AN: Spoilers for seasons 1 – 3 of “Miraculous Tales Of Ladybug & Catnoir”.

Honestly, when I watched this show for the first time, it wasn’t my favourite (which seems to be a running trend nowadays). For one, I hated the costumes of Ladybug and Catnoir. There also weren’t really any stakes. Every episode had the same structure and almost every problem was fixed by the end of the episode. Which, seeing as it is for a younger audience makes sense. And I also think Thomas Astruc just wanted a relatively light-hearted show (in between torturing the audience with the romantic subplot).

Recently, I felt a little nostalgic so I found the show on Netflix and I binge watched all three seasons within days. And the whole time, I was either laughing, face palming, going aww, having my heart broken or angry. The characters in this show are handled expertly. Everyone (except Lila the liar and Chloe’s “mother”) has depth. They are three-dimensional human beings and even when they’re being horrible, it still feels like we’re dealing with a person rather than a shallow cartoon villain.

But my absolute favourite thing, which I can’t believe I missed the first time I watched it, is the sheer level of diversity present in the show. The characters are from a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds, they have vastly different body shapes and vastly different personalities. This show represents actual people rather than cardboard cutouts of the ideal Eurocentric person.

And I like that they didn’t fall into a “Mean Girls” trap (much as I love that movie, I have complaints). Chloe is rich, blonde and a terrible person. However, while so many shows fall into the trope of having the meanest girl being the most popular, this show represents people’s actual reactions to a horrible person.

They hate her and she only has one friend. In fact, when she says she’s leaving Paris forever, they throw a party (don’t worry, it’s justified – she’s responsible for half the villains getting acumatised). Moreover, the main character: clumsy, awkward, super nice Marinette is loved. She even becomes class rep while competing against Chloe. Which is a completely human scenario. Of course the people would prefer and vote for the nicest girl in the class rather than the meanest. It’s human and it doesn’t settle for unrealistic drama. There’s actual development.

Abuse And Isolation

Adrien’s father and Kagami’s mother are clearly extremely abusive people. They abuse their kids via isolation and emotional manipulation. If you disagree with me, please go and look up the definition of abuse and its many forms. I assure you that both Gabriel and Tomoe fit the bill perfectly.

Both Adrien and Kagami are kept isolated. Adrien is home-schooled, initially, and has to fight to be allowed to attend school. I’m assuming Kagami is also home-schooled because her mother is even worse in terms of isolating her daughter. They are both actively discouraged from making friends and are told to see themselves as above everyone else. Both of their lives are incredibly structured and they are expected to maintain perfection in everything their parents want them to do.

I think this was the least light hearted aspect of this show. And I am glad it exists. It shows kids that there are many types of abuse and even though it defies the generally light-hearted nature of the show, it needs to be included. And I know people are reluctant to label parents as abusive but I think at this point, it would simply be denial not to.

It is clear that Adrien and Kagami’s abusive childhood has caused a significant level of trauma. It’s more obvious in Adrien but I think that’s mostly because he is a protagonist in the story. The clearest example of the trauma that’s been inflicted on him is shown in the “Sandboy” episode. Adrien’s worst fear is being caged. Compare that to Marinette’s which is her crush telling her he’s in love with someone else and you can see the damage done to his psyche. His fears transcend those of a teenager with a healthy home life.

Adrien is actively being prevented from having any sort of stability in his friendships. As someone who has been isolated her whole life, I can assure you that even with the best of friends, it is easy to become disconnected. Even when I saw my friends at school, it was hard for me not to feel lonely all the time. And because I constantly had to say no to invitations to hang out, I often ended up being less connected with my own friends. Even if other people have good intentions, it’s hard to really feel connected with someone you only ever see at school.

And on top of isolating his son from the rest of the world, he is distant and cold 99.99% of the time. Adrien has very limited social interactions outsides of school and modelling and he can’t even reach out to his own father. Regardless of how cool his room is, it’s an incredibly lonely existence. One that will certainly mess up a child.

In fact, though he doesn’t know it, his father is constantly endangering him. Gabriel has no regard for his son’s mental health and sense of security. As long as Adrien is alive, Gabriel can justify it. Not only that, Gabriel has repeatedly shown that he is not unwilling to use his own son as a pawn. The worst being when he knowingly acumatised Adrien (in Catnoir form) in order to get the Ladybug miraculous.

I have heard people criticise the “Cat Blanc” episode for its portrayal of Gabriel. Instead of being redeemed, Gabriel only made himself seem heartless by using his own son as a means to an end. But for me, I think it’s perfectly in character. This is a father who does not care about his own son above the barest minimum. As long as Adrien is alive, Gabriel doesn’t see himself as doing anything wrong.

And that is the clearest example of an abusive father. If you disagree with me then you clearly don’t know what abuse is (or you haven’t gone far enough in the show). And I’d like to remind everyone that neglect is also a form of abuse and Gabriel certainly neglects his son. He may take care of all of Adrien’s physical needs (except maybe food #feedadrien) but he has no regard for Adrien’s need to have love, compassion and connection. Things every child needs.

Chemistry Between Adrien and Marinette.

You may know that Ladybug and Catnoir have an incredible level of chemistry. The way that they coordinate around each other and the sheer amount of flirtation that goes on is OTP worthy. What you may not know or may have missed is that Adrien and Marinette also have chemistry. If, in a more reserved, sweet, gentle way.

Some people complain about not wanting Adrinette to happen only after they find out each other’s real identities. Their justification being that it wouldn’t be real in that scenario. Adrien would only date her because she’s Ladybug and she’d only date Catnoir because he’s Adrien. They complain that Adrien needs to fall for Marinette and Ladybug for Catnoir for it to be “real”.

What they don’t realise is that this has already happened. How, you ask. Well, let’s consider. Both of these characters are borderline obsessed with the person they’re in love with, to the point that they would ignore any other potential partners. Marinette certainly forgets other people exist when Adrien is around and I think, Catnoir also kind of does the same thing.

Let’s also consider the fact that Adrien is incredibly clueless. The man forgets his brain sometimes (which fair: he has been isolated his whole life). He is shy, reserved and sweet enough to give you toothache. If he liked someone other than Ladybug, it wouldn’t be obvious. But there are definitely signs that he likes Marinette.

Example 1: The first day of school, he is devastated by her misunderstanding a situation and hating him as a result of it. Example 2: The desperation with which he tried to free her from her acumatised father. Example 3: When he misunderstands her awkwardness as her being upset with him, he is devastated and does everything in his power to make it up to her. Example 4: He spent his entire weekend away looking for constipation meds for her (after she’d accidentally given him a prescription rather than a love letter). And then he gave it to her with no comment. He didn’t tease her or even mention it. And example 5: All the times he’s defended her and the times he shielded her from an acuma with his own body. (There are so many other examples but we don’t have time for them today).

The above examples along with the sweetness with which he treats Marinette perfectly shows that he likes her more than a friend. That’s perfect boyfriend material right there. Not a single other character gets this much attention and sweetness from him. Marinette is also frequently the first person he goes to when he has a problem. He genuinely trusts her judgement. And let’s not forget that Marinette forgets how to string sentences together around him so it’s not even a situation of them just being really close friends. It’s him actively getting through Marinette’s awkwardness in order to be close to her.

And let’s not forget that the man is very shy and doesn’t have much confidence in interacting with other people. While Catnoir has no problem flirting and joking around, Adrien is sweet. Even around Ladybug, he’s just kind of shy and sweet. No flirting. No obvious signs. So why would he display those around Marinette (at least as Adrien, that is)? It would be completely out of character.

Diversity

The characters in this show are from a diverse range of backgrounds and the women, in particular, have a diverse range of body shapes. Women in media, or at least women portrayed to be desirable, are frequently forced into a skinny, fair cardboard cutout. This show completely throws out the perception that all women have the same body shape.

And even better, this show makes women with vastly different body shapes and skin tones desirable. It shows that a woman doesn’t have to look a specific way in order to be someone else’s object of desire. Everyone is beautiful in their own way.

This is an amazing message, especially in a kids show. Growing up, I never saw myself in traditional media and so I never saw myself as beautiful and when other people called me pretty, it would annoy me. I am so grateful and happy that my future kids will at least have shows where they are represented.

I also love the fact that the main character is a Chinese-French girl. Mixed race kids are portrayed in traditional media so little, it’s like their existence is being erased from these shows. I really appreciate that this show does not hold back on the diverse representation. It’s something that all kids should be able to see. Both so that they can accept themself and so that they can accept others.

Is Marinette A Mary Sue

Short answer: no. Why? Because the very nature of a Mary Sue would make any story with her presence dull. Mary Sues are perfect characters who are well-loved and never make mistakes. By having them in a story, all other characters are made two dimensional. There is too much time spent glorifying her to have any time left to have compelling characters with depth.

And guess what? This show has compelling characters with depth. And Marinette has flaws (beyond clumsiness). She makes mistakes with actual consequences. Example 1: When she uses her superhero identity to humiliate Lila (who is a pathological liar and drives me insane) and in the process, ends up creating a lifelong enemy. Example 2: When she accidentally leads Hawkmoth to Master Wu, resulting in him being captured, having to give up the role of Guardian and consequently having all of his memories erased. Marinette loses a mentor figure and she no longer has the counsel and advice she has until now, relied upon.

A Mary Sue could never make mistakes on Marinette’s level. By definition, they are perfect beings and Marinette is not perfect by anyone’s definition. She is careless, quick to jump to conclusions and despite all of her convoluted plans, she forgets basic things.

She is a human being. An incredibly powerful and talented one? Yes. But that’s the point. She is chosen to be “Ladybug”: the being of creation. The ultimate superhero. Of course, that would result in her being an above average person. And if that means that she’s an incredibly talented designer, good at academics and a talented gamer. So be it.

Another accusation is that she is too nice and too loved. But let’s not forget who we’re talking about for a second. Ladybug. She was chosen based on the fact that helping people is her instinct. She has to be nice. And guess what? Except in generic Americanised high school stories, people tend to like nice people. Of course, she isn’t loved by everyone. Case in point: Chloe and Lila. And of course, she isn’t perfectly nice all the time.

At the beginning of the show, she struggled to be nice to Chloe. It was only after making terrible mistakes with consequences that she learned to deal with Chloe’s mean girl spirit. And even then, she had to be guided by a trusted teacher and at times: Adrien. She still hates Lila and despite being frequently told to ignore her, she can’t.

She’s actually a little like me. I’ve had to deal with emotionally manipulative people my whole life so I hate when people lie in order to manipulate others. Lila makes me so mad that I get it. I get why Marinette cannot just ignore her.

Which, if she really was a Mary Sue, I should not be able to do. If she was a Mary Sue, the only things I could feel are either awe or sympathy. I would not be able to relate to her. My being able to do so shows that she is a three dimensional character: not a Mary Sue.

And let’s be real for a second, the term Mary Sue has been thrown around anytime the audience finds a female character annoying (bonus points if she’s the protagonist). And you can’t accuse Marinette of being a Mary Sue without also accusing Adrien. Like him, she only partially fits the bill. If anything, Marinette could at most be described as over-powered but even then, her powers are clearly shown to have limitations. She frequently has to rely on other superheroes and there are even failsafe miraculouses for when she’s not enough.

Final Thoughts

I love this show. It’s relatively light hearted (on the saving Paris angle) but it has three dimensional characters with depth. The people are diverse both in terms of race and body shape. It also is amazing at teaching children that parents aren’t always good people. Sometimes, they are toxic and abusive. And that’s a good lesson to learn early on.

That’s about it.

AN: I’ll probably write another review on this show. There’s just too much content for me to include it all in a single review. And I love this show so I have plenty more juice to keep going.

And btw, I know some people will probably accuse the way I wrote about Chloe in this post as shallow. I’d just like to say that I described Chloe, the way she is with her classmates, and not with the development that happens with her superhero identity. Chloe is a complex character who grows as a person but that development is not present in her interactions with her classmates (or at least, when it is present, it’s quite limited). And seeing as I only mentioned her behaviour at school, her development as a superhero is irrelevant. I will probably do a much more thorough analysis of her character in a future review but I had no space for that in this particular review.

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