Wakfu

The first two episodes of season 4 of Wakfu have been released.

They're free on Okoo, which is a streaming platform of the public French television. And they're on their Youtube channel, meaning that if you have a VPN and locate yourself in France, you should be able to watch them.

Anything sign they learned their lesson from season 3?

I dunno, I only watched episode 1 which was a mix of "remember what happened before" and "starting the new arc", gorgeously animated as usual.

My main worry so far is the sheer number of characters (to count: Yugo, Adamai, Amalia, Eva & Dally, their three kids, Ruel, several of Oropo's dungeon guardians - Goultard, Dathura, Kali, Bump, Coqueline, Arpagone, plus obviously they (re-)introduced new ones for the new arc - three plus an old face). I think they're going to need find a way to juggle between everybody if they want the story to be easy to understand.

And more than anything I hope they embrace the more serious vibes, and don't use the kids (Elely in particular) as artificial Mood Whiplash machines again and again.

Also, sadly, Ruel's original voice actor passed away in 2017, so his voice still feels strange. Patrick Béthune was amazing.

Edited by Bexlerfu on Feb 11th 2024 at 12:50:22 PM

It's off to a good start. Characters give all the grievances out the way, and Yugo has finished the quest he started in back season 1. Now it's the wait to see what direction in store.

What lesson?

• Is the art back to season 2 levels or is it still stuck at season 3 levels?
• Is Yugo/Amalia still a bunch of annoying angst?
• Is Sadlygrove still a Creator's Pet?

Without hopefully spoiling anything, having seen the first four episodes, I can confirm it's already a lot better than Season 3.

In terms of art, I'd say there's a bit of a mix. There are certainly a few moments where they cut corners, this being mostly crowdfunded, but overall the animation is still really pretty and there are moments where it really gets to shine. There are brief but cool fights in episodes 1 & 4 that stand out, as does the latter's entire opening.

There's a lot less focus on Yugo/Amelia here, as the two are instead more invested in their own subplots with only a few hints at their romance.

Sadlygrove and his family do still get a lot of focus here, but so do Ruel and Amelia. They overshadow everyone else's arcs as they did in the last season.

I had no idea this show was still around.

The opening of episode 4 is among the best things this show has ever produced, that was a wonderful piece of animation and visual narration.

I can more or less guess in which direction this season will go (something with ties to Person of Interest or the A Better World episode of JLA), but if properly done it can be extremely good and lead to some interesting conflicting moralities. The first three episodes were mostly gardening, as in, tying up loose ends from previous seasons (you can guess this season was not really planned when they did S3) and setting up the new arcs. I count four separate threads already - I hope they can properly manage them all.

So, story by story...

• The Eliatrope Goddess story raises a ton of questions: Why was she banned? Where was she locked? Who was the dragon father of her kids? I expect that the first two answers have to do with the monsters that appeared - once again, poor guys - in the Sadida Kingdom. If they refrain from making her morally dubious - as in, if she really did no wrong, was wronged herself, and it's her escaping an unfair situation that caused the current problem - then we could have a very good story to follow
• Ruel's story I feel will be the least interesting, as it feels like once a season he has to face his greed, and then instantly reverts back to his old ways. But since it's supposed to be the finale...maybe this one will hit harder? After all, this time...I'm kinda with Harpagone if she is true to her word.
• Madagaskan the blind Cra has an awesome voice, and I expect he's here to kill either Goultard or Pin (who is an obvious expy of Jack Jack from the Incredibles down to the haircut), so he should be the most personal antagonist - and there are strong Leo Bonhart vibes around him so I hope they make it a true threat. The family has been less aggravating than usual so far, and I think that Poo is about the only member of the Forgotten that has been treated decently so far. Even though I understand why - they're supposed to be about blood - I'm still mad Kali the Sacrier got no screen time whatsoever before disappearing again.
• As for the purple, evil Adamais, they are quite clearly tied to when the Goddess was locked up. We'll know more when we learn who that jailer was. I'm not sure it should be counted as a separate thread, as obviously it's going to be linked to the Eliatropes.

So, after a timid start, it's starting to purr. Hopefully they don't waste any more time because there's only 8 episodes remaining. But the new characters feel much more interesting (and less numerous) than those we got in season 3 at least - the Goddess, obviously, but also Madagaskan and Nora.

The first bullet point's questions have answers, but you gotta look at side materials and lore.

Great Goddess was sealed away by the other gods because she populated a world with her own followers entirely. The gods are supposed to share worlds.

The Dragon father of the Eliatrope race (including their Dragons) is the Great Dragon, the incarnation of Stasis (energy of destruction). Great Goddess by contrast is the incarnation of the titular Wakfu (energy of creation).

The Eliatropes being born from a union of Wakfu and Stasis probably explains why that one Eliatrope in the first Season 4 trailer (heavily implied to be an aged Yugo) wields both a Wakfu sword and a Stasis sword.

On another note...

It's interesting that Great Goddess freed Qilby. She evidently doesn't think his betrayal of the other Eliatropes was that big a deal. From her point of view he's just a naughty boy.

Edited by M84 on Feb 21st 2024 at 10:12:34 PM

Wakfu Season 4 Episode 8 is easily in my Top 5 of best episodes in the series (counting the OV As). Action-packed, suspenseful, emotional, funny, character driven and utterly terrifying. Toross Mordal is easily sold himself as the Big Bad of the series finale in two episodes alone

Just finished Wakfu Season 4! Overall, while the last episode felt a bit rushed and could've used some extra minutes, I loved it! A great action-packed and emotional finale, to close an amazing season and a fantastic show. It might even make a few shippers happy, if you know what I'm saying XD.

Now to wait for it to be put on Netflix like the rest of the show.