Let's Talk About Sym-Bionic Titan!
'Kay, so being about ten eps in now and having (what I think) is a pretty strong grasp of what the show's makeup is, some thoughts on Genndy Tartakovsky's (yes, THAT Genndy Tartakovsky who made "Powerpuff Girls," "Dexter's Lab," "Samurai Jack" and "The Only Good Thing Associated With The New 'Star Wars' Trilogy Other Than 'Force Unleashed'") new cartoon.
-Scenario-wise, it's neatly summed-up as "Voltron: Third Rock From the Fugitive." 2 kids and their robot guardian escape the takeover of their home planet and end up on earth, having to blend in while also fighting off the sporadic monster attack, while the military tries to locate them and this... completely unexplained third-party dressed like the feyest Black-Ops team this side of "Cyborg 009" and headed by a guy who dresses like Alucard in "Hellsing" do... something. It's basically a 'monster-of-the-week' show, and while this normally works it sometimes gets shoehorned in at the last second into episodes that would, frankly, be just fine without an action scene.
-Visually... I'm not sure how to put this, but this is probably the most aesthetically-muddled series Tartakovsky's ever done. The trio-- Lance, Ilana and Octus-- look right at home with his back-catalogue of character designs, but others-- specifically, all the people on Earth-- look flat-out weird. It's not "Ren & Stimpy"-level bad, but it is kind of distracting when his clean, streamlined style stood out from so many other cartoons. The action overall though, is nicely choreographed and the monster designs are generally really strong.
- The writing here is definitely classic Tartakovsky-- a little cringeworthy at times, but mostly straightforward and funny. Still, it almost feels like too much writing at times. Part of what made "Samurai Jack" stand out for me (and the "Clone Wars" miniseries to a lesser extent) was that it showed he really 'got' how to tell a story in a primarily visual medium by letting the visuals do the work. Dialogue in that series tended to be both sparse and brief, and considering how fucking loud and relentless most cartoons are nowadays, it was a real breath of fresh air. On the other hand, writing in cartoons period has become something of a lost art, so the fact that it works as well as it usually does is a reasonable exchange.
-As far as characters go, preferences at this point are as follows:
Ilana > Octus > Lance
Ilana.... damn, Ilana is just a really good character all across the board. She's not exactly the muscle of the group, but she's genuinely likeable, has a real sense of justice and responsibility, and is genuinely comfortable and confident in her own skin. Imagine a cross between Hermione, Elena Fisher and Katara and yeah, that'd be about right really. Oh, she's the obligatory princess too, so that might be worth noting for some of you more than others ;)
Octus is kind of filling a nondescript role, really, as basically their 'do stuff' voice, but his deadpan reactions do a lot to make him endearing (not to mention that voice is really kinda cool).
Lance is... pretty flat. He's a brooding pretty boy who likes to hit stuff. That's really about it. I wouldn't mind so much, except that the series seems rather desperate for me to like him. You know how in most series (especially about a 'group' or something), they'll usually get an episode or two focused on them specifically in order to develop the character while giving the plot some breathing room? By my count, Ilana has had one (debatably). Lance has had three. I guess the driven heir to a dying planet is just not as interesting to focus on as an angry broseph with daddy issues. I understand that since this series is aimed more at boys (robots = boy's stuff, after all), that it might be trying to focus on him more to give the demographic an 'anchor' of sorts, but considering Ilana IS the Most Important Person in the show and she isn't exactly being kept prisoner, it seems a little unfair.
-Speaking of 'unfair,' I'd really like to know why Ilana's robot-suit-thing is SO MUCH FUCKING SMALLER than Lance's. Seriously, it's like a friggin' MICROBOT by comparison. Granted, Lance is established as this elite soldier from their home-planet, and Ilana is royalty (hers DOES seem to be made out of fucking solid gold), but you'd think she'd be in need of a robot-suit just as capable-- if not more so-- for a combat situation, or at least self-defense. Kind of renders defense a moot point when your theoretical enemy is at LEAST twice your size. Presumably there'll be an explanation for this later, though it'll have to be a REALLY GOOD ONE.
-One thing that cannot be debated is that this show DOES have a really good villain in General Modula (voiced by Don Leslie, That Guy Who Played Motherfuckin' Colonel Campbell from "MGS" XD). At first I thought he had a good voice, but kinda looked like a monkey with a hilarious beard. He proves himself to be AT LEAST Zhao-from-Avatar levels of villainous-badass by the first five minutes of episode 2, though. DAMN.
-Incidentally, maybe my yuri goggles are on waaaaaay too tight, but Episode 7-- so far, Ilana's one 'Ilana-centric' ep... well fuck, YOU WATCH IT AND TELL ME YOU DON'T SEE IT X) If Anonymous Head Cheerleader had a name I'd ship it like my job XD
Overall, I can't say (or at least not yet) that it'll have the same kind of impact that... well, every other show Tartakovsky has done has had, but it's STILL a Tartakovsky cartoon and you really can't do much better than that. Hopefully unlike "Samurai Jack," THIS one will at least get to have an ENDING. :)
-Scenario-wise, it's neatly summed-up as "Voltron: Third Rock From the Fugitive." 2 kids and their robot guardian escape the takeover of their home planet and end up on earth, having to blend in while also fighting off the sporadic monster attack, while the military tries to locate them and this... completely unexplained third-party dressed like the feyest Black-Ops team this side of "Cyborg 009" and headed by a guy who dresses like Alucard in "Hellsing" do... something. It's basically a 'monster-of-the-week' show, and while this normally works it sometimes gets shoehorned in at the last second into episodes that would, frankly, be just fine without an action scene.
-Visually... I'm not sure how to put this, but this is probably the most aesthetically-muddled series Tartakovsky's ever done. The trio-- Lance, Ilana and Octus-- look right at home with his back-catalogue of character designs, but others-- specifically, all the people on Earth-- look flat-out weird. It's not "Ren & Stimpy"-level bad, but it is kind of distracting when his clean, streamlined style stood out from so many other cartoons. The action overall though, is nicely choreographed and the monster designs are generally really strong.
- The writing here is definitely classic Tartakovsky-- a little cringeworthy at times, but mostly straightforward and funny. Still, it almost feels like too much writing at times. Part of what made "Samurai Jack" stand out for me (and the "Clone Wars" miniseries to a lesser extent) was that it showed he really 'got' how to tell a story in a primarily visual medium by letting the visuals do the work. Dialogue in that series tended to be both sparse and brief, and considering how fucking loud and relentless most cartoons are nowadays, it was a real breath of fresh air. On the other hand, writing in cartoons period has become something of a lost art, so the fact that it works as well as it usually does is a reasonable exchange.
-As far as characters go, preferences at this point are as follows:
Ilana > Octus > Lance
Ilana.... damn, Ilana is just a really good character all across the board. She's not exactly the muscle of the group, but she's genuinely likeable, has a real sense of justice and responsibility, and is genuinely comfortable and confident in her own skin. Imagine a cross between Hermione, Elena Fisher and Katara and yeah, that'd be about right really. Oh, she's the obligatory princess too, so that might be worth noting for some of you more than others ;)
Octus is kind of filling a nondescript role, really, as basically their 'do stuff' voice, but his deadpan reactions do a lot to make him endearing (not to mention that voice is really kinda cool).
Lance is... pretty flat. He's a brooding pretty boy who likes to hit stuff. That's really about it. I wouldn't mind so much, except that the series seems rather desperate for me to like him. You know how in most series (especially about a 'group' or something), they'll usually get an episode or two focused on them specifically in order to develop the character while giving the plot some breathing room? By my count, Ilana has had one (debatably). Lance has had three. I guess the driven heir to a dying planet is just not as interesting to focus on as an angry broseph with daddy issues. I understand that since this series is aimed more at boys (robots = boy's stuff, after all), that it might be trying to focus on him more to give the demographic an 'anchor' of sorts, but considering Ilana IS the Most Important Person in the show and she isn't exactly being kept prisoner, it seems a little unfair.
-Speaking of 'unfair,' I'd really like to know why Ilana's robot-suit-thing is SO MUCH FUCKING SMALLER than Lance's. Seriously, it's like a friggin' MICROBOT by comparison. Granted, Lance is established as this elite soldier from their home-planet, and Ilana is royalty (hers DOES seem to be made out of fucking solid gold), but you'd think she'd be in need of a robot-suit just as capable-- if not more so-- for a combat situation, or at least self-defense. Kind of renders defense a moot point when your theoretical enemy is at LEAST twice your size. Presumably there'll be an explanation for this later, though it'll have to be a REALLY GOOD ONE.
-One thing that cannot be debated is that this show DOES have a really good villain in General Modula (voiced by Don Leslie, That Guy Who Played Motherfuckin' Colonel Campbell from "MGS" XD). At first I thought he had a good voice, but kinda looked like a monkey with a hilarious beard. He proves himself to be AT LEAST Zhao-from-Avatar levels of villainous-badass by the first five minutes of episode 2, though. DAMN.
-Incidentally, maybe my yuri goggles are on waaaaaay too tight, but Episode 7-- so far, Ilana's one 'Ilana-centric' ep... well fuck, YOU WATCH IT AND TELL ME YOU DON'T SEE IT X) If Anonymous Head Cheerleader had a name I'd ship it like my job XD
Overall, I can't say (or at least not yet) that it'll have the same kind of impact that... well, every other show Tartakovsky has done has had, but it's STILL a Tartakovsky cartoon and you really can't do much better than that. Hopefully unlike "Samurai Jack," THIS one will at least get to have an ENDING. :)