Burka Avenger, on Geo Tez (Pakistan)
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So, this is the first ever animated series from Pakistan. It premiered in July 2013, and I read about it in July 2014. (If I'd heard of it anytime in the intervening year, I don't remember it.) Anyway, I immediately went online and watched the first episode on YouTube (with English subtitles). But that was posted almost a year ago, and as far as I can tell, none of the other episodes from season one (which is 13 episodes long) are available yet. So I don't know when I may get the chance to see any more of the series. (The article I read said there were talks about making them available on iTunes, but I don't know if or when that will happen, and even if it does, it's hard to imagine I'd want to pay to watch the show.) Anyway, based solely on the first episode, I'd say that the animation is kind of clunky, but I wouldn't say it's bad, and of course it's not fair to compare it to American standards. The writing also seems rather simplistic, but of course it is a children's show. The villains seem just ridiculous (I kept expecting the main one to twirl his moustache, and the others were just buffoons). Still, I think it's a good thing that a show like this exists, especially in a country like Pakistan. And I would be happy to check out more of the series, if I could see it for free (or if I had enough money that paying for episodes didn't seem wasteful). Also I should say it has some decent music, which isn't surprising given that the show's creator, Haroon, is a Pakistani pop star (he even makes an animated appearance as himself, at the end of the first episode).
Anyway, it's set in the fictional city of Halwapur. The protagonist is a schoolteacher named Miss Jiya, who had been orphaned as a child and adopted by a couple. In the first episode, we only see her adoptive father, Kabaddi Jaan, so I'm not sure at this point if her mother is still around. Anyway, he taught her a secret martial art called Takht Kabaddi, which involves using books and pens as weapons, as well as acrobatic moves that make her look like a ninja or something. Now, Jiya takes on a secret identity as a superheroine called Burka Avenger, in which capacity she of course wears a burqa (which also makes her look like a ninja). But she wears normal clothes at her day job as a teacher at an all girls school. One of her students there is Ashu, the twin sister of a boy named Immu. The two of them have a friend named Mooli, who seems like a comic relief sidekick, and he has a pet goat named Golu. The main villain is a guy named Baba Bandook, who works for a corrupt politician named Vadero Pajero. And of course Baba Bandook has bumbling henchmen.
Beyond the basic premise, I can only speak to the plot of the first episode, which didn't make a lot of sense to me. It seems Panjero had hired Bandook to shut down the school where Jiya works, which I assume would be illegal. So it seems like it would be a totally simple matter for the police to stop him, without the need for a superhero to intervene. Maybe the authorities didn't really care, but I have a couple of problems with that idea. One, if that's the case, why bother hiring a villain? Anyone could put a damn padlock on the school. Two, aside from the villains, the episode really didn't give me the impression of the city being a particularly oppressive place. (The local news was openly opposed to the shutting down of the school.) I suppose, as I said before, this is a kids' show, so it makes sense for the writing to be simplistic, and it would probably not be a good idea to show real oppression, I mean the kind you hear about in the news, with people being stoned death, and things like that. And I do like the concept of making those who are trying to oppress women and such to be not just villains, but ridiculous villains. Of course, subsequent episodes might be more dramatic, I don't know. Meanwhile, it's cool to see a Muslim woman as a superhero, fighting for women's rights and education and all that. And... I guess that's all I can say, for now.