Code Lyoko was a French dual-animated television series created by Thomas Romain and Tania Palumbo. Set in modern-day Paris, it focuses on a small group of teenagers (led by young science prodigy Jeremy Belpois) who discover a virtual world called Lyoko within the Supercomputer of an old abandoned factory warehouse near their school. It's here where they come to meet an innocent and long-forgotten girl named Aelita, along with a malicious and incredibly dangerous A.I. program known simply as X.A.N.A.. With the help of the eccentric Odd Della Robbia, the reticent Ulrich Stern and the headstrong Yumi Ishiyama, Jeremy takes it upon himself to try and bring Aelita back home to Earth. But it doesn't come without a series of gruelling challenges, many of which see the lives of millions at risk. The heroes are forced to fight against X.A.N.A. and stop it from completely taking over the world. It's a monstrous responsibility in the hands of five young souls. Here are seven questions regarding commonly thought opinions from the general audience about Code Lyoko:
1. How is it possible?
X.A.N.A. is of course made to look menacing and is programmed for death, destruction and domination. But now and then you happen to find yourself asking how it does what it does. Sure it's somewhat sound and logical when we a talking about power grids, satellites and vehicles. Even polymorphic spectres make a bit of sense in a way. But to think X.A.N.A. can possess non-living and insentient everyday objects comes across as a little comical. Like controlling large masses of food and using them to attack people in the form of a tidal wave (hence the title of the episode being 'Tidal Wave'). Or possessing a stuffed bear and make it grow in size ('Teddygozilla'). Heck it can even manage to do the physically impossible and multiply real objects and other human creations (this is the case with Jeremy's creation, Kiwi 2 in 'Canine Conundrum'). I'm all for a serious and threatening series-long antagonist, but there are lines that must be drawn. Having a computer virus floating around to possess food and make it grow arms and legs to chase people around is just farfetched. X.A.N.A. seems a little too overpowered if you ask me.
2. Where's the continuity?
Perhaps it is a good idea we don't get too worked up about this one. The main reason for this is because Code Lyoko is an animated show. Think about the cost, the time and most importantly the production work. Animated shows don't always have chapters or episodes released in order, as it heavily depends on both the speed and difficulty of the production process. The crew are left focusing on a few episodes in production at once, with those that are ahead often prioritised first. When aiming for a particular order of release, crew members place further pressure onto themselves. And even if things go according to plan, the overall story still may not run as smoothly. Hence why most animated shows prefer to avoid having characters mention what happens in past episodes. That, and the episodes being separate stories (just with a similar framework to maintain a familiar identity). This show also does revolve around a small form of time travel with the 'returning to the past', and things involving time travel are extremely difficult to handle without breaking rules or making a few continuity errors.
But sometimes this show can be good to have a laugh about when it comes to the chain of events throughout the whole series, and how they don't always add up. Take episodes 29 ('Exploration') and 30 ('A Great Day') for example. In 29, Yumi is forced to take a break from the work on Lyoko due to the parents' frustration with her regular late-night absences. At the end of the episode, she informs her parents that the reason for this was because she was in love with someone. This is immediately followed by 30, when the father has the exact same issue with Yumi and then 'suspects' there is a boy involved (indicating to us he wasn't told about it). A lot of people on social media have picked up on this continuity error. I myself, found it rather amusing. Of course there have been a few more that revolve around other characters such as Jim Morales (e.g. his knowledge of Odd's dog Kiwi) and even Sissi (Elisabeth Delmas). But there are probably too many to discuss here. So I thought I'd just stick with the one I remember most. At times the lack of continuity can be the tiniest bit irritating, but overall I don't see it being anything to complain about too much.
3. Why do the kids make fighting on Lyoko harder than it looks?
This one is probably just me, but then again I maintain the belief that it would run through a lot of our heads. Lyoko and what takes place there is at most times shown in a way that makes us think 'I could do this easily'. This mainly refers to facing off against X.A.N.A.'s monsters. There have been so many occasions when the warriors would be completely aware of one small monster in front of them, and still get defeated by them. I mean sure these kids are probably more athletically gifted then me. But they have been shown again and again to have slow reaction times. This leaves me thinking that virtual existence is different from that on Earth. Perhaps, they move at a different speed or even feel a different sort of physical reception (like mild paralysis) when taking damage. It was already gathered from around the beginning of the series that the only hearing and sight are senses in the virtual world. However, the warriors have shown numerous times without being affected by X.A.N.A. they experience some sort of pain that now and then immobilises them. Anyway, I'm digressing here.
Let's just assume it is an animation problem. But it amuses me how the things that look so simple are made so complicated. Not only do the warriors struggle with a couple of tiny monsters, they are made to make some silly decisions. Like there was an episode in season four where Yumi was facing against William (possessed by X.A.N.A.). She was forced to in a way retreat from battle due to struggling against him. She proceeds to flip across a log instead of running, only to get hit by William and then devirtualised. Come on, we get it. Flipping around is one of Yumi's special abilities on Lyoko, but she shouldn't be that stupid to use it as a way of escape. These kids are portrayed as both smart and gutsy for their age in most situations, especially on Earth. But every now and then, it's the opposite when they're sent to the virtual world. Some battles do look difficult like those involving tarantulas. Losing to a single kankrelat however, is just absurd. I understand the need to create a challenge in the show, but dumbing the heroes down or making them somewhat inept is not the best way to go about it.
4. What is with this school?
I obviously have no experience or understanding of foreign schools, nor do I know about any of their rules and curriculums. But if they are anything like what Code Lyoko has shown me, then I should be greatly satisfied with my years of education. While Kadic Academy in this show can most times look like a nice place to be (and safe when unaffected by X.A.N.A.), I also see it like a prison to some extent. It's big and there are not many students. Some of the rules are a little over the top. You have one or two cooks in the cafeteria working a full shift on their own. The areas of study in the subjects seem far too advanced for kids around the age of thirteen (though I guess a small bit of that is due to Australia supposedly being behind a few other countries when it comes to education). Not to forget the staff there come off as both being stubborn and a little stupid. I'm not only talking about Jim here. Everyone from the principal to the school gardener.
What irks me the most is the treatment of the students along with some of the punishments. You have teachers naming and shaming kids in front of the rest of the class when they fail certain assignments. You have other teachers insulting their students behind their back (like in 'Nobody In Particular'). In the episode 'Saint Valentines Day', you have Jeremy receiving two hours of detention just for falling off his chair. Isn't that a little extreme? Not only that, it doesn't seem like one needs to do much for expulsion to be considered. Take for instance Odd getting caught for trying to steal a school laptop ('Rock Bottom?') without permission, and on the back of little to no history of breaking rules (would be the case given all the returns to the past and the fact very few know his dog lives with him at the school). I mean it's not like he assaulted another student or damaged and defaced property. I'm telling you, this school is like a prison. The consequences are so dire. It's a step towards stealing a handkerchief and getting shot for it. The Code Lyoko version of Kadic Academy is very excessive and a tad too harsh in its discipline. Take it down a notch.
5. Why did X.A.N.A. love picking on Yumi?
There was no disguising this from us. It can be argued Yumi throughout the entire series, was X.A.N.A.'s number one target. They even had an entire period in season one, consisting of four episodes running from seven ('Image Problem') to ten ('The Girl Of The Dreams'), where she'd be the main victim of X.A.N.A.'s attacks. She'd be imprisoned by a guardian, strangled by a movie prop, almost destroyed by a satellite laser and nearly sliced by samurai armour. Later on in the show's run, she would even be tortured by tree roots and attacked by possessed bikers. I don't think it's just X.A.N.A. that had an issue with her though, as it sort of extended outside Code Lyoko with the story-writers. They just loved making Yumi look inferior in so many ways. Whether it be falling into the digital sea or getting lost in it. Not to forget the recorded data in my previous piece shows her to be the weakest out of herself, Odd and Ulrich. She destroyed the least amount of monsters and was the one to get devirtualised the most. Whoever was responsible for driving these ideas, they didn't hide it very well. One mention of Yumi Ishiyama, then it's one step closer to complete and utter sadism.
6. What's with that same equation?
Funny how complicated the work discussed by teachers seems to be, yet the same simple (and at times, unrelated to the topic in discussion) equation model for linear functions appears on the blackboard for much of the show's first half (mainly the first season). I'm speaking of course about 'y=ax+b'. It's a little detail some viewers naturally picked up along the way and still find it amusing to this day. The linear equation model is seen during mathematics classes and even science classes here and there. Now why could that be? Was it just placed there for the sake of it? Was it written and then left for ages without being erased? Whatever the case is, it hasn't stopped a small fraction of the audience from bringing the little detail to the front. I wasn't one to capture it, but I couldn't get away from others pointing it out. Reality could be that because of the show's extremely low budget, the crew and animators had to stick with it. It's either that or they couldn't find anything else to have written so clear on the chalkboard. They probably wanted something that was simple while looking sophisticated (if for that reason, I can't blame them). Nothing else can be said about it.
7. Why is Yumi's forehead so big?
Haha! I know I can't avoid talking about this one a little. When I see it, I too have to joke about it. Yumi's forehead is pretty big. In fact a lot of the characters have large foreheads, especially the students. We tend to ask why that is, but truthfully there isn't any proper answer other than Code Lyoko itself wanting to own a unique animated appearance. I mean it's generally closer than most animated shows when it comes to the human facial proportions. Most series are likely to have the eyes around the forehead area, which is a common yet misleading idea. I praise the series for taking a different route here. Even though, the jokes won't ever cease to exist. And no, there isn't any brain correlation (e.g. big head = big brain). I think we can all agree on that, since most of the characters are occasionally shown to be both childish and stupid. Let's just leave it at them having big heads, and there being quite a bit of space inside each of them. Hahaha!
Travis "TJ" James
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