Cleopatra in Space

I really like the book, but after watching the first episode of this show, its The Best Cartoon Ever! I can't wait for it to be on Netflix!

It's a shame that this show lasted only 26 episodes. There's plenty to like. The humor is on point. The action is exciting. The characters are all fun to watch in their own ways. There's a nice mix between comedy, story, and sci fi action. If nothing else, at least give a movie to wrap up the series. It deserves more.

After watching this show, it's become one of my favorites.

This series, based on a 2014 comic series by Mike Maihack of the same name, has a simple premise: then-Princess (and future Queen) Cleopatra is transported tens of thousands of years (30,000 to be exact) in the future to attend an elite school on an Egyptian-themed planet and fight a space tyrant with her friends. Cleopatra, known as Cleo for short, is super sassy, reckless, careless, and cocky, as she adjusts to the future...and is the only prophesied hope for the universe. As one reviewer put it, this adventure focuses on the untold story of Cleo's teen years, figure out how she will get home, fit in, find out the identity of a spy sent to the school, and her mysterious powers. The music of this series is also really awesome. This justifies its current rating.

The show itself is nothing special in terms of character and plot, though my kiddos were entertained by it, mostly for its action sequences, which are plentiful (though rarely resulting in death or serious injury, unless you count robots). My daughter had read the graphic novel series and noted numerous differences. She also found Cleopatra mostly annoying - impulsive, narcissistic, and uninterested in learning. In some ways like an exaggerated version of Korra, but far less appealing than, say, Adora, Kipo, or Allura. So not much to recommend the show or the protagonist, over all. And then there is the added issue of the inane exoticizing of "Egypt": beyond featuring pyramids, fake hieroglyphs, and Cleopatra herself, there is not even a remote attempt to accurately portray the ancient culture. Octavian, her mentor, was not Egyptian, and he was not an "Octopus." I could go on and on but the general effect is not to encourage interest in Egyptian history or culture but to present it as an exotic other which is merely a hollow shell of reality, and, more generally, to promote this treatment of different cultures.