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unchataparis · 10 months

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A Review of Évolution

So, all of Season 5 has finally be released! Hooray. This is LAURENT’s review of Miraculous Season 5, starting with its long-awaited first episode Évolution. This is a rewatch.

The new opening theme sounds a lot darker and cooler than the previous songs. The electric guitar adds edge, and the reverb echoes a tone of finality. It’s a nice touch that Chat Noir and Ladybug are holding hands towards the end. Compared to Season 4’s opening, with Ladybug holding the new Miraculous Box alone – Chat Noir’s compartment couldn’t even been seen on it – Season 5’s opening support the tagline "Les Aventures de Ladybug et Chat Noir" a lot better.

And we’re starting right off where we picked up.

Maybe it’s because I’m watching it on DisneyPlus, but the animation is crisp. Blessings to whichever studio is animating this.

Personal point of malcontent, but it’s always very notable that Parisian citizens doesn’t seem to address Chat Noir with the same veneration that Ladybug receives. Mostly because he’s only seen as her partner, while she’s the fix-all, Cure-all main hero.

Chat Noir just shattered a Turtle Miraculous Protection with zero effort. Okay. Either that is done for sake of theatrics, or Monarch hasn't quite figure out how to moderate the strength of a Protection yet.

Ladybug disperses Monarch’s butterflies with her Yo-yo. Calls back to their debut.

Gabriel monologues again. Sass shows his position as de facto Kwami leader. It’s always disconcerting to see the Kwami so meek. They shouldn’t act like that should they?

If one looks properly into the crowd cheering for Ladybug and Chat Noir, one will see they’re the same eight character models duplicated.

Good on to Gabriel for jumping immediately onto the plan that makes the most sense, he did what anyone seeking the Yin and Yang Miraculous would’ve done in that situation. Don't waste time, literally go back in time to steal them immediately. Previous Miraculous seasons has a habit of avoiding the most obvious solution to prolong the story, so hopefully, the straight-forwardness of this plan spell a new route for Miraculous’ writing.

Also, lmao, Monarch dropping out of a Voyage and literally crawling to another one. If I were Ladybug and Chat Noir (the present ones), I would’ve been standing and staring in total confusion too. It reminds me of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the whole time-travelling scheme. Seeing your future and past selves, knowing they're there but unable to interact with them. Good on the writers for adding this little cameo of their future selves, explains the time-travelling narrative immediately. Makes the audience excited. Clearly, this Season is starting off strong and big. Plus, sneak peek of Bunny Noir.

And Bunnix appears! I don’t think she appeared much at all in Season 4. Again, a great way to let the audience know this season is going to be big.

Side-note: I never really liked Bunnix’s outfit. When I first saw Adult Alix in Season 3, I was very impressed. The tattoos, the hair, the piercing, it’s a style of trendy and modern fashion Miraculous usually lacks, as all their characters are perpetually dressed in Y2K. I was anticipating something similarly impressive when Bunnix transformed, but – it just looks like a suit for a Rabbit Hero rather than Alix as the Rabbit Hero. Have y’all heard that theory that Aurore should be the Rabbit? Blue colour scheme, two pigtails which could be fashioned into rabbit ears, literally constantly carrying an umbrella? But apart from Marc, I doubt we’ll ever see anyone outside of Madame Bustier’s class as an auxiliary hero.

I quite like Monarch’s new outfit. The stained glass lapel design, the dark half-mask that reveals snowy-white hair – very chilling, very villain-like. The tainted purple eyes and near-translucent pupils grant him an aura of madness, which makes him look very intimidating. It’s more fashionable than his previous suits.

Monarch runs like a badly rigged 3D model.

This man is way too gleeful.

Woah!! Reminds me of Avengers Endgame, Monarch stepping back into the Lady Wifi episode. The animators had to go back in their archives and find all the models for that episode and re-animate the scene. Cool!

This man grew creepier.

Their little cat-and-mouse game should've broken the universe. Death, time, and, dimensions are three staples you do not mess with in any media. Let those who passed pass, let regrets remain regrets, and stop trying to crawl out of where you belong.

Oh, they look cool here.

I feel like no one can use the word 'Master' nowadays without feeling like a complete fool. From the amount of times Monarch called himself 'master', either he’s used to being called a genius in an atelier, a maestro, or he’s on a total power-trip.

Five Miraculous at once? This man is going to get himself killed.

This man looks so camp. This outfit would sell on a red carpet. Love how any weapon Monarch manifests are purple. Shame that all the weapons are literally copies of what their previous Holders weld. The in-universe reason could be that Monarch hasn’t properly bonded with the Kwami in order to imbue his weapons with his personal taste. But we all know the animators just didn’t have the resources for fancier gadgets.

Shame. For a show centred on fashion, Zag should really allow the animators to go a little nuts with personalised suits and weapons. That’s the whole point of different holders, isn’t it? Each member of Madame Bustier’s class has individual aesthetics, that could play really well into their Miraculous designs.

Ladybug giving Chat Noir the Rabbit Miraculous. That’s surprising. An earlier version of Ladybug wouldn’t have trusted him.

Rabbit Noir’s suit looks awesome! It’s literally just his Chat Noir suit with added blue highlights, but he looks very neon, very snazzy. His hair is uncovered, for once, and the bell is white! I like how the Rabbit Watch is hooked onto his belt. Quite rakish.

Monarch is literally on his last legs seven minutes into the first episode. This man is either going to ambiguously perish, or end up in a coma by the end of the season.

Lmao, they’re straight up bullying him at this point.

And we’re back to the moment we saw earlier.

Oh my goodness, he looks so handsome.

Note that Rabbit Noir's umbrella is completely black with a cyan end. Little personalisation.

If they had attacked him at this moment, the show would’ve been over. But Ladybug and Chat Noir has too much battlefield honour to bludgeon a fallen opponent, even one as annoying as Monarch. Honestly, if I was there, I would’ve been seriously considering the relevance of calling an ambulance. You do not want someone's death on your hands, especially when you can do something about it/has a duty to do something about it. Why isn’t there a Miraculous that could heal? Probably because that'll solve the Émilie issue real soon, and there'll be no need to chase after Ladybug and Chat Noir. Of course, it’s not needed in-universe as nothing really grievous happen to the heroes, but in all team-based media, there’s always the leader and the second-in-command and the wild card, and the either gruff or sensitive healer. I suppose Ladybug is the healer, since she has the Miraculous Cure. The Bee Holder could probably also heal, bees has been a symbol of doctoring since classic Hellenic times.

lmao at Chat Noir poking Monarch with his Bâton. Great reaction.

The once-use-only power rule was very cute in the earlier seasons, especially as it’s used as a puzzle stimulator for young audiences. Adds an element of danger and urgency when the beeping timer starts. But I feel that Miraculous is at the point where the main heroes should be overcoming this basic burden.

I hope Ladybug gets a suit upgrade in this season, I hope both of them do, they’ve long deserved it, especially Chat Noir. Look at how cool they look standing together here. The black on Ladybug’s suit makes her look older, more professional. I get the nostalgia of the OG suit, but part of growing up is saying goodbye to treasured memorabilia. Ladybug should permanently keep her Lucky Charm suit. But I suppose the OG suit is easier to cosplay.

Kwami requiring human food for nourishment always rang wrong to me since Season 1. Back then, it was a very distant concept, just some sweet garnish that contributes to the child-centric ideals of the show, but as the seasons go on, it feels more and more impossible and unrealistic for the Kwami to be reliant on food to maintain their powers. The embodiment of creation perishing because she isn’t regularly fed macarons just doesn’t sound right.

Re: they look so cool.

Oh, her lashes are so long here. Marinette is super pretty. I know there’s accusations of her being whitewashed, but 1) she is white. She’s both white and Asian, and 2) the first time I saw Miraculous, I genuinely thought the writers did their research, because Marinette is the peak of Douyin beauty standards. Little Chinese girls would wow over Marinette.

I do not like Fu. I mentioned in my fics before, but not on this Tumblr. He’s a very weak person and ineffective leader.

"You’ll get it back in a second", literally.

Alix wants to study engineering! That’s surprising. I don’t think she has ever shown any penchant for science before. She always struck me as the kind of person who would do competitive skating, or live as a street artist.

Also, this painting! Napoléon crowing Joséphine!! Fits within the theme of Monarch, a self-important man attaining and maintaining absolute power, granting all luxuries to his loved spouse. I really appreciate all the French symbols and culture and art that has shown up throughout Miraculous.

Huh, so the reason why Bunnix is always hopping around time instead of staying with the Miraculous Team is to keep the Rabbit Miraculous, the 'most dangerous' one, out of Papillon/Monarch’s hands. As Bunnix is still keeping up with the hopping even as Papillon’s reign ended, then the Butterfly predecessor villain must also be gunning for the Rabbit Miraculous in the same way.

Poor Alix. One isn’t supposed to consider the mechanics of stuff such as this in cartoons, but they did acknowledge it in the show. Alix is sacrificing a lot, taking on a huge burden, to keep Paris safe. That’s the mark of a hero.

Félix didn’t wear one, but the Dog Miraculous has a penchant for putting its holders in berets. I suppose it’s easier to give them the dog ears without looking like a duplicate of the Cat and Fox Miraculous.

The Balle isn’t attached to her collar, it’s literally glued onto her suit???

Chat Noir’s, Bunny Noir’s, hand looks really good here. I always liked his claws, no other carnivorous mammal, or even the Dragon, has them. Tigresse Pourpre has claws, but they’re attached to her gauntlet, not her actual fingers as Chat Noir’s appears to be.

Nathalie is literally all that’s keeping the Agreste Household together. Is Gabriel even doing his job anymore?

Going back in time to save Émilie before she uses the damaged Peafowl Miraculous seems like a good idea, but surely that’ll spark another timeline with entirely new consequences, wouldn’t it? That’s how these science-fiction storylines usually go. But you're not supposed to think about that, that's way too complicated.

Nathalie coming up with solid plans. Instead of chasing a solution, why not just fix the problem so that it doesn’t exist?

Émilie is super, super pretty. I can see what Adrien takes from her. She looks like a Sakamoto Shin-ichi character.

Defeated by your own hubris. It’ll literally take only a second to drop the memory drive.

This looks pretty snazzy. The dual stacked layers on the mask looks much better than the halved pattern from the Dog alone.

At least one Miraculous is kept safe from Monarch, and it’s potentially the most dangerous one. Other Miraculous has a lot of attack power, think the Dragon or the Ox, but not a lot of ability to mess around with reality or space or timelines. Would give Monarch the crux of the advantage, basically. Other Miraculous Ladybug and Chat Noir will need to watch out for are the Snake and the Goat.

The future does not belong to those that live in the past. The future belong to those who lives in the present and cautiously plans for the future.

Both Ladybug and Chat Noir de-transformed off-screen.

Trivial detail: but I never liked Chat Noir’s ears. They look childish, and they also appear to be clipped onto nothing. His longer hair has to hide his human ears because otherwise, it’ll look strange. Dual listening appendages.

Nathalie confirming that the Miraculous War has much more to do with saving Émilie now, Gabriel has become obsessed with defeating his adversaries. Falling into a glue trap of his own making. I’m actually surprised that Nathalie said Gabriel’s obsession is with both Ladybug and Chat Noir. Usually, it’s just Ladybug.

Miss Lila! She appears once in the episode. This still makes her look so much like an ordinary girl. I hope Lila also get a new outfit this season. She won’t keep it permanently, but like how Chloé occasionally get novelty outfits.

This was a great first episode! It resolves so many issues – such as taking the outlier Rabbit Miraculous from Gabriel's hands – and introduced a major plot overturn, Gabriel's loyal henchwoman finally leaving his side. Sprinkle in a little fan-service, Rabbit Noir who is also integral to the narrative, and a flash of an appearance from the soon-to-come 'main' Miraculous villain.

A+.

#miraculous #season 5 #évolution #ladybug #chat noir #gabriel agreste #monarch #nathalie sancœur #lila rossi #review

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