Line #59 WesternAnimation/SeisManos


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3	''Seis Manos'' is a 2019 Creator/{{Netflix}} martial arts animated series created by Brad Graeber and Álvaro Rodríguez released on October 3, 2019. The series is directed by Willis Bulliner and includes Dan Dominguez as co-writer. ''Seis Manos'' is the first original animated series produced by Creator/VIZMedia as well as the first original property of Powerhouse Animation Studios (the studio behind the ''{{WesternAnimation/Castlevania 2017}}'' animated series), being created and developed completely in-house with animation assistance from Creator/DRMovie.
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5	Set in the fictional Mexican town of San Simon, Seis Manos follows three orphans, raised in the forms and philosophies of the Chinese martial arts, who set out on a path of bloody revenge and justice after the death of their mentor. Meanwhile the San Simon police and the DEA are trying to take down a drug lord, and find themselves on the same trail as the Seis Manos.
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7	The series takes many cues from 70s cinema, including {{blaxploitation}} cinema and grindhouse films.
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10	!!''Seis Manos'' contains examples of:
11	* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Silencio is initially depicted as the most powerful out of the temple's three students. [[spoiler:Jesus]] defeats him easily during the seventh episode.
12	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: In the first episode Garcia bemoans the fact that [[NothingExcitingEverHappensHere no actual crime ever happens in San Simon]] for her to bust. In the eighth episode, [[spoiler: when almost the entire adult population of San Simon has been killed]], she remembers this wish and beats herself up over it.
13	* BittersweetEnding: Season 1 ends with [[spoiler: El Balde killed and his men ran out of town. The main cast is alive, but Lina is killed by Lo, who then kidnaps Silencio. However, Isabela and Jesus are on their way to find and rescue him while Garcia stays behind in San Simon to care for the orphans. Meanwhile, Brister is falsely arrested by his racist supervisor who is also carrying the soul of El Balde's mother]].
14	* ButForMeItWasTuesday:
15	-->'''Isabela:''' Why did you kill our father?!
16	-->'''El Balde:''' I kill a lot of people,'' mi'ja.'' You're going to have to be more specific.
17	* CarFu: Lina manages to temporarily subdue El Balde by crashing her truck into him and plowing him into a brick wall. The fact that he manages to shake this off is a sign of how strong he is.
18	* TheCartel: most of the bad guys are Mexican drug kingpins.
19	* ChekhovsGun: The [[spoiler:exorcism brush.]]
20	** And in the same vein, [[spoiler: the dog tags Garabina gives to Brister.]]
21	** Of all things, the three-hit strike Jesus teaches to Piyojo [[spoiler: to induce vomiting]] comes back in the fourth episode. [[spoiler: Sadly for Piyojo, it doesn't work a third time.]]
22	* DecoyProtagonist: The first episode plays out like a Saturday morning cartoon with the obligatory TagAlongKid. [[spoiler: Then Domingo dies before the end of the episode.]]
23	* DeathOfAChild: [[spoiler: Domingo is killed in the first episode when a statue falls over him.]]
24	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: A given, considering the series takes place in Mexico during the 1970s. One notable example is the American officer Brister being referred to as "gringo" by Garcia, which he protests several times, pointing out that he is black. In Mexico, the word "gringo" is used against Americans, Canadians and Europeans, ''regardless'' of the ethnic origins of the person the insult is targeted to.
25	** Brister's boss Larry makes a racially charged remark about Brister's cologne in the first episode and drops a very offensive term for Chinese people during the last episode [[spoiler: during Brister's arrest]], which is likely to support Brister's claim that he's "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis racist. as. hell.]]"
26	* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler: Alejandra possesses Isabella in episode 7, and became strong enough to smack El Balde around. Luckily Garcia manages to subdue her with Garabina's knowledge of the occult and exorcise her soon after.]]
27	* DisappointedInYou: Shortly after [[spoiler:Alejandra is exorcised]] and Isabela wakes up, the first thing she sees is [[spoiler:Silencio's bloodied body]]. She shoots a glance filled with absolute horror and disgust and immediately walks away. Jesús finds no room for argument and looks at [[spoiler:Silencio]] with pity and walks away as well. [[spoiler:Silencio]] leaves with his head hanging in shame.
28	* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler:El Balde and Alejandra.]]
29	* DoomedHometown: El Balde winds up [[spoiler:killing off the entire adult population of San Simon.]]
30	* DoubleMeaningTitle: ''Manos'' literally means "hands" in Spanish, referring to the fighting styles of the main trio (three siblings, two hands each), but ''manos'' can also refer to a colloquial shortening of ''hermanos,'' "brothers" or "siblings," emphasizing the importance of the familial bond between Isabela, Jesus, and Silencio.
31	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: The mutated man from the start kills himself by drinking gasoline and swallowing a lit match, exploding to pieces. Later on another man mutated by El Balde's drug seemed to have a brief WhatHaveIBecome moment before crushing his own head with his bare hands.]]
32	* DrowningMySorrows: Jesus is already hinted to have a drinking problem in the first episode, but after Chiu's death he has several moments with this particular tinge, particularly in Episode 2 where he stays in the bar and leaves Isabela to deal with Chiu's body.
33	* DrunkenBoxing: In an atypical twist on this trope, Jesus is a practitioner of drunken boxing with a drinking problem, but he typically doesn't fight ''while'' drunk.
34	* EvilIsBigger: El Balde is the main villain -- [[spoiler:for the first seven episodes at least]] -- and is larger than everyone else, even Brister.
35	* ExploitationFilm: The series takes a lot of cues from exploitation films, particularly {{Blaxploitation}} and Mexploitation, with heavy focus on gore and violence.
36	* FantasyKitchenSink: Holy water works, Mesoamerican visions play a big role in the story, and followers of Daoist teachings can [[spoiler:live long lives and practice the flashiest spells in the show.]]
37	* FluffyTheTerrible: El Balde. As in, "The Bucket."
38	* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Isabella first finds the tattoo on Chius back, a more keen-eyed viewer might notice that it is a bit different from the lotus symbol used elsewhere. [[spoiler:It's because they don't represent the same thing, as he explains in episode 7: the mark he has is a peach, the other mark is a lotus flower.]]
39	* GroinAttack: Isabela does this to one of El Balde's men who was sent to kill her in episode 4. Episode 5 also has Garabina doing this to one of El Balde's men.
40	* HealingFactor: People mutated by El Balde's drug have this ability.
41	* HiddenDepths: For all his drunken bluster and youth, Jesús has a clearer head than his siblings. He just has difficulty finding the right words with which he can express his wisdom. In contrast, Isabela has no patience and Silencio is too angry.
42	* HorrorHunger: The mutated become so hungry they start eating other people. El Balde doesn't seem to have this issue however.
43	* ImmortalityImmorality: Once rejuvenated, [[spoiler:Sifu Lo]] admits that the only pleasure left for someone as long-lived as he is messing with mortals.
44	* ImprovisedWeapon: Jesus manages to defeat several gun-totting goons with a metal wheelbarrow. Isabela kicks ass with a thurible attached to a chain and in the episode prior to that, used gardening shears to fight off monsters.
45	* InjuredLimbEpisode: Brister's gunshot wound means he's stuck with his right arm in a sling for subsequent episodes.
46	* InkSuitActor: Isabela looks remarkably like a buff Aislin Derbez. El Balde and Brister's facial features are also very close to those of Danny Trejo and Mike Colter respectively.
47	* KarmicInjury: As a child, Silencio had his tongue cut out by El Balde who also killed Silencio's parents. [[spoiler:The adult Silencio gets his revenge by shoving a [[MatchstickWeapon burning stick through]] El Balde's mouth before killing him by shoving his face into a coal fire.]]
48	* KillItWithFire: The most surefire methold of killing someone that's been mutated into a monster.
49	* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler:Domingo]] doesn't make it past the first episode.
50	* LesserOfTwoEvils: The church ran drugs and weapons but were a hell of a lot less violent than El Balde's cartel.
51	* LockedIntoStrangeness: [[spoiler: Silencio]]'s changing eyebrow.
52	* MatchstickWeapon: [[spoiler:In episode 7, Silencio impales El Balde through the mouth with a burning stick]].
53	* MusclesAreMeaningless:
54	** Much is made of Brister's massive physique during his introduction, but he proves to be nigh-useless [[PaperTiger without a gun.]]
55	** Averted with El Balde, who's even bigger than Brister and strong enough to overpower the main trio and survive getting rammed by a truck. [[spoiler:PlayedStraight later on when he fights his mother Alejandra and gets smacked around by her.]]
56	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: Silencio murdering Padre Serrano. As he was the secret Kingpin of San Simon, he was El Balde's rival and the only one who kept the town in relative peace. Upon his death, El Balde immediately took over, and committed horrible atrocities in his short reign.]]
57	* OffWithHisHead: Balde manages to ''punch'' a man's head off while under the effects of the drug.
58	* OnlyOneName: Notably, every major character in the series so far only goes by one name. The siblings (as well as Lina and Domingo) are orphans and only go by their first names, while Brister and Garcia are only known by their surnames.
59	* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler: Padre Serrano did seem like he was going to help Isabela, Jesus, and Silencio, but when it turned out the Padre was the town's kingpin and was confronted by the trio, believing he killed Chiu, he and his men became aggressive and attacked since the trio knew too much. Then when defeated, Serrano wasn't given a chance to explain as Silencio quickly executed him. In the end Padre Serrano had nothing to do with Chiu's death.]]
60	* PsychoSerum: El Balde possesses a mysterious black powder drug that causes those who consume it to become zombie-like monsters with SuperStrength and a HealingFactor.
61	* RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain: Aside from fire, crushing their head or decapitation is the only other way to kill a mutated person.
62	* {{Retraux}}: It's a Netflix cartoon... with cigarette burns.
63	* ShoutOut: Lo is an {{Expy}} of [[Film/KillBill Pai Mei]] in both appearance, martial arts mastery and his habit of [[StrokeTheBeard stroking his beard]]. He is also an [[spoiler:EvilMentor who trains assassins and appears to lead a crime syndicate]].
64	** El Balde picks up a small doll in episode 5 that looks like Alucard of the Castlevania series, [[{{WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017}} specifically the series animated by the same studio]].
65	** The Powerhouse Studio logo in the end credits is rendered in a similar style to the old Shaw Brothers studios logo.
66	* ShowingOffTheNewBody: a somewhat understated variant from [[spoiler: Alejandra]]'s possession of [[spoiler: Isabella]], more enjoying the skills and capabilities than the appearance.
67	* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: Isabella almost manages to non-violently neutralise ''both'' [[spoiler:Alejandra and El Balde]], but a well-intentioned rescue by her friends ruins it.
68	* TongueTrauma: It's revealed that Silencio's muteness is a result of getting his tongue mutilated as a child [[spoiler: at the hands of El Balde.]]
69	* TownWithADarkSecret: San Simone is an idyllic Mexican town, prosperous and free of crime thanks to [[spoiler:being under the protection of a drug kingpin priest.]]
70	* TragicallyDisabledLoveInterest: Technically ''both'' Lina and Silencio are this to each other. [[spoiler: It's also revealed that both Lina's missing hand and Silencio's muteness are results of run-ins with El Balde.]]
71	* UnequalRites: Mexican curandera and bruja magic goes head-to-head with Chinese Daoist martial arts magic. [[spoiler: Sifu Lo]] is surprised to find there " ... ''might be other cracks in the world through which there is access to the mystery''."
72	* UseTheirOwnWeaponAgainstThem: During the fight with Padre Serrano and his men in episode 3, one of them attacks Isabela using a thurible as an ImprovisedWeapon. Isabela disarms him of it and uses the weapon to knock him out.
73	* YourEyesCanDeceiveYou: The siblings' training by Chiu involved teaching to fight blindfolded to hone their reflexes and responses to their opponents' attacks.
74	-->'''Chiu''': The muscle reflex is faster than the eye. The muscle knows this... but the eye does not.
75	* TheWorfEffect:
76	** Piyojo, a minor character and friend of Jesus, learned a VomitIndiscretionShot Attack and used it successfully against Jesus, and a monsterized dog. It had no effect on El Balde.
77	** Being an OldMaster, Chiu was capable of dealing some serious blows to the mutated man that would cripple a normal person immediately. Unfortunately the mutated man had an extremely strong HealingFactor and Chiu could only hold him off for so long before becoming exhausted due to his old age, getting him killed.
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Context WesternAnimation / SeisManos