Miraculous Ladybug (a.k.a. Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir). Season 2. Directed by Thomas Astruc. Written by Thomas Astruc, Fred Lenoir, et al. Zagtoon, Method Animation, and Toei Animation, 2017-2018. 26 episodes of 22 minutes (approx. 9.5 hours). Rated TV-Y7.
Available on Netflix.
See my review of the first season.
Although this is a blog about magical girls, I have always made an effort to write it for people who are not magical girl fans. To that end, I have often pondered what would make a good entry-level magical girl title—something funny, fast-paced, action-oriented, and without the saccharine quality that audiences in the West might find off-putting. I have decided that the best entry-level title I know is Miraculous Ladybug, the family-friendly CGI magical girl show out of France, made by Zagtoon in association with Toei Animation, the Japanese company that has historically dominated the magical girl genre.
Also, the show’s director once insulted me on social media, so I have a certain personal affection for his work. I took it in stride, of course: He’s French, so I expected him to be rude.
(Rimshot.)
Anyway, Miraculous Ladybug is lightning in a bottle. I can’t really describe for you how good it is, because it’s one of those shows that seems to be made on a secret formula. It gathers together various shopworn motifs from children’s cartoons, YA fiction, superheroes, and magical girls, puts them together in a blender, and renders the result into mediocre CGI. Yet somehow, it is pure magic. It works on the Casablanca principle: It is good not because it avoids clichés, but because it uses all of them.
And Rose is still best girl.
The first season was so remarkable, I wondered if the show’s creators would be able to pull it off a second time. Not only have they pulled it off, but they’ve stepped up their game. This second season is better than the first and has eliminated some of the first’s biggest problems, both technical and story-related.
Continue reading “Getting Frenched: ‘Miraculous Ladybug,’ Season 2”