I was not excited for this show. I heard about the....imagery that was present in just the first episode and thought we'd need to call the FBI on it. But somebody told me to give it a chance, and I came out liking it a lot more than I expected to. It has a lot of elements that deserve more discussion in the cartoon community. However, these elements get overshadowed by flaws.
The easiest way to express my views on this show would be to split it up into "pros" and "cons." Let's start with the pros:
The intention to educate the audience. This show can be really Anvilicious at times, but they give some really important lessons about sex education, understanding and accepting your body, discovering your identity, and handling mental illness. Season 4 had some lessons about anxiety and gratitude that were really pertinent for me. Some of the funniest moments are the metaphors they set up to teach things, like the Bachelorette parody about contraceptives or the game show about the female orgasm.
The representation of specific experiences. This show is really good at nailing how puberty feels for women which isn't something I've seen often. I also love how they try to authentically represent diverse experiences of sexuality and even race, at least in recent seasons. Their handling of pansexuality wasn't great, but it came from an honest place and the showrunners apologized in a way that felt genuine (speaking as a bisexual person). Even in that episode, they nailed biphobia in a way television rarely discusses (even if their bi character is still a Depraved Bisexual, though he's still very sympathetic to me due to his crappy family). Season 4 delved into the trans experience and black experience in ways that felt very real and specific, and I felt that these were written based on real people's experiences, not somebody trying to cram something in for a Very Special Episode. Natalie was a great, charming, funny character, and Missy has always been one of my faves but her Season 4 self-discovery arc was perfect. This show feels like it addresses these subjects not out of obligation, but because the writers want to, without getting too depression, which isn't something I've seen in a lot of adult cartoons.
The characters. I get really emotional over some of these children because their experiences feel very real, even when they're blown out of proportion. Jessi's journey feels the most authentic and is probably the reason I kept watching the show, especially in Season 2. The only character I don't love is Andrew as he's progressively gotten more unlikeable and revolves around disgusting jokes, but some moments, like the late part of Season 4, give him some relatable anxiety that makes sense.
The monsters. I love the concept for this show. Anthropomorphic Personification is always fun and from Season 2 onwards they really amped up their game fleshing out the world of Human Resources. Personifying shame, anxiety, depression, etc. makes it less scary and more understandable. Some of the supernatural elements seem kind of random, but the monsters are creative, well-designed, and funny.
The voice acting. Putting aside that the kids do not sound like kids, the voices for this show are very talented. Nick Kroll tackles a good variety of characters and makes them sound very funny. Watching the table read of this show was a joy for this reason. One moment that stood out to me during that read was when Jessica Chaffin as Jessi's mom cried in such an authentic way you'd think it was a drama. Also, they get some surprising talent on this show...and they play hilarious characters.
Now for the stuff I don't like.
The adult content with the kids. I don't think this show is pedophilic - it speaks out against pedophilia several times, and it never feels like it's supposed to be gratuitous (hence why the art style looks so awkward - puberty ain't attractive). Sometimes it makes sense to show the characters acting sexual in a clueless way because it's showing us how kids don't understand sex stuff and it's more weird than it is attractive, which I imagine would deter pedophiles. But a lot of points could be made without seeing the characters' junk ourselves. I think the problem here is the Uncertain Audience. Showing tweens that it's okay to be confident in your body is important, but this show is an adult show, is it not? We shouldn't need to see these kids' bodies very much.
The romance arcs. This show doesn't write romance between 13-year-olds as if it's romance between 13-year-olds. A lot of these plots feel like they came out of How I Met Your Mother. It's not always that bad, but just annoying when the show acts like tweens take relationships this seriously (especially in season 3 with its cheating plots, which felt pretty worthless to me beyond pissing off Missy into some great Character Development). The sex content can be even worse, as some stories about sex don't feel like they remembered that the characters are children. "Four Stories About Hand Stuff" is one of the biggest offenders of this, IMO. Maybe teens do have this much emotional drama and sex, I just know I didn't when I was a kid.
Poorly paced comedy / cringe comedy. The comedy on this show is very hit-and-miss. It's pretty standard fare for an adult cartoon, but one thing that stood out in earlier seasons was that unfunny gags would go on for way too long, like that goddamn ladybug commentary. This was especially annoying with the cringe comedy surrounding characters like Coach Steve, who I've grown to enjoy for how surreal he is but I hated him in earlier seasons because of this. It just breaks up the story at times. I think the comedy's gotten better nowadays, though.
Abandoning storylines. I noticed this more in Seasons 3 and 4 but they tend to drop earlier plotlines halfway through the season and then introduce new elements with little foreshadowing. Maybe this isn't really a problem, but it's weird because some of these arcs are thus rushed to be forgotten for the next arc to begin, like Season 4's summer camp arc where Nick and Andrew make up way too quickly.
In short, while the show will understandably alienate anybody who hates the premise of exploring puberty in graphic detail, it's worth a watch if you want to understand your mind and body in a funny way. It has some issues with tone and pacing, but it gets better in later seasons, and it has some heart that really carries it through.
WesternAnimation The best of adult cartoons, and the worst of adult cartoons
I was not excited for this show. I heard about the....imagery that was present in just the first episode and thought we'd need to call the FBI on it. But somebody told me to give it a chance, and I came out liking it a lot more than I expected to. It has a lot of elements that deserve more discussion in the cartoon community. However, these elements get overshadowed by flaws.
The easiest way to express my views on this show would be to split it up into "pros" and "cons." Let's start with the pros:
Now for the stuff I don't like.
In short, while the show will understandably alienate anybody who hates the premise of exploring puberty in graphic detail, it's worth a watch if you want to understand your mind and body in a funny way. It has some issues with tone and pacing, but it gets better in later seasons, and it has some heart that really carries it through.