AN: Again, spoilers for seasons 1 – 3 of this show.

In my last review of “Miraculous”, I talked about how the characters are the reason why so many people love this show. I missed a layer in that statement. I failed to clarify that even though this show is aimed at kids, a major part of the fandom comprises of teenagers and adults. It also seems as though older audiences tend to feel more passionately about this show than its target audience.

And I think that a lot of the criticism that has been aimed at this show comes from the fact that even though a huge portion of the fandom are older, its target audience are kids.

The thing that draws people my age (I’m 18) is that this show has a surprising level of depth for a show aimed at seven-year-olds. For me, the main reason why I watch this show is because of the characters. There’s a level of depth and humanity in the characters that just draws me in. (That, or, we’re all mentally children).

But regardless of the fact that a major part of its audience are older, the show doesn’t necessarily make writing choices to suit its older audience.

Pacing: Things Happen Too Fast And Aren’t Allowed To Sit

“Cat Blanc” was simultaneously everything we wanted and everything we didn’t want. That episode had so much development. The fact that it was squished into a single episode made it feel rushed and therefore didn’t allow its older audience to really process the episode or feel the emotions present. It was too much in too little time.

And even though it is by far my favourite episode, I agree with that statement. The animation was top notch. The voice acting was flawless. It was just the pacing that drew a lot of the criticism.

And it’s upsetting. But it’s also important to remember that this is a show aimed at seven-year-olds. A seven-year-old is unlikely to care about the pacing. I know that as a child, I watched shows that if I was forced to watch again as an adult, I would consider it an act of mental torture. And that’s because kids don’t care about the same things that teens and adults do when watching a show.

It’s unfortunate that they did such a good job that people my age can’t help but watch. I think the main reason why people get so intensely angry is because they genuinely love this show.

Comparing The Show To Avatar

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” (review for that coming up soon) was an absolutely phenomenal show. It was simultaneously full of humour and very heavy messages. It showed that anyone is capable of being redeemed and also that even good people can turn evil. It exposed class inequality, war crimes, treatment of refugees and even showed genocide. Everything was done almost flawlessly.

But here’s the thing. “Avatar” and “Miraculous Ladybug” have completely different contexts. “Avatar” explores the horrors of war. Yes, the main character is a hyperactive 12-year-old boy. And yes, a huge part of its charm is the humour but it is still quite a serious show. And to be honest, its target audience is older than that of “Miraculous Ladybug”.

“Miraculous Ladybug” is a light hearted show. Yes, it exposes corruption, abuse and some other pretty heavy topics but it’s mainly a light hearted superhero show. Most problems are solved within the episode. There are some long lasting consequences, but those are mostly around characters and their interactions with each other.

No one ever dies (except in the “Cat Blanc” episode in which everybody dies) and Hawkmoth conveniently makes the choices that allow the superheroes to fix everything with relatively few consequences further down the line. And to top that off, Ladybug’s powers make it almost impossible for there to be any consequences (even for buildings).

And I know some people will call this “bad writing” but again, the target audience is quite young. Whether or not a piece of work is “good writing” is dependant on its purpose. In being a show aimed at seven-year-olds, the rules that it has to follow are different to the rules of a superhero show aimed at teenagers or adults. In this scenario, being light hearted and not having too many long lasting consequences is a part of the deal.

And you may argue that “Avatar” had consequences despite being a kids show but remember, that show explores the horrors of war. And its target audience are also slightly older than that of “Miraculous”.

Character Choices

Let’s Talk About Chloé Bourgeois

I have a theory around why Chloe is so hateable and why she ends up becoming acumatised. I think Chloe’s purpose is to be a representation of a societal problem. She cannot be redeemed because she is a lesson. She is there to teach children that they cannot always change the people who hurt them and sometimes the only thing they can do is learn how to coexist.

Chloe is rich and she’s the mayor’s daughter. She is frequently shown to use her wealth and her father’s authority in order to either get her own way or destroy anyone and anything that defies what she wants. Example 1: When she accused Marinette of stealing without proof and used her father’s authority in order to try and punish her. Example 2: When she had the production of a music video shut down simply because she didn’t get the lead role. Example 3: When she stole Marinette’s diary in order to get her out of the running as class rep. There are other examples, of course, but again, we don’t have time to go over every scenario.

On top of her clear lack of morality, she’s also a bully. She is self-absorbed, narcissistic and blames everyone other than herself.

She’s not a good person by any means.

But she does develop. Ladybug ends up being the only person who she truly respects. Under Ladybug’s guidance, Chloe develops from complete selfishness to actually being able to hold herself accountable. However, even with this development, she remains a bully and doesn’t ever really learn to truly care about other people. Her main motivation in wanting to be Queen Bee is that 1. she wants to fight alongside Ladybug and 2. she wants the glamour of being a superhero. She may have improved but her intentions are still selfish and especially considering the fact that her identity is public knowledge, it makes sense to me that Ladybug wouldn’t want to give her a miraculous.

And it makes sense to me that coming to the realisation that her idol does not trust or need her would be enough to turn her to the other side (I hope not permanently though). You have to remember that this is an incredibly entitled, self-absorbed child who has until this point, been essentially given whatever she wants. That, along with the fact that her mother is incredibly narcissistic, emotionally abusive and neglectful, her reaction makes sense to me.

I think that even though Chloe is presented as an entitled rich brat with high self-esteem, she is incredibly insecure. Her abusive childhood would logically cause her to feel like she isn’t good enough. And you see this in her interactions with her mother. That is traumatic and I very much think that her trauma would have been triggered by Ladybug ignoring her.

Therefore, I don’t think it’s out of character or bad writing for her to be acumatised. She’s already fought off one acumatisation and people have limits. Her trauma makes her vulnerable and an easy target for Hawk Moth.

At this point, many of you may be cursing Marinette for neglecting Chloe. I get it but I don’t think that’s fair either. She is a superhero and has more responsibilities (as a superhero) than anyone else. Also, she comes from a very healthy, loving family. That along with the fact that Chloe wears a façade of self confidence around everyone (including herself) means that Marinette probably doesn’t realise the gravity of the situation.

It’s sad because I wanted Chloe to become a better person but I don’t think it’s bad writing. I think it’s a lesson. A lesson that you have to genuinely care and be willing to keep trying, no matter how many times you fail if you really want to redeem yourself. Remember, Zuko himself (with the best redemption arc) failed multiple times before he achieved full redemption. He became a better person, only to regress into his old ways. And by the time he realised how terrible he’s been, he’s completely alone and everyone has lost faith in him. It takes him a lot of failures and a lot of persistence in order to finally get on the good side.

Expecting Chloe to simply redeem herself with no dramatic setbacks and change in behaviour is unreasonable. That would be bad writing.

Chloe is a complex character. One that simultaneously makes me pity her and dislike her immensely. If she does get a redemption, it will not be an easy road. She may care about Ladybug and she may have a tragic backstory, but at this point, she’s still a bad person. She still hasn’t learned to care about other people. She’s still causing people to get acumatised, even after becoming a hero.

In essence, she has no consideration for anyone other than Ladybug. If Thomas Astruc redeemed her at this point, it would be a terrible message to kids. Kids need to learn that not everyone deserves forgiveness.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see a Chloe redemption arc. But I don’t want that to happen until she completely changes who she is as a person. The fact of the matter is that her personality is toxic. It may be a result of her upbringing but that doesn’t change the fact that she rarely ever does anything selfless unless it’s for Ladybug.

But What About Marinette? She Also Acumatises People

Marinette does, in fact, both directly and indirectly cause numerous acumatisations. But in a world where not noticing that a girl has a crush on you is enough to cause an acumatisation, I don’t think that’s a reason to hate her on its own. Don’t worry, there are plenty of legitimate reasons to dislike her character. Personally, I liked her character but I can understand why some people might hate her. She is a bit creepy sometimes and a little careless.

But I get the feeling that she’s just going through an awkward phase. The main difference between Chloe and Marinette is that Marinette is genuinely a nice person who cares about people. Sure, she can be quick to jump the gun but she learns her lesson. Almost every episode, in fact, is her learning one lesson or another.

And I certainly hope that she gets over her creepiness when it comes to Adrien but to be fair, Adrien’s also a little creepy. They both have room for development. They’re 14 year olds, they have time.

Anyways, on comparing Marinette to Chloe. One point people often raise is that they have completely different upbringings. While Marinette has practically perfect parents, Chloe has a narcissist mother and a corrupt coward of a father. That’s harsh, I pity her and I understand her.

I think the reason why she’s so self-absorbed is because 1. she’s never had boundaries and 2. she’s never really had a loving mother, just a father who overcompensates. Her problem is that these childhood issues manifest through her having an inability to see people as people. She doesn’t respect her staff or her classmates or even her “friend”. She sees everyone as inferior to her. The only exceptions being Ladybug and Adrien (and maybe her father).

She’s had instances where she hasn’t been as mean as she could be but do you really want someone like that to be redeemed? Now? Before they’ve shown any significant growth. Before they’ve shown that they regret their past behaviour (not in disappointing Ladybug but in her actions towards her classmates).

The difference in Chloe acumatising people and Marinette acumatising people is that while for Marinette, it’s often an unintentional mistake or sheer bullheadedness that she will regret by the end of the episode, Chloe sets out to hurt people. Even when she knows a classmate has been acumatised, she goes out of her way to hurt that person. She brings up their vulnerabilities and dares them to be acumatised again.

That’s not someone showing they’re on the road to redemption, that’s someone using other people as a punching bag. If I saw Chloe in real life, even if I knew her pain, I still wouldn’t put up with her bullshit. Maybe that’s because of who I am. I had a pretty traumatic childhood and I’ve lashed out at people. I’ve hurt people but I’ve almost always apologised afterwards. I’ve always tried to make amends.

That’s why I love Marinette but only like Chloe in her characterisation. While my personality is completely different to Marinette’s, I can relate to making mistakes. I can relate to realising that I’ve done something wrong and seeking forgiveness for it. I could see myself being Marinette but if I ever turned into Chloe, someone kill me please.

Final Thoughts

I think the reason why my last review was so positive while so many others are highly critical is because I don’t take this show too seriously. I know that I’m not the target audience. And so when the show doesn’t go in the direction I either want or expect, I may be upset but I’m not going to go after the writer.

While this show definitely has some creepiness, for the most part, its messages are pretty good. It has a fairly diverse cast, allowing kids to both accept themselves and those around them. It has a female lead which is rarely seen in superhero shows. It teaches kids that they can’t always change the people around them and sometimes it’s better to just learn how to coexist with people who aren’t very nice.

This show is definitely flawed but it’s one that I would be happy for kids to watch. And seeing as it is a kids show, it lacking the level of complexity required of a show aimed at adults is not something I see as a flaw. After all, whether or not a show is good is reliant on it achieving its purpose.

Kids shows don’t have to be liked by adults. It just so happens that amidst trying to create a show for kids, the writer incorporated just enough complexity to draw older audiences. It’s unfortunate that so much of the fandom are teens and adults but the best thing to do would be to not take it too seriously.

This show will inevitably disappoint some of the older fans but it’s not like any of the older viewers will actually stop watching this show. Older viewers may have expressed frustration but most people want to see where it goes.

So, basically, calm down.

AN: Obviously, I’m not unbiased. I rarely am on this website, it’s part of being human. But the reviews I wrote for this show are much lighter than reviews I’ve written for other stories. As I said, I don’t take the show too seriously. I also get that there’s a lot more criticism (a lot of which is fair). I can’t address them all, I don’t have enough time, words or energy to do so. I would just ask that if you are really passionate about this show, don’t take my review as a weapon to use against me.

I’d also like to say that while I recently started following Thomas Astruc on Twitter, that was for “Miraculous” updates. I am not intimately acquainted with the discussions that have taken place there and I do not want to be. If you want to discuss his Twitter history, I am not your gal. I am not here to defend or attack anyone’s tweets. I’m just here to review a show I enjoyed. There’s no depth beyond that.

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