Jackie Chan Adventures

Once upon a time there was an awesome action hero actor named Jackie Chan who had an awesome action hero show named after him. The premise is sort of Indiana Jones with martial arts and Asian mythology twists. The story revolves mostly around Jackie and Section 13, a government agency that is tracking international crime and stumbles upon some really weird stuff. Jackie is also joined by his Uncle, who is only referred to as Uncle who runs an antique shop and seems to know everything about magic necessary to fight evil and Jade, Jackie's niece who is the kid viewer's way to relate so she's super cool. The show was on for five seasons and each one was different enough that it's easier to breakdown from here by season.

Year of the Talisman - The first season revolves around talismans representing the Chinese Zodiac that are being sought after by a crime syndicate led by a man named Valmont who is actually collecting them for a dragon named Shendu who needs them to be restored to power after he was turned to stone. Some talismans make sense, (rabbit for speed, ox for strength, rooster for flight, dragon for fire) some are a bit more of a stretch (horse for health, snake for invisibility, sheep for astral projection) and some don't make any sense at all (pig for...laser eyes?). Twelve animals, twelve talismans twelve episodes, plus some filler and Shendu succeeds in collecting all of the talismans, regains power, but is finally defeated by our heroes with help from Tohru, one of Valmont's henchman, who has a change of heart. Highlights include talisman of the ox with El Torro, a Mexican Wrestler who never removes his mask, talisman of the snake with Viper, a female thief who is sort of a love interest for Jackie, and easter egg prize goes to talisman of the rat which animates Jade's toy Gnomekop, which is funny when you actually see it's spelled Pokemon backwards (plus a G) which was just booming at the time the episode aired, on the very same network.

Year of the Demon - After the defeat of Shendu, his spirit seeks out seven other elemental demons to get another shot at taking over this world by helping them escape form their prison in the astral plane. He again enlists the help of Valmont and his gang. The demons were exiled by eight immortals, each with their own symbol that can send them back. Of course, Uncle helps with the exorcisms one by one. It all goes off without a hitch, but then they manage to alter the Akhashic record to make a demon world where the J Team are enslaved by the demons, but Jade manages to beat the curse and helps set things right.

Year of the Animal - Everything seems normal, until an evil wizard from last season's filler tries to steal the talismans from Section 13 and they are destroyed, their power transferred to actual animals. They have to be tracked down before the wizard gets them, and he has enlisted Valmont's gang, though he's cutting out Valmon himself. The final talisman is the dragon which has no host until Shendu is summoned in an ill-concieved attempt to make a host just to draw out the power, but Shendu just decides to take all of the power for himself, leading to Uncle drawing out the talismans and turn Shendu back to stone, bringing everything back to where we started. Easter Egg highlight of the season, the snake of invisibility episode, when Jackie gets bitten by a viper and while coping with the venom fights in Drunken Master style which otherwise never would have made it into a kid's show, big thumbs way up to whoever figured this one out.

Year of the Oni - This season went in a different direction focusing on the shadow kahn  ninjas that served Shendu, but turn out to be the army of the Oni, nine generals serving their master Tarakudo, who were turned into masks. The same three gangsters are back serving evil again as more weirdness ensues, they wear the masks and gain the power over the shadow ninjas, but run the risk of being possessed by the oni. Highlights include an episode where a mask actually attaches to one guy's butt, an episode where th mask is broken in half and shared between Jade and Valmont, and my personal favorite, an episode where El Torro's apprentice wears the mask and there is an emotional moment when to convince him to remove it, he removes his own mask.

Year of the Dragon - The show's final season wasn't that great and I can't blame the WB netowrk for cancelling it. It revolves around the biggest plot hole yet, which is never resolved, Shendu's son Draco. Where did he come from? If Shendu is is his father, who is his mother? We will never know. Draco wants the powers of the demons from season 2 which are tied to the symbols that banished them back then. He enlists Valmont's gang at first, but finally realizing how inept they are replaces them with another gang from an old filler episode and gives them dragon powers to fight the J Team. Ultimately these efforts are stopped the same way the demons were, but Draco end up with everything and the only way to stop him is a gambit of releasing Shendu to deal with his son and both are banished to the astral plane.

So there are some weak spots in the story, but the animation and inside jokes are totally worth it, so check it out if you can find it!