In 2012, a 2D animated, anime-esque video showing a ladybug themed superheroine and a black cat themed superhero took the internet by storm, and soon, people were clamoring for a series based on it. They got their wish...but the 2D style was dropped in favor of 3D animation, and whatever plans the creator, Thomas Astruc, had for the show were for the most part axed because the networks wanted him to sanitize it into a squeaky clean show. I like that it's become so popular with people and respect that people like it. Believe me, I want to like it more than I do. Unfortunately...there's no denying it, Miraculous Ladybug, or Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, has problems. SERIOUS problems that really hold it back from being something truly incredible, which is a shame, because it's a decent show in its own right.

One of Ladybug's first problems comes from the storyline. Two kids, Marinette and Adrien, receive magical items that contain fairy-like creatures called kwamis, who claim they're the chosen ones and give them powers and the ability to become animal themed superheroes. They have to defeat an evil man named Hawkmoth, who uses his powers to corrupt people and make them cause trouble in Paris. A cliche setup, yes, but it can be done well. Unfortunately, this is pretty much the entire plot. The episodes pretty much all go like this: characters do stuff, Hawkmoth corrupts a victim of the week, heroes fight villain of the week for 80% of the episode, purify the akuma, Hawkmoth vows revenge, characters do more stuff, rinse and repeat. Now, this wouldn't be so bad if the show had another goal it was running towards. Lots of cartoons and anime like Sailor Moon and Pretty Cure, while having filler episodes, usually do manage to go against the formula in order to fight the big bad near the end. The problem with Ladybug's take on it is that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF ITS EPISODES ARE THE SAME!!! They're executed the same, the formula is the same, the villain's plans remain the same all throughout the show, etc.! I know people complain about Pokemon clinging to the status quo like it's God, but this show takes Status Quo Is Good to a whole new level. What little coherent storyline it has can barely hold it together, and since none of the characters even THINK to TRY and find the source of all the akumas and just focus on purifying the villain of the week, the entire series is basically nothing more than a gigantic gong show where nothing really happens. Because nothing of note really happens throughout the series, it leaves the audience to wonder what we should take from it and why we should care about the characters involved in the first place.

What makes this even worse is that out of 26 whole episodes, a grand total of THREE have ANYTHING to do with the plot. Yes, only three. The rest of the episodes are basically nothing but pointless filler. You can pretty much watch the episodes Stoneheart Parts 1 and 2 and Volpina and skip the rest of the series entirely because the rest of the episodes have nothing else to offer. This might change when the second season comes out in May, but on the off chance that the second season turns out the same way, I don't see why a show that relies so much on formulaic filler and a complete lack of a compelling narrative can grab my attention.

The total lack of an interesting narrative and the show's insistence on maintaining the status quo also has a really bad effect on the characters as well. All of them sans Marinette and Adrien are woefully cliche. Marinette is the shy girl who crushes on Adrien and can't speak to him for the life of her who becomes confident as Ladybug, Adrien is a lonely rich kid who's a teen model but his parents aren't around, Alya and Nino are the typical best friends, Chloe is the annoying little snob who's unnecessarily cruel to everyone for the sake of it and gets away with everything (Oh, and did I mention she has an annoyingly screechy voice that makes your ears bleed?!), Hawkmoth is a typical cartoon villain who does nothing but corrupt people and never actually does anything, etc.! None of them develop. None of them change throughout the series, and what little changes they do undergo are completely arbitrary since the show has no real cohesive storyline to allow them to actually show them changing from X to Y. Because they don't change much, it again gives the audience little reason to really care about them in the long run.

Two of the biggest offenders are Hawkmoth and Chloe. There's no denying it, Hawkmoth is one of the worst and most pathetic cartoon villains in recent times. When there's a conflict, there needs to be an obstacle that the main characters need to get over. Villains are often thrown into media to be obstacles the hero needs to break down. Villains can be written well, but they're also prone to being written very badly. Hawkmoth is the latter, namely because he does absolutely nothing but stand in his hideout, send akumas out to corrupt people, and demand that they take Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculouses. Now, this would be tolerable if he either had a reason for doing so and it didn't last very long (He does have somewhat of a reason: his powers only allow him to give people powers, as he doesn't have any of his own. But good villains know how to get around their flaws and weaknesses for the most part). But the problem is, not only does this method of villainy backfire on him more times than not, but HE NEVER LEARNS HIS LESSON AND KEEPS ON USING THE SAME STRATEGY OVER AND OVER AGAIN!!!! What's even worse is that NOT ONCE does he even consider trying something different or, shock horror, actually going outside and doing something about Ladybug and Cat Noir himself! And before you say, "But for all you know he might not have a lot of combat skills so how could he possibly take them on?!" That's also not an excuse because good villains are proactive, whether they know how to fight or not. Villains get things done. Good villains don't just sit around and make people thwart the heroes like they're butlers and maids. Example: Judge Frollo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame Disney movie! He was an old man and didn't fight, but even when he couldn't, he could still hold his own, and his villainy comes from his complete control over not only Quasimodo, but from the position of power he has thanks to his authority in the church and in Paris as a whole! Seriously, I can write a way better villain than Hawkmoth! You want to know what's worse? In the original 2D PV, Hawkmoth was shown to be a much more threatening and serious villain. I guess Hawkmoth could have turned out better had Thomas Astruc been allowed to go through with his original ideas for Ladybug. But the current Hawkmoth? Absolutely pathetic. Also...evilize? Seriously? That's not intimidating, that's hilarious, and not in a good way! Not only is that the stupidest name someone can come up with as a substitute for corruption, it further reinforces how horribly written Hawkmoth is as a villain.

To be fair though, not everything about the show is bad. The animation is superb even for a CGI and Western cartoon. None of the facial expressions fall into uncanny valley territory unlike most badly rendered CGI cartoons, the characters designs are very distinctive and no two characters look the same, and the movement is very fluid and symbiotic. Nothing feels stiff or rigid, unlike most cartoons. Considering this show has a VERY high budget, it shows that the animators took great pains to make the show look as good as possible. Plus, many of the locations are excellently rendered, like the Eiffel Tower, the Seine river, and even Marinette's house. Even the character's rooms not only have a whole lot to them, but show a lot about their character as well. Marinette's room is colorful and bright, but Adrien's is for the most part dull and dreary, showing his loneliness and dissatisfaction with his life of being confined to his house because of his father. The music is pretty good too, but nothing too memorable. I think the theme song either should have gone on for a little longer or the song itself be rendered better. Some of the lyrics are a bit strange, like "The power of love always so strong!" Shouldn't it be "Love's always" or "love is always" instead of that? I don't know. Maybe I heard it wrong. It's kind of hard to make out.

Also, among the sea of woefully bland characters is one who seriously stands out and needs more love: Tikki. I kid you not, Tikki is the best magical girl mascot fairy companion ever. Why? Most magical girl anime I've seen have the fairy mascots act bratty and annoying, show them scolding the main characters for stupid things that don't warrant scoldings, and act plain rude and childish. Tikki is absolutely nothing like that. Not only is she calm, smart, civil, and mature, she is completely understanding of Marinette and doesn't put her down for her failures or mistakes, nor does she treat Marinette like a perpetual troublemaker. Sure, she does scold Marinette for some of the things she does, but most of the time it's always justified, and it's always done out of genuine concern for her rather than wanting to put the blame on someone else or not take responsibility for when she herself does something bad, which is a problem most magical girl mascots are plagued with even now. She's basically a mini parent, but she's the good kind of parent who is firm, supportive, kind, and knows when to put her foot down and when to take a step back when needed. Seriously, why can't more fairy mascots be like Tikki?!

I know I harp on the lack of story in this show, and truth be told, there is a story in there trying to come out. Unfortunately, the show is so heck-bent on holding back anything even resembling a story, under the impression that if it focuses so much on comedy and filler it'll lose the kids' attention. Thankfully, a second season is coming this May, so for all we know, maybe the show will get a chance to finally break out of the filler and tell the story it wants to tell. But that can also be a bit of a bad thing, as I hear Nickelodeon is pretty notorious for not only cancelling good shows in favor of garbage (Remember how they treated The Legend of Korra?), but not allowing showrunners to be in full creative control of their product. It's a shame, because the reason most anime shows are successful is because they weren't afraid to go past the boundaries of what's considered acceptable in the US and didn't talk down to their audience. Even newer Western shows like Steven Universe, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Avatar, Voltron Legendary Defender, and LoliRock, while kid friendly, have attained success through their wish to...y'know, tell a story and develop its characters! Yes, I know ML aired in Korea and France before the US, so it's not entirely Nick's fault, but still, ML has so much potential that can be explored but it's not allowed to do so due to the show refusing to leave its comfort zone.

So...yeah, Ladybug's flaws can basically be summed up like this: It's too afraid to try anything new or get out of its comfort zone! But I do like that it's becoming popular, so maybe its success will allow it to finally spread its wings. But that remains to be seen. I just hope to God the second season isn't a filler infested gong show, because if it tries to pull a K-On on me, then I'm gonna write fan fics for it and write my own ending for it. But really, if you want a good Western magical girl show, I'd recommend LoliRock, because it's more serious and ambitious and isn't bogged down by 95% pointless filler and actually has a story and characters we can care about! Miraculous Ladybug really doesn't offer anything new, nor does it try to do anything to stand out. But if you like it, that's okay. Hey, I'll take this over Uncle Grandpa, Teen Titans Go, and Breadwinners any day.

I thought Hawk Moth was a pretty interesting parallel to Darth Vader like how Ladybug is to Spiderman. After all, he is fighting his own son and neither of the two realize it. He has a way with words, since he can only get his minions to do what they want by convincing them otherwise they are useless to him. Plus, I think his goal is to revive his dead wife and it could be interesting on what they do if he and Adrien find out about each others' identities. "But Adrien...I could revive your mom and we could be a family again. All you need to do is take Ladybug's Miraculous...."