Spin Master today announced a new PAW Patrol spinoff featuring Skye titled Skye’s Pup Squad. The new series, which will be 2D, will see best friends Skye, Everest and Liberty set out to rescue animals in need. The series will premiere on Nickelodeon in March 2027.

In the series, Skye, Everest and Liberty embark on an all girl pup road trip traveling along the trails of Rescue Ridge. When one of the Ridge’s animals is in trouble, Skye makes sure the Pup Squad is “rescue ready!” Whether it’s a baby goat climbing too high or a catnapping kitty floating down the raging rapids in a runaway canoe, Skye’s Pup Squad will gear up, team up, and bring it home. It’s action meets care, cuddles and cuteness, with plenty of real animal facts and campfire sing alongs along the way.

“The love for PAW Patrol is incredible, and a big part of that is because kids just adore Skye,” said Vishnu Athreya, EVP & President of Spin Master Entertainment. “She’s been a hero from day one, and it’s about time she got her own moment. Skye’s Pup Squad lets us dive deeper into her brave, empathetic spirit with fresh, fun adventures. We can’t wait for kids to jump into these brand-new rescue missions with Skye and her Pup Squad.”

“As PAW Patrol continues to resonate with audiences globally, Skye’s Pup Squad shines a spotlight on one of its most beloved pups,” said Alec Botnick, President, Nickelodeon Animation Studios. “Following the success of Rubble & Crew, we’ve seen how eager kids and families are to spend more time with the characters they love. Through new adventures, friendship and teamwork, Skye’s Pup Squad expands the franchise in a way that stays true to its heart.”

“This series builds on everything kids love about Skye — she’s a supportive friend, an empathetic hero, and a pup who never gives up,” says Leah Gotcsik, who will be the showrunner. “Skye’s Pup Squad is a show for kids who love going on outdoor adventures, learning about and caring for animals, all while spending time with their bestie-heroes.” Gotcsik’s previous credits include The Tiny Chef Show, Barney’s World, Superkitties, Bubble Guppies and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.

Premiering in 2013, PAW Patrol, originally created by Keith Chapman (Bob the Builder), has aired more than 600 11 minute episodes and continues to top charts across various platforms. Available in 180+ territories and 33 languages, across 200+ stations and streaming platforms, PAW Patrol has amassed more than 10 million YouTube subscribers. A first spinoff, Rubble & Crew, premiered in 2023.

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Try explaining Zoro to a friend who has never watched One Piece. Somewhere in the first minute, you’ll mention the sword in his mouth. Describe Byakuya Kuchiki from Bleach and you end up talking about cherry petals. Bring up Demon Slayer and plenty of fans think first of a swordsmith screaming over a chipped blade. Not one of those images has much to do with how well a weapon cuts.

Swords get this treatment because they’re easy to play with. The real thing has centuries of history behind it, and a studio can still stretch one past the point of usefulness, or load it with a dead friend’s promise, and viewers go along with it. Three very different series handle that freedom in three very different ways.

A Weapon Can Establish a Character Before a Word Is Spoken

Designers get a lot of mileage out of what a character carries. Before anyone speaks, you’ve already formed an opinion from the sword: how big it is, whether it’s been looked after, whether it hangs at the hip or rides over a shoulder. A spotless blade says something different from a notched one that has clearly seen a lot of use.

Zoro is the textbook case. Santoryu, his three-sword style, means a blade in each hand and another gripped in his teeth, which would get a real fencer laughed out of the dojo. That’s the point. The look is ridiculous, and it tells you this is someone who will look silly all day if it makes him a better swordsman.

There’s a real story under the gimmick. Back at his childhood dojo, Zoro lost to a girl named Kuina over and over, and the two of them swore that one of them would become the best swordsman in the world. Then Kuina died, suddenly, and her father, Koshiro, handed Zoro her sword, Wado Ichimonji. That’s the one Zoro keeps in his mouth. The oddest part of his style turns out to be the part that holds the promise.

In Bleach, the Sword Has an Identity of Its Own

Bleach treats a sword as someone you have to get to know. A Soul Reaper’s Zanpakuto has a name and a spirit of its own, and the fighter has to learn both before the weapon’s real abilities open up. Learning its name allows a Soul Reaper to achieve Shikai, while Bankai requires a further level of training and mastery.

Byakuya’s Senbonzakura looks like an ordinary katana until he says “Scatter.” The blade then breaks into a thousand slender fragments that drift like cherry petals, leaving only the hilt in his hand, and he steers the cloud by moving it. The effect matches a man who is formal, reserved, and almost never loses his composure.

Renji Abarai’s Zabimaru is the opposite of elegant. Its name means “snake tail,” and when Renji calls on it to howl, the blade turns into a segmented whip that extends well past a sword’s normal reach. Its spirit appears as a baboon with a snake for a tail, and it is every bit as proud and combative as its owner. Their duel in the Soul Society arc is partly a contest between those two designs: a segmented, whip-like blade against a cloud of petals.

Demon Slayer Makes Craftsmanship Part of the Story

Most action series hand their hero a sword and move on. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba stops to ask who made it. Nichirin blades are made with Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand and Scarlet Crimson Ore, material that soaks up sunlight and change color the first time a new owner picks them up. Tanjiro Kamado’s turns black, which is rare. The materials are found on a mountain that receives sunlight throughout the year, making them particularly suited to producing weapons capable of harming demons.

Hotaru Haganezuka, the swordsmith assigned to Tanjiro, takes that personally. He travels to deliver the blade himself, apparently hoping for a vivid red to match Tanjiro’s hair and eyes, and when it comes out black he loses his temper. That sets up the series’ best running joke. Haganezuka treats every chip and crack as an insult, and after Tanjiro’s sword is damaged in the Entertainment District fight, he refuses by letter to make another one. The refusal sends Tanjiro to the Swordsmith Village.

The humor lands because the anger is sincere. Haganezuka knows how much work is in the blade, and the Swordsmith Village arc backs him up by moving the story into the workshops. His masked neighbors, the village’s secrecy, and the long polishing of an ancient blade hidden inside the Yoriichi Type Zero automaton all make the same point: someone has to forge these things, and someone has to keep them going.

Real Sword Traditions Give Fantasy Designs a Point of Reference

Behind most anime blades is a real sword, and the real names are more precise than anything the shows bother with. Start with the tachi: long, strongly curved, and hung from the belt with the edge facing down, a style tied to fighting on horseback. The katana, which became increasingly prominent during the Muromachi period as fighting methods and sword-mounting practices changed, was pushed through the sash edge-up and suited fighting on foot, with a blade of at least 60 centimeters under the conventional classification. This was not a simple overnight replacement, as the two sword types continued to exist alongside each other. The wakizashi, usually worn alongside it, runs from roughly 30 to 60 centimeters. The tanto is a dagger, shorter again.

Traditional swordmaking is a relay between specialists. Smiths historically worked from tamahagane, steel produced in a traditional smelting furnace called a tatara, though methods varied by period and school. The material is produced by smelting iron-rich sand in the tatara, and its production methods developed over different historical periods. Not every Japanese sword throughout history was made using precisely the same materials or process. The clever part comes just before the quench. The smith paints the blade with a clay mixture, laid on thickly along the spine and barely at all along the edge. Plunged into water while red-hot, the exposed edge cools quickest and turns hard, while the clay-insulated spine stays softer and tougher. The different cooling rates create a distinctive hardening pattern along the edge, called the hamon. Revealed through polishing, it appears as a misty line along the blade. It can run straight or in waves, and it can point to a particular smith’s skill or school. The hamon is not simply a boundary between two layers of steel, but the visible result of the different ways the blade hardens during quenching. A separate craftsperson then polishes the blade, and others make the fittings.

Anime doesn’t have to follow any of this, and it doesn’t. Blades get stretched to absurd lengths, fitted with flamboyant guards, and wrapped in supernatural light. Nobody is asking for a reconstruction. A design can borrow a real tradition’s look and still answer only to its own world, and whether it’s plain or magical hardly matters as long as the story stays consistent about it.

The Way a Sword Moves Is as Important as How It Looks

A still drawing of a sword is only half of it. The rest is timing and sound: the scrape of a blade leaving its sheath, a held breath before the cut, a pause that lands harder than ten quick strikes.

The three series handle it differently. Zoro’s fights tend to be about endurance, a man taking punishment from someone stronger and refusing to stop. In Bleach, the moment a character calls out a release command, the fight changes size and speed. Demon Slayer paints its breathing techniques straight over the blade: Tanjiro’s Water Breathing ripples around the steel, while the flame styles burn. These effects are visual representations of the techniques rather than literal elemental transformations of the swords themselves.

Give every sword the same rhythm and the fights would blur together. Thankfully, they don’t.

Why the Fascination Continues Beyond the Screen

Some viewers don’t stop when the episode ends. An oddly shaped guard or an unusual curve sends them looking for the real thing, such as what a tachi actually is, how it differs from a katana, and why the edge of a Japanese blade has that misty line. From there it can go anywhere: Japanese material culture, European swords, or collecting.

Collecting gives you what a screen can’t, which is the object itself. You can turn it over, study the proportions, and check the fittings and finish. Some collectors go for historically modeled forms, and others prefer fantasy designs that echo anime, games, and film. The groups overlap, but they aren’t the same, and a fantasy piece or replica shouldn’t be mistaken for an antique or a historically accurate reproduction.

For readers who want to see where those fictional designs come from, a collection of hand-forged swords like the one at Battling Blades spans historical katana, European forms, and fantasy-inspired pieces. The appeal of a well-drawn blade can be the start of a closer look at the craft and traditions that exist beyond the screen.

The Most Memorable Swords Tell Us Something About Their Owners

Realism has nothing to do with it. Zoro’s technique is physically absurd, one Zanpakuto scatters into petals, and Nichirin ore only exists in the story. Each of those swords still works because someone in that world has something riding on it, whether it’s a promise to keep or a smith’s work to protect. Without that, it’s just a nicely drawn piece of steel.

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It’s gonna be one of THOSE Mondays. An hour ago, an announcement broke from DC Studios that henceforth, the tenure of James Gunn and Peter Safran as heads of the studio has ended. They will remain to produce and direct films, but their leadership position will be filled by former Marvel Studios senior VP of production and development Jeremy Latcham. Gunn and Latcham have some past together; the latter man was a producer on Guardians of the Galaxy.

It’s hard not to raise an eyebrow at the timing here, mere weeks after Skydance’s absorption of Warner Bros. While it’s possible Gunn and Safran decided on their own they wanted to spend more time directing and producing than running the whole show, their public statements are the usual vagueries that answer nothing about what happened behind the scenes.

“Four years ago, we set out to unite DC under one creative vision. In that time, we helped restore Superman to the heart of DC, while opening new doors and telling new stories in film and television with Peacemaker, Creature Commandos, Lanterns, and Clayface,” their statement says. “We’re immensely proud of the team that turned that ambition into something real, including the actors, crews and executives we had the opportunity to collaborate with.”

“We’ve shared a creative history with Jeremy going back to Marvel, and we’re eager to see the perspective he brings to DC’s next chapter,” Gunn and Safran added. “We’re excited to return to what drew us to this job in the first place, which is telling the stories we love, including the next chapter of Clark and Lex’s journey in Man of Tomorrow.”

“DC’s pantheon of characters is among the most iconic in American popular culture,” Latcham’s own statement reads. “I’ve had the privilege to help bring some of the most celebrated superhero stories to life on the big screen, and I’m excited and honored for the opportunity to now lead DC Studios into its next era. The chance to steward the incredible cast of DC characters to the screen in a way that excites lifelong fans while introducing their timeless stories to the next generation is a massive responsibility that I do not take lightly.”

To get some honesty out of Gunn, you have to go to his Insta. It’s there that he posted a more candid take: “The past four years of my time at DC Studios has been trying to say the least. I dislike the at-time corporate nature of the job (thanks to Peter for taking the brunt of that). I’m always a very hard worker, but as a filmmaker I would at least get to take short breaks to unwind, and I’ve stolen even that time from both myself and my loved ones over the past four years. And the thing my ADHD hyperfocus has had the most difficulty with has been dividing my time between projects I’m incredibly passionate about and the ones I’m not so much and all the things I have to do as a studio head.”

There have been peaks and valleys in Gunn and Safran’s short rulership, but we would say the highs outnumber the lows. Yeah, Supergirl happened, but that was the only real dud. Superman, Creature Commandos, Lanterns and Clayface were all solid ventures, and we look forward to Man Of Tomorrow, People Vs Gorilla Grodd and Creature Commandos Season 2, which as far as we know are still happening. Despite Gunn’s griping about the responsibility, we still think it’s important for creative people to be making creative decisions, which is rarely how it shakes out in Hollywood.

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Over the weekend Wit Studio and Cloverworks confirmed they are hard at work on the fourth season of Spy x Family, the hit show that’s part adorable family sitcom, part hardcore espionage action drama. It’s a cocktail that works!

Spy x Family takes place in a different world, one that visually suggests the 1960s Cold War period but one in which the US and Russia don’t seem to exist. Instead the tension is between neighboring countries Ostania and Westalis, who routinely send spies after each other. Westalis’ top agent, code named Twilight, is undercover on a mission to extract secrets from Ostanian politician Donovan Desmond. To do this, he must have a convincing backstory, which means he must instantly become a family man.

So under the name of Loid Forger, Twilight adopts a child in Ostania and convinces a young woman to pose as his wife. What he doesn’t know is that he picked Yor Briar, aka the Thorn Princess, Ostania’s most skilled assassin…and also, his kid is psychic and can read both their minds. Anya is cuter than any button in the entire world, and has sold mountains of merch with her face on it, but on the show she has the crucial role of keeping her new family together and Loid and Yor from discovering the truth about each other. As of Season 2, the family also has a pet dog who can see the future.

The previous season of Spy x Family was running weekly at about this time last year, and the year before that, the first Spy x Family feature film, Code White, premiered in theaters. So we have some cool news: not only is Season 4 set for 2027, but so is a SECOND movie, yet to be titled or revealed…and it’ll be released the same year! (In Japan at least…no word yet on domestic releases.)

Spy x Family is a real cupcake of a show and we’re delighted to get more. This season Yasuhiro Akamatsu will replace Yukiko Imai as director, but Kazuaki Shimada will return as character designer, and Aya Takaha will provide the score. Stand by for more information in 2027.

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Here is your guide to Disney Channel’s TV schedule for the week of November 9 – 15, 2026. This week you can find new episodes of Pupstruction, Iron Man and his Awesome Friends, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+, Gracie’s Corner, and Big City Greens. Inside Out 2 also makes its Disney Channel premiere on Saturday.

You can view the complete line-up for the week below. Check back for updates, but be aware that the schedule is subject to change without notice. Listed start times are approximate.

Monday, November 9

Tuesday, November 10

Wednesday, November 11

Thursday, November 12

Friday, November 13

Saturday, November 14

Sunday, November 15

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Here is your guide to Disney XD’s TV schedule for the week of November 9 – 15, 2026. This week you can find new episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! GO RUSH!!, Beyblade X, and Big City Greens.

You can view the complete line-up for the week below. Check back for updates, but be aware that the schedule is subject to change without notice. Listed start times are approximate.

Monday, November 9

Tuesday, November 10

Wednesday, November 11

Thursday, November 12

Friday, November 13

Saturday, November 14

Sunday, November 15

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Here is your guide to Disney Jr.’s TV schedule for the week of November 9 – 15, 2026. This week you can find new episodes of Pupstruction, SuperKitties, Iron Man and his Awesome Friends, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+, and Gracie’s Corner.

You can view the complete line-up for the week below. Check back for updates, but be aware that the schedule is subject to change without notice. Listed start times are approximate.

Monday, November 9

Tuesday, November 10

Wednesday, November 11

Thursday, November 12

Friday, November 13

Saturday, November 14

Sunday, November 15

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One of the most famous aspects of Gundam is how it is split into distinct timelines. When the series began in 1979 it established the Universal Century calendar and subsequent works were likewise set within it. But after a good 15 years this chronology became a barrier for entry and thus the idea of starting from zero was hit upon, allowing the crafting of new stories that were welcoming to new audiences and could be expanded on if they were successful enough.

This summer Bandai announced the RG Project, one of the most ambitious Gundam soft reboots yet. Set in the After Apocalypse timeline, the project focuses on humanity coming under threat from the alien entities dubbed Apocalypse. The two central pillars are an anime and a game. The former, Gundam RG XARX-ZERO is an anime starting next spring which will depict the early years of the conflict. The latter, Rogue Orbit, picks up a century later in a time when the Apocalypse are still yet to be vanquished and the player is cast in the role of an artificial human who is the only one capable of piloting an advanced Gundam that could finally turn the tide. If you were at MCM London last month, Bandai were offering the chance to play a hands on demo of the game.

The demo skips the initial chapters but still seems to occur fairly early. The Apocalypse have attacked a colony that is the stronghold of mankind’s knowledge and you and your commander are dispatched to intervene. At the start you are asked to pick from one of three mobile suit configurations- a traditional Gundam with a melee loadout, a monoeye with a chain whip and an insectoid unit with a lance which seems to be an homage to one of original Gundam creator Tomino’s other works, Aura Battler Dunbine. The three units play similarly but there’s enough variation in each to replay with all three and even try again once you’ve got a feel for each. The combat sees you chaining attacks together, with more powerful special attacks available on a cooldown metre you replenish by taking down enemies with your regular attacks. Your unit is also flanked by some of the franchise’s recurring remote weapons and these offer interesting functionality. Case in point, although I couldn’t figure out how to do it myself a player next to me used them to generate a beam shield.

Sadly, that might be the most innovation Rogue Orbit has to offer because beyond that there isn’t really anything new here in terms of 3D Gundam games. The style for these has arguably been locked in since the Dynasty Warriors/Musou series, seeing you clear through massive fields and being allowed to progress once every enemy is gone. And when I say massive I mean it. The script seems to want to give you the thrill of being the cavalry swooping in to save besieged allies but the fields are just too empty. There’s a tedious moment where you and your commander head down on a service elevator as you can see allies being picked off ahead of you. You are locked to that elevator until it stops by an invisible wall, denying you the fun of say blasting off to help or aiming precise shots from a distance. It feels like a moment clumsily masking the game loading in data, in an era where most games will at least stage such sequences cinematically to make you feel there’s no alternative.

The Apocalypse enemies are alien wolf/insectoid creatures who stand around fairly idly. Again, given the story thrust here I’d love to have felt like I was blazing through the things by the skin of my teeth. The real showstopper that ends the demo is a giant Apocalypse boss, so bulky and towering it makes your giant mecha look puny. This for me was the most fun part of the demo, learning how to really get the most out of each of the three mobile suit configurations to make your completion time leaner. Sadly the boss as its own entity does little more than the familiar of repeated telegraph gestures to let you know it’s going to charge you, release a seismic wave, etc. An intriguing element is upon defeat it leaves behind a greyed out husk behind, so I’m interested to learn what that’s all about.

I had fun with Rogue Orbit but it’s important to keep in mind I’m a huge Gundam nerd. If the hope here is to make this the cornerstone of a massive global multimedia push to really hook new fans I don’t think based on this demo build it’s strong enough to do it. It’s not really doing anything that demands attention in the wider gaming space. I wish it all the best but unless changes are made before its March release date next year, I fear Rogue Orbit will join the pantheon of Gundam games that have tried and failed to generate hype outside Japan.

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For the past few years, Powepuff Girls creator Craig McCracken had been in development on new projects for the franchise. However, these will not be moving forward. In a recent appearance on the Makin’ Toons podcast, Craig talked about how Warner Bros. brought him on to develop new series based on The Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, but they changed their minds on making a new PPG series. They then asked for a movie, but they changed their minds on that too.

WB first announced in 2022 that they were in development on new series based on The Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends with Craig at the helm, and Foster’s would get greenlit (a preschool series titled Foster’s Funtime for Imaginary Friends). They also announced a Powerpuff Girls movie was in development earlier this year. They didn’t explicitly say Craig (or anyone else for that matter) was involved, but it sounds like he was working on that too.

I want to take this opportunity to clear up a couple of misconceptions I’ve seen on social media. One was reported by a popular cartoon news account with an at best mixed reputation that said he was asked to develop a new reboot pitch only to be rejected days later, and that they’re now doing a new take on the franchise without his involvement. However, he never said any of this. Furthermore, he said in a post on his since deleted X (formerly known as Twitter) account a year after the initial announcement that he was still working on PPG.

Another that’s being reported by a few accounts (likely as a misunderstanding) is that he was referring to what he was working on a few years ago and that the movie that was announced this year is completely separate and still happening. However, he only said he signed a deal then. He’s been working there since then and theoretically could take on different projects or pivot them in a different direction (as appears to be the case with PPG). His wording indicates that the movie came after they passed on doing a series. The timeline beyond his 2023 post is unclear, but it doesn’t sound like he was working on any movie at that point. WB was quick to announce these projects based on legacy projects before they were even greenlit, but an announcement only exists for one movie. Furthermore, Craig’s exact quote was “they’re not looking for movies anymore,” indicating they’re not doing a movie at all anymore whether he’s involved, and while he still talked about Foster’s Funtime, he made no mention of a seperate movie.

You can find the podcast below along with a quote of what he said. The embed should be timed up, but in case it doesn’t work, the part relevant to this article starts at 56:49.

A few years ago, I signed a deal with Warner Bros. to develop a Powerpuff thing and a Foster’s thing. The Foster’s thing went, the Powerpuff [thing] didn’t. It was like at the time, it was like ‘What’s a serialized version of Powerpuff that’s long form that we could sell to a place like Netflix? Okay, they’re not looking for that anymore. What’s a movie? Do you have a movie? Now the’re looking for movies. Okay, they’re not looking for movies anymore.’

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Here is your guide to Nickelodeon’s TV schedule for the week of November 9 – 15, 2026. This week you can find new episodes of Rubble & Crew, Mr. Crocodile, The Boss Baby: Back in Business, SpongeBob SquarePants, and The Patrick Star Show. Plus catch the Kids’ Choice Awards live on Saturday night, right after the Nick premiere of Minions: The Rise of Gru.

You can view the complete line-up for the week below. Check back for updates, but be aware that the schedule is subject to change without notice. Listed start times are approximate.

Monday, November 9

Tuesday, November 10

Wednesday, November 11

Thursday, November 12

Friday, November 13

Saturday, November 14

Sunday, November 15

Discuss this schedule on the Toonzone Forums!

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