So, while I was watching last week's Loud House episodes, one show that caught my fancy was a new show called Welcome to the Wayne. The show revolves around a young boy named Ansi Molina, who had recently moved into an apartment building -- the titular Wayne. Along the way, he meets two kids, Olly and Saraline Timbers respectively, who make it their solemn duty to investigate the oddities of the Wayne. They discover supernatural creatures, a hidden library, and more. Meanwhile, the main antagonist of the series, the Spy from Apartment 8i, is looking for a way to take control of the Wayne for it is said that whosoever controls the Wayne controls the world.
Now, the show originally started off as six shorts on the Nickelodeon website before it was made into a full-fledged series. Going into the show I didn't have much curiosity about the plot, but after five episodes, all I can say is I want more. I find this show very unique. The idea of an apartment building being home to many supernatural and paranormal creatures just screams creativity to be realized. The characters are also pretty likable. Ansi is the adorkable type who is kind of a pushover, Saraline is the more serious of the trio of friends who is motivated by her desire of getting to the bottom of the Wayne's mysteries (so that she could impress her idol, Jonah Bishop), and Olly is an energetic young boy who is, while not the sharpest tool in the shed, makes up for it by being hilarious. As for the baddies....as the series is still new, I can't give you an exact description of the Spy from Apartment 8i as her backstory is deliberately left vague. We know that she wants to possess the Wayne, but we don't know what her motivation is yet. In short, she comes off as cold, serious, scheming, and mysterious. She also has lackeys, but they're mostly one-note. The show also introduced a few more characters like a young vampire hunter in training who hunts vampires with spoons, Jonah Bishop, a professor who doesn't take Team Timber's investigations seriously because they're children, and Andrei, a vampire who had lost his memory at some point in time, but he's pretty chill. The only real issue that I have with the characters is the fact that the show keeps introducing new characters. As the show is recently new, I feel that they should focus more on establishing the world the series takes place in, and then introduce characters in a slow process.
Now for the animation style. Admittedly, the style very much resembles the designs chosen for Sanjay and Craig a show that I hated, as well as a little bit of Regular Show for good measure. The animation isn't really phenomenal, but it's not necessarily without it's charm. The monsters that the trio of friends come across are also pretty imaginative such as the Squidgets from the first episode as well as Sleepyhead who also debuts in the first episode. Other than that, don't know what else to say about its animation. Now of course when the show was first announced, many had assumed that the series was a shameless ripoff of Gravity Falls what with its sense of mystery and fear of the unknown. I can definitively say that it isn't; there are many different aspects that WTTW uses that separates it from GF like how it's one building that houses all of the oddities rather than the entire town being a magnet for the paranormal. That, and Olly and Saraline aren't twins, and their personalities are way different from Dipper and Mabel's.
Ultimately, I feel that this is a pretty good show that has a lot of potential. It's imaginative, mysterious, and it has a majority of likable characters to choose from. I also appreciate that it gives some variety to Nickelodeon's Nicktoons: we have the Loud House which is a slice of life, Bunsen is a Beast a slapstick comedy series, the action show known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, etc. As a mystery show, one plus I can think of is that I do enjoy a good mystery. If you any of you were fans of mystery shows such as Gravity Falls and are slightly saddened by it concluding after two seasons, I would recommend this show. If anything, now I have two shows to look forward to when I tune into Nick.
