TV series review: Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir (season 1)

TV show: Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir (season 1)

Rating: 4 out of 5

Genre: Superhero, comedy, drama

General Setup: Two teenagers try to overcome high school life and trials while simultaneously working undercover as superheros trying to save Paris. The catch? They don’t know it, but they know each other in real life. To make things more complicated each has a crush on the other’s alter ego, but they don’t know each other’s secret identity.

Characters: Marinette is the star of the show. As a superhero she is known as “Ladybug.” She is only a sophomore in highschool, but she aspires to become a famous fashion designer (and she could probably do it). Her parents own a bakery and she is very close with them. Adrien (or Cat Noir) has a strained relationship with his father, at best. His Mom is dead, or at the very least missing (she is barely mentioned). Adrien’s father is a well known fashion designer and Adrien works part time as a model showcasing his father’s creations.

Plot: Miraculous has little solid plot development. Each episode has a similar structure, but a different villain for the heroes to face off with. Sort of. All these villain actually stem from one main villain, Hawkmoth, who feeds off the negative emotions of the citizens of Paris. He has the ability to give them superpowers of their own to use in their revenge in exchange for their help to gain Ladybug and Cat Noir’s powers. So each episode Hawkmoth makes yet another attempt and each episode he fails. It gets a little repetitive. This isn’t to say that the show was boring. Each episode was entertaining is some way, even though it stuck to the same formula. Thankfully, towards the end of the first season the plot starts to pick up with the main character’s origin story and the introduction of some pivotal characters.

Ending: You could say that the show ended with a cliffhanger. Like I mentioned previously, the plot was finally starting to move forward in the last few episodes. It was a bit frustrating that just when the show was getting good the season ended.

Things to Watch For: This show seems to be aimed at a younger adolescent audience (my guess was ages 10-13). That being said, the show is pretty clean. There are some selfish people and the characters sometimes are mean to each other, but unfortunately that’s nothing that doesn’t happen in real life.

Sights and Sounds: The theme song is catchy (I dare you to NOT get it stuck in your head for a week!) and the animation for Miraculous is brightly colored and flows smoothly. Lots of beautiful 3D CGI! The only thing that bugged me was the frequently animation sequences for things like character transformations.

Other media: A second season is in the works. Also, there was a Christmas special that came out in 2016.

Fillers: None

Length: 26 episodes

Where to Watch: Miraculous is currently streaming on Netflix. It is also available through Nickelodeon and the Disney channel, though showing times are subject to change.

Update: New Video!

     It's a Reader's Rambling! Listen to me talk all about the villains in the Dimwood Forest series!

Book Review: Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley

Book Review: Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy

Times I have read this: 3+

General Setup: Jake Mendoza isn’t your average 15 year old. For one thing, his dad is the head director at Smokehill National Park, a wildlife reserve for dragons. Dragons are a slowly disappearing species and it is a federal offense to kill one. Ironically, it is an even bigger crime to aid in saving a dragon’s life. But when Jake stumbles upon a dying mother dragon he doesn’t hesitate to rescue the last of her just-born brood. Not only is this action loaded with political implications, but it marks a turning point in human-dragon relations.

Characters: Dragonhaven is written from the perspective of Jake, after the events have taken place. This means that we see everything through Jake’s eyes. So, things can be kind of limited to what Jake experienced, as opposed to what else is going on that he is unaware of. However, hindsight allows for clarification. Because of this Jake’s voice comes through the pages quite clearly. He has his own peculiar way of describing events and people around him. His use of metaphors and similes can be quite amusing. Throughout the book you can definitely see Jake’s character change. Having grown up on Smokehill his childhood differs vastly from most kids. What is more, the death of his mother and dog at a young age affects him deeply. Also, I thought that the dragons (yes, there are dragons) were well-written in this book. They are sufficiently alien, while retaining some human qualities.

Plot: There’s a lot of stuff in Dragonhaven, a lot of words, a lot of stories, and a lot of worldbuilding. Sometimes it just bogs you down. Plus, Jake likes to talk a lot. However, his rambles and rants are fairly well interspersed between bits of action and more interesting parts of narrative.

Ending: The ending is a bit drawn out. For example, the epilogue is roughly 50 pages long. That’s a long epilogue! On the bright side, most of the threads are pretty well tied up, but it’s still pretty long. Of course, at that point you’re pretty well invested in the book, so it's more of a blessing than a burden.

Things to Watch For: Mild profanity.

Other media: Dragonhaven is a stand-alone book, but Robin McKinley has written a lot of other fantasy-genre books.

Length: 342 pages

Update: Book Reviews to Come!

     Here's a look at some of the book reviews we hope to be doing in the future! Get excited!