Koala Man Series Review | Geeks and Com’

Animation series aimed at adults have always been very popular. Quickly, we think of Rick & Morty, Archer, BoJack Horseman or even Inside Job. This time, it’s Hulu’s turn to offer a whole new adventure. Entitled Koala Man, this animated series is a creation of Australian animator Michael Cusack. We had the opportunity to watch all 8 episodes of the first season which will be available on Disney+ in Canada starting January 9. Here is our full review!

Koala Man Data Sheet

Start date : January 9, 2023
Creation: Michael Cusack
Direction : Michael Dockery and Maik Hempel
Main actors : Michael Cusack, Hugh Jackman, Sarah Snook, Jemaine Clement and Demi Lardner
Gender : Animation and comedy
Number of episodes: 8 episodes

An Australian series that takes responsibility

Most of the anime series that we are used to watching often take place in the United States or Europe. Particularly known for his series Smiling Friends, Australian animator Michael Cusack offers a brand new adventure based on this time in his country. The series follows Kevin, a middle-aged father, and his not-so-secret identity, whose only power is a burning passion for following the rules and stamping out petty crime in the town of Dapto. Although the town looks like any other Australian suburb, evil forces, whether cosmic or human in origin, lie in wait to attack unsuspecting Daptonians. In his quest to restore his hometown, often dragging his frustrated family on his adventures, Koala Man is ready for anything. He’ll do whatever it takes to defeat evil masterminds, supernatural horrors, or even worse, people who don’t take out their trash on the right days.

Koala Man fully assumes his origins and many caricatures of Australia are present. With producers such as Justin Roiland (Solar Opposites and co-creator of rick and morty), Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit (screenwriters of Pokemon: Detective Pikachu), the series offers a completely crazy universe. In just 8 short episodes, the team has still managed to hide a much deeper story than it lets on. Of course, the goal here is not to spoil anything and I won’t go into details of the main plot. Just be advised that the series does not wish to approach reality completely and that we must be ready to let the universe transport us.

Big names in distribution

Dubbing is very important for an animation series. Michael Cusack has understood this and himself embodies the main character (Kevin) of Koala Man. We also find the voices of Hugh Jackman (X-Men), Sarah Snook (Succession), Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords), Demi Lardner (Open Slather), Natalie Tran (Mr Inbetween), Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings) and much more. Overall, I greatly appreciated the quality of the voices of the various characters. The quality is similar from one character to another and we recognize the slight Australian accent in the original English version. Note that for this review we only had access to this version. It is therefore not possible to take into account the French dubbing (if applicable).

Several inspirations

In terms of animation, Koala Man is strongly inspired by the style found in recent animation series. We feel the Rick & Morty effect and it is this kind of quality that we find throughout this new adventure. There are even little nods to slightly older animation styles. Of course, the series is not intended for children at all and will not appear on the platform if you have parental controls activated on the active profile. Violence, sexuality, alcohol or drugs, the series does not hesitate at all to put forward these subjects. The same goes for the dialogues between the characters which are often believed. However, I found that the episodes are quite balanced and offer a similar mix of violence and humor of other series of the genre.

Verdict on Koala Man

Koala Man brings a fresh twist to the world of adult animation by featuring an ordinary hero in a fictional Australian town. The creator Michael Cusack knew how to surround itself with the best of the middle of the last years in order to produce a series of a very high visual quality, but also to tell an original story. If you are able to ignore the completely illogical side of certain moments, you will undoubtedly enjoy the eight episodes of this first season. A delirious whole which is nevertheless linked in a certain way.