Reviews WesternAnimation / Ben 10 Omniverse

Arc 1 and 2

Alrighty: Ben 10 Omniverse.

Plot: Gwen and Kevin leave Ben for college and careers, so he's assigned a new plumber as his partner. A hunter Khyber hunts Ben, and he faces enemies old and new.

• What I think is good

I love the aesthetic, the redesigns are improvements (Psyphon and Jury Rigg in particular), or just as good as the originals, and the plot is entertaining. I really like the more colorful aesthetic and cartooney designs. This appealed to me so much, I went back and watched Ultimate Alien and the season of Alien Force I didn't finish. So yes, this series renewed my interest in the franchise.

Continuity Porn: I love it; all the continuity nods and gags. I'm a Transformers fan foremost, and that series thrives on continuity, so I tend to be drawn to it. I do however see some of the problems with it, at times it does seem rather pointless. On the whole, I find it enjoyable.

Malware is a cool villain with an enjoyable design and neat voice, I felt he was severely underutilized.

Rook had lots of potential to be a terrible character, I'm happy to say he isn't

• What I think is bad.

I do miss the darker tone that the previous series had, and it has some really dumb moments, though on the whole, I can look past them, as they don't get really grating (Billy Billions's debut for example, could have been much more annoying). It does get dark sometimes, but then the humor can get really stupid next time. The seriousness is dialed back, and ultimately I find that a drain on the series.

The Errors get really noticeable sometimes, (will get to that when I write the review for Arc 3).

A few redesigns don't work for me, namely Big Chill and Alien X (The silliness of that jaw really get's me).

Julie (yes, her episode was supposed to be in the first arc). I never really cared for the character but... wow, that breakup was such a... waste? idiotic way out? Convoluted mess of stupidity? Yeah, that wasn't one of the series good moments.

Also, Ben's immaturity I feel is a big character regression, that serves to make him more unsympathetic, unfortunately.

While I like the Continuity stuff, some of it get's quite glaring when it starts to contradict (Omnitrix glitches for one, really?)

• Final Verdict: I'd give it an 8/10 personally, and a 7/10 objectively. This is a series one must watch to decide if it's good.