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The Pirates of Dark Water Review

The Pirates of Dark Water is a 1991 fantasy animated show from Hanna-Barbera. It is a solid, fun adventure.

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“Really? Do you really think I resemble royalty?

No, Monkey bird. But you’re a royal pain!“

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This is one of those 90s shows that feature high adventure and a memorable crew. It surely reminded me ‘Conan the Adventurer’, but surprisingly it is a better series despite my nostalgia for Conan. It has its flaws, but is mostly just a solid, fun time to be had and it is one of the more underrated animated series from the nineties.

The storytelling is quite good for a 90s cartoon. It does have its typical plot trappings at times, but it flows well and the pacing is mostly good. Of the twenty one episodes only a couple are truly phenomenal, but there aren’t any stinkers in here so it is a good batch of episodes overall. It is a shame that it was never completed though.

The Pirates of Dark Water has pretty good, though highly typical characters. But they are admittedly very well developed. Ren is your typical hunky protagonist and Tula is also too bland, but admirably a strong female character.

Ioz is more memorable and interesting than the two and I liked his relationship towards others and his bitterness is fun. Niddler is a Monkey bird and thus has an interesting, different look to him, but again he is your typical animal sidekick who is more annoying than anything else. Needle from Conan is exactly the same.

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My favorite episodes are the first and especially the last one, so well done. But A Drop of Darkness is the most emotional and mature episode here and is thus the standout one for me. The score is solid and I really liked its opening. But the animation is its greatest achievement as it surely is magnificent for its time period with good scenery, colors and character design.

Overall, The Pirates of Dark Water isn’t as fun as it should have been and is mostly just standard fare, but it’s pretty solid nonetheless with memorable characters, good adventures and a specially terrific animation for its time.

Worst Episodes: King Niddler, The Little Leviathan and Sister of the Sword.

Best Episodes: The Quest, A Drop of Darkness and The Living Treasure.

My Rating – 3.4

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