Code Lyoko

I heard about this about the time it came out, and got hooked a few weeks before Season Two began its US run. Though, as all cartoons do, it began a bit confusing for me (The first time I saw it (about the middle of the first ep) I thought Sissi was Yumi...), I caught on quickly.

Code: Lyoko is unique among cartoons. It is shown in both an anime style for the real world (which results in many-including some well-known sites- mistaking it for a Japanese cartoon, it is not, it is French) and a computer style for the Lyoko world. It has probably the longest distance between two seasons recordable (a year and four months for the US). And, it has-almost-no backstory. They don't tell us how Lyoko came to be, how Ulrich and co. found it, and why the computer has a virus. This is left to the fans-and Season Two, as we hope...

The show has realistic characters, an amazing plot, and a good eye for suspense. It does, however, have flaws over all this greatness.

First, bad dubbing. Like most inter-language imports, the dialogue does not match the mouth movements of the characters. The dialogue is often rushed, and flawed in some cases. One drastic example is Jeremie. Near the beginning of the series run, his voice was very high, but around the fourth or sixth episode, it changes, and it now sounds like he's trying very hard to sound older. (Puberty? Decision of the dubbers? Or perhaps he's just trying to impress Aelita, eh? Well, keep trying, man. The new voice sounds horrible.)

Second, scene reuse. This is abused heavily in season one. It's like the made scenes of everyone going into the sewers beforehand, and just used them where they were needed. This, for the most part, is discarded in Season Two, which is good. Although they STILL use that shot of Odd getting hit in the chest...

But don't get me wrong. Even with its flaws, this is a GREAT show. Not an EXCELLENT show, but a GREAT show. If you see it on, watch it.

But very carefully...

Code lyoko is about a bunch of kids who find a super computer in a abandoned factory.With a little help from a super smart computer wiz Jeremie they soon find out that they can go into the computer and have powers!Sounds cool huh, but there is a catch because of this super world there is a evil source called xana, Xana trys to destroy the earth the only way to stop Xana is to help a virtual chick who lives in the computer and can enter a code that stops xana, but not forever!

There are 5 main characters Odd (The cute joker)Ulrich(the sulker!)Yumi(the not-so-shy girl)Jeremie(The brains of the operation!)and finally the damsil in distress Aelita a.k.a the computer chick!Together they stop xana and save the world!

Lyoko is what they call the computer world.There is no taste,smells or feelings in lyoko.The only light through the black tunnel is the gentle computer chick aelita!

There are also monsters in lyoko a crab like monster, a ball like monster, a wasp like monster and more!All the monsters work for the evil xana!

I LOVE this show!Try it out see how it fits. I am sure you'll love it!

Code lyoko is one of my personal favorite shows. I do know a lot of people who hate it, but I'm not afraid to say I like it! Okay, it does have a lot of goofs. They need to work on that, and try to avoid those. But I still think that it's worth watching. Some people think the animation is a little blah - the big heads, and the eyes. But it's better than the stuff they draw in like, Danny Phantom.You know, the circle-eyes, square heads....it's just another cruddy action cartoon. It's unique. Speaking of which, I do think that people need to think of something other than save-the-world-group-of-good guys type of show. There are just too many of those, and all the plot outlines are the same (now I'm not saying I have anything against all shows like that). But Code lyoko is different. There's actually a story to it, you know what I mean? and one main bad guy, not a hundred. I definitely think you should give this show a try. You just might like what you see!

This is one of my favorite shows! It's my favorite French anime show, definitely, and I love the way the plot works. There's something new and yet a little bit of something old in every episode. And every episode is different! I've been exposed to Code Lyoko for about two months now, and it's one of the best I've ever seen! My two best friends and my two sisters agree with me on this show! I like to write stories in my free time, and this show gives me SO much room for ideas for writing that I don't know which ones to choose! My best friend introduced me to this show. I have thanked her numerous times for that. My all-time favorite thing about the show is that there are no adults involved in saving Lyoko! Congrats, Lyoko crew! Aelita, Ulrich, Odd, Jeremy, and Yumi, you all are a great team!

Code Lyoko has both good and detrimental points. For a cartoon, it actually requires some effort to follow. Episodes are serial, but usually contain enough individually packaged information to give you a sense of what is going on.

Some of the positive points are: For a cartoon, Code Lyoko has an interesting amount of writing and character development. The set up for the show is also very interesting, adding a sci-fi element. The Characters are broad based, and while they play set roles, they can occasionally do something developmental. The action in the show is interesting, and although small scale, seems to have the appropriate tension associated with it. The computer graphics portion of the art is quite well done, reminiscent of shows like Reboot.

Some negative things about the show: The dub is of rather poor quality. Characters lines are often rushed to match existing footage. There are a distracting amount of stock scenes in any given episode. Also there are many goofs, but most of those are related to the stock scenes. Some people may not like the ultra-angular hand drawn portion of the art, especially noted are that people's heads are drawn very large.

With all that said, I still recommend this show. You'll get enough enjoyment out of just following the plot and characters to make up for the poorer features.