I finally got around to watching the first four episodes. I'm... split on it, to be honest.

No complaints about the fairly young target audience. It means I enjoy it less, but I'm sure plenty of kids will love it. They actually seem to be PG-ifying it even compared with the books-- Gabe goes from abusive step-father to dorky annoying guy, Clarrisse's nose not getting pancaked in capture the flag, Medusa's beheading turned invisible. It's fine. Not the choice I would've made, but shouldn't disrupt the story too much. Except the Gabe stuff; cutting out nearly every awful thing he does, I struggle to see how they're going to justify the end of his arc, unless they change that too.

They are clearly aiming to keep the spirit of the series, though, and I really am grateful for that. I'd lump the majority of changes they've made into How can we accomplish the same thing in a third as many scenes? I think every change has worsened the story, but only slightly, and they had to be made to fit the plot into a single season show.

If I had one thing that's really been irritating me, it's that I feel like Percy's been stripped of some of what made him so popular. Not because of the actor, he's been excellent. But they seem to be making him just a little less of a heroic figure, and a little more of an angsty everyman. That they felt a need to tell him his mother is alive before the quest starts, for example, when in the books he's straight up thinking about how to steal her soul and bring her back even if she is dead. Or how he's more of a victim with Nancy Bobbofit, instead of giving it straight back to her. All of this whining about daddy not paying attention is pretty much a fresh addition as well.

I'll probably finish the show, although I wouldn't really say I'm enjoying it. Then again, I really can't judge it as a work of its own, because I'm too familiar with the source. All I see are the differences.

Honestly, I think animation would've been perfect for the series. Characters could maintain their original looks (not a dealbreaker for me, but a little disheartening) while keeping the actors who I think are doing solid work, and the action scenes and setting would have so much more room for artistic expression. But animation doesn't sell as well, so I see why they went this direction.

Overall, I'd probably give it a 7/10 at the minute, but maybe for different reasons than a lot of people. That'll probably change with more episodes.


Maybe, just maybe, this can spark a bit of creativity in the PJO fandom and kick a little life into it.
Ah, who am I kidding.

 

1 season down. And it was fine. No surprises. Ultimately a solid adaptation of the book, albeit one that needed a tad more production value on sets, action, sfx.

Percy actor really carried. Just an incredible performance for his age, giving far more nuanced deliveries than most of the adults.

Given that it did good numbers, I expect multiple seasons will be greenlit. Hopefully the tone can mature a little as the kids get older.

 

I got strong first Harry Potter movie vibes from this series. Lots of potential, but very disneyfied.

 

Season 2 is greenlit.

 

I figured it would. The viewers were solid.

I think Season 2 will really determine if this is going to be great or just meh.

Ngl, the show was definitely sanitized compared to the book. Here's hoping that they're going the Harry Potter route where the maturity of the story ages with its viewers.