WesternAnimation Shows much, says little.
Honestly, Tartakovsky's shows were always either a hit or a miss to me. I liked Powerpuff Girls, didn't like Dexter's lab, didn't like Samurai Jack either, but loved Primal. And I can't pinpoint why he has such a ratio, its not like 'every time he works with groups it gets bad'.
But I can say that Unicorn Warriors Eternal fails, hard. First and foremost, the designs are simply ugly (this is more personal, I know), trying to use a Fleischer Studios style with more rounded edges and bigger eyes. The problem is Fleischer styles with rounded designs and fluid motion are perfect for either bonkers absurdist comedic slapstick (ex. Cuphead) or completely bizarre horror situations (old Betty Boop horror cartoons). Here, since the writers want the story to be taken seriously, complete absurdist slapstick is off-limits, and since its still a series for kids, deeper horror is also out of question, they just look... ugly or something from Ren and Stimpy. Like Copernicus being a giant boiler engine with a top hat (and he squares off against foes who are much cooler designed than he is) or worse, Emma/Melinda, whom I nicknamed 'Gothy Boop', looking like an edgy character of the nineties. I really like the color palette and thicker black lines around the characters though.
It also tries to use the long sequences Tartakovsky inspired from Anime and Kurosawa, where nothing happens while showing character expressions, like Samurai Jack or Primal. The problem is, in Samurai Jack those were used to heighten tension and Primal they were vital for characterization since there was no dialogue. Here, they are over-used in scenes that don't need them, which end up making the show bloated and shallow, without even a soundtrack to alleviate the boredom. How about a literal minute of watching Seng look at a pool? Or Three minutes of Emma just going through Steampunk London? Sure its pretty, but its followed by ANOTHER sequence of Emma just going through London.
But the biggest flaw of this show is the same problem that sunk the He-Man reboot/sequel: If you're going to make a show completely revolve around a specific character, you need to make damn sure that said character is interesting and at least try to flesh out the side-characters.
Everything revolves around Emma/Melinda, and she is insanely boring. She only has two modes after being 'awakened': Angry Pouting or Sad Whimpering. That's it. Nearly all her interactions with the group are about her powers or how she wants to get back to her previous life. Sure, its sad, and sure she has reasons to be angry, but its the only thing we get from her. She is kind of a demanding jerk as well. Hilariously, she is a demanding bitch with herself!
Wait a minute, she is a bitch with floaty undefined flame-like energy powers, the whole plot revolves around her bland shallow personality? Her powers are the only thing noteworthy about her and turn her into a night-invincible foe? Oh my god, is she the fantasy version of movie Captain Marvel!?
And everyone else is insanely shallower. Edred is there to make puppy eyes to Emma/Melinda, bitch about how Emma is holding Melinda back, or order Emma/Melinda to use her powers to save the day or 'try harder'. Seng and Copernicus have the same role: Comedic walking plot devices with no characterization, Copernicus being a weird mute 'swiss army knife', Seng is a floating joke about a kid who is always stoned off his gourd and can't be relied on, since his brain only works when the plot demands. Winston is just there to act like a suicidal idiot and insert a Betty/Veronica dynamic with Edred, both pining for different sides of Emma/Melinda. They don't talk about who they are, how they feel, they don't interact with London besides blowing it up (because they are incompetent at avoiding collateral damage), even the londoners are... unlikeable.
So, weirdly, I ended up rooting for the villain, the fox lady with an actually contrasting and interesting design, is shown to not be overpowered, but at the same time quite skilled able to think on the fly... is Tartakovsky trying to turn me into a furry?
In the end, its just a show with bloated sequences, shallow characters, and boring story. Lastly Merlin is a palette Swap from Black Wolf of the movie Wizards, a literal one! Check them!
WesternAnimation Quite the Identity Crisis
Unicorn Warriors Eternal, a show as confusing as its title. Sometimes it seeks to be a steampunk mystery, other times it wants to be high fantasy, other times it wants to be Samurai Jack. There's not really any consistency on display and it only becomes more and more weird the longer you watch.
First and foremost, the first episode sets the wrong expectations. You're not getting 3 badass warriors + Merlin getting into these flashy battles with an Eldritch Abomination. No, that's just the setup for the real show which is all about Emma. That was fine, the first few episodes were nice and easy to follow because it was about Copernicus reviving the Warriors wrong(?) and them trying to get their bearings. The main antagonist appeared to be June Way, the vixen with green eyes. But then, things start to get a little screwy. Emma learns Copernicus gets busted, so the warriors have to go off and repair him, the character Otto is introduced who does literally nothing but then it's revealed or at least heavily implied that he has a connection to June Way. That goes nowhere. They go to Edred's elf village to go and fix the robot and also help Edred with his family problems. All this culminates in them fighting the Evil in the Cosmic Realm and then nothing really being solved. The last scene of the last episode is Emma making an impassioned speech about how they're never going to give up and continue their fight. That scene is hilarious by the way because while she's doing that everyone is staring at her in confusion and defeat, they aren't buying it at all.
To summarize, the problem with Unicorn Warriors Eternal is that every time the plot looks like it's about to go somewhere, they suddenly switch gears and start doing something else.
The characters are serviceable but the few who are bad are really bad. Yes, I'm talking about Alfie, he does almost nothing useful and just rambles about shit for 90% of his screentime, I think he's supposed to be comic relief but he's not funny. It's really weird. Also strange is Emma/Melinda's arc because it's unclear if Emma wanting to remain Emma was a good thing or not. Oh and Merlin is downright incompetent.
The show also is heavily reliant on a mystery aspect, but the mysteries don't make sense. The characters clearly know more about the Evil than the heroes do, so most of the blank spots in the audience's knowledge is the show holding out on us. The worldbuilding doesn't work because you're not building the world, just showing us random shit.
I can't even recommend the show honestly, because looking back watching it was a waste of time.