This show admittedly did catch my attention during the point where I was just about still in its target demographic.
I didn't really get into it but it was years later when I came across it again.
One reason was that one episode was linked in a forum about a fetish of mine (it's not a great example of it though but it's when Pixiefrog becomes human).
The other reason which got me watching was Nikka Futterman <3
Her voice has been in my life for ever (in practice since Mike, Lou and Og) and I discovered the name after her performance in Deadspace: Downfall.
Adam Lyon as a character definitely showcases her talent even if the show isn't really worthy of her.
It's tiresome to keep seeing Delisle, Lamarch, Lamarr and Macneill's names in credits but yet I always have time for Tom Kenny and it was fun to get to hear him doing his Spongebob voice for Jake the monkey but an octave lower and a lot less optimistic.
The concept of this show does feel a little desperate but a show is all about the execution which isn't amazing either. They're self aware about it though; at one point in season 4 after a particularly off the wall episode Jake says what I'm thinking when he asks "Remember when this show was about a boy in an all animal school?"
The world this is in is oddly fascinating but they never shine a light into it. It's a world in which non-humans exist as a linguistic community alongside but segregated from humans. Even insects can speak and yet they are served in the cafeteria.
They went for the jungle aesthetic within the school and I can get that. I liked how there are water tubes going in and out of the corridors and pillars of water in the classroom. In a world with individuals of such contractive shapes and sizes and abilities, the accessibility would have been a fascinating thing to explore but that's not the focus at all and Beastars handles that angle a lot better even if they were tetrapods only.
It's not about world-building, it's all about hijinks. The humor is nothing to write home about but it's disposable entertainment for the last thing before bed.
Windor Gorilla really grew on me but it's Principle Pixiefrog that steals the show especially his dynamic with world-weary secretary Miss. Warthog.
The element of Ingrid the Giraffe having her one-sided infatuation with the human Adam (Adam...get it?) was also agreeable, giraffes are special. The visual gag where her head is just almost always out of frame added something and didn't get old. Her head poking into the frame from the side was also a nice touch. It was cute watching the all huddle poolside, terrified of entry in their assorted swimwear, her head still not visible.
Lupe the very loud hispanic toucan I dare say has not aged well but then again, they never mentioned exactly which country she was from.
It was a fun idea that Jake the spider monkey is transferred to a school for plants because they thought he was a spider plant.
Often quite irksome as Adam gets chided for trivial things, there is a malicious quality to the first two seasons as they're happy to just end it negatively with no real sense of irony or karma. I hate that. AND girl scouts!!!
Oh and it's also kind of gross too.
