#because this is a cartoon aimed at 10-12 year olds (officially) and the kids are gonna be front and center of the narrative focus

[tarisilmarwen]

Losers: “Why are the Responsible Adults™ in this media aimed at children with minor-age protagonists not constantly coddling their trauma and preventing them from having any story agency?”

Me:

[lotus-duckies]

Boboiboy: What is it and why you should watch it

In this post, I’m going to talk about an amazing show that @findmeinthevoid and I have just absolutely fallen in love with, and all the reasons it is worth watching. 

A prior note is that I will aim this post towards the Miraculous Ladybug fandom because I think they would enjoy it immensely.

What is it? Boboiboy is a(n incredibly well-done) Malaysian children’s cartoon that is like Miraculous in that some kids got powers from [x] entity who thinks it’s a good idea to give babies powers and now they’re heroes. However, it is more than that and has it’s own outstanding qualities that make all the more reason to watch it.

So let’s get started.

1) Lack of the oversexualization of the characters (primarily females)

I think something I think most people have seen the heroes in the comics and shows: they all wear the skinny, sensual hero suits where the girls’ bodies look broken and the boys honestly also look suggestive too, even if they’re 14.

Boboiboy doesn’t have that. 

He is 14 Galaxy, and younger in the previous seasons. You know how he went around saving people? In a hoodie, baggy pants, and sneakers. (It’s more of a vest in galaxy, but you get the point).

An excellent example of one of the girls would be Yaya:

You don’t see this lovely young lady running around in a skin tight suit and she is very much clothed.

The characters still look aesthetically pleasing but they aren’t forced into costumes that they shouldn’t be wearing. (Honestly this can be applied to any super hero or magical girl series.)

2) No Romo (And extended clauses)

A number of shows aimed at a younger audience aren’t shy on romance and relationships in their writing.

Boboiboy has no romance, period.

The creators have a strong no romance stance on the show, so any occurrence of anything more than friends is none.

What does this mean for the writing, and how does it influence the viewers? Well for one, they aren’t constantly distracted and worrying about the person they like or if they did something stupid in front of their crush or that their crush likes another person. 

It also shows young viewers (primarily 14 year olds, but also younger) that they don’t necessarily need to experience romance and all that crap.

There’s also nothing to confirm nor deny your aro/ace headcannons so feel free to bring them to the party.

Also because of this no romo rule, they don’t have some of the more. . . odd flaws in heroism other hero series has. Secret identities, for example. They don’t have to worry about exposing themselves, heck, they don’t even have identities to expose. They’re themselves in front of each other and the people and don’t need to go through a whole Magical Girl Transformation to use their powers, even if it’s for personal benefit. There’s no drama about “oh i have protect the people I love so I have to keep it a secret.” 

What Boboiboy does have is amazing friendships. Seeing these kids and their genuine love and care for their friends, with no double feelings and just pure and wholesome platonic love is so life-giving and refreshing and it makes me so soft.

3) Representation?

As you may have noticed from previous reasons, there is a hijabi and she’s wonderful. Yaya is incredibly smart and she could probably murder a  man if she wanted to. She strikes fear into the hearts of her classmates with her authority, her power, and her cookies, while also being very soft and loving. 

Besides that, there is immense diversity on the cast, particularly on the main team alone.

There is a special for Eid as well, along with a couple of other holidays.

4) Responsibility is Important

You ever notice in some shows all the damage is just fixed within the next episode and everything’s fine?

Boboiboy doesn’t have that. They physically have to fix and clean up the collateral after their fights and have to deal with the lasting consequences. On some occasions, these consequences result in a whole different episode and even an arc because of what went down. By doing this, it teaches the important of facing and accepting one’s responsibility instead of just shoving it under a rug and acting like it never happened.

Also, when characters are injured badly enough, their injuries last for more than one episode and can influence the plot line of another. 

5) “It’s a feel good show.”

It is, it really is. I’m pretty sure for a majority of my time watching it, I’m smiling or laughing my self into a state of pain because it’s just really a feel good show. It’s funny, slightly ridiculous, but also soft and wholesome and cute. That is not to stay it doesn’t have serious, emotional moments but overall, it’s really nice like that.

A number of the shows and their fandoms that I watch have the tendency to give me anxiety, but Boboiboy doesn’t? I don’t feel like I’m dying? I love them so much?

6) Writing (A little spoilery?)

Lessons:

See Responsibility Is Important

There’s an entire arc on the important of recycling.

Generally primarily focuses on good habits to keep, rather than good morals like “Don’t jump to conclusions”, like staying healthy and crap like that. However, for a majority of the time, it’s very subtle and doesn’t get in the way of the plot line. This is kind of disregarded in Galaxy though.

Plot Development:

The continuity of the writing is amazing, watching arcs transition between one event to another with such fluidity. It feels like nothing is just random and isn’t just dropped for no reason. Little pieces are important to the grand puzzle.

There’s very few plot holes.

Character Development:

You can visibly see the characters mature and change over the course of the series.

Honestly, most of the characters are extremely lovable for one reason or another. 

7) Handling mental health

One of my favorites, honestly. Through the series, there have been characters who show signs of abuse, trauma, or anxiety and stress. But they aren’t just left to suffer. Their problems are addressed and they are reassured that they are going to be okay and they are helped and that is amazing. 

8) Creator-Fanbase Interaction

The best I can describe it is that the creators are like online creators and their hearts just explode knowing people watch and enjoy their series, and this shows with how they interact. They acknowledge the fanbase’s existence and provide information about the show and characters.

The instagram is a good example of that.

Did I mention that you can find all of the crap you need on youtube from the official Monsta channel.

9)

10) No Shoes In The House

To heck with your western homes where you track germs and dirt and scratch up the hardwood floors, and shows where they don’t have the care to animate the characters without their shoes, whether they be in the house or on a bed. 

It’s just nice to see them take such care with details like that. (wow, characters sleeping under blankets and they’re not wearing their shoes in the house and wearing pajamas).

Just, I can’t be the only person who cringes when I see characters wearing their shoes in the house.

11) Memes

These characters are living memes.

12) Animation

The animation improved exponentially since the first season, and Galaxy is stunning.

Have you seen my son? He’s not missing I just want you to look at him.

Conclusion: Please consider looking at my son and his friends.

[surveyjunkie]

Your Autobiography.

Little kiddies. (Grades 1-5) What color hair did you have? Very dark brown, almost black.

Did you wear glasses or have contacts? Yep, got glasses in the 3rd grade

Did you have braces? Nope

Did you go to pre-school or go straight to kindergarten? I went to pre-school for two years before kindergarten.

Out of grades 1-5, which one was the best for you? 2nd, for sure. I was at a 4-H school that year and everything was just better there - the kids, the curriculum, the teachers, the playground. Then I got moved to a hardcore, college preparatory school and everything went downhill.

Did you have a lot of friends, or just a couple? I had lots in 2nd grade, but when we moved to the city in 3rd grade I barely had any. I had maybe 1 or 2. 

What were your favorite shows? Spongebob, Sailor Moon, Powerpuff Girls, Ed Edd & Eddy, Dexter’s Lab, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Lizzie McGuire, That’s So Raven, The Amanda Show, the list goes on and on....

What were your favorite movies? The Parent Trap, Freaky Friday, Life Sized (I was kind of obsessed with Lindsey Lohan, if you couldn’t tell)

Did you read Goosebumps? Rarely. If anything I read “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” more, which now that I’m adult I realize HOW FUCKED UP IT IS THAT THAT IS A CHILDREN’S BOOK.

What was your favorite thing to do on weekends? Watch cartoons, play online computer games (like Neopets - woo!), draw, write stories, and have sleepovers. Damn, I miss being a kid.

Pre-Teens. (Grades 6-9) What color hair did you have? Dark brown, still

What color hair did you want? I wanted blonde highlights at the time. 

Was your Middle School a seperate school from Junior High? No, they were considered the same thing where I went. Grades 6-8 was all Middle School.

Did you have a lot of boyfriends/girlfriends? I had one “boyfriend” in 7th grade.

Did you still watch Disney movies? Duhh. I STILL watch Disney movies and I’m 25, so.

What kind of music did you listen to? A mix of everything. I definitely went through phases though. 6th grade was hard/alt rock because I was trying to be a goth for some reason, 7th grade I became preppy and started listening to hip hop and pop, and then 8th grade is when I discovered “emo” music and got heavily obsessed with that, but still listened to pop and hip hop.

What were some of your interests? AIM, Xanga, music videos (loved Fuse), the show Degrassi, Abercrombie, Starbucks frappuccinos, Etnies skater shoes, boys, MySpace

What was your favorite animal? Dolphin

What was your favorite color? Blue, then changed to pink, then changed to black

Did you draw? That was actually when I started losing interest in drawing. << Same

What was your favorite subject? I’d have to say social studies.

Did you have any piercings? No.

Did you wear make-up to school? Just lipgloss in the 7th grade and eyeliner in the 8th grade. 

What kinds of clothes did you wear? Anything from Abercrombie or Hollister. Then in 8th grade all I wore was hoodies, jeans, and converse or skater shoes. Lol.

What did you do on the weekends? Hang out at friend’s houses, go to the mall or the movies

Smells Like… Teeeenagerrrrs. (Grades 10-12) Did you like your high school? Meh.

Was it as bad as they were on TV? Nooo, not that bad. It was just, meh.

What color hair did you have? Freshmen year was 9th grade for us, and I had red streaks in my bangs because I thought I was edgy.

Did you have any piercings? Just earrings.

…How about tattoos? Nope.

What age did you learn to drive? 16

When did you get your license? 17

What was your first car? '99 Chrysler 300

What was your style? It varied. I went through an emo phase in 9th grade and that’s how I dressed, but I got over it and started dressing like a bum basically. Yoga pants, sweatshirts, and uggs err’day.

Did you have a lot of friends or just a few? I had a pretty decently sized group of friends.

What did you do on weekends? Football/basketball games, homecomings, hang out at friend’s houses, go shopping or to the movies, go to the park and mess around, go to “parties”.

Did you have a lot of boyfriends/girlfriends or did you have one or two? I had one towards the end of junior year through my senior year, but we were never official. I don’t even know what we were. 

What were some of your favorite bands? The Spill Canvas, My Chemical Romance, From First to Last (freshmen year), Taking Back Sunday, The Academy Is...

What college were you considering? Ball State. Of course I ended up staying local. 

Did you get along with teachers, etc? For the most part. There were a few difficult ones.

Young Adults. (College years) What did you look like? I was SKINNYYYY when I graduated high school. I also had dyed my hair black, and had dark skin from tanning all the time. I also actually cared about my appearance back then and would constantly straighten my hair, do my make up, and pick out outfits.

When did you first move out of your parents’ house? Right when college started since I chose to stay in the dorms.

What college did you end up going to? UC.

What kind of music did you like? Don’t judge me, but I was really into Kesha, 3OH!3, and Katy Perry at that point. And DRAKE. I was obsessed with Drake. My music taste was kind of trash in college, but it went along with my lifestyle :) 

Did you like college? I loved it, up until junior year. Then it felt more like a prison.

How long were you there? (2 years, 4 years, mooore) Five years. I had to re-do my junior year because I became severely clinically depressed.

Careers. (Any time of your life) What was your first job? My first job ever was a cashier at Stein Mart, but my first “big girl job” was here at the hospital.

Did you like it? I really enjoyed it when I first started, but it started to wear on me after a while. The customers were all older, rich women and constantly had a bug up their butt. And some of the managers were awful.

Are you still there? Noo, I left that place after maybe 6 months.

What do you do now? I’m a research coordinator.

Do you like it? For the most part. I do a lot of different things at my job which is nice because it doesn’t ever get boring and I work flexible hours, but it can also be a bit unpredictable and unstructured which I don’t like. I also don’t get paid super well, so there’s that.

What do you want to do? I want to get MS in business psychology and do something in that field.

Odds and ends. Were you a loud baby or a quiet one? I was loud when I wasn’t being held or paid attention to. My mom said I was fine in public though. 

Did you collect anything growing up? Movie tickets and Chinese fortunes.

Do you still have anything from it? I kept a bunch of them in a memorabilia box.

What was your first IM screen name? liltashie92. DONT. JUDGE.

When did you first hear about Myspace? When I was in 7th grade.

Did you have a VF? (VampireFreaks.) Nope.

Do you party a lot? Rarely.

Did you? I did all throughout college, and the first year of being post-grad.

When did you get your first tattoo? Don’t have one.

Have you ever dyed your hair? I’m pretty much always dyeing it.

Did you study any languages (other than the one you were raised to speak)? Just Spanish.

Are you still into the things you were into when you were 12? Some of them. I mean, I took surveys like this then and I do them now, hahaha.

How about 15? Eh, yeah, I suppose. Honestly, I have more in common with my 12 year old self than my 15 year old self....

Do you listen to the same bands you did growing up? I do, every now and then. Currently, I have a thing for 70′s and 80′s music though.

Were your parents cool parents or were they strict? Strict. As in, I was never allowed to go to concerts unless they listened to the band first and approved it. 

Have you ever been in a car accident? Yes. Nothing major, although I did total my car in 2011.

What was your favorite food as a kid? It’s always been cheeseburgers.

What is it now? Cheeseburgers.