia is a tough, streetwise, elegant and a capable lone wolf, always ready to take on her team's good humor with her sharp tongue and sarcasm. Zhalia was once a rival of Dante's, but now she's part of his team. An orphan, her troubled past is shrouded in mystery. She has a connection to The Organization, but she shows no sign of betraying our heroes. Her developing feelings for Dante may be causing her to question her loyalties. In a fight, Zhalia prefers not to get her hands dirty. She uses magic to enhance her speed and confuse the enemy's mind. She can also call on Garreon, a small Essence capable of turning invisible and stunning opponents.
#2- Typically the custom and rules state that a moderator is to make the talkback and that a regular user only creates one if its a few minutes before the episode is to air and one hasn't been made.
Well, Ian's talkback image works fine too. But Ian, I'm pretty sure Zhalia doesn't appear until episode three...
But YES, it's finally time for Huntik's world premiere! :anime:
For those who know nothing about the show, it's a highly anticipated action-adventure series that won the 2008 MIPCOM Licensing Challenge, managing to beat out 83 other children's shows from all around the world. The Licensing Challenge consists of an International Panel of Judges, and winners are picked through a variety of criteria, including "the uniqueness of the property, distribution plans, licensing and merchandising potential and suitability for its target audience."
The series is a result of the collaboration between many entertainment companies from around the word. The show itself is a co-production between Big Bocca Productions - an Irish-based entertainment company - and Rainbow SpA, the Italian animation studio that created Winx Club and Monster Allergy. The German entertainment company known as m4e AG is providing worldwide licensing and marketing for the Huntik brand. On the other side of the Atlantic, 4Kids Entertainment is providing the English language audio track, as well as a key spot for the show on their CW4Kids block.
Huntik was created (and is also directed) by the legendary Italian animator Iginio Straffi. Its airing on The CW4Kids tomorrow will be the world premiere of the show.
It does work, but the image I posted was created for the TZ talkbacks 6 months ago by Duke. As it is, this talkback was created 12 minutes after the first one, so I suspect they will be merged or one will be deleted.
No prob: I suspected a proper image would be created soon if it hadn't been already, but given how hard it is to set the search engine to search for pictures, I was just waiting for somebody to lead me to it. Mine was only ever meant to be a placeholder (even though I like it more ).
And yeah, I noticed the duplicate talkback thread, once I'd posted mine. I'd been working on mine by the time the first one was posted, and didn't think to check on it, since I'd already asked Dubbs for an OK.
I'm going with the assumption it's Mike Sinterniklaas. If it is Lowenthal, then he's doing a voice similar to his usual but with many differences... those differences which sound just like Mike's higher range.
This looks like a pretty good series but I'll probably end up watching it online rather than on TV.
What a cool start to the series, Dante's sword wielding amulet monster was cool looking, I think his name is Kaliban, and the "Organization" had some sick Titans too.
I love the animation style of the show and think it lived up to the first episodes hype...
I'm a bit disappointed. The story, characters, fight scenes, and music didn't leave any lasting impressions on me. The animation and character designs were alright but I hated how the scenes went all blurry during the fast moments. I know this is just the first episode but it also doesn't seem all that original. I'll tune in for a few more episodes before I decide whether this is going to become a regular watch for me.
I'm pretty sure I heard Richard Epcar voicing one of the main villains as well, the one in the military fatigues. And the dub was not recorded by 4K!ds themselves but by NYAV Post, Mike Sinterniklaas' personal studio. So I guess this really is an LA/NY co-production.
I pretty much loved this episode. The entire show kinda reminds me of W.I.T.C.H., which is a very good thing. The action and writing didn't disappoint me, and I'll definitely watch more episodes in the future. Hopefully it will continue to be enjoyable.
From what I saw in the promos, it looks very exciting!
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