title: Carol Peletier

text: After contact is established with the Commonwealth, Carol moves to the community where she gets a job as a baker. However, while the Commonwealth has the modern medicine needed to treat Ezekiel's thyroid cancer, he's too far down the list to get the surgery in time. As such, Carol makes a deal with Lance Hornsby to use her unique talents doing jobs for him in exchange for Lance getting Ezekiel moved up the list. Lance keeps his end of the bargain and Ezekiel's cancer is successfully treated by Yumiko's long-lost brother Tomi who was a thoracic surgeon before the world ended. While Carol makes it clear that their romantic relationship is over for good, she and Ezekiel fall back into a close friendship with each other. Carol uses her position with Lance to get Ezekiel and Tomi out of trouble when they are arrested for stealing medicine for Ezekiel's secret clinic for those who can't afford healthcare and comes to Daryl and Rosita's rescue when Sebastian Milton blackmails them into pulling off a dangerous heist for him.


title: Carol Peletier

text: After Lance seizes control of the communities, Carol acts to protect the children with Jerry's help and then to find a hiding Sebastian with Negan's help. Carol makes a deal with Governor Pamela Milton where she gets Lance and in exchange, the communities are returned, and they get all of the supplies they need to finish rebuilding. However, things go badly when Eugene and Max Mercer act to expose Sebastian's greed and he dies during a massacre orchestrated by an imprisoned Lance, partially due to Eugene. Pamela has everyone rounded up and disappeared, but Carol and Daryl manage to escape and break Lance out of prison in order to find their missing friends. After Lance tells them that there's a supply train that they can follow, Daryl and Carol attempt to exile him for his crimes, unwilling to put up with Lance's manipulations anymore and no longer needing his help. When Lance pulls a gun on them instead, Carol kills her former boss with an arrow to the neck. While working together with Daryl, Carol finally makes amends with her old friend. Joined by an escaped Maggie, Gabriel and Rosita, the group tracks their missing friends to the forced labor camp at the now Commonwealth-occupied Alexandria. Alexandria is liberated and their friends rescued before the group turns their attention to overthrowing Pamela. During this time, Judith reveals to Daryl and Carol that Rick is still alive and that Michonne left to search for him. After being overthrown, Pamela tries to commit suicide by having a reanimated Lance bite her, but Maggie puts Lance down so that Pamela can be locked up for her crimes. a fate worse than death for someone like Pamela. Once the Commonwealth is saved from being overrun by a massive herd, Daryl and Carol imprison Pamela in her own jail.


title: Carol Peletier

text: A year later, Carol has cut her hair back to the length that she wore it at before Rick's departure and she has taken over Lance's old job as Director of Operations at the Commonwealth which Ezekiel now leads as the new Governor. Before Daryl leaves to search for other survivors in the wider world, he and Carol say goodbye and affirm their platonic love for one another.


title: Carol Peletier

text: Carol briefly appears in the season premiere, "What's Your Story?", to convince Morgan to come out of isolation and rejoin the others at Alexandria. She is ultimately unsuccessful and is forced to leave without him.


title: Carol Peletier

text: In the television series, Carol Peletier has been described as taking on a "hero's journey." Executive Producer Scott Gimple said that "[Carol] was strong all along. The apocalypse didn't make her strong. The apocalypse made her show herself that she's strong." He then said, "When we got to Season 4, she had become pro-active. She becomes the one who's doing things. There was dialogue to that. Now, realizing the cost of that, she's still willing to pay the price and she's rewarded by gaining those skills and that strength to save the people she loves."


title: Carol Peletier

text: Created by Robert Kirkman, the writer and creator of "The Walking Dead" comic book series and franchise, Carol first appeared in the third issue of the comic book series, in December 2003. Despite initially appearing to have similar personality qualities such as being dependent and dominated by others, as well as coming from a background of domestic abuse, Carol in the television series is shown to be more stern and pragmatic, making questionable and difficult decisions other characters could not deal with. Robert Kirkman felt that having Carol outlive her daughter would add more dimension to the show, as well as add more flexibility to its storyline progression. "When a good idea comes up, you have to go with it," he articulated. "Sophia is a character who is still alive in the comic book series and who has contributed quite a bit to the overall narrative and informed a lot of story lines for a lot of different characters. Having Carol [...] survive her daughter as opposed to the other way around as it is in the comics is going to lead to interesting but different stories." Over the course of the series, Carol gradually builds inner strength and turns from a meek and battered housewife to a resourceful and hardened warrior. Robert Kirkman explained in an interview with "The Hollywood Reporter" that "Carol is her own unique character; it would be a disservice to Melissa McBride to say she's evolved into the Carol from comics. The Carol in the TV show is a wholly original creation that we'll continue to explore on the show to great effect. Everyone in the writers' room loves that character, and we're thrilled with what Melissa has brought to the table. She has definitely become a character that is one to watch, and there's some really exciting stuff ahead for her."


title: Carol Peletier

text: On Carol's reasons for having to kill Lizzie and Carol's mindset in the episode "The Grove," Melissa McBride explained:


title: Carol Peletier

text: No, I don't think there was really any other option. There's a lot of nature versus nurture going on in this episode to look at. As much as it broke Carol's heart to have to do this and to realize this had to be done. They were walking toward the flowers in that scene and Lizzie says, "You're mad at me and I'm sorry." You'd think she'd be sorry for stabbing her sister to death, but instead she's sorry for pointing a gun at her, so she just doesn't get it. It's not a world that's safe for anyone. The ability to fight isn't a one-size fits all; everybody is different. Thematically, there's a lot said about change. Something I got out of this episode for Carol, too, is that you have to change. The world will change you – you have to adapt or die. It's about hanging on to that part of yourself: You can change but don't lose yourself. That's what was happening to Carol – her mindset – she was so hell-bent on protecting these children that she lost a bit of something, and that was her nurturing aspect. She was missing a lot of stuff because her eyes were so set on survival.


title: Carol Peletier

text: Season 8 sees Carol becoming the "warrior" of her group in order to defend them against Negan and the Saviors, who have declared war on everyone and everything Rick Grimes holds dear. Showrunner Scott Gimple said of Carol's character arc in this season: "Her entire storyline has prepared her for this --- she's ready. The strength and bravery that she shows as a person this season, and the ingenuity that she employs... is very satisfying."


title: Carol Peletier

text: Carol is portrayed by Melissa McBride, who was announced as part of the ensemble cast of the show in late 2010. McBride did not audition for the role of Carol and was simply given the part, believing it was a short-term gig. On an interview with Conan O'Brien, she said that she believed she would be dead "within a few episodes, if not, by the end of the week." McBride has stated that, after receiving the part, she read the comic book up until the point where Carol dies, but was unsure if the producers would go in the direction of her comic series counterpart. She then asserted that she was glad they did not. Carol had a minimal role in the first season, as McBride was hired on the show as a co-star. She was then upgraded to a series regular position starting with the second season and became a part of the main cast in season 4, taking on a more prominent role in later seasons. Andrew Lincoln, who plays Rick Grimes, said of Carol's development: "Melissa McBride (Carol) said maybe five sentences in the first season and now look at what she's done. It's wonderful when you see talent, pure talent, being recognized in this way, and even more thrilling when critically it's recognized as well. The fans knew it quite some time ago, I think, but it's wonderful that she had the opportunity and had that incredible episode to show what she is more than capable of doing. She's a rare talent."


title: Carol Peletier

text: Alongside Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn and Juan Pareja, McBride was among the cast members of Frank Darabont's production of The Mist to be hired for the television series. McBride felt that this was her "audition" for "The Walking Dead".


title: Carol Peletier

text: Originally, Carol was supposed to be killed in the episode "Killer Within", but the producers eventually decided against it. Melissa McBride explained in an interview with "Rolling Stone": "[Producer] Glen Mazzara called to tell me that he was planning on killing Carol last season. I said, 'It's really a shame, because there's a lot to her.' He had the writers all on speakerphone. He was interested in knowing what I thought. I went into saying, 'Carol is probably this woman that's got the Avon starter kits and Tupperware starter kits in that back bedroom. She took that course with Tony Robbins. She knows she's capable of so much more, but she's just in that cycle. So, it's a shame, but you've got to do what you've got to do. I understand'." Likewise, former showrunner Glen Mazzara said, "I told her that and then we came up with a better plan that was that if T-Dog had saved her, if T-Dog sacrificed his life we felt that that sacrifice was only worthwhile if Carol lived. But we didn’t want to reveal that Carol was alive at the end of that episode because we were really going with the devastation of Lori’s death. And we were just embracing the mournful aspect of that last scene where Rick breaks down and we did not want to undercut it with the positive of 'oh, here is Carol'." He then expressed praise over Carol's survival saying, "I will say that I think [McBride] has done a great job with Carol this season, the character has become a fan favorite, the character has really come along, she takes a lot of risks and Carol’s work when she sees the baby and then realizes that Lori hasn’t made it is one of the best scenes we have done all year and I give credit for that to Melissa and she is just a fantastic actress."


title: Carol Peletier

text: Siblings Matt, Macsen and Madison Lintz have all played children of Carol in the television series. Both Matt and Macsen played different aged versions of Carol's adopted son, Henry while Madison played Carol's daughter, Sophia.


title: Carol Peletier

text: McBride has received critical acclaim for her performance as Carol and won positive reviews from critics from the third season onwards. Many critics praised McBride's performance in her character's centered episode "The Grove" of the fourth season. In March 2014, McBride's performance in "The Grove" made her TVLine's Performer of the Week, as it concluded, saying, "Now it’s our turn to do what we must — applaud McBride for a performance that could stand as a master class in the merits of restraint." Others singled out the actions of Carol in the season 5 premiere "No Sanctuary", which earned critical praise and extremely positive fan reception. In 2014, McBride was a promising contender for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, though she did not receive a nomination.


title: Carol Peletier

text: Writing for "Vox", Emily VanDerWerff lauded Melissa McBride's performance in the season five premiere "No Sanctuary," saying: Say what you will about The Walking Dead's slapdash approach to character development, but McBride's ferocious, frequently Emmy-nomination-worthy performance has made sense of a woman whom the show seemed to actively be avoiding understanding for a good long while. It began in the first half of season two, when Carol's daughter, Sophia, disappeared and was eventually revealed to have become a zombie. In the wake of that loss, Carol began to harden herself, and McBride started giving a flinty, unapproachable performance that gained strength from moments when the old, vulnerable Carol peeked through.


title: Carol Peletier

text: In "No Sanctuary," Carol strides around in a poncho that makes one wonder if Hollywood shouldn't remake Clint Eastwood's "Man with No Name" trilogy of Westerns starring McBride instead. She discerns that her friends are in danger thanks to some gunshots and quickly reads the situation in a remote cabin. She decides to turn a herd of zombies toward Terminus, then blows up a propane tank with a couple of well-placed shots and some fireworks. She is completely and totally dominant – not just over her enemies (and the undead monsters who surround her) but over every other character as well. It's impossible to watch her and not think, "Hey, let's have some more of that."


title: Carol Peletier

text: IndieWire singled out McBride's performance in the entire explosive premiere, saying, "But the stand-out was McBride, whose Carol became the most interesting character on the show, simply because she was willing and able to do things other characters wouldn't."


title: Carol Peletier

text: Writing about the episode "Consumed", The A.V. Club's Zack Handlen praised McBride's performance and characterisation as Carol, saying, "McBride is especially great; while her character’s evolution came in fits and starts, the actress manages to pull all of that together into a consistent, and endlessly fascinating, persona." Similarly, Rebecca Hawkes of "The Daily Telegraph" praised Melissa McBride, saying she was "...in a league of her own, capable of quietly dominating every scene she’s in."


title: Carol Peletier

text: Many critics praised the character in the second half of the fifth season and onwards into season six where Carol stages herself as a meek housewife in the community of Alexandria in order to be assured that they are trustworthy, which includes stealing back the group's guns in the process for safety precaution and protection. Tim Surette of TV.com said that "[Carol] continues to be the absolute best." He noted that "[Her] reaction was the most interesting one, as she seemingly went all-in on participating in the Junior League, downplaying the kind of badass she became in the woods, and fondly remembering her abusive husband (yeah right) to Alexandria leader Deanna, while also warning Rick in private that the longer the group stayed in Alexandria, the weaker they would become. I love you, Carol, and I love your huge-ass guns." Surette, Mark Perigald of "The Boston Herald", and Amanda Michelle Steiner for "People" found Carol to be humorous in her lies in the episode "Remember."


title: Carol Peletier

text: Rebecca Hawkes of "The Daily Telegraph" praised the character in her review for "Forget," saying, "Carol is proving to be one of the most complex, interesting female characters on TV right now." Tim Surette for "TV.com" reviewing "Forget" jokingly stated: "Carol, you continue to amaze me and I am really close to asking you to prom."


title: Carol Peletier

text: For the sixth season, Melissa McBride continued to receive praise. In particular, her work in "JSS", "Not Tomorrow Yet" and "The Same Boat" were noted as standouts. Zack Handlen for "The A.V. Club" declared Carol "the best character" in his review for "Not Tomorrow Yet." He called her "someone special," and said while Rick had a transformation from "idealistic lawman to ruthless killer," the transition was "dictated more by his position as nominal protagonist—he swung back and forth simply because the writers needed to give him something to do." On the other hand, he noted Carol's transition as unintentional and unplanned. He elaborated further saying, "She’s suffered, she’s endured, she’s lost people, and her gradual transformation seems more like a happy accident than an intentional philosophy. It’s one of the few reasons I can think of to rewatch the series; even with the mess of the second season, even with the stalling and the failure of the Governor to provide a convincing threat, even with the writers’ struggle to create engaging longform narrative in a serialized context that really only ever provided a handful of convincing individual moments, Carol more or less makes sense." Overall, he considered it a testament to Melissa McBride and her work on the show.


title: Carol Peletier

text: Noel Murray of "Rolling Stone" ranked Carol Peletier 3rd in a list of 30 best "Walking Dead" characters, saying, "It's no surprise that the TV version has long-outlived her comics counterpart, who killed herself instead of getting stronger; McBride has helped turn this once peripheral character into a major part of TWD, whether she's putting on a Susie Homemaker act as a front or rescuing her comrades from certain Terminus doom."


title: Carol Peletier

text: In 2012, McBride and her fellow cast members won the Satellite Award for Best Cast – Television Series for the third season. For her performance in season four, McBride won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television, and earned a nomination for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She was also nominated for Best TV Hero by IGN.


title: Carol Peletier

text: In 2015, for her performance in the fifth season of the series, McBride won another Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television, becoming the first actress to win the award multiple times and back-to-back years. She received her third nomination in 2016, becoming the first actress in the show to be nominated more than twice. She was also nominated for a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Leading Actress in a Television Series. In 2017, for her performance in the seventh season, McBride received her fourth consecutive nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television, the most nominations of any actress on the show.


title: Carol Peletier

text: Despite constant praise from critics and heavy fan campaigning, McBride has yet to receive a nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series since her breakout year in 2014 (particularly with "The Grove"). She did however, receive nominations each year since 2014 for the EWwy Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama, (later changed to "Poppy Awards") which recognizes Emmy-snubbed favorites. She did not win her first the award in 2014, but was announced as the winner in 2015 and was nominated for the third time in a row a year later in 2016.


title: Usha Uthup

text: Usha Uthup Iyer (born 7 November 1947) is an Indian pop, filmi, jazz, and playback singer who sang songs in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. "Darling", which she recorded with Rekha Bhardwaj for the film "7 Khoon Maaf", won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer in 2012.


title: Usha Uthup

text: Usha was born into a Tamil Iyer family in Mumbai in 1947. Her father was Vaidyanath Someshwar Sami Iyer who hailed from Chennai, in Tamil Nadu.


title: Usha Uthup

text: She studied at St. Agnes High School, Byculla. When she was in school she was thrown out of music class because she didn't fit in with a voice like hers. But her music teacher recognised that she had some music in her and would give her clappers or triangles to play. Even though she was not formally trained in music, she grew up in an atmosphere of music. Her parents used to listen to a wide range from Western classical to Hindustani and Carnatic including Kishori Amonkar and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan on radio and she used to join them. She used to enjoy listening to Radio Ceylon.


title: Usha Uthup

text: Her next door neighbour was S.M.A. Pathan, who was then the deputy commissioner of police. His daughter, Jamila, influenced Usha to learn Hindi and take up Indian classical music. This fusion approach helped her to pioneer her unique brand of Indian pop in the 1970s.


title: Usha Uthup

text: She is married to Jani Chacko Uthup who is from Manarcaud Painumkal family of Kottayam, and was formerly married to the late Ramu. They have a daughter Anjali and a son Sunny, named after the song, "Sunny". She is presently a resident of Kolkata, West Bengal.


title: Usha Uthup

text: Her first public singing occurred when she was nine. Her sisters, who were already exploring a career in music, introduced her to Ameen Sayani, then the most popular radio announcer in India. Ameen Sayani gave her an opportunity to sing in the Ovaltine Music Hour of Radio Ceylon. She sang a number called "Mockingbird Hill". After that, several appearances followed through her teenage years.


title: Usha Uthup

text: Usha Uthup started her music career in Chennai in 1969, singing in a small nightclub called Nine Gems in the basement of the erstwhile Safire theatre complex on Mount Road, wearing a saree and leg callipers. Her performance was so well received that the owner of the nightclub asked her to stay on for a week. After her first night club gig, she began singing in Calcutta at night clubs such as "Trincas". She met her future husband Uthup in Trincas. At about the same time, she also sang at "Talk of the Town", now known as "Not Just Jazz by the Bay" in Bombay (now Mumbai). After Trincas, her next engagement took her to Delhi where she sang at the Oberoi hotels. By happenstance, a film crew belonging to Navketan unit and Dev Anand visited the nightclub and they offered her a chance to sing movie playback. As a result, she started her Bollywood career with Ivory-Merchant's Bombay Talkies (1970) in which she sang an English number under Shanker-Jaikishan and then "Hare Rama Hare Krishna". Originally, she was supposed to sing Dum Maro Dum along with Asha Bhosle for Hare Rama Hare Krishna. However, as a result of internal politicking on the part of other singers, she lost that chance but ended up singing an English verse.


title: Usha Uthup

text: In 1968, she recorded covers of two pop songs in English, "Jambalaya" and The Kingston Trio's "Greenback Dollar", on an EP, "Love Story", and "Scotch and Soda", another Kingston Trio song, which sold very well in the Indian market. She also spent some time in London during this early period. She was a frequent visitor to Vernon Corea's BBC office at the Langham in London and was interviewed on "London Sounds Eastern" on BBC Radio London.


title: Usha Uthup

text: Usha visited Nairobi as part of an Indian festival. She was so popular that she was invited to stay on. Singing and quite often nationalistic songs in Swahili made her extremely popular and the then President Jomo Kenyatta made her an Honorary Citizen of Kenya. She sang the famous song "Malaika" ('Angel') with Fadhili Williams who was the original singer. She produced a record "Live in Nairobi" with a local band Fellini Five.


title: Usha Uthup

text: Uthup sang several songs in the 1970s and 1980s for music directors R. D. Burman and Bappi Lahiri. She also reprised some of R. D. Burman songs that were sung by others such as "Mehbooba Mehbooba" and "Dum Maro Dum" and popularised them to a distinct end.


title: Usha Uthup

text: Uthup also sang for a two-volume collection of children's rhymes "Karadi Rhymes", which are "Indian Rhymes for Indian Kids", brought out by Karadi Tales (www.karaditales.com). The rhymes reflect the Indian ethos through the Sa-re-ga-ma, mangoes, Indian rivers, the train experiences, Indian festivals, indigenous trees, Cricket, Indian foods like bhelpuri and sambhar, Indian attire like the dhoti, sari, bindi and bangles and even some folk tales. With each rhyme set to an Indian raga, and sung in her characteristic voice with a feisty tempo, Usha creates the atmosphere for children and, surprisingly, even adults to sing along and dance to the toe-tapping beats.


title: Usha Uthup

text: She appeared as a judge on a singing reality show "" – Season 2 (2012), aired on DD National channel, along with Ismail Darbar. She is the judge in the Season 3 of the show as well. She also appeared as a chief guest for Marathi singing reality show. She entertained the audience with Marathi songs.


title: Usha Uthup

text: She is a stage performer and gave performances all over the world and is known for her lively stage presence. She has been felicitated with several awards over the years, some of which include Rajiv Gandhi Purashkar for National Integration for quality music, Mahila Shiromani Purashkar for international peace, and Channel [V] award for outstanding achievement. She appeared on the Kapil Sharma Show on 26 May 2019


title: Usha Uthup

text: She recorded her first album with Luis Banks for which she was paid Rs. 3500. Since then, she has recorded numerous albums. Usha's Hindi version of Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough", titled "Chhupke Kaon Aya", can be found on the album "Tom Middleton – The Trip" (2004). A cover of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" is on another Tom Middleton album, "Cosmosonica – Tom Middleton Presents Crazy Covers Vol. 1" (2005). She recorded a song called "Rhythm and Blues" with the Indian rock band Parikrama which appeared on Channel V on 23 April 2007. Uthup received a lot of recognition for having a unique voice that ranges between contralto and alto.()


title: Usha Uthup

text: Uthup is also an actress. In 2006, she acted in the Malayalam movie "Pothan Vava" as Kurisuveettil Mariamma.


title: Usha Uthup

text: She made a cameo appearance in the movie "Bombay To Goa". In 2007, she appeared in "Bow Barracks Forever" directed by Anjun Dutt as herself. Again in 2007, she appeared in "Hattrick" music video as herself.


title: Usha Uthup

text: She appeared in disguise on "Indian Idol" 1 and 2. She was one of the co-judges of the 2007 and 2008 and "Idea Star Singer" Season V (2010).


title: Usha Uthup

text: She also acted in Vishal Bhardwaj's "7 Khoon Maaf" as a maid. She has also sung a song in the film which released on 18 February 2011. In 2012, she has starred in a Kannada film "Parie".


title: Usha Uthup

text: In 2019, she appeared in the documentary "If Not for You" for which, she recorded a cover of "Blowin' in the Wind" by legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan.


title: Usha Uthup

text: In addition, she has also sung playback for the Bollywood movies "Revolver Rani" (2014), "Dhol" (2007), June R (2005), "Joggers' Park" (2003), Jajantaram Mamantaram (2003), "Ek Tha Raja" (1996), Dushman Devta (1991), "Bhavani Junction" (1985), "Hum Paanch" (1980), and "Purab Aur Paschim" (1970) among others. She has also sung two English songs "We have got" and "How can I tell you" in the 1977 Kannada film "Sangharsha".


title: Duel Masters

text: The story centers around the card game "Duel Masters", which revolves around five civilizations consisting of Fire, Water, Light, Darkness and Nature. The original storyline follows Shobu Kirifuda, a young boy who likes to play "Duel Masters". He and a few duelists are known to bring the monsters on the cards to life in their duels. Shobu engages in this card game so that he can be the best duelist like his father was.


title: Duel Masters

text: The Temple Guardians are the elite members of the White Soldiers that work under Hakuoh. Among the members of the Temple Guardians are:


title: Duel Masters

text: Short for Powerful Loyal Order of Princes, P.L.O.O.P. is an evil organization that plot to use monsters from the Civilizations of the Creature World to take over Earth. This organization is seen only in the "second season" that was created for America. Among the known members are:


title: Duel Masters

text: The Black Soldiers are a group of duelists that are the opposite form of Hakuoh's White Soldiers. Most of the Black Soldiers consists of duelists that were unable to defeat Hakuoh when wanting to become a member of the White Soldiers. They entered the Battle Arena Tournament to beat all of its players. After the defeat of most of the Black Soldier, most of the unnamed members left the group when Yumama came into view. Besides its various unnamed members, among its known members are:


title: Duel Masters

text: The "Duel Masters" manga series is written by Shigenobu Matsumoto, and published by Shogakukan in the CoroCoro Comic magazine. While none of manga series have been licensed for the U.S., there was a North American-created comic book by Dreamwave Productions.


title: Duel Masters

text: The original manga series ran from 1999 to 2005 and was compiled into 17 tankōbon volumes. It was followed by "Duel Masters: Fighting Edge" from 2005 to 2008 (12 volumes), and "Duel Masters Star Cross" from 2008 to 2011 (9 volumes). "Duel Masters Victory" was published from 2011 to 2014 (10 volumes) and features an alternate storyline from the anime of the same name.


title: Duel Masters

text: There is also spinoff manga unrelated to the main series such as "Duel Hero:Dash" (2 volumes), "Duel Masters: Legend Champion VICTORY" (3 volumes) and "Duel Masters: Revolution" (5 volumes).


title: Duel Masters

text: The card game first originated in Japan in May 2002 and was marketed by Takara Tomy. It was produced in English by Wizards of the Coast, who purchased the rights to the name "Duel Masters" from Reality Simulations, Inc., which ran a play-by-mail gladiator game called "Duelmasters", now known as "Duel2". The English-language printing of the TCG ran from DM-01 Base Set (May 5, 2004) until DM-12 Thrash of the Hybrid Megacreatures (November 2006). It was the twelfth and final expansion released by Wizards of the Coast for the English-language game before it was discontinued in 2006.


title: Duel Masters

text: The spin-off product, "", was announced by Wizards of the Coast in February 2012. A relaunch of the TCG product line with Wizards of the Coast working along with its parent company Hasbro. It was released on June 26, 2012, with the previous Duel Master cards being rendered incompatible. Wizards of the Coast discontinued Kaijudo in 2014.


title: Duel Masters

text: The first television series originally premiered in Japan on October 21, 2002, and ran until December 22, 2003. To date, the series has been followed by 13 sequel seasons. Duel Masters was followed by Duel Masters Charge, which is mostly based on the manga; Zero Duel Masters and its sequel Duel Masters Zero, which are an alternate sequel to the first season and ignores the events of "Charge"; Duel Masters Cross, which the first part recounts the events of the first season and the second part is a direct sequel to "Zero"; and Duel Masters Cross Shock. From "Duel Masters Zero" until "Duel Masters Victory V3", the series was broadcast in a 12-minute format instead of 24-minute format.


title: Duel Masters

text: "Duel Masters Victory" premiered on April 2, 2011, and introduced a new protagonist named Katta Kirifuda, the younger brother of Shobu, and centers around his journey to become a champion. Its storyline follows from the events of the "Duel Masters: Star Cross" manga series. "Victory" was followed by Duel Masters Victory V, Duel Masters Victory V3, Duel Masters Versus, Duel Masters Versus Revolution, and Duel Masters Versus Revolution Final. The 2017 Duel Masters anime and its sequels, Duel Masters! and Duel Masters!!, introduced Joe Kirifuda and focused on his adventures in the Creature World. In April 2020, Duel Masters King was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The anime returned on May 31, 2020.


title: Duel Masters

text: A spin-off series, Shinseiki: Duel Masters Flash aired from April 10, 2006, to March 23, 2007. The series follows Teru Yumemi, who must protect the ARC pendant from the antagonistic Nest organization.


title: Duel Masters

text: The English-language version of the series was produced by Hasbro Entertainment and Plastic Cow Productions. It made a truncated four-episode preview premiere on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on February 27, 2004. The series then made its official premiere on April 13, 2004, as part of the Saturday Video Entertainment System block, with fewer edits. When Toonami was moved to Saturdays, the block premiered the rest of the series. It was also aired in a 6:00 AM timeslot on early Weekday mornings, as part of Cartoon Network's "Early Prime" block, which was aimed at kids who were getting ready to go to school during this time.


title: Duel Masters

text: Only the first Japanese season was localized for the North American market. "Duel Masters Sacred Lands" was created specifically for American broadcast and is not based on any storyline from the manga series. The series was produced by Hasbro Studios and Elastic Media Corporation and premiered on Cartoon Network on March 26, 2005. Episodes of the English version are currently available for streaming on Tubi TV.


title: Duel Masters

text: "Duel Masters Charge" was eventually produced for the American market as "Duel Masters 2.0", although only the 1st half was aired.


title: Duel Masters

text: Takara, Atari, and Kids Station each produced their own "Duel Masters" video games. The games by Takara and Kids Station were only released in Japan while Atari's were only released in North America and Europe. Some of Takara's games were published by Atlus.


title: Duel Masters

text: Along with "The Magic of Chocolate", "Duel Masters" won the 66th Shogakukan Manga Award for Best Children's Manga in 2021.


title: Endling

text: An endling is the last known individual of a species or subspecies. Once the endling dies, the species becomes extinct. The word was coined in correspondence in the scientific journal "Nature". Alternative names put forth for the last individual of its kind include ender and terminarch.


title: Endling

text: The word relict may also be used, but usually refers to a population, rather than an individual, that is the last of a species.


title: Endling

text: The 4 April 1996 issue of "Nature" published a correspondence in which commentators suggested that a new word, "endling", be adopted to denote the last individual of a species. The 23 May issue of "Nature" published several counter-suggestions, including "ender", "terminarch", and "relict".


title: Endling

text: The word "endling" appeared on the walls of the National Museum of Australia in "Tangled Destinies", a 2001 exhibition by Matt Kirchman and Scott Guerin, about the relationship between Australian peoples and their land. In the exhibition, the definition, as it appeared in Nature, was printed in large letters on the wall above two specimens of the extinct Tasmanian tiger: "Endling (n.) The last surviving individual of a species of animal or plant". A printed description of this exhibition offered a similar definition, omitting reference to plants: "An endling is the name given to an animal that is the last of its species."


title: Endling

text: In "The Flight of the Emu: A Hundred Years of Australian Ornithology 1901-2001", author Libby Robin stated that "the very last individual of a species" is "what scientists refer to as an 'endling'".


title: Endling

text: In 2011, the word was used in the "Earth Island Journal", in an essay by Eric Freedman entitled "Extinction Is Forever: A Quest for the Last Known Survivors". Freedman defined "endling" as "the last known specimen of her species."


title: Endling

text: In "The Sense of an Endling", author Helen Lewis describes the notion of an endling as poignant, and the word as "wonderfully Tolkien-esque".


title: Endling

text: Author Eric Freedman describes "endling" as "a word with finality" , stating, "It is deep-to-the-bone chilling to know the exact date a species disappeared from Earth. It is even more ghastly to look upon the place where it happened and know that nobody knew or cared at the time what had transpired and why."


title: Endling

text: This is not a comprehensive list of contemporary extinction, but a list of high-profile, widely publicised examples of when the last individual of a species was known.


title: Lexus CT

text: The is a hybrid electric automobile produced by Lexus, a luxury division of Toyota, as a premium compact hatchback. The CT, consisting of a single model called the CT 200h is a luxury hybrid based on the Toyota Prius drivetrain and Toyota MC platform chassis, and is the first luxury compact and hatchback hybrid. It is the first production model in Lexus's family to introduce the "Spindle Grille" design as seen in its fascia. It made its debut at the March 2010 Geneva International Motor Show, six months after the unveiling of the LF-Ch concept car; it is primarily targeted at the European market but is being sold worldwide and was introduced to North American markets at the April 2010 New York International Auto Show. Lexus has trademarked the names CT 200h, CT 300h, and CT 400h. The design by Takeshi Tanabe was approved in 2008 and patented on 11 September 2009.


title: Lexus CT

text: Production began at the end of December 2010 and European sales following shortly after. Japan sales began on 12 January 2011, while US sales began in March 2011. The CT has been discontinued in the US, with the 2017 model year being the last. Sales continue in some other markets.


title: Lexus CT

text: Designated the platform code A10, when fitted with ZR-series petrol engine with hybrid setup, the CT is known by the model code ZWA10. "CT" stands for "Creative Touring" and "200h" refers to the hybrid performance being equal to that of a conventional 2.0-litre engine. However, Lexus distributors in some countries use the backronymic name, "Compact Touring".


title: Lexus CT

text: The CT is planned to be discontinued in October 2022 with a special edition named "Cherished Touring".


title: Lexus CT

text: The CT 200h is powered by the same 1.8-litre VVT-i four-cylinder petrol engine (Toyota's 2ZR-FXE) as used in the Auris and Prius, producing and of torque, paired with electric motor/generators in the hybrid drive system; together the engine and electric motors produce up to and of torque along with an electronically controlled continuously variable transmission. Fuel consumption for the CT 200h is listed at in Australia.


title: Lexus CT

text: The CT 200h chassis is based on the Toyota MC platform, which is the same platform used by the Corolla and the Matrix. The Lexus CT 200h features a front MacPherson strut suspension and a rear double wishbone design. The CT 200h has four driving modes Normal, Sport, Eco and EV included on other hybrid drive vehicles. Sport mode modifies the throttle and electric power steering settings, while making the Stability control and traction control less intrusive, maximising the CT200h's performance. EV mode generates zero emissions at the vehicle by using only the vehicles electric motors to drive the vehicle.


title: Lexus CT

text: Safety features include vehicle stability control (VSC) and eight standard airbags with the options of a pre-collision system with dynamic radar cruise control at extra cost. There is also a Vehicle Proximity Notification System, which uses a low tone to alert pedestrians to the presence of a hybrid motor vehicle, as well as telematic services (Safety Connect in North America).


title: Lexus CT

text: In 2013, for the 2014 model year, the styling of the CT was refreshed, using Lexus' corporate "Spindle" grille.


title: Lexus CT

text: The second facelift was launched in 2017, for the 2018 model year. This brought the option to specify full LED lights which featured a new design. A larger “Spindle” grille also came as standard on all models.


title: Lexus CT

text: Standard features on the CT 200h include SmartAccess with push-button Start/Stop and touch sensors on exterior front-door handles, leather steering wheel, a six-speaker, audio system with a CD player, and Bluetooth phone connectivity, iPod connectivity, 17-inch aluminum alloy wheels, and dual zone automatic climate control. In Australia, the CT 200h is offered in "Prestige", "Luxury", "F Sport" and "Sport Luxury" specifications. The Luxury, F Sport and Sports Luxury variants add a reversing camera as standard, while the Sports Luxury gains active cruise control and the pre-collision safety system. F Sport models include all the features of the Luxury model, plus sports bumpers, sports side skirts and a large rear spoiler. Interior features of the F Sport are an F Sport steering wheel, sports pedals, scuff plates, instrument panel and privacy glass.


title: Lexus CT

text: At the 2011 Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne (25–27 March 2011), the Lexus CT 200h was used in the Celebrity Challenge, a one-make, one-off series event held as part of the Grand Prix's weekend attractions. The event, supported by CAMS and sponsored by Lexus Australia, was promoted as the world's first race containing only petrol-electric vehicles.


title: Lexus CT

text: Following the introduction of stricter crash safety regulations, the CT, along with the IS sedan and the RC coupe, were pulled from the Australian market in November 2021.


title: Lexus CT

text: In North America, the CT launched in early 2011 for the 2011 model year. The facelift model arrived in 2013 for the 2014 model year. At the time, the "F Sport" package was offered, including a different variation on the spindle grille and other cosmetic differentiation. No performance enhancements came with the F Sport package, which used visually different wheels but the same tires as the base CT.


title: Lexus CT

text: In February 2011, Lexus introduced the CT with two variants: CT 200h and CT 200h Luxury in Malaysia. In October 2012, alongside the introduction of a CT200h F Sport variant, equipment list was improved for the CT200h variant. In July 2014 the Lexus CT facelift was introduced. The Lexus CT has since been discontinued in Malaysia.


title: Lexus CT

text: On 22 February 2011, Lexus introduced the CT in Thailand with four variants: CT 200h Luxury, CT 200h F-SPORT, CT 200h Premium NAVI and CT 200h Premium NAVI + Moon Roof. On 12 February 2014 a facelift was introduced with six variants: Luxury Fabric, Luxury Leather, F-SPORT, Premium Navi, Premium Navi Moon Roof and F-SPORT Navi Moon Roof. On 18 September 2017 a Second facelift was introduced with four variants: Luxury Fabric, Luxury Leather, Premium and F-SPORT. In 2019, Lexus announced the UX Crossover would replace the CT.


title: Lexus CT

text: The Lexus CT200h was sold in the UK market from 2011 until, in October 2020, it was announced imports of the CT line had ceased along with the IS line and RC line (except for the RC F).


title: Lexus CT

text: The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) in its 2011 Hybrid Scorecard ranked the Lexus CT 200h, together with the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, as the top luxury hybrid models in the scorecard's environmental improvement category, an achievement the UCS attributed to their relatively small petrol engines, as both carmakers downsized these vehicles' engines from six to four cylinders to maximize fuel economy. The UCS evaluation found that the Lexus CT 200h reduces greenhouse emissions by 42.9% as compared to the Lexus IS 250, used as its petrol-only similar for this comparison.


title: Lexus CT

text: Global sales of Lexus CT 200h reached 267,000 units through March 2016, making the CT the second best selling Lexus hybrid after the Lexus RX 400h/RX 450h. CT 200h sales represent 26.7 percent of the one million Lexus hybrids delivered since 2005. By March 2022, total sales had reached 380,000.


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: The Kosovo Agency of Statistics monitors various demographic features of the population of Kosovo, such as population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Censuses, normally conducted at ten-year intervals, record the demographic characteristics of the population. According to the first census conducted after the 2008 declaration of independence in 2011, the permanent population of Kosovo had reached 1,810,366.


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: Albanians form the majority in Kosovo, with over 93% of the total population; significant minorities include Bosniaks (1.6%), Serbs (1.5%) and others. A 2015 estimate put Kosovo's population at 1,870,981.


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: Kosovo has the youngest population in Europe. Half of its roughly 2-million-strong population is under the age of 25, according to a recent report of the UN Development Programme, UNDP. According to the government data, it is estimated that more than 65 percent of the population are younger than 30.


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: The final results of the 2011 census recorded Kosovo (excluding North Kosovo) as having 1,739,825 inhabitants. The European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) has called "for caution when referring to the 2011 census", due to the boycott by Serb-majority municipalities in North Kosovo and the large boycott by Serbs and Roma in southern Kosovo. The recorded total population was below most previous estimates. The census enjoyed considerable technical assistance from international agencies and appears to have been endorsed by Eurostat; it was, however, the first full census since 1981, and not one of an uninterrupted series. The results show that there were no people temporarily resident in hotels or refugee camps at the time of the census; that out of 312,711 conventional dwellings, 99,808 (over 30%) were unoccupied; and that three municipalities designed under the Ahtisaari Plan to have Serb majorities - Klokot, Novo Brdo, and Štrpce - in fact had ethnic Albanian majorities (although their municipal assemblies have Serb majorities).


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: Population estimates in the table below may be unreliable during the 1990s period. Besides, vital statistics do not fully include data from Serb-majority territories. Since 2011, in accordance with European statistical norms, live births and deaths record figures in Kosovo only (excluding foreign countries).


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: Kosovo is administratively subdivided into seven districts, and 38 municipalities. With the current estimation on population, Kosovo ranks as the 150th largest country in the world based on how populous it is.


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: The official results of the censuses in Kosovo after World War II are tabulated below. The figures for Albanians in the 1991 census were estimates only, since that census was boycotted by most Albanians. Similarly, the figures for Serbs in the 2011 census omit those in North Kosovska Mitrovica, Leposavić, Zubin Potok, and Zvečan (North Kosovo), while the number of Serbs and Romani in the rest of Kosovo is also deemed unreliable, due to the partial boycott.


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: The 2000 Living Standard Measurement Survey by Statistical Office of Kosovo found an ethnic composition of the population as follows:


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: During the Kosovo War in 1999, around 700,000 ethnic Albanians, over 100,000 ethnic Serbs and more than 40,000 Bosniaks were forced out of Kosovo to neighbouring Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Serbia.


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: After the United Nations took over administration of Kosovo following the war, the vast majority of the Albanian refugees returned.


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: The largest diaspora communities of Kosovo Albanians are in Germany and Switzerland accounting for some 200,000 individuals each, or for 20% of the population resident in Kosovo.


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: Many non-Albanians – chiefly Serbs and Romani – fled or were expelled, mostly to the rest of Serbia at the end of the war, with further refugee outflows occurring as the result of sporadic ethnic violence. As of 2002, the number of registered refugees was around 250,000. The non-Albanian population in Kosovo is now about half of its pre-war total. The largest concentration of Serbs in the country is in the north, but many remain in Kosovo Serb enclaves surrounded by Albanian-populated areas.


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: As defined by the Constitution of Kosovo, Albanian and Serbian are official languages in Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, almost 95% of the citizens speak Albanian as their native language, followed by South Slavic languages and Turkish. Due to North Kosovo's boycott of the census, Bosnian came in as the second-largest language after Albanian. However, Serbian is in reality the second-most spoken language in Kosovo.


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: Harvard Medical School and NATO published a study on the impact of the conflict on Kosovo health system in 2014.


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: According to a 2015 report by Geoba.se, Kosovo's current net migration rate is at –3.72, ranking Kosovo 197th, due to the ongoing political and economic crisis.


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: The country has no official religion. The constitution establishes Kosovo as a secular state that is neutral in matters of religious beliefs and where everyone is equal before the law and freedom to belief, conscience and religion is guaranteed.


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: The 2011 Kosovo population census was largely boycotted by the Kosovo Serbs (who predominantly identify as Serbian Orthodox Christians), especially in North Kosovo, leaving the Serb population underrepresented. The results of the 2011 census gave the following religious affiliations for the population included in the census:


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: The Serb population is largely Serbian Orthodox. The Catholic Albanian communities are mostly concentrated in Gjakova, Prizren, Klina and a few villages near Peć and Vitina (see laramans). Slavic-speaking Catholics usually call themselves Janjevci or Kosovan Croats. Slavic-speaking Muslims in the south of Kosovo are known as the Gorani people.


title: Demographics of Kosovo

text: According to the CIA, , there were 17,300 internally displaced persons, most of whom are Serbs displaced during the Kosovo War.


title: Chuu (singer)

text: Kim Ji-woo (; born October 20, 1999), known professionally as Chuu (), is a South Korean singer and television personality. She is a former member of the girl group Loona and its sub-unit, yyxy.


title: Chuu (singer)

text: Chuu was born on October 20, 1999, in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, South Korea. She is the eldest of three children, with two younger brothers. For her audition she sang "Halo" by Beyoncé. Her stage name "Chuu" is derived from saying her given name quickly. She graduated from Cheongju's Saet-byul Elementary school () and San-nam Middle school ().


title: Chuu (singer)

text: On December 14, 2017, Chuu was revealed as the tenth member of the Korean idol girl group Loona. As part of the group's pre-debut release strategy, on December 28, she released her self-titled single album with "Heart Attack" as its title track. "Chuu" reached number 8 on the Gaon Album Chart. She was introduced as part of Loona's third sub-unit Loona yyxy. The sub-unit includes members Yves, Gowon and Olivia Hye, and their EP, "Beauty & the Beat", was released on May 30, 2018, reached number 4 on the Gaon Album Chart. She officially debuted with the whole group on August 20 with the EP "[+ +]", which peaked at number 2 on the Gaon Album Chart. On November 25, 2022, BlockBerry Creative announced the departure of Chuu from Loona.


title: Chuu (singer)

text: In November 2022, Loona's agency, Blockberry Creative, announced on the official fancafe that Chuu will be expelled from Loona, explaining that "there were reports of abuse of power, such as Chuu’s abusive language towards our staff, and the investigation has revealed the fact, and the company representative is apologizing and comforting the staff." Chuu has recently been caught up in rumors of power abuse, transfer, and bullying within her company. However, the company refused to reveal evidence concerning the rumors of power abuse to the public. At the end of last year, she filed an application for a provisional injunction against her agency, Blockberry Creative, to suspend the exclusive contract. It was also reported that last April she founded her own company, with herself as the CEO.


title: Chuu (singer)

text: On May 10, 2019, Chuu made her acting debut and starred in the web drama "Dating Class" as Han Eun-sol. In July to September, she co-hosted the second season of the variety show "Insane Quiz Show" with MJ of Astro and Il-hoon of BtoB. The show brings in two celebrity guests each episode and have them partake with them in various challenges.


title: Chuu (singer)

text: In January 2020, Chuu appeared at MBC's "2020 Lunar New Year Idol Star Championships". However, MBC was inundated with criticism because it was discovered that a male staff pulled her hair.


title: Chuu (singer)

text: In March 2020, Chuu competed in "King of Mask Singer" under the name "Spring Girl", a character who dressed in a spring outfit with flowers in her hair and a flat paper mask that covers her eyes and mouth. She was eliminated in the second of the two days of competition. In December, she co-starred in "Running Girls", a Mnet show where five K-pop idols form a running team and try out different running courses in South Korea.


title: Chuu (singer)

text: In March 2021, Chuu was a regular panelist in the Channel A show "Steel Troops" where she comments on teams from Korea's armed forces competing against each other. She appeared as a model for a television commercial of Dong-a Otsuka's Pocari Sweat. She also appeared in a television commercial of Samsung Galaxy Store in May 2021, South Korean chicken brand "Chicken Maru", mobile RTS game "Warpath", and BC Card. She participated in the reality documentary show "Law of the Jungle" for the episodes titled "Spring Special in Jeju".


title: Chuu (singer)

text: On June 27, 2022, Chuu released the single "Lullaby" with B.I as a collaboration with Dingo Music. On August 11, it was announced that Chuu would release "One and Half", a remake of the 1994 track by Two Two, on September 4. On October 16, Chuu released a remake of the 1999 Park Hye-kyung's song "Confession" as the theme song of the 2022 film "Similar".


title: Chuu (singer)

text: In addition to singing and participating in television shows, Chuu hosts her own web series on YouTube called "Chuu Can Do It" where she spreads awareness about the need to protect the Earth through environmentally friendly practices. In 2021, Chuu hosted "Hauteur", a web series that was made in collaboration with Lotte Department Store to help promote their store among generation Z.


title: Chuu (singer)

text: In February 2018, Chuu, alongside her Loona groupmate Kim Lip, graduated from Hanlim Multi Art School.


title: Chuu (singer)

text: In the wake of a wave of bullying accusations against various stars of the K-pop industry, Chuu was one of the people who were accused of school bullying in February 2021. However, the accuser apologized for the false claims, as they turned out to be groundless after her agency, Blockberry Creative, announced that they would be taking legal action against the accuser.


title: Beat music

text: Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music genre that developed, particularly in and around Liverpool, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from American rock and roll, rhythm and blues, skiffle, traditional pop and music hall. It rose to mainstream popularity in the UK and Europe by 1963 before spreading to the North America in 1964 with the British Invasion. The beat style had a significant impact on popular music and youth culture, from 1960s movements such as garage rock, folk rock and psychedelic music to 1970s punk rock and 1990s Britpop.


title: Beat music

text: The exact origins of the terms 'beat music' and 'Merseybeat' are uncertain. The "beat" in each, however, derived from the driving rhythms which the bands had adopted from their rock and roll, R&B and soul music influences, rather than the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s. As the initial wave of rock and roll subsided in the later 1950s, "big beat" music, later shortened to "beat", became a live dance alternative to the balladeers like Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde, and Cliff Richard who were dominating the charts. The German anthropologist and music critic Ernest Borneman, who lived in England from 1933 to 1960, claimed to have coined the term in a column in "Melody Maker" magazine to describe the British imitation of American rock'n'roll, rhythm & blues and skiffle bands.


title: Beat music

text: The name "Mersey Beat" was used for a Liverpool music magazine founded in 1961 by Bill Harry. Harry claims to have coined the term "based on a policeman's beat and not that of the music". The band the Pacifics were renamed the Mersey Beats in February 1962 by Bob Wooler, MC at the Cavern Club, and in April that year they became the Merseybeats. With the rise of the Beatles in 1963, the terms Mersey sound and Merseybeat were applied to bands and singers from Liverpool, the first time in British pop music that a sound and a location were linked together. The equivalent scenes in Birmingham and London were described as Brum beat and the Tottenham Sound respectively.


title: Beat music

text: The most distinctive characteristic of beat music was its strong beat, using the backbeat common to rock and roll and rhythm and blues, but often with a driving emphasis on all the beats of 4/4 bar. The rhythm itself—described by Alan Clayson as "a changeless four-four offbeat on the snare drum"—was developed in the clubs in Hamburg, West Germany, where many English groups, including the Beatles, performed in the early 1960s and where it was known as the "mach schau" (make show) beat. The 8/8 rhythm was flexible enough to be adopted for songs from a range of genres. In addition, according to music writer Dave Laing,


title: Beat music

text: "[T]he chord playing of the rhythm guitar was broken up into a series of separate strokes, often one to the bar, with the regular plodding of the bass guitar and crisp drumming behind it. This gave a very different effect from the monolithic character of rock, in that the beat was given not by the duplication of one instrument in the rhythm section by another, but by an interplay between all three. This flexibility also meant that beat music could cope with a greater range of time-signatures and song shapes than rock & roll had been able to".


title: Beat music

text: Beat groups usually had simple guitar-dominated line-ups, with vocal harmonies and catchy tunes. The most common instrumentation of beat groups featured lead, rhythm and bass guitars plus drums, as popularized by the Beatles, the Searchers, and others. Beat groups—even those with a separate lead singer—often sang both verses and choruses in close harmony, resembling doo wop, with nonsense syllables in the backing vocals.


title: Beat music

text: In the late 1950s, a flourishing culture of groups began to emerge, often out of the declining skiffle scene, in major urban centres in the UK like Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London. This was particularly true in Liverpool, where it has been estimated that there were around 350 different bands active, often playing ballrooms, concert halls and clubs. Liverpool was perhaps uniquely placed within Britain to be the point of origin of a new form of music. Commentators have pointed to a combination of local solidarity, industrial decline, social deprivation, and the existence of a large population of Irish origin, the influence of which has been detected in Beat music. It was also a major port with links to America, particularly through the Cunard Yanks, which made for much greater access to American records and instruments like guitars, which could not easily be imported due to trade restrictions. As a result, Beat bands were heavily influenced by American groups of the era, such as Buddy Holly and the Crickets (from which group the Beatles derived their name, combining it with a pun on the beat in their music), and to a lesser extent by British rock and roll groups such as the Shadows.


title: Beat music

text: After the national success of the Beatles in Britain from 1962, a number of Liverpool performers were able to follow them into the charts, including Gerry & The Pacemakers (who achieved a number one hit in the UK before the Beatles), the Searchers, and Cilla Black.


title: Beat music

text: Outside of Liverpool many local scenes were less influenced by rock and roll and more by the rhythm and blues and later directly by the blues. These included bands from Birmingham who were often grouped with the beat movement, the most successful being the Spencer Davis Group and the Moody Blues. Similar blues influenced bands who broke out from local scenes to national prominence were the Animals from Newcastle and Them from Belfast. From London, the term "Tottenham Sound" was largely based around the Dave Clark Five, but other London-based British rhythm and blues and rock bands who benefited from the beat boom of this era included the Rolling Stones, the Kinks and the Yardbirds.


title: Beat music

text: The Beatles' appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" soon after led to chart success. During the next two years, the Animals, Petula Clark, the Dave Clark Five, the Rolling Stones, Donovan, Peter and Gordon, Manfred Mann, Freddie and the Dreamers, The Zombies, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, Herman’s Hermits, and the Troggs would have one or more number one singles in America.


title: Beat music

text: Freakbeat is a subgenre of rock and roll music developed mainly by harder-driving British groups, often those with a mod following during the Swinging London period of the mid to late 1960s. Freakbeat bridges "British Invasion mod/R&B/pop and psychedelia". The term was coined by English music journalist Phil Smee. Allmusic writes that "freakbeat" is loosely defined, but generally describes the more obscure but hard-edged artists of the British Invasion era such as the Creation, the Pretty Things or Denny Laine's early solo work. Other bands often mentioned as Freakbeat are the Action, the Move, the Smoke, the Sorrows, and Wimple Winch.


title: Beat music

text: By 1967, beat music was beginning to sound out of date, particularly compared with the "harder edged" blues rock that was beginning to emerge.


title: Beat music

text: Most of the groups that had not already disbanded by 1967, like the Beatles, moved into different forms of rock music and pop music, including psychedelic rock and eventually progressive rock.


title: Beat music

text: Beat was a major influence on the American garage rock and folk rock movements, and would be a source of inspiration for subsequent rock music subgenres, including Britpop in the 1990s.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. Absent a breathable Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environmental support. EVA includes spacewalks and lunar or planetary surface exploration (commonly known from 1969 to 1972 as moonwalks). In a stand-up EVA (SEVA), an astronaut stands through an open hatch but does not fully leave the spacecraft. EVA has been conducted by the Soviet Union/Russia, the United States, Canada, the European Space Agency and China.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: On March 18, 1965, Alexei Leonov became the first human to perform a spacewalk, exiting the Voskhod 2 capsule for 12 minutes and 9 seconds. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to perform a moonwalk, outside his lunar lander on Apollo 11 for 2 hours and 31 minutes. On the last three Moon missions, astronauts also performed deep-space EVAs on the return to Earth, to retrieve film canisters from the outside of the spacecraft. American Astronauts Pete Conrad, Joseph Kerwin, and Paul Weitz also used EVA in 1973 to repair launch damage to Skylab, the United States' first space station.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: EVAs may be either tethered (the astronaut is connected to the spacecraft; oxygen and electrical power can be supplied through an umbilical cable; no propulsion is needed to return to the spacecraft), or untethered. Untethered spacewalks were only performed on three missions in 1984 using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), and on a flight test in 1994 of the Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER), a safety device worn on tethered U.S. EVAs.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: NASA planners invented the term "extravehicular activity" (abbreviated with the acronym EVA) in the early 1960s for the Apollo program to land men on the Moon, because the astronauts would leave the spacecraft to collect lunar material samples and deploy scientific experiments. To support this, and other Apollo objectives, the Gemini program was spun off to develop the capability for astronauts to work outside a two-man Earth orbiting spacecraft. However, the Soviet Union was fiercely competitive in holding the early lead it had gained in crewed spaceflight, so the Soviet Communist Party, led by Nikita Khrushchev, ordered the conversion of its single-pilot Vostok capsule into a two- or three-person craft named Voskhod, in order to compete with Gemini and Apollo. The Soviets were able to launch two Voskhod capsules before U.S. was able to launch its first crewed Gemini.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: The Voskhod's avionics required cooling by cabin air to prevent overheating, therefore an airlock was required for the spacewalking cosmonaut to exit and re-enter the cabin while it remained pressurized. By contrast, the Gemini avionics did not require air cooling, allowing the spacewalking astronaut to exit and re-enter the depressurized cabin through an open hatch. Because of this, the American and Soviet space programs developed different definitions for the duration of an EVA. The Soviet (now Russian) definition begins when the outer airlock hatch is open and the cosmonaut is in vacuum. An American EVA began when the astronaut had at least his head outside the spacecraft. The USA has changed its EVA definition since.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: The first EVA was performed on March 18, 1965, by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who spent 12 minutes and 9 seconds outside the Voskhod 2 spacecraft. Carrying a white metal backpack containing 45 minutes' worth of breathing and pressurization oxygen, Leonov had no means to control his motion other than pulling on his tether. After the flight, he claimed this was easy, but his space suit ballooned from its internal pressure against the vacuum of space, stiffening so much that he could not activate the shutter on his chest-mounted camera.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: At the end of his space walk, the suit stiffening caused a more serious problem: Leonov had to re-enter the capsule through the inflatable cloth airlock, in diameter and long. He improperly entered the airlock head-first and got stuck sideways. He could not get back in without reducing the pressure in his suit, risking "the bends". This added another 12 minutes to his time in vacuum, and he was overheated by from the exertion. It would be almost four years before the Soviets tried another EVA. They misrepresented to the press how difficult Leonov found it to work in weightlessness and concealed the problems encountered until after the end of the Cold War.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: The first American spacewalk was performed on June 3, 1965, by Ed White from the second crewed Gemini flight, Gemini IV, for 21 minutes. White was tethered to the spacecraft, and his oxygen was supplied through a umbilical, which also carried communications and biomedical instrumentation. He was the first to control his motion in space with a Hand-Held Maneuvering Unit, which worked well but only carried enough propellant for 20 seconds. White found his tether useful for limiting his distance from the spacecraft but difficult to use for moving around, contrary to Leonov's claim. However, a defect in the capsule's hatch latching mechanism caused difficulties opening and closing the hatch, which delayed the start of the EVA and put White and his crewmate at risk of not getting back to Earth alive.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: No EVAs were planned on the next three Gemini flights. The next EVA was planned to be made by David Scott on Gemini VIII, but that mission had to be aborted due to a critical spacecraft malfunction before the EVA could be conducted. Astronauts on the next three Gemini flights (Eugene Cernan, Michael Collins, and Richard Gordon), performed several EVAs, but none was able to successfully work for long periods outside the spacecraft without tiring and overheating. Cernan attempted but failed to test an Air Force Astronaut Maneuvering Unit which included a self-contained oxygen system.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: On November 13, 1966, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first to successfully work in space without tiring during Gemini XII, the last Gemini mission. Aldrin worked outside the spacecraft for 2 hours and 6 minutes, in addition to two stand-up EVAs in the spacecraft hatch for an additional 3 hours and 24 minutes. Aldrin's interest in scuba diving inspired the use of underwater EVA training to simulate weightlessness, which has been used ever since to allow astronauts to practice techniques of avoiding wasted muscle energy.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: On January 16, 1969, Soviet cosmonauts Aleksei Yeliseyev and Yevgeny Khurnov transferred from Soyuz 5 to Soyuz 4, which were docked together. This was the second Soviet EVA, and it would be almost another nine years before the Soviets performed their third.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin performed the first EVA on the lunar surface on July 21, 1969 (UTC), after landing their Apollo 11 Lunar Module spacecraft. This first Moon walk, using self-contained portable life support systems, lasted 2 hours and 36 minutes. A total of fifteen Moon walks were performed among six Apollo crews, including Charles "Pete" Conrad, Alan Bean, Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, David Scott, James Irwin, John Young, Charles Duke, Eugene Cernan, and Harrison "Jack" Schmitt. Cernan was the last Apollo astronaut to step off the surface of the Moon.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: Apollo 15 command module pilot Al Worden made an EVA on August 5, 1971, on the return trip from the Moon, to retrieve a film and data recording canister from the service module. He was assisted by Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin standing up in the Command Module hatch. This procedure was repeated by Ken Mattingly and Charles Duke on Apollo 16, and by Ronald Evans and Harrison Schmitt on Apollo 17.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: The first EVA repairs of a spacecraft were made by Charles "Pete" Conrad, Joseph Kerwin, and Paul J. Weitz on May 26, June 7, and June 19, 1973, on the Skylab 2 mission. They rescued the functionality of the launch-damaged Skylab space station by freeing a stuck solar panel, deploying a solar heating shield, and freeing a stuck circuit breaker relay. The Skylab 2 crew made three EVAs, and a total of ten EVAs were made by the three Skylab crews. They found that activities in weightlessness required about 2 times longer than on Earth because many astronauts suffered spacesickness early in their flights.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: After Skylab, no more EVAs were made by the United States until the advent of the Space Shuttle program in the early 1980s. In this period, the Soviets resumed EVAs, making four from the Salyut 6 and Salyut 7 space stations between December 20, 1977, and July 30, 1982.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: When the United States resumed EVAs on April 7, 1983, astronauts started using an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) for self-contained life support independent of the spacecraft. STS-6 was the first Space Shuttle mission during which a spacewalk was conducted. Also, for the first time, American astronauts used an airlock to enter and exit the spacecraft like the Soviets. Accordingly, the American definition of EVA start time was redefined to when the astronaut switches the EMU to battery power.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: Numerous EVAs were conducted during the assembly of the ISS, often using the Quest Joint Airlock, designed to support both US EMUs, and Russian Orlan space suits.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: China became the third country to independently carry out an EVA on September 27, 2008 during the Shenzhou 7 mission. Chinese taikonaut Zhai Zhigang completed a 22-minute spacewalk wearing the Chinese-developed Feitian space suit, with taikonaut Liu Boming wearing the Russian-derived Orlan space suit assisting him in the process. Zhai completely exited the craft, while Liu stood by at the airlock, straddling the portal.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: Since 2021, China has carried out several more extravehicular activities lasting several hours for the construction of the Tiangong space station.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: The first spacewalk, made by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, was commemorated in 1965 with several Eastern Bloc stamps (see Alexei Leonov#Stamps). Since the Soviet Union did not publish details of the Voskhod spacecraft at the time, the spaceship depiction in the stamps was purely fictional.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: The U.S. Post Office issued a postage stamp in 1967 commemorating Ed White's first American spacewalk. The engraved image has an accurate depiction of the Gemini IV spacecraft and White's space suit.


title: Extravehicular activity

text: NASA "spacewalkers" during the Space Shuttle program were designated as EV-1, EV-2, EV-3 and EV-4 (assigned to mission specialists for each mission, if applicable).


title: Extravehicular activity

text: For EVAs from the International Space Station, NASA employed a "camp-out" procedure to reduce the risk of decompression sickness. This was first tested by the Expedition 12 crew. During a camp-out, astronauts sleep overnight in the airlock prior to an EVA, lowering the air pressure to , compared to the normal station pressure of . Spending a night at the lower air pressure helps flush nitrogen from the body, thereby preventing "the bends". More recently astronauts have been using the In-Suit Light Exercise protocol rather than camp-out to prevent decompression sickness.


title: Hinterland

text: Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his "Handbook of Commercial Geography" (1888). Originally the term was associated with the area of a port in which materials for export and import are stored and shipped. Subsequently, the use of the word expanded to include any area under the influence of a particular human settlement.


title: Hinterland

text: A further sense in which the term is commonly applied, especially by British politicians, is in talking about an individual's depth and breadth of knowledge (or lack thereof), of matters outside politics, specifically of academic, artistic, cultural, literary and scientific pursuits. For instance, one could say, "X has a vast hinterland", or "Y has no hinterland". The spread of this usage is usually credited to Denis Healey (British Defence Secretary 1964–1970, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1974–1979) and his wife Edna Healey, initially in the context of the supposed lack of hinterland- i.e., interests outside of politics- of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.


title: Sonic Team

text: The initial team, formed in 1990, comprised staff from Sega's Consumer Development division, including programmer Yuji Naka, artist Naoto Ohshima, and level designer Hirokazu Yasuhara. The team took the name Sonic Team in 1991 with the release of their first game, "Sonic the Hedgehog," for the Sega Genesis. The game was a major success and contributed to millions of Genesis sales. The next "Sonic" games were developed by Naka and Yasuhara in America at Sega Technical Institute, while Ohshima worked on "Sonic CD" in Japan. Naka returned to Japan in late 1994 to become the head of CS3, later renamed R&D No. 8. During this time, the division took on the Sonic Team brand but developed games that do not feature Sonic, such as "Nights into Dreams" (1996) and "Burning Rangers" (1998).


title: Sonic Team

text: Following the release of "Sonic Adventure" in 1998, some Sonic Team staff moved to the United States to form Sonic Team USA and develop "Sonic Adventure 2" (2001). With Sega's divestiture of its studios into separate companies, R&D No. 8 became SONICTEAM Ltd. in 2000, with Naka as CEO and Sonic Team USA as its subsidiary. Sega's financial troubles led to several major structural changes in the early 2000s; the United Game Artists studio was absorbed by Sonic Team in 2003, and Sonic Team USA became Sega Studios USA in 2004. After Sammy Corporation purchased Sega in 2004, Sonic Team was reincorporated to become Sega's GE1 research and development department. Naka departed during the development of "Sonic the Hedgehog" (2006), and Sega Studios USA was merged back into Sonic Team in 2008. The following decade was marked by "Sonic" games of varying reception, with head of studio Takashi Iizuka acknowledging that Sonic Team had prioritized shipping over quality.


title: Sonic Team

text: In 1983, programmer Yuji Naka was hired into Sega's Consumer Development division. His first project was "Girl's Garden", which he and Hiroshi Kawaguchi created as part of their training process. For his next game, "Phantasy Star" (1987) for the Master System, Naka created pseudo-3D animation effects. He met artist Naoto Ohshima while working on the game.


title: Sonic Team

text: During the late 1980s and early 1990s, a rivalry formed between Sega and Nintendo due to the release of their 16-bit video game consoles: the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Sega needed a mascot character that would be as synonymous with their brand as Mario was with Nintendo. Sega wanted a killer app and character that could appeal to an older demographic than preteens, demonstrate the capabilities of the Genesis, and ensure commercial success in North America.


title: Sonic Team

text: Sega held an internal competition to submit characters designs for a mascot. Ohshima designed a blue hedgehog named Sonic, who was inserted into a prototype game created by Naka. The Sonic design was refined to be less aggressive and appeal to a wider audience before the division began development on their platform game "Sonic the Hedgehog". According to Ohshima, Sega was looking for a game that would sell well in the United States as well as in Japan. Ohshima and Naka already had the game and character ready, with Ohshima having worked with Sega's toy and stationery department on design ideas. Ohshima claims that the progress they had already made encouraged the company to select their proposal, as theirs was the only team to have put in a high amount of time and effort. This left him confident their proposal would be selected.


title: Sonic Team

text: The "Sonic the Hedgehog" project began with just Naka and Ohshima, but grew to involve two programmers, two sound engineers, and three designers. Hirokazu Yasuhara joined to supervise Naka and Ohshima and develop levels, and became the lead designer. He satisfied Naka's request for a simple, one-button design by having Sonic do damage by jumping. "Sonic the Hedgehog" was released in 1991 and proved a major success, contributing to millions of sales of the Genesis. The development team took the name Sonic Team for the game's release. Naka has referred to Sonic Team as only a "team name" at this point.


title: Sonic Team

text: Shortly after the release of "Sonic the Hedgehog", Naka, Yasuhara, and a number of other Japanese developers relocated to California to join Sega Technical Institute (STI), a development division established by Mark Cerny intended as an elite studio combining the design philosophies of American and Japanese developers. While Naka and Yasuhara developed "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" with STI, Ohshima worked on "Sonic CD," a sequel for the Sega CD add-on. Though Naka was not directly involved in the "Sonic CD" development, he exchanged design ideas with Ohshima.


title: Sonic Team

text: Following the release of "Sonic & Knuckles" in 1994, Yasuhara quit, citing differences with Naka. Naka returned to Japan, having been offered a role as a producer. He was placed in charge of Sega's Consumer Development Department 3, also known as CS3. Naka was reunited with Ohshima and brought with him Takashi Iizuka, who had also worked with Naka's team at STI. In the mid-1990s, Sonic Team started work on new intellectual property, leading to the creation of "Nights into Dreams" (1996) and "Burning Rangers" (1998) for the Sega Saturn. Naka stated that the release of "Nights" is when Sonic Team was truly formed as a brand.


title: Sonic Team

text: The Saturn did not achieve the commercial success of the Genesis, so Sega focused its efforts on a new console, the Dreamcast, which debuted in Japan in 1998. The Dreamcast was seen as opportunity for Sonic Team to revisit the "Sonic" series, which had stalled in recent years. Sonic Team was originally creating a fully 3D "Sonic" game for the Saturn, but development moved to the Dreamcast to align with Sega's plans. Takashi Iizuka led the project; Iizuka had long wanted to create a "Sonic" role-playing video game and felt the Dreamcast was powerful enough to achieve his vision. The game became "Sonic Adventure", launched in 1998, which became the bestselling Dreamcast game.


title: Sonic Team

text: Around this time, CS3 was renamed to Sega Research and Development Department 8 (R&D #8). While sometimes referred to as AM8 or "Sega-AM8", based on the R&D structure being titled the Sega Amusement Machine Research and Development (AM) teams, Sonic Team focused solely on home console games. Until 2000, media referred to Sonic Team's designation as both R&D #8 and AM8.


title: Sonic Team

text: In 1999, shortly after the release of "Sonic Adventure", twelve Sonic Team members relocated to San Francisco to establish Sonic Team USA, while others remained in Japan. Shortly afterward, a number of key employees—including Ohshima—left Sega to form a new studio, Artoon. Sonic Team achieved success in the arcade game market in 1999 with the launch of rhythm game "Samba de Amigo", released the following year for the Dreamcast. The studio also began developing online games; in 1999, they released "ChuChu Rocket!", a puzzle game that made use of the Dreamcast's online capabilities. In 2000, Sonic Team launched the role-playing game "Phantasy Star Online" to critical and commercial success.


title: Sonic Team

text: Sega began to restructure its studios in October 2000 and spun off its software divisions into subsidiary companies. When the departments took new names, Naka felt it important to preserve the Sonic Team brand name, and the division's new legal name as a company was SONICTEAM, Ltd. Naka was installed as the CEO, and Sonic Team USA became a subsidiary of the new company.


title: Sonic Team

text: Despite a number of well-received games, Sega discontinued the Dreamcast in 2001 and exited the hardware business. Sega transitioned into a third-party developer and began developing games for multiple platforms. From 2000, Sonic Team in Japan began to release fewer games, with a few releases such as the puzzle game "Puyo Pop" and the action game "Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg". The company changes and lack of a Sega console affected Sonic Team; according to Naka, in a 2006 interview, "Our approach was always to create strategic title concepts, which included the hardware. We do somewhat miss the idea of being able to address these constant challenges." However, originality remained important for Naka as instead of "Sonic Adventure 3", "Sonic Heroes" was developed, "Billy Hatcher" was a new IP, and "" was a new take on take on the franchise.Asked about why Sonic continues to endure as a brand, Naka has said that it was because children really like the character. Naka's goal was to appeal to the largest audience possible and to appeal to children.


title: Sonic Team

text: Early in 2003, Sega president Hideki Sato and COO Tetsu Kamaya announced they were stepping down from their roles, with Sato being replaced by Hisao Oguchi, the head of Hitmaker. As part of Oguchi's restructuring plan, he announced his intention to consolidate Sega's studios into "four or five core operations." Sonic Team was financially solvent and absorbed United Game Artists, another Sega subsidiary led by Tetsuya Mizuguchi and known for the music games "Space Channel 5" (1999) and "Rez" (2001).


title: Sonic Team

text: In 2004, Japanese company Sammy acquired a controlling interest in Sega and formed Sega Sammy Corporation. Prior to the merger, Sega began the process of re-integrating its subsidiaries into the main company. Sonic Team USA became Sega Studios USA, while SONICTEAM Ltd. became Sega's Global Entertainment 1 research and development division (GE1). The team is still referred to as Sonic Team. As of 2005, senior Sega figures including Toshihiro Nagoshi and Yu Suzuki were reporting to Naka; according to Takashi Yuda, he was involved in all Sega game development. Naka announced his departure on 8 May 2006 and formed a new studio, Prope, to focus on creating original games. He left Sonic Team during the development of "Sonic the Hedgehog" (2006), released as part of the 15-year anniversary of the "Sonic" franchise. "Sonic the Hedgehog" was panned for its bugs and design flaws; "Sonic Unleashed" (2008) received mixed reviews, but sold well. Both games were released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360; Sonic Team also developed a series of "Sonic" games for the Wii and Nintendo DS, such as 2007's "Sonic and the Secret Rings".


title: Sonic Team

text: By 2010, Sonic Team had become part of CS Research and Development No. 2 (CS2), Sega Studios USA had been reintegrated into the Japanese team, and Iizuka had become the head of the department. After a series of poorly received "Sonic" releases, Sonic Team refocused on speed and more traditional side-scrolling in "" and "", "Sonic Generations", and "Sonic Colors", which all received better reviews. In 2015, Iizuka recognized in an interview with "Polygon" that Sonic Team had prioritized shipping games over quality, and had not had enough involvement in later third-party "Sonic" games, such as "". He hoped the Sonic Team logo would stand as a "mark of quality"; he planned to release quality games and expand the "Sonic" brand, while retaining the modern Sonic design. Iizuka stated that doing new things with the franchise has good and point points at times.Sonic Team's first "Sonic" game exclusive to smartphones, "Sonic Runners", was released in 2015. An endless runner, it was designed to have more replay value than other games in the genre. "Sonic Runners" received mixed reviews and was unprofitable, resulting in its discontinuation a year later.


title: Sonic Team

text: In 2017, Sonic Team developed and released "Sonic Forces", and oversaw the development of "Sonic Mania" by Christian Whitehead. "Forces" was aimed at a broad audience of young and adult players, while "Mania" was focused on fans of the original Genesis games. "Mania" became the best reviewed "Sonic" game in fifteen years following nearly two decades of mixed reviews for the franchise. At SXSW in March 2019, Iizuka confirmed Sonic Team was also working on a new "Sonic" game, which became "Sonic Frontiers". Sonic Team also contributed to the 2019 reboot of "Sakura Wars."


title: Sonic Team

text: Sonic Team USA, later Sega Studios USA, was a division of Sega and of Sonic Team while Sonic Team was a subsidiary company. It was founded when twelve Sonic Team members, including Takashi Iizuka, relocated to San Francisco, California, in 1999, and was a subsidiary of SONICTEAM, Ltd. by 2000. The team worked on game development, translation, and market studies in the United States, until they returned to Japan and merged back into Sonic Team in 2008.


title: Sonic Team

text: Sonic Team USA translated "Sonic Adventure" and tested "ChuChu Rocket!" in America before beginning work on "Sonic Adventure 2". They took inspiration from their location in San Francisco, as well as Yosemite National Park and other areas of the United States. "Sonic Adventure 2" was released on 23 June 2001, and was ported to the GameCube. The next Sonic Team USA project was "Sonic Heroes" (2003), the first "Sonic" game developed for multiple platforms. Sonic Team USA took a different approach with "Heroes" from the "Sonic Adventure" games, focusing on gameplay more similar to the Genesis games to which even casual gamers could adapt.


title: Sonic Team

text: After SONICTEAM, Ltd. merged back into Sega in 2004, Sonic Team USA was renamed Sega Studios USA. The division's next project was "Shadow the Hedgehog", released in 2005, a spin-off starring Shadow. Unlike previous games, "Shadow the Hedgehog" was targeted at older players and featured different gameplay styles, including the use of guns and different endings to the game. "Shadow the Hedgehog" was critically panned for its mature themes and level design, but was a commercial success, selling at least 1.59 million units.


title: Sonic Team

text: The final Sega Studios USA game was "", the sequel to "Nights into Dreams" and the first "Nights" game since the cancellation of "Air Nights" in 2000. Iizuka felt it was important to retain the original game's concepts while developing new mechanics, and released it on the Wii, a more family-oriented console. "Journey of Dreams" was also designed to have a more European feel, in contrast to the "Sonic" games, which were more American. The sound and CGI were completed by Sonic Team in Japan, while Sega Studios USA handled the rest of the development for the 2007 release.


title: Sonic Team

text: Sega Studios USA oversaw the development of "Sonic Rivals" (2006) and "Sonic Rivals 2" (2007) by Backbone Entertainment. In 2008, Sega Studios USA merged with Sonic Team, making Iizuka the head of Sonic Team and a vice president of product development for Sega. In 2016, Iizuka relocated to Los Angeles to oversee development with the goal of making Sega's studios in Los Angeles "a centralized hub for the global brand".


title: Sonic Team

text: Sonic Team has developed a number of video games, with many of them becoming bestsellers. The studio is best known for its "Sonic the Hedgehog" series of platform games, which account for the majority of Sonic Team's work; the 1991 release of "Sonic the Hedgehog" is considered one of the most important moments in video game history, as it propelled Genesis sales and displaced Nintendo as the leading video game company. Sonic Team have also developed a wide variety of other games, including action games such as "Nights into Dreams", "Burning Rangers", and "Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg," the online puzzle game "ChuChu Rocket!", the online role-playing game "Phantasy Star Online," and the music game "Samba de Amigo". "Phantasy Star Online" is credited for introducing online RPGs to consoles and was the first online RPG for many players. According to Sean Smith of "Retro Gamer", few companies could claim to have released as many AAA games over such a long period, especially between 1991 and 2000. Some Sonic Team games, such as the original "Sonic" games for the Genesis and "Nights", are considered some of the best video games ever made. Iizuka has said Sonic Team would be open to developing a third "Nights" game or a sequel to "Knuckles' Chaotix" (1995), if Sega were to commission them.


title: Sonic Team

text: Sega and Sonic Team have been criticized for their handling of "Sonic the Hedgehog" after the beginning of the 3D era of video games. Edwin Evans-Thirlwell of "Eurogamer" described the 3D Sonic games as "20-odd years of slowly accumulating bullshit", and that unlike Sonic's main competitor, Nintendo's "Mario" series, "Sonic" in 3D never had a "transcendental hit". Zolani Stewart of "Kotaku" argued that Sonic's portrayal starting with "Sonic Adventure" with the addition of voice acting and a greater focus on plot and character narrative changed Sonic into "a flat, lifeless husk of a character, who spits out slogans and generally has only one personality mode, the radical attitude dude, the sad recycled image of vague '90s cultural concept." Sega of America marketing director Al Nilsen and "Sonic Mania" developer Christian Whitehead said they felt the number of additional characters added to the series was problematic, with Whitehead describing the characters as "padding". In 2015, Sega CEO Haruki Satomi acknowledged that Sega had "partially betrayed" the trust of the longtime fans of their games and hoped to focus on quality over quantity.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 2)

text: Book Two: Earth is the second season of "", an American animated television series created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko for Nickelodeon. The series starred Zach Tyler Eisen, Mae Whitman, Jack DeSena, Jessie Flower, Dante Basco, Dee Bradley Baker, Mako Iwamatsu (in his final performance as Iroh) and Grey DeLisle as the main character voices.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 2)

text: In the second season, Aang and his friends and Sokka are on a quest to find an Earthbending teacher which finishes when they recruit Toph Beifong. After finding important information concerning the war with the Fire Nation, Appa ends up kidnapped. Their journey leads to Ba Sing Se, the capital of the Earth Kingdom, where they uncover a great internal government conspiracy. Meanwhile, due to their actions at the North Pole in "Book One", Zuko and Iroh are declared traitors of the Fire Nation and desert their country, becoming fugitives in the Earth Kingdom. Pursuing both Zuko and Aang is Princess Azula, Zuko's younger prodigy sister.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 2)

text: "Book Two: Earth" premiered on Nickelodeon on March 17, 2006. It consisted of 20 episodes and concluded on December 1, 2006. The season received considerable acclaim, with the series being called "consistently excellent." The series won multiple awards, including Best Character Animation in a Television Production from the 34th Annie Awards and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation at the 2007 Emmy Awards.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 2)

text: Between January 23, 2007, and September 11, 2007, Paramount Home Entertainment released four DVD sets containing five episodes each before releasing the entire season as a boxset.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 2)

text: The season was produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio and aired on Nickelodeon, both of which are owned by Viacom. The season's executive producers and co-creators are Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who worked alongside head writer and co-producer Aaron Ehasz. Most of the individual episodes were directed by Ethan Spaulding, Lauren MacMullan and Giancarlo Volpe. Episodes were written by a team of writers, which consisted of Aaron Ehasz, Elizabeth Welch, Tim Hedrick, John O'Bryan; along with creators DiMartino and Konietzko.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 2)

text: The season's music was composed by "The Track Team", which consists of Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn, who were known to the show's creators because Zuckerman was Konietzko's roommate.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 2)

text: Most of the from remained the same: Zach Tyler Eisen voices Aang, Mae Whitman voices , Jack DeSena voices Sokka, Dee Bradley Baker voices both Appa and , and Dante Basco voices Zuko.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 2)

text: In addition, several new characters appear: Jessie Flower voices Toph Beifong, Grey DeLisle voices Azula, Cricket Leigh voices Mai, Olivia Hack voices Ty Lee, and Clancy Brown voices Long Feng.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 2)

text: Mako Iwamatsu, who voiced Iroh in the first two seasons, died from throat cancer after production was completed; he was replaced by Greg Baldwin for and "The Legend of Korra".


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 2)

text: In the episode "The Tales of Ba Sing Se", the segment titled "The Tale of Iroh" features a dedication to Mako at the end when Iroh is tearfully singing to mourn the loss of his only child, Lu Ten.


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 2)

text: In a review of the Volume 2 DVD Release for Book 2, Gabriel Powers from DVDActive.com described the series as one of the best children's series in recent times, making comparisons with "Samurai Jack" and "Justice League", and complimented it for its depth and humour. Powers also comments:


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 2)

text: For the video and audio quality, Powers says "Season two generally looks better than the bulk of season one, but still has some issues" concerning image sharpness. Rotten Tomatoes gave it an 87% fresh rating in 2008. Jamie S. Rich from DVD Talk says that "As a flat concept, "Avatar the Last Airbender" is nothing special, but in execution, it is head and shoulders above other children's entertainment", and that "as a whole, the look of Avatar is consistently excellent".


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender (season 2)

text: The show also received acclaim for its visual appeal. In the 34th Annie Awards, the show was nominated for and won the "Best Character Animation in a Television Production" award, for Jae-Myung Yu's animation in "The Blind Bandit", and the "Best Directing in an Animated Television Production" award, for the episode "The Drill". In 2007, the show was nominated for "Outstanding Animated Program" in the 2007 Emmy Awards for the "City of Walls and Secrets" episode, though it did not win. However, the show did win the "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation" award for Sang-Jin Kim's animation in the "Lake Laogai" episode.