oh man I still love the 2D trailer to Ladybug, I was personally very well disappointed with the 3D show despite its great animation it just seems to lack depth and is just a bit too fast paced, and while Andrien is a nice character I believe Felix would have added more tension and room for development. But overall the 2d trailer still looks so fantastic and to me Felix is still the Cat Noir
Why Ladybug had such huge potential to become something great and why it turned out to be a letdown
I put this off for a long while, because I wanted too see how far the current series, would go and if there was going to be any major development and changes but so far I can say that’s not happening. I believed years ago that Ladybug could have become the next greatest series anime-inspired western series next to The last Airbender, Voltron and another Frence series: Oban Star Racers. Sadly to say that’s not the case The series ended up becoming a generic magical girl show when it had so much potential. A lot of people will roll my eyes when I talk about how much potential the series had with its anime-trailer, when I understand that thought. This article is not meant to bash the 3d SERIES if you disagree with my points THAT’S FINE, the series itself isn’t bad but imo its just that it has so much potential. I know you cant compare a short trailer to two seasons and Its not wise to judge as series based on its pilot/trailer but Let’s look at the trailer again shall we?
The trailer
When I first ran into the trailer so many years ago, the trailer alone had my hyped. I always enjoyed Magical Girl series, I grew up with Sailor Moon, Superpig, W.I.T.C.H and Card Captor Sakura. I later on became a fan of Madoka and Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou.
Before I a going to discuss the trailer let’s make one thing clear, the series being in 3D instead of the animated 2d style is Not the problem of why it turned out to be such a let down. I find the 3d style quite pleasing and very nice to look at. The switch to the style is not the problem..anyway
This trailer alone made me very drawn to Ladybug already but why wel first let’s look at the potential the series had to offer:
A buttkicking Magical girl
Now magical girls who used their legs and fist to fight is nothing new, but when it comes to magical girls its a bit more rare. The way Ladybug fought in the trailer made the action so much more better, I was kinda getting tired of magical girls holding their toys arround and defeating the badguys by ‘’love friendship pure magic shining thing’’ was kinda getting old’’ so seeing Ladybug acting like a traditional superhero was a nice touch. She could hold out her own during a match.
This however was changed in the 3d series, sure Ladybug did fight but the punches and kicks had no more weight anymore, she defeated the badguys by using the series’s toy, just like a generic magical girl. It made the action more full and less exciting. This wasn’t what killed the show for me trough it was just something that was a bit disappointing to see changed.
What’s next? The two main characters and their relationship:
Anime: Bridgette and Felix
First we get a very very interesting dynamic from the duo in a ( pv that only last 3:26 minutes!)
Bridgette falls in love 0n first sight with Felix,
Cat Noir falls in love on first sight with Ladybug.
Felix gives Bridgette who acts almost like a (stalkerissh fangirl) the cold shoulder. When Felix is in his normal-self he acts more like a jerk, he is often seen alone in concept art too, suggesting he is more introverted and distances himself from other people. He hardly smiles and prefers the company of books. When he changes into Cat Noir however he becomes a big romantic goofball who shows more weaknesses and more expressions, he seems to smile a lot. This suggest when he changes into Cat Noir, he allows himself to be more open with his feelings and character.
Then there is Bridgette, she acts kind of like your average teenage girl in love like Cat Noir, her feelings for Felix is based on hormones, she is clumsy and kind of a goofykid. When she changes into Ladybug she becomes a cool confident heroine and rejects Cat Noir on the spot and seems to be openly annoyed by him. Bridgette seems a bit more shallow and goofy and Felix seems more like a jerk.
Marinette and Andrien aren’t like this at all, doesn’t that make them better people?
Maybe? but does that make them better characters?
Simply put: No
Bridgette and Felix would have been more interesting BECAUSE they were flawed. We could have seen how Felix would have developed and seen him change from a cold person to a nicer person, we would have seen Bridgette grow up and become more mature. Consider the endless possibilities:
We could have seen them develop their relationship and personality properly.
Maybe Bridgette would act differently towards Cat Noir when the two started working together more, and maybe her kindness and confidence would have rubbed of on Felix? Maybe Bridgette would have become distant with Felix finding out he’s Cat Noir and not happy with the way he treated her before? Maybe Felix would do his best to redeem himself for her. How foolish would Felix feel when he discovers he has been hurting the girl he aimed for.
Would he be inspired by his alter-ego to be more open with his feelings and not turn people away? Would Ladybug inspire Bridgette not to let Felix treat her badly and stand up for herself? Would she gain more and more confidence?
The dynamic relationship and flawed characters in the trailer leaves so much room for interesting development.
Secondproblem:
The main characters and their relationship in the 3d series.
Marinette and Adrien
One thing everyone can be sure is that these two and their relationship is the driving force of the series but I don’t feel any charisma between the two.
First of the series doesn’t start with the two main characters meeting each other. We already know there crushing on one another
we get to see the origins episode in the season’s finale which already kind of put me off because when it comes to friendship turning to Romance I rather they show that first. But it’s not a huge big deal. Its just that Marinette and Adrien don’t seem to such complex characters. Marinette doesn’t fall for Adrien, she at first didn’t even like him until he gave her , an umbrella during the rain and when he explained the gum-incident. Then she falls in love with him because he is kind to her. Adrien isnt in love with Marinette but he likes her a lot. Cat Noir falls in love with Ladybug after being impressed by her heroic speech and combat skills. Ladybug isn’t in love with Cat Noir but she does like him. Marinette is pretty populair, so is Adrien , they both are doing well in school and have lots of friends, Adrien and Marinette are already close friends whom get along and don’t have any flaws that really stick out. (they do have ‘’flaws’’ but they aren’t executed that well or too much.) This sounds all well and good but that’s a problem,
There is no tension or room for development
When they discover each other’s secret is it really going to be such a big deal? they already like each other’s ‘’other side’’ so what’s the drama? The stakes are a lot lower. They might be in shock when they will find out, but consider Ladybug/CatNoir and Marriente/Adrien already got in such good terms with one another quickly, it wont make sense that they be put off or be upset when they discover who’s who.
Now there is nothing wrong with relationships that started of as friendships that’s very realistic , just look at Ang/Katara, Connie/Steven and Korra/Azami. (while Connie/Steven isnt canon..yetlol) what these couples do have in common is that they had to grow before they could develop their relationship any further. Here, the characters already seem to be so well adjusted in the 3d series and get along, it doesnt seem the characters will be growing. Its more of a case of, once they know they are they confess their love and that would be the end of it....but you know I could live with that if it wasn’t for the sake that the trailer showed us.
Ladybug was going to be a more mature Magical Girl show
With the trailer released I paid close attention to the development of the series what intrigued me was how serious and mature the series was going to be, Bridgette lost her father and needed to stop criminals that were really dangerous. There are plenty of dark magical girl series but not something more in the middle, one of the creators Astruc even said Ladybug was supposed to be for teengangers and young adults. Something that was in the middle it wasn’t Witch but neither was it Madoka, it was going to be a serious Magical Girl series The trailer showed this with its dark backgrounds its fighting scenes, its flawed main characters and their flawed relationship,
Third and biggest problem: The series no longer became that complex because they wanted to focus on a younger target audience
Now this isnt a problem, plenty of good shows are targeted towards a younger audience and still good right? The creators of Ladybug however felt that along with its change of animation they also had to change the development of the characters and tone of the series because they believe the series wasnt going to be followed by children . This means the characters are a lot less grey and a lot more black and white, its probably why they got rid of Felix and just replaced him with Adrien. The creators said it was because he was an ‘’anime cliche’’ but lets be honest Adrien is a more ‘’safer’’ character for young children. It doesnt make him a bad character but you know well what I mean.
Antother example would be the series bully : Cloé
Despite her bullying status she has a lot of fans, she also has a tragic past of her mother leaving her all by herself.. so people thought there is hope to see her develop into a better character and redeem herself maybe even becoming a magical girl too. This would be interesting because as we have seen from characters like Lars from Steven universe ,> jerks becoming better people is just a very positive message and gives the characters more depth.
This was quickly all shut down by Astruc on (Twitter himself)
this was not going to happen the message was clear: Cloé is not going to get any development.
She and the other characters are not supposed to get any development, there not supposed to be complex there supposed to be characters arc type that stay the same way as they were in the beginning of their story. Now this might change if Astruc and the other staff members ever change their minds about it but they seem to believe that is not the kind of story that children want to see sadly. Can’t confuse the kids.
The series was supposed to be a magical girl series for teenagers but the team changed the tone to be that of a sitcom with action scenes (their words not mine) Which is all fine and good, it doesnt make the series by any means bad, Its just that the potential it had it could have been better it could have been great.
