Watching Miraculous 3: "The Pharaoh"

My neighbours – who are good people, I must here stress – have decided that a nice sunny afternoon is a lovely time to do various noisy DIY things in their back gardens. Instead of quiet fantasies of how nice it would be if they experienced a sudden power cut lasting, ooh, three weeks or so I am instead watching the next episode of Miraculous for your delight and delectation. So...

S1E03: The Pharaoh

"But I thought Cushion Cat would protect me!"

The one with mummies. Lots of mummies.

Alya's mildly worrying devotion to her Ladyblog appears for the first time here. So does the Louvre. And so too does the confusion about these kids' ages: Alya says a book is for tenth-graders (age 15 or so), the original French has them a year younger. French wins, bien sûr. Meanwhile, in the museum, a "priceless historical object" is sitting around in the open. More of a concern is the villain, though, actually a pretty good one. "Tut, give me time!" as we've all said from, well, time to time. In an exciting new development, in this episode it's Alya being an idiot. She calls up Ladybug to casually mention that she, Alya, is the sacrificial offering to the Sun God Ra. She's a bit annoyed when rejected in favour of Ladybug. A first hint of something bigger going on, too, with the revelation that Ladybugs have existed for 5,000 years – and that Tikki has watched over all of them. Whether she's seen another with Marinette's utter denseness is an interesting point. Still, easily the best episode of the three so far. You know, this show might turn out okay!

Quote: Hawk Moth: "There's nothing wrong with living out a fantasy. Especially when I can make it a reality." MC Hawk Moth freestyling like a boss there.

Next up, "Lady Wifi". I suppose that's like Lady Gaga but with more data security issues.

Watching Miraculous 2: "The Bubbler"

Hello there, everyone, it's me again. You were expecting maybe Federico da Montefeltro or Catherine the Great? Sorry to disappoint if so. Anyway...

S1E02: The Bubbler

I mean, I had to include at least one unironic "Pound it!"

The one with birthday Camembert

And today we get to meet Chloé. Oh joy. Oh what bounteous rapture. Poor downtrodden Sabrina. Let's hope she gets her own back... eventually. Meanwhile, Marinette is still being an idiot and Alya is getting rather fed up. Who can blame her? We get to see Adrien's fortress-like house near the Eiffel Tower (natch), and this brings us to Party Animal Nino. After being snapped at by Dear Ol' Monsieur Agreste, he gets akumatised. That means "no more adults [and] total freedom", because he's put them in bubbles and sent them off to outer space. Obviously. Amazingly, akumatised Nino sometimes manages to speak several entire sentences without adding "dude", which just underlines Hawk Moth's power level. He also says, "Let's get this party started!" so clearly he can even channel Pinkie Pie. Now that's impressive. At the party are a bunch of kids who are presumably Marinette's schoolfriends, though not one of them seems to have a name yet. We find out that some of Ladybug's powers are time-limited, though her Powers of Convenient Exposition are not. The "kids need adults" moral (spoken verbatim by Ladybug) is clunky, and the scarf thing is not very interesting, but oh well. Not a great episode, but again it did enough to keep me watching.

Quote: Alya to Marinette: "Urgh... girl, girl, girl." We know the feeling, Alya.

Next up, "The Pharaoh". Will Adrien strike a pose on a Cadillac?

Watching Miraculous 1: "Stormy Weather"

If by some miracle there's anyone here who was around two years ago, you'll remember that I started a rewatch series. I'm doing that again now, but this time I want to keep it going for more than four or five posts! In fact, my intent is to rewatch all the main-series episodes, and probably the main specials (eg the Christmas musical) as well. A word of advice, though: don't expect me to take this show too seriously! Right, off we go...

S1E01: Stormy Weather

Paris is not renowned for its residents' parking skills

The one with feline night vision 

Well, isn't this exciting? A brand new cartoon show! I wonder what it will be like. Anyway, this opening episode makes a reasonably good fist of setting a tone and grabbing its viewers' attention, though there are one or two spots (Spots! Geddit?) where you can tell the production team are still finding their way a bit. There's a lot of stuff in the opening credits that intrigues – not least "Who are all those characters? And the little flying creatures?" A nice catchy tune and the very prominent Eiffel Tower makes it clear we'll be in Paris. Makes a change from Kansas, I suppose.

So, we have a girl called Marinette (who wants to be a fashion designer) who really fancies a boy named Adrien from her class (who is a famous model. What is this, Sweet Valley High?) but is too embarrassed to tell him. Her best friend Alya apparently exists to tell her she's an idiot, at which she clearly has some experience. Marinette is also superhero Ladybug and Adrien is superhero Cat Noir, but despite their powers they are both too brainless to recognise each other's voices. Well, that's an excellent sign, then. Oh, and the boy makes terrible puns. Clearly beating this butterfly-fondling Hawk Moth character will be a doddle. Right?

Oh yeah, this episode's actual story... weather. Nothing that original, but it's mildly amusing and watchable, at least. I suppose this episode really just serves to show us how akumatisation, lucky charms etc work. Serviceable as an opener.

Quote: Marinette: "I love hamsters!" Unusual choice of sandwich filling, M...

Next up, "The Bubbler". That should go with a pop.

Hey look, I still exist!

It's almost two years since I wrote anything on this blog, but you know what? I'd rather like to have another go at a rewatch of at least the main-series episodes, plus the major specials like the Christmas one and the New York one. If I actually get round to it, you should expect the not-taking-this-too-seriously tone I used in my previous reviews. I mean, at heart this show is silly, and I think I should celebrate that!

Heaven knows when (or even whether) I'll get to see Season 4 over here in the good ol' U of K, but I'll try to cross that bridge when I come to it.