Joou Heika no Petite Angie

There were no reviews for this show at the time of writing this so I thought I'd give some quick thoughts to anyone who happens to stumble upon this show. I know it's made for kids, but I'm of the belief that even kids shows can be watched and critiqued regardless of age.

Story - This is an episodic mystery series, with no overarching story (although the last episode is suitable as a conclusion for a show like this). The cases for the most part are very predictable. The culprits are almost always either random thugs or completely sympathetic with little to no grey area between ... these extremes. Often Angie only solves the case from absolute luck or coincidence rather than intelligence. Many episodes have boring chase scenes on foot or horseback that overstay their welcome.

Characters - Characters are the crux for any good episodic series but they are very weak in this show. The only somewhat interesting character is Angie but every other main and recurring character are defined almost entirely by being either a) just there to take orders from Angie or b) resist her help irrationally. The comedic relief detective is not very funny and usually has weak synergy with the rest of the main cast. This show badly needed more interesting mains or at least semi-recurring villains and rival detectives.

Art - The animation and art style is passable, but many of the character designs throughout the show are quite bland. I have not watched many shows from the 70s so I'm not sure how it compares to its contemporaries.

Sound - I liked most of the instrumental pieces and thought they usually set the mood pretty well. However, the sound design was not as good. Often times certain sound effects were too loud and annoying such as horse hooves or footsteps during chase scenes.

Enjoyment - Overall this show was very mediocre in terms of its mysteries and characters, so it was not too enjoyable. Certain episodes did show some potential, such as a hot air balloon hostage situation, or episode 25 which had rival detectives, a better scenario for the comedic relief detective, and more dynamic chase scenes. However, these moments where the show differentiated itself were very few in number.

Overall I rate this show as a 3 since while the art and sound are passable, the story and characters are both considerably below average. An example that comes to mind for a kids show in the episodic mystery genre (although not an anime) that still holds up and does what I think Angie needed to are many versions of Scooby Doo, which have memorable characters and lean into their goofiness.