Earlier this year, AMC struck a deal with Netflix that brought several of the cable channel’s original series to the streamer. Fear the Walking Dead, Enter the Badlands, The Terror, A Discovery of Witches, Dark Winds, and more. Now, Pantheon, an animated cyberpunk series that was originally an AMC+ exclusive, has come to Netflix as well.
On the surface, Pantheon may look like any anime series that Netflix has picked up in Japan. But it’s actually a surprisingly mature and intense show that blows away plenty of regular TV series.
Pantheon ran for two seasons before it was canceled, but only the first season is currently on Netflix. Presumably season 2 will follow at a later date. Yet even if you can only catch the first eight-episode season, we’re here to tell you why you should watch Pantheon on Netflix in November.
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It plays like an AMC drama that just happens to be animated
Pantheon may look like a cartoon or a standard anime from Japan, but that’s not the way it comes across when watching it. This series has plenty of fantastical elements that are probably easier to pull off in animation than live action. But the tone of the show, especially during scenes set in the real world, feels just as alive and vibrant of any drama on AMC.
American animation studio Titmouse, Inc. and Tiger Animation handled the show’s visuals, and the influence of Japanese anime is obvious on screen. However, the studio’s subdued animation style actually makes it easier to buy into these characters as living and breathing people, even when they’re none of the above.
Pantheon explores big sci-fi ideas
At first glance, Pantheon takes place in a present very much like our own. Yet as the series progresses, it reveals that this is a world where AI is almost obsolete compared to UI, or Uploaded Intelligences. UI is supposedly the sum total of a person’s brain uploaded to a computer where they can theoretically live forever inside of a machine.
There are still some serious questions about whether UI are actually humans without bodies, or if they simply recordings of human thoughts that can only pretend to be human. And if the UI are human, don’t they deserve to be ripped free from the companies that want to exploit their minds long after death? Because if the UI aren’t given their freedom, then they might get the funny idea that they’ll have to fight for their rights.
The voice cast is terrific
AMC did not skimp on the voice talent for this series. Paul Dano, Aaron Eckhart, Rosemarie DeWitt, Daniel Dae Kim, Taylor Schilling, the late William Hurt, Anika Noni Rose, and Ron Livingston are all established performers, and they all deliver their A-game for this series. Kim and Dano are particularly impressive for their emotional performances as Caspian Keyes and David Kim, respectively.
Regardless of the talent listed above, the show belongs to Katie Chang more than anyone else. She captures Maddie Kim’s grief for her father in her voice, and her character behaves like a believable bullied teen. Out of the entire cast, Katie feels the most vulnerable and the most human. The series smartly begins taking place from her perspective, which brings everything down to earth. Even when events veer much harder into sci-fi, Kim keeps Maddie sympathetic and relatable.
Watch Pantheon on Netflix.