As an entry in the kid-friendly animation genre, this show is profoundly disappointing, primarily due to its muddled premise and an even more convoluted plot. Its direction fails to settle on a consistent antagonist-is it Ace's little sister, the archetypal mean girl, the next door bully, or the supervillain with the Oedipal complex?
After viewing 12 episodes I found that the character dynamics were uniquely troublesome. The protagonist, the titular Ace seems to be universally disliked; even his supposed ally, HUGO, treats him poorly. This contributes to a cast of characters that are, for the most part, one-note, forgettable, unfunny, boring, and unlikable-Ace included. Indeed, the show is devoid of any truly likeable personalities. Ace himself seems to grapple with low self-esteem, continually pursuing the mean girl who seems to genuinely despise him. The adult characters, such as his rarely seen parents, offer very little positive role models.
This show clearly struggles to establish a consistent identity, often appearing to desperately grasp at any available trope, including resorting to crude, low-effort gags. Unfortunately, it often devolves into toilet humor, such as graphically depicting dog waste or the antagonist falling headfirst into a pile of elephant dung or staging a confrontation between Ace and this same antagonist in the sewer tunnels. The contrived setup for this scene involved Ace's mother having fed the entire town bran cookies. These sequences were utterly disgusting and served no purpose in advancing the plot or enhancing the episodes in any way. The gross-out humor felt gratuitous, incongruous, and ultimately, not humorous despite its vulgarity.
Perhaps the most unforgivable flaw is that none of the characters manage to be even a little interesting or entertaining. It seems the creators mistakenly believed a loud soundtrack and a sped up pace could replace genuine action, a strategy that ultimately fails. Consequently, it is hardly surprising that in over a decade since its premiere, I had never heard of this show, nor had it been recommended by any of my streaming services. It is a mystery how this show is rated this high on this site or the glowing critique from the only other reviewer. It is very suspicious. The fact that it was nominated for an International Emmy Award does not speak well for the Academy or its selection process.
