Well folks, I'm all caught up on Adventure Time to date. It's been a strange and bizarre experience, with lots of highs and lows. I will say that the writers and artists have a way about them to evoke some powerful emotions--particularly with the Ice and Fire episode, and the Simon and Marcy episode. It challenges its viewers without having to completely betray its own set-up. That said, it also asks a lot from its viewers in the first season. We are excepted to accept a lot of things on face value, and without asking "Why?". To those who say everything is explained: It's not. It really isn't. At least it hasn't been yet. Some stuff is, some things you never even thought to ask "Why" about. But most of the details of this universe are never really explained, they just are, and over time you become inured to it.
The animation in this show is fantastic, and the quality only gets better the longer the series goes on. For that alone it's a show worthy of remembering, but the story telling only adds to an already incredible show. Daring, and possibly even avant garde in a way, it pushes the boundaries of what is and is not acceptable in young adult television without ever being crude or inappropriate. Instead of luring teenagers in with fart jokes and sexual innuendo (those are there, too) it lures them in by treating its viewers with respect, and by treating them as adults. It tackles issues of how hard it can be to grow up in a big world you don't understand, how important it is to not judge someone if you don't know where they came from, and the importance of friendship. But it does this in a way that is so exciting, so heart felt, and so subtle it doesn't come off as being preachy or didactic.
That's the allure of Adventure Time. It's soulful. It's earnest. It has a confidence that many shows directed at the young teens of the world truly lack. Not just these days, but at all.
Adventure Time is a show I will likely continue to watch, at least until it jumps the shark.
Mathematical!
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