Season two of Wakfu is well underway, and somehow I neglected to ever post about this odd French cartoon. Based on a sequel to a French MMORPG (Dofus), Wakfu’s first season followed the adventures of Yugo, a young boy seeking out his long-lost family with the help of a number of companions, each based on character archetypes from the game. Alongside this was the story of a megalomaniac time mage hell-bent on accumulating enough Wakfu (a kind of mystical power source found in living things) to send himself back in time to right a past wrong.
The art style is distinct and the animation style somewhat odd to start with. You see, Wakfu is generated not by traditional pen-and-paper means but via Flash animation. An excellent sample to preview the stylistic character designs and animation style would be from season one, episode one, when Nox the time mage confronts an old man with an infant Yugo. The production company clearly has a certain European flair to it.
Character development is slow in coming, refusing to touch the main characters nearly at all over the course of a full season. I understand the necessity of this, as the show is practically an advertisement for Ankama’s upcoming Wakfu computer game (sequel to Dofus). Each of Yugo’s companions needs to remain a paragon of his character class; Ruel must remain an unrepentant greedy Enutrof, Tristepin must remain a headstrong overconfident Iop. It just wouldn’t do to confuse the RPG-buying public about what they’re getting into.
Season two picks up after shortly after the first one trailed off, with the same core cast of protagonists. Just enough time has passed for their deeds and heroic sacrifices to have become a legend of sorts. I highly recommend checking this series out.
Postscript: I find it highly entertaining to hear French voice actors actually use the phrase “ooh la-la” in dialog. It’s like hearing a Mexican say “ay caramba.”
