"Code Lyoko" (2003) TV series 2003-????

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | unknown

Release Date:

26 April 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Action | Adventure | Animation

Tagline:

Return to the past, now!

Plot:

When a group of students discover the existence of a mysterious parallel universe called Lyoko, they encounter a supercomputer that threatens to take over out world!

Plot Keywords:

Cell Phone | Human Versus Computer | Artificial Intelligence | Anime | Alternative Reality

Cast

Paul Bandey	...	Franz Hopper (3 episodes, 2005)
Jodie Forrest	...	Elizabeth 'Sissy' Delmas, Dorothy, Mrs. Hertz (2 episodes, 2004-2005)
Matthew Géczy	...	Odd Della Robia, Nicholas Poliakoff (2 episodes, 2004-2005)
Mirabelle Kirkland	...	Yumi Ishiyama, Milly Solovieff (2 episodes, 2004-2005)
Sharon Mann	...	Aelita Hopper, Jérémie Belpois (2 episodes, 2004-2005)
Barbara Scaff	...	Ulrich Stern (2 episodes, 2004-2005)

Runtime:

USA:30 min (including commercials) | USA:26 min | France:26 min (26 episodes)

Country:

France

Language:

English | English | French

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:PG

Company:

Antéfilms Productions

Trivia:

The name of the martial art that Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi use is Pencak Silat, also known as Silat.

Goofs:

Continuity: In Episode #1 ("TeddyGodzilla"), Sissy applies a mudpack to her face before she is attacked in her room. She is still wearing it at the beginning of the attack, but she is not wearing it when she falls to the floor. After the attack, when she is walking with the principal to the infirmary, she is wearing the mudpack again.

Quotes:

Ulrich: But first you have to devirtualize yourself. The question is, how?
Yumi: You're armed, aren't you?

GREAT, but not EXCELLENT

I heard about this about the time it came out, and got hooked a few weeks before Season Two began its US run. Though, as all cartoons do, it began a bit confusing for me (The first time I saw it (about the middle of the first ep) I thought Sissi was Yumi...), I caught on quickly.

Code: Lyoko is unique among cartoons. It is shown in both an anime style for the real world (which results in many-including some well-known sites- mistaking it for a Japanese cartoon, it is not, it is French) and a computer style for the Lyoko world. It has probably the longest distance between two seasons recordable (a year and four months for the US). And, it has-almost-no backstory. They don't tell us how Lyoko came to be, how Ulrich and co. found it, and why the computer has a virus. This is left to the fans-and Season Two, as we hope...

The show has realistic characters, an amazing plot, and a good eye for suspense. It does, however, have flaws over all this greatness.

First, bad dubbing. Like most inter-language imports, the dialogue does not match the mouth movements of the characters. The dialogue is often rushed, and flawed in some cases. One drastic example is Jeremie. Near the beginning of the series run, his voice was very high, but around the fourth or sixth episode, it changes, and it now sounds like he's trying very hard to sound older. (Puberty? Decision of the dubbers? Or perhaps he's just trying to impress Aelita, eh? Well, keep trying, man. The new voice sounds horrible.)

Second, scene reuse. This is abused heavily in season one. It's like the made scenes of everyone going into the sewers beforehand, and just used them where they were needed. This, for the most part, is discarded in Season Two, which is good. Although they STILL use that shot of Odd getting hit in the chest...

But don't get me wrong. Even with its flaws, this is a GREAT show. Not an EXCELLENT show, but a GREAT show. If you see it on, watch it.

But very carefully...