Star Vs. The Forces of Evil (Cartoon Review) · 10:50am Apr 21st, 2015
My review on "Bloom and Gloom" will have to wait. I still have a lot on my mind after that annoying Relic Stages from Tropical Freeze. Yes, I played and almost completed Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze. It's a really fun game. Maybe I'll talk about it in the future sometime but with that said... It's time to talk about what's surprisingly my new favorite show.
Star Vs. The Forces of Evil
Believe it or not, I first came across this show from the CinemaQuestria livestream during the Season 5 hype and after watching the first few episodes of it, it's actually pretty damn awesome. I'm surprised that Disney XD has some good shows like Wander Over Yonder and Gravity Falls, both which are also well received and have their own fandoms. In fact, this Disney cartoon ain't what it appears to be. Remember that old saying, 'Don't judge a book by it's cover'? That's this show and boy does it show.
Story
The story takes off roughly at the beginning of the first episode. A magical princess named Star Butterfly lives in the peaceful... but mostly dangerous world of Mewni, where she grew up fighting hordes of monsters and taming wild unicorns. Yes, she's not your average Disney Princess now is she? On her fourteenth birthday, she receives a magic wand from her parents and decides to go crazy with it, causing near destruction of her town. Her parents decided to ground her on Earth in hopes of mastering her wand and controlling her behavior. There, she meets Marco Diaz, a self proclaimed 'bad boy' who is not at all bad but he is known by his school as the safety boy (IT SHOWS!). He befriends Star and after running into a group of monsters who wants to steal her wand, the two start to form a duo and set off for more wacky adventures the future holds.
Presentation
I will say this. The animation is really good and the character expressions are insanely over the top. What I like about the first episode is that it starts off with explaining what the story is about. How Star landed on Earth, how she befriends Marco, what her world is, her background. The pacing at the beginning didn't break the show's introduction but didn't feel quite rushed. I quickly got to know the main character right away thanks to her opening monologue. As of now, the show is already five episodes in and I still can't stop watching it. It's that enjoyable.
Quality
Whether you're a fan of quirky humor or not, it's definitely got some. Yeah, it's a pretty bizarre show and here's why. The residents on Earth don't seem to mind that magic and monsters exist, hostile or not. Probably, because most of the human characters seem oblivious or they just don't care. However, one episode has Star booby trapping a football field with blackholes and flaming felines and everyone panics. And the comedy... oh boy, some of the best I have seen. The jokes really fit the situation Star and Marco usually get into and the delivery is solid. They're not the kind of jokes that the writers shove in your face (not like Sonic Boom does), but they go to the lengths of delivering lines for dark humor. It seems like Disney's censors were absent this time around. There are moments where I was like "Is this a Disney cartoon?" because the show really likes to go overboard with it's range of dark themes, such as near death situations, a line about being prepared for a bloodbath or that one scene where a royal guard taught young Star how to snap an enemy's neck. The show is mainly funny though, dark themes aside, it certainly has that slapstick element and the comedy is pretty good. Now the action is the highlight. There are so many fight scenes in this show. They happen when the situation intensifies into heated battles in almost every episode. Star is an exceptional fighter even if she's still mastering the works of her wand and Marco is a cool karate kid (He certainly no Brad). There are just so many things in this show that I cannot explain but I will say this: The main title music will never leave your head. Never!
Verdict
This is a great show. It's amazing that this show could do many things that Disney doesn't. It's almost like it's breaking every rule that Disney is known for when it comes to animation. It's full of dark humor, the characters are likable and the action is awesome. It's an enjoyable show that's still expanding on it's overall universe and I cannot wait for more of it.
Final Score: 9/10
I also want to wish a happy birthday to my sister. She just turned 18 and the best birthday present I gave her is a Beatles mug.
Anyway, about the "Bloom and Gloom" review. I'll catch up to it soon but first... I've got a date with destiny... (looks at the distance.)
Not half bad of a review, although personally I'm a bit disappointed to see the animation not get more attention as well as the soundtrack.