Plot
The setting is Kadic Academy, a run-of-the-mill boarding school that was just made for these type of children/teen fantasy pulp shows and books. Computer expert Jeremy finds an abandoned factory near Kadic’s campus. The factory leads him underground and he stumbles across a Supercomputer. His exploration of the Supercomputer releases a malicious entity known as XANA, a living and evolving virus/AI that is able to affect both living beings and technological systems in the real world in order to cause massive disasters.
XANA is linked to a virtual world called Lyoko and an amnesiac girl named Aelita who is trapped there as well. Aelita has the power to temporarily suspend XANA’s power by accessing and deactivating Towers, virtual terminals within Lyoko. XANA sends virtual monsters to De-Virtualize her so that its campaign to destroy the world may go uncontested.
Jeremy recruits his classmates Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd, to enter Lyoko and take the fight to XANA’s monsters and to reveal the mystery behind both Aelita and XANA while keeping their secret from authority figures.
Plot Details and Evaluation
In my opinion, “Code Lyoko” is a fairly balanced blend of a slice-of-life high school comedy and sci-fi action drama. I find the plot to be moderately original since it’s a Sci-Fi Action show. While the Isekai genre did exist at the time, it was not as common to find Western cartoons that adapted the Virtual World concept. To be fair, West may not be the appropriate term to describe it since this was actually a French animation project. When I was younger I didn’t really notice it, and once I noticed the French influence I assumed it was one of those Canadian cartoons that was also integrated into U.S. television.
My childhood was rife with these type of fantasy shows where the protagonist(s) is a kid or a teenager with a secret identity or secret superpowers that force them to balance their responsibility as the magical entity with ordinary teenage life. Beyond “Code Lyoko” I also remembered shows like “American Dragon: Jake Long,” “Ben 10,” and a short show called “The Life and Times of Juniper Lee.” Even Disney shows like “That’s so Raven,” “Kim Possible,” and “Wizards of Waverly Place” saturated cartoon programs with this type of plot.
One would think that it would get tiresome to see the same type of show over-and-over, but I think that “Code Lyoko” makes its own mark by the way of 2 distinct features. The First being slightly more mature themes permeating the slice-of-life portion carried by the well-crafted characters and The Second being the Sci-Fi twist to it.
Regarding The First, there is a dramatic sting to the nature of most episodes. Often times the attacks that XANA will launch in each episode have frightening consequences. To name a few episodes w/o spoiling there is:
• An episode where two characters are trapped in a boiler room and being steamed alive
• An episode where XANA turns the Kadic students into zombies
• An episode where XANA takes over a fighter plane armed with missiles
• An episode where XANA causes a meteor shower
• An episode where XANA possesses a wild boar
• Episodes where XANA sends his monsters into the real world
• Episodes where XANA appears as an apparition to attack people
• Episodes where XANA possesses people and makes them violent
To name a few. Hell, even the first episode revolves around a giant possessed teddy bear wreaking havoc. What really sells the feeling of mortal peril is the music—it tends to get very dramatic and eerie on tense scenes unlike other shows. Now that I think about it, I have never consciously observed that any character has one particular theme that represents them in this series.
Think of how shonen anime and other more fantastical shows use a character’s theme--usually one that includes their name or a particular sound native to their appearance on screen--in tandem with the action as a means of displaying their control over the situation.
Unlike those shows, “Code Lyoko” has a more gritty and suspenseful score that sets in whenever catastrophes occur in the real-world, displaying how powerless these students are against forces of nature and the very technology they manipulate when XANA has access to them. In contrast, when the characters enter the Lyoko world there is an overall theme that is less harsh and more energetic, amplifying the sense of weightlessness and adventure that comes with the virtual world.
Finally, I think the slice-of-life aspect of the show is done quite well, and that is due to fairly decent writing. The core cast all of very distinct personalities and I’d go as far as to say that the clique of the Lyoko Warriors has a lot of polarity in it and this is highlighted when you see the core cast interact with other side characters. Beyond the tried-and-true methods of character development to include the “monster of the week” episodes and having characters deal with relationship drama, there are other tools used to develop these characters to include having certain characters introduce their parents to the audience and displaying their hobbies outside of Lyoko. It really fleshes them out as characters by having them display multiple layers to them rather than limiting the scope of their character to either their Lyoko persona or their relationship status.
Second is the Sci-fi twist. While the real world is animated in a more traditional fashion, the Lyoko World is constructed in CGI, and although it can be visually jarring, it does help distinguish between worlds. Instead of the sequenced Magical-Girl-style transformations that you’d find in “Sailor Moon” (which I never watched tbh) or “Digimon Frontier” you can see the same type of sequence of Jeremy narrating the steps of their entry into Lyoko. It’s an entirely personal inclination, but shows that have a distinct structure really appeal to me…especially if the structure has a sequence that is visually or narratively engaging.
For example, my favorite “Digimon” is “Digimon: Frontier,” and that is mostly due to the Transformation Sequence. Say what you want about “Digimon: Frontier,” whenever a character Transforms into their Digimon, it is always an entertaining display of Sakuga. Because it is so visually striking and since it indicates an integral part of the narrative (i.e.- initiating an action sequence), it is something that stands out as a feature that defines its episode structure and the series itself. The episodes that don’t have Transformation Sequences always feel lackluster in comparison to an episode that does—but in the blank space between them there are action sequences and plot points that are used to either resolve the action indicated by the first sequence or to build up to the next one.
Also, I made a comment earlier about Isekai…having the main characters enter a virtual or parallel world. It’s a drum I started beating recently since this genre of fantasy anime has become extremely popular over the past decade or so, but the same way I had seen several shows about the main characters living double lives due to their superhero status, I had NOT seen many Isekai-type shows around the time. The advent of discovering a new genre at the tender and impressionable age of 5 before it became a cliché cemented this as something unique.
[EDIT]
I WAS GOING TO DO A BREAKDOWN OF THE WORLDS OF LYOKO, BUT THIS IS ALREADY SO LONG AND I’LL LEAVE THAT UP TO WHOEVER WANTS TO VIEW IT.
