Webtoon Review: Disenchantment Seasons 1 & 2 created by Matt Groening
Princess Tiabeanie (“Bean” to just about everyone) is not at all thrilled about marrying some prince she’s never met to cement her father King Zog’s alliance with another country. She’d much rather be drinking and carousing at the local inn. But marry she must, for the good of Dreamland. There’s a special gift among the wedding presents…a small demon named Luci, whose job is to turn Bean to the dark side.
Not so far away in the Enchanted Woods, a lad named Elfo is tired of the enforced jollity and sweetness of the Elfwood society. His un-elfish behavior culminates in his self-imposed exile from his hidden elf village. A naive fellow, he arrives in Dreamland just in time to unwittingly disrupt Bean’s wedding. Soon, Bean, Luci and Elfo have become something like friends, having adventures and trying to survive their fantastical world.
This series is from the creator of The Simpsons and Futurama, completing the triangle of unlikely present, future and past. Or at least a grab bag fantasy version of the past. Magic and monsters are real, most of the time, but aren’t often as effective as they’d like to be. The countryside is divided into small city-states, ruled badly by hereditary royalty and warlords.
As in Groening’s others series, most of the characters are some flavor of jerk. Bean is self-centered and impulsive (Luci doesn’t have to try too hard to get her to do thoughtless things), though she does have a bit of a conscience and dislikes that the only thing she’s good at is killing things, usually accidentally. Luci, of course, is an enabler demon, full of snark and bad ideas. Over the course of the series, he does come to care for Bean and Elfo in his own way. And Elfo is a nice guy, but he’s also a Nice Guy(tm).
Most of the first season is random comedic adventures, but a plot emerges in the last couple of episodes, and the status quo changes drastically at the end, with a major character dead and big reveals about the backstory.
The first part of the second season is dealing with the repercussions of the first season ending, then it’s time for a couple of random adventures. But at the end, a new threat comes to Dreamland, and Bean seems in no position to deal with it!
Good: The jokes are rapid-fire and if you liked the previous two series, this one hits a lot of the same kind of humor. As the series progresses, the characters start to show depth and slow growth.
Less good: Many of the jokes are gross and/or involve gruesome death, which may turn off some viewers. I’d recommend not letting the kiddies watch alone. While the characters do grow, they often forget specific moments by the next episode, which given the tighter continuity here, grates on me.
Recommended to fans of Groening’s other cartoon shows.
