My wife was sick and got to decide what we were watching all week. So that's why I watched Supernatural Academy, the exact sort of show I would instinctively scroll past on Netflix without even noticing it. It truly is the most generic looking Netflix content imaginable, and like an Asylum movie, I suspect most people watching it picked it by accident, having mistaken it for a better known show with a similar cover.
Besides the bland title, SA has some utterly crap animation that looks like it was borrowed from The Sims games. The framing and editing is also a bit of a mess, making it harder to follow what is going on in the action scenes. Worse still, the animation accidentally misrepresents the show. When I see stuff like this, I think of budget kids TV based on a toy line, such as the Barbie movies. But SA isn't going for that audience, it is a show for older teenagers, with adult themes and complex intrigues that make it unsuitable for anyone young enough to have the undiscerning taste necessary to enjoy the show.
The story follows two twins from a magic adjacent society, separated from birth because of the dragon tattoo they both share. The tattoo relates to a prophesy involving an evil Dragon King, and any kid who bears the tattoo is sent straight to magic jail. Separating the twins was a means to keeping their tattoos (which glow when in close contact) from being discovered. Both grew up apart, and now 16, they have ended up at the same magical college, run by an evil wizard head teacher and filled with various fairies, trolls, harpies, vampires and other standard YA monsters. Topical teen issues ensue.
The best I can say is that the show is inoffensive. If you have a flu, this might be all you are after. But even those on their sick beds, watching the show through the mind fog, will recognise how amateurish every aspect of this show is. The humour and writing is poor, the lore and magic is needlessly convoluted, the drama is overwrought and contrived, and the teen empowerment fantasy is hamstrung by a narrative that wants to spend more time with the supporting characters than the boring, passive leads who seem to spend the entire show running away from something in the woods.
There's just the sheer lack of imagination to the whole thing. For example, the mid section of the series involves the heroes trying to evade "The Four". The four are identical quadruplets (to save on character models) who fly around on floating surf boards (to save on walking animations) who all dress and act like Robocop (to save on creativity). They're supposed to be the most dangerous cops out there, but the teenage heroes, being magical and all, simply kill them when they eventually become enough of a threat. Huh, so much for them.
There's better shows out there, and also better YA shows, and even better YA shows about magical schools. Whether you're sick or in good health, just watch those.
Westernanimation Help, We've Gone and Watched Your Show by Mistake
My wife was sick and got to decide what we were watching all week. So that's why I watched Supernatural Academy, the exact sort of show I would instinctively scroll past on Netflix without even noticing it. It truly is the most generic looking Netflix content imaginable, and like an Asylum movie, I suspect most people watching it picked it by accident, having mistaken it for a better known show with a similar cover.
Besides the bland title, SA has some utterly crap animation that looks like it was borrowed from The Sims games. The framing and editing is also a bit of a mess, making it harder to follow what is going on in the action scenes. Worse still, the animation accidentally misrepresents the show. When I see stuff like this, I think of budget kids TV based on a toy line, such as the Barbie movies. But SA isn't going for that audience, it is a show for older teenagers, with adult themes and complex intrigues that make it unsuitable for anyone young enough to have the undiscerning taste necessary to enjoy the show.
The story follows two twins from a magic adjacent society, separated from birth because of the dragon tattoo they both share. The tattoo relates to a prophesy involving an evil Dragon King, and any kid who bears the tattoo is sent straight to magic jail. Separating the twins was a means to keeping their tattoos (which glow when in close contact) from being discovered. Both grew up apart, and now 16, they have ended up at the same magical college, run by an evil wizard head teacher and filled with various fairies, trolls, harpies, vampires and other standard YA monsters. Topical teen issues ensue.
The best I can say is that the show is inoffensive. If you have a flu, this might be all you are after. But even those on their sick beds, watching the show through the mind fog, will recognise how amateurish every aspect of this show is. The humour and writing is poor, the lore and magic is needlessly convoluted, the drama is overwrought and contrived, and the teen empowerment fantasy is hamstrung by a narrative that wants to spend more time with the supporting characters than the boring, passive leads who seem to spend the entire show running away from something in the woods.
There's just the sheer lack of imagination to the whole thing. For example, the mid section of the series involves the heroes trying to evade "The Four". The four are identical quadruplets (to save on character models) who fly around on floating surf boards (to save on walking animations) who all dress and act like Robocop (to save on creativity). They're supposed to be the most dangerous cops out there, but the teenage heroes, being magical and all, simply kill them when they eventually become enough of a threat. Huh, so much for them.
There's better shows out there, and also better YA shows, and even better YA shows about magical schools. Whether you're sick or in good health, just watch those.