Has an edit of a ladybug saving Paris from a butterfly with her underappreciated cat sidekick ever showed up on your TikTok for you page? Or thirst traps of that underappreciated cat that you would never admit you find kinda attractive? If so, you have just come across the product of the Miraculous fandom—a surprisingly large group of teenagers and adults in their 20s who are obsessed with the stupidest animated kids show I’ve ever seen. I am allowed to say that since I myself have been a part of this fandom since 2016—and I don’t plan on leaving. So why, might you ask, would I or anyone else continue to watch this kids’ show if it’s really that bad? That’s what I’m here to discuss because I don’t quite understand it myself. But first, you need to know what the heck I’m talking about. 

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir is a French CGI-animated kids show about a crime-fighting duo saving Paris from the pathetically evil Hawkmoth, while also trying to balance their school life and personal drama. Ladybug is schoolgirl Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Chat Noir is model Adrien Agreste. Hawkmoth’s main goal is to steal the duo’s  Miraculous–jewelry that gives them superpowers–in the hopes of bringing his dead wife back to life. With that statement alone, how can the show possibly be any worse? Spoiler alert: it can and it is. 

The plot is the same for every episode. Someone gets mad in Paris, Hawkmoth Akumatizes them (turns them into evil monsters), and then Ladybug and Chat Noir come to save the day. The plot isn’t even good enough to be reused. For example, it seems that only one person in Paris can have negative emotions at the same time because no one else ever gets Akumatized that same day (unless the writers say otherwise). How does that make sense? Also, the development of the show is so slow. You don’t see any real change in the storyline or characters until the last few episodes. What’s funnier is all that development that happens towards the end of the season gets thrown out the window the next. Then you have to relive the same plot with cringey dialogue all over again. Speaking of cringey dialogue:

Adrien: “Do you remember our shooting contests?” **smiles and passes basketball**

Felix: **Throws ball behind himself and into the basket** 

Adrien: “I’m sorry I didn’t go to your dad’s funeral.” 

I’ll just leave this here. 

By now, you may be wondering why anyone would willingly watch this show if it is as bad as I say it is. One of the main reasons is the love square. The love square is what the fandom calls the collective four main ships of the show: Adrienette, Ladynoir, Marichat and Ladrien. It gets complicated because although there are four different ships, it’s only between two people. I’ll explain, but first, keep in mind that Marinette is Ladybug and Adrien is Chat Noir. Now let’s get started. 

Marinette is in love, more so obsessed, with Adrien. Their ship’s name is Adrienette. Adrien, on the other hand, is in love with Ladybug. Their ship’s name is Ladrien. Then there’s Ladynoir, a ship between Ladybug and Chat Noir. Finally, we have Marichat, a Marinette and Chat Noir ship. What makes this all so complicated is that Marinette and Adrien are in love with different versions of each other and just don’t know it. It’s extremely frustrating. One second they figure out each other’s identities and fall in love and the next they end up endangering Paris and erasing their memories. While everyone in the fandom has their own favorite ship, we all want the same thing in the end—for them to FINALLY get together. 

Despite it being a kids’ show with a lousy plot, terrible dialogue, and cringey characters, many have become addicted. For some people, once you start something, you can’t let it go until you’ve seen it through. That holds true for most Miraculous fans. We are sticking with it to see how it all unfolds, even if it is a waste of our time. At least it’s entertaining!