In the first episode of the new animated post-apocalyptic series Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, the protagonist, 13-year-old Kipo (Karen Fukuhara), wants to silence all the good things that come to her. That makes him an honest old-eyed animal, which has drawn Mandu (after being abandoned by the Korean scene), but it also means that after trying to breed large, very shy pig, his big mom stays on him. At the end of the episode, Kipo learns that not all mutants desire to meet humans – and not all people want to be friends for change.
The first episode of Dreamfork's new Netflix series feels like the creators have broken the toy box and created a zany game of self-delusion in everything inside. Each episode introduces kooky creatures and wacky challenges that stick to a deep, dark arc. Anyone who spent some part of their childhood making their war-torn animals fighting the conquerors of the world with the power of pop music should understand straight away.
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, made by How To Train Your Dragon 2 novelist Radford Sechrist, takes place in a world where mutated animals have taken over, and nature has swallowed up the ruins of human civilization. While some survivors are left out, most of them have descended into underground communities known as pipes. After Kipo's line is attacked by a mysterious large animal, he manages to escape to the surface.
Chipo culture is familiar with it, sending its young heroes into a powerful quest for exploration. It starts off slowly, but as soon as all the fun pieces start to come together, the show is a colorful, unique world, a variety of character relationships, and a deep structure that reflects the deep tension between survivors and change.
(Vol. Note: This post contains some light snippets of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts.)
Kipo's quest is simple: To reunite with her newly displaced community, she and her newcomers must follow the directions her father left behind and survive the hardships of the upper world. Kipo's purpose is straightforward, and each episode brings the core to a new place, a new set of challenges, and a new MacGuffin to chase. But familiarity with the original mailing list is not a distraction; instead, the episodic approach allows the world and characters to key together as brilliantly as possible.
GiftThe world is full of strange life. While there are ruins and decorative remains in the dark past – simple shops littered with ruins, ruined buildings and cars – nothing about the layout sounds like a typical demolition site. The world has continued to bloom and grow without humans. On the contrary, it works well without them. Nature is back, the night sky is clear, and rich animals (mutants, or "genes" in short) have become prominent animals, each with their own questions.
Season 1 introduces the Timbercats, a race of feline lumberjacks; Umlaut serpents, which beat the guitars; and Fitness Racoons, a pacifist group that is really yoga. Animal designs are healthy and effective. How does a snake play guitar without hands? By joking about its language, of course. The process of looking at the world is expanding, with strange new creatures appearing in each piece, it's a never ending drawing. But the flexibility of a large amount, and the ways in which they deal with the unknown, keeps the dream together.
In a world full of growing animals, people look at boats, but the main course is human. Kipo finds friends in the mysterious Wolf and DJ Benson. While Wolf refuses to be a dumb friend, Benson is a very nice bracelet with a quote about Dave. Sechrist and his writing team take their time to bring the four characters together, especially since everyone but Kipo is used to making their own.
But once they establish themselves for traveling travelers, their relationships become boring, and their desires, fears, and mistakes often conflict. Kipo has a very good idea, but his way of silence doesn't always work out threats. Wolf, the most terrifying of the crowd, uses a mask to seduce people to cover up loneliness. The cool, cheerful Benson takes the easy way out. Dave and the slacker-bug are a two-man team that escapes the tension, and almost bail at Kipo and Wolf early when things get tough. But they don't have it – and the group gets closer, finding happiness and unity with each other, even though there is no conflict.
Gift boldly examines the consequences of selfish decisions. Wolf discovers an important clue that may have been important to Kipo, but in a moment of weakness, he decides to keep it to himself for fear of losing his new family. When the truth comes out, it's a dark, emotional moment – Kipo is rightly angry, until he realizes that Wolf has done it out of fear, not evil.
Gift it keeps their team together, but also sends them in pairs to show how everyone communicates, and how their beliefs intersect at another time. Kipo and Benson have better world views than the cynical Wolf, but Benson runs away from his problems, and Kipo thinks the whole problem can be solved by hug. In the post-apocalyptic world, sometimes that doesn't cut it. But sometimes it happens. Not one character is always right, and whether or not a team runs, fights, or talks about it depends entirely on the situation – and what unpleasant creature they encounter. Gift provides a complete game of character combinations and team flexibility, where only the first season shows not just the fully-formed characters, but the fully-fledged relationship explored in the world test.
And the animation style also helps to increase the setting and further conflict. Gift is pretty much the same as the other DreamWorks shows on Netflix. Like She-Ra and the Queen of Power, Gift uses a realistic hyper-stylized view and a different color palette for comparison Voltron: Protector of Myths. But in time She-Ra built around pastels and soft curves, Gift all neon colors and sharp angles, drawing even farther from the truth.
The exaggerated style liberates itself from the action sequences with a delightful mix of color and functional lines and angles, combined with the fun-inspired hip-hop sound. The post-apocalyptic world is very much alive, and not in the usual senseless. The domains, in particular, are large and well-translated. The night sky is absolutely terrifying, a visual image of how beautiful the world can be, even after human civilization as we know it is coming to an end. It is reminiscent of the exhibition's deepest structure, with nature continuing without humans.
When I was painting Tolkien-esque, the group-on-a-mission story Gift it is about the differences between land reform and the survivors, whether they are earthly settlers like Wolf and Benson, or Burrow people like Kipo. Above people try to survive in a post-apocalyptic intellectual world, but for those who turn, the world it is not Fall – this is a common occurrence for them. They are part of an inevitable evolution that takes place when humans are no longer prominent creatures. A good topic that is hard to handle, especially when Kipo with bright eyes is thrown into the mix and wants everyone to get along. Not every genius hates people, and not everyone hates change, but there is enough contention that a complete peace will be an uphill battle.
When Kipo and his friends encounter many changes that push their view of the world – and as the changes they encounter begin to reshape their feelings for people – those obstacles begin to change. Despite the darkness of the earth, there is still the joy found in the bright night sky, in music by Benson and Kipo to compose, in a rat-lit garbage party, to the bonds formed by the four. Above all, there is joy in friendship in all kinds of living things, which can only change this complex, beautiful world.
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts available now on Netflix.