Very good. In fact, really good. Probably the best thing to come out of Disney Animation since Encanto or Once Upon A Studio, and especially since most of their recent projects, with these exceptions, have been sub-par to say the least. So, it was quite a surprise to me when I found out the studio were doing this little show. However, it kinda went under my radar for about a month, which isn't a shock considering they put in little to no marketing for this thing. I did see a trailer for it which got me a little interested but not enough to fully convince me to watch it in a hurry. But when I eventually went to watch it, I was genuinely shocked by just how good it was. There's a great amount of world building and cultural representation which I appreciate the team for doing since it was a show about Nigeria. I was also shocked by the amount of serious subject matter discussed in this show. About poverty, the upper class vs the lower, and the conflict between their economic values and moral judgment. The studio had covered racial issues before in Zootopia but nothing on what the levels of thus series has. No spoilers but there's plot detail and twist halfway through with Tole's best friend, Kole and his mom involving the lead villain that I think goes in a particularly dark place that I wasn't expecting. Not to mention, it can get really sad abd emotional with the character's and their relationships in a way thats dramatic but also feels so real and impactful. On top of that the animation I'd still relatively good. It's cheaper by the standard of their movies, but it has that Disney Animation touch with the character animation and the assets that feeks more high quality than most straight to streaming shows. (*cough Megamind vs The Doom Syndicate) If I had any complaints about this series, it'd be the ending act. While I won't say it's bad, but I feel it was a little undercooked, especially with the villain who gets defeated way too easy in my opinion. Plus, the lizard wasn't used nearly to the potential I thought they were building up to in the trailer. They did show it's powers sort of, but not enough. Really it was just false advertising IMO. However, it was still a great series that was a pleasant surprise. It's severely underrated and hope more people give it some attention. Kudos to the people who made this show and how much heart and effort they really put into making it. Hope they make more original short form mini-series like this one.
Review of Iwájú
