#ml rewatch

[pandaofsecrets]

When Marinette tackle-hugs Alya and says "You're the best!", the German dub has her straight-up say "I love you!" As in, "Ich liebe dich!", which is romantic, as opposed to the platonic version which is "Ich hab dich lieb!"

The German translator ships Alyanette, pass it on.

[shortmexicangirl]

passion really was an excellent episode. ladynoir banter, kwami swap, chat taking the lead because lady noire was too thirsty to think straight… 10/10 no notes

[calliecat93]

Five episodes of S1 to go, lets do this.

Simon Says: This was one of my favorite episodes the first time around, and I'm happy to say it's as good as I remember. Not only is it a generally good episode, but as we're getting to the end of the season, it does a fantastic job setting up for future seasons. Let's be honest, they were not subtle AT ALL about Gabriel being Hawk Moth, people were calling it from his first appearance, and this only sealed the deal. But I don't think it's a bad thing, especially with this episode doing more to show his character, the strain between him and Adrien, and hinting at his motivations, thus giving us plenty of intrigue for why he's doing what he is. This was also a good episode for Adrien, with Cat Noir getting to be proactive and more focused on his family issues that have only been briefly brought up a couple of times. Him as CN getting to yell at his father for not listening is so cathartic. The akuma plot is nothing unique and the stuff about Mari being grounded wasn't really necessary (we really didn't need a reason for her to not be at the studio, just saying), but the plot still works fine. We also to my knowledge never have any follow-up on Gabriel seeing Adrien's ring which REALLY sucks but that's not this particular episode's fault. Overall, it does it's job while setting up for later on very well and I love it! 5/5.

Princess Fragrance: Rose is one of my favorites of the classmates because of how much of a sweetheart she is, so seeing her so heartbroken when Chloe rips apart her letter right in front of her is really sad and makes me hate Chloe more. Makes me almost understand why they took he direction with Chloe they did later on. Almost. The episode overall is fine, though not one of my favorites. The whole plot with Tikki feels... convoluted and just a way to have Mari unable to transform, even with the Master Fu appearance. Which honestly, I think Fu needed more appearances to build up to the reveal in Origins and Volpina, but that's for those episodes. While I enjoy Princess Fragrance and her aesthetic in and of itself, I'm not a fan of her singing minions. I get they're going for some kind of Disney Princess-esque vibe, but it's REALLY distracting, and we have Cat Noir brainwashed again. Like... come on guys, three times in one season?! (and the sidenote, the dub's singing voice for him is not even close to resembling Bryce Papenbrook's voice, if you're gonna use a different performer for singing stuff, at least try to be roughly in the ballpark). I like the prince though, he's an adorable dork~! Nothing wrong with the episode, it does its job, I'm happy to see Rose get her time in the limelight, Mari and Tikki's bond is adorable, and it's still an enjoyable watch. But it's nothing that we haven't seen at this point, Cat Noir REALLY got the short end of the stick, the episode just kinda... ends, and especially compared to Simon Says, it's not as exciting nor does it build up for later nearly as well. It's average. 3/5.

Origins: I decided to do the two-parter before Volpina because I think Volpina works better as a season finale given it's cliffhanger ending. More on that later though.

Ladybug and Cat Noir: As an origin story, it's good if a little rushed. It does well in establishing Mari and Adrien before they got their Miraculous, with Ladybug having essentially been beaten down and unconfident because of Chloe, and Adrien desperately wanting to have some freedom and normalcy. We'd seen glimpses during the whole season, so to go back and see from he very start really puts it into perspective. I do feel the way that they got chosen was... underwhelming? Fu just puts himself in danger and picks the first two people who do anything? It works in theory, but it just feels like '...really? that was it?' and could have explored the traits that made them heroes better. Their reactions to their kwamis were hilarious, and how they each responded to their new roles fit them very well. Adrien leaps into it as he gets both a taste of freedom and gets to live out a power fantasy on his own terms, while Mari is uncertain and terrified, and just making one mistake on her first run was enough to make her give up. It's so relatable to me as someone who is always so hard on myself for even the tiniest mistake, and it really makes you sympathize with Mari. Other things like how Mari and Alya met and finding out that Ivan was the first akuma victim were also great touches. 4/5. Stoneheart: What I love here is how even with Mari still feeling unfit to be Ladybug, even sneaking the earrings into Alya's bag as she seems more fitting, she still goes out of her way to comfort and encourage Ivan to talk to Mylene. It's a moment that helps show why Mari is the one most suited to be Ladybug, for all her doubts and flaws, she is a kind-hearted girl who tries to help and support those around her, even when she feels unsuited to do so. Her finally fully accepting the mantle when Alya was in danger, and after some encouragement from Cat Noir makes Mari's relationship with them both even sweeter and shows why she needs CN as her partner, as he can boost her up when she's down. CN falling for Ladybug... feels rushed tbh, I think it would have worked better if left ambiguous here and let us see the small signs of him falling for her instead of forcing it in ou faces. The best part however, is very much Mari and Adrien meeting, where it turns out it wasn't love at first sight, and Mari thought Adrien was no better than Chloe. I mean the umbrella scene? Even after all these years it is still one of the sweetest, most endearing scenes in this whole season nd tells us EVERYTHING we need to know about why Mari fell for this guy. Not because of his looks or his family, but because of his kindness, and even if Adrien doesn't know it, him being so happy to have made a friend is just... God I still love this moment so much. 4/5.

Overall, Origins is still an excellent two-parter. There are tweaks I would make (emphasize Mari and Adrien's heroic qualities more to Fu, be a bit more subtle about some details, tone done on Mari and Adrien being meant for each other juuust a little, come on guys, they've only known each other for two days!) but it still gets the job done. While you could watch it first and you'd be perfectly fine, I think it works best watching it before or after Volpina as it really lets you see how everything became as we know it now and have a stronger emotional impact due to it. That umbrella scene wouldn't have worked nearly as well had it happened earlier, at least IMO. It does well in presenting Ladybug and Cat Noir becoming Paris' heroes, and the climax of P2 with Ladybug talking back to Hawk Moth and saving Ivan and Mylene? Yeah, Fu was right when he chose her. I was over the moon when this first came out and while it's not perfect, I still adore it~! 5/5.

Volpina: I remember when Lila was first announced/link and there was SO much speculation about her. Seriously, the headcanons were going wild, so when we actually got her... well, it didn't do the episode's reception any favors. IDR the general opinion of the time, but I think the reaction was fairly divisive, especially concerning about Lila and her lying, though it hadn't reached anywhere near Chameleon levels. I actually forgot what my opinion had been and had to dig up my old Tumblr posts, which from what I can tell I enjoyed the episode more than I did the actual fandom reaction at the time, which in that era of my life? Yeah, sounds right. That was back in March of 2016, so my thoughts nine years and several seasons later?

This episode is good... when you ignore Seasons 2 and 3.

It works really well as an intro for Lila as a character, a chronic liar who is after Adrien. It's kind of dumb since we have Chloe around, but given Lila's resentment towards Ladybug remains when even Chloe let her grudge go in Antibug, it really stands out. Lila feels much more malicious and, unlike Chloe, doesn't have the power or money to enforce her wants, so she relies on lying and her personality. Her lies are grandiose but I can see a bunch of teenaged middle schoolers buying it, especially given Mari designed a rock star's album cover just a few episodes sooner. It sets up Lila as some kind of future antagonist and threat for the upcoming season... and then she gets forgotten about until the finale of S2. Then we all know how Chameleon went when she was promoted to major character status in S3. It makes coming back to this one disappointing because the show squandered what it was setting up here, something that I think could have been avoided had they either introduced Lila later on or had put Chameleon early on in Season 2. The latter would have especially made the events of that one FAR less frustrating and would have progressed things with Lila (such as her becoming one of Hawk Moth's minions) much faster imo.

But what happens later isn't this episode's fault, and as I said, it did what it needed to do. It doesn't have the epicness that one would expect from the finale of a superhero show, but it's S1 and builds up for what to expect coming up while capping off this season. Given that S1 is a simple 'monster of the week' season, ending this way actually works, and Volpina proves a credible threat who uses her wits to nearly cause Ladybug to surrender. As far as the main conflict goes, I think while Ladybug was harsh when calling Lila out... well, she wasn't wrong either and Lila was the one who chose to lie to get close to Adrien. It's just that Mari was motivated more out of jealousy than moral righteousness, and to her credit, she felt bad immediately after without needing Tikki to even prod at her. It's a case where Ladybug was right, but went about it the wrong way, and Lila was very much in the wrong, but her being upset after makes sense. And as we know, she doesn't let this go, so stay tuned. 4/5.

...damn that was a lot. I'll do a whole wrapup for S1 later on. I hadn't planned to go full watchthrough with this, but here we are. Overall, experiencing S1 after all these years again was a lot of fun and makes me remember what had drawn me to the show. S2 was went he cracks started to form though and then S3 made me quit entirely. So will my opinion be any different now that time has passed? We shall find out.

[botherkupo]

You know it’s a good thing ml is a kid’s cartoon in a fake Paris because with all the tourists everywhere, every time the Eiffel Tower gets knocked over or destroyed would be killing a lot of ppl

[queer-dancing-fandom-nerd]

just rewatched Animan and noticed that Nino asked ADRIEN to go with him to both ask Marinette out AND show up to the date like this is my boy’s FIRST exposure to teenage crushes no wonder he invited Marinette on his date with Kagami in Frozer he genuinely thinks you can totally bring your homies on a date 😂😂😂

[into-september]

ML Rewatch: "The Pharao"

- It occurs to me that we got two Alix episodes almost back to back, and that Alix is the kingpin who is the ONLY one who hasn't got her miraculous in present timeline, and oh my god I suddenly want Alix to step up and be more than just one of the classmates. please. p l e a s e

- Everyone else has alrady done it, but let me join the club in pointing out that this episode is a summary of the meta-plot of the series

- Alix' poor dad failed so hard at raising that boy, but someone DID put that sceptre on exhibit where everyone and their toddler could just reach out and touch it so I'm not sure what he expected, and that someone was probably himself

- I realise that they're just throwing together the ancient Egyptian royalty the audience might've heard about, but Nefertiti was at best King Tut's stepmum and this entire episode then becomes the primary school version of milf porno (at worst, Nefertitit was King Tut's real mum and then this show became even more like Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles than anyone wants it to be)

- Also The Pharao being BAMF when King Tut IRL was short and sickly and was buried with a collection of some 130 walking canes because he probably never did walk without aid

- Not sure exactly WHY Jalil so badly wants to carry out a magic ritual to return a woman three thousands years dead to life, though, or what exactly is happening during this akumatisation. Is he posessed by King Tut's ghost? Just really invested in this old dead bride?

- We as a fandom do not talk enough about the fact Ancient Egyption Polytheism is proven the canonical god of this universe. That old spell is working. Whoever it was Pharao summoned there, they responded and they were seconds away from accepting Alya as ritual sacrifice in exchange for Nefertiti.

- Alya is hilarious in this episode

- We don't get a lot of Adrien, but I adored his discussing the ladies with Plagg, and also him just casually sitting by the Mona Lisa while Plagg eats. Also, he gets two transformation sequences

- The big question: why was she carrying around her history book as Ladybug, in the first place (further questions: how did Alya check with every school in the city? Why is no-one else using that textbook? the only answer I can imagine is that there was a recent curriculum change and Francois Dupont for whatever reason hasn't got around to getting updated textbooks)

- There's a lot of re-use in these early episodes: trapped in a bubble, trapped behind bars in the Louvre, LB being pulled along by flying akumas

- How come she took so long to use her lucky charm

[zenniaphoenix]

In origins Marinette and Alya are in the school library when Ivan first transforms into Stoneheart. There are TV screens in the library showing security camera footage of the front steps, the courtyard (including the second floor balcony), the principal’s office, and a single random classroom.

The in universe implications of this?!? They transform in that courtyard all of the time! Why would the principals office not be a private place? Disciplining children in front of the entire library seems counterproductive to helping them learn from their mistakes. Also there’s a supervillain who thrives on public humiliation on the loose, also how does he get away with being so corrupt in Lady Wifi when there’s literally cameras in his office?

Did M. Damocles have the security system output moved to his office when he started cosplaying as a vigilante? Did they fully remove it? Oh to be a fly on the wall in that staff meeting...

“Look Caline I know there’s a supervillain who targets your students specifically half of the time and it’s very dangerous to be uninformed, but I need to remove the security cameras for personal reasons unrelated to the new vigilante running around every afternoon. No this has nothing to do with the student who just got akumatized and made fun of me because I suspended her when I probably shouldn’t have.”

[miraculous-renoir]

Most valid akuma