RJ Writing Ink

Amphibia Episode 1 Review/Recap

It’s been a month since Star vs. The Forces of Evil ended , and with DuckTales on vacation, Disney is without a flagship cartoon. That ends this week with the premiere of what will (hopefully) be its next big cartoon, Amphibia. Starring Brenda Song, this western Isekai follows a young girl who’s transported from our world to a world of frog people.

Considering how I like cartoons, Disney, and Brenda Song, this show peaked my interest. I ended up watching it on the DisneyNow app last Friday, and I liked what I saw. Now, get ready to hop into the adventure with me in the first episode of Amphibia.

Anne or Beast?

The premiere episode introduces us to the world of Amphibia, home to talking frogs and toads. It’s a peaceful place until one morning when one of the townsfolk starts yelling about some sort of beast lurking in the woods nearby. This catches the interest of a young and adventurous frog named Sprig Plantar, who decides that catching this beast will prove how responsible he is to his family. It turns out, though, that that ‘beast’ is actually a normal human girl named Anne Boonchuy.

Despite a rough start, Anne and Sprig are quick to befriend each other as Anne explains that she somehow came from another world and just wants to get home. Even though the townsfolk first see her as a threat, Anne proves she’s trustworthy by helping to defeat a giant Pray Mantis. In gratitude, Sprig’s Grandpa Hop Pop and sister Polly let her stay at their place while she looks for a way home. Since the mountains around region are too dangerous to travel at the moment, though, Anne’s stuck for now.

Best Fronds

The second half of the episode reveals how Anne ended up in Amphibia in the first place. Back on Earth, her friends talked her into stealing a treasure box from a thrift store, and when she opened it, it magically transported her to Amphibia. Seeing how homesick she is, Sprig tries cheering her up by taking her to the local lake, but end up doing things that Sprig isn’t comfortable with. First, when Hop Pop tries keeping Anne locked in the house for her safety, she talks Sprig into stealing the key. Then when they find a “Don’t Swim” sign at the lake, Anne talks him into going in, despite his worries.

Sprig’s right to worry, though: there’s a giant, killer snake in the lake that almost kills them. It’s only thanks to his cleverness (and death peppers) that he and Anne get away. They get home before Hop Pop can suspect a thing. As for Anne, she learned a valuable lesson from the days events.

Review

Disney did a good job using the first episode to set up the world of Amphibia. The first half of the episode gave us the main characters, the setting, driving plot, and set up threads for future stories. The real hook, though, was the second half, as it tells us more about Anne.

Everyone is thinking it, so I’m only writing it: Anne’s two friends are a bad influence on her. In fact, I hesitate to even call Sasha and Marcie her friends, altogether. We saw that they pressured Anne into stealing the box that sent them to Amphibia. Judging by what Anne’s ideas of friendship, this wasn’t the first time they did this. They pressure her into doing things by using the fear of ending their friendship with her.

Anne was right when she said that friends help each other out. A true friend, though, will try and stop them from doing something they’ll regret or could get them hurt. So I have to give praise for how they had Sprig, someone known for being irressponsible, be the sensible one. It shows character development.

Disney gives us a Greater Mystery

I think that that box sent Anne to Amphibia for a reason. I don’t know what it is, but I’m going with the “make her a better person” theory. It seems like something Disney would do. Speaking of which, the final scene reveals a major plot point: Sasha and Marcie were also sent to Amphibia. Right now, Sasha’s held prisoner in a dark castle by an unknown frog, who’s aware that there are other humans in their world.

Matt Braly learned much from Gravity Falls. He just gave us an overarching mystery, a major plot point for the season, and the possible villain, all in one episode. I’m looking forward to seeing where Disney takes Amphibia this summer.

I Give “Anne or Beast?” and “Best Fronds” a 4/5. Jump on in with Disney.

Click here to see the first episode on Disney’s YouTube Channel!

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From the blockbuster hits that the MCU has given us to the cartoons of the 90s, Marvel has done an excellent job of adapting its characters onto the big and small screens. I’d think its fair to say that our perception of Marvel’s roster is based on movies and TV shows. As much as I equally love seeing all these heroes and villains adapted from comic to screen, though, I have a favorite. He’s big, he’s purple, and he’s responsible for the mother of all memes last year.

MCU Thanos

Yes, true believers, my favorite comic-to-screen adaptation is none other than the Mad Titan, Thanos. Longtime readers of Marvel Comics will have at least heard of him, but the MCU made him a household name. The moment I saw him in the mid-credits scene in The Avengers, I knew that they were building up to something big.

We got to spend the next six years watching as Marvel built him up to be the ultimate villain, and they were smart about it. They had him operate from the shadows, only showing him sparingly as others did his work for him. Thanos got all the build-up he needed, and when he finally made his move in Infinity War, he didn’t let us down. He took everything the heroes had to throw at him, and despite almost dying, still managed to win in the end.

How many villains do you know where the villain ends up winning? We knew his actions would get undone, but it was still a watershed moment for the MCU.

Fixing Thanos’ Biggest Flaw

Meeting the hype aside, there’s another reason why the MCU Thanos is my favorite comic-to-screen adaptation. They fixed his most significant problem in the comics.

In the comic books, Thanos’ reasons for gathering the Infinity Gems (they’re called that in the comics) is more straightforward. He wants to impress the embodiment of Death. So he figures the best way to win her heart is through the gift of wiping half of all life in the universe.

If the MCU Thanos had that as his motivation, that would have been dumb. Like Dragonball: Evolution meets The Last Airbender dumb. It’s my pet peeve about the guy!

The MCU decided to give Thanos a far more realistic motivation. He wants to prevent the universe from destroying itself, fighting over the limited resources. The best part is that, on some level, I knew Thanos was right. Look at our world: too many people, yet there never seems to be enough to go around. There is, though; we’re just terrible at sharing everything.

My point is, the MCU had a rational reason behind his plans, whereas his comic book counterpart only did it to impress a girl. That’s a waste of godly power; ergo, my favorite comic-to-screen adaptation is MCU Thanos!

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