Probably few expected Groening to pull a third rabbit out of his hat and create another cult series. But it is surprising that he didn't seem to even try to create some original content but just mixed well-known and safe ingredients.
Either the writers wanted to step on no toes, or they ran out of ideas before the series even began. There's no tackling of cultural or social themes like Futurama did. The result are boring late-Simpsons style jokes, but with a fantasy theme and added gore.
One character stands out: the demon Luci isn't just a mash of Nibbler and Bender, but has a distinctly different visual style from "Full Metal Alchemist". It is even captured up in a flask in episode three just like in FMA! This isn't inspiration, but plagiarism.
Viewers knowing Miyazaki's Japanese animations will immediately recognize what Groening actually has revealed himself by now: A lot of content for the sidekicks and settings were taken from gems like "Howl's Moving Castle", "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Spirited Away".
Bottom line: You can get some mild entertainment by guessing which voices and character traits are featured in Simpsons and Futurama. But better spend your time watching Miyazaki's originals again (or, even better, for the first time).
Either the writers wanted to step on no toes, or they ran out of ideas before the series even began. There's no tackling of cultural or social themes like Futurama did. The result are boring late-Simpsons style jokes, but with a fantasy theme and added gore.
One character stands out: the demon Luci isn't just a mash of Nibbler and Bender, but has a distinctly different visual style from "Full Metal Alchemist". It is even captured up in a flask in episode three just like in FMA! This isn't inspiration, but plagiarism.
Viewers knowing Miyazaki's Japanese animations will immediately recognize what Groening actually has revealed himself by now: A lot of content for the sidekicks and settings were taken from gems like "Howl's Moving Castle", "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Spirited Away".
Bottom line: You can get some mild entertainment by guessing which voices and character traits are featured in Simpsons and Futurama. But better spend your time watching Miyazaki's originals again (or, even better, for the first time).
