MechWest
Summary
MechWest is a short, children’s animated TV series created by David Gallagher. In it, the mech-loving Pearl and her reluctant brother Pico go on a quest to protect and save a unique robot named Six. Along the way they encounter friends and foes, narrowly avoiding terrible ruin as they slowly begin to uncover Six’s strange origins.
Assessment
MechWest is a (currently) four episode mini animated series revolving around a single idea: what if there were mechs/robots in the Wild West? The show’s animation is relatively high-quality, with an appealing art style and expressive characters. The writing is somewhat bland, relying heavily on tropes and cliches from Wild West stories. There are some unique twists on classic plotlines and situations with the introduction of mechs, but overall the plot and characters are nothing unique or interesting. The series’ most interesting facet is the worldbuilding and visual design, which are well-done.
The show is pretty clean; there is no cussing, no sex — or even any romance at this point. Any cussing is replaced by a tamer alternative (and even then, not used minimally). There is definitely some violence and action, but mostly is used against mechs — the characters sustain only light injuries, if that — and is pretty much completely gore-less. There are a few more rougher concepts related to the Wild West, including weaponry, hunting, and gambling. The gambling was made so goofy it’d be almost impossible for kids to pick up on the concepts.
Light-o-Meter
Overall — 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Story: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Voice Acting: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Animation: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Music: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Quality: 4 out of 7 Little Lights
Theological Message: N/A
Age Appropriateness — Appropriate for intended audiences of kids.
Talk
Let me start off this assessment by saying: combining robots and the Wild West? Big fan. Huge fan, actually. I love it. On top of that, this show has some really adorable, expressive, and lovingly put together robot designs and uses.
The strength of this story is definitely in its worldbuilding and art style/animation design. In terms of plot, it relies really heavily on tropes and cliches, mostly from other Westerns, but also from various kids stories from other genres. This is not necessarily a problem, since kids are still being introduced to these tropes and cliches, they don’t fall quite as flat as they do for adults. The characters fall into this same category; they’re really flat and archetypal, but that’s not necessarily a problem for kids.
My biggest writing-related gripe for this show, however, is that it’s missing a serious philosophical or moral foundation to tie the whole thing together (I’m leaving out “theological foundation” because I’m not entirely sure this was supposed to be a Christian or even Christian-adjacent show). Now, not every piece of media needs an underlying lesson or message; I am a firm believer in the idea that sometimes people just need entertainment and the mental, spiritual, and physical rest that brings. In this case, I think the show would have really benefitted from some kind of underlying message woven across the episodes.
Basically, if I were to describe this series metaphorically, I’d call it something like a cupcake. It’s fun, it’s sweet, it’s silly, it’s pretty to look at, if not nutritionally dense. Absolutely something to look into for some clean, safe entertainment.
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