We rarely see an animated show of this caliber, and it's understandable. _Centaurworld_ sets out to be a grand musical fantasy adventure, and achieves that goal by its final moments.

I say this kind of show is rare because its a tough genre to tackle for its demographic and length. Animated shows with musical numbers are one thing, but _Centaurworld_ is a full-out "Broadway-level" event. One of my favorite cartoons to come out within the past decade was _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic_, which also attempted to be a fantasy musical with dark undertones, but failed because of its branding and targeted audience. _Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure_ was also comparable, but it too was limited because of Disney's demographic.


With _Centaurworld_, it's much more comparable to something like _Over The Garden Wall_ or _Adventure Time_. It tells the story of an ongoing war between humans and fantastical creatures, with TONS of dark moments especially towards the end. It's not going to be a story for everyone of course, with certain jokes and humor running within meta territory (especially in the latter half), but one can appreciate the way this show blends its dark and light designs. In a way, this show reminded me of something like _Who Framed Roger Rabbit?_, where the diversity between the human and fantasy world is enhanced using various animation styles and designs. When in the human world, the characters have rough outlines with dull color palettes. But when in Centaurworld, the character designs are much more rounded with vibrant colors. Each human and non-human character has their own side of the story, and it's a fun time.


And of course, being a musical show, the soundtrack absolutely nails what intends to do. I found the choice of having 18 episodes across 2 seasons was brilliant, as it matches something you would typically find in a stage play: two acts and an intermission. You can actually watch this show in its entirety and have it feel like a full production with musical reprises and callbacks throughout.

_Centaurworld_ is probably going to go down in Netflix history without much acknowledgement from the public eye, and I can understand why this show isn't for everybody. But as a fan of cartoons and musicals, and as someone who's been waiting for an animated series to finally achieve what others were close to doing, this is perfection. It's an 8-hour musical adventure that shouldn't be missed.