Welcome to Multiversity’s coverage of Mech Cadets, the animated Netflix series based on Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa’s BOOM! Studios comic “Mech Cadet Yu” (since retitled “Mech Cadets” to avoid confusing newcomers.) Set in 2075, the show follows Stanford Yu, a young janitor at the Sky Corps academy, who longs to join those training to bond with the alien Robos who’ve protected humanity from the Sharg for the past 30 years. Let’s dive in:
1. Spider-Verse Without the Ben Day dots
Animated by Japanese studio Polygon Pictures, whose credits include various Transformers projects, Pacific Rim: The Black, and Netflix’s Godzilla anime films, Mech Cadets possesses 3D animation with a 2D aesthetic similar to many recent anime projects. However, it feels like recent Hollywood pictures that have embraced that approach, because it has a slower frame rate, that in theory makes it resemble the panel-to-panel experience of reading a comic, while in practice giving the cast a weight that makes them feel more like stop-motion or live-action characters. While it’s hardly Spider-Verse or Mutant Mayhem, it’s cool seeing this being attempted with a TV show, and there’s a richness to the textures lacking in current Japanese cartoons.
2. Ni hao
One pleasant surprise is how Stanford’s mother Dolly (Ming-Na Wen) and General Aiden Park (Daniel Dae Kim) mutter to themselves respectively in Cantonese and Korean, instantly making the diversity on the show more than just box ticking. Sure, it’s not a lot, lending the illusion of depth rather than depth itself, but it made me realize how many cartoons with Asian American characters don’t reference the languages of our parents or grandparents. (To wit, I don’t recall any Japanese in the Big Hero 6 movie or TV series.) From now on, non-English languages are going to feel conspicuously absent whenever I watch or rewatch a kids’ show with leads who aren’t Anglo-American.
3. Alien Alien Robos
While I sadly haven’t read the comic, I’m well aware Miyazawa’s Robo designs were boxier than those featured on the show, which are very sleek and modern, resembling intertwined blown glass sculptures instead of the classic Japanese robots of yesteryear. It’s a questionable decision, given the Robo Stanford bonds with — Buddy — had a pretty distinctive look in the comics, and a core aspect of any visual storytelling is a distinguishable silhouette; that said, his appearance here does emphasize his eyes, which will hopefully ensure he’s an emotionally engaging character.
(Come to think of it, the Robos’ body shapes, and Buddy’s eyes bring to mind Michael Bay’s Transformers: perhaps this is what happens when a studio works on several Cybertronian stories, but not one set in that particular universe.)
4. Tsundere
As well as Stanford, a major character here is General Park’s daughter Olivia, who feels pressured by the weight of the expectations on her, and snaps at Stanford as a result. Unsurprisingly, the two Robos who come to Earth at the start of the episode pass on bonding with her, making her feel even more like a failure. Now, Dictionary.com defines a tsundere as “a character, most often female and in anime, who switches from being tough and cold towards a love interest into being soft and sweet.” Whether or not Olivia becomes Stanford’s love interest, I imagine her story will see her learn that even when you’re personally troubled, that’s still no excuse to be bitter, lash out, and mistreat others.
5. Stanford’s a Bit Irrational No?
Have to admit Stanford’s motivation for wanting to be a cadet felt underbaked: he apparently wants to honor the memory of his late father, who died battling the Sharg when Stanford was five, but I don’t see why he so desperately (and shamefully) needs to bond with a Robo to do that. Is an engineering internship really so boring if he’s adept enough for it? The way he nearly gets his best friend Ava struck off for his attempt to disguise himself as a cadet made him a little unsympathetic, thereby diluting the arc that’s also been set up for Olivia. Teens can be messy, so hopefully the next episodes will acknowledge the characters weren’t doing things for the right reasons as part of how they develop and grow.
Join us for a look at the next episodes in our Boomb Tube column, which goes live every Monday afternoon.
