Season Review: Young Love Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

An honest look into the world of an African-American young family of millennial parents, as they juggle their careers, marriage, parenthood, social issues, and multi-generational dynamics striving for a better life.

Our Take:

One of the best things to come out of Sony’s hit-and-miss animation library is Hair Love, a short film that saw the light of day, thanks to Matthew A. Cherry’s Kickstarter campaign. The short, which involved a father doing his daughter’s hair for the first time, earned plenty of praise for its representation and heart and won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at the 92nd Academy Awards. Four years after its debut, the short expands into a streaming series that continues the adventures of the hard-working African-American family that captured everyone’s hearts.

I first experienced Hair Love while watching The Angry Birds Movie 2, and, just like everyone else, I thought it was incredibly charming and heartfelt. I would even say it’s the best thing to come out of the less-than-stellar follow-up to the Angry Birds film adaptation. Because of this, I was more than willing to check out the series since I’ve been impressed by most of Max’s recent adult animated content. I enjoyed some of its shows, if not love them, including the recently released Fiona and Cake, although I can’t say the same for others like The Prince and Velma. So, where does Young Love land on the streaming service’s animation spectrum? Based on my experience with its 12-episode season, I would gladly say that it’s somewhere close to the “enjoyment” section.

Is it a masterpiece akin to its source material? Quality-wise, not really. Is it enjoyable and heartfelt enough to stand alongside the other additions to Max’s animation library? It sure is. With Cherry and Carl Jones serving as the series’s showrunners, Young Love retains the heart and charm that made the short film a joyful and refreshing perspective of black representation. More importantly, it provides an entertaining and periodically outlandish approach to the show’s sitcom-like scenarios and social commentary, even if some of its moments weren’t as clever as others.

What do I mean by those elements, you ask? Well, for starters, Young Love is close to being akin to Disney’s The Proud Family regarding the character dynamics, offbeat humor, and black culture. They’re both similar in exploring specific types of social commentary relating to the African-American community, even the lower-class ones. One example is racism in “Jingle Love”, in which Stephen (Scott Mescudi) makes a questionable jingle for an all-white marketing firm. Another set of examples that I think were the best comes from “Charity Love”, where Angela and Zuri invite a homeless family to stay with them. That episode explores the topic of homelessness, in which Zuri’s new friend is living in a van with her parents when they couldn’t afford a house to live in. It also depicts internet exploitation from Angela (Issa Rae) using her vlog to exploit the homeless family to gain popularity. It showcases that internet success can be good, but not by taking advantage of other people’s troubles.

Regarding these themes, it’s challenging to match what The Proud Family has accomplished for its target audience, although this one is more aimed toward slightly older kids. When it tries to be like the Disney show, it periodically falls flat in its execution. However, there are occasions where Young Love works best when it does its own thing, especially with its character arcs and heartfelt messages. Amid its sitcom plots, the series explores Stephen’s journey of becoming a successful music producer, from being rapper Lil Ankh’s producer to starting his own music business to helping his nephew get through his teenage loner phase. The show also showcases Angela’s return to normality after being released from the hospital, mainly in “Just Love”, where she has a long list of goals to accomplish with her family. Her arc wasn’t explored as much as Stephen’s (at least in this season), but it compensates with its charm and depiction of family that helped Angela be a relatable character to every mother on Earth.

Issa Rae is the only actor reprising her role as Zuri’s mother from the short film, which was admittedly one of the source material’s best parts. I’m glad she returned for the series because I don’t think anyone else can capture the compassion and heart Rae delivered for Angela. Rae is also no stranger to voicing a character for Sony Pictures Animation, as she recently voiced Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman from Across the Spider-Verse. Scott Mescudi (Kid Cudi) replaces Matthew Cherry for the role of Stephen in Young Love, which wasn’t a bad choice regarding his filmography, including his Netflix animated special, Entergalactic. Like that gorgeous streaming short film, Young Love shows the confidence Mescudi has as a voice actor outside his music career. I also thought Brooke Monroe Conaway did a good job voicing the adorable Zuri, especially in several episodes that put her in the spotlight.     

Overall, Young Love spreads enough love and affection towards its sitcom narratives to provide a heartfelt and consistently enjoyable continuation of the Oscar-winning short film. More importantly, it’s another solid example of African-American representation in animation that captures the relatability and soul of the community. While some of its formulaic elements are a bit more restrained than others, the series proved itself lovable enough through its voice cast and charm to join alongside the other animated content for older audiences.  

Right now, the show’s future, either through a second season or another short, hasn’t been set in stone as of this writing, but based on my experience with it, I think it should be. It’s another series that’s more welcoming toward the community it represents through its multi-generational commentary and messages. However, I could also see it as a reminder that the art of animation is another helpful tool to represent different cultures, even the ones filled with love, if done correctly. Max is now three for three with its animated content this year, so let’s hope this streak can continue with the upcoming Scavengers Reign.