It is difficult today for a fictional character to break that barrier and become part of the collective imagination, given the wide range of audiovisual products. One of the last that has managed to achieve icon status is ‘Ladybug’, the superheroine that is sweeping children’s audiences and whose series also has a more adult fandom.
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A normal girl, with a normal life
‘Miraculous: the adventures of Ladybug’ (or ‘Ladybug’ to dry, for friends) tells us the day to day of Marinette, a seemingly normal teenager until danger threatens the streets of Paris. that’s when transforms into the superheroine Ladybug that, with the help of Cat Noirfaces the humans turned into monsters by Lepidoptera, the quintessential supervillain.
The Serie conquers children thanks to its simplicity, since this scheme is repeated in practically all the chapters, making it easier for them to get hooked on watching individual chapters, since they are self-contained. This resource works very well for this type of audience, but what does it have to offer a more adult audience?
For starters, you have a classic flavor that recovers the adventurous spirit from series like ‘Scooby Doo’ (with its “monster of the week”) or ‘Sailor Moon’ (with that “magical warriors against evil”). The series not only does not hide its referents but embraces them and honors them openly, without losing its own uniqueness. That is, the winks are an added value, not the reason for the series.
comes to win
The series would not have to go beyond that episodic structure, taking into account that it works like a charm with the target to which it is directed. And yet, she does: at a certain point, ‘Ladybug’ raises the stakes and becomes a festival of: “What if…?”: What if X character had a prodigy? What if we add time travel? What if they get new powers?
We must recognize the merit of the being able to maintain the same scheme for so long and at the same time be innovative. The series explores all its possibilities, allowing itself to play within the genre and grow in its own way (although there are themes that remain stuck indefinitely, such as the eternal platonic love between Marinette-Adrien).
We are not going to fool ourselves whoever enters ‘Ladybug’ must want to come and play, because it is very easy to find fault with it if we measure it with the wrong scales. It is not a series that pretends to be the ultimate in originality, nor does it make us rethink our existence, but rather aspires to have fun and reinvent itself within its simple and carefree proposal of superheroic adventures.
‘Miraculous Ladybug’ has just concluded the broadcast of its season 4 on Disney Channel and it is the perfect time to recover its previous seasons, available on Disney + and Netflix.
