imxandas

Gumball has always been known for its high quality animation, great character writing, and brief moments of political comedy. Episode 1 of this new show amps these qualities of the original show to heights we haven't seen before. The animation is spectacular. The writing is mostly great, though at times it feels as if this was aimed towards an even younger audience than before, despite the themes hitting harder than ever. Perhaps it's just that I was fourteen the last time an episode of Gumball aired, and now I'm an adult in college with a job. Despite this, I found myself laughing out loud at least once a minute to this episode. The messaging has almost never been more blunt, and Gumball has never been more back.

If you hate this show, but love the original film or graphic novels, then you haven't learned a single damn thing from this franchise.

The way it builds on each and every single character (excluding Lisa and Stephen) is extremely satisfying, and feels very faithful to the original versions of these characters, despite all of the differences that the show throws at them. The craftsmanship of the art in this show is an evolution to both Bryan Lee O'Malley's art style, and the animation of Science Saru, creating the prettiest possible product to ever grace Netflix's original productions. Without getting into spoilers, I can confidently say that this was everything I ever wanted from this franchise, including some very valuable lessons that many people, including the character of Scott, needed to learn.

This first episode was absolutely incredible. The directing is better than any I've ever seen in live-action. The same can be said for the editing. It's truly incredible. The change in her powers from the comics makes sense, and is presented in a way that truly pulls me. Going to be honest. I wasn't expecting this show to be very good. The change in powers really upset me until this first episode came out. It gripped me in a way that made me realize just how much the team behind this show really care about the source material. And, to my knowledge, I'm not entirely convinced that her powers won't be changed back by the end of this show. It really is a 10/10. It's blown me away.