(Des)encanto

Season 1 of either Futurama or The Simpsons were never considered their best work. Disenchantment does not meet this high mark just yet. Jokes are funny but they are often rather safe and lacks some cleverness. The main characters are well acted by the young talent but Princess Bean, Luci, and Elfo come off as very one note. The Planet Express crew and The Simpson family are well defined characters but these shows had time. While I enjoy the show as a huge fan of Matt Groening, Disenchantment needs time and some thoughtful writing that made Futurama a fan favorite.

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.

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.

The animation style is just wonderful. It's like 2D in a 3D world. When you see the clips of the village, you can really see it.

And now I'm waiting for the third season. Its not funny, its not something special but its fun to watch and i really like the animations.