Neo Yokio

Neo Yokio

Created and written by Ezra Koenig (who f' is this guy?). And, you get to hear human-tampon Jaden Smith voice the main character. When you have the useless rapper Jaden and someone I've never heard of team up for a cartoon show, how can you go wrong?

Well, a great deal. Spoiler alert: I hate this show. I hate everything and everyone around it. I honestly feel dumber after enduring its six episodes.

The show is hot garbage if said garbage was set ablaze upon a mountain of turds. I can't completely throw the entire series under the bus. There are a few funny moments here and there. Other than Smith, the rest of the cast is impressive. (Jude Law Susan Sarandon Jason Schwartzman Steve Buscemi ) They are just not given much in the way of good dialogue and writing.

If the show is supposed to be a comedy, it misses the mark at nearly every point. If it's supposed to be a demon-catching show, it fails completely. Is it a comedy about anime? Nope. It doesn't handle it all that well either.

Actually, Dragon Ball Super is a better series that parodies anime. Plus, we already have the funny One-Punch Man for that. Neo Yokio show takes itself too seriously for me to consider this a biting commentary on anime and anime tropes and cliches.

The animation goes from being very stiff to passable in some cases. There are times when it feels a bit too Marvel Comics from the 90s animated in some places. However, I am not sure if this was intentional.

I never have seen a show so out of touch with itself and the people watching it. These characters are all rich assholes written by rich young assholes for rich assholes. Instead of telling an interesting ghost-busting (demons) show, the show is more focused on talking about trendy things that rich people wear and do. Why should I cheer for anyone given that no one is redeemable? No cares about the name-brand suits or the names perfume. We want to see a dude busting demons. They're all stuck-up assholes that no one can cheer for. We can't even cheer for Jaden's Smith's Kaz Kaan.

Speaking of Kaz Kaan, he is one of the worst “heroes” I've watched on a TV show. I cheered for Stanis from GOT more than Kaz. Stanis killed his own daughter and brother, but he was a more interesting character than Kaz. Stanis is far more likable than Kaz. Kaz is supposed to be a magician that has the power to get rid of ghost and demons. The problem with this concept is that Kaz is more interested in dressing in nice clothes and buying big name gifts than saving people's lives. Why bother with the trendy shit, when you have a compelling idea for a show?

I could have put up with this shit if the show built to something. Yet, it just...ends...without much of a resolution or character growth.

This show isn't written for normal people or even normal anime fans. Instead, this show is written for the sons and daughters of the one-percent that spend time tweeting and don't have to worry about getting a job. I care for no one in the series. I would have cheered for the demons, but they play such a small role in the series that I can't even call them the villains. Clearly, the show started out as one thing and switched gears as the production went on. In the end, we get an entitled little shit hero and poorly conceived and written anime show that is worse than even most things on Fox or CBS.

If you want to see what could go wrong on a show made by out of touch people, watch it for that reason. Give me a reason to like the main character or the show in general next time.  

Grade: F+