As ambitious as Karma's World is to be a great cartoon for black girls, the show never so much as grazes even being just okay. From the formulaic writing to the over bearing messages, this show felt more like an exercise to NOT fall asleep while watching it.
Created by rapper/actor Ludacris, Karma's World focuses on our titular heroine as she goes through her daily life living in her neighborhood. Each episode follows a specific pattern that gets old fast. Karma has a problem, she raps about it, she fixes the problem, she raps about it. The episodes follow very basic plot lines such as not worrying about what other people think and friends breaking up very straight forward. Rap numbers are included in each episode and while well delivered, they're not the least bit memorable as they all follow the same beat and the lyrics just recite the themes of the episode. Speaking of themes, they're the worst handled part of the writing. Don't get me wrong, being yourself and being honest are good messages, but they're repeated in each episode, thus making it feel like the characters didn't learn anything. This constant reuse of the same messages feels very over bearing and it can definitely feel like I'm being talked down to. Lastly, the show is just not funny. Save for only 1 joke, most of the humor is just awkward and predictable. If you didn't laugh the first time one of Keys' inventions backfires, you're definitely not gonna laugh the 20th time.
While none of the characters are egregiously bad, they're still rather plain. Karma is a middle school girl who likes to rap but is constantly at odds with her low self-esteem. I should love this character based on that description. In practice though, she's just a basic kid who's self-esteem is too low for my liking. Really? You expect me to buy this 11 year old would have a problem with her unique name or that she's never lost before? She acts less like a middle schooler with low self-esteem and more like a whiny kid who over reacts to every little thing that's thrown at her. Switch and Winston are Karma's best friends who are equally one note. Switch parrots most of what Karma says and Winston is an awkward boy who worries about everything; why does that sound so familiar? (*cough* David from Hilda *cough*) Crash is the least likable character though as he's just a selfish, narcissistic show off who only cares about inflating his own ego. Yeah, he's the antagonist, but he's not the least bit fun to watch. Keys, Karma's brother, only has one thing going for him; his inventions keep backfiring. Karma's parents are barely given enough screen time to fully develop, and whenever they appear, they just recite the episode's message.
The voice acting is fine, but none of the actors give a particularly standout performance. Asiahn Bryant was alright as Karma, making her sound like a real little girl with good rhythm, but she didn't exuberant much personality beyond that. Likewise Aria Capria was fine as Switch, as was Isaia Alvarez Kohn as Winston, Camdon Coley as Keys and Ramone Hamilton as Crash. In fact, all the child actors gave less then stellar performances in contrast to the adults. Ludacris does a good job voicing Karma's Dad, Karan Soni was really solid as Mr. Singal, Jordan Fisher gave a good performance as MC Grillz and Tiffany Haddish was a delightful treat as the voice of Lady K. I blame the adequacy of the child actor's performance on bad vocal direction because I know they're trying their best but I feel as though they were told to just act like the script says these characters would act and not be actual kids.
Visually, the animation looks pretty good for what they were trying to accomplish. The character designs are all unique with different body types, hair styles and clothing. The character animation is pretty good with the characters moving in a believable away, though the lack of gravity and weight is evident whenever they fall or hit something. This is also true for the hair as most of the time it just remains stagnant whenever the characters turn their head, particularly Karma. I get they had a limited budget, but I feel as though that's on the fault of the producers for not coughing up more money and the creators for giving the characters too much hair on their heads. The backgrounds look good and has a nice color palette, but this neighborhood feels kinda empty but not enough people are there. They couldn't even animate the 14 kids Winston was suppose to be captain of in The Hippity and The Hop because that would balloon the poor budget.
Karma's World is the 2nd most boring show with a black lead I've seen after Craig Of The Creek. Despite solid animation and good intentions behind it, the show is held back by weak writing, basic characters, passsble at best voice acting and constant hammering of good messages. I suppose maybe kids will like it more than me, but I suggest watching Hilda again for a great show about a little girl with unique hair.
Created by rapper/actor Ludacris, Karma's World focuses on our titular heroine as she goes through her daily life living in her neighborhood. Each episode follows a specific pattern that gets old fast. Karma has a problem, she raps about it, she fixes the problem, she raps about it. The episodes follow very basic plot lines such as not worrying about what other people think and friends breaking up very straight forward. Rap numbers are included in each episode and while well delivered, they're not the least bit memorable as they all follow the same beat and the lyrics just recite the themes of the episode. Speaking of themes, they're the worst handled part of the writing. Don't get me wrong, being yourself and being honest are good messages, but they're repeated in each episode, thus making it feel like the characters didn't learn anything. This constant reuse of the same messages feels very over bearing and it can definitely feel like I'm being talked down to. Lastly, the show is just not funny. Save for only 1 joke, most of the humor is just awkward and predictable. If you didn't laugh the first time one of Keys' inventions backfires, you're definitely not gonna laugh the 20th time.
While none of the characters are egregiously bad, they're still rather plain. Karma is a middle school girl who likes to rap but is constantly at odds with her low self-esteem. I should love this character based on that description. In practice though, she's just a basic kid who's self-esteem is too low for my liking. Really? You expect me to buy this 11 year old would have a problem with her unique name or that she's never lost before? She acts less like a middle schooler with low self-esteem and more like a whiny kid who over reacts to every little thing that's thrown at her. Switch and Winston are Karma's best friends who are equally one note. Switch parrots most of what Karma says and Winston is an awkward boy who worries about everything; why does that sound so familiar? (*cough* David from Hilda *cough*) Crash is the least likable character though as he's just a selfish, narcissistic show off who only cares about inflating his own ego. Yeah, he's the antagonist, but he's not the least bit fun to watch. Keys, Karma's brother, only has one thing going for him; his inventions keep backfiring. Karma's parents are barely given enough screen time to fully develop, and whenever they appear, they just recite the episode's message.
The voice acting is fine, but none of the actors give a particularly standout performance. Asiahn Bryant was alright as Karma, making her sound like a real little girl with good rhythm, but she didn't exuberant much personality beyond that. Likewise Aria Capria was fine as Switch, as was Isaia Alvarez Kohn as Winston, Camdon Coley as Keys and Ramone Hamilton as Crash. In fact, all the child actors gave less then stellar performances in contrast to the adults. Ludacris does a good job voicing Karma's Dad, Karan Soni was really solid as Mr. Singal, Jordan Fisher gave a good performance as MC Grillz and Tiffany Haddish was a delightful treat as the voice of Lady K. I blame the adequacy of the child actor's performance on bad vocal direction because I know they're trying their best but I feel as though they were told to just act like the script says these characters would act and not be actual kids.
Visually, the animation looks pretty good for what they were trying to accomplish. The character designs are all unique with different body types, hair styles and clothing. The character animation is pretty good with the characters moving in a believable away, though the lack of gravity and weight is evident whenever they fall or hit something. This is also true for the hair as most of the time it just remains stagnant whenever the characters turn their head, particularly Karma. I get they had a limited budget, but I feel as though that's on the fault of the producers for not coughing up more money and the creators for giving the characters too much hair on their heads. The backgrounds look good and has a nice color palette, but this neighborhood feels kinda empty but not enough people are there. They couldn't even animate the 14 kids Winston was suppose to be captain of in The Hippity and The Hop because that would balloon the poor budget.
Karma's World is the 2nd most boring show with a black lead I've seen after Craig Of The Creek. Despite solid animation and good intentions behind it, the show is held back by weak writing, basic characters, passsble at best voice acting and constant hammering of good messages. I suppose maybe kids will like it more than me, but I suggest watching Hilda again for a great show about a little girl with unique hair.