The Mandalorian and Grogu Review!

The Mandalorian and Grogu jetpacks into theaters with crowd sensation Grogu in this next step of Star Wars! The movie is co-written and directed by Jon Favreau. He is the creator of the show, The Mandalorian, that started in 2019 and went three seasons to 2023. The other co-writer is Dave Filoni who was executive producer, writer, and director of episodes on the show. The last writer is Noah Kloor, who wrote one season three episode of The Mandalorian, and a staff writer for seven episodes of the spin-off show, The Book of Boba Fett. There is a prologue, two paragraphs covering the fall of the Empire, former Imperial Warlords are working towards the return of the Empire, in the Outer Rim, The Mandalorian and his apprentice, Grogu hunt down the ex-Imperials. 

There is a gathering of the ex-Imperial officers. The leader is Commander Barro (Hemky Madera), he played one of the Shadow Council members in season three of The Mandalorian, “The Spies” (2023); FC-TM3:7. They are also flanked by snowtrooper guards. Commander Barro announces to this council, “I am raising your tribute", a protection racket for his council.  Prefect Nobah (Cullen Douglas) objects and Barro ends his objection. Douglas was in episodes of the superhero show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as Edison Po. Barro gets a report of a perimeter alert. From the shadows, snowtroopers are blasted and taken out by his vibro knife and flame projector on The Mandalorian's vambrace. 

There is the sound of drumming and the theme from The Mandalorian show by Ludwig Göransson on the big screen makes it worth the price of a ticket! Barro leaves before The Mandalorian appears. The Mandalorian, (Pedro Pascal), was of course introduced in the first episode of The Mandalorian, in 2019; FC-TM1:1. His name, Din Djarin, revealed in the series is not used in the film. I think the most interesting part is the top billing of the stunt performers for The Mandalorian; Brandan Wayne and Lateef Crowder. This is probably the first time to have stuntees prominent in the credits, but besides being in The Mandalorian show, they are important in creating Din’s bearing and movements. 

Mando’s silver colored armor is made of beskar which is invulnerable to almost every form of damage. Din earned his armor from beskar given by the Client in “The Sin” (2019), first season episode; FC-TM1:3. In Legends, the term "beskar" was found in “The Mandalorians: People and Culture” by Karen Traviss in Star Wars Insider #86 (2006), EC-SWI86. It was retroactively applied to Boba Fett’s armor in Empire Strikes Back (1980); GC-OT2. He goes after Commander Barro. The snowtroopers are scrambled and also a MSE-6 repair droid, the tiny, black trapezoid droid. There is even the blue electronic droid pov as it slips past troopers and Mando taking down others. 

The mouse droid skitters to another passage to the snowy outdoor, but finds his way blocked by Grogu! The fan favorite character also was introduced in the premiere and has the Lone Wolf and Cub relationship with Mando. He has the look of an infant Yoda with long ears and green skin, but with big, black eyes. The name of The Child was revealed in the show. He uses The Force to lift the MSE droid and it shatters! Behind Grogu, a snowtrooper rides up a one person walker, the AT-RT. The All Terrain Reconnaisance Transport made its first appearance in Revenge of the Sith (2005); GC-PT3. Grogu is cornered, but manages to take cover behind some machinery. 

He is saved by The Mandalorian. Grogu leaps onto the AT-RT and Din tells him to hold on as he slides down the snowy slope with the walker. He finally makes it to the road before three AT-ATs (All Terrain Armored Transport) also called Imperial walkers. They are massive, elephant-like walkers first introduced in Empire Strikes Back (1980). Barro is in the cockpit and orders the snowtrooper pilots to blast him! The Mandalorian sends the chicken-like walker to weave underneath the war machine. Commander Fremmet crushes the stolen AT-RT with the second walker's foot. Din has escaped on his jetpack and plants three disc-shaped explosive charges. They explode sending the AT-AT toppling over a cliff to its destruction! The Mandalorian uses his jetpack to reach the roof of Fremmet's walker and destroys it with explosives.  

The snowtrooper pilots of the Barro's walker hears something on the roof. There is a circular passage to the center hold of the walker. Barro heads towards a INT-4 Interceptor ship. The small ship looks like the cockpit of the AT-AT with stubby wings, introduced in the mobile game, Star Wars: Commander (2014); DC-SWC. Din breaches the AT-AT cockpit, blasts the pilots, and fights his way to the hold. Barro launches his ship from the hold. Barro has left behind cartridge-shaped charges that fill the hold! Grogu tries to remind Din about the explosives, funny! The Mandalorian takes controls of the AT-AT cannons to blast Barro’s ship. Din jetpacks from the breached cockpit to a U-Wing transport ship. 

It is a ship with four engines and two long vanes in front, the ship was first seen in Rogue One (2016); DC-RO. The name of the ship has not yet been identified. The ship is piloted by Garazeb Orrelios (Steve Blum), he is known simply as Zeb, was introduced in the animated series, Star Wars: Rebels. His introduction was in the premiere episode, “Spark of Rebellion” (2014); FC-SWR1:1. He debuted in The Mandalorian with the third season episode, “The Pirate” (2023); FC-TM3:5. Zeb is a Lasat, tall with purple skin, a beard, and pointed ears based on an early design for Chewbacca. He flies to the tropical world of Adelphi which has the New Republic starfighter base introduced in "The Pirate." 

There are a number of X-Wing and Y-Wing fighters on the base. Zeb leaves The Mandalorian and Grogu as they head to the base cantina. Inside is Colonel Ward played by Sigourney Weaver. A new character introduced for Star Wars who seems to have fought in the Galactic Civil War of the Original Trilogy. Weaver also played Kiri in Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025). She tells Mando that the last job was "Messy, very messy" since she wanted a prisoner to lead to other ex-Imperials. Ward tells Din that the next job is in her sabaac cards, an Ace of Staves, Lord Janu. His location is unknown, but New Republic Intelligence is working with the Hutt Twins to find him. The Twins are brother and sister, introduced in The Book of Boba Fett, “The Tribes of Tatooine” (2022); FC-BBF1:2. Their first names have not been revealed. 

The Mandalorian has meet the Hutt Twins before and Ward explains that in exchange for Janu's whereabouts, they need to find Rotta the Hutt, the last heir of Jabba the Hutt. Rotta made his debut as an infant Huttlet watched over by Ahsoka Tano in her introduction, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008); GL-TCW. The pronunciation of the Hutt’s name seems to be “Rada.” Colonel Ward takes him outside to show him what will be his payment in advance. This is a new ST-70 assault ship like his Razor Crest. His last ship was destroyed in the episode, "The Tragedy" (2020); FC-TM2:6. Zeb joins the duo on their way to Nal Hutta, the homeworld of the Hutts. Nal Hutta, first appearance was in the now Legends comic book, Star Wars: Dark Empire #3 (1992) by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy. It debuted in canon with The Clone Wars season three episode, “The Hunt for Ziro”; GL-CW3:9.   

Four Beskar Armors out of Five! 

#TheMandalorianAndGrogu, #JonFavreau, #DaveFiloni, #NoahKloor, #LudwigGoransson, #PedroPascal, #BrandanWayne, #LateefCrowder, #JeremyAllenWhite, #Shirley Henderson, #SteveBlum, #SigourneyWeaver, #MartinScorsese, #JonnyCoyne, #HemkyMadera, #MatthewWillig, #PaulSunHyungLee, #RickFamuyiwa, #DeborahChow

Comic Con Revolution Ontario (2026)!

This year’s Comic Con Revolution Ontario was filled with guests, artists, and cosplayers! Saturday was the first day. A good size queue steadily went through security, picked up badges, and then formed another line to enter the convention halls. There was many of the cast of Beverly Hills 90210; Jennie Garth (Kelly Taylor), Ian Zering (Steve Sanders) who also had a Sharknado photo op!, Brian Austin Green (David Silder), and Gabrielle Carteris (Andrea Zuckerman). 

The CW Arrow and The Flash casts also had many fans including Grant Gustin (The Barry Allen Flash), Caity Lotz, White Canary in Legends of Tomorrow, David Ramsey (John Diggle), John Wesley Shipp (Henry Allen and the Jay Garrick Flash), he was also Mitch Leery, the father in Dawson’s Creek, Katrina Law (Nyssa al Ghul), Tom Cavanagh (Harrison Wells and The Reverse Flash), Danielle Panaker (Caitlin Snow and Killer Frost), and Carlos Valdes (Cisco Ramon known as Vibe!).   

Into the Speed Force: Celebrating the Flash panel with John Wesley Shipp, Tom Cavanagh, Danielle Panabaker, Grant Gustin, and Carlos Valdes, author’s photo. 

Queues started to form for the autograph area towards the end of the hall so I went to the next hall which had Autograph Alley. I saw again writer/artist, Christian Gossett who had a line of Red Star graphic novels on his table. He was also promoting his upcoming comic, Cthulhu Town, from Mad Cave Studios. There were t-shirts and a short story collection, Cthulhu Town: Liquid and Light. Gossett signed the Hero Initiative Bloodshot 50 Project. There was also Ben Templesmith, co-creator of 30 Days of Night, he signed the Hero Initiative Hellboy 100 Project and had a lively conversation. 

Danny Miki who is currently inking Hyde Street for Ghost Machine. He signed his page for Superman 100 Project, two pages where Superman skateboards above the DC heroes!, also several black and white panels for The New Avengers 100 Project. One of the longest lines was for Dan Jurgens, writer for Action Comics including issue #1000! Outside of the Artist Alley hall were tagbles of cosplayers including Angi Viper who portrays the convention’s Jetpack Jules. There was also Megan Random who had several covers with Rachel Hollon from Vampirella versus Red Sonja.  

Cosplayer Megan Random, photo by the author. 

I returned to the autograph section to wait in a the queue for Katee Sackhoff who was at The Mandalorian and Grogu premiere on May 14th! She is known for playing Bo-Katan Kryze in The Mandalorian, but also had the iconic role of Captain Kara `Starbuck’ Thrace. Sackhoff was also there with fellow cast members for the Battlestar Galactica: Stories from the Fleet panel. On the panel, Sackhoff did her research watching the show seeing Dirk Benedict play Starbuck. 

She said, “I allowed myself to be swayed by the knowledge that the character was a man. I thought personally, in my opinion was that I learned too hard in the mini-series into this masculine swagger that didn't feel grounded.” The audience burst into laughter at her comment. 

At the table was also Edward James Olmos who played Admiral William Adama and also Gaff in Blade Runner (1982). 

A lighter moment at the Battlestar Galactica: Stories from the Fleet panel with Edward James Olmos, Tricia Helfer, and James Callis, author’s photo. 

The other actors were Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin who was Madeline Usher in the horror mini-series, The Fall of the House of Usher (2023). James Callis (Dr. Gaius Baltar) currently plays Claude Whelan in the spy drama, Slow Horses. The next table had Tricia Helfer who played Number Six who was also Sofia in the Primtive War (2025), dino action movie. Grace Park was Lt. Sharon `Boomer’ Valeria. Katherine Saville in the drama, A Million Little Things, was also played by Park. 

At the autograph area, I had the chance to talk with Katrina Law, she is currently playing Jessica Knight in the long running police drama, NCIS. On Sunday, she was on the Arrow: Heroes of Star City panel with Caity Lotz and David Ramsey. The other panel on Saturday was Into the Speed Force: Celebrating the Flash panel. This featured Grant Gustin, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Tom Cavanagh, and John Wesley Shipp. 

The halls of the Ontario Convention Center for Comic Con Revolution, photo by the author. 

Gustin’s Barry Allen was introduced in the CW superhero shows with Arrow’s season two episode, “The Scientist” (2013). Panabaker and Valdes guest starred in “The Man Under the Hood” (2013) episode of Arrow. Panabaker added, “Initally it was meant to be a planted spin-off on Arrow and then I think they fell in love with it and decided to give it its own pilot.” She turned to Cavanagh and mentioned, “Then, you were cast?”, he acknowledged, “Yeah” and the audience laughed. 

There was a mention of the Crisis on Infinite Earths arc that wove through episodes of Supergirl, Batwoman, The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow. The crossover was based on the 1985 limited series by Marv Wolfman, who has a cameo in the show, and George Perez that reset the DC universe. The tv Crisis arc had cameos with Burt Ward from the classic 1966 Batman show, Robert Wuhl from the Batman (1989) movie, Tom Welling and Erica Durance from Smallville. 

Amanda Pays played Tina McGee from the Flash show that starred Shipp. There was even a cameo by Ezra Miller from the DC films. There wasn attempt to bring all of the characters together in The Flash (2023) film, but Crisis felt like an event bringing all of your favorite DC shows and movies together. This is really the best part of comic conventions bringing all fandoms together. Comic Con Revolution had many television shows, wrestling stars, and comic creators. 

#ComicConRevolution, #BattlestarGalacticaStoriesFromTheFleet; ##EdwardJamesOlmos, #TriciaHelfer, #JamesCallis, #GracePark, #KateeSackhoff, #MaryMcDonnell, #IntoTheSpeedForceCelebratingTheFlash, #GrantGustin, #DaniellePanabaker, #CarlosValdes 

#TomCavanagh, #JohnWesleyShipp, #ArrowHeroesOfStarCity, #KatrinaLaw, #CaityLotz, #DavidRamsey, #BeverlyHills90210, #JennieGarth, #IanZering, #BrianAustinGreen, #GabrielleCarteris, #ArtistAlley, #ChristianGossett, #BenTemplesmith, #DannyMiki, #DanJurgens, #AngiViper, #MeganRandom 

Today is George Lucas' Birthday!

Happy Birthday George Lucas! His landmark student film, Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB (1967) and was turned into a full film, THX 1138 (1971). He also defined teen films with American Graffiti (1973) insisting on a soundtrack of songs by the original artists that is the standard today. He created his own world using Akira Kurosawa, John Ford, sci fi movie serials, and Alex Raymond influences to form something new with Star Wars (1977). Then, there was Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and finally Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983). There were two tv movies with stories by George Lucas; The Ewok Adventure (1984), also called the Caravan of Courage, and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985) that featured Teek! Lucas contributed the story for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), collaborating with his friend, Steven Spielberg, to craft a modern cliffhanger serial classic. There was also Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and later Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).  

His first collaboration with Disney was Star Tours which first opened in 1987. Lucas was the writer for the fantasy film Willow (1988). Later, he worked again with Disney for Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye which opened at Disneyland in 1995. Lucas created the television show The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992-1993). Lucas returned to Star Wars with the prequels starting with Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). He continued the prequels with Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (2002) and the conclusion was in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (2005). Lucas also was executive producer on Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-2014) animated series. He returned to write the story for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). Lucas accomplished the film he wanted to make for some time executive producing Red Tails (2012). On October 2012, Lucasfilm was sold to Disney. Lucas is focusing his energies on the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art with his wife, MelanieHObson. It is set to open on . Happy Birthday George Lucas!

#GeorgeLucas, #THX1138, #AmericanGraffiti, #StarWars, #EmpireStrikesBack, #ReturnOfTheJedi, #TheEwokAdventure, #EwoksTheBattleForEndor, #RaidersoftheLostArk, #IndianaJonesAndtheTempleOfDoom, #IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade, #StarTours, #Willow

#IndianaJonesAdventureTempleOfTheForbiddenEye, #ThePhantomMenace, #AttackOfTheClones, #RevengeOfTheSith, #TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles, #StarWarsTheCloneWars, #IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull #RedTails #LucaMuseumofNarrativeArt

Universal Studios Fan Fest 2026!

This is the second year for Universal Fan Fest Nights and it was crowded with fans! There is still May 9th, 14, 15, and 16th left for the event. Check out: https://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/hhn/en/us/things-to-do/events-and-seasonal-activities/fan-fest-nights. The comic convention look was missing. The lanyards were a paid item. The cosplay of course had Harry Potter robes, a few Luffy Straw Hats and bounding-type outfits, and I saw a great group of D&D cosplayers. The mobile food ordering didn’t seem to work, but I found it was working towards the end of the night. I was a little late due to traffic so this threw my schedule off, I missed the One Piece show. So I thought I would try for the meet and greets. 

The Sailor Moon's photo op was confusing, one line was ending and the other was full, so what about the next?, dunno team members didn't make it clear. So I decided to go to Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (the Japanese name): The Miracle: Moon Palace Chapter Deluxe. This 4D film (without the 3D) like the previous one, Jujitsu Kaisen was from the Japan theme park. The outside curtain above the entrance showed Sailor Moon and Chibusa, who apparently is a little girl who time travels from the 30th century (the time of Legion of Super-Heroes?) to Sailor's time.

I think there is also Luna, a talking cat?, couldn't tell because it was just a sphere. I thought it was a robot. Sailor in her teen form, Usagi Tsukino, with Chibusa is planning a celebration on the moon with Mamoru Chiba, the guy who becomes Tuxedo Mask. Queen Nehelenia is in the background looking for the Silver Crystal. They head to the Moon Palace and are joined by the other Sailor Guardians; Sailor Venus, who has metal powers using her Wink Chain, Sailor Mercury with water powers, Sailor Mars, she can control fire, and Sailor Jupiter, she brings the lighting and thunder. 

Tuxedo Mask dances with Sailor Moon. Queen Nehelenia appears and drains the power of Sailor Guardians to use against them! Chisbusa arrives with the Outer Guardians; Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Pluto. They power up Sailor Moon to take on the queen and they need you to make the heart symbol to break her staff. They take a group pic at the end. It's an ok show, only one setting, the Moon Palace, the Sailors sweep past you, yup, but it just doesn't use the full effect like the Jujitsu Kaisen show.

Next to the exit of Sailor Moon was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, one thing just led to another all night. I saw a handler for a dragon with no name. Then, I headed to Hogwarts, to the right is the roller coaster, Flight of the Hippogriff. So I was a little confused that entrance to Forbidden Forest: Search fro the Hippogriff, was not there, but the entrance is in Hogwarts. You have to note to team member that you don't want to go on Forbidden Journey and then go to another entrace. 

The general wait time was 60 minutes, I had the express pass so went right in line with my handy wand. You are led in the back area of Hogsmeade into a forest. This part gets very Horror Nights, spooky, but there are many team members at every part to guide you. You reach the Hogwarts professor and cast the first spell, an easy one, "Lumos" to lead you in the darkness. He leads you to a bunch of books torn apart by Cornish Pixies and another easy spell "Immobulus." They are frozen and the professor sets down the Monster Book of Monsters after a guest touches its spine. 

 

A centaur appears at the Forbidden Forest: Search for the Hippogriff, Universal Studios Fan Fest Nights, author’s photo. 

Then, it’s off to a part of the forest filled with webbing (netting). I'm not certain how the Acromantula, giant spider, was handled. There was a creature, but it looked too much like the tree for me. Then, there was an encounter with a centaur, I think this was an animatronic, Wow. The professor says they are only looking for the Hippogriff. Next, some Devil's Snare blocks the way, but the professor untangles the plant with sunlight from the Lumos Solem spell, didn’t know this one. 

Finally, there is more Devil’s Snare that has trapped the Hippogriff. Another Lumos Solem parts the Devil’s Snare fully revealing the Hippogriff, Fleetwing, bathed in light. I was immediately bowing to respect him. Impressive. Once I left, right there was the tram, so took it without any rest. The express pass got me on the tram. A video plays on the monitors explaining that a movie is being filmed and you are an extra. The mystery is to find the identity of the Phantom Director with help of the Scooby Gang. 

From the tram video I thought it was the Art Director, I think that was who it was at the Big Reveal. The tram lets you off at Little Europe where the horror films were made. This was the cool part, Frankenstein made giant shadows on a wall. Dracula was at the fountain of the Court of Miracles. The Universal Monsters, Dracula, Frankenstein, the Bride, and Wolfman just cameo. They do have glow stick light ups around their costumes so the monsters stand out. 

There is a guide, the Mystery Inc. Manual, that is at the tram loading area and also copies when you exit the tram with pencils. You have to go around and find clues, everything I heard about it on YouTube is that the clues were too confusing, so I just went around to find characters. Shaggy was at the Snacks by Shaggy tent, kinda funny, and Velma was at a video village with monitors and clues to track the Phantom Director.

Daphne was at the Wardrobe Dept. tent, Wolfman moved right past me to find her, no reaction from me because I think werewolves are cool. She outwitted him with a stick that had his face on it! I was exhausted going round and round in circles, signage is needed for different areas with character faces on them. So I headed to the Big Reveal had the Scooby Gang on a stage that was behind all of the tents. The Universal Monsters chase them overhead on screens and finally the trap catches the Phantom Director! It was an ok show, though the area is kinda small. 

I took the tram back and it was 4 minutes to the One Piece show so instead I headed for the Lower Lot. Dungeons and Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep was the only returning experience. I used the express pass and went to a single line, took about 15 minutes, I knew to stay on the right side with the book shelves of magic items. So I was able to activate the crystal ball. The hostde was a Human Bard, not a Dwarf like last year, and the host on the other side was the devlish Evilina. The last time, the Mimic, the monster like a treasure chest with teeth, was on the left side near the entrance. 

Daphne outsmarts the Wolfman!, Scooby Doo x Universal Monsters, photo by the author. 

This time it was on the right, I don't know what was special on the other side. The Dragonstaff is found in the treasure room that also has the Beholder. I was so busy taking pics of it that the group moved on, not this time, I rushed forward to see the last part of the show. Laralay Starshadow, who amazingly looks like the Elf at the beginning shows up ready to take power. Evilina uses the Dragonstaff on her and saves the day! Fan Fest still doesn’t have shirts with the logos of the attractions so merch is still weak. 

The next part was a little tricky, trying to find Jurassic World: Journey Through The Eras. It wasn’t next to the Jurassic World ride and I kept getting directions from team members. The walk through was actually around the corner of the elevators! Once you pass the elevators overhead, there is the Jurassic Park sign and under it, none other than John Hammond! The founder of Jurassic Park was complete in white, straw hat, and cane, spot on! Inside the park was the T-Rex from Jurassic Park (1993). 

Next to her, was the InGen convoy truck from The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997). I later saw Dr. Henry Wu there! On the side was Dr. Ian Malcolm, this actor was brilliant, really the character of Ian Malcolm just like Jeff Goldblum! I think one of the best actors at Fan Fest. He was in front of a Jurassic Park jeep. Behind him was Ned Ledry, very funny!, he has the yellow jacket. After the photo I said, “We’re dino food.” Behind Ned is the Brachiosaurus. 

In the center was the Gyrosphere from Jurassic World without windows. At the end was the InGen river boat from Jurassic Park III (2001) towing a cage with a Velociraptor on top! There was a small area for a show with trainers trying to contain Velociraptors, very crowded so I didn’t see it. Instead of a show, they should recreate moments from the first film. All of the characters from JP1 were there, maybe the hunter is needed, then it would be on the level of Back to the Future: Return to Hill Valley!  

Dr. Ian Malcolm at Jurassic World: Journey Through the Eras, photo by the author. 

When I reached the Upper Lot, I hustled over to the last showing of One Piece Grand Pirate Show. This is at the same location as Waterworld, but I think I mistakedly passed it. It was actually a One Piece street, right around the corner of Sanji’s Galley, there was the bar, One Piece: Grand Pirate Den, to the side was the meet and greet. Every seat is a good seat since the characters walk every side next to the seats and the railing. The Marines in the pre-show were funny looking for pirates. 

A Marine boat passes by complete with gatling gun.Most of the same sets and vehicles as Waterworld. Tashigi is also looking for pirates at the railing. Admiral Borsalino is looking for the Straw Hat Crew. Usopp with the suspenders and Sanji in black suit are on the dock at Midori Island. They are searching for Pop Greens which will give them powers. Monkey D. Luffy arrives on a boat piloted by Nami. The boat maneuvers and Luffy jumping around are kinda crazy. Luffy is dropped off at the dock and is of course hungry with a growling stomach. 

Zoro in green gi walks along the railing and then Nami. On the other side, she fights off Marines with her staff, but ends up captured. Nami is fighting for the people of the island. On a tower, Zoro battles Tashigi. On the dock, Sanji back flips and kicks two Marines. Then, it is Zoro’s turn with his swords! The stunts are fantastic. Usopp flies over in a basket. Next, it is Luffy’s turn to hold onto a cage. He reaches Usopp and Nami, then the gatling gun blasts him! He takes the bullets and projects it back, throwing two Marines into the water! 

Luffy faces the villain at the railing. Usopp uses his sling shot to blast the Marines on the other side. At the tower, Buggy the Clown has shown up! Tony Tony Chopper struggles with a Marine, funny! Sanji appears with his leg in flames! He flips and kicks Marines. Then, Tashigi takes control of gatling gun to shoot at Zoro who deflects the bullets with his swords! Admiral Borsalino has an energy sword to try to stop Buggy, but he can split himself apart. Luffy joins the fight. The Pop Greens have become unstable, the Straw Hat Crew, and even Buggy escape.

Monkey D. Luffy faces Buggy the Clown in One Piece Grand Pirate Show, author’s photo. 

The island explodes and gouts of fire right next to you give a spectacular finish. This show is thrilling, more current than the almost forgotten Waterworld so I hope it returns and maybe take over Waterworld. There was a Meet and Greet outside, but it was already closed, you have to dedicate the night to get to the Meet and Greets. Sanji’s Gallery had long lines, but more reasonable towards the close, so I was able to order Nami’s Tangerie Breeze, tangerine and lime juice, club soda and honey with a tangerien slice and mint sprig, $12.00, it was good.  

I would probably go for a cheaper drink, the alcoholic drinks were of course more expensive, a fountain drink. I chose Franky’s Loco Moco Burger, one of my favorite Hawaiian meals, it was a burger with slices of pork (made me think of Spam), fried egg and onion rings with “miso cola gravy.” It came with “star-shaped tater tots.” $18.99, a full meal, by the way just get one item and a drink, it becomes pricey! I also got the One Piece Floating Bottle, $20, it’s a nice collectible. It ended up a little more than twice the price of the three course meal at Hogwart’s. The One Piece show is a can’t miss, Jurassic Park experience was great, and the Forbidden Forest, all highlights. There was much to do at Universal Studios Fan Fest Nights, except rest, memorable and exhausting fun!   

#UniversalStudiosFanFestNights, #PrettyGuardianSailorMoon, #TheMiracleMoonPalaceChapterDeluxe, #SaolorMoon, #Chibusa, #TuxedoMask, #QueenNehelenia,