The Boondocks Returns!

Oh Boondocks, the world has been so without your guidance for the last few years.  Why did you leave us when we needed you most?

Before you get worried, this show has absolutely nothing to do with "The Boondocks Saints".  Less said about that the better.  Actually "The Boondocks" is the landmark anime* cartoon series based on the newspaper comic strip by Aaron McGruder.  Combining political parody, kung-fu flicks, and social commentary of Black culture, "The Boondocks" represents easily the most brilliant original series [Adult Swim] has ever produced.  Twisted, irreverent, and at times totally awesome, this is the type of show you do not want to miss out on.  That's why I've been following this show loyally for what it coming on half a decade now.

Of course, as always, if you don't have the stomach for half an hour of N-word usage, stay away.  And you definitely did not go to my high school.

Tragically for all "The Boondocks"'s original charms, for some depraved reason, its been more than two years since a new episode has aired.  For a show that's been on for nearly five years, you'd think there would be five seasons, but instead its a lowly three.  I'm aware that the Writer's Strike a few years ago must have slowed things down, but how can things be slow when there's almost unlimited material out there?  Right now our society is slowly beginning to discover that the election of Barack Obama** isn't going to solve our racial disputes forever.  Tea Partiers are campaigning with more hate than ever, Muslim protesters are attacking Triscuits, and the entire political scene is just out of control.  At the very least Kanye's need to tell the world that "Beyonce had one of the greatest videos of all time" should have gotten the writer's going.

So last night's episode was definitely "The Boondocks" in prime form, tackling the vast over-excitement and hypocrisy that I think we all were guilty of back when Obama was first elected.  It isn't a critique of Obama in any way but rather America in general.  Riley, the little adorable thug-to-be thinks that having a Black President means that he will be free to do anything he wants, Granddad pretends to be a civil rights activist, Uncle Ruckus wants to move to a different country, and Mr. Young Black Nationalist Terrorist Himself, Huey - the supposed main character - doesn't care.  Tom is jealous, and his lovely White wife is in love.  At times, you might find "The Boondocks" to be a tad bit extreme on the political left side of things, but more often than that, you'll love it points out our own selfishness.

Man, I seriously did miss this show.  I can't wait to see if they hit Pat Robertson for his Haiti comments.  I know it might be asking for a lot considering the length of animation times, but still, you can dream.  I know I can look forward to a long season of "The Boondocks" at its best:  Huey being cynical, Riley being a little tough-guy, and Granddad being angry and possibly senile.  I'm sure there will lots of kick-ass kung-fu, satire, and fun to be had for this next season in everybody's favorite [Adult Swim] program.

(However, there is a cloud around this grey lining.  According to the promos, this is the final season.  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!)

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* Some people seem to find offense with the idea that anime cannot be made by any nationality other than the Japanese, instead preferring to call it "Animesque".  On the one hand I'm rather unhappy with this since as you must have seen I rather like the Japanese animation art style.  But it does lead to the question:  what exactly is anime in the first place?  To the Japanese the word "anime" is just short for all "animation".  But to us Westerners, it obviously has a very different meaning.  Like pretty much all artistic movements, it is incredibly difficult to define.  Is anime just "Japanese animation"?  In which case there really wouldn't need to be a separate term for it at all, simply calling it "Japanese" should suffice.  No, there's definitely something more:  a nearly undefinable emotion that accompanies anime alone.  With anime influencing animation from "Dexter's Laboratory" to "Kill Bill" the issue is definitely not going to just go away.  And what will happen when the animators of the future, the ones that grew up with "Pokemon" and "Dragon Ball Z" start producing their own work?

Notably the animation in "The Boondocks" is done by a Japanese studio with Japanese animation traditions but for a Western audience.  Where does that place it?  What about other vague areas like "The Animatrix" - which was specifically designed to be as anime as possible, even having its name being portmanteau of "Matrix" and "Anime"?  I'd argue its certainly more than a national movement, especially with anime's worldwide popularity, and its definitely more than just a singular art style.  Since western works like "The Boondocks" were designed intentionally to be counted as a work of anime, it probably isn't going to hurt anybody if I just call it "anime" and be done with it.  Being so strict with categories doesn't help anybody's understanding of anything.  I used to edit a wiki, I've seen this all before.

** Even after a year since he's been elected, Obama's now is still redlined by spellchecks worldwide.  He has that distinct honor out of all our other presidents.