Season Review: Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

A Chinese-American teen (Ali Wong) living in a small Texas town finds out a demon king is hunting her for the supernatural powers she’s been working her whole life to repress.

Our Take:

If there’s one thing I learned from watching movies and shows, mainly on Netflix, it’s that trying to live an everyday life can be difficult, especially when they have a secret to hide.  It’s one of the story elements we’ve seen multiple times, but with the proper execution, it can inspire viewers to embrace their unusual capabilities and forge their own paths while also being a good product.  This trend continues with the latest addition to Netflix’s animation lineup, featuring a seemingly typical teenager battling a demon army with her chakra fire abilities, with a dash of diversity added for good measure.

Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld, developed by Echo Wu, chronicles the titular character, Jentry Chau, a teenager from Korea on the verge of celebrating her 16th birthday.  However, her normal life was interrupted by her past, in which she possessed powers capable of ending her world and the underworld.  Even worse, a powerful and manipulative demon lord, Cheng, returns to the human world to take Jentry’s powers for personal gain.  Guided by her weapons expert aunt, Gugu (Lori Tan Chinn), and the shapeshifting jiangshi named Ed (Bowen Yang), Jentry returns to the town of Texas she left years ago to harness her abilities while attempting to live her everyday life.  But, the hidden secrets behind Jentry’s past and friends threaten to derail her potential to fulfill her destiny.

From the concept alone, I knew what I would expect from Jentry Chau vs The Underworld, mainly from its structure.  This is another animated show that features several monster-of-the-week episodes stitched together with an interconnected narrative.  In this case, the 13-episode season chronicles Jentry’s attempt to control her powers while battling the demons coming from the portal to the underworld, or DU as they call it, she accidentally opened.  Amid those adventures, Jentry is forced to confront her tragic past involving her unintentionally starting a fire to Riverfolk years ago.  Of course, she also has to deal with the usual issues every teenager faces in their everyday lives, including fitting in with normal kids and finding love.

Regarding the plot, the series followed the essential elements we’ve seen in other animated action-comedy shows involving fish-out-of-water protagonists battling evil, harnessing their powers, and learning about themselves.  Of course, it’s also not without a few instances of teenage drama, including Jentry’s love triangle between Michael and Kit (Woosung Kim), both of which have their own secrets to hide.  But, as usual, it’s all about the execution of these story beats that either make or break this spiritual concept, and for the most part, it worked.  Was it a groundbreaking feat in animation storytelling?  Not in the slightest.  Did it work as an entertaining supernatural action comedy?  Yeah, but it’ll likely depend on a viewer’s expectations.  Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld is another diverting piece of animation that utilizes its familiar narrative beats to suitably reflect its messages and representation amid its flashy, spiritual action and style.

While the coming-of-age story was inherently familiar, its characters provided the likability and development needed to engage with the narrative’s demonic forces.  Jentry Chau explores its themes of embracing one’s capabilities and facing the tragedy that put them on their paths.  Throughout the series, we see Jentry being haunted by guilt due to her actions that almost burned down Riverfolk, resulting in her fear of letting her powers out and being alienated by everyone.  Her journey becomes even more complicated when she learns more about her past involving Gugu, who strives to correct her own mistakes to protect Jentry.  Another character, Kit, is on a similar path as Jentry’s, as he fears people will not accept him due to his real identity as a Painted Skin demon and his connection with Cheng.  However, his love for Jentry has him learning what it means to be human.

With enough surprises and depth to accompany the characters, the show is another example of a seemingly straightforward concept with enough heart to carry it through some of its formulaic trappings.  More importantly, the characters were respectfully portrayed by its voice cast led by Ali Wong, best known for her recent award-winning performance as Amy Lau in Netflix’s “Beef“ last year.  Wong is also no stranger to animation work, having been in projects like Bojack Horseman, OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes, and Tuca & Bertie, so it was easy to see that her previous experiences have helped her elevate Jentry’s vulnerability and quirkiness.  Bowen Yang also provided some effective humor regarding his performance as Ed, a vampire-like demon who amusingly attempts to strike fear in people’s hearts despite his small appearance.  Lori Tan Chinn and Lucy Liu were also respectable in their roles as Gugu and Moonie Chau, Jentry’s mother, respectively, with the latter serving a significant role in the final three episodes.

Finally, we have the animation.  Jentry Chau is the latest animated series to be produced by Titmouse, the animation studio known for some of its recent best works like Scavengers Reign and The Legend of Vox Machina.  Regarding its filmography, Jentry Chau could wind up in either direction.  It could be like Vox Machina, where the simplistic animation reflects the style and storytelling, or similar to most of Titmouse’s less-than-stellar content, like Chicago Party Aunt.  Based on what I saw, I would place Jentry Chau in the middle.  It’s not as revolutionary or immersive as Scavengers Reign, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t have some merits to warrant this simplistic yet vibrant style.  Regarding the color palettes for the world-building and the zestfulness of the action, the animation was a decent portrayal of the show’s Asian representation with a supernatural twist.

Overall, Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld compels its formulaic narrative demons long enough to ignite the flames of animation entertainment and cultural representation.  It may not be groundbreaking enough to join alongside some of Netflix’s animation gems like Arcane.  However, as a show involving a teenager battling demons with fire powers, it’s surprisingly enjoyable and heartfelt enough to warrant my time.  The voice cast and animation were decent, and the characters were likable enough to accompany some of its familiar teenage drama trappings.  Plus, its soundtrack, consisting of Brian Kim’s score and original songs from artists like Jessi and Katseye, was pretty catchy, especially the latter’s theme song, “Flame”.  But, most importantly, it didn’t end on a cliffhanger like most of Netflix’s other animated shows, which was a much-needed change of pace in the streaming service’s blueprint regarding their animation lineup.  If representation in animation and supernatural action shows are your thing, this show is another suitable option for you to check out.