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Description
Well, people said they wanted me to reivew this for my next Animation Unknown so here we are: Slugterra, one of the best shows you probably never saw. I'll be going into more detail but I was a bit skeptical if this would fall under my own rules or not since this does have a fanbase (too small to be mainstream, but too big for a cult following) and it's not like it had a bad timeslot or aired on some obscure network--this was on Disney XD for a long time, they lasted 3 seasons and even made 3 TV specials/movies (though, I might cover the first two as a double feature in the future) but I just feel this show was very underrated and I've never heard anyone else talk about it. Why not? Let's find out:

Plot- The story revolves around Eli Shane, the son of Will Shane who found a mysterious underground world called Slugterra populated by tiny, elemental-powered slugs which he told his son about. Following his mysterious disappearance at the hands of the evil Dr. Thaddeus Blakk and his Ghouls, Slugs he infuses with a material called Dark Water to turn them even more powerful but pure evil and wild, Eli is told he can enter Slugterra on his 15th birthday through a machine called The Drop. We quickly discover that, while Slugs have powers all their own, their greatest power is when they are fired from specially made blasters that launch them up to 100 mph and trigger their true power. This is a really great setup, the concepts and designs for the Slugs are very creative and range in power from Floppers which are relatively harmless and only used to create concentrated fart clouds on opponents to distract them to more rare and powerful breeds like Eli's Slug Burpy, an Infernus Slug who can use the power of fire, and we even learn new methods by which Slugs can be further utilized like Fusion Shots or Megamorphing (i.e. reaching 200 mph to basically Mega Evolve, and even get new designs).
Characters- the characters, while some slightly underdeveloped, are pretty great: there's, of course, Eli the noble and intelligent hero known throughout Slugterra for being the son of Will Shane, then there's his other friends Kord, a cave troll who repairs and modifies their Mechabeasts (a bizarrely awesome cross between robot animals and motorcycles!) and their blasters, Trixie, another human he meets who I don't really remember doing much--granted, she's not useless or anything but I don't remember a lot of things she actually did accept serve a confidant and second-in-command to Eli--and finally Pronto, who seems to serve the same role as Usopp in One Piece: the comic relief coward of the group, despite his boastfulness, who still manages to be useful in a fight when he needs to be. That about covers the main characters, but the villains are pretty great too, like Twist (the Terra for this show), a few people working for Blakk who supplies them with Ghouls and most of whom are impressive in their own right like Capt. Malovio Drake and his Mimkey slug (a Slug that can replicate the power of any other Slug used against it) or El Diablos Nacho, Blakk's right-hand man and most powerful enforcer.
Enjoyment- I'm not sure why people didn't try checking out this series before (i've heard that some people were kinda turned off by the cel-shaded look or something) , but I really recommend that you do try and find it; it's not that hard to find on most streaming sites but you might run into some difficulty when trying to find the specials. I'd say if you like stuff like Digimon or Monster Rancher or you're just starting to get sick of the Pokemon anime, you might wanna give this a shot (lol pun).
Creativity- I don't know when I've seen a show quite this unique; I mean, we've seen bits and pieces of the concepts here but you'd be hard-pressed to find a series that manages to do all of these at once. I haven't even gotten into the third-party member in the Shane Gang vs. Dr. Blakk fight: the Shadow Clan. What are they? Well, they're the original inhabitants of Slugterra, who can move through the shadows and actually communicate with Slugs; the short answer version of it is, just don't mess with them. Eli mostly encounters them several times but they mostly seem to be on his dad's side and help Eli master the Fusion Shot (taught to him by the Legendary Master before she was killed by Blakk) in order to help him defeat Blakk for using Dark Water to turn Slugs into Ghouls.
Execution- So, I bet you're probably wondering what I thought of this series as a whole. Like you even need to ask; it's really great! While I am a little disappointed this ended up lost between Gravity Falls, Phineas and Ferb, and some of Disney XD's other series, I kinda wish this one would get a bit more attention. It's a damn good series, with instantly likable characters, a deep, nuanced storyline, and a fascinating world that's pretty thoroughly explored and very rich with history and enviornments. Seriously, watch the episode that reveals Dr. Blakk and Will Shane's past together and it completely changes the entire tone of the series. It's incredible!

Final Score: 37

Description
Well, people said they wanted me to reivew this for my next Animation Unknown so here we are: Slugterra, one of the best shows you probably never saw. I'll be going into more detail but I was a bit skeptical if this would fall under my own rules or not since this does have a fanbase (too small to be mainstream, but too big for a cult following) and it's not like it had a bad timeslot or aired on some obscure network--this was on Disney XD for a long time, they lasted 3 seasons and even made 3 TV specials/movies (though, I might cover the first two as a double feature in the future) but I just feel this show was very underrated and I've never heard anyone else talk about it. Why not? Let's find out:

Plot- The story revolves around Eli Shane, the son of Will Shane who found a mysterious underground world called Slugterra populated by tiny, elemental-powered slugs which he told his son about. Following his mysterious disappearance at the hands of the evil Dr. Thaddeus Blakk and his Ghouls, Slugs he infuses with a material called Dark Water to turn them even more powerful but pure evil and wild, Eli is told he can enter Slugterra on his 15th birthday through a machine called The Drop. We quickly discover that, while Slugs have powers all their own, their greatest power is when they are fired from specially made blasters that launch them up to 100 mph and trigger their true power. This is a really great setup, the concepts and designs for the Slugs are very creative and range in power from Floppers which are relatively harmless and only used to create concentrated fart clouds on opponents to distract them to more rare and powerful breeds like Eli's Slug Burpy, an Infernus Slug who can use the power of fire, and we even learn new methods by which Slugs can be further utilized like Fusion Shots or Megamorphing (i.e. reaching 200 mph to basically Mega Evolve, and even get new designs).
Characters- the characters, while some slightly underdeveloped, are pretty great: there's, of course, Eli the noble and intelligent hero known throughout Slugterra for being the son of Will Shane, then there's his other friends Kord, a cave troll who repairs and modifies their Mechabeasts (a bizarrely awesome cross between robot animals and motorcycles!) and their blasters, Trixie, another human he meets who I don't really remember doing much--granted, she's not useless or anything but I don't remember a lot of things she actually did accept serve a confidant and second-in-command to Eli--and finally Pronto, who seems to serve the same role as Usopp in One Piece: the comic relief coward of the group, despite his boastfulness, who still manages to be useful in a fight when he needs to be. That about covers the main characters, but the villains are pretty great too, like Twist (the Terra for this show), a few people working for Blakk who supplies them with Ghouls and most of whom are impressive in their own right like Capt. Malovio Drake and his Mimkey slug (a Slug that can replicate the power of any other Slug used against it) or El Diablos Nacho, Blakk's right-hand man and most powerful enforcer.
Enjoyment- I'm not sure why people didn't try checking out this series before (i've heard that some people were kinda turned off by the cel-shaded look or something) , but I really recommend that you do try and find it; it's not that hard to find on most streaming sites but you might run into some difficulty when trying to find the specials. I'd say if you like stuff like Digimon or Monster Rancher or you're just starting to get sick of the Pokemon anime, you might wanna give this a shot (lol pun).
Creativity- I don't know when I've seen a show quite this unique; I mean, we've seen bits and pieces of the concepts here but you'd be hard-pressed to find a series that manages to do all of these at once. I haven't even gotten into the third-party member in the Shane Gang vs. Dr. Blakk fight: the Shadow Clan. What are they? Well, they're the original inhabitants of Slugterra, who can move through the shadows and actually communicate with Slugs; the short answer version of it is, just don't mess with them. Eli mostly encounters them several times but they mostly seem to be on his dad's side and help Eli master the Fusion Shot (taught to him by the Legendary Master before she was killed by Blakk) in order to help him defeat Blakk for using Dark Water to turn Slugs into Ghouls.
Execution- So, I bet you're probably wondering what I thought of this series as a whole. Like you even need to ask; it's really great! While I am a little disappointed this ended up lost between Gravity Falls, Phineas and Ferb, and some of Disney XD's other series, I kinda wish this one would get a bit more attention. It's a damn good series, with instantly likable characters, a deep, nuanced storyline, and a fascinating world that's pretty thoroughly explored and very rich with history and enviornments. Seriously, watch the episode that reveals Dr. Blakk and Will Shane's past together and it completely changes the entire tone of the series. It's incredible!

Final Score: 37