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| From Frederator Flickr |
Grade: A
There is no doubt in my mind that I would not have watched a single episode of Adventure Time if it wasn’t for Tumblr. To be more specific I would not have had a desire to even watch any Adventure Time just to prep myself for this very special episode if it wasn’t for character designer Natasha Allegri who first created the alternate versions of Finn & Jake in a comic and continued to give us more of their comic adventures & other adventures between Natasha & her cat on her tumblr. This Adventure Time is, in many ways, the same but also very unlike its predecesor and thats what makes this a Very Special Episode worthy of your attention.
From the opening credits we are plopped right into an episode of Adventure Time but all the characters genders are reversed and now the title song is sung by Natasha Allegri, who does a great job by the way, and are then dropped right into action. Fiona is hanging out at Prince Gumball’s castle with Cake and the Ice Queen shows up to ruin their fun. Wowed by her defense Prince Gumball, voiced by the awesome Neil Patrick Harris, ask Fiona to go out with him. Cake keeps implying that it is going to be a date which makes Fiona start worrying about it. Turns out the great paralleled scene is a date which includes Lord Monichromicorn, the male version of Lady Rainicorn, some singing by Neil Patrick Harris as Prince Gumball and him asking Fiona to his party that evening as his girlfriend. Fiona shows up in a dress, modeled after Princess Serenity’s dress from Sailor Moon*, and the alternate version of everyone is there. What sets this episode apart from every previous episode of Adventure Time is in many ways its more adult themes while still presenting itself as the same kids show just with gender swapped characters.
From the start the inside jokes are a little more apparent and geared towards older views. There is a lot more interest in relationships in this episode following the trend of the recent third season but it also takes it to a further level. Ice Queen is way more devious & intense unlike the Ice King who just wants to trap all the princesses. The episode also goes beyond the general relationship feel the season has been giving off this season and gives a great message for its young viewers and a heartening message for older viewers who have been jaded in the whole date race with things like OK Cupid. There was an interesting piece written Rebecca Sugar on how she wanted the episode to really focus on the feelings we have from being a “fan” of something, this is very apparent through the episode especially by the time we reach its great ending. This episode is not only a love letter to the fans but also to the fans of the alternate version.
This episode was created for the fans of the alternate version, Fiona & Cake, and there really is no disappointment to be had by how well it was crafted. The demand, of course, did come from older viewers and it comes across in the themes and jokes we get throughout the episode. There has been some reaction that Finn & Jake cannot be girls, especially across the weirdness that is Tumblr, but this episode is all about having fun and those disappointed by that fact really need to understand that they are watching a kids show.
Grade: A
Editor’s Side Note:
*Sailor Moon is the reincarnated version of Princess Serenity. Totes believe!
“Ice Queen why you always predatoring on dudes?!”
“Totally ice blocking my game!”
Cake’s dulcimer totally beats out Jake’s viola for cool instrument.
Lord Monichromicorn's foot tapping also came off even more sexual due to Cake’s puffed tail reaction.
“I pay attention to things I see you being ‘all about’.”
All the lyrics to “Oh Fiona!”
I gotta admit I didn’t mind not getting any Marshall Lee action in the episode but I could see how that could suck for the ladies since I am all about Marceline.
