American anime series have long been inspired by anime. Some series have proven to be true classics. Others tried to copy the Japanese style but didn’t quite hit the mark. Even if they aren’t perfect, it’s interesting to look back on them.
Some of these series were a big deal when they first aired, but watching them today feels a little different. Maybe the jokes are outdated, or the animation seems a bit clunky. That doesn’t mean they’re bad series, but they definitely don’t go over as well as they used to.
“JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES” IS MUCH MORE FORMULAIC THAN NOSTALGIA WOULD SUGGEST
“Jackie Chan Adventures” is still an entertaining concept. You get to see an animated version of Jackie Chan traveling the world. He fights villains and demons while trying to find magical items. The first season was really strong because of the twelve talismans. Each one granted a cool power. This made the story feel like a grand journey leading up to a battle with Shendu. It was a great way to build a series.
The problem is that the series just kept doing the same thing over and over. In later seasons, more and more magical artifacts were added that needed to be found. It slowly started to feel like the same episode was repeating over and over.
Also, the way the series incorporates Chinese culture now seems a bit outdated. It blends mythology and martial arts in a way that feels a bit arbitrary. While this works for an entertaining adventure, modern viewers might notice it more.
THE ENTIRE CONCEPT OF “KAPPA MIKEY” WORE THIN VERY QUICKLY
“Kappa Mikey” started out with a funny premise. An American actor travels to Japan to star in a TV series. Mikey is drawn like a typical Western cartoon character. Everyone else around him looks like classic anime characters. In the mid-2000s, that was a hilarious contrast. The series used this joke as the driving force behind the entire concept. But the joke doesn’t run very deep.
Much of the humor simply consists of pointing out that anime characters behave strangely compared to Western characters. Once you’ve figured that out, there isn’t much more to say.
The series just repeats the same clichés over and over again. Anime itself has also changed significantly since then. Today, the observations in the series seem a bit too simplistic. It’s a cool time capsule from the era when American television finally began to take an interest in anime, but it hasn’t stood the test of time very well.
SPEED RACER: THE NEXT GENERATION SEEMS SURPRISINGLY CHEAP
Speed Racer is an important part of pop culture history. That’s why Speed Racer: The Next Generation got off to a good start. The series follows Speed’s sons, Speed Jr. and X, as they attend a racing school. They also try to unravel mysteries surrounding their family.
On paper, that sounds good. In reality, however, the series feels like it’s stuck in the past. The biggest problem is the animation.
The series is characterized by stiff digital movements and simple designs. It simply lacks the fast-paced, exciting feel you’d expect from a racing series. The cars may drive fast, but you never really feel the danger or the speed.
The original series wasn’t perfect, but it had a wild, high-energy style that made it special. This new version feels flat. It just seems as though they didn’t understand what made the original series so appealing.
THE EARLY SEASONS OF RWBY SEEM ROUGHER WITH EACH PASSING YEAR
There really was nothing quite like the early days of RWBY. Monty Oum blended fairy tales, anime-style action, and strange weapons. It felt completely different from other American animated shows. Seeing Ruby Rose wielding a giant scythe-gun was a cool idea. The fight scenes were also mostly great to watch.
But when you look at everything else, it’s a different story. Technically speaking, the first few seasons have aged rather poorly. The characters move stiffly, the backgrounds look unfinished, and some of the dialogue looks like cutscenes from old video games.
Compared to modern animation, it’s hard to watch. Even low-budget series now know how to hide such technical flaws. Watching the early episodes of RWBY again requires a lot of patience.
“VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER” HAS DAMAGED ITS OWN LEGACY WITH ITS ENDING
Not many series launched with as much hype as “Voltron: Legendary Defender”. Studio Mir did a fantastic job with the animation. The giant robot battles looked truly epic and thrilling. The characters were great, too. The series was even fun when they weren’t inside their robots. For a long time, it looked like a perfect reboot.
Then the plot got a bit chaotic. They tried to cram far too much into a short period of time, which took a toll on the later seasons. The ending remains the subject of heated debate to this day.
Some emotional moments were wrapped up far too quickly. Allura’s sacrifice was supposed to be a big deal, but it felt rushed. The epilogue at the end didn’t really resolve the issues. The series still has some great moments, but looking back, the ending just wasn’t satisfying.
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