So I'm sure most people who actually appreciate good animation have been hearing about this crazy looking show called Sym Bionic Titan.
I was first interested when I heard it was created by Genndy Tartakovsky the guy behind Samurai Jack and the Star Wars cartoon before it became CGI, it made me way curios when I saw the teaser Trailer.
So After watching the last episode I figgered I'd give My opinion on the show.
Well the first thing is I have to say the backgrounds of the show look awesome, I mean Genndy's style is usually what they call a "less detail more style" type of artwork but you can tell the painters took a lot of extra effort to have the feel of his art with lots of detail, making for some really impressive background effects, with is only emphasized in the fact it's a "Giant Robot" type story with many panned out scenery and many camera pans taken right out of an old school Tokusatsu show making backgrounds and landscapes mandatory!
The next thing you notice is the TOP NOTCH voice cast!
The Main characters are a Dude named Lance voiced by some guy names Kevin Thomas (nothing to special but at least he sounds pretty baddassed!) the lead girl a princess named Lanna (not a very creative name but I'll let that slide) is voiced by Tara Strong who is like one of the most famous voice actors in animation and for good reason! (I actually always mistake her for doing the voice of Princess Sally from Sonic the hedgehog) but still is pretty awesome but the kicker is the voice of Newton a Robot the main characters team up with is voiced by BRIAN POSEHN!
Yah comedian and musician (and avid heavy metal fan) Brian Posehn is doing a voice in the show and doing a really good job as well!
Now the plot is... well ...
Sadly Pretty basic, Princess is sent to another planet with a warrior to protect her and another guy for comic relief, because her planet is at war.
It's kinda generic but comes off quite good in the fact that the main characters are TRYING to fit into real life (mainly because they want to hide) and also they do a good job of preventing things from becoming another "Super Hero at High school" type story.
The Art style and animation are borderline awesome the monsters are amazingly well draw an designed, the characters are really cool looking and while the art is VERY stylized the flows really well and isn't over done, but fits really well with the Background the style is like a homage to old Hanna Barbara Cartoons, a little anime and Tokusatsu.
The fights are also a cool part of the show! You can tell the directors must have been big Godzilla and Ultraman fans.
The one thing I could complain about is...
THE CGI!
The Robots/Armors are REALLY well designed and look REALLY cool but every time they use the armors they use CGI! Yah and it really dosen't flow very well with the painted backgrounds and traditionally animated characters!
They will even go as far as to traditionally animate the Giant Monsters and still use CGI to Animate Titan making for animation that just dosen't look like they go together!
It's like the BIGGEST problem with the show, and it's a problem that plagues American cartoons, it's like if it's not a flesh and blood character (Vehicles/ weapons/robots/ bells (See Bambi 2)) it HAS to be CGI-ed and it always looks out of place!
I mean if they would find a way to CGI the backgrounds AND the monster or traditionally animate the main robots it would just look so much better
More lack of creativity is the relationship between the main girl, and the main male, it's the typical "he hates the spoiled princess (But we all know he really cares for her) and she hates him for being such a hard-nosed soldier (But we all know she really likes him) bleeeeeagh what ever...
I do find if funny how they are pushing the whole brother/sister thing because they have the same last name and every time they are "in disguise" they are referred to as brother and sister but there seems to more to that than the writers have shown at the moment.
I like the fact they leave a lot in question and don't revile everything in one episode like Generator Rex and makes you feel like you are actually learning with the characters and experiencing the world as they learn about it rather than have the whole thing plopped in your lap like an old Hanna Barbara Superhero Cartoon or something.
In short while it has is imperfections, it's got lots of style and high quality animation plus it's the first American Cartoon I've seen in a long time and have thought "Wow this is awesome!" and is a definite step in what I feel is the direction more cartoons need to go in!
