400 Boys

I understand that this animation style remains rather divisive among fans of the show, but, in my personal opinion, it is phenomenal. Sure, it's a bit odd, but that's what makes it great. The surrealism of "400 Boys" draws you in immediately, makes you curious about the world, and makes for a fantastic final battle scene.

As far as the story goes, it's not great, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it keeps you entertained enough to the point of enjoyment. They did a great job of building the 400 Boys up as threats, and the reveal of them was not disappointing.

Great animation, intriguing story, fast-paced action, what's not to love? I especially loved the character work of Hilo. One of the best episodes in this frankly lackluster season.

Robert Valley never disappoints with his unique, striking art style, though I'm not sure if this episode was a complete hit like the Zima Blue, which is already very high bar to climb over, and ICE, which had a very heartwarming story along with great character development, not to mention the visuals.

400 Boys doesn't bother explaining what's going on, you're dropped in the middle of it with nobody holding your hand, which, in my opinion, hurts the narrative a bit. One thing I love about LD&R is the amazing stories they tell, whether they be grounded in reality or absolutely bonkers. There might be no point in trying to find any symbolism or any story, which might be refreshing for some, but it left me wanting more. Unlike Zima Blue and ICE, the characters are a bit lacking, you don't know much about them until you see them die in the final battle.

Overall, it's, for me, the weakest of, but still an amazing experience.

I would love to stay in this world for a whole season. Unique art direction that oozes style. I love how things aren't explained and leave it up to the viewer to imagine and fill in the gaps themselves.

I'm not sure why this is getting so much hate. It's a mysterious world full of quirky characters, uncertain alliances, and telekinetic powers, what else could you need? I really hope these animators get to make a full length feature at some point. The choice of Trainspotting by Primal Scream was a total vibe. It reminded me of Samurai Jack in a way, mixing music with evocative visuals.

Give me 400 more boys.

In the ruins of a post-apocalyptic city, several rival gangs band together to fight, well, I'm not sure what. But they're big and destructive.

Robert Valley definitely has a preferred style. Zima Blue was amazingly striking, kind of like how Peter Chung's work came out of nowhere to grab me in the 90s. All those weird angular shapes and dark shadows everywhere. It's so stylistic that you can see a short sample and immediately identify the team behind it.

400 Boys drops you into a story that makes little sense. It's basically like if a demented writer recalled the crazy dream he had after watching The Warriors and Attack the Block, and an equally demented team of artists worked as hard as they could to make it into an episode of LD&R.

I have to wonder if more worldbuilding would have spoiled the weirdness. The character designs were interesting, and I liked how each character seemed to have a scene where they shined. There's a bit of dialogue to set things up and establish who you're watching, so you're never completely lost.

The meat of the episode, though, is the climactic fight. It's a pretty brutal fight, full of stylistic violence. If you're into violent, stylistic weirdness, I think you'll like it. If you're looking for something more traditional, where everything makes logical sense, it might be a pass.

400 boys is visually good, good graphics and animation but storywise it is pretty poor. A few more minutes of backstory or character setup might have helped, but as it stands, it's hard to stay invested. This feels like an idea that needed more time on the drawing board before being released. I was hoping for something more engaging and original. A group of rough youths with some abilities taking on a bunch of monster babies is not the strongest story. I think this is an entry that should have never left the shop floor and shelved until it was rewritten to be more compelling and creative. I was hoping for a stronger and better episode.