Reviews

While below the rest of the series in terms of plot, animation quality, and characterization, the pilot episode of the Venture bros still holds a decent amount of charm and entertainment that makes up for its follies. The art is considerably more stylized than the later episodes of the series (due to the fact that most of the pilot was done by Jackson and Hammer) which makes it stand out considerably from the rest of the series. The animation makes use of extensive motion tweening which yet again can be attributed to more limited resources held by the team for the pilot and unfortunately restricts the episode when compared the rest. Humour and characterization is definitely much more rough than later on (Hank and Dean are even more plain than how they are in the rest of season 1, dr. Venture is uncharacteristically chipper) and doesn't fit in much with the rest of series. Ultimately while this episode isn't incredible, it's a good start to a truly outstanding show and is more than entertaining.

What was once a parody of teen dramas, with excellent wit and comedy, is now purely a teen drama plagued by the stale elements that burden most other modern adult animation productions. The show's original off-the-wall and at times tender aesthetic feels like it was left in the storeroom along with Ghandi. The new character additions to the show add little to the experience with some such as Ghandi's and the S. B. O. S. F's replacements being far below their predecessors. Despite the more disagreeable portions of it, the show isn't all negatives. The animation and design while almost feeling less fitting for the series is fine, the returning voice actors do a good job, and some moments almost reach the cleverness seen in the first season. In conclusion, it's not horrible and it could have been far worse but the fact it's such a downgrade from the first season makes this pseudo-reboot not all that worth watching.