Stars: 4/5
For a show set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where humans forced themselves into underground “burrows” leaving tribes of bloodthirsty mutants roaming the surface, “Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts” is entirely kid-friendly, deceivingly innocent and, at times, feels like a musical set in a well-developed fever dream.
The show follows a gang of humans and mutants, though the world refers to them as “mutes,” with zero common goals. The protagonist Kipo is a member of a burrow who emerged from a sewer and causes problems Wolf, the only capable fighter in the crew, dwelled on the surface her whole young life.
She is helping Kipo so that she can stop helping her. The musically inclined duo that bring a lot of the show’s killer soundtrack in play, Benson (human) and Dave (mutant bug) initially try to con Kipo and Wolf and end up helping them because … yes.
The childlike nature of the series makes itself known immediately through bits of cheesy, intentionally PG dialogue and the titular protagonist’s proclivity toward cute animals, but make no mistake. Everything violently hates humans with little room for ambiguity. If the present and dangerous enemy doesn’t kill them on impact, it’s planning to give them to something worse.
The tone is remarkably similar to “Adventure Time,” though with a touch more stress and far more linear as Kipo’s goal of finding/saving her dad and, if she has time, the rest of her civilization, is time-sensitive compared to Finn and Jake’s nonchalant wandering.
The downside to creating a realistically dangerous world ruled by battling factions is that the driving source of conflict feels a bit stagnant. While Kipo and company maintains the ultimate goal of getting Kipo to her human homeland, it sometimes feels like the conflict and plothappento the group instead of the characters and their interactions stimulating the world.
Of course, in classic animated children’s show fashion, Kipo always manages to get them out of their present bind by employing equal parts naivete and wit. Apart from those lucky instances, it’s hard to not feel that Kipo is a liability and the third most interesting character in her group of five, if we include Mandu, the mutated pig. For most of the show, she is a squishy meatbag (human) that can’t fight and is clueless on the surface wasteland.
Semi-spoiler alert: viewers get a taste that this does not remain the case, though elaboration is sure to come in the inevitable season two.
The incredibly original (if childish) take on a post-apocalyptic wasteland/playground is enough to justify a watch, even to quietly chuckle at the abundance of creative mutant groups. The soundtrack is deceivingly fire. I put “Yumyan Hammerpaw” in my workout playlist. Though it’s likely by design, Kipo’s tendency to get her crew in terrible situations and her luck in getting them out is a frustrating cycle.
