Jewelpet Tinkle – First Episode Review

Episode Summary: Ruby, a white rabbit with eyes made of glittering ruby gemstones, arrives at the Magical Academy in time for opening ceremonies.  Unfortunately, she hasn't yet passed the entrance exam, and when she's offered the chance to demonstrate her skill, the results don't come as planned.  The benevolent headmaster offers her a chance to redeem herself; if she can travel to the human world and find a human being who shares her heart, Ruby and her human partner  will be allowed to attend the Academy.  When Ruby arrives on Earth she meets a girl named Akari and feels as though she might be the one, but Ruby's attempts to aid Akari fail and make her miserably late to her first day of classes.

Because of her lateness, Akari must make her introductions in front of her new class, and it seems as though all her classmates care about is that Akari has a famous older sister.  Akari is offered one consolation, however; her assigned seat is right next to that of her crush. After getting home from school, Akari laments her lack of self-confidence and Ruby uses her magic to cheer her up.  It's then that Ruby realizes that Akari was her chosen partner after all, and the two transport to Jewel Land where Akari comes to accept magical abilities.

Thoughts: Okay, I just need to get this out of the way before saying anything else about the show: the title makes the show sound like it revolves around what the Jewelpets do in the litter box.  And then I turned five.  Moving on.

When I reviewed episode one of this franchise's first series, I was sure to make note of its positive, simple message regarding having confidence in oneself.  Unfortunately, in between then and season two I watched about twelve episodes of Heartcatch Precure, which addresses many of the same pre-adolescent fears about popularity, confidence and jealousy of one's older siblings, but twice as well and much more naturally (even considering that there are, you know, magical girls involved).  While Akari is very cute and comes across as earnest, her story could be compared to one of those display cakes that bakers place in their shop windows - sure, they're ornate and beautiful on the outside, but inside they're nothing but wooden dowels and Styrofoam.

This show's "Styrofoam" is the fact that it's shilling for a line of toys.  While that's not necessarily a bad thing (I did enjoy watching my share of Pokemon back in the day), as an adult I find these things, no matter how clever or cute, rather insidious.  The toys in question here are plush versions of the various Jewelpets, which come with passwords that allow the purchaser to register online and "adopt" their Jewelpet in the virtual world as well.  Here's the catch: the user account expires after one year unless the user adopts another Jewelpet, extending the account.  No matter how cute these things are, the thought of hordes of children screaming and crying to their parents for the money to keep buying these toys lest their precious virtual pet "die" makes me shudder.

Rather than launch into a tirade against the aggressive marketing tactics leveled against the under-12-crowd, I'll stick to the show's merits, which to be perfectly blunt aren't particularly evident in comparison to its weaknesses.  Sure, the show has cute down to an absolute science.  There are animals of every type and color in the Jewelpet world, but in addition to that there are kitty-cat witches, a tiny old bearded man who floats in the air and serves as the school headmaster, and the benevolent Lady Jewelina, who could probably drown in all the ribbons and bows on her outfit and who created the Jewelpets from the positive emotions of the human race, who she loves dearly.  Akari becomes the epitome of cute once transforming into her magical girl form, wearing a getup that would have been at home in Card Captor Sakura. 

As design sensibilities go, the show pops with bright colors and clean simple lines.  Jewel Land is a candy-colored cornucopia of bright purples, aqua's, and other hues that don't occur in nature.  The animation is serviceable, but there are a couple of very brief standout scenes, especially near the end of the episode as Akari is falling from the sky after arriving in Jewel Land.  The theme songs are upbeat and catchy and feature sparkling and colorful imagery from the show.

But strip away all the cute imagery, bright colors, chipper music, the "fondant" if you will, and there's really nothing left to chew on.  As I mentioned, the show pays some lip service to the idea of gaining self-confidence, and I certainly can't fault it for trying, but in order for the message to feel substantial Akari would have to be more believable as a character, and I just don't get any good impression from the way that she's portrayed.  Instead of conveying her insecurities through her actions, it's as if there's someone standing by with a megaphone announcing "Akari feels jealous of her older sister!" and "Akari lacks confidence!"  The creators themselves seem to lack confidence that the story can carry the show on its own (or they simply don't care), and the whole production suffers because of it.

As cute as it looks, this is purely throwaway entertainment, an extended commercial for a line of toys that doesn't really bother trying to add any life or individuality into the proceedings.

Pros:

• There are a couple of moments of inspired animation production.
• The show has cute down to a science.

Cons:

• This show doesn't strive to go beyond what it is - a commercial for a line of kids' stuffed animals.
• The central message is sound but it's emphasized poorly and without subtlety and depth.

Recommended? No.  There's honestly not much here that would interest anyone but the youngest of viewers.