Gosh, I love Cuphead. It’s a hard-as-nails run-and-gun game that emulates the rubber hose era of animation with excellence, partially thanks to its incredible character designs and straightforward story. When I heard Netflix was making a show based on the property, I was excited. There’s a lot of room to flex your creativity while adapting Cuphead’s simple narrative. This worked out for the most part, as I rather enjoyed The Cuphead Show. It has a few issues, but overall I had a blast watching the stunningly animated series.
The Cuphead Show loosely adapts the main beats of the game. Cuphead and Mugman are two brothers who live on Inkwell Isle with Elder Kettle. After playing a dangerous game of skee-ball (rather than dice) Cuphead ends up owing his soul to the Devil. Most of the series is a kind of “hijinks of the week” format, with the occasional Devil episode to cement the continuity. I thought there would be more Devil episodes, but most of the goofier inbetween episodes are fun.
“Some of the Devil’s transformations really blew me away, with one freakout he has later on in the show taking the cake for the best sequence.“
The first half of the season is a bit intense. Characters are louder and more in-your-face, but the season mellows out and finds its footing. There was only really one episode that felt genuinely annoying (the Baby one) but otherwise the concepts are sufficient at getting Cuphead and Mugman into wacky hijinks. The latter half of the season makes up for a slow start, with the King Dice and Devil episodes standing out as the best. Those two characters are wonderfully adapted, and they devour the scenery whenever they’re on screen.
The highlight of The Cuphead Show has to be its animation, which is nothing short of incredible. Character expressions are lively and smooth: It’s a joy to watch Cuphead and Mugman laugh, scream, or do pretty much anything else, as it’s guaranteed to look stellar. I found myself laughing at some of the faces they’d make because they were so vivid or expressive. There are even some backgrounds made up of different mediums like (seemingly) stop-motion, which contrast the slick 2D animation in a surreal and pleasant way. Some of the Devil’s transformations really blew me away, with one freakout he has later on in the show taking the cake for the best sequence.
“The songs in each episode are catchy and add to the Fleischer-era, more musical cartoon atmosphere of the show.“
I do wish The Cuphead Show was truer to the world the game established. There are little easter eggs and references to the title, but the incredible bosses from the game rarely show up. There’s an episode at the carnival, but Beppi the Clown doesn’t appear, and a graveyard episode that doesn’t feature the Phantom Express. They don’t necessarily have to show up, but it sure feels weird when stages from the game are present without the major characters that defined them. The times where they do properly implement characters, like Porkrind the shopkeep and Quadratus (the face in the water,) are a lot of fun, so I wish they did it more often.
The music and voice acting are strong, though the New York accents take some getting used to. I stopped noticing them after a bit, as it seems like the accents are part of the “old-fashioned” vibe, but they may be off-putting at first. The songs in each episode are catchy and add to the Fleischer-era, more musical cartoon atmosphere of the show.
The Final Word
The Cuphead Show is a grand old time for fans and kids who just want an energetic show to watch. I wish it was a bit more related to the games, and it can be a bit obnoxious in early episodes, but I had a good time watching this first season, and I look forward to further ones.
