Rating: 8/10

I have never binge watched an entire series at one go before (yes, go ahead and judge me) even while watching immersive worlds like Game of Thrones, countless fight scenes in anime, and the revolutionizing story of how a high school girl committed suicide. Yet I randomly opened this series up on a random Sunday morning, and guzzled it down entirely, relishing the final bits with absolutely no regrets.

I’m a huge fan of cartoons, especially the ones that somehow made more sense as I grew older (Justice League and Avatar anyone? Maybe a bit of Spongebob too?) and I felt I would not have appreciated this series as much as I would have had that Sunday afternoon. It was engaging, witty enough for kids to understand, and fun for the family.

 

THE SUMMARY

The Hollow (not to be misspelled as The Hallow #truestory) is a mystery-esque show where our protagonists wake up in the middle of nowhere and try to determine who they were and where home was by trying to move forward and unravel the mystery of how they arrived at this particular world that consists of magic portals, talking trees, and even Death himself prancing around on his horse.

The 3 main characters, Adam, Kai, and Mira, wake up in a ‘cell’ not knowing where they were, and soon realise they need to solve puzzles to proceed. Along the way, they discover that they each have their own ‘superpowers’ that can help them in their quest to find out where they are and to return home. Equipped with nothing but their clothes on their back, our young heroes rely on their quick thinking, wit, and logic to solve issues such as from being chased by 3 demon dogs all the way to stealing a branch from some tera cotta monks so as to return it to a talking tree.

THE HOOK

Besides the awesome art that took me back to the early 2000’s, what really drew me to the show was that the first few episodes distinctively made me feel like I was in a game due to its emphasis on how the puzzles and slightly less on character development. While it was definitely not something you’d expect from any cartoon series or show, it was a refreshing change for a gamer like me.

(Check out that heavy outline ❤ )

My initial fears were that I was committing myself to a sub-standard series on my fantastic Sunday morning, which would then pile on to my list of life regrets. However, the feeling of watching some kids in a virtual escape room was an interesting concept that I rightly invested in.

It may feel underdeveloped and slow at the beginning; give it a chance, I promise it won’t disappoint.

THE CONCLUSION

At the end of the show, I did feel that there were many unanswered questions, nonetheless,  I do feel that the unique plot and adventure that I had the privilege of taking with our heroes was a rewarding one. Not extraordinary for sure, but it left my eyes well feasted (once again- loved the simple graphics), and my mind at ease knowing that my Sunday was well spent.