This week on Big Hero 6: The Series, Karmi’s fan fiction about the team proved to be a hit with everyone except Hiro, while Obake broke Momakase out of prison. And how does she plan on getting her revenge on “Captain Cutie”? By kidnapping the self-proclaimed love of his life naturally…
1. Super Deformed Hero 6
I’d seen the opening for this episode after the show’s San Diego Comic Con panel, so I knew what to expect, but I’ll state it plainly: Karmi’s narration of her story, accompanied by chibi rendition of the characters, made me giggle way too much for a grown man. As comedic as the show is, I was definitely not expecting such an overt anime parody, and I may have lost during the final shot of the sequence where “Captain Cutie” and Karmi embrace Sailor Moon style.
2. Who is Captain Cutie?
Getting ahead of myself, Captain Cutie is the name Karmi has given Hiro, because, in case you hadn’t noticed, Big Hero 6 don’t have any superhero names. So in her stories, Baymax is Red Panda, Fred is Flamejumper, Wasabi is Chop Chop, Go Go is Speed Queen, and Honey Lemon is, um, Tall Girl. I gotta give plaudits to Hiro in this episode for not objecting to the moniker Karmi has given him, despite his objections to everything else about her work: it’s nice to see an action hero in touch with his feminine side.
3. “My Body is Changing”
I really enjoyed how the team were inspired by Karmi to think outside the box, like Go Go deciding to place discs on her arms as well as her feet, or Fred and Honey Lemon combining their tech to create an enormous amount of ice. Then there’s Hiro realizing at the end that Karmi’s work isn’t all bad, and deciding to incorporate her idea of an Overdrive Mode for Baymax, which comes in handy real handy during the climax.
I think feel like the designers could’ve done more with the look of Baymax’s Overdrive Mode, perhaps adding to the anime parodies by making it look more Gundam: right now it looks like a big glow stick. You know what was an awesome alternate look in this episode though? Lawyer Baymax. ‘Nuff said.
4. Animation Assessment
Norlum’s animation this week still looked a little jerky in places, particularly the shot of Fred walking where it looked like he was moonwalking backwards. That said, there were a lot of great dynamic action sequences here, like Go Go’s pursuit of Momakase, the girls’ intense fight with her, and Big Hero 6’s escape from their self-destructing prison, and some nice character moments like Honey pulling her hair out of stress. I think Disney are smart to assign different episodes to Snipple and Norlum’s studios where their strengths are visible, and their weaknesses less so, ‘cos let’s face it, who needs a high frame rate for chibi animation?
5. Real People Fic
Really though, it gets quite weird when you realize Karmi is writing fan fiction about real people in her universe. Being a teenager with a crush on a celebrity is one thing, publishing stories about them online though? I went from hysterically losing it at Fred pondering shipping names, to being slightly unsettled at the end when he tells Honey Lemon their shipping name is Honey Zilla, and then rattling off a list for everyone else on the team. (That boy ain’t right.) As it is, I have little interest in seeing Hiro and Karmi get together when the show ends: just imagine how this would’ve looked if Hiro were a girl and Karmi was a boy. (And that’s not even mentioning how abusive she is to his secret identity.)
Bonus thoughts:
– It may sound like faint praise, but Momakase is easily the coolest villain on the show, and I’m surprised it took this long for Obake to break her out. (Maybe it’s because he only became a master of disguise last week?)
– Momakase takes Karmi to Akuma Island, the abandoned facility that was essentially Yokai’s birthplace in the movie. I get they needed her to trap Big Hero 6 somewhere scheduled for demolition, but it was such a big callback that it makes you wonder what else will be reintroduced…
