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The Mysterious Cities of Gold Season 2 Review

TheMysteriousCitiesofGoldS2The Mysterious Cities of Gold
Season 2

www.fabulousfilms.com

Reviewed by Catherine Little

Children of the 80s rejoice! The (surely uncontested) best kids’animation of that decade is back with a glorious 26 episode second series, now showing on KIX, a children’s channel buried in the depths of Freeview.

Anyone who enjoyed the chance to relive their childhood through the DVD release of the original some years  ago will be pleased to hear that the singalongable theme music has only been tinkered with and retains much of its 80s synth charms. Those of you who didn’t (or your kids!) may be rather more pleased to hear that much of the music has been completely overhauled giving a much more up to date feel to the series.

Inevitably, the characters have changed somewhat in appearance andvoice: for some reason, Tao’s voice was a particular surprise to me. But what made the series so charmingly addictive remains: from beginning once again in Barcelona, we’re thrown into a whirlwind adventure of coincidences so wild it takes concentration to keep up! This time the gang find themselves flying (oh yes, the Golden Condor is still there!) to China to search for the second of seven cities of gold (see where they’re going here? – watch out for parts 3 – 7, I suspect!).

When I re-watched the original series recently, I was struck by how seriously it tried to engage with different cultures, right through to a short documentary after each episode, mainly very sympathetic to Native American populations. This is true of season 2 as well, with engaging, although sometimes rather abrupt, short documentaries exploring subjects as diverse as the backstreets of Barcelona, Shaolinmonks and Buddhist prayer wheels.

The animation is up to date, without feeling drastically different from the original series. Perhaps this is credit to the original French / Japanese team who produced the programme. In particular, there is a lovely comic strip effect in some of the fight scenes. Nods to popular movies will no doubt appeal to adult audiences (think Indiana Jones and Crouching Tiger).

As with all of the best children’s TV, Mysterious Cities of Gold gives an empowered view of children’s lives. This often ranges well into the fantastical, for example Esteban beating the Shaolin monks’ best Kung Fu fighter’s years of training and practice with a few moves he watched someone do the other day, but ultimately it’s the mainattraction of the series. I hesitate to call the characters terribly complex, but Season 2 certainly develops some unexpected aspects, with bravery, rivalry and jealousy all coming into play. New characters are introduced, with a couple becoming as central as the originalgang. It feels natural to expand the central group a little (and to add to the number of fantastical flying machines!), although the children’s willingness to trust any new character not laughing manically (a sure sign of a baddy) may yet get them into trouble.

It’s hard not to give the plot away. I want to tell you to watch out for the bit where… but a spoiler review just isn’t my style.Suffice to say that for fans of the original programme and for children of any decade, Season 2 of the Mysterious Cities of Gold is well worth a watch! I’m keeping my eyes open for Season 3.

Rating: 4/5

Available on DVD and Blu-ray from 10 February 2014 from www.fabulousfilms.com.

4 Star

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