Two shows from the early to mid 2000s, two shows I used to watch and kinda like as a kid, two shows I dislike to varying degrees. With my questionable perspective on media, which of these shows would I pick of the two?
Pre-game
Now it may be weird that I'm comparing two entirely different shows, but, here's why. They both starred Janice Kawaye, had an anime influence and came out and lasted the same amount of years, plus they were very popular in their heyday to the same extent. Huh, guess they are kinda alike.
While I made it clear I don't like hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi anymore, I never gave my perspective on MLAATR. On that, I feel the show flawed in some areas, I don't like the main protagonist very much (then again I don't like teenagers very much), but the show at large nowadays to me is... okay, I may not go back to watch it for obvious reasons, but at the very least I'm glad fans of this show didn't attack Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones for also having a robotic protagonist.
(full disclosure, while MLAATR's pilot debuted a year before Whatever's, the latter came first as a full series while MLAATR came a year after, though Whatever was already defined while MLAATR was still finding its footing. For preventative measures, Yakkity Yak had a robot girl character appear occasionally, and her first appearance also predated MLAATR's show. If there's one negative aspect to the fandom, it isn't brainless rip-off allegations, otherwise they'd contend with comparisons to an anime that had a unique style.)
Overall Tone
While MLAATR has a high action direction, at large it's a slice of life affair with sci-fi elements, references to old-timey cartoons like Felix the Cat and the like, even down to the art direction, more on that later. Any transitions to either tone are either infrequent as each episode is seemingly in its own world beyond Jenny's interactions with most of her enemies, but otherwise, there is a decent build-up to the more action-oriented portions.
Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi seems to take a lot of notes from the golden age of cartoons. It's light hearted, but as a result it feels rather predictable. They hardly break from the tone, and all I get from it is a headache whenever a certain character comes by.
MLAATR had it so that whenever a tonal shift happened, it wouldn't feel out of place, meaning that the writers had it in their ability to do some truly compelling stuff. If you can make any tone work with a show, you have talent. Hi Hi's stagnation with its carefree tone makes it feel like one of those low-budget cash grabs, which is ironic since its production company would help work on a Puss n' Boots and Kung Fu Panda mockbuster, with GAIAM, Goodtimes Entertainment's successor.
Round one goes to MLAATR.
Style and Animation
Both shows seemingly have an anime aesthetic, or at least one of them should.
MLAATR is unique by default compared to other anime-influenced shows. The show used an anime style comparable to Astro Boy, and as mentioned before, had a more retro aesthetic. It looks unique for all the right reasons, and as Astro Boy was more action oriented, the look suits the tone of the show (and mends with Rob Renzetti's general art style.)
I mentioned this in my review of the show, but for the sake of consistency, here we go again.
Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi is rooted in Japanese pop culture, it is based on a Japanese band, is set in Japan, etc. etc., so, you'd expect the art style to fit with the aesthetic, and it doesn't. The characters are drawn to resemble a vague sum up of what anime characters look like, and that's just going by the mains, the remainder look like UPA rejects so consistency isn't a card in this show's deck.
You may say MLAATR is equally inconsistent, but then again I never saw much of Astro Boy in terms of full episodes, and each style mends well together.
So you know who winds this, MLAATR
Use of Janice Kawaye
The big comparison between both shows is that they feature this actress.
Jenny is otherwise bland to me, but not incredibly unlikable. She technically made the Crust Cousins her enemy, but at the very least it wasn't as dire as what Sam did to Danny Fenton, but maybe it's her attitude that rubs me the wrong way, who knows? I can at least say her naivety is better handled than Starfire in Teen Titans.
So uh... here's the thing. I fucking hate Ami.
Ami's the nicey nice one in this, and the more I thought about her, it went from annoying to outright insufferable. It feels like the world bends to her will in order for things to end her way, her level of selflessness would lead her to give away their tour bus if she felt up for it. Mabel is terrible? You haven't looked that deep.
You know the drill, MLAATR.
Use of Villains
There is one aspect that kinda got to me on MLAATR, the Cluster struck me as a stalkerish group, especially their queen. If the show was a bit more off the wall, I imagine Jenny would sue her just to get her off her back for a while, then be forced to work with her when a grander threat comes their way (maybe that doofus that got Jenny's parts separated from her that one time), and (I think it's Nexxus) would work with Jenny to get some dignity back.
There's no recurring antagonist in this, just the douche of the day, and they're all, at large, typical big bads associated with the theme of each episode.
However, for MLAATR, had it gone on it would've done a rather unforgivable sin, turning a good character evil. I have a huge hangup with this, it's why I hate Archie Sonic (one of many reasons), it felt like a desperate attempt at keeping things fresh, so for that I'm happy the show ended when it did. For the record, the one that'd become evil was this goth robot that people like because she's goth, she appeared in that one episode where Jenny joined a trio of superheroes.
It's a slaughter, MLAATR.
Chance for Redemption
Any potential interest in Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi had wained over the years. I only watched it because nothing better was on, and it didn't strike me as very good. The sentiment could be made for other Cartoon Network show from this time, yes, even Foster's had soured for me over the years, or maybe I just don't like Craig McCracken for some reason. This, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Camp Lazlo, these have held up poorly.
As for MLAATR... I actually enjoyed this growing up, and saw a good deal of episodes. I don't recall anyone in particular ruining this show for me, and since it's not used as a soapbox against a remake, worse fans exist for worse shows, nothing's really holding me back from giving this show another go. I mean, just as long as there aren't any idiots accusing Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones of ripping it off. I've yet to see anyone be that protective of MLAATR.
So MLAATR Wins
You could say this was all done so I can shit on Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi some more, and you'd be right. However, I mainly wanted to do this so I can get my perspective on MLAATR out there. Now yes, fans have a big impact on how I view a show, I'd see these kinds of people when I look up videos or fanart, and when that strike is made, I see more negative impacts of the show in question.
At worst, these guys may just fetishize most character, and until this show gets a remake people would whine about, this show hadn't been tainted.
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