Magnolia

Throughout the twenty-first century, there has been an increase in the number of children’s cartoons with complex storylines that unfold over multiple seasons. The episodes of this show format are intended to be viewed in a specific order, so that audience members can fully understand the show’s continuity-driven story. Popular examples of this format include Avatar: The Last Airbender, Steven Universe, and The Owl House.

The proposed article would discuss the future of story-driven cartoons in light of current industry trends. The writer could discuss factors such as: new technologies (eg. streaming services), broader entertainment trends (eg. mass TV show cancellations, resulting in rushed/unfinished stories), and competing forms of entertainment (eg. children spending increased time watching videos on tablets instead of TV). The article would explore whether story-driven cartoons will continue to rise in popularity or if it will be difficult for this format to thrive in the current animation industry.

In the case of Steven Universe, it's probably important to note how awful the airing schedule at CN was. Some of the most major plot developments happened during the "Steven Bombs," which were these airing blocks where a new episode would be aired a day for a week straight. There would be such large gaps between these little events, so it was a bit frustrating to follow – Justinv2552 9 months ago
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The Owl House in particular provides an opportunity to further explore what happens when a streaming company (Disney, in this case) cancels a season when there was clearly more that the creator had planned for the story. – Siothrún 9 months ago
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I like this topic - as someone who grew up watching Avatar it's been interesting to see this style become more popular! It possibly could also be worthwhile mentioning the impact that anime has had on animators and/or the preferences of kids, as many of the anime targeted at younger audiences have had story-driven structures as well. – AnnieEM 9 months ago
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supernatural

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The Legacy of Supernatural

It occupied television screens for fifteen years, and two-and-a-half years after concluding its run, it’s still inescapable on social media. Debuting in 2005 and finishing in 2020, Supernatural was an incredibly long-running series about monster-fighting brothers Sam and Dean Winchester. During its run, the show’s immense popularity was demonstrable not only in how long it remained on air, but in the overwhelming presence it had in online fandom spaces. However, despite the love for Supernatural during its run, the show has left a very mixed legacy in recent years. Many fans criticised the show’s last three episodes, with particular critique going towards Castiel’s death moments after confessing his unrequited love to Dean. This criticism has spilled over to Supernatural’s prequel/sequel series, The Winchesters, which has received low viewership numbers, despite the star Jensen Ackles’ involvement in the production. Real-world events, from co-lead Jared Padalecki’s exclusion from The Winchesters to international dubs altering Castiel’s love confession to be requited have contributed to discourses surrounding Supernatural. On the flip side, however, other shows involving Supernatural’s main cast – Jared Padalecki’s Walker, Jensen Ackles’ The Boys, and most recently, Misha Collin’s Gotham Knights – have all achieved high viewership numbers and/or seasonal longevity, suggesting that fans still hold great affection for the series and its stars. The proposed article would explore the legacy left by one of the CW’s flagship shows.

One of the things Supernatural did right was pay attention to its fans. The actors and writers had good friendly relationships with their fans - there's a variety of Moments at conventions worth considering for this article - and they put homages to the fans in some of their episodes. Then they proceeded to not do a couple of things some of the fans would have wanted them to do, like make the Destiel relationship fully canon. Part of the disappointment was probably based on a perceived betrayal of the fans' trust. The things fans liked about their fifteen-year relationship with the show have persisted after the show ended, and therein lies the show's legacy. – noahspud 2 years ago
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Latest Comments

Jun 12, 2023 Magnolia Thank you for your kind words. Although I used the dub names, I primarily wrote about the original Japanese versions of the shows.	Yu-Gi-Oh! and Gender: Sexist or Subversive?
Apr 23, 2023 Magnolia Very interesting analysis. This article has definitely helped me to better understand the book. I haven’t seen any of the early film and television adaptations of The Great Gatsby, but I would be interested to see if any of them tried to adapt the book’s colour symbolism through non-visual means such as dialogue, since they were limited by the black-and-white filmmaking technology available at the time.	The Great Gatsby: Exploring 1920s Class Politics with Colour Symbolism
Apr 23, 2023 Magnolia Very interesting article. I knew that fans campaigned for the Brooklyn Nine-Nine renewal, but I didn’t realise just how large the campaign was. I think it’s interesting that modern technologies both contribute to and combat TV show cancellation. The invention of streaming services means that more shows than ever are being created, and this competition results in more shows than ever getting cancelled, but social media has also been an instrumental part of revival campaigns.	Fan-Power: Saving Shows From Cancellation
Apr 22, 2023 Magnolia Very interesting article. You’ve done a good job at succinctly explaining both sides of the debate. Something I find interesting about the dub/sub discourse is that, while it’s often concentrated on anime because of the medium’s popularity, the same debates seem to happen on smaller scales for other forms of media. For example, many fans of the Korean show Squid Game criticised the English dub for altering the dialogue rather than directly translating it.	The Anime Dub Controversy