Invader Zim: Jhonen is Back!

The book for GSM hasn't arrived yet. And I'm supposed to finish the review today. Hrrr...

Okay, I was pretty lazy yesterday, I admit. Because of waiting for the book (it's titled UFO Dairy, by the way), I have to stay in uni, preparing to read like the wind once the book has arrived. I can't leave, or else I will the chance to get the book. So, with that excuse, I wasted my time by watching Invader Zim in YouTube. It was an animation created by Jhonen Vasquez, the same lunatic who wrote JTHM and Squee which I deeply adore. I was thinking, because this was a children's movie (yes, I'm fond of childish movie, but so what? Many adults do), the movie couldn't be that bad. And I was right ... though I was wrong at the same time.

Invader Zim is really Jhonen's style. If I sum it up, it can only be one word: I-N-S-A-N-E. All the characters, except perhaps a few with minor roles, are mad. One of them, GIR, is undoubtedly stupid and mad. Dib is probably mad, because he's also wondering if he's mad and he talks to himself. Zim is an idiot, though it's also possible he's mad. Gaz is absolutely mad. In fact, the other humans must also be mad, because they don't even realise there's an alien among them, even though he's poorly disguised and behaves unlike a normal person. I quite like it, though.

The cartoon itself is full of nonsense and absolute hideousness, which surprisingly looks good. The characters are somehow scared of nut-chewing moose, for unknown reason. Zim's spaceship can remain working when hitting an asteroid, but breaking down when hitting a very small bee. And Zim later even has a robot bee resembling the bee that destroys his ship, even though he claims he wants to destroy a bee. In several occasions, they even show things that only belongs to Happy Tree Friends, like organs (disturbingly detailed) and brain and stuff. Especially in the first episodes. It gets better, though, as the story progresses. Still full of nonsense, but less hideousness.

Too bad this cartoon is cancelled in the process. I don't know how I should react. In one way, I understand Nickelodeon's reason not to show hideousness to children, but on the other hand, I think this movie is good as long as this "hideousness" is lessened a bit. The first episodes, especially that involves showing organs and taking off one's eyes, even though it's only shown in the shadow. Except when Gaz wants to save their family's night -- I quite think showing hideousness there is a good idea. In fact, rather than hideous, it looks kind of funny.

Seriously, I don't think there will be any cartoon like this ever again.