Head full (So much thoughts about ninja turtles)

congrats! Now you have a motif! A recurring theme! A focus for your art! Something to haunt you!

Seventeen still lives of dandelions? Three hundred poems about grief? A sketchbook dedicated to your grandmother’s house? Two books trying to unravel the complexities of familial relationships?

An early exploration of the themes Hokusai would keep coming back to is Spring in Enoshima, done in 1793 when he was 33. The wave is small and there are no boats, but Mt Fuji is clear in the background, and Enoshima is in Kanagawa, so we are clearly beginning to work towards something here.

A second pass, eleven years later in 1803 when he was 44. The title of this one begins to get more familiar: The View of Honmoku Off Kanazawa. It has a towering wave over a smaller boat, but Mt Fuji is not present, and the boat is considerably larger and has a sail. But the feeling of danger in the wave and the smallness of the boat are here, and of course the general composition is definitely recognizable.

This is A View Of Express Delivery Boats, done in 1805, merely two years later at age 46. Here we find the wave and the boats almost exactly as we'll find them in The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, though Mt Fuji isn't present, and the location is uncertain. And it's a good picture! The wave is threatening, the boats are small -- but the feeling of "ocean" isn't really there yet, is it? It's unlikely this picture would have become a classic for the ages. But that's okay, there's still time.

And here we have it, a full 26 years later, done by Hokusai in 1831 at the age of 72. The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, one of the most recognizable pieces of art in the world. The boats are there, the mountain is there, the wave is there, and the FEELING is there. He did it! He reached the apex of his ongoing motif and theme!

Or did he? Because the whole point of a motif is not that you're striving to get to the perfect version of it, the one idealized image you carried in your head all along, and when it is done, you are also done. Hokusai is on record at the age of 73 saying he'd only just begun to feel like he was learning how to draw things properly, and that "if I keep up my efforts, I will have even a better understanding when I was 80 and by 90 will have penetrated to the heart of things. At 100, I may reach a level of divine understanding, and if I live decades beyond that, everything I paint — dot and line — will be alive." He had drawn The Great Wave, but he didn't believe he was finished -- he thought that he was still just beginning to get started.

And he wasn't finished with his ocean motif, either. Please check out his Mt Fuji At Sea, done in 1834 at the age of 75.

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAAAY FREN may there be more silliness to come Individual Doodles under the cut

The secret that's been kept for the past 8 months!

The first 5 episodes of Monkey Wrench are officially coming to NETFLIX on AUGUST 19th!

Fully remastered and re-engineered audio!

New multiple language dubs!

New intro sequence!

I'm sure you're all bound to have lots of questions, so below here's a brief FAQ about this new venture;

FAQ;

Q: When did this happen???

A: Netflix approached us back during the early days of episode 4's production after watching the eps progress. They wanted to congratulate us on reaching ep 3 and commenting on how rapidly we've improved and what motivated us to keep going. They kept an eye on our progress since and once they saw ep 5, they reached out in December 2025 to offer us a licensing deal for the first 5 eps. That deal was cemented in March 2026.

Q: So is this why ep 6 has taken so long?

A: Yes and No. We did have to divert Matt, Ockeroid, Rigsby and myself over to Eps 1-5 to get them up to NETFLIX's broadcast standards which took around 8-12 weeks of non-stop work. However if we didn't take the deal we'd still be in a worse place in terms of ep 6 funding and progress. Most of the licensing money went into getting ep 6 finished this year. Without it, we would be going well into 2027.

Q: Is the new intro sequence gonna be in the eps from now on???

A: Only for the Netflix versions, as they have exclusive rights to it. The regular Youtube / Patreon release will have our usual wrench glass smashy intro still.

Q: Will the Alternate language tracks come over to the Youtube Versions???

A: No, those are exclusive to Netflix.

Q: So this is just a licensing deal?

A: For now, yes! The first 5 eps will be on the NETFLIX service August 19th.

Q: What does that mean for the future? Is there a chance you'll get picked up???

A: The future is still uncertain, but it looks a lot brighter than it did before. NETFLIX allowed us to have promotions to our patreon in the end credits of each episode, something they don't usually do, so people who watch the eps on NETFLIX will have the chance to come over here and support us directly.

As for getting picked up, there is a chance, but it's all at the behest of NETFLIX if the first 5 eps do well on the service.

Q: What would going exclusive mean???

A: Basically, IF we go exclusive, NETFLIX would get exclusive rights to eps 7-10 for season one and beyond. We'd have to suspend the patreon (everything would still be available, there's just be no more updates) and fourthwall store (NETFLIX would get exclusive merch rights) and stop youtube uploads.

If they decide to cancel our exclusivity, then we're back to doing what we are currently doing; using patreon and fourthwall to fund ep production.

Q: What if they want Ep 6 as well to go exclusive???

A: In that scenario we've worked out a plain that those who have supported us financially for it's production will still get to see it on here and for Youtube Members.

Q: Would Eps 1-5 still be free to watch on Youtube?

A: Yes, the original 5 will still available to view on Youtube for freeeee, even if we go exclusive.

Q: So no more fourthwall store if you go exclusive???

A: Yup! NETFLIX gets full merch rights, though we'd get a 35% cut of all sales, so pretty much what it's like now but with someone else managing it which would be a massive load of my already extensive plate of things to do, and with NETFLIX's resources there's be so many more options for neat stuff to be made... vinyl figures for instance~?

Q: I thought you said you didn't want to go with a network / Streaming service? A: I did, but unfortunately times and minds change. We're 6 years into this production and only have (almost) 6 eps done. Our funding isn't growing, merch isn't selling that well and I'm really starting to feel my age. Potentially getting picked up exclusively by NETFLIX will get us Budgets we could only dream of doing it indie, and if it gets this series made before I turn 45, then so be it!

Q: So, when Ep 6???