Ejen Ali

Out of all local animated series that has been released, Ejen Ali's first 2 seasons is definitely Malaysia's best animated series to date in terms of storytelling & graphics.

The animation is impressive for a local production (which is why it takes so long for a single episode to be completed), it has good soundtrack, pretty impressive action scenes and the least cringy Malay script i have ever heard.

In terms of plot and storytelling, it feels like anime fans would be able to enjoy this series because of its mature storyline that doesn't talk down on its audience, which is a very rare thing to find in a Malaysian storytelling medium especially for an animated series.

I remember watching the first season on TV3 back in 2016 and had to endure the agony of waiting through repeated episodes each week while wondering when the next episode will finally be finished & aired. While the first half of season 1 had a simplistic storytelling, the second half of season 1 definitely had cemented Ejen Ali as an animated series with a mature-theme plot and deep storyline. This is the reason why Ejen Ali even appeals to teens & adults.

I love how the storyline of Ejen Ali feels deep & complex and yet not convoluted (like alot of animes or games or mangas these days), and i hope it stays that way in its future seasons to come. This series is well-known for its "plot twists" and it has been able to deliver them well in season 1, season 2, and as well as the movie.

To be honest, i am worried how the series will develop in the future because i have seen my favourite international series go downhill (western and also Japanese alike) but i am also looking forward to how Ejen Ali will move forward and eventually wrap up after the success of its first movie.

The reason i'm giving the first 2 seasons an 8 out of 10 despite liking it so much is because the English dub available on Netflix SERIOUSLY needs a total rework (Wait, General Rama's indian english accent is on point tho. Keep it. Actually, kudos to Azman Zulkiply who sounds the best & has diverse english accent while voicing all 3 of his characters; General Rama, Agent Rizwan & Viktor.).

Like...please... I know it's easy to either just reuse voices of the original Malay version (and they already did a good job in their original language) or get whoever is available, but if you want to make this series "appealing" to international audience, then for the love of God, please find a set of good english speaking cast. Please take this english adaptation business alot more seriously. No matter how good the series is, cringy english dub can totally ruin or turn people off from giving the series a try.

If local studios can't deal with making a good english dub, I hope a good foreign studio is willing to work on the english adaptation. OR, if dubbing in english is too much of a hassle & you can't afford to find a good english speaking cast, then just don't dub it in english at all and let people watch it in the original Malay language with english subtitles, because that didn't stop anime from being well accepted globally. :)

I'm writing this review after finally being able to watch season 2 on Netflix just after i had watched the movie with my kids (fantastic movie by the way).

I feel like this series NEEDS MORE ATTENTION & LOVE by the citizens.

It seems like director Usamah Zaid and the team has a good outline & overall plan for the story of Ejen Ali and I genuinely hope this franchise will have a good development and end with a bang in the future.

Malaysian folks, please support this amazing series.

---------- UPDATE (3 February 2023): Season 3 has finished airing on Disney+ and i had finished watching it in the original Malay language, then i found out an english dub was available too and decided to rewatch the entire 3rd season in english. Amazing work. The plot, new characters, music, story telling, graphics are top notched.

Also thanks to iyuno SDI group for doing an amazing job with the english dub for season 3. Although i miss some of the Malaysian english flavor the movie had with the supporting casts (this season's dub is definitely more westernize), the english dub this season is objectively the best one we have from the series so far. I hope McKenzie Atwood would be recasted as Ali for future installments (unless there's a time skip and Ali turns into a teenager or an adult?).

My only nitpick for this season would be that the new character designs look rather much more "realistic" instead of "cartoonish" compared to the rest of the original characters from season 1 and 2, so they kinda stick out and don't really blend well with the rest of the casts. I understand they probably have different character models & design, maybe that's why they look so different? But maybe that's just me.

But overall, i enjoyed this season so much so i increased my rating from 8 to 9 stars. Wish i could give a perfect 10 scores but i do have my nitpicks.

If you all are willing to rework the english dub for season 1 and 2, that would be great. But i understand it's probably alot to ask for.

Can't wait for the next installment of the series, whether it be a new season or a new movie.

This series has my heart.

I watch Ejen Ali because of the movie. The storyline is simple but with plot twist. If you want to learn malay langguage in a casual way or informal but very natural this anime would help you. Now the series available on youtube with English sub. As a fan of anime i watch japan anime as i was in my early 20s but watching this series make me excited again.

One of the only animated series that doesn't talk down on its audience & is intellectual. Wau animation may not be on top in terms of graphics & cgi in this country (it's still amazing though), but it definitely is THE BEST in terms of storytelling & character writing, and i think that matters more than any fancy spectacle looking cgi.

The music slaps too.

The voice acting & script in my opinion is the best out of all malay medium that we have as well. Kudos to them in that department.

My only gripe is...please please PLEASE redo the english dubs for season 1 and 2. Thankfully you guys did a great job for the english dubs in season 3 and the 1st movie. If it's possible please keep Azman Zulkiply for the english dubs. He's phenomenal.

Can't wait for the 3rd movie & season 4. I hope it won't disappoint.

I'm trying really hard not to be biased here.

Pros:

• soundtrack. EXCELLENT for an animated series.
• gripping storyline
• diverse, interesting characters

Cons

• graphic. maybe one of the best coming out of this region, but still lagging behind some recent western animations (then again i was thinking something like Trollhunters by Dreamworks, an animation giant..)
• characters and story while fun and colourful, are not all that original (you can see the inspirations here and there..)
• some episodes feel too rushed and minor characters lack development, but then there's only 13 eps per season...

Despite all the cons above, I still rate this show high. If you get immersed into the storyline, then be prepared for a roller coaster of suspense and emotions. There's one scene in season 2 that, in my opinion, showcased one of the best story telling that i have seen in animation.

If you are curious, good luck finding subbed episodes though. But if you happen to be in Malaysia, had a good grasp of Malay language, and love animation in general, then I suggest you watch this. The whole 2 seasons are currently on youtube. This show is targeted towards older children, but the story is enjoyable by teens and adults as well. One of the best Malaysia's production in recent years.

I am not gonna lie to you, when I started watching it, I was bored and picked the most random thing I found on the internet, so I turned my brain off and let it go. How wrong I was.

The story was deep, maybe too deep for a children's animation. From family trauma to the conflict between duty and morals, what is right and wrong, and so on.

It employs childish humor while maintaining a mature tone when necessary.

Fights are creative, and all those spu gadgets are fascinating. Simple like yo-yos and slingshots, but their ability makes sense and is not bizarre like some gadgets in Spy Kids (no offense to the Spy Kids, but I still can't understand some of those gadgets)

And villains are interesting. I usually forget about side villains, but some of them are so interesting that you can't help but remember them sometimes.

My only con is character growth. In one episode, they outdo expectation, then in the exact next episode, they do the same thing, blow the expectation.