Search - Code Lyoko: First Season (3pc) (Sub Edit) on DVD

A Parent Approves

K. Tkacs | Connecticut, USA | 01/28/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As a parent of two children, both under the age of ten, I find myself watching a lot of cartoons. I'm pretty selective about what I choose to expose my kids to; I'm always looking for something unique, intelligent, and of course `safe' for them. It's difficult to wade through the infinite trash out there to find suitable shows, so I'm writing this review to help others evaluate this program, which is not an easy show with which to quickly come to terms. I was slow to warm up to "Code Lyoko," but after spending some time with this program, I find that I'm really drawn to it, despite its flaws, and I'm perfectly fine with my kids watching it.

"Code Lyoko" is a French animated program translated into English for American audiences (which may explain why it has some rough edges). It is the story of a small group of youngsters living at a boarding school in Northwest France (though that's not obvious in the translated version) called the Kadic Academy. Three of these youths had, sometime before the start of the series, discovered an abandoned factory nearby, in the depths of which lies a mysterious supercomputer whose purpose seems to be to host a virtual world called "Lyoko."

Unfortunately, a malevolent program or virus (named X.A.N.A.) within this computer seems intent on doing damage to the "real world" by searching for I/O towers (ala Tron) and messing with our reality. The kids would just shut the machine down if it weren't for the fact that they had also discovered in Lyoko a gentle, benevolent feminine entity named Aelita. The genius of the group, Jeremie, is particularly smitten with Aelita, and throughout the first season of the show, is intent on "de-virtualizing" Aelita - bringing her into the real world and to safety - so that the computer and the menace within it can be shut down for good.

The individual stories in the first season usually revolve around XANA launching an attack on our world and the kids scrambling to repel it while trying to lead normal lives at the school as best they can. To fight XANA, they "virtualize" and go inside the world of Lyoko, assuming various avatar-like personas to battle a variety of creatures so that Aelita can enter the infected I/O tower and enter a shutdown code, stopping the attack.

The show has several good things going for it. It's intelligent without being difficult to follow, even for younger kids. It is rendered in two different animation styles, which is handled well: traditional cell-based animation for the real world, and 3D computer animation for the virtual world. For a show ostensibly aimed at children, the characters have more than the average amount of depth, and are as interesting to watch when they are in school interacting with classmates and teachers as they are battling monsters in the virtual world.

"Code Lyoko" has no objectionable language, and there is no blood, slime, or peril that I've seen to disturb kids; the clean rendering style and happy music keep the mood light even in the brief battle scenes. About the most I can warn a fellow parent about is that the characters do develop teen relationships, kiss once or twice, etc., but I personally did not see this as anything that would be a problem for my own kids.

Now, the downsides to "Code Lyoko." First, beyond this DVD set, it's hard to find. As I write this, it is not being broadcast on any TV station in my area and hasn't been for some time. Even though four seasons have been created to date, only the first season is on DVD, here, with another DVD containing the first few episodes of Season 2 also available. That was released a year ago and we're still waiting for more. Everything I've read tells me that the seasons following the first one are far superior, but just try getting your hands on them.

The next problem is that there is no introduction to the show -- you need to either "figure it out" or have someone explain the backstory to you as I have tried to do here. There was a five-minute unaired pilot called "Garage Kids" made (check YouTube) but for some reason the events in it were not carried into the actual show, so upon first viewings, you are left a bit cold towards the whole affair. The original DVDs had the episodes wildly out of order, which didn't help, although season one is so episodic that casual viewers might not notice. That's another weakness of the first season: it's a collection of episodes that become formulaic, and I'm lead to believe that the show really ramps up in the seasons following -- I can believe that from what I've seen and read.

A few more annoyances: it takes some getting used to the weird animation style. The characters are all grossly mis-proportioned with HUGE foreheads, odd marks on their faces (mascara?), and often bizarre hair. While the main title music is very catchy, each episode is interrupted, inexplicably, about a dozen times with the first 8 notes of the theme and one of half a dozen stock sequences of one of the kids in motion. Why? It's strange filler that I find very distracting. But you do get used to it, and you'll find yourself humming that theme song after a few episodes.

Probably the biggest flaw in my mind is the fact that, at the end of each episode in the first season, the kids have the option of rolling back time a full day to get themselves out of any difficult situations they may have gotten into. Not only is this the biggest dramatic cheat imaginable, it doesn't even make sense -- how are they doing it, why do they still remember what happened (whether they were in the machine or not), and why can't the time rollback bring people back to life (an implied limitation of the process). Supposedly the following seasons put limits on this ridiculously powerful ability, the biggest single weakness of the show in my opinion, from a dramatic standpoint.

A "Code Lyoko" game has been released for the Wii console, but as it follows the events of the fourth season, I don't see how it can do very well in the US unless they release more episodes of this series!

In summary, "Code Lyoko" is an interesting show that, because of its rough edges and availability problems, may take a while to warm up to. But if you give it a chance, you may very well become hooked on it, whether you're young or old. It's a superior program in that it is safe for kids and yet intelligent enough for adults to watch, too. But unless they start releasing these DVDs more quickly, "Lyoko" is unlikely to become a household word in US homes.
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