Blog: All my Opinions on Miraculous

1. Anime Miraculous vs Final Product

Of course I have to start this by comparing Miraculous from what it is to what it was originally going to be. If you haven’t seen the anime preview for Miraculous, check it out here.

Originally, Miraculous was intended to be an anime….

• The style and fighting scenes were a lot more intense, and Paris looked a whole lot prettier, bigger, and realistic.
• The show would have been darker as it would have been directed at teenagers+ rather than children.
• The two main heroes would have been more in the shadows- instead of being popularly known by everyone, most people wouldn’t’ve believed they exist.
• The original Adrien was actually going to be Felix; the much more stone-cold version. He would be unable to take off his ring, and would have a love/hate relationship with Plagg, for as long as he had the miraculous of the black cat he would be cursed with bad luck. Supposedly, the only way to get it off would be to get a kiss from Ladybug, the hero of Good Luck. So his intentions of flirting with her may not have started pure at all, but eventually he would fall in love.
• The original Marinette was going to be Bridgette, who was a lot less clumsy, and a lot more brave in her feelings for Felix. She would confess to him multiple times and be rejected each one. Bridgette and Felix were not friends at all at school.

My thoughts on the original version vs how Miraculous turned out:

• I am glad that although the show is “directed at kids” supposedly, it does not leave out the dark details of why Hawkmoth wants a wish in the first place, how he treats his kwamis, how serious some of the villains are, etc. and it’s is not shy of the flirtatious moments that make some of the character scenes so interesting (like when Mari almost kisses Adrien’s “wax statue,” for example)
• I am also kind of glad that instead of being so serious, Miraculous is light-hearted and funny in a lot of ways, as well as dramatic and sappy in how the love square between Adrien and Marinette turned out. Instead of having cold-hearted rejections and not a whole lot of reason for Bridgette to like Felix / Chat Noir to like Ladybug, we have this chase between the two’s feelings for each other with and without the masks.
• While I don’t mind the 3D animation Miraculous ended up with, I wish the final product made more of an effort to make Paris seem beautiful and detailed. There are some very pretty night scenes that I try to not overlook (like the fight scene between Ladybug and Lady Wifi in Season 1), but overall the buildings and things just make Paris look too… small? I also wish they’d try and add more varied background characters, but that’s just me knit-picking.

2. Character Development & Personalities (SPOILERS)

Main Characters for Seasons 1-3

I’m pretty sure we can all agree the character development in Miraculous is pretty annoying, especially in the first 3 seasons. Season 1 is of course okay for characters to stay the same while we see how they are, but afterwards, some growth would have been nice! I feel like season 3 drug out so long with no developmental changes that affected the show, and it really annoyed me.

• Marinette: In season 1, we all love Marinette being cutesie in how she tries to plan everything with a boy she can’t even talk to. But through season 3, Marinette’s obsession becomes more of a stalker issue and becomes super annoying. The fact she can’t break through the fear of talking to Adrien makes you wander how much she actually wants to be with him. Of course, Season 4 tries to give us some insight into why she’s so freaked out, and they try to normalize it (nice save, Disney), but until then, Marinette started getting to be pretty annoying for the main heroine of the show.
• Ladybug: Ladybug to me irritated me in a sense that Marinette becomes a whole different person almost with the help of Tikki’s personality. This, of course, is fine, but there were barely any “Marinette moments” after season 1 which made me feel like they weren’t even really the same person.
• Adrien: Adrien’s pure soul started annoying me by season 3 when he would not quit saying Marinette is just a really good friend. I’m sure everyone would say that. Grow up, kid. Also, I don’t know what the writers were doing when they started making him more of a flirty teenager with Marinette and Kagami when he kept playing innocent and saying he was in love with Ladybug. Irritating!!
• Chat Noir: Chat Noir is a pure good boi. With him I have no complaints.
• Alya & Nino: Alya and Nino had more maturing moments than anyone else in the first 3 seasons, I feel like.
• Chloe: Chloe starts as an utterly ridiculous jerk, but after a while we start to see her good side when Ladybug entrusts her with the bee Miraculous. Chloe, I feel, by the end of season 2, was actually making a lot more progress than anyone else and had the perfect set up for a redemption arc. A lot of people say season 3 was the end of that, but I’ll have more to say in a minute…

Main Characters for Seasons 4-5

• Marinette & Ladybug: At the start of season 2, the episodes “Truth” and “Lies” wraps Marinette in something more realistic than anything the show has ever given us. She becomes overwhelmed with trying to have a normal life and trying to keep her secret as Ladybug, so much so that she closes everyone out and is drowning in depression. The fact that she finally reveals herself as Ladybug to Alya is a Huge step to me, and it finally draws Marinette and Ladybug together as one person (Marinette finally starts feeling comfortable as ladybug and keeps doing things like almost leaving the house in her superhero costume, etc). I see Ladybug as much more realistic as she becomes to immersed in getting the miraculous back from all the other heroes that she starts neglecting Chat Noir instead of every episode ending in a perfect relationship between everyone. She also breaks down, as a normal person would do, at the season finally when she loses everything. That, to me, was perfect.
• Adrien & Chat Noir: The writers also start playing with Adrien and Chat Noir being closer to the same person in these next few seasons, shown by how Adrien starts acting more Chat-Noir-ish in person, or how Chat starts showing his vulnerable side when Ladybug starts ignoring him. When he renounces Plagg, then tries to become a different cat, I feel he finally sees for himself who he is and stops playing so much with the idea of being exactly who Ladybug wants him to be (which could be a big step for Adrien with his dad, too).
• Alya & Nino: With both Alya and Nino, I like how their personalities start separating from each other a little bit. In the first 3 seasons, they both just seemed to be the perfect friends for the two main characters. Now Alya is finding her role helping Ladybug and struggles to not tell Nino or the Ladyblog about Rena Vertive, until it causes problems and she accidentally makes a mistake. Alya is the most human-like character in the show in my opinion. Nino, on the other hand, I feel has become less mature in that he doesn’t even keep his secret from Adrien and then doesn’t care to tell Everyone since the miraculous have been stolen anyways. And that may be a good thing, because like I said, it draws his personality out more and makes him more his own person rather than just Adrien’s best friend.
• Chloe: With how seasons 4 and 5 have continued to portray Chloe as a terrible person, it’s kind of really disappointing. Now I feel like she’s not growing anymore, but is instead in a stalemate like the other characters were earlier on. I’ll talk about what I would have rather happened with Chloe in a bit.
• Lila: I hate Lila’s existence, but at least now that we’re in season 4 and 5 I can see why she’s important to the plot to say the least.
• Felix: I used to also despise Felix for existing; I thought he only existed to complicate things. But, seasons 4 and 5 have shown me more insight into who he really is. I love Felix in the story now, he is a great addition, and I will have more to say on him in the theories portion below.
• Luka: Ever since Luca came into the show, I was for sure he was a better match for Marinette/Ladybug than Adrien. I still feel that way, but that’s just my opinion. And I love the role he has played in helping everyone grow and in trying to keep Ladybug and Chat Noir’s identities a secret all by himself. As much as I loved his role in the show, they were absolutely right for writing him out of existence. If not because he knows the two heroes’ identities, than because he’s a rival to Adrien for the viewers.
• Kagami: Kagami’s existence was fine, but she annoyed me simply because I knew she was introduced just to side-track Adrien. Now that she has broken up with him, still has feelings for him, but wants Marinette to be with him (and has already broken free from Lila’s lies about it)- I don’t mind her existence, and she serves a good purpose to the rich kid role group (as well as to just being a normal kid we can relate to)- and her mom is now a pretty prominent part to the story.
• Gabrielle & Hawkmoth, & Natalie: By season 5, Gabrielle legitimately seems more evil than he ever led on before. This is especially apparent with how Natalie treats him and his decisions, whereas she used to support him fully. The fact she has shown him opportunities to get what he says he wants Easily, or when she’s told him he needs to give up and focus on what his son is going to do when they’re both gone… but he straight up ignores her… is proof enough. I like this more evil Hawkmoth / Monarch / whatever you want to call him, and Natalie, too. Natalie actually cares about Adriens wellbeing, whereas Gabrielle is starting to seem like he just says he does.

3. Love Square Thoughts

Seasons 4 and 5 could not have done a better job of starting to fix this cat-tastrophe.

Obviously if they stand a chance as a couple, they’re each going to have to start falling for the other side of their crush at some point. Finally it’s happened!! Ladybug has pushed Chat Noir off her for the Last Time, and Chat finally gives up. He now turns his attention to someone he hasn’t realized he’s had feelings for since the wax museum episode in season 3: Marinette <3. And Adrien is much better at confessing his feelings than she is. But meanwhile, with Marinette’s depression and worrying she absolutely can’t balance having a boyfriend and lying to him when she has to go be Ladybug, she has sworn off liking Adrien, Luka, or anyone else (even though it’s obvious she still has a crush on Adrien). And that’s when she hit her lowest as Ladybug and lost everything. Suddenly Chat Noir is their by her side, like always, being charming and loyal and stronger than ever. He picks her off her feet and makes her feel like he’s taking care of her instead of the other way around for once. And she can’t help but want to be around him. Now the roles are reversed, Finally, and after a bit of touch ups to the Ladybug liking Chat issue, Marinette and Adrien are able to date without causing the world to end as it so dramatically has in all of the fake dating episodes like Chat Blanc, Oblivio, and Ephemeral. They’re just two normal high-schoolers dating, and Adrien’s dad doesn’t want them to because of the business which is completely normal! He suspects nothing!

Also- the episode Jubilation in season 5 (where the villain used Gift on Chat Noir and Ladybug and made them dream about being together in love way in the future) killed me. And I hope it killed Ladybug and Chat too because they needed it xD

4. Real Quick- Miraculous’ portrayal of Love is not accurate or healthy

I Hope everyone knows this part… but thought I’d throw it in here just in case. For a kids show especially, Miraculous’ portrayal of Love is not at all how it should be. I’m going to compare it real quick: In My Little Pony FiM, two of the side characters started dating. Pinkie Pie says something about them being in love, and the writers made it a point to correct her and say “No, technically we’re in ‘like.'” While that might of been a weird way to correct it, that is a much more kid-appropriate and accurate portrayal of love. Love is not a crush or an interest in someone. Love is love. Loyal, undying, grown-over-time love. It is not “omg you’re cute and kind, I love you.” And all the teenagers in the show (who are 14-15 years old need I remind you) throw the word love around so much like it means nothing. They say “I love you” as a confession of their feelings, rather than “I like you let’s date,” and later after being together and cultivating a relationship Maybe falling in love like how it is in real life. Plus, they never show adult married couples or people who are in a long-term/strong relationship saying I love you (or at least they do so so little that you never notice). For example, they don’t show Marinette’s parents saying ‘I love you’ to each other. Or Ivan and Mylene saying it very often, who actually have a strong long-term relationship. So they aren’t showing kids what relationships Should be like, they’re showing this glossed-over obsessive love craze that’s based on not a whole lot but impulse. Sorry Marinette, but you’re too obsessive to be normal, traumatizing past or not.

5. What I Would’ve Done Different

• Animate the show to be a little pretty and more Paris-y-feeling (for us whoi have never been to Europe).
• Figure out the order the episodes are supposed to go in for season 1 😡 It annoys me to pieces that every streaming service and website online has a DIFFERENT ORDER for the episodes of season 1!!! My opinion: Netflix’s layout of the episodes makes the most sense. The Bubbler Needs to be episode 1 because it Explains the Show. EVERY SHOW’S episode 1 is cleshe, but we still need to see how the heroes work! Explaining things after we’ve seen 8 episodes already or even just 1 makes literally no sense. Yes Stormy Weather’s episode was way better and hooked us in the show, but if you go back and say “I’m gonna watch the show from season 1” and watch Stormy Weather Then the bubbler it doesn’t make any sense. Sorry, deal with it.
• Have Lila and Luka around since the start of the show so less people randomly appear out of nowhere. They don’t have to have prominent roles, but at least make them appear or be mentioned.
• Change how they talk about love
• Make Marinette have some kind of growth from her love obsession in season 2 or 3
• Have Chloe keep her redemption arc. Even if she reverted back in season 3 for a minute, overall have her become a better person. Lila doesn’t need her to be evil in the grand arch. And then when we have the dramatic backstory of how she used to abuse Marinette in 8th grade, but she’s behaving better, it would push us, Marinette, and Adrien to have to accept her and help her change (or decide not to). Either way, it would push Chloe to progress in A Direction, either for the better or for the worse- instead of being in a stalemate without progressing in either direction. (Some people argue Chloe never helped Ladybug out of the kindness of her heart, but rather out of selfishness and wanting to be praised by her idol. But that in itself can be enough to make somebody change. A hero and someone to believe in you can make you believe in yourself and Want to change).
• Pay more attention to the Rules of the lore that was created, and to the story that’s already happened. There were several instances is seasons 2 and 3 that broke the rules of the miraculous or introduced new mechanics that made it confusing. Also, in season 4 and 5 when Disney stepped in, I’ve noticed a few inconsistencies with backstory that I think they just didn’t pay attention to. If I remember certain instances of these, I’ll add them in.

6. THEORIES & DESIRES

• I think (and hope) somehow Gabrielle ends up hospitalized or ya know, fully cataclysmed. Or that the fact he’s cataclysmed finally reveals himself as hawkmoth to Adrien, and that he has to meet up with Ladybug and start plotting things against Hawkmoth (and spending less and less time together with Marinette, which could eventually lead to them revealing themselves to each other! :O) Meanwhile Lila could be taking over as the new Hawkmoth.

• I really thought Felix was gonna try to be the new Hawkmoth when he got all the miraculous and immediately went to Gabrielle. He has the intelligence to overthrow Gabrielle and be the new Hawkmoth in my opinion, but his motives were always a mystery to me. That is until he offered to trade them for Only the peacock miraculous. And that’s when I went down the rabbit hole of an insane theory… I think Adrien and Felix are sentimonsters. Seriously, hear me out.
  • The show has revealed Natalie was friends with Emilie and in love with Gabrielle, but wanted to help them look for ancient artifacts. At some point in their search, before Adrien is born (and Felix too, since they’re the same age), they find the peacock miraculous which is broken, and the moth miraculous which isn’t. In season 1, “Origins,” it shows Gabrielle asking Nooroo about the moth miraculous’ powers. He could have easily done this with the Duusuu beforehand, before they realized that the peacock miraculous was dangerous to use since it was broken. At some point in season 4 or 5, Natalie reveals that Emilie is in her current condition Because of the peacock miraculous, and that this will be the same fate for Natalie since she used it while it was broken, too. This shows Emilie used the peacock miraculous enough for it to cause serious damage to her body. But what did she use it for?
  • Foreshadowing in the show hints that Emilie was infertile. The giant picture Gabrielle has of her in his study is a replica of the famous 1907 painting “Adele Bloch-Bauer” (or, “The Woman in Gold”) by Gustav Klimts. He did this painting of his wife after she had a stillbirth (which would have been her second child). Some theorize that Emilie’s twin sister Amelie in the show had twins and gave one to her sister since she couldn’t have kids- which would explain why Adrien and Felix look exactly the same. (I did some research on infertility and identical twins, and yes it’d be possible for one to be infertile but not the other if the infertility was developed later in life- or both could be born infertile). But what if the reality was crazier?

• Now some argue that they would never write this dramatic theory into a kid’s show, but let’s think about it for a second:
  • A sentimonster is created by putting a feather into an object. Sentimonsters can grow and change, and can think on their own as long as whoever is in control of the object with the amuk allows it. According to Astruc (the main writer/creator) on Twitter, if the sentimonster is supposed to be a human, then it is a human. They’re “as real as anyone in the series.” So If Adrien and Felix are sentimonsters (perhaps both moms Were born infertile, and Emilie wanted them both to be able to have a kid), where’s their object with an amuk? Adrien’s is easy- it’s in Emilie’s family-inherited wedding ring. Gabrielle wears it. And anytime Adrien annoys his dad with something Gabrielle doesn’t want to hear, Gabrielle plays with the ring and instantly Adrien obeys him. Some argue that’s normal; rich kid doesn’t want to upset his stubborn father. While that’s true, have you noticed how out of character some of them are? Adrien could be in the middle of a thought or sentence, and all of a sudden he leaves the room. One instance was when he was about to kiss Marinette outside of the mansion, and his dad was watching from the window rubbing the ring. Suddenly Adrien, who had had a huge crush on Marinette for a long time, started dating her, and has only tried to kiss her like 97 times now- said he thought she should leave. How out of character! Later Gabrielle gives the ring to Natalie, and when Adrien comes in to get advice on Marinette, she too looks at the ring and messes with it a little bit, and tells him when it comes to love he can make whatever choices he wants. Suddenly he perks up and goes “Really? Thank you Natalie!” And runs out to be with Marinette. Next, Felix and Amilie are so bent up about Felix having that ring since it should be passed down through their family (instead of Adrien?? Okay, I guess). As it turns out, Felix doesn’t care that much about the ring itself. When he gets all the miraculous and goes to Gabrielle, and trades them for the peacock miraculous (the last episode of seaon 4), he gives the ring back to Gabrielle and says, and I quote, “here, I won’t be needing this anymore.” What did he need it for to begin with??? It is revealed in the episode “Emotion” (season 5 episode 18) when Felix tries to realize his plan of having the world all to him, Kagami, Adrien, and Marinette so they finally wouldn’t be under anyone’s control and could be happy. If he was able to get rid of Gabrielle, he didn’t need to protect Adrien’s ring from him anymore. While he’s been quite an anti-hero throughout the show, a lot of the time he’s just been trying to make Adrien’s life easier. When he realizes he isn’t in complete control of his world (since Marinette is “gone” and he can’t bring her back), he freaks out and returns everything to normal, showing that he’s not actually a bad guy. What about Felix’s miraculous? Well… I don’t know. I can only guess his mom doesn’t know that they’re sentimonsters (since the only value in that ring she holds is that it’s supposed to be passed down through her family line), and that he keeps his own on him. But, Gabrielle has threatened he could make Felix disappear “with the snap of his fingers” (which is literally how you make sentimonsters disappear).