Amphibia

Amphibia is created by Matt Braly, who was a part of the production team of the TV show Gravity Falls, however, the first season turned out to be quite a disappointment. It has no real charm, lacks suspense, and even a bit of originality. If such productions are supposed to reveal something about their creator, then from what I have seen so far, I would say that Matt Braly is a guy from the American deep south who grew up on a farm, and as a young kid loved observing animals (like catching frogs in a jar...) and had a close relationship with his grandfather... Am I right about that? Well, actually I have no idea, although the nature of this TV show seems to be absolutely consistent with that idea. The whole world it is set in is actually a kind of a miniature version of our own nature. I would not be surprised if someone told me that the main character had just been shrunk and had not really gone anywhere... On the one hand, as this is a familiar environment (as a small boy I also caught many little creatures in glass jars and observed insects and other small animals), I can relate to it. On the other hand, however, nothing surprises you much. There is nothing enchanting, interesting, or mysterious - and a lot of things are just cribbed from a basic knowledge of wildlife. I did not get on with the people in this show, I was never really into that (nowadays I think those folks are called KKona, years ago they were Rednecks)... Then there is the classic problem of the struggle against oppression, then the struggle for self-realization and self-discovery related to growing up, the generation gap, and relations between family and friends - there is quite a lot of interesting subject matter here. To be honest, though, I have seen better shows dealing with these issues, or at least in a more interesting way. Is it fairly predictable and primarily aimed at children? I guess so. The show is very simplistic, there are no complicated twists or surprises, so kids can easily digest it... Are the characters friendly? I think most of them are quite likable, and I think the best one is Grandpa Frog, although I think the younger generation would slam him with the tag "OK boomer"... Am I going to keep watching this show? Yes, I am. I do not find it exceptionally entertaining, although occasionally it is amusing and it did hold my attention, so I did not feel it was a complete waste of time. At the end of the first season, my feeling is to award it 5.5/10, which is enough reason for me to watch the second season. However, as I am more of a flywheel kind of guy, if it has stand-alone episodes and is as disjointed as the first season, then I might even get quite bored… (23/08/2020)

The second season of Amphibia is definitely better and more interesting than the first season. I appreciated the fact that we finally got to have more adventures after we left the countryside and went on a road trip, and it expanded the lore of the world a bit. I found it to be a refreshing change. Well, the second season delivers a coherent and straightforward story that is quite adult. After the last episode, I got the feeling that this is not really for kids, and I am now really intrigued as to what is in store next time! Sure, some of the episodes were just weak filler episodes (like the snails, just before the finale, this is not supposed to be Spongebob Squarepants after all!), and sometimes I thought it was irritating when the characters had to deal with a problem, it was supposedly resolved, and then often went back to pick apart the same issue again in the next episode, to resolve it again. How long does it take to really forgive someone? At least two episodes! Is that really a complaint? Would I be more upset if the characters changed their minds every two seconds? Probably not. This is not actually bad... I am awarding the last episode five stars as it is full of surprises with at least one really good and unexpected twist, and really whets the appetite for the next season. On the whole, the second season is at least commendable and I was also enjoying the references made to Gravity Falls. I am awarding this eight out of ten like the other reviewer called SonGokussj, and I can see why he likes it so much, because blue is good :) (03/05/2021)

Initially, I would have awarded this show five stars simply because the ending of the last season of Amphibia deserves it. I have been enjoying every new episode for the last few weeks and wondering which show I am looking forward to more, this or The Owl House, every Sunday. That being said, I just cannot ignore the first half of the season, set in the world of humans, which is only worth 6/10 in my view. The first half of the season is good and has some interesting ideas but lacks the magic of the previous seasons. There is a new setting and some great episodes that focus on further developing the characters and their relationships but that makes it merely ordinary by the standards of this magical TV series. However, the second half of the season is, in my opinion, flawless. The build-up to the season’s finale is an emotional ride that is fun, well crafted, epic, full of new surprises, and full of suspense. There is not much to complain about in the second half, and the last two episodes at least deserve a clear 10/10, in my opinion. However, adding it all up the calculations are clear (10+6) / 2 = 8/10 (15/05/2022)