Amphibia is an incredibly charming animated series with an intriguing world and cast, along with a ton of potential, even if its sitcom-esque structure holds it back a bit.
Amphibia is an isekai of sorts (as in, it's not an anime) about three friends who ended up teleported to another world entirely populated by amphibians. The main protagonist is Anne, who moves in with a humble family of frogs while trying to find her friends and figuring out how to get home. The season has an overarching storyline about one of Anne's friends Sasha joining with the antagonistic toads, slowly building to her climactic reunion with Anne in the finale. The dynamic and parallels between the two are super fascinating, as throughout the season, we get these hints that maybe Anna's friends are more toxic than she initially thought. Sasha only appears in four episodes this season, though, so I hope the next season can explore their relationship a lot more. However, the most impactful storyline this season was Anne adjusting to her new life in the town of Wartwood, slowly fitting into her family, gaining the town's respect, and ultimately becoming less selfish by the end of the season. There's a real Schitt's Creek vibe to Anne's development, as you grow to character about the town of Wartwood and its citizens throughout the season, once again making the finale feel that much more powerful.
While the overarching plot and character arcs are excellent, the majority of this season is populated by standalone episodes, and this is where I think the show gets a bit weaker. Especially early on in the season, Amphibia goes for some pretty stock children's show plots like "I can do your job but better", learning to drive, characters getting sick, and an episode about not taking care of a pet you find in the wild. I wouldn't quite call it filler (partly because I hate the term), and certain episodes do give the characters some great development that make the climactic moments hit harder, but it does take a while for the show to become genuinely great. I also found the humor to be a bit hit or miss, with plenty of the attempts at comedy just falling flat for me. There are some really great subtle jokes, but there are also plenty times where it feels like the show is just screaming at me to laugh, especially with Sprig's constant posing. At its worst, I feel like Amphibia can be a bit too much like an old sitcom, with episodic morals, cheesy jokes, and neat and tidy storylines. However, with the plot becoming more prevalent as the series goes on, I do hope that Season 2 can give it more of a focus. As for the animation, it's mostly fine. It'll never blow you away, and I think some of the facial expressions are pretty derpy-looking, but it's functional. The real highlight in terms of the visuals, though, is the general world design of Amphibia. The world feels really well thought-out, with tons of cool-looking creatures and cute frog designs for all the citizens of Wartwood. I also enjoyed the background music a lot, with Sprig's fiddle song in "Fiddle Me This" being a pretty big highlight.
Speaking of highlights, there were a bunch of really strong episodes this season, especially when the plot got involved:
Toad Tax: This was an incredibly satisfying, climactic, and eventful midpoint for the season that felt like a breath of fresh air for the series. Right from the get-go, there's a darker tone to it, as we finally get introduced to the Toads and learn just how corrupted Mayor Toadstool is. However, the ending where Anne finally gains the respect of Wartwood is heartwarming and satisfying, and while I didn't love the first half of the season, the sheer amount of episodes up to this point makes it feel all the more earned.
Prison Break: Airing right with Toad Tax, Prison Break is a pretty entertaining lore dump as we finally get to see what Sasha has been up to, meet the main villain of the season, and take a tour of Toad Tower. It fits along with Toad Tax incredibly well as it gives more of a focus on the newly introduced antagonists, and the contrast between Anne and Sasha's situations are very interesting.
A Night At The Inn: Polly finally gets her time to shine in this episode, where she saves the entire family from cannibals. It's a fun and kinda scary horror-esque episode that ends on an explosive note. It's easily one of my favorite standalones of the bunch.
Cursed!: While I found myself liking a lot of the minor citizens (Wally especially), Maddie ended up being my favorite for her unique design and the sheer possibilities that her magical abilities can add to the series. Case in point, in spite of its fairly predictable twist, Cursed! is a really fun episodes of the show about how Maddie is far nicer than her look might indicate, and the titular curse let to some pretty funny gags at Anne and Sprig's expense.
Anne Of The Year: This was an excellent penultimate episode, finally reuniting Anne with Sasha... and also Grime's entire army. But aside from that great cliffhanger, the main storyline about the party is pretty fun, giving most of the cast something to do and resolving Sprig's admittedly cute romantic side plot on a sweet note.
Reunion: This was an excellent season finale, easily the most well-executed episode in the whole show. The writing, the character development, even the animation and humor took a bump in quality. The opening flashback was an incredibly realistic portrayal of what it's like to have a toxic friend, bolstered by the nuanced performance from Sasha's voice actress, and the big confrontation on the tower was cathartic, climactic, and an absolute emotional rollercoaster. The song "Lean On Me" has been forever changed.
Overall, Amphibia's first season shows a lot of potential with a strong storyline, interesting world-building, and great characters. However, it's also a bit of a slow start to the series with its unoriginal standalones with hit or miss humor.
3/5 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment