Raimundo Pedrosa is the Xiaolin Dragon of the Wind. He can be arrogant, vain, selfish, and sarcastic. He has also betrayed his teammates twice (well, the second time was a bluff).

With all that said, why, then, is he my favorite?

Because he’s the only one in Xiaolin Showdown who’s actually had character progression (aside from Omi). Sure, he was arrogant and rude at the beginning of the series, but these gradually lessened, although he’s still sarcastic from time to time. He became mature and it’s been shown a number of times that he genuinely cares about his teammates. He also knows how to handle the team, making them use their abilities to their fullest potential. That’s why he became the leader of the Xiaolin at the end of the series.:P

Sure, he became part of the Heylin side (read: the evil team), but he was able to go back to the good side when his friends needed him, and I think that’s what counts.

Besides, he’s the only cute guy on the show. LOL  The other one who has potential turns into a komodo dragon-like creature, so no thanks.:P The fact that he and Kimiko have chemistry together doesn’t hurt either. LOL

Anyway, about Raimundo, he’s a Brazilian who came from the circus. He’s the one with the biggest family in the series (he has eight brothers and sisters), although he’s the only one who didn’t have any of his relatives make an appearance. He loves surfing and playing soccer, and, like Kimiko, has an affinity for gadgets. Aside from Omi, he’s the only Dragon who was able to receive a Spear of Guan from Master Monk Guan. His Wudai weapon is the Blade of the Nebula (kind of like the Sword of the Storm, but more powerful), and his elemental Shen-Gong-Wu is the Crest of the Condor. His Wudai Attack is “Wudai Star Wind” and his element strike is “Typhoon Boom.”

He and his teammates Omi (Dragon of Water), Clay (Dragon of Earth) and Kimiko (Dragon of Fire) fight the Heylin Side (Wuya, Chase Young, and Hannibal Bean, to name the big baddies - Jack Spicer doesn’t really count :p) and try to prevent them from getting the Shen-Gong-Wu, magical items imbued with specific abilities, activated by calling out their names.

The show is called Xiaolin Showdown, because whenever at least two people touch a Shen Gong Wu at the same time,  a showdown occurs. Each side will then have to wager a Wu that is currently in their possession (although this has exceptions). The one who calls the Showdown will also think of what challenge they’ll be doing. Their surroundings will change as according to what activity they’ll be doing (usually in disproportionate sizes). Whoever wins the challenge will not only win the Wu being contested, but also the items that have been wagered.

This has got to be one of, if not my absolute favorite cartoon to date.:D I was so sad when they cancelled the show, because there were so many things that they haven’t tackled yet.

Well, at least they made Raimundo the leader at the end.:P

Technorati tags: Xiaolin Showdown, Raimundo Pedrosa, Kimiko Tohomiko, Clay Bailey, Omi, Dojo, Master Fung, Warner Bros., shaolin, xiaolin, cartoons, trivia

This is my favorite character from the anime Yu Yu Hakusho. The “black sheep” of the gang of otherwise friendly, supernatural-crime fighting gang, not a lot of people would love this character because he is angsty, dark, rude, cold, and also kind of morally gray.�This fire-and-ice demon��has a reason for being like this though.

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He is known as the Forbidden One, born to an ice maiden of a land where there are only women. If that wasn’t enough, he’s also part fire demon, his father (who was never seen) was one. Because of this, he was thrown off a cliff while still a baby. He was eventually found by a gang of bandits, but they also eventually rejected him when he grew a bit older because he enjoyed killing too much. He began living on his own then, being forced to fend for himself.

Eventually, he sought the demon surgeon Shigure and asked him to implant a Jagan (a third eye) on his forehead. Despite warnings that his demon class (measures their power) will drastically be lowered because of the procedure, he still insisted on it, and Shigure reluctantly carried through with it. As such, his demon class lowered from A to D. Because of this, he�took on Shigure’s offer to teach him how to fight with a sword so as to be able to survive.

He later finds out that his mother died because of his supposed death and that he has a twin sister, an ice demon named Yukina.��He decides to use his Jagan to watch over his sister (it gives him psychic abilities, among other things). However, as he parted ways with Shigure, the surgeon demands that his payment be that Hiei will never tell Yukina of their kinship. The latter promises, saying he never meant to tell her anyway.

That promise didn’t prevent him from trying to look for his sister though, and his search eventually brought him to the human realm, where he meant two other demons, the other one being Kurama. They were eventually caught by the spirit detective Yusuke. Strangely, the three, with Kuwabara, became allies after. Coincidentally, one of Yusuke’s cases was to rescue Yukina from�the cruel human Turakane. Eventually, Hiei finds out about this and almost kills him, but was stopped by his sister. He didn’t tell her about their relationship though.

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In one of the demonic fighting tournaments that he and the rest participated, the tattoo on his right arm was revealed to be a mark of the Dark Dragon, which he could unleash via the Jaou Ensatsu technique and create a Dragon of darkness flame. This is a very damaging technique that could at least blow off the caster’s arm when used incorrectly. However, he only received a crippled arm when he first tried using it. His second shown casting was eventually successful, blowing off half the stadium because of its strength.

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Technorati tags: hiei, yu yu hakusho, vincent, yusuke, kuwabara, kurama

Thought I’d do that idea I had and make occasional posts on some of my favorite characters.:D

Second on my list (after Raphael of course), is the bad boy of Alice Academy, 11-year old (?) Hyuuga Natsume.

Well, actually, when you get to watch the anime, you’ll find out he’s not as bad as he first appears to be. He’s just scared to let people come closer to him� (to his “darkness”) because he’s scared that they might get hurt, whether because of his power (he can control fire), or because of the mystery surrounding his past, present, and future.

When you first see him, though, “caring”, “thoughtful”, and “sensitive” won’t be the words that pop in your head. “Arrogant”, “moody,” and “belligerent” would probably be closer to the mark. Even if he cuts classes with his posse, he’s extremely intelligent and is one of those who tops their class. He seems indifferent and even rude to the other people, even to his teachers. He even used to torment the lead character Sakura Mikan for a lot of reasons, and calls her names. We’ll later catch the hint that he actually seems to have a crush on her - and vice versa (haha! cute!)

He belongs to the Dangerous Abilities class - which is actually a cover name for the students who gets assigned to dangerous missions by the school, projects which involve espionage and similar stuff that need their special “gifts.” In addition, his alice is of the “Unlimited” form, which means that he can use it whenever and how intensely he likes, but with the consequence that each use of his power decreases his life span.

Aside from Mikan, the other people close to him are Nogi Ruka, his childhood friend who has the alice of animal pheromones (and also is attracted to Mikan), and Hijiri Yōichi, a three-year old boy who can summon and manipulate ghosts, because he identifies with the little kid.

Technorati tags: alice academy, natsume, ruka, mikan, yoichi, anime, manga