Code Lyoko Evolution continues in an undisclosed period of time after the original series ends. The series splits itself into two styles, CGI and live-action. Both styles have their flaws and pros standalone and compared to the original series.
Live action amplifies contrast to the viewer between the real world and Lyoko more than the previous series' animation. The problem with the animators' obsession with giving children huge foreheads is no longer an issue. However, transitioning has its repercussions. While some of the characters, such as Ulrich and Yumi, pull off the designs of their animated counterparts with ease. Others... not so much. American Audiences beware, Odd is as he was in the original French version of the first series. Aelita looks silly, and her actress is almost always grouchy. The acting is okay for some characters, such as for William, Jim, and newcomer Laura, but subpar with others, such as for Aelita, who now seems to have a stick up her bum most of the time, and for Yumi. Never is the acting over-the-top, which can turn some people off that liked the livelihood of the animated segments. Overall, 3/5. I'd give it 2/5, but Sissi only speaks in two episodes, which is a good enough perk for one full point.
Just as well, XANA's plans have been reformatted to cope with the live action. Keeping the plot going is the injection of codes from Lyoko into the warriors, similar to season 2's reason to keep the computer on. XANA attempts to steal back the codes by grabbing the warriors with specters (don't ask my how this works), which also powers XANA up with each code stolen. On paper, this is great; it recaptures the suspense of the first season of the show and gives the warriors a reason to never let their guard down that could really play well for the drama. In practice, it's 2/3 of the time just a studio extra power-walking towards the kids that never seek the company of an adult when strangers try to touch them or power-walk slightly faster at a constant pace. Needless to say, it can get lame. One episode even climaxes with XANA having three specters just stand and stare at the warriors for a while before exploding. Food for thought, specters never run until XANA is nearly at maximum restored power. To compensate for this, a new human antagonist, Tyron, is introduced. It's played out rather well by comparison; the only problem with it is that he comes too late in the series and his involvement with the warriors is left at a cliffhanger at the end of the series. I won't spoil it, but I will hint that it (surprise) involves Aelita, and that it's an adult fear (tvtropes, anyone?). Aelita's role is otherwise downplayed, tower deactivation is done on a basis of whoever has codes left in them can deactivate the tower. While this seems like an unwelcome deviation to some, this works well with the almost classic comparison of the virtual world to a video game in that escort missions suck.
The virtual parts are decent. The CGI is on recent technology, so it's barely aged yet, and the series uses a healthy dose of enemy types, sometimes creatively. However, there are no real "boss" monsters anymore like the Colossus. The Scyphozoa appears once, and while it's a pushover it helps to further the drama in the episode it does appear in. Again, no spoilers. The most used enemy is most likely newcomer Ninjas, human-controlled guardians for the new Cortex sector. Sectors in the series are severely cut back in how often we visit them, most of the action is done on the way to and in the Cortex, a supercomputer housing XANA owned by Tyron. Lyoko is mostly visited in the beginning, as the heroes for a change often are on the offensive against XANA and newcomer Tyron. The fighting is decent, and each character can pull their own. Overall, for an action cartoon, it isn't bad. 4/5
3 + 4 = 7
Live action amplifies contrast to the viewer between the real world and Lyoko more than the previous series' animation. The problem with the animators' obsession with giving children huge foreheads is no longer an issue. However, transitioning has its repercussions. While some of the characters, such as Ulrich and Yumi, pull off the designs of their animated counterparts with ease. Others... not so much. American Audiences beware, Odd is as he was in the original French version of the first series. Aelita looks silly, and her actress is almost always grouchy. The acting is okay for some characters, such as for William, Jim, and newcomer Laura, but subpar with others, such as for Aelita, who now seems to have a stick up her bum most of the time, and for Yumi. Never is the acting over-the-top, which can turn some people off that liked the livelihood of the animated segments. Overall, 3/5. I'd give it 2/5, but Sissi only speaks in two episodes, which is a good enough perk for one full point.
Just as well, XANA's plans have been reformatted to cope with the live action. Keeping the plot going is the injection of codes from Lyoko into the warriors, similar to season 2's reason to keep the computer on. XANA attempts to steal back the codes by grabbing the warriors with specters (don't ask my how this works), which also powers XANA up with each code stolen. On paper, this is great; it recaptures the suspense of the first season of the show and gives the warriors a reason to never let their guard down that could really play well for the drama. In practice, it's 2/3 of the time just a studio extra power-walking towards the kids that never seek the company of an adult when strangers try to touch them or power-walk slightly faster at a constant pace. Needless to say, it can get lame. One episode even climaxes with XANA having three specters just stand and stare at the warriors for a while before exploding. Food for thought, specters never run until XANA is nearly at maximum restored power. To compensate for this, a new human antagonist, Tyron, is introduced. It's played out rather well by comparison; the only problem with it is that he comes too late in the series and his involvement with the warriors is left at a cliffhanger at the end of the series. I won't spoil it, but I will hint that it (surprise) involves Aelita, and that it's an adult fear (tvtropes, anyone?). Aelita's role is otherwise downplayed, tower deactivation is done on a basis of whoever has codes left in them can deactivate the tower. While this seems like an unwelcome deviation to some, this works well with the almost classic comparison of the virtual world to a video game in that escort missions suck.
The virtual parts are decent. The CGI is on recent technology, so it's barely aged yet, and the series uses a healthy dose of enemy types, sometimes creatively. However, there are no real "boss" monsters anymore like the Colossus. The Scyphozoa appears once, and while it's a pushover it helps to further the drama in the episode it does appear in. Again, no spoilers. The most used enemy is most likely newcomer Ninjas, human-controlled guardians for the new Cortex sector. Sectors in the series are severely cut back in how often we visit them, most of the action is done on the way to and in the Cortex, a supercomputer housing XANA owned by Tyron. Lyoko is mostly visited in the beginning, as the heroes for a change often are on the offensive against XANA and newcomer Tyron. The fighting is decent, and each character can pull their own. Overall, for an action cartoon, it isn't bad. 4/5
3 + 4 = 7