So here's a fine detail I've noticed in Climatiqueen today.
You know how Adrien was constantly carried by car from S1-S5?, right?
The car is in continuity with how his life was at home. It protects, shields him, but also it is also very isolating from whatever is going on in the street.
And another thing : Adrien is also not at the wheel. He is being driven to where his father decide he needs to be or go. Giving him little to no agency nor liberty.
Now that his father is gone, Climatiqueen starts off where he has at lost to what to do or where to go. But to go to school, we see, he rides with Marinette who is still the one driving.
Sure, a scooter is not a car. Adrien has now more access to the outside world. Less physical barriers at the very least. Even the manor's gates are not shut in anymore. People on the street can see and better interact with him. Another advantage is that a scooter has also more movement and flexibility than a car on the road. But even so, at the very beginning of S6, we see Adrien is still very much relying on others to guide him because he is not used to his own agency yet.
The transportation mode might have changed, but he is still a passenger... until the end of the episode.
Adrien go home by himself.
Mind you, it's not the first time Adrien is not being transported.
Adrien walked to school in the Origins episode. He walks and use public transport when he is trying to ditch Gabriel's surveillance when he wants to go watch a movie (Puppeteer, Gorizilla). And after a dispute with his father (Collusion) or when he tries to leave the car because he wants to stay in Paris (Revolution)
So, Adrien walking is a recurring theme for his character. It's a symbol on how Adrien is making a decision for himself.
What Climatiqueen introduces however is showing him heading home, but as he approached the gates, he instead continues his way and starts running. He doesn't know where he will go from this point, but that doesn't stop him. He wants to get away from the family manor. From everything reminding him of his father.
Then enters Sublime. Who also guides him to show him spots where he can take a breather and yes, he still follows, but this time, he is running side by side with Sublime. If he wants to take a turn, he can. More so than he is was behind her and following her lead.
In other words, at the end of Climatiqueen, Adrien is not a passenger anymore. He too is now at the "wheel".
Watching this episode made me feel bad that Daddycop was the first episode I watched of Season six.
The fact that stormy weather was the first villain we ever see in miraculous and now the first villain to introduce us into this miraculous world, is not lost on me. The only thing that could’ve topped this, is a Mr. Pigeon episode (or a Mr. Banana one lol)
I think that the new set up for miraculous phones (Zoo) kinda reminds me of icarly where they had the pear phones. The spider verse does this too, where there’s subtle hints that the world we’re watching is technically more technologically advanced than the world we live in now, but they don’t draw attention to it. I like that. And I think it makes sense with the whole Solar Punk theme Paris has going on in this show.
New fave additions? First, Aglae, I am not shy about my suspicions of her (on another post) but I do think she’s an interesting character. Especially since it gives mylene a chance to show how much she’s grown. Aglae has twice as many fears as mylene did at the beginning of the show and I just feel that the addition of this new character adds depth to the preexisting ones.
But I absolutely LOVE Diane and I didn’t think that would be controversial, but I’ve seen so many posts critical about her appearance in the show. She’s supposed to be lucky and her charm is literally a clover 🍀 she’s so cute! She doesn’t have to try but she gets everything right practically in the first go! I’d love to see more of her and maybe her in a superhero position as well? 👀
Overall I think this episode was the best introduction that season six could’ve possibly had!
So, as usual, the episodes are being released out of order. Because why on Earth would they ever be rational and just release a season by order of episode? So, since I’m not going to wait around until all of season 6 is out, here is my review of the episode “Climatiqueen”. I might do a review per episode or I might get lazy and just do a few reviews and just do one long review once the entire…
Climatiqueen might not be the first episode of the season. Lila mentioned at the end of the episode that some other specific character will be akumatized besides Aurora, but the next episode, Illustrhater, blatantly contradicts this line.
If I'm wrong, then she likely just meant it as foreshadowing for later in the season.
If you're coming back: welcome. If you're new here: hi, I'm LAURENT 💖. And just know that the opinions you are hearing comes from a dreamy realist and skilled writer, who understands the necessity of pushing the boundaries of imagination but also believes that fiction should be grounded in the illusion of reality at least. Otherwise, narratives are irrational and unbelievable, and since all fiction is simply a reflection of the contemporary world we live in, this means that the writer has an agenda they've poorly delivered.
Please note that Miraculous is political. All medias are but Miraculous has been explicit in referencing contemporary Parisian/French issues. It does not do a good job at either.
A little exposition: I have been putting off watching Season 6 of Miraculous because I wanted to wait until the episodes come out in order so I can avoid any of the confusion that previous misaligned episodes caused. While only eight episodes of Season 6 has been released at the time of my writing this, at least Episode 1-5 are available and this allows me to watch in the way God intended. Already, I can see that this decision has paid off. I know that the disabled running girl plays a significant cameo role in the series, seeing that she was in the overall Season 6 trailer, and I can meet her properly rather than just confront with her jarring existence later in the season.
So Climatiqueen hasn't elucidated on neo-green Paris as much as I hoped. There's suggestions, but not really a big dive into how new Mayor Caline Bustier is revolutionising the City of Light or how an environment-focused, sustainable metropolis would function. Which is – disappointing. I'm a big fan of solar punk. I've written a fanfiction on how I hoped Season 6 would vaguely start off as, you can read Iris Verdi (2024) here, and it seems like that wouldn't happen. I hope we get to see more of Mayor Caline Bustier later on, I'm very curious about her governance.
My most significant point in this analysis, I have to say, I am not surprised by the direction that Season 6 starts off with. We may have a shiny new animation company and much better graphics, but it doesn't change the fact that the heart of Miraculous is still the same, its writers, namely Thomas Astruc, and that means the cast is going to be entrenched in the same old shenanigans we've seen recycled in earlier seasons.
Namely, the issue of Adrien's lack of identity, which has been explicitly explored for the first time in Season 4's Wishmaker but is obvious starting from Season 1, Episode 1, and continues to plague his character today. Adrien is, ironically, a very empty character. As the poster boy of Miraculous, as a sidekick to Ladybug, and now Marinette's boyfriend, his role as an escort has been the summarisation of his character, he is an accessory, nothing more. And although Miraculous tries to be philosophical, with its Sentibeings angle and the exploration of privacy invasion considering that fact that Adrien is a celebrity, it will always miss its point. Because Adrien was written to be Marinette's accompaniment, Thomas Astruc began the Miraculous world with Marinette and fleshed out everything around her, and the only way Adrien can truly be an independent character is if they break up and Adrien is allowed to explore his identity without Marinette's influence.
Speaking candidly, that will never happen. Marinette even had to tell Adrien that she cannot pick a passion for him. Adrien will not come to that realisation by himself. Thus, I have little expectation for any positive progression on Adrien's arc.
Bouncing off that point – in that Adrien remains largely the same – so does the rest of the world. Marinette's friends are still loyal and devoted to her, the Auxiliary heroes have little time to shine, and it seems the fact that the side characters are permanent heroes in name only. Chat Noir does show a little more dexterity with the way he utilised Cataclysm on the bullet train that Climatiqueen throws at him, proving that he has been training, but like Pegasé, he contributes little individually. You'd think that Chat Noir's infamous out-of-the-box thinking or Pegasé's capability with statistics would allow them to contribute idiosyncratically to the battle, making for a more colourful, exciting, and diverse action scene, but they still only hang back and move specifically on Ladybug's orders. I do not think this will change, because, again, that would mean taking screen time away from Ladybug/Marinette.
The outfits are amazing. I love Aurore's plastic cloud coat and her storm-themed earrings. And Climatiqueen's twin drills emphasis Miraculous' strong shoujo manga influence.
(Side-note: I've seen a lot fans try to excuse Miraculous' terrible writing and the worse portrayals of Adrien and Marinette's behaviour as being homages to shoujo manga and maybe that is true, but that doesn't mean it's good. Plenty of shoujo mangas are terrible. They have weak designs, nonsensical plots, ridiculous situations, and are obviously self-indulgent. I love Sailor Moon, its cultural impact is undeniable. But Megan thee Stallion is right, the narrative of Sailor Moon is absurd. The shoujo mangas that Miraculous seem to take inspiration from are obviously the ones that focus on the rich boy/poor girl with a heart of gold and the 'stalking as romance' tropes that are notorious for being dubiously ethical. It's not good. I know it's popular and influential, but that doesn't mean it succeeds in being exemplar storytelling.)
I like the new girl, with her pink hair and her clover-themed green palette. I hope we get more information on her, because she does appear to be a new side character, she was sitting with the class during their poetry workshop. Speaking of new character, who is Aglaé?? What happened to Mireille as Aurore's best friend? Was she axed because she wasn't interesting enough? There's already enough insecure, vaguely-artistic girls in Miraculous? They need more shy goths?
I don't know why Adrien doesn't have a new default uniform (although the update from orange high-tops to Stan Smith-esque sneakers is an A+ design choice), but everyone else enjoyed a major update, especially Juleka and Rose. The point of cartoon character designs is to work within the limitations of budget (they can't afford to animate a new outfit each episode, especially with expensive 3D animation) to express the character's identity. Season 1-5's outfits were already plenty expressive, just by looking at Marinette you can tell she's the sweet, pink-coded girl-next-door, Chloé is the rich girl trope, Mylène is sweet and earth-minded, Max is the nerd/geek, and Alix is the rebellious punk. With Season 6, that expression has been boosted, and everyone seems to have embraced their personalities whole-hearted and become more confident versions of themselves.
(Another point of contention, let's be honest, Adrien's character design is not strong. Just by looking at him, you cannot tell he's the male lead. Luka is also a male romantic lead, and you can also determine he's a gentle musician-type. But Adrien? You can't determine his personality quirks or even any hobbies just by staring at his denim jeans and white jacket. His weak character design plays into the fact that he's a very empty character.)
Speaking of Chloé – I heard a lot of rumours that the reason why Chloé's character continues to down-spiral is because Thomas Astruc based her off a blonde bully from his own past. I do not know how true that is and I have no wish to propagate this Chinese whisper. There is a lot of hearsay, condescension, finger-pointing, and random accusations of racism/sexism in this fandom, usually with very little critical thought behind them. Whether or not that's true, it's clear to tell that someone on the writing team does have an agenda against Chloé – she's in a different country, if nothing has changed since the finale of Season 5, yet she's still the secondary villain. Gabriel is somehow redeemed, I do not know why, a single line of remorse does not erase or even justify years of illegal tomfoolery, everyone has pretty much forgiven Nathalie (news alert: I do not), Félix is on the good side now, but Chloé – yeah, she's always be the rich mean girl. Just, saying it off-handedly: Chloé does deserve better. Just like how Adrien deserves better. Both of them are written to be Marinette's accessories, and they really need to get away from her in order to grow on their own.
More on bad girl villains: that's an interesting way to approach Lila. I've heard that Lila's villain name is going to be Chrysalis, but there's no offical recognition of that so, for now, I'm going to deem it non-canon. The multiple voices talking, the shadowy figures, it does seem to indicate that Lila is thinking about this a lot better than Gabriel had, she's much more adept at keeping her identity a secret. She also 'allows' her Akumatised victims to choose their names and she feeds them suggestions rather than harshly command them to follow her orders which indicate that she's more skilled in manipulation than Gabriel. After all, people are much more willing to put in effort when they think it's their idea. But we still don't know what Lila's ultimate goal is, what does she hope to achieve with Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous. It makes her a very pale villain. Sure, we only found out what Gabriel's goal was at the start of Season 2, but there's no need to delay Lila's progress. We know who she is and we have no need of filler episodes. We had five seasons of those. Lila doesn't even have a proper Butterfly design. You could argue that this is too to make her more mysterious, but, honestly? I think the designers just chickened out. They don't want to spend expensive animation time on Lila, time that could be used better to display the Miraculous crew's slice-of-life shenanigans, and they know that fans are going to mumble angrily no matter what Butterfly villain Lila is wearing, so they just gave up and stuck her with a purple silhouette. Not cute. Super not cute.
And the social media aspect... Oh, every new children's media just have to mention the deadly influence of TikTok. Shrek 5's trailer did it, in a way that earned them equal parts intrigue, glee, and ridicule, and Miraculous seems to be parodying TikTok with its social media app Zoo, where in-world residents can scroll down endless videos of content. Usually, depictions of social media in children's shows are awful, because adults fail to realise just how toxic and alluring that type of endless entertainment can be, they fail to grasp onto why children are dependent on it, and that greatly diminishes its impact in their portrayal. I also think part of it is because adult writers don't want to admit their own subjugation and addiction to TikTok, so they try to control the narrative by suggesting that social media can be used for good and it depends on the individual person to make the effort rather than changing the system. The system has to be changed. I don't know if this is going to be controversial and I know some people are going to argue otherwise, but Tiktok is evil. Whether it's a Chinese information-gathering spy app, a capitalistic agenda, or simply a waste of your time, it's evil.
(Personal opinion: Barbie would not be a content creator. I know modern Barbara Roberts is eighteen years old and very in-touch with trends, but glamorous, driven, sophisticated Barbie would not waste time trying to be a friend to all her fans. She can't even talk to her fans in person, which I know Barbie would hate. Barbie is all about real people, real effort. She would help the community around her, not uphold a false parasocial queendom.)
I don't think this Zoo arc is going to work out for Miraculous, their attempt at it last season, where Jalil Kudbel was shown to be susceptible to misinformation online, was lacklustre. You don't fight fire by starting another fire and I personally wouldn't bother with people who are proudly chronically-online and treats social media like its reality. If I were a writer on Miraculous, I'll make a reference to the existence of social media, you can't help it. But social media will never be a main character. I'll rather write an entire episode about the gang having a lovely picnic in the Sun than one of the gang being Internet Crusaders and changing Paris' opinion by being positive online.
Also: I am a prophet. I predicted before Season 4 aired that Adrien would have a special connection to the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, and lo and behold, in the episode Gabriel Agreste, he's represented as Briar Rose. Similarly, in one of my fanfictions (in all of them, actually, but those were implied and this is explicit), Cruel Summer, Adrien characterises himself as a poet, and turns out he is very good at poetry. I shall take this to mean I understand the source material very well, because I also predicted that Aurore will be a terrible person.
Miraculous has a habit of showing one thing and telling us another. It tells us Gabriel is a powerful villain. He is not. He is a sad, insecure, old man. It tells us Marinette is a good hero. She is not. Everyone else is simply even worse than her. It tells us that Aurore learned from her mistakes. Six seasons in, she still has not! She still seeks attention and looks to make herself more famous. Aurore is a morality character. She's there to represent a lesson to the audience – don't get jealous! Keep your eye on your passion! – and she has a gorgeous character design which makes her lessons easy to stomach. But that's all Aurore does. She doesn't have a speaking role beyond her character-centric episodes, her character model is used as crowd filler when the writers need to fill up space (she's an attendee at a fashion show, one of Adrien's fans, a mindless zombie, etc) and it's implied in one of the worst episodes of Miraculous, Climatika 2, that she's a close friend of Marinette's, close enough that they share kinship over being Chloé's bullied victims and Marinette can just walk up and share words of support with her without coming off as preachy, but she is not! Because her character doesn't exist outside of this episode.
(Also, I'm still confused about Climatika 2. Why did we need a recap episode? Did the writers genuinely ran out of ideas? It was 2023, no one needed an account of the story up to that point, we can simply log into Netflix and find out for ourselves. I suppose the episode was also used to explore Nathalie's mysterious inside perspective in particular, why she chose to aid Gabriel despite his general terribleness, but if you literally cannot display a character's motivation after from verbal info-dumping – you are a bad writer. Animation is such an expression medium and you had to rely on a paragraph of spoken script?)
In conclusion, a solid C+ if I have to give the episode a mark. It's very pretty, and I'm always excited to have more Miraculous content, but that's also its downfall. It's still Miraculous. Nothing changed.
