When one talks to animation fans about what they think the best animated TV series made outside of Japan is, he or she will probably encounter the same answers repeated several times: "Batman: The Animated Series", "Avatar: The Last Airbender", and "Samurai Jack", being perfect examples. The reasons these series are so beloved are that they have likable characters, excellent writing that doesn't talk down to children, comedic scenes that don't feel out of place but still provide levity to series moments, and superb animation, particularly during fight scenes. However, there is another series that not many people know about, but is just as good as, if not better than, these aforementioned cartoons: "Wakfu: The Animated Series" To give some background, "Wakfu" is a French cartoon released in 2008 based on a French free-to-play MMORPG (Massively-Multiplayer Online RolePlaying Game, similarly to World of Warcraft) of the same name, which itself is a sequel to another MMORPG known as "Dofus". Unlike most animated series based on video games, "Wakfu" doesn't follow the story (or lack thereof) of its source material or even feature any of the game's characters, and instead features original characters and story that take place in the same universe as the game.
Giving an overview of "Wakfu"'s plot without giving any spoilers would require talking exclusively about the first season and overlooking the second season and its six TV specials, since events in the first season form the backbone of everything else. The general premise is that a young boy named Yugo, who is the adopted son of a restaurant chef, discovers one day that he has the ability to form wormhole-like portals with his hands (if you've played the video game "Portal", you'll get the idea), and then sets out on a quest to discover his heritage, alongside a group of other adventurers that aid him in his journey. As is expected of adventure shows, they constantly have to put their journey on pause in order to help people in need that they encounter along the way. While most would brush off these instances as nothing more than filler episodes, the main characters show growth and little bits of their personality, although not as much as during the main story. At the same time, these character developments and personality traits never feel forced and the characters always feel like themselves from start to finish.
Speaking of the characters, each of the main ones are all very likable. Unlike "Avatar: The Last Airbender", which has characters that only exhibit one or two personality traits each, each of the main characters of "Wakfu" have several different aspects to their personalities, including the villains. These multitudes of personality traits not only make the characters more believable, but they also make them more likable and more memorable.
Of course, a major ingredient in any animated work is the animation, and "Wakfu" has this category well tackled. While it's very obvious that the show is animated using Adobe Flash and involves motion-tweening sets of shapes (telling a shape to go from point A to point B and having the computer fill in the gaps) instead of animating one frame at a time, the movement still manages to be fluid enough that this flaw is hardly noticeable, especially during action scenes. Also to note is that the backgrounds, character models, and special effects are full of vast, beautiful details, and almost any single frame of the series is worthy of being hung up and framed on a wall.
"Wakfu" is one series that is sadly underrated, and more people should give it the attention it deserves. Currently the first two seasons can be streamed from Netflix, although I would recommend watching the original French audio with English subtitles, as the English dub leaves much to be desired.
