Before I jump in, I would like to thank Warner Bros for supplying a copy of this show for my review. My opinions are my own.
All Aboard! Thank you for riding the Infinity Train... let's go!
I wasn't sure what to expect when it came to Infinity Train: Book Two, and I wasn't familiar with the show at all. It takes place on a train (duh of the day), but it reminds me of Snowpiercer where the various cars... don't exactly feel like your standard train cars. They actually feel like a series of dimensions tied together, and you access them through the different doors of the train.
Story: Infinity Train is an interesting concept in itself, but... the characters and their story make it an experience worth watching. Mirror Tulip, is a reflection of a girl named... Tulip (the main character from Book One). The adventure begins with Mirror Tulip (aka M.T.) changing her appearance to escape the Mirror Police (aka the Flects) from the Chrome Car (available in Infinity Train: Book One). These guys use reflections to gain access to any location, but I was confused as the why M.T. wouldn't use such an ability. That would've made for some kick-ass fighting scenes and stealth... but I guess they wanted to keep it confined to the train for the main characters.
Her attempt to escape... resulted in her meeting a deer with superpowers, and Jesse, a 14-year old jock from Arizona. The Infinity Train exists to put people in situations that force them to fix their personal problems if they want to leave, so this is the reason why Jesse is on the train. Like all other human passengers, he has to get his number to zero in order to leave. Could you imagine if that were true to our reality? The world would be completely different.
Anyway, the trio has a good balance as far as personality goes. M.T. is more of the rebel who refused to settle for life as a reflection, Jesse is a fun-loving teen who needs to realize the error of his ways, and Alan Dracula is the super-powered silent type (but... he's a deer, so talking wouldn't really be his thing anyway).
The different train cars put this interesting trio in a variety of scenarios that require them to work together (for the most part). You might see them running from one door to the next while escaping the Mirror Police, but most of the time it's a big question mark of what's on the other side of the door. In this adventure, you experience a little more than 10 cars that challenge the characters... and initially, they were just going through the motions to overcome the challenges of that car until the episode with the Toad car.
There wasn't much going on in that car when it came to action, but... there was plenty in the episode to connect the dots in terms of Jesse's backstory. So... yes, I knew he was there, I just didn't know the reason why, but the same episode also revealed more about M.T. which increased their bond. It also showed that she didn't simply consist of this strong exterior, because she was trying to show Jesse the wrong in a situation. Her softer side began to reveal itself as the episodes progressed, even though I saw it in the first episode. She escaped the servitude of being a reflection, she wanted to live her own life... which probably grabbed the attention of some viewers who wonder if our reflections have lives of their own (my answer is no because a reflection is a reflection).
I don't want to get off-topic but think about the color of things. We can't see the color of anything without light first bouncing off of it, so wouldn't that result in our reflection merely being a reflection of... light? I didn't mean to get this deep, but... let's move on.
Outside of the Flects, and the bots running the operation... I didn't see a lot of reoccurring characters. I thought the Wasteland was going to lead to an additional antagonist that ran the course of the show, but at least it gave Jesse more of the focus for a couple of episodes. These episodes were more like crossroads for him because he had the option of going off the rails with antagonists who saw their numbers as cred or... continue his journey to qualify for his exit home. Each character got a satisfactory amount of shine.
Alan Dracula also go some love in the Parasite Car episode, which delivered the most comedic value of the show for me. They tried to deliver some laughs here throughout the season, but (I don't know)... It didn't connect for me.
Visuals: Visually...
Infinity Train: Book Two, has that sort of jazzed-up plain art style as seen in many of your Cartoon Network shows. I figured this is done to maintain a recognizable style associated with the network, but... I would like to see a bit more oomph.
Going back to the art style, what I can say about this show is that you get different art styles served up based on what car you're in. I won't say I was wowed at any given time, but... I was curious as to what I was going to see next.
Audio + Extras: When it comes to the audio, I didn't mind the upbeat electronic soundtrack even if I didn't really focus notice it outside of the theme music. The sound effects were okay, nothing really stood out to me though.
You get 10 episodes in
Infinity Train: Book Two... which have a short but sweet runtime of 10 minutes or so. So you get through the season fairly quick, which is why I appreciate the price seen below.
Extra include 3 special features:
Commentaries
Animatics
Image Gallery
These extras are a plus for fans, but I also think the commentary is a great addition for those still scratching their head about the show. Animatics are something I would recommend for the artists interested in animation, along with the image gallery... in order to get an idea of what you would have to produce in order to be part of an animation studio.
The overall story in this season was enjoyable, after the second half I was all in trying to see how things worked out... and I was satisfied. There are factors in there that complicate Jesse's exit, but... I believe you will find the exit satisfying for the most part. If you're familiar with Infinity Train, then you know... there are different characters in each book... and this one gets a thumbs up. I wanted to see more fighting, but enough was injected in there to make me shrug it off.
Story 5
Visuals 4
Audio + Extras 4
Price 5
4.5 out of 5 Cool Points
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