Disincanto

This show is not a comedy! It's a story and character driven fantasy show with jokes. And I love it! Every time the focus is on the characters or the story and world, it's awesome!!! Don't treat this show as a comedy, and kind of suffer through most of season 1, still enjoyable, but mostly one offs. This show is fun!

This series had potential to be unique, and I think in some ways it still maintains that, but overall it doesn't do well in capturing your attention. I do think it has a few redeeming qualities that would make it worthwhile to some viewers.

The show's characters aren't interesting or distinctive, which is what I believe this series misses most.

The episodes tend to have very little conflict. The stakes are typically low as well which make for boring television. Often, the main trio (Bean, Elfo, and Luci) get into something trivial, it resolved, then they're back to square one and ready to repeat it in the next episode. It's all predictable. Each episode started to blend together at about episode 6 in Season 1. I soon realized I was having trouble with episode plots and what the characters were truly doing.

As for comedy purposes, it doesn't garner laughs from me--the comedy it tries to produce isn't particularly funny.

There is some sort of charm the show possesses though. I can't quote put my finger on it exactly, but it makes for a decent show to have on in the background.

I don't think the writers are passionate about the show, unfortunately. It certainly shows in the episodes.

All in all, it's watchable enough.

Season 1 began with an episodic construct that was similar to any fraction of Futurama or The Simpsons. At the eleventh hour, it suddenly gained a multi-episode narrative that finished off with a Game of Thrones-esque cliffhanger, and suddenly it became a strange, if not interesting departure from the formulaic sitcom it made itself out to be.

Season 2 picks up right where they left off, and not only kept the narrative, but proved that it also gained a personality somewhere along the way.

Don't get me wrong, I love the first season. The plots are endearing, it's easy to binge, it's nice to look at, and the world is interesting. Is it Game of Thrones? No. Do I want it to be Game of Thrones? Absolutely no. When I see Futurama in medieval times, I want it to be Futurama in medieval times.

Futurama and The Simpsons are meant to be "soup of the day" shows, and people enjoy that. Some people have enjoyed that for 30 years. It's situational antics and shameless social commentary, and that junk is candy for the eyes and ears of your average viewer, myself included. What makes Disenchantment different from Futurama or the Simpsons (apart from only having 20 episodes so far, and a season-long plot, to boot) however, is the fact that both of those programs don't have a main character that lives to make an important statement.

I love Bean and everything she stands for. She's meant to not only be someone who rocks the proverbial boat (especially given the medieval-fantasy setting of the show), but someone who is pained, confused, complex, strong and often has valid points to make; shes a real person. She's a great character. And while I love how Homer Simpson can have a heart sometimes, I really love how Bean has a heart all of the time. She can be mean and she can make mistakes, but she can also learn, care about things deeply, and throw a punch at someone who wrongs her. I think that's someone that a lot of people secretly wish they could be.

The second season has a lot of heart, made me frustrated a lot, probably ended episodes rather abruptly at times but still managed to be really interesting story-wise, and develops the characters nicely to the point where I want season 3 to premier yesterday.

I was once watching someone compare latter day Simpsons to latter day Family Guy and one point they made was that while the Simpsons had fastidiously updated its subject matter year after year, it hadn't update its humor.

And sort of like how Futurama was The Simpsons but based around speculative sociology and the work place instead of the traditional family, this (as I suspect a million and seven people have already suggested) could be considered historical- arama (or something cleverer...).

But it's not quite though. It's mostly that but the Groening mind has turned away from the sitcom (and eventual movie) formula and actually had the ambition to create what was more or less a serial. We are able to see a character grow and develop across the multiple instalments and with the same humor and inventivenss.

It's too bad that at the beginning it is WAY too much like just another animated sitcom. And a bit too much like a couple in particular. I like Tia, she's an intriguing character who has grown up in great politico-economic advantage but lives in immense quiet emotional desperation. I think she's a bit wasted on the first season but it is, thankfully, in the second season as we see the show really discover its own strengths as it finally tells THE story of Tia as the ground-work has now been lain.

Gradually, this goofy (and I mean REALLY goofy at times) show actually shows a lot of tenderness and very meaningful emotional conflict that actually doesn't feel mawkish or schmaltzy because they invested in the characters and made their breakthroughs believable.

King Zog might just be the best character for this reason. I especially loved an episode about him and a bear.

Now Elfo...I think they retooled him the moment they saw the pilot. At first he was cynical and adventure hungry but as soon as he leaves the shire he becomes a sort of SpongeBob parody except even more infantile. I like him and all and I really want him to get laid but they do paint him as the loser quite relentlessly.

The world building is extravagant and satisfying with a few surprises I won't ruin. Let's just say it takes us to a variety of contrasting landscapes and in time really works on a substantial historic background that fuels conflict between a numerous peoples, aesthetically in debt to other artists of course but they make it their own fair enough.

Ultimately this was more of a Saturday Morning show than a Friday night show but as imperfect as it is, I grew to be glad for it.

Edit: I watched the finale the other day. Well...I will save the details for a review for that episode. It's hard to conclude a serial this long in a way that will please everyone. I don't feel insulted but I can't help but feel to a large extent they settled for easy answers.

But seriously, a lot of the jokes are predictable.

When I seen the series for the first time, I mean 1st season, it had interesting scenario, great characters, actors behind the screen, nice humor, amazing illustrations!

The ending of 2nd season has opened a great story of politics in the style of GoT, and it was excited and promising!

But what happened with the series by 4th season? Where is humor, scenario, characters? It turned into boring long playing animation with absolutely unclear plot and scenes of the stories. A lot of actions, but no sense at all...

Did the authors decide to make a joke and give us a real real Disenchantment?

2024 UPD: 5th season of the series even worse than 4th.

________

10 stars - for illustrations, characters, bright worlds and the cast (I love IT Crowd and Mighty Bush guys) 3 stars - for the plot.