HOME | DD

Description
It was only a matter of time before I talked about this show. Miraculous Ladybug has become an international sensation, airing in different languages all over the world, and I can see why. I see it as the perfect fusion of magical girl anime and comic book superheroes, blended together with beautiful CGI animation. I love it’s amazing action sequences, unique ideas for supervillans, and seeing Marinette and Adrian’s character development as the show progresses. However, one aspect of the show that some people see as a turn off is it’s formulaic structure. The normal format of a Miraculous episode goes something along the lines of: “Marinette and/or Adrian are doing something, when someone feel negative emotions and is akumatized by Hawkmoth, Marinette and Adrian transform into Ladybug and Chat Noir, defeat the super-villan, restore everything the villain ruined, and then work out whatever personal problem they were having”. However, this episode is incredible because the writers knew that after over 2 seasons of episodes with this formula, people would be familiar enough with it to understand what would happen before the villain attacked our heroes, so that they could devote more time to the problem at hand.

We start with Ladybug and Chat Noir in an elevator, not knowing who they are or what is happening. Yes this is an episode where a character, actually 4 characters, get amnesia, but it doesn’t carry any tired old “amnesia episode” cliches like their friends trying to remind them who they are. Instead, we cut to the chase as Ladybug and Chat Noir wake up and don’t know who they are. Soon after the transform back into Marinette and Adrian, they don’t even recognize Tikki and Plagg, who also have no idea who they are either. But, unlike many amnesia episodes, Marinette and Adrian piece together who they are using the contents in their wallets and smartphones, showing that even though they don’t remember who they are they are not hapless and still act like themselves. We also get to see our characters’ defining personality traits still shine through, such as Marinette’s resourcefulness and Plagg’s selfishness. This showing of competence and having the characters act mostly as they normally would is the key to keeping the heroes and kwamis in-character even if they don’t remember who they are.

But besides keeping the protagonists in-character, the amnesia brought on by the titular super-villain adds an element to the series it relies on heavily but never used to this effect most of the time: dramatic irony. Dramatic Irony is a literary device in which the audience knows something the characters do not. Sure, the major piece of dramatic irony in this show comes from the fact that Marinette and Chat Noir pine for the other’s alter ego without realizing it, but in this episode dramatic irony is used to help subvert the show’s formula. After two and a half seasons, we know the formula of how things happen during an akuma encounter, but now our heroes don’t meaning that they have to rediscover the basic beats of the episode structure the audience already knows off by heart. Marinette and Adrian even have to relearn that they are superheroes in the first place, meaning that for once it isn’t just a simple battle with the villain. They don’t even know that they are supposed to fight the villain, and when they remember that they are Ladybug and Chat Noir or how for that matter.

Plus the real icing on the cake is how Marinette interacts with Adrian. She doesn’t remember her family or her crush on Adrian at first, but after she and Adrian come to the wrong conclusion that they are boyfriend and girlfriend she talks to him just like a normal person. As a long time viewer this was incredibly satisfy to watch, for multiple reasons. Firstly, it shows what Marinette and Adrian would be like as a couple, showing that they are quite compatible, so that when they inevitably do get together later in the series it will be more believable. Secondly, it shows what our heroes would be like if they didn’t have their secret lives hidden from each other, and if Marinette was a bit more confident in her self, two aspects of the series that have been developing for its entire run. Finally, it was just so darn adorable watching them do normal, cutesy couple stuff without Marinette freaking out or Adrian pining for Ladybug alone that most fans were glad we got a little taste of what a relationship between them would be like.

As for the villain, I love how they were handled in this episode. Unlike almost every other akumatized villain in the series, we don’t see Oblivio’s transformation. This adds a level of mystery that a lot of them don’t have. We don’t even see what Oblivio looks like right away, adding more the intrigue and fear of the unknown that this episode thrives on. Plus his design of my a simple faceless figure only adds to this mystique. Speaking of Oblivio, I need to talk about how well this akumatization was handled. First, like many other parts of this episode I like how we don’t see Alya and Nino (for those who forgot, hawkmoth can akumatize two people at once with the same object) getting transformed because the audience has been watching the show long enough to understand that someone happened to be feeling negative emotions when Hawkmoth noticed a decided to make them his pawn. Speaking of negative emotions, I love that instead of the usual anger or frustration that usually gets people akumatized, in this episode it was embarrassment from getting caught playing a video game for little kids together in a closet during a field trip (yes many fans think this is a metaphor for a something they really can’t display on a kids’ show). Not only is it a nice change of pace, but every probably can think of at least one time in their lives where they felt humiliated and wished everyone would forget, tying into Oblivio’s power of memory erasing really well. Considering that the villain of the week can make or break a Miraculous episode, Oblivio himself was one of the biggest reasons the episode was a hit.

Thanks to a reminder that she left left her self with her lucky charm, Marinette remembers to call Master Fu who reminds her and Adrien how to transform into Ladybug and Chat Noir, which leads into this episode’s fight sequence. Ladybug still isn’t able to fight at her potential because she doesn’t remember her previous villain encounters (experience through repetition), but once Adrien reunites with Plagg and steps in as Chat Noir they regain the numbers advantage they begin to turn the tides. While the fight scene is bit shorter than others in the show, the real suspense had already came in the form of avoiding Oblivio, so a short fight scene gave the episode just the boost of action it needed. Additionally, I like how Ladybug makes use of her Lucky Charm object, a teapot, which she receives before confronting Oblivio. This is because knowing she has the tool and figuring out how to use it later rather than conjuring it and using on the spot like usual is another interesting subversion of the show’s formula.

Eventually, Oblivio is defeated, but before Ladybug uses her power to restore everything, she and Chat Noir share a kiss together, knowing they won’t remember getting together and that they are not a couple as they thought they were. The twist neither one sees coming is that a freshly-deakumatized Alya takes a photograph and posts it and her Ladyblog. The facial expressions and reactions we get from our heroes as the episode ends really is the icing on the cake.

Overall, this episode is the perfect example of being able to use a show’s formulaic nature to a writer’s advantage. It takes the fact the audience knows what is supposed to happen to it’s advantage, and uses it to create great dramatic irony with hour heroes forgetting the basic “rules of the show”. It also allows the fans to see something they really want to see in a humorous way with Marinette and Adrien completely forgetting why they aren’t together yet. Finally the episode’s villain and the level of mysteriousness he brings is an interesting diversion from the show’s usual bright flashy villains will still bringing that same energy and intensity they do. When all’s said and done, this episode was just what the show needed to keep itself fresh for longtime fans. As Chat Noir would say, it truly was a “Miraculous, episode”. Get it, because it was an actual Miraculous episode…I’ll just leave the puns to him from now on.

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir is created by Thomas Astruc and is owned by ZAG Entertainment.

Description
It was only a matter of time before I talked about this show. Miraculous Ladybug has become an international sensation, airing in different languages all over the world, and I can see why. I see it as the perfect fusion of magical girl anime and comic book superheroes, blended together with beautiful CGI animation. I love it’s amazing action sequences, unique ideas for supervillans, and seeing Marinette and Adrian’s character development as the show progresses. However, one aspect of the show that some people see as a turn off is it’s formulaic structure. The normal format of a Miraculous episode goes something along the lines of: “Marinette and/or Adrian are doing something, when someone feel negative emotions and is akumatized by Hawkmoth, Marinette and Adrian transform into Ladybug and Chat Noir, defeat the super-villan, restore everything the villain ruined, and then work out whatever personal problem they were having”. However, this episode is incredible because the writers knew that after over 2 seasons of episodes with this formula, people would be familiar enough with it to understand what would happen before the villain attacked our heroes, so that they could devote more time to the problem at hand.

We start with Ladybug and Chat Noir in an elevator, not knowing who they are or what is happening. Yes this is an episode where a character, actually 4 characters, get amnesia, but it doesn’t carry any tired old “amnesia episode” cliches like their friends trying to remind them who they are. Instead, we cut to the chase as Ladybug and Chat Noir wake up and don’t know who they are. Soon after the transform back into Marinette and Adrian, they don’t even recognize Tikki and Plagg, who also have no idea who they are either. But, unlike many amnesia episodes, Marinette and Adrian piece together who they are using the contents in their wallets and smartphones, showing that even though they don’t remember who they are they are not hapless and still act like themselves. We also get to see our characters’ defining personality traits still shine through, such as Marinette’s resourcefulness and Plagg’s selfishness. This showing of competence and having the characters act mostly as they normally would is the key to keeping the heroes and kwamis in-character even if they don’t remember who they are.

But besides keeping the protagonists in-character, the amnesia brought on by the titular super-villain adds an element to the series it relies on heavily but never used to this effect most of the time: dramatic irony. Dramatic Irony is a literary device in which the audience knows something the characters do not. Sure, the major piece of dramatic irony in this show comes from the fact that Marinette and Chat Noir pine for the other’s alter ego without realizing it, but in this episode dramatic irony is used to help subvert the show’s formula. After two and a half seasons, we know the formula of how things happen during an akuma encounter, but now our heroes don’t meaning that they have to rediscover the basic beats of the episode structure the audience already knows off by heart. Marinette and Adrian even have to relearn that they are superheroes in the first place, meaning that for once it isn’t just a simple battle with the villain. They don’t even know that they are supposed to fight the villain, and when they remember that they are Ladybug and Chat Noir or how for that matter.

Plus the real icing on the cake is how Marinette interacts with Adrian. She doesn’t remember her family or her crush on Adrian at first, but after she and Adrian come to the wrong conclusion that they are boyfriend and girlfriend she talks to him just like a normal person. As a long time viewer this was incredibly satisfy to watch, for multiple reasons. Firstly, it shows what Marinette and Adrian would be like as a couple, showing that they are quite compatible, so that when they inevitably do get together later in the series it will be more believable. Secondly, it shows what our heroes would be like if they didn’t have their secret lives hidden from each other, and if Marinette was a bit more confident in her self, two aspects of the series that have been developing for its entire run. Finally, it was just so darn adorable watching them do normal, cutesy couple stuff without Marinette freaking out or Adrian pining for Ladybug alone that most fans were glad we got a little taste of what a relationship between them would be like.

As for the villain, I love how they were handled in this episode. Unlike almost every other akumatized villain in the series, we don’t see Oblivio’s transformation. This adds a level of mystery that a lot of them don’t have. We don’t even see what Oblivio looks like right away, adding more the intrigue and fear of the unknown that this episode thrives on. Plus his design of my a simple faceless figure only adds to this mystique. Speaking of Oblivio, I need to talk about how well this akumatization was handled. First, like many other parts of this episode I like how we don’t see Alya and Nino (for those who forgot, hawkmoth can akumatize two people at once with the same object) getting transformed because the audience has been watching the show long enough to understand that someone happened to be feeling negative emotions when Hawkmoth noticed a decided to make them his pawn. Speaking of negative emotions, I love that instead of the usual anger or frustration that usually gets people akumatized, in this episode it was embarrassment from getting caught playing a video game for little kids together in a closet during a field trip (yes many fans think this is a metaphor for a something they really can’t display on a kids’ show). Not only is it a nice change of pace, but every probably can think of at least one time in their lives where they felt humiliated and wished everyone would forget, tying into Oblivio’s power of memory erasing really well. Considering that the villain of the week can make or break a Miraculous episode, Oblivio himself was one of the biggest reasons the episode was a hit.

Thanks to a reminder that she left left her self with her lucky charm, Marinette remembers to call Master Fu who reminds her and Adrien how to transform into Ladybug and Chat Noir, which leads into this episode’s fight sequence. Ladybug still isn’t able to fight at her potential because she doesn’t remember her previous villain encounters (experience through repetition), but once Adrien reunites with Plagg and steps in as Chat Noir they regain the numbers advantage they begin to turn the tides. While the fight scene is bit shorter than others in the show, the real suspense had already came in the form of avoiding Oblivio, so a short fight scene gave the episode just the boost of action it needed. Additionally, I like how Ladybug makes use of her Lucky Charm object, a teapot, which she receives before confronting Oblivio. This is because knowing she has the tool and figuring out how to use it later rather than conjuring it and using on the spot like usual is another interesting subversion of the show’s formula.

Eventually, Oblivio is defeated, but before Ladybug uses her power to restore everything, she and Chat Noir share a kiss together, knowing they won’t remember getting together and that they are not a couple as they thought they were. The twist neither one sees coming is that a freshly-deakumatized Alya takes a photograph and posts it and her Ladyblog. The facial expressions and reactions we get from our heroes as the episode ends really is the icing on the cake.

Overall, this episode is the perfect example of being able to use a show’s formulaic nature to a writer’s advantage. It takes the fact the audience knows what is supposed to happen to it’s advantage, and uses it to create great dramatic irony with hour heroes forgetting the basic “rules of the show”. It also allows the fans to see something they really want to see in a humorous way with Marinette and Adrien completely forgetting why they aren’t together yet. Finally the episode’s villain and the level of mysteriousness he brings is an interesting diversion from the show’s usual bright flashy villains will still bringing that same energy and intensity they do. When all’s said and done, this episode was just what the show needed to keep itself fresh for longtime fans. As Chat Noir would say, it truly was a “Miraculous, episode”. Get it, because it was an actual Miraculous episode…I’ll just leave the puns to him from now on.

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir is created by Thomas Astruc and is owned by ZAG Entertainment.