I remember watching this as a child and finding it both intense and somewhat scary and also really, really good!
Re-watching as an adult, what struck me immediately is that the language used in the storytelling isn't dumbed down for kids and is sophisticated.
The first scene in a chessboard with a man narrating, musing on the vagaries of fate, love and death. Very unusual for a "kid's" show, indeed - and yet it works excellently, feeling almost Game of Thrones-like.
We get King Aguar being informed of an enemy attack numbering "three men for our every one" and he replies "The sinners that attack us are without honour and have had their souls stripped by greed. Our men shall fight with courage and truth in their hearts." Awesome dialogue for a cartoon.
Similarly, the first battle sequence shows the good guys losing badly and we see characters actually dying in the battle, both good and bad. Prince Valiant, our hero, engages enemy troops and kills them (though the shot spares gruesome details, we still see him landing killing blows).
Again, I can't think of another kid's show in which characters actually kill each other! But it's not inappropriate - the show remains tasteful and our hero is defending himself bravely.
The whole show has a heavy emphasis on bravery, heroism, being moral and the struggle of versus evil. These are all themes that are usually not particularly emphasised in child's shows and I thought they were very welcome here actually.
Overall an excellent show that can be enjoyed by both children and adults, and is probably more intellectually stimulating for kids too than most contemporary shows.
Re-watching as an adult, what struck me immediately is that the language used in the storytelling isn't dumbed down for kids and is sophisticated.
The first scene in a chessboard with a man narrating, musing on the vagaries of fate, love and death. Very unusual for a "kid's" show, indeed - and yet it works excellently, feeling almost Game of Thrones-like.
We get King Aguar being informed of an enemy attack numbering "three men for our every one" and he replies "The sinners that attack us are without honour and have had their souls stripped by greed. Our men shall fight with courage and truth in their hearts." Awesome dialogue for a cartoon.
Similarly, the first battle sequence shows the good guys losing badly and we see characters actually dying in the battle, both good and bad. Prince Valiant, our hero, engages enemy troops and kills them (though the shot spares gruesome details, we still see him landing killing blows).
Again, I can't think of another kid's show in which characters actually kill each other! But it's not inappropriate - the show remains tasteful and our hero is defending himself bravely.
The whole show has a heavy emphasis on bravery, heroism, being moral and the struggle of versus evil. These are all themes that are usually not particularly emphasised in child's shows and I thought they were very welcome here actually.
Overall an excellent show that can be enjoyed by both children and adults, and is probably more intellectually stimulating for kids too than most contemporary shows.