The Toro Regatta

This is not the same show as season 1. I absolutely fell in love with the first season. It was methodical, well crafted, clever, had depth and was even emotional. I compared the first season of this show with the very best of Futurama. A perfect balance of humour, sci-fi, drama etc. The animation and score were also absolutely on point in the first season and was alluring...

This episode felt like what happens to a show that has been running for 8+ seasons. The animation looked MUCH lazier, the score was almost non existent, the pacing was god awful, the humour was very forced and the new characters had very little appeal and appeared extremely lazy. It feels like a complete different show. As I stated the first season had a theme to it. The continuity and fluidity felt different. Now it just feels and looks like a run of the mill show. Forced zingers and one-liners, the pacing is way too rapid and non engaging, the animation looks sloppy and the show seems to have already turned into a caricature of itself. Usually it takes many seasons for a show to dip in quality to this extent. Very strange and disappointing as far as I'm concerned. I had hopes for this series. At least the first season stands on it's own and can be viewed by itself.

Episode was weird but it's a season starter and it served stating the purpose quite well. Now we have a path to follow.

But one thing bothers me - too many characters. Adding 4 characters to the episode 1 seems like a bad move and it will dilute the drama by "necessary" introductions. I mean, they are no Hanks. One is technically not new and the other one is a ship, but well. Still too many.

Gary's character is not the same guy that we loved from season one. What happened? Almost as if someone new was doing the voice. Please get better. Other characters were good.

As a season opener, I feel it does what it intends to do. Introduce the new characters, set up the main plot for the season, reunite og characters and continue the story. However, it could've been done better. At times the jokes feel quite forced like having 'zingers' for the sake of comedy. It didn't seem natural at some points. As well as the pacing. I felt was a little too fast, it was skipping from plot point to plot point quickly and the reunions seemingly were sped through except for KVN, but it can be overlooked. Although, the animation has improved in my opinion, seeming more fluid and interesting to look at. I'm excited for the rest of the season and what it has to offer. I personally think, it's a decent 7.5 but leaning more to an 8 for the episode.

I had such high hopes for this show. The first season was so good. Sadly the first episode of this season didn't quite hit the same sweet spot with the comedy and the plot. I hope this gets better and this episode is just a small hiccup.