Dragons and Time Travel
Dragons of Wonderhatch 1.1 “The Final Battle”
When a series begins with The Final Battle, you know it’s fascinating. I don’t normally watch anime, but I didn’t 100% realize this was anime.
(Until I tried to watch it on Disney Plus. The English subs are not currently working. I had to watch through the Hulu app, where they are. I’m sure this isn’t intentional…but right now if you want to watch it in Japanese, you can).
The intriguing device used here is that the scenes in our world are filmed in live action, while the scenes in Upananta are in anime.
Nagi, like her mother before her, dreams Upananta…and has narcolepsy. Is she creating the world, channeling it? No doubt we’ll find out, but Upananta is definitively established as real when Jairo, the bad guy, sends Aktha, the hero, into a world where he’s fictional…”our” world…which is indicated by the visual device of turning him into a bunch of manga.
In other words, this is actually a reverse portal fantasy that also uses the Barsoom style dream travel…although right now, Nagi isn’t able to travel into Upananta.
We also meet Thaim, who is our narrator in Upananta…he’s a kid. Neither he nor his dragon are fully grown but they keep trying to fight anyway.
The art style is also interesting. The creators eschew the more modern and typical digital style for…it looks suspiciously like it’s analog? Or at least made to look analog. And that part I love.
This is very interesting and I want to see where it goes. Plus Thaim’s dragon is cute. Very cute.
Quantum Leap 2.12 “As The World Burns”
Ben leaps into a firefighter, primed to rescue Hannah and her son, Jeffrey (who is going to be important somehow, I’m sure).
Surprise, surprise, Hannah wrote the DARPA code. And she knows this will be the last time she sees Ben. Which, of course, frees him to get back with Addison.
(There’s also some really sappy timelessness of love stuff, but then, this is Quantum Leap, they might not be actually working for God this time around, but metaphysics are to be expected.
This is a dramatic episode which also takes aim at apartment building fires…although they blame the wiring not the cladding. Probably too soon on the cladding….
And then Gideon takes over and fires everyone to bring in his own team…ow.
The Dragons of Wonderhatch 1.2 “The Secret Room”
Thaim’s dragon is even more adorable in the “live action” segments. Because of course the kid is going after his hero Aktha to rescue him.
Nagi, meanwhile, has found her mother’s studio…which her father has locked against her, perhaps for her safety (I’m thinking mom is not, in fact, dead, but went to Upananta), perhaps as a shrine.
She discovers she is dreaming the same world as her mom…and then Thaim and draggie drop in, literally.
Aktha, meanwhile, is in trouble for excessive force defending himself from some gang types. I love the hair…they really did a great job of making him still look like an anime character. Quite enjoying the acting, too.
But mostly I want that dragon!
Quantum Leap 2.13 “Against Time”
This might be the end, or it might be a major change in show canon.
First of all, surprise, Gideon is Jeffrey. Hands up who didn’t see that one coming.
His plan is to become an Evil Leaper…and lock Ben up forever somewhere. Why is he evil? Because he blames Ben for the death of his dad. He’s…not entirely wrong to do so.
But this is a time travel show…and a show that is ultimately, at its core about not just hope but redemption. Ben finds a way to save Jeffrey, creating a paradox that wipes everyone’s memories of the last few days except for Addison, who was in the imaging room and protected from timeline switches.
That part tracks.
Then they plan on swapping Addison for Ben. The idea is that with the swap code, when a Leaper wants to quit, they can just tag somebody else in.
I would have made it work. They, though, dug into the canon of “it’s not that easy to get home” and instead of Addison becoming the Leaper (and Ben, presumably, her Hologram), Addison leaps into the past with Ben.
Two Leapers working together is an interesting development. Alas, I’m told there is unlikely to be a renewal decision announced before upfronts…
…in May. I hate you, NBC.
Dragons of Wonderhatch 1.3 The Boy Who Came To Yokosuka
Thaim, Nagi, and her friend Mame (all the misfit kids) are determined to find Aktha and get him back to Upananta.
There are two flaws with this plan. The first is that they have no idea how.
The second is that Aktha doesn’t want to go. He’s apparently been here a while, has taken over a small island, is practically being worshipped…and also in love.
And he doesn’t believe there is a way back. (Obviously Nagi is key to the way back, we just have to work out how).
Worth watching for, if nothing else, the dragon in the trash can scene. What? They can’t just walk around modern Japan with a dragon.
Okay, also worth watching for the flashback to Guphin, Thaim’s dragon, as an adorable hatchling Thaim can carry around. Aww.
Dragons of Wonderhatch 1.4 “A New Nation”
Aktha (and his pregnant girlfriend) tells Thaim he’s going to start a new nation here instead of going back to Upananta. He beats Thaim up (whichb is mostly Thaim’s fault).
Guprin can blow bubbles, but not big enough to transport anyone…yet. (Rather amazing that he can, however, carry two teenagers when he’s about the size of a Shetland pony…a small one).
The magic rock works here as well as in Upananta…and Aktha uses it to take his island and people into the skies, to recreate Upananta here. This is going to end badly.
Thaim, meanwhile, meets another exiled dragonrider, Supes, who has been here for ten years…and being a telepath in Japan is apparently not much fun, just saying.
Nagi and Mame are offering to go to Upananta with him, but what will happen with Aktha’s sky island? Going to be hard to come to and fro without dragons, right?
Dragon in trash can appears to be a repeating theme.
(Also, is Supes’ dog actually is dragon in disguise?)
Dragons of Wonderhatch 1.5 “The Creator”
So, I had pretty much worked this out, but Nagi’s mom literally created Upananta. And she’s not dead…she’s in a nursing home in a coma, and that is what is killing Upananta.
So, open question: Would it be better if she died? Certainly Supes thinks so and tries to get Thaim to kill her.
Even Nagi and Salia (who handles the poke-dragons that are adorable) are starting to think it might be the answer.
But there’s likely another one…Nagi can take over. It’s clear she’s also tied to Upananta. If she could take control from her mom, then maybe the world can be saved.
I’m not a huge fan of people literally creating fantasy worlds (nor a huge fan of plotlines that involve parents in nursing homes right now). But this is so well done and adorable I have to keep watching.
Especially you, Guprin.
(CW: This episode contains a creepy extended cult mass suicide scene. You have been warned)
Dragons of Wonderhatch 1.6 “Flying Island”
“There’s no reception.” Apparently, the people happy to LARP anime kingdom with Aktha aren’t all quite so happy when he takes their entire settlement and turns it into a flying island (also they’d all get altitude sickness to start with and some would probably end up very sick if they didn’t go back to the surface, but it’s fantasy, so…)
Supes is determined to kill Nagi’s mom to save Upananta…and if that doesn’t work, Nagi too. Why does he think killing God is such a good idea? If her being in a coma is so destructive…why wouldn’t it occur to this dude that killing her might actually erase Upananta from existence.
I mean, it likely wouldn’t, because Nagi can take over, but…absolutely nobody seems to think of that. Narrowminded dragonriders.
Theory: Aktha and Supes aren’t sane in our world because they are separated from their dragons. Thaim is doing better because Guprin is with him. Although he shouldn’t have listened to Supes.
Mame and Nagi forgive him way faster than I would have, just saying.
The key to saving Upananta may be the large amount of “lido” in Earth’s oceans, that can be used, as demonstrated, to build new flying islands to replace the destroyed ones.
We don’t spend any time in Upananta this episode. They do a good job with the purple fireball effect, but I bet it looks better in animation…