Trinity Review: Gravity Falls, Rick & Morty and Star vs. the Forces of Evil (Overview)

In case you were wondering how long I have been away off this site. Way too long. Okay, on with the blog.

No matter where I go on the internet, My Little Pony is still a polarizing topic. I try to find new stuff to enjoy while I wash my worries away. So far, I have found these as the following goes:
-Harvey Beaks
-Fairy Tail
-and Sonic Boom.

However, I still appear to be at a loss when it comes to cartoons. TV juggernauts like Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead are still seen as highly rated shows while the shows that I listed are listed as the uninteresting category. But after watching them, it's safe to say that I found the same enjoyment for them as I do for other shows. I'm only gonna look at three today. Some may not like these shows but I personally love them and they're the reason why I enjoy cartoons of the 2010s.

Gravity Falls

I am deeply surprised at how well this show is written and drawn out. Combining the elements of mystery, horror, comedy and family, this show has it all. Now first of all, let's get something out of the way.

I don't like the new stuff they have on Disney Channel nowadays. If the company wants to tarnish what made them special with all of this unfunny live action sitcom crap then let them. Disney's animation stuff is all that I could wish for now more than ever. But they gave us shows like Fish Hooks, Kick Buttowski and *cough* Pac Man. Okay, those shows are mediocre at best but all in all, their quality seemed to be hanging on a cliff.

And now we've got this show. Gravity Falls. I LOVE IT!

The story of it is two siblings: Dipper and Mabel pines move into the small town of Gravity Falls to spend the summer with their Grunkle Stan. (Grandpa + Uncle = Grunkle. get it?) Along the way, we are introduced to other characters like Soos, Wendy, Old Man McGucket and MY NEW FAVORITE DISNEY VILLAIN; Gideon Charles Gleeful or Li'l Gideon for short. We'll talk about him in a moment. Not only do we see these multiple characters but the town of Gravity Falls is filled with hidden secrets and the lurking of the supernatural. Moving statues, Pterodactyls, a Merman, a haunted arcade machine. Gravity Falls is incredibly haunted with so many strange things.

The characters also shine in this show. Dipper and Mabel have a great communication bond together and others like Soos and Wendy are great. Stan may be a tough pickle to pick apart, but he still has a soft spot to those who are close to him. And Gideon. Oh boy, Gideon. You know why I love characters like Gollum from Lord of the Rings? It's because he's damaged and his mentality has already sunk too low in the deep end. Gideon is one of those. This kid is both adorable, damaged and power hungry. He's an incredible sociopath who wants to join together the three books written by the mysterious author who wrote the secrets of Gravity Falls. And the way this kid copes with his parents, his stability and his search for the books is downright outrageous. Take other Disney villains like Jafar and mix him together with Judge Frollo and see what I'm getting at.

All in all, the show also incorporates hidden secrets to the viewers during the credits of each episode. They'll usually have a weird cipher code in them, hinting the audience to go and use a decoding device to decipher what the message is but I use the internet. Don't have a decoding device. They give off some really out of place messages like "Stan isn't what you think he is." That's some subtle forshadowing. It really gives you more theories on just what is going on in Gravity Falls.

Gravity Falls may be the best Disney show I have ever watched. Is it better than the Disney Afternoon shows? That is not for me to say.

Rick & Morty

I'm gonna say it. Family Guy sucks. I am sorry but it sucks now. I don't care how much you worship it or say it's the best show EVAR or any of that crap. IT SUCKS! Period. I am sooooo sick of Family Guy. The cutaway jokes are lame, the jabs and cheep shots are stupid and it goes on and on and on and I'm just waiting for someone to cancel it. IT. FREAKING. SUCKS!

Okay. I got that out. Now then. Rick & Morty. One word: GENIUS! The show is cleverly written, cleverly handled and it has some of the quirkiest doctors I have ever seen. I like this show because it brings out something that shows like Family Guy or The Simpsons never could. Make me laugh. Not that The Simpsons never made me laugh. No. The show is still going strong and it still has support and I can tolerate that. (But I prefer seasons 1-10 of Simpsons.)

The show deals with a lot of things. How the universe works, the existence of a multi-verse, quirky alien races, and of course the relationship between scientist Rick Sanchez and his grandson and partner in crime Morty Smith. The crazy adventures that Rick and Morty get into usually deal with Rick trying to convince giant alien heads to not vaporize Earth, exploring the insides of a homeless person and warping through different realities. The show is incredibly focused on Sci-Fi elements and never takes a moment to get into a more serious moment before it makes you laugh at how ridiculous the situation is. Yes, the situations the duo gets into are crazy and ridiculous like going through the dreams of Morty's math teacher to convince him of getting good grades, only to encounter a Freddy Kreuger lookalike.

The problems I have with Family Guy are that it's too political, like everything they discuss always has to deal with poetic justice or mockery. Rick & Morty barely has those. They'll make jabs here and there but it's much more tolerable and funny that way.

Other characters introduced like Jerry, Beth and Summer are an okay batch of characters, especially Jerry. I never liked him that much but he starts to develop more of a sense in him. And then we have crazy characters like Mr. Meeseeks (LOOK AT ME!) and he was just so hilarious. I haven't talked about Rick. Rick is surprisingly smart for an alcoholic. He knows the universe more than anyone on Earth does and has been around it more times than imagined. Morty is your typical confused teenage character who can deal with the shenanigans that Rick puts him at risk for. Though that doesn't mean he can't tolerate what Rick does to him and will usually bad mouth him. The voice acting is splendid, especially during an episode where the voice actor of Rick and Morty (Justin Roiland) does improvisation comedy with in-TV characters.

Rick & Morty is the best adult animated series I have ever watched. If anything, it's way better than Family Guy. I'd watch that over Family Guy anyday.

Star vs. the Forces of Evil

Yeah, I've already talked about this months ago but after watching the last episode, I think it deserves that spot here on the list.

Yes, this is another Disney cartoon and a damn good one at that. Like Gravity Falls, it follows the same formula. When I first saw this, I thought it was weird and out of place. I mean, there are problems with it. But after watching more of the show I can see what they're going for. Now me, I love strong heroine characters. Is Star Butterfly a strong heroine? No. But she's not perfect. Like any other I have come across, she's a flawed heroine.

Star Butterfly is a princess of the dimension Mewni and was given a royal wand as her family tradition. However she torches her city with the misuse of her wand and her parents decide to ship her off to Earth where she can properly master her powers. She meets Marco Diaz on Earth, a laid back guy with a safety conscious and a surprisingly well handled fighter.

The friendship between Star and Marco is a good one, though they don't share a romantic connection together, they do care for each other's well being. And at first I thought Star would be a mindless hyperactive character with no personality (kinda like Pinkie Pie) but her character starts to peel layers and shows more of her personality. She's actually very honest and caring, not to mention sympathetic but at times when she's not doing her crazy hammy and goofy moments, she actually has a sensitive spot and I adore Star for that bit of character development.

Not much I can say for the other characters like Marco's parents, his friends and others. But for the villains yes. Let's talk about Ludo. All he cares about is stealing Star's wand and unleashing the ultimate evil. Yeah, that's about it. Yeah, Ludo's basically just a typical Saturday morning villain who cares about ruling the world. But he and his minions would kill Star in order to take her wand. By the time this season came to a close we would be introduced to the true villain of the show, Toffee. At first he's enigmatic but his intentions become more clearer.

Aside from all of that. The show is wonderful. Not perfect but wonderful. It's weird and wild but I enjoy it for what it is. Star becomes a strong character by the time the season ends and tone is both wacky, strange and uplifting.

And that's it.

My triforce of some of my favorite cartoons of this decade. I want to get away from My Little Pony as quick as I can and enjoy these new shows with some of the brilliant art they can offer. I've got 90s and 2000s shows as my nostalgia fuel, yeah, but sometimes it is not enough. I watch TV to have enjoyment and to appreciate the work and effort put into it. Adventure Time, Steven Universe, Korra, Harvey Beaks, Bojack Horseman, all of these shows are the reason why quality has been getting better. While My Little Pony continues to be debated by the masses there is a lot of things to love about it but I don't want to follow the show for the rest of my life and once the series ends I will find some other stuff to watch. But in the meantime I'll just stick with these three beauties right here!

Gravity Falls: 9.2/10
Rick & Morty: 9.0/10
Star vs. the Forces of Evil: 9.0/10