REVIEW: Robozuna Season 2

 

RoboZuna is an animated Netflix Original in the US, written and directed by Ed Bignell. If you haven’t heard of this series before, it follows an orphaned 14-year-old boy, Ariston, and his homemade robot friend, Mangle, as they attempt to free their nation from an oppressive evil empire and its legion of robot centurions.

By following the pair’s quest for freedom and the unending clash of good over evil, the series is filled epic battles, obstacles, while also telling the story of self-discovery through the hardships of finding your way home and finding your family. Season two starts right where the last left off, with Team Veredus continuing their winning streak after the midseason RoboZuna games. These games are between robots and consists of three rounds with the first team to win two rounds wins the match. The teams wins a round by putting the “RoboZuna ball” – a large heavy dodecahedron – through the hole.

Now, the team has fully embraced their double lives as both members of Team Veredus in the RoboZuna League and as the Freedom Fighters, fighting off the Corvus evil empire. Even though the games are still a big part of the show, but this season we get to see lot more about the Freedom Fighters. We also see the introduction of a few new characters such as Hitch, a master hacker in desperate need of Corvus robot control technology, Janus, leader of the band of Rebels, “The Fixer”, a master mechanic who helps the people of the city, and finally you get to see Danuvia’s master creation the Dominatus in action.

 

The story progresses throughout the season, as the team works valiantly to stop Corvus while also winning RoboZuna games. However, this season also gives more background to some the characters, including the origins of Mangle. Team Veredus keeps winning Robozuna games — which at this point I really wonder how long those games last in general because they seem to be really short games even as a best of three series.

The sport of RoboZuna plays a weird role in this season, as it is the driving force for the story leading us to eventually learn that Danuvia is using the RoboZuna championship as part of her master plan. This drives the team to make sure they win their games. On the other side, you finally get to see the effects of the Freedom Fighter work on the team and the show highlights the sense of community among the people fighting back.

The people rally around the Freedom Fighters more and more as the season goes on because they believe in them and are inspired by finally seeing someone stand up to the bully that is the Corvus empire. This ends up being the theme through the season and it works well.

You also get background episodes to help develop characters, but between all the characters and limited episodes, there is only so much you can do. The Team Veredus robot trio is still great and their typical selves with Mangle is leading the way. I am still disappointed that Feronia doesn’t play a bigger role, since I was hoping and slightly expecting her to with the way season one ended.

There are only nine episodes this season and it has been one of things that does bugs me with Netflix animation. While 10-13 episodes are great for hour long shows, it really seems to limit animated shows that run 20-30 minutes long. I wish Netflix would extend the season length to not only this show but to their animated shows.

RoboZuna does a good job of putting all of it together as the pacing for episodes and the timeline for story progress doesn’t feel completely off, but one can image how much more could get with extended season.

The season ends as most Netflix shows have been ending as of late: with an ending that could mean we are getting season three or as  wrap on the series in case of cancellation. The ending does leave me with a few questions so I really hope there is a season three. If you enjoyed season one then you should enjoy season two.