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cartoonrankings · 2 years

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10 Most Underrated Cartoons

Cartoons are great…we have many awesome hit shows from SpongeBob SquarePants to Amphibia to South Park and so on. But we also have quite a few gems that not many seem to talk about, and I feel that I should put the spotlight onto these underrated cartoons. Today, I will be going over my ten most underrated cartoons.

10. Over the Garden Wall

When putting this cartoon on the list, I was heavily debating on whether I should put it here as one of the 10 most underrated cartoons or not. While it does seem to be quite positively received, and while it has had a decent amount of exposure from the cartoon community, I find that it is not really talked about as much as many others that came out at the same time as Gravity Falls. This perplexed me as I thought it was a strong series.

This was a miniseries that had 10 episodes in 2014. It was about two brothers named Greg and Wirt who end up in a mysterious land called the Unknown, and work to get home. It was a great series packed with mystery, darkness and awesome characters (especially Greg). While being underrated is a debate, there is no doubt that it is amazing! You can watch Over the Garden Wall on Hulu, Amazon or iTunes.

9. Hilda

As this series is one that also is decently known, I was debating on whether this one should be put on here again. It is like Over the Garden Wall in the sense that it is pretty decently well known, but it is definitely a series that I feel is much less known than shows it came out with, and I feel that due to this, it should be on here.

Hilda is a series that has 2 seasons and 26 episodes. It is about an 11 year old girl named Hilda who goes on magical adventures and encounters mysterious creatures with her friends David and Frida and Twig, her pet deer frog. I loved Hilda as it has fun characters and a unique art style. Furthermore, Hilda takes on the common magic theme you see in TV shows, but executes it in a way that is unique! You can watch Hilda on Netflix!

8. Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

While this series was screwed over by the network I feel that the main reason it is underrated goes deeper than that. When the series first started getting advertisements, many people (myself included) did not really like the idea of this series - especially since we just got a super dark and serious installment of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles prior to this show. This left a bad taste in our mouths and many of us did not want to check out this more lighthearted take on the turtles. However, coming back to it years later, it was a hidden gem!

Running for 2 seasons of 39 episodes from 2018 to 2020, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a totally new and unique adaptation of the turtles we all know and love. The series revolved around them before they actually became crime fighters. The main goal they have is to stop The Shredder from being resurrected for the first season while actually fighting him in the second season. They also learn about the secrets of Master Splinter in this adaptation. My favorite aspects of this series are the fact that they take the turtles and add their own unique spin to it so that it doesn’t feel like a copy of the other shows. I also like the designs quite a bit and I like the humor. Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is definitely an underrated adaptation to this amazing franchise, and while I do prefer the 2012 installation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I had a great time with this one.

7. Final Space

This was a series that I only found out about recently, and I am glad that I found it. This was a series which I have never seen on TV, or have heard anyone talk about until last year where I heard a few people online bring it up. I added it to my list there, and finally binged it a few months ago. I found it strange that not many talk about it though, so I did some research as to why. From what I was able to gather, it seems that when it started out, critics did not really love it, and they ignored the later episodes from there, which led to other things like minimal promotion. It’s honestly a shame as it is a great series.

Final Space ran for 3 seasons and 36 episodes. The series is about an astronaut named Gary Goodspeed, who after accidentally destroying spaceships, was sentenced to five years of prison on the Galaxy One spaceship. During his final year, he found an alien named Mooncake, who he finds out is being pursued by an evil dictator known as Jake the Lord Commander. Gary and Mooncake, along with some crewmates, go on a quest to save the universe, while trying to discover the mystery behind Final Space, which is supposedly where the universe ends. Final Space has everything I love about a story-driven cartoon - it has very emotional moments that keep me invested, it has a well rounded group of characters that develop as the series goes on, and the world-building throughout the series was amazing. Final Space is a truly amazing series, and I definitely think it deserved much better.

6. Glitch Techs

Now we get onto Netflix shows…it’s not common for a Netflix show to take off regardless of how great it is, and Glitch Techs is a prime example of that. Glitch Techs definitely had a complex story behind its reason to being underrated which is more than just the fact that it is a Netflix original. It was originally supposed to be a Nickelodeon original, but unfortunately, Nickelodeon did not give the series much love. The first season was finished in 2019, but did not ever air on Nickelodeon until it finally premiered on Netflix in 2020 with not much promotion. It is truly a shame because with proper promotion from Nickelodeon, this could have been a massive hit with how great it is conceptually and from a storytelling standpoint.

Glitch Techs has a pretty unique concept - it revolves around two teenagers named Hector and Miko who essentially try to stop video game characters from wreaking havoc across the real world. Glitch Techs was another amazing series with lots to offer. We got an amazing series with cool characters being further enhanced by their awesome designs and we got a very unique concept being brought to the table. I really love Glitch Techs and I hope it can get a continuation some day.

5. 6Teen

6Teen is severely underrated, and the main reason for this is Cartoon Network’s treatment of it. When 6Teen aired, it did not get as much promotion as a Cartoon Network original, which already kept it pretty underrated, but it also had many episodes removed with not many reruns. Overall, it did remain pretty underrated due to this, but the amount of content it got was satisfying.

6Teen was a series that ran from 2004 to 2010 and contained 4 seasons of 93 episodes. The series revolves around six teenagers, Wyatt, Jen, Caitlin, Jonesy, Nikki and Jude, and it just showcases them going through teenage life. 6Teen definitely had a lot to offer me - we got to see some very relatable situations, we had a loveable set of characters and I think this show was one of the few that executed raunchy humor in the right manner. You can watch 6Teen on the YouTube channel, Retro Rerun, Amazon Prime, Pluto or Tubi.

4. The Hollow

Another Netflix original on here…what a surprise. It seems that it is not easy for shows to get popular on Netflix or any streaming service for that matter as people go to streaming services knowing what they want to watch. Furthermore, Netflix’s lack of marketing did not help the cause. We were unfortunately left with another great TV series ending up heavily underrated.

The Hollow is a series which ran from 2018 to 2020 for a total of 20 episodes. The series was centered around Adam, Kai and Mira, who wake up in a strange room with no memories. They work together to explore this strange new world that they have discovered, on a quest to return home (despite not knowing where home even is). When going through this new and strange world, they discover new friends and new enemies, and many different challenges are thrown their way. The Hollow is definitely a loveable series, with many amazing aspects including awesome worldbuilding, great diversity and a loveable set of characters. The Hollow is an extremely fun 20 episode series, and if you haven’t seen it, I recommend getting on Netflix now and checking it out!

3. Sym-Bionic Titan

Another series that was underrated mainly due to Cartoon Network…Sym-Bionic Titan was and still is remembered as a cult classic. The reason for it being underrated is due to scheduling mainly. At first, it was on an action block on Cartoon Network, but it was eventually moved to Wednesday nights which is a terrible time slot, and it was eventually moved to Saturday morning with no warning. The reasoning behind this is not entirely known. Some say it was due to being unable to make toys, and some were saying that it was due to disputes with the team. One thing to say though is that it is severely underrated, though it does still have fans.

Sym-bionic Titan still became one of my favorites during its 20 episode run from 2010 to 2011. Sym-bionic Titan is about Lance, Octus and Ilana who fled from their planet Galuna to come to Earth due to their planet being consumed by these creatures known as the Mutraddi. As the leader of the Mutraddi wants to kill the next heir to Galuna, Ilana, the three must blend into Earth. The name of the series comes from what happens when the three combine - when they do, they form the Sym-Bionic Titan. I love the writing, characters and the artstyle. The series was definitely underrated, and it deserved much better than what it got from Cartoon Network. You can watch Sym-Bionic Titan on iTunes!

2. Motorcity

Let’s continue on with shows that were screwed over by the network, and this time, Disney is to blame! Motorcity was a series that suffered poor scheduling and promotion, which was what led to its downfall. Firstly, the series received minimal advertising from the start (it seemed that Disney did not like the idea from the get go as it was being pitched for ten years before it even got the approval). Furthermore, there were lots of unnecessary hiatuses during the first season when the fandom was just starting to form. And the worst part of it all is that it kept getting moved around different time slots, and at one point, even had a timeslot at midnight. Due to the hiatuses and the time slots moving around, Motorcity was quite difficult to watch, making it quite unknown and underrated.

Motorcity ran from 2012 to 2013 for 20 episodes. The series was centered around a group of rebels known as the Burners, consisting of Mike (the leader), Julie (an insider gathering information from Abraham), Chuck (the tech guy), Dutch (the smart one), Texas (the muscle) and Jacob (the old aged mentor). Their goal is to stop a capitalistic billionaire named Abraham from taking over Motorcity which is a small part of the city they live in, Detroit. In terms of what I love about the series, I love the characters, the great story and plot line and the fact that the series has introspective and thought provoking moments.

1. Detentionaire

Being from Canada, I get to see a lot of the underrated gems that we all have, and while I have seen a lot, this is probably the most underrated. Detentionaire’s reason for being underrated is quite sad. It was doing quite well in Canada, and it did get distributed to a few other countries where it also performed strongly. However, like 6Teen, Detentionaire got swept under the radar because of how it was treated by Cartoon Network in the US. What they did to Detentionaire hurt it much more though. It had lots of censorship like 6Teen, though, lots of the censorship was not even necessary. They would just remove random bits of dialogue. Furthermore, they only aired 20 of the 53 episodes on their website with the episodes out of order, and that hurt the show as not many people used the website, and if they did see it, they wouldn’t have understood anything as it was story-driven. Moreover, the player on their website was broken for a good portion of the time Detentionaire was there, which hindered its accessibility even more. All of these factors led to Detentionaire being virtually unknown in the US, and once it didn’t perform in the US, a bunch of other countries did not want to take it as they were skeptical on how the show would perform in their countries. It is a shame though because this show is one of the greatest I have seen. It is also in my top five favorite cartoons of all time.

Detentionaire is about a highschooler named Lee who gets framed for a huge prank and gets detention for a year. He goes on a quest to clear his name, and while he expected to just bust some ordinary prankster, he instead finds out that the prank was a small step to a major conspiracy. This conspiracy connects back to him and his entire bloodline. It is a shame that this series is not as popular as it should be. This is one of the few story-driven animated shows that I would say is on par with the legendary Disney trio (Amphibia, The Owl House and Gravity Falls). I have so much positive to say about this show - I would say that off the bat, my favorite aspects are the mystery and the plot progression as the plot really gets more intense with each episode. I would say that another highlight was the characters as they all feel like actual high school students which gives the show a sense of relatability. I really hope Detentionaire gets the resurgence it deserves some day as it is truly a masterpiece. There’s a reason that Detentionaire is at the top of a list of the 10 most underrated cartoons, and there’s a reason that it is in my 5 best cartoons of all time. I hope I have convinced at least a few of you to watch it. You can watch Detentionaire on the YouTube channel Retro Rerun or on Tubi!

Well, these were my 10 most underrated cartoons! I hope I introduced you to some new cartoons! Which one of these do you agree with? Which ones do you disagree with? Are there any more you would add? And be sure to follow me for regular blogs!

#cartoon #cartoons #cartoon network #nickelodeon #disney #teletoon #netflix #over the garden wall #hilda #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #teenage mutant ninja turtles #final space #glitch techs #6teen #the hollow #sym-bionic titan #motorcity #detentionaire #radarplz

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discet · 1 year

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So in retrospective if you had the info on Marcy's parents from the later release supplemental materials and creator statements when first beginning outlining the fic, would you have still gone with the abuse/neglect angle?

Super interesting, huh.

Honestly if I had binged the whole show after completion and didn't have time to stew on headcanons for 4 months while waiting for 3b, there is a good chance AWIW would simply not exist.

The thing is, Marcy's actions in

1.Bringing them to Amphibia 2.Embracing a life there, and 3.Then conspiring to make that permanent

To me seems at odds with her home life being completely fine.

The first two in that list could be chalked up to spur of the moment decisions and whatnot. That third one is legit concerning.

As close and important to each other as they are: consider how messy their friendship was vis-à-vis ignoring Marcy. The fact that Marcy was still willing to do everything in her power to avoid being separated from them to the point of attempting to permanently separate herself from her parents and '''Home'''.... It's not a ringing endorsement of their parenting, I'll say that much.

Her having a good homelife kind of flattens her character for me.

Obviously her having legitimate reasons to dodge being with her parents, whether abuse or neglect, would blunt the central message of accepting change. And honestly dealing with a neglectful/abusive family would bring down the pop-y fun tone they were going for.

So to answer your question in a long, round-about-ranty way, I don't think it would have changed it. I think a poor homelife is key to making her compelling and sympathetic as a protagonist. In making her actions in tricking/kidnapping her friends understandable, if not justified

#awiw #aaa #Marcy Wu #swap Au

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raining-dreams · 8 months

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My Top 15 Favorite Cartoons

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir

Miraculous is truly my favorite show at the moment. Avatar may be a bitter better in terms of quality (it's next on this list) but I always have so much fun watching this show. Miraculous gets way too much criticism. It's just a fun show about two dorks in love who don't realize it because of secret identity shenanigans. This show is at it's best when it's not taking itself too seriously. My favorite episodes are Evillustrator and Simpleman. Two of the funniest episodes!

Avatar: The Last Airbender

A timeless masterpiece. Avatar is one the best shows of all time. This was my favorite show growing up. Though I like to say Miraculous is my favorite show right now because I'm actively watching that one and participating in the fandom, Avatar is probably my true favorite. I would frequently pretend to be a waterbender when I played in the pool. And this was the first TV show I watched that got me interested in the behind the scenes of what goes into making a cartoon.

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia

For the first few episodes of Trollhuntes, I honestly wasn't that interested. I actually stopped watching for awhile with no intention of continuing. I thought this show was a bust. But then, I had a friend convince me to give it another chance. And oh boy, am I glad I did. The show ended up being incredible!! It has the perfect balance of drama, action, romance, and comedy. And all of the characters are very likeable! Which seems pretty rare (except for Merlin. He sucks. Worst character. My favorite character is Steve). The others series in the trilogy, 3Below and Wizards, are great too. But Trollhunters is definitely the best one. (The movie sucked though. Worst ending....)

The Owl House

The Owl House was cut way too short. This show had so much potential. What we got was still amazing but it had the potential to be even better had it been given the chance. But despite being cut short, it was still an amazing show! My favorite character is Amity.

Gravity Falls

Mystery is my favorite genre and I wish more cartoons would have a little mystery in their plots. It's so fun to play along with the characters and try to solve the mystery yourself. It can be really satisfying when you get it right or it can be an exciting twist if you get it wrong! Gravity Falls gave me a new interest in codes and ciphers.

Steven Universe

I didn't like Steven Universe at first. Back when season 1 was airing and it would come on tv, I changed the channel. Season 1 was a bit boring for my taste. But I exposed myself to the spoiler that Garnet was actually a fusion all along which sounded really interesting to me so I thought maybe just one time, I won't change the channel. And the episode when Peridot first started staying at their house was on and I immediately fell in love with Peridot! I watched the entire arc of Peridot learning to appreciate Earth and by the time I finished watching those episodes, I was hooked! And of course, I love the songs!! No Matter What is my favorite one.

Adventure Time

Adventure Time is such a fun and goofy show. It always makes me laugh. But what I loved the most were the scenes with Marceline & Ice King. Their relationship was such a beautiful and tragic story.

Amphibia

I love Amphibia way more than I thought I would. I first started watching Amphibia during an Owl House hiatus because I needed something new to watch while I waited and I thought I'd give this a chance. I binged the entirety of season 1 in a day. Unfortunately I fell a bit behind and I still haven't seen season 3 yet (I've heard it's a sad ending! 😨) So I need to get on that!!!

Bluey

I'm honestly so surprised by how good this show is. When I first heard about it I expected it to be really cheesy and only enjoyable to really young children. But boy was I wrong. This show tells touching and relatable stories and reminds me of a happier time. My favorite episodes are Rain and Flat Pack.

Danny Phantom

Danny Phantom's ending was a bit rushed and they kinda completely forgot about Valerie's whole arc. I was looking forward to seeing where that would go but it ended abruptly. Like, the episode immediately before the final episode set up a whole story that we just never got. But other than that, I really enjoyed Danny Phantom. I love that they let Jazz discover Danny's secret so early on instead of dragging it out. (As many shows do now.) My favorite episode was Reality Trip.

Kim Possible

Kim Possible is always a fun watch. I love all of the characters! Shego and Dr Drakken are my favorite! (They're a bit of a package deal) and Rufus is a close second. And my favorite episode is Emotion Sickness.

American Dragon: Jake Long

Something about secret identities is so appealing to me. This is like the fourth show on the list, I believe, that involves secret identities lol. This is another show that had a bit of a rushed ending in my opinion. They tried to tie up too many loose ends in two short episodes it seemed (at least The Owl House did three long episodes) But still a great show nonetheless! Sometimes when I Jake talks, I can't help but hear Zuko 🤣

Teen Titans

I loved Teen Titans as a kid! (and still now of course). We were robbed of a Starfire centered season with this show!!! When I was a kid, Starfire was favorite character (I lean more toward Raven now). But every character got an arc that lasted a whole season long, except for Starfire. I kept waiting for it to come but it never did. Not only that, but the show ended on a cliffhanger! I think that's why I hate Teen Titans Go! so much. They could have brought this show back and continued Tara's long awaited story as well as finally give Starfire her season long arc! But instead they made a goofy parody of the show... I'd still really like to see this show come back some day, for real.

Lilo and Stitch: The Series

Lilo and Stitch was probably my favorite Disney movie growing up. So, naturally, I became a fan of the series as well! I always related a lot to Lilo. And Lilo and Stitch did a few crossovers with other favorite shows of my (such as American Dragon and Kim Possible) which made the show even more fun!

Winx Club

This was my all time favorite show as a kid before Avatar came out! I was obsessed!!!!! Winx Club made me obsessed with fairies. I wanted to be a fairy so badly. I always tried to make my friends play fairies with me. I tried to get all my friends like this show just as much as I did. Unfortunately it was very underrated. Now that I've re-watched a few times after growing up, I definitely understand why. Some of the dialogue is pretty cringy and the 4Kids dub changed a bunch of stuff for no reason. Although I will always stand by the 4Kids dub being the best one.

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sleepingdeath-light · 11 months

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Okay! Here I go (I hope I don't get canceled)

So things two note:

To answer your question: yes. The minors get more attention than the adult characters, but I'm only interested in the adult characters.

The fandom is Bluey. I absolutely love that show and it's a shame that no one is willing to write for the adult characters.

There's a tumblr blog specifically posting Bluey episodes. If you're interested, it's here.

https://www.tumblr.com/bluey-episodes

Also thank you! I was worried that I'm going to get shamed or something. /nm /gen

I don't know if this show fits your blog, considering you write for more "dark" shows like The Owl House or Amphibia, but I still hope you enjoy.

Funny you mention that as I’ve actually been going down a bit of a Bluey rabbit hole lately and MAN is that show so healing. Granted I’ve only ever seen clips and not full episodes but it seems like such a fun show.

I’ll be giving it a watch over June but I can basically guarantee that I’ll be adding it to my fandom list by the start of July because the adults are so well written lol ^^

Thanks for giving me an excuse to binge this over June, anon! ^^

#sleepingdeath #re: fandom recommendation

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ashleymasenado · 8 months

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So, when did you get into The Cuphead Show and did you played the original game?

Truth is, I never played the original game no matter how much I wanted to (although, I have seen a copy with the DLC in a mall recently!). I was a Cuphead fan way before the show's first trailer dropped, which was what inspired me to get back into the franchise and be inspired to pick back up my very first fanfiction, Teen Girl in a Toon World (which will be getting an update on my new account this Saturday). Although, I do have a funny story about this topic.

Way back before the show's first trailer dropped, there were actually some leaked episodes on Google Drive. Problem was, I wasn't too aware about copyright and/or plagiarism (if that's the right term) at the time, especially because I hadn't yet started my YouTube channel, so I definitely didn't know better. I had seen atleast three episodes: "Carn-Evil", "Baby Bottle", and "Dangerous Mugman" (that last one helped me develop my OC's character more). This told me that there was a show on the way, which got me really excited. A while after though, I kind of fell out of Cuphead for a while and went on to Amphibia, and then I saw the trailer for TCS!, and that did it. I was hyped for it all over again, and I couldn't wait to see it.

When it did get released, I binged the first season and had plenty of fun. As time went on, I enjoyed the show plenty more, even with the creepy episodes because I enjoy creepiness a lot. The creepiness feels a lot like Amphibia's dark humor, which would always give me a bit of a weird feeling alongside a laugh. I guess that's one reason Amphibia and TCS are two of my favorite shows, especially as a pair: they actually go well together in a way I enjoy. But that's not really the point, even if I do want to talk about this story for as long as I could. Maybe another time. But not now.

And, here you are! My story of how I got back into Cuphead with the show. I am really happy that I decided to watch the show, as it is absolutely worth it especially if you're a fan of Cuphead or just animation in general. I highly recommend giving it a watch and supporting the hashtag #RENEWTHECUPHEADSHOW, all caps, for a chance to get it a new season on Netflix. I really liked talking about this and I'm hoping to tell more stories in the future. For now, I've got to log out and get some stuff done, so I'll see you all soon (hopefully).

I hope you enjoyed, and remember: God made you special, and He loves you very much. Stay hydrated, and stay happy. Okay bye~

#cuphead #cuphead show #story #answered #asks

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pankomako · 10 months

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i dont really consider myself a sonic fan, but i've been watching sonic prime and honestly i feel like it doesn't really work as a TV show. i think they should've made it either a movie or a graphic novel. with the way it's written, each episode feels more like one small segment, or like one scene of the whole overarching story. that doesn't really work well for a TV show. usually, each episode of a show is self-contained and has its own plot progression - essentially rising action, climax, and falling action centered around a conflict specific to that episode. this is even true in serialized shows like avatar tla or amphibia. those examples have episodes with individual smaller plots that progress the greater plot of the whole show. with sonic prime, the episodes don't really feel like they have self-contained plots, and are more just chapters of one big plot. which is okay if you're writing a novel, but again, doesn't really work for TV. then again, im watching this one episode a day, perhaps it's better when binged in one sitting. but i'm not a binge-watcher. like, im watching this show, and im feeling bored because it feels like only ONE thing is happening in each episode - one episode spent on explaining the gimmick, another just one big fight between good guys and bad guys. im sitting there watching, and feeling like the episode could've been condensed into just a couple minutes of a movie. but then i realized that also they could just be chapters of a book. like i like the concept, i think it's fun, but in my opinion, the execution writing-wise isn't great for a TV show. i feel either it should've been condensed into a movie, written as a book instead as it's currently written, or they should have written each episode with a more self-contained plot to progress the bigger plot, rather than just being one part of the one big plot. does this make sense? i really hope it does. but either way, this is my one hot take on sonic prime as someone who wants to become a showrunner one day. love the idea, not so much the execution of it.

#sonic prime #please dont make me regret putting this in the tag im scared

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nose-bl · 2 years

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i've noticed that fandoms from shows that air weekly instead of dropping all in one day are way more considerate when it comes to spoilers, tagging spoilers, adding spoiler warnings, etc, especially here on tumblr. like, with the amphibia and the owl fandoms, each week after a new episode people would use spoiler warnings at least until the next episode came out, some even longer. which i appreciated a lot bc i spend a lot of time on tumblr and it took me a while to watch the new episodes. i could come on here and avoid spoilers very easily. but it's never been the case with other kind of shows and in other plaforms

i couldn't even open instagram bc all the posts on my feed would be spoilers with no warning, it's really annoying. instagram doesn't have all the features that tumblr does to veeeery easily avoid spoilers, so that's a shame

but even then, there were still people putting spoiler warnings, tho they weren't a majority

i can't say the same for netflix shows that drop a whole season in a day. the people who can and want to binge it all immediatly are lucky bc they will avoid spoilers, but then they will go online to spoil the whole thing for others. they won't even tag for spoilers here, or put the spoilers under a read more. binging comes from being impatient and having the whole show available in a second. which we know is not healthy and i just want more shows to come back to weekly releases. it's not only more fun, but it also helps fandoms stay alive for longer, it brings up a lot of new theories each week, and it also makes people in the fandom a lot more conscious about spoilers

at least this is what i've noticed

#the owl house #amphibia #binge watching #fandom

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popculturebuffet · 2 years

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Owl House and Amphibia Weekly Reviews: Edge of the World/The Three Armies/The Beginning of the End

Hello all you happy people! I’m Jake and I do anylitical reviews and i’m feeling a bit misty eyed, both because these episodes are geninely emotoinal.. and because I”ve realized we’ve almost reached the end of both shows. Amphibia has fully entered it’s endgame with these two episodes starting one long push to the end, which will conclude next week with all-in and be given a coda with The Hardest Thing after that. It’s been a heck of a ride with this show, from binging the first season with my Nephew, to covering every episode as it’s come out since season 2 started: i’ve covered tedious road trips, gay as heck reunions, sonic unleashed homages, spider-man homages, satam homages, gravity falls homages... there’s a lot of other things dna in here and i’m all for it. We’ve also had an absolute feast of guest stars over these past two seasons covering this: Kermit the Frog, Alex Hirsch, Kristin Schaal, Zeno Robinson, Whoppi Goldberg, Kate Miccuci, Wallace Shawn, Ru Paul, Jason Ritter, and of course sexiest man alive Keith David as Andrias. It’s been a long, wonderful trek and it’s sad to see it go.

The same goes for owl house: The show is at it’s creative peak and instead of begging for a fourth season.. disney cut the third short due to homophobia and with a long enough lead time their stupid shit couldn’t be underdone before they had a change of heart.. in that they realized their homophobia was going to cost them more money than pr than they expected so they’d better act contrite or else. It’s ending sadly though clearly Dana will pull out all the stops to make it satsifying and given Season 2 is not only the best this show’s been but one of the best animated shows of the 2020′s and a high bar for shows to overcome in the future, it’ll if nothing else have a legacy of great tv.. and be yet another show in the hall of “shows execs screwed over and then regretted later when it blew up in their faces”.

So with a few more miles to go for owl house and only about one or two for amphibia, this week was.. okay. In Owl House’s case it didn’t give me AS MANY heart attacks.. but it still had a massive revelation that broke a child’s spirit and ended on a sizeable cliffhanger, so it’s glad to see some things don’t change, while amphibia had some issues but still pulled out a great cliffhanger of it’s own as we approach the final battle next week. But the short version isn’t as fun for me so join me under the cut as I go a bit more in depth into this weaks highs, lows and creamy middles as we begin the end of Amphibia nad continue owl house’s breakneck ride to the Season 2 finale.

Edge of the World

As usual Owl House delivered.. not as much as last week but when your last episode is one of the best episodes of the year so far and will go down as one of the show’s most iconic moments... you have to grade on a curve and Edge of the World, while not one of the top tier episodes of the season was not only still pretty great.. but managed to pack in ANOTHER massive, series changing reveal that was expertly foreshadowed when you look back.

Yes in a row. As I correctly figured last week Hollow Mind was the start of the season’s endgame: While season 2′s pacing is already excellent, making every episode feel important and every one important to the bigger picture (somethign the show did TRY to do in season one but still fell on it’s face once or twice thanks to the studio mandates and general early series awkardness). But now we’re in the final sprint of the season said pacing has taken a mountain of cocaine and and thus we’ve gone from steady but still well done plot developments to INCREDIBLY well done plot developments build on that steady pacing coming at you fast in your face and as painful as that sounds. While I can’t say if the next few episodes will have MORE giant reveals, I can say they’ll probably pack in more big moments and plot development as the clock ticks downt ot he day of unity and the stakes just get higher and higher as our heroes scramble to save the worlds from a genocidal madman and his equally mad god.

And this week packs another whallop by answering one of the season’s biggest questoins in a way I didn’t see coming, but in hindsight shoudl’ve because it was obvious. And i’m not going to take the sidedoor on this one, i’ll come up front and knock: King is a TITAN

Yup. In hindsight it makes sense. he’s not a race we know.. but neither is the titan. The titan’s head, which I never saw clearly LOOKS like kings. And we never saw his blood drawn nor the sample... .in a season where a titan’s blood is a vital resource. Not to mentoin his dad was pictured as massive... and the only creature of that size we’ve seen.. well you get it by now. The clues were all there and if you were presitant enough, like moderator of the owl house server i’ve made my home in Bogs, you could see them. I didn’t because I just enjoyed the ride of wondering what he is and didn’t think about it too clearly, so this blew me away, and how it’s revealed like hunter is fantastic: Luz, King and my boy hooty find a lost island thanks to the letter hooty finally threw up with a key that takes them to a pocket dimension. And thigns are tense since.. it’s VERY clear that whatever’s going on here.. ti’s not what king thinks as he finds the titan hunters, a society deciated to finding and slaying titans.. and to luz’ horror.. worshipping the collector.

And how their leader bill, which had the people I watched this with worrying it was our old friend..

And the reveal that titans are hungry from birth, tyranical by nature and go weh... it turned a running gag, King’s fun noise, into terror... and they don’t hold back either. Despite the head of said hunters seeming friendly.. he’s more than willing ot kill a child. He makes it pleasnt as he can for the boy.. but once Luz and hooty save him he’s willing to kill them. It also reveals more about the collector: that they were seen as a great hunter, who those people hleping them capture the owl beast were, and that king may be another key to let them out.. meaning the doorway may be involved diffrently than we thought given it needs said blood to run and Belos has shown no need to find a titan for this so far. Whatever the case we learned a lot without having it shoved down our throats: all of it is revealed organically, including them clearly beign sealed to protect king.. by who we don’t know, but it’s clear they CANNOT be let out and King sealing them barely works. The episode is tense, if again not as much as laast week, thank god for that, and pretty good. My only weakness really is how obvious it is: yes king finds the titan hunters.. but even without promising shocking revealations in the solicit.. it’s VERY clear whatever’s going on here isn’t good and even if king wasn’t a titan and one of them.. it still woudln’t be. This plot’s been done a LOT, and to good effect but here.. it just feels pretty by the numbers: creepy cult, one of our heroes gets indorcinated but is to be sacrificed, they either die, become part of it or, int his case luckily, barely escape. It’s all pretty standard.

King really is what elevates it. Alex’s acting for him continues to be some of his finest work, and this episode shows just how much he wants a family.. and why. He opens up that he KNOWS, or at least feels, luz is going to leave him: after her promise to her mom seemed to be a non issue, it comes back heartbreakingly: for amity and eda it sucks.. but they belivie luz can beat it. Btu for a kid who risks loosing his sister.. it looks diffrent. To him there is no hope and he has to find SOMETHIGN to fill the void. It’s also masterfully foreshadowed: ther’es no real reason at first king gave himself siblings in his fantasy at the start.. until you realize he WNATS More. He wants a family beyond what he’s got.. and he’ll never have it. HE’ll never have answers or traditions.. all he has is a corpse that nobody knows much about and the painful void inside that’s onlyg rowing bigger. Alex’s heartbreaking delivery at the end of that high as the boys irisies shrink is soul crushing and it’s only through his support system the poor kid dosen’t break down like poor hunter.. whose still mia but with only four episodes left and a week to go... i’m sure he’ll be back soon enough.

Outside the main stuff we have one more important thing to break down before we move on to frogs: Eda and Luz’s mental states in the opening scene. Given she just found out the one person in the world she thought she could to is a genocidal madman, one of her friends ran away mid-panic attack, and that she’s now one of the only things standing between Belos/The Collector the mass execution of EVERY coverned person on the isles shoudl she fall.. it’s clear she needs a lot.. and Eda’s response is to have Luz’s surrogate brothers hug her and try to calm her down and try to stop her sisters own guilt trip when she shows up, as Luz dosen’t need Lilith’s own guilt overlaping with her own, with Luz teaching phillip the light glyph having made ALL of this possible.

It’s then we get something intresting and complex: Eda pouring her heart out to Lilith that Luz SHOUDLN’T have to deal with this. Her first priority is getting her daughter away from her. And I had an equally intresting conversation with new friend @loosescrewslefty over this, as I pointed out how Eda’s actions are.. ultimately pointless. Belos is going to come for her no matter what and with VERY few allies to turn to (Adult wise she ONLY knows about her family, The BATS if she can free them, and tiny nose) , she HAS to let Luz fight as the alternative is the genocide of EVERYONE on the isles from the person she loves, to her family, to even the old friend who turned her away last episdoe. innocent people whose only crime was joining the system out of necisity or fear.

Lefty wasn’t wrong in their own point though: Luz SHOUDLN’T have to do this. She’s a child, already dealing with a lot and just trying to get home. She shoudlnt’ have to fight an evil overlord, she shoudln’t have to fight. Eda’s instinct in getting her away from danger while she handles it with lilith SHOULD be how things go. A child shouldn’t have to fight this war, shouldn’t be targeted by an all powerful jackass. She should be goofing with her friends, going on dates with her girlfriend, recocling with her mom.. she dosen’t need the weight of the world on her shoulders, once again rewriting her own memories to be worse because of the guilt she feels. She shoudln’t have to do this.

And with just accepting this and bring this to the fore.. it deconsturcts this entire genre, a genre that children’s tv has been built on: they shoudlnt have ot do this. Steven shoudln’t have had to end a thousand year war. Anne and Sasha shoudln’t have to wrestle their friend free from an ageless monsterous superintellgence and it’s lacky. It shoudln’t of been on Mable and Dipper to stop the apocalypse or start it in one of their cases. Finn shoudln’t of had to watch his own brother die. Star shoudln’t of been in the place to make the impossible choice between causing one genocide to stop another. And Luz shoudln’t have the weight of a world on her shoulders. None of them should’ve ended up like this but by circumnstance.. here they are. This is the first show i’ve seen since steven universe future to just come out and say how fucked up this is. And don’t get me wrong I love this genre.. but this is what good desconstuction does: show WHY this has to happen.. but show it happening is still not a GOOD thing. This scene .. and this show is brilliant and I will miss it. Also calling it now, i’m calling it now, Lilith and Eda either aren’t in the house and even if they are, their ready fo rthem. The shows already done an eda rescue arc, they arne’t going for two

The Three Armies

Onto frogs.. and... as always i’ll come right up front and knock: this episode is bad.

THE IDEA isn’t bad: Sasha and Anne have to find some way to get the three armies, all of which are simmering with decades of racial tension from the newts opressing the toads, to the toads hating the newts for opressing them to both opressing the frogs and all slinging sterotypes at each other. Also for some reason Tritonio is head of the newt resitance

Like I love the guy dont’ ge tme wrong, and I get most newts are deferintal to andrias and the two who’d be most likely to head this side are.. occupied. We’ll get to that soon enough. But it still feels weird for an outright criminal to just.. magically manifest an army of robed newts for our heroes or, given his own multiracial crew, give a shit about sterotypes.

The message of the ep is a good one: You can’t FORCE people to stopped being prejudice idiots who go against their own best intrests. They have to choose to make the effort. That’s a good thing to teach kids, and some grown adults, and having Anne shout it in blue form was impressive. The problem is to get there just about EVERYONE on all sides comes off as...

Anne and Sasha NEVER thinkign to deal with prejudice because teenagers does fit.. but everyone ELSE never assuming that is pushign it. We had an ENTIRE EPISODE, one of the best of this season, on them recurting the toads. Did the frogs just... think they weren’t going to have to talk to their allies in the army? Did sprig think recurting Tritonio meant not working with an army of robed newts?.. because that’d be correct in most scnearios but is suprisingly wrong today. The plot requires EVERYONE to be stupid, and while again I get it: prejudice isn’t rational and makes people act against their natural impusles, siad prejudices are so cartoony (Toads are stupid, Newts are weak, Frogs just plain suck), it dosen’t land. Star vs by contrast , for ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL it’s faults.. at least portrayed prejudice more realistically, using a brilliant metaphor int he ep puddle defender iwth both sides having the same game.. but while the Mewman version has the monsters are ravenous beasts, the monster version has the mewmans in teh vilian roll.. because that’s their roll in history. It showed how prejudice is carried down. Amphibia HAS the tools to explore this with it’s inbuilt caste system and years of stuff.. but it choooses to sidestep the issue despite direclty bringing it up: having everyone work together.. but not acknoeldging this is just step ONE, and one brought about by change. There’s no telling if this will last when the dust clears and in a better written ep, this would be used to give the happy solution a bittersweet dose of reality.. here it’s just “Whelp we’re all together now”

I also have to say.. the momentum going into the final battle.. is fairly week. While 3B has mostly been about building to this war it’s mostly just been getting new troops. While that’s not bad it hasn’t felt like they made any progress towards, andrias, his castle, or his plans, and ONLY come up with ap lan thanks to remmebering marcy’s faviorite film. And it’s hard to ignore when in contrast with FOUR episodes to go owl house already feels like every episode is one step closer to the day of unity and is vital to what’s going to happen next. Here we’re in the end game.. but it feels like we have more episodes to go before we’re actually ready.. only to be told

Overall.. a mess.

The Beginning of the End

TBOTE is more like it, giving us an epic battle as the plantars, sasha and grime break in while the army distracts.. And it DOES use what’s so far been a weakness of this season as a strength: our heroe shavne’t actually dealt with core marcy to this poitn and what FELT like a stupid omission on the show spart.. ends up working brilliantly. BECAUSE we know about the core, we feel tense durign the entire castle raid: to our heroes they think this is it and with andrias occupied ont he battlefield (And getting a hell of an entrance line “don’t stop on my account”), they’ve won and the only obstalce is an awesome fight with olvia and yunan who have been collared sense, with sasha and anne DANCE FIGHTING THEM. Every time I think this show can get wonderfully, miraculously gayer it suprises me.

And the Core utterly decimating them is heartbreaking.. granted I do not like how easiy the troops just.. flee. THey just.. give up the second anne is captured even though they coudl you know.. try resucing her? Guys? Hello.. oht heir gone already.. anne REALLY coudl’ve used their help. And this COULD pay off in the finale, we’ll see, but it feels like a waste of build up to have this brave army of good men do nothing while evil triumphs.

Anne talking her way out of it is awesome though pointing out since neither she nor the core know how the energy works, they coudl oose it if they kill her... it’s only a stay of execution but the promo, and just common sense, tells me she’ll be free soon enough. The final shot IS geninely awesome though... the flying castle and tons of MOBILE factories entering earth as Andrias and the Core WIN.

That said while the main plot had weaknesses the fights are gorgeous and we do get somethign REALLY good with Marcy. A flashback shows Sasha and Anne, while they loved her.. often ignored her needs: sleeping during her films, ignoring her hobbies, and generally just “tolerating” what she loves instead of engaging, somethign we’ve seen proven time and again: even after she’s better Anne is constantly baffled when Marcy brings up thigns she’s explained at length, oof can relate. This has been coming and it makes sense for Anne, the more empathetic one to have to Argue marcy’s case to sasha: Yes she screwed up, yes she needs to make up for it but not only did sasha do both those things... but they wren’t the best friends. It dosen’t make what they did okay.. but maybe if they actually listned to her she might not of gone so far to keep them. It’s nuanced , it’s well done adn it makes me look foward to the final clash next week And on that note

Next Time: We get the climax of Amphibia as the battle for earth commences! Meanwhile over in owl town gus episode! Bria probably coming back! Hutner maybe! The Coven at the school! THis can’t end well!

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#amphibia #the owl house #luz noceda #king clawthorne #marcy wu #anne boonchuy #sashannearcy #the three armies #the beginning of the end #the edge of the world

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