A different sort of set of pirates

[nekokoban]

Okay, so -- when I was younger, there was this show, The Pirates of Dark Water. I loved that show with the sort of single-minded devotion that a six-year-old has for a favorite toy, though after a while it just seemed to go away, and so (also ike a six year old) I kind of forgot about it. A few years later, I caught some new episodes and boggled, because hey, what, THESE ARE NEW. It wasn't till years later that I found out that the series had been cancelled before it ever reached completion; Ren and his crew were sort of stuck in this eternal fictional limbo, with eight of the thirteen Treasures of Rule collected and Bloth and his crew ever-dogging their heels.

Which you know, struck me as a crying shame, because of all the cartoons I watched as a kid (and hell, of the cartoons I watch now), PoDW had the sort of really fantastic, just-barely explored world that had all KINDS of potential behind it. This was a fully-developed fantasy world with its own set of countries, races, magic and strange wildlife. They even had their own cusswords, and I mean, dude, we're not talking about like an anime character muttering "kuso" or anything -- they had full phrases that probably, in translation, were quite colorful. It was probably one of my first exposures to the "epic quest" storyline, where the point wasn't a constant gag-of-the-week, but an ongoing story, trying to seek a set of artifacts. From what I can remember, there wasn't too much of the filler stuff, either, because with only sixteen (or so) episodes and eight treasures found, there wasn't much time for extras.

But ... then it just ended. Thinking back, that was probably one of my first exposures to the disappointment of having something I liked canceled. XD; I was terribly excited last year when sharky_chan was able to find some of the episodes for download, but they were of ... dubious quality. And sort of froze at one point, so we never did find out (again, but still) whether or not Ren GOT AWAY FROM THE PIRATES O NOEZ!!1!

Tonight, voodoobob tells me that they at least made a video game, ostensibly to cover the finding of the final five treasures.

O RLY? I said.
YA RLY, she said.

And then she gave me a download link.

I ... have no idea if the game really IS that, but if it tells me how Ren eventually (as we know he will, because this is a commercial story from the early '90s, what) gathers all Thirteen Treasures and becomes King of Octapon again.

[goes to download and CRACK IT OPEN]

Comments

[jpegasus.livejournal.com]

OOOOOU
ZOMG tell me if it's any good.

I loved PoDW! Ren was, well okay hot, but COOL, especially given my age at the time. It was one of the only cartoons I watched that featured humans (or, if memory serves, close enough) and just..nngh, cool. The Dark Water itself always seemed amazingly creepy.

...man, I want to be able to watch that again, now.

[nekokoban]

I WILL. ... oh man, this was for Sega Genesis. I used to have a Sega, but I think we ended up giving it away. >_>

YES. The whole idea of the Dark Water itself was just fantastically creepy -- and then there was that episode with the kids who drank the stuff and EW. EW, but that's still cool too, in a really twisted and strange way that I never got as a kid.

When I was little, I decided I would run away on Ren's ship and be really cool like him. Because he was that cool.

It's also a DVD set I would seriously consider buying, if it came out. D: Though I still wanna know how it ended, damnit.

[jpegasus.livejournal.com]

Hee, we had a sega too. Ah, good times, being up WAY PAST MY BEDTIME, playing sonic and the lion king game and um...*thinks* maybe the pocahontas game? Although I remember that being later. But lots and lots of sonic, to be sure. Ah, first fandom. ♥

But yes! So creepy, and so cool and blithe honestly seemed like a good villian; a lot of the current cartoon villians seem to be trying too hard, you know? They're not so much scary as they are hackneyed and spazzy with bad facial hair. But I remember being honestly scared of and not liking Blithe. I mean, I was only seven or so, but still >->

The link you posted also had a torrent link for all the eps, but it seems to be dead/down :( I would totally be into buying it, if only it existed V-V

[nekokoban]

... THE LION KING GAME. Oh man, I got really good at that whole bug-catching minigame, too. XD But I never quite mastered flipping, so I could never manage to beat Scar. :<

And yes, that's the THING -- I think (just from what I've briefly sampled) that some cartoons are moving back towards the whole "darker storyline" style of show, but I mean, a good villain is hard to pull off. Just because your target audience is mostly comprised of kids doesn't mean you have to go for hackneyed swaggering mustache-twirling bad guys. T_T

... D: Aw man, that sucks. D: MAYBE SOMEDAY they'll release the DVDs; I hear they're starting to do that with some of the more obscure 80s shows ... >_>

[jpegasus.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think that was the bit where I stalled out, too. Damn flipping! I loved the first level though, on pride rock, and the "just can't wait to be king" level :3

Yeah, kids generally aren't as dumb as people seem to think they are -- I mean, a lot of stuff might still go over their head, but if the villian is honestly scary and bad, kids will pick up on it. Clever like that >->

Yeah, I've noticed that too -- we can hope!

[nekokoban]

Stuuuuupid flipping. D: I would get so excited when I managed to pull it off, and then I'd fail to replicate it except by accident. D: But ostrich riding was fun, damnit. XD Especially when you had to do the double-jumps.

And the thing is? Even if the kids don't pick up on it the first time, these kids will grow up and look back and really, I think the mark of a good lasting story is when you realize just HOW much was going over your head that you're only really getting as an older-person. (I mean, remembering stuff now makes me want to go watch the show again, just to see what I missed, as a kid.)

[fuyu]

... oh man, BLOTH. Bloth was an amazing villain, really. He was so honest about his greed, and had the right mixture of scary and charisma to be able to actually, you know, KEEP HIS CREW.

We need more villains like Bloth.

[jpegasus.livejournal.com]

Right, that's the thing with villians -- they're has to be SOMETHING about them that makes the crew stay. If they were totally just bad bad, the crew would either run away, or betray him. Ruling by fear only works for so long, really. But he was booooth. And scary. Because he was clearly like, 27 feet taller than I was at seven >->;;

[fuyu]

Yeah. You could just kinda tell the crew saw SOMETHING in Bloth that was worth sticking with, something that was a little more impressive than "omg he'll kill me if I leave/mutiny" though there obviously had to be some of that. XD He had Presence.

Yes. skhfdhk. Funny story: I saw the ads for the Genesis game before I ever saw the actual show, and the ads featured Bloth's hideous mug prominently... and that actually put me somewhat OFF this whole "Pirates of Dark Water" thing because eeeeegh that guy with the blue lips was scary.

[fuyu]

They actually had some really heavy plotlines in there. I don't remember the kids who drank Dark Water, but there was the alchemist woman who was in love with Primus, and did experiments to regain her youth with Dark Water so she could try her doomed romance over with Ren... that was really creepy and bleak and just. Wow. And the monkey-bird slaves, and the episode with Ioz and the ghost pirates, and the guy who shrank ships to put in bottles and stole their gold...

I... think Ren may be to blame for my dark skin+light hair trigger. XD

If an actual DVD set of this came out, I'd be all over it. ALL OVER IT.

[nekokoban]

Oh my god, I REMEMBER that one -- didn't it eventually hit a point where you saw the effects of the Dark Water begin to wear off on her, and just how horrific the damage it could do to you was? Or am I just remembering it more vividly? >_>

... it does have to start SOMEWHERE. XD

ME TOO WHAT THE HELL. Seriously, I think the show's worth it. D:

[fuyu]

Oh, yes. She kind of started... getting black patches on her, and degrading horribly, until she more or less dissolved into a patch of Dark Water. Just from a potion with, like, a drop of Dark Water in it. 'Horrific' is a good word.

And even that was only part of the creepy - she was SO OBSESSED with Primus it was genuinely disturbing. She actually called Ren 'Primus' while she was flirting with him, and it was just... oough.

There are worse places for it to start. XD

It really is. D:

[nekokoban]

YES. YES I REMEMBER THAT AND -- wow. I want to go watch that episode again, because I remember bits and pieces of it, but nothing that would really come together as a full story. >_>

Oh, there totally are. Is it bad that I want to see Ren with his animation updated juuuust a little, to see how it looks? :3

[fuyu]

IT WAS SO CREEPY. Oh, oh, and remember the ghost ship episode? Where Ioz went to steal their gold and get stuck there and was being turned into a ghost and the lady captain was totally creepily into him? 8D

Noooo, not at all. Not at all. 8D ... in other news I am totally not tempted to fanart Ren, not at all, of course not.

[jpegasus.livejournal.com]

I... think Ren may be to blame for my dark skin+light hair trigger. XD


:d mmmyes. He's just so...well, okay, early-90s-animation-looking, but still! *wild guesturing* hotness and coloring hoyay!

[fuyu]

Even for early-90s-animation he was pretty hot. XD I loved the way they drew the eyes. 8D Visually, the whole thing was really very reminiscent of Elfquest.

[theladyfeylene.livejournal.com]

WIAT WHAT A PIRATES OF DARK WATER GAME?!?!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?

I so wanted to marry Ren when I was little...

[nekokoban]

[FLAILS] LINK LINK LINK. And not only a video game, but a video game that follows the rest of the story.

If it's for real, I will be so incredibly happy. *_____________*

[theladyfeylene.livejournal.com]

I only remember like... a couple of episodes. *cries*

[theladyfeylene.livejournal.com]

But I totally just found most of the episodes on youtube!

[nekokoban]

REALLY. >_______________>

... right, so forget music for the rest of the night, I'mma gonna look those up. XD

[theladyfeylene.livejournal.com]

YES!

Enjoy!

[thewriter0.livejournal.com]

OMG, I remember that show! It was one of my favorites when I was like, six or seven. :O I was just thinking about it the other day, too, going, "Hey, I wonder whatever happened to Pirates of Dark Water...?" Because I was too dim at age six to understand "cancelled".

But now I know!

Ah, those fond monkeybird memories....

[nekokoban]

Oh man, I KNOW♥ I was easily distracted enough as a kid that my attention soon wandered, but man, I was actually a little outraged that it had been cancelled without finding the last five Treasures. XD;

(One totally wishes we could've at least gotten a wrap-up movie. That might've been all kinds of awesome. D:)

[sub-divided.livejournal.com]

Random friendsfriends comment! Pirates of Darkwater was awesome, but that game is lame. It's a side-scrolling 2P fighter, like the old Ninja Turtles games. There are eight stages; at the end of the fist stage you fight Bloth and get a compass, at the end of every stage after that you fight one of Bloth's minions and get a jewel. Except for the opening summary and To Be Continued "ending", there's no exposition. I have a sneaking suspicion that the seven jewels you pick up are same seven jewels Ren picks up in-series, but since there's no dialogue and all the stages look the same, it's hard to tell.

You do get to fight as either Ren, Tula, or Ioz. But basically it's...a really crappy game. XD about the only think lamer is the Pirates of Darkwater comic book (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~onyabear/temp/pirates/), which pretty much follows the first dozen episodes exactly but with really, really bad art (http://www-personal.umich.edu/~onyabear/temp/pirates/rencrossedeyes.jpg).

What I want to know is if Pirates was popular enough for bad tie-ins, why wasn't it popular enough to stay on the air? (Too dark? Too sophisticated? The episodes were always being aired out of order?)

[nekokoban]

DDDDDD: That's a disappointment to hear; I would have loved to see, yanno. THE END OF THE STORY. (There is something tremendously sad about an unfinished story. Because yeah, sure, we know Ren will eventually get all thirteen -- but it's the HOW he gets them and what he does after that I want to know.)

... also? That comic book scares me. o_O Here we are, reminiscing on Ren's belatedly-noticed hotness, and then his eyes are ... not level on his face. Um. >_>

From what I understand (and this is totally bare bones, here), it was because the ratings weren't good enough to warrant finishing the series? After the original miniseries (first five episodes or so), the budget went severely down, and after that, apparently it just died a slow death. D: Though seriously, I would totally be all over the DVD set if it ever does come out. (Even moreso if we get a special bonus of, I dunno. THE ENDING. XD)

[sub-divided.livejournal.com]

The awful-est thing of all is that the beginning, at least, was thoroughly scripted, because this you think that maybe the entire story was planned in advance. Which would mean that the ending DOES EXIST, if only in the creators' heads. Too bad they aren't sharing ;_;.

YES. And he has G.I. Joe muscles! Ren was an acrobat, not a big hulking bodybuilder!

Hm yes, I remember the original miniseries. It got this huge publicity push, posters everywhere, television commercials...I think the problem wasn't that the show wasn't selling, but that it wasn't meeting expectations. (But yanno, that's what HAPPENS when you stop supporting something mid-run. I know they say publicity can only make people watch the first episode, it can't keep them there, but there was no need to like...cut the budget...and show the episodes out of order.)

[nekokoban]

Oh, man, OW. T__T What we need is a drunken tell-all; I hear Joss Whedon promised one if there was no green-light for a second Firefly movie. We could have a big Q & A session! D:

Ren with big bulging muscles kind of makes me die a little inside. I liked that the hero was strong enough to handle trouble without being a MACHO MACHO MAN.

[ponders] I think I might've been too young to remember the commercials, because I don't remember how I started watching the show, but I DO remember how difficult it was to catch it at the proper time. And the out of order thing, because there were points where I was never quite sure just HOW many Treasures they had at any given point. D:

[sub-divided.livejournal.com]

You're older than me! Only by a few years though (I'm a college Senior). I happen to remember being REALLY PSYCHED to pick up the first miniseries on video, because the video store had this great big poster and there'd been some ads for it. I could be misremembering the push, though. (Actually, I was probably too young for that show -- if my parents had been less laid back I probably wouldn't have been allowed it in the first place.)

Another really good show that was released before its time -- ie, before Geek became (more) mainstream -- was Biker Mice from Mars.

I seem to remember...in Japan, television shows make up for their production costs by milking the hardcore fans (expensive DVD sets, merchandising). But in America they typically make up for them in syndication, where the episodes are replayed endlessly in random order. That's why most American shows, especially children's shows, are NOT serial. But lately this has been changing, maybe because serial shows (like ported anime) have been proving more sucessful.

[nekokoban]

[laughs] Also, I have the attention span of a gnat on crack. It was worse when I was younger. XD But I seriously don't remember the promotions or anything, which is weird. D:

... Biker Mice from Mars I REMEMBER THAT ONE TOO oh good LORD. XD I don't remember much about it except for big buff anthromorphic mice with ... antenna? And one was kind of green in color? My mental image is somehow overlapping with a child's cartoonish impression of Rambo, and I don't know if that's right or not. XD

Huh. I'd believe it (especially with the DVD sets -- I have a few friends who collect the R2 sets, and one of them was describing them in price terms of "rings" -- i.e., the expensive engagement ring he bought his girlfriend -- and yeaaaah), but. If there IS a revival of the serial consecutive-story show, that would be beyond awesome. [hopeful!]

[woodburner.livejournal.com]

:SLJKF:LAKSJD:ALKWJEOIW HE :FLK JFL:S I REMEMBER THAT SHOW

I LOVED IT

[nekokoban]

HAHA ME TOO.

I still wish it'd ended properly. D:

[kawaiigami.livejournal.com]

I remember Pirates of Dark Water! Barely, because when we got it here I was a teenager, and busy enough to not be able to constantly check TV listings and keep to a watching schedule. :( That said, I think I remember the episode somebody mentioned with the lady who made the potion so she could stay young. I also remember the comic book, thinking the characters were damn cool, and wanting to see more. If it came out on DVD I'd at least rent it to see if I wanted to buy it. You might check tvshowsondvd.com. They generally have info on that sort of thing.

[nekokoban]

I was young enough to be plastered to the TV whenever my parents let me, and that was one show I remember in my afternoon watchings. I had such stupidlove for that show. D:

I may check out that site, though most of the actual PoDW fansites have said there's no info just yet. Hope over experience, what! Maybe we'll get lucky. >_> Thanks for the tip~

[shadowzephyr.livejournal.com]

OMG. I absolutely adored that cartoon. I was so pissed when it was cancelled. It had to be one of the best cartoons on at the time.
I miss pirates of the darkwater.
/cries

[nekokoban]

That show made me HAPPY and now it's GONE. D: Seriously, I mean, they revived He-Man of all things, so I might be a little bitter that Pirates of Dark Water never got its finale. >_>

O, beloved old cartoons. D: