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The Cuphead Show! Season 1 Review

The Cuphead Show! is a 2022 animated streaming television series developed by Dave Wasson for Netflix. The first season consists of 12 episodes and it’s excellent.

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“Basically, the sweater is impenetrable to the Devil“

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As a big fan of the Cuphead video game, I am happy to say that this adaptation is both worthy of its source material and the decade that it honors. While the game was more edgy in style and difficulty, the show is more family-friendly in narrative and stakes, but for me that was only a plus. The short films from the beginning of the thirties were just like that, so this was perfect homage to those classics and an amazing love letter for all traditional animation fans.

Speaking of the animation, it’s incredible. Just as the game’s visuals were the highlight, the same goes for the series. Not to say that the other aspects are weak, but the style is so astonishing that it easily becomes the prime reason to see this production. Netflix needs to be congratulated for giving us these great game adaptations (‘Castlevania’ was incredible), but let’s just hope that they honor their animators properly.

The show looks as if it was made back in the early thirties. The character designs are fittingly angular while the color palette is gorgeous and again very traditional. All the places, especially the main house looked super cozy while the action on screen was also beautifully rendered. The soundtrack is terrific with the opening number being incredibly catchy and fun.

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Carn-Evil is the first of the twelve episodes. It sets up the Devil character wonderfully. He is an over-the-top, but very funny and amusing villain. The whole storyline with the stealing of the soul was very faithful to the source material and it is the only main arc in an otherwise highly episodic, slight series for better and for worse.

Cuphead is the dumber of the two brothers. He is very kinetic and honestly quite annoying as was intended by the show. Mugman is much more timid and way more reasonable, though he gets easily persuaded by his brother to join him in their misadventures. Their dynamic is the heart of the show.

Baby Bottle is more of a filler episode, but even in these limited-scale and setting episodes, the show was still wildly entertaining. The humor is excellent as the slapstick is both traditional and modern at the same time. Elder Kettle is quite memorable here. He takes care of the two and is constantly annoyed by their behavior in what is the funniest dynamic of the show.

Ribby & Croaks is more forgettable, though these frogs are a lot of fun. It’s great that the series included so many of these Easter Eggs and a lot of the bosses from the game were present in this first season, which was fantastic to witness. Handle with Care is fun and silly in the right way and it was great seeing Porkrind from the game too. His begrudging attitude was quite amusing here.

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Roll the Dice is outstanding. Not only is the humor strong here, but the storytelling is also more impactful than usual as the Devil gets his plan to get Cuphead’s soul rolling in this episode. His henchmen are suitably silly and his anger was fun to witness. Another highlight is King Dice himself. His job position was changed from the game, but he remains a highly memorable character and a fantastic henchman for the Devil. Hopefully, they bring him back sooner rather than later.

Ghosts Ain’t Real is the highlight of the season. This is an episode that truly embodies the early thirties cartoons not only in style, but also in its horror atmosphere, action on screen and musical moments. The reference to ‘The Skeleton Dance’ was wonderful while the ghosts from the game are brought here and they are beautifully designed.

Root Packed is quite fun and funny. The vegetable characters are suitably silly, but the overall situational comedy that emerged from vegetable care was very well executed. Sweater Off Dead and Sweater Luck Next Time are both these phenomenal connected episodes that are the most action-oriented and most important in terms of storytelling. The sweater idea was interesting and the stupidity of Cuphead coupled with the anger of the Devil produced the funniest results here.

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Dangerous Mugman is somewhat of a filler, but the dragon reference was great and the mountain adventure was very entertaining. Dirt Nap is a hilarious Elder Kettle episode where he erroneously thinks that the boys are trying to kill him, which produced so many funny moments throughout. In Charm’s Way is pretty much a tap dancing musical and it works. Ms. Chalice is a fun addition as this cute grafter who “charms her way” everywhere. The two are put in jail, leaving for a climactic ending of the season.