Webtoon Review: Skull Island
Years ago, Annie was stranded on an island in the South Pacific after the death of her father. She bonded with a creature she named “Dog” which helped her survive the bizarre wildlife of what she called “Annie’s Island.” Recently, people with guns came to Annie’s Island, tried to kill Dog and took her captive. Annie escaped their ship and found temporary refuge on the Once Upon a Maritime, which was inhabited by an expedition looking for cryptids. However, that ship was attacked by a cryptid, with Annie and the survivors winding up on Skull Island with some of the gun-toting people.
If the name “Skull Island” sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the home of giant ape King Kong, and a bunch of other monstrous creatures. This animated series is set in the same universe with the movie Kong: Skull Island which came out a few years back, but you do not need to have seen the movie to understand this series.
As is often the case in giant monster media, the focus for most of this first season is on the humans. “Cap” was the leader of the cryptid-seeking expedition; up until now, he’s never actually found any after his first encounter years ago. His seventeen-year-old son Charlie is the viewpoint character. Charlie’s already tired of “adventure” and wants to go to a normal college, and that’s before he is in constant danger on Skull Island. His best friend Dave is the son of Maritime‘s owner, Hiro. He’s sarcastic and a bit more cynical than Charlie, and tries to hide how bad his wounds are. These three spend much of the time trying to find each other.
Dave and Charlie team up with the exuberant Annie and Dog. While Annie’s island wasn’t as dangerous as Skull Island, she’s used to this sort of life. Cap falls in with the mercenaries and their mysterious leader Irene, who is after Annie for reasons she is reluctant to discuss. (But are fairly obvious if you’re paying attention.)
With almost everything on the island trying to kill them, the human scenes keep up a fast pace with very few slow conversational moments.
Eventually, we get an episode that focuses on Kong to set up for his battle with the more malevolent giant monster that stranded the humans on Skull Island.
Annie’s a fun character, a boisterous example of the “jungle princess” cliche (though perhaps a bit overdressed in contrast to the usual fur bikini look.) Her and Dog’s hostility towards strangers is understandable, and it takes her time to warm up to whiny Charlie and sarcastic Dave.
Cap’s good people, but at the beginning of the story is having trouble accepting that Charlie needs to be his own person and spend time learning about the world on his own. Irene’s a bit more complex, but not overly so.
Many of the mercenaries are terrible people, and it’s noticeable that the more obnoxious ones die first.
Some good monster designs, though the main enemy is a bit overdone.
Content note: surprisingly gory for a teen action series, with multiple messy deaths. The mercenaries keep trying to kill Dog even after it’s made clear he won’t attack if not provoked. Children die in the backstory.
The big problem with this series is that Season One ends on a massive cliffhanger. Season Two is already in production, but with the way streaming services have been screwing over shows, there’s no guarantee we’ll ever see it.
That said, there is a decent climax as Kong battles the other giant monster, and that’s resolved, so if you’re just here for him, this is excellent Kong.
