antiego Reviews

Delta State (2004– )

Intriguing animation, snappy dialog, and a mind-bending story.

[5 February 2005]

Delta State has all the makings of a cult classic. Visually, Delta State has no peers on television. The animators make clever use of computer-aided rotoscoping, creating characters and backgrounds that have both a fluid, analog feel, and the punctuation of modern effects. Unusual camera angles retain Delta State's comic-book roots, and add an almost cinematic feel to the show. Thematically, Delta State mixes the melodrama of it's 20-something protagonists with lurking psycho-mystical threats that are well suited to the unique animation. Although some early episodes threatened to repeat the same plot every week, the show quickly revealed an escalating enemy plan and relationships between the protagonists that will require many episodes to explore. And even at it's worst, the 'heroes settle their interpersonal crises when their paranormal powers are called upon' stock episodes are still very watchable thanks to the snappy dialog, good voice acting, and of course, sheer visual novelty.