S3E02: "Papa Garou" ("Weredad")

My policy here is not to link to unauthorised uploads of Miraculous episodes, so I'm afraid you're on your own. But it's out there, albeit only in French right now. There are English subs, which are mostly pretty good, though.

I wasn't expecting it, but the second episode of Season Three appeared in 2018, albeit only just. It's called "Papa Garou" in French, a name which has been translated as "Weredad", though I'm not sure how official that English title is. One of my less favourite things about this fandom is its frequently cavalier attitude to major spoilers, so I'll put my thoughts about the new episode past a page break.

If you don't want to read that, then I'll be starting a new series here in the next day or two, in which I have a watch-through of Seasons One and Two, and write a couple of paragraphs about each one in the light of what we know now. "Now" will be defined as "Up to the end of S2" unless/until that becomes unsustainable, so you still won't see spoilers for "Papa Garou". Talking of which...

Spoilers ahoy!

Bang up to date – twice!

I've now completed a second watch-through of every episode of Miraculous to have aired thus far, which is to say all of S1 and S2, plus the premiere of S3. I decided to do this as it's a rather different experience watching the show when you already know what's coming. For example, I could pick up on things that I didn't know first time around, such as which villains would be making a second appearance, who was going to get Miraculouses¹ and – of course – Hawk Moth's real identity. There's a little foreshadowing here and there, too.

I thought I might find some of S1 rather tiresome this time, given that it's almost pure villain-of-the-week stuff with very little lore revealed. There are exceptions, the first being "The Pharaoh", but not many. As things turned out, though, I still had fun, as the akumatisations are generally pretty imaginative. What I would say is that S1 feels like a slightly simpler, less mature show, and there are relatively few of the big emotional hits you get later on. The balcony scene in "Glaciator", for example, couldn't possibly have worked in the first season.

I'm intending to take a short break from watching the show over the festive period, unless of course S3E02 is suddenly sprung on us! What I may do at some point early next year is begin a third watch-through – and, this time, write about it here. Nothing major, just a paragraph or so for each episode, and probably a single screenshot of something that catches my eye. Like the rest of this blog, they'll be written on the assumption that readers are fully up-to-date, so spoilers will not be marked. You have been warned!

¹ I'll generally use "Miraculous" as both singular and plural, as is the norm in the English dub (at least in S2), but there will be occasions – as here – when I feel that using "Miraculouses" makes things clearer. I don't intend to get hung up about it, so will go with whatever seems best at the time.

Review: Season One DVD (UK)

Click for better resolution

If you want to own Miraculous Ladybug from an official source, and you want a physical copy, your options are pretty limited. In fact, very limited. This is as good as it gets: the Season One DVD box set. There's no Blu-ray, and I don't imagine there ever will be. There's also no S2 box set, though I hope that at least will appear on DVD at some point during 2019. As with many things Miraculous, waiting is the order of the day.

So, is this DVD worth buying? Let's have a look. What you see above is my own copy, bought with my own money. I paid £9.99 in HMV, which seems to be the best option if you want to go to an actual shop. Amazon usually has it for a similar price. The cover design, dominated by Ladybug's face and with her and Cat Noir crouching below, is pretty generic, but there's little to complain about here. It's fine for its purpose.

On the back is the expected blurb, which is... mediocre. Although it gives a vaguely accurate summary of the show, it manages to describe Marinette and Adrien as both "high school students" and "middle school kids". Oh well, it's no worse than the show itself mistranslating "troisième" as "tenth grade" in "The Pharaoh". The blurb also mentions both Hawk Moth and akumas without at any point connecting the two. There's another pic of Ladybug, oddly looking a lot more childlike here, and the expected splash: "Includes all 26 episodes from Season One!"

 
Which it does – but there's a catch. You see, that's all it includes. This is the bare-bones box set to end all bare-bones box sets. Load up a disc and beyond the usual choices of playing everything or picking your episode, the only other option is to choose between 5.1 and 2.0 audio. There's no French audio. There are no subtitles, English or otherwise. There are no music videos, no making-ofs, no interviews... not even a basic photo gallery.

Open up the box and what you see is... well, not much. Four DVDs, which I will grant are pleasantly colourful and easy to tell apart. But if you were hoping for any inserts such as posters or stickers, you're going to be disappointed. Discs 1 and 2 (red and green) contain seven episodes each, while discs 3 and 4 (purple and yellow) boast six apiece. Here's the order in which they appear:

Disc 1: Stormy Weather, The Bubbler, The Pharaoh, Lady Wifi, Timebreaker, Mr. Pigeon, The Evillustrator
Disc 2: Rogercop, Copycat, Dark Cupid, Horrificator, Darkblade, The Mime, Kung Food
Disc 3: Gamer, Animan, Antibug, The Puppeteer, Reflekta, Princess Fragrance
Disc 4:  Pixelator, Guitar Villain, Simon Says, Origins (pts 1 & 2), Volpina

Up until "Reflekta", the DVDs stick to the order you'll find in the Wikipedia ep list, but after that things change around a little – the two Jagged Stone episodes are swapped, for example, as they were for US broadcast order. Putting "Volpina" last makes sense as its story continues into the S2 premiere ("The Collector") while the "Origins" two-parter is still in a late-season spot, as it needs to be.

As for actually watching the episodes? Well, in all honesty there isn't a lot to say: the discs in my set all play fine in terms of both video and audio. Of course you only get 720 x 576 PAL definition, but unless your TV is massive this probably won't be a big deal. If you're someone who can't bear anything less than visual perfection, I doubt you'll be buying DVDs in the first place. For the rest of us, it's perfectly okay.

In the end, the Season One DVD set is what I'd expected it to be: a minimal but workable collection. I would have liked a few extras – I believe the US-spec disc does have some – so marks off there. But at least the PG rating (for "mild fantasy threat, fight scenes") means these episodes are uncut, so you get 572 minutes of Paris-based crime-fighting love-squaring action that no online streaming service can take away from you.

Spots on, claws out!

Hello. This is just a blog to give me somewhere to post stuff relating to Miraculous Ladybug. Updates will be irregular, so don't expect too much. A quick intro for anyone curious, though. I'm British, male and... well, let's just say I'm a fair bit older than the target audience for this show!

Miraculous has hooked me in a way I'd never expected it to, though the simple fact of liking a kids' cartoon doesn't surprise me as I've been a big My Little Pony fan for many years. I'm maybe not quite as interested in the shipping as most fans, watching Miraculous mostly for the inventive villains, the attractive visuals and – most of all – the ongoing mystery of Hawk Moth's past.

Oh yeah, spoiler policy. I'm going to say that anything in actual episodes is fair game – so right now that means up to and including "Chameleon", the first episode of S3. However, I do try to avoid all the spoilers you find in places like Reddit or on Thomas Astruc's Twitter feed.

Favourite character? That'd be Plagg. He's just so much fun.

Favourite S1 episode? "Origins" is up there, of course, though "The Mime" is my favourite S1 villain.

Favourite S2 episode? Hmm, tricky. Maybe "Dark Owl", especially that scene with the kwamis.

Biggest disappointment? Small thing, but I was really sad when S2 stopped using French captions on TVi and just went with generic "Nadja Chamack" straplines. The show's Frenchness is important, and this diluted it a little.

Dub or sub? Dub. I know, it's not the original, but the English works fine as a rule. Besides, the transformation phrases are more interesting in English.

Fandom involvement? Minimal. I have a few friends I discuss it with, but the spoiler risk is too high for me to go any deeper.

Merch owned? Er... the S1 DVD. That's all, folks. I'd love to have the art book, but as it's only in Korean and not available here at a remotely sensible price, it's not going to happen unless there's a Western release at some point.

And finally... kitty's name? Cat Noir. I know "Chat" is popular, but "Cat" is canon for the English version and I'm sticking with it.