Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Adventure Time: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Mathematical!

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 11, 2017

In the interest of full disclosure, it must be said that my exposure to Adventure Time's quirky characters and universe was, prior to enjoying season six, limited to playing through the Finn and Jake Investigations video game and a little (very little, really) time with a different game on the 3DS. While neither game was particularly memorable for their gameplay mechanics, I did fall in love with the tone and characters almost immediately. And if season six is any indication, Adventure Time's TV show captures that same spirit and expands on it, obviously, with plenty of exciting new worlds and stories and dramatic explorations. The show features many more characters, too, beyond the game's core standbys: Finn, Jake, Lumpy Space Princess, Ice King, Flame Princess, Princess Bubblegum, Lemongrab, Marceline, and Magic Man. Familiar but excitingly new, season six starts off with a bang and goes from there with a strongly developed story arc and a number of interesting one-off episodes, too.

For anyone interested in catching up, see the Blu-ray.com reviews for seasons one through five:

• Season One
• Season Two
• Season Three
• Season Four
• Season Five

Everything's about to change.

It's impossible to discuss season six without diving into the deep end of the spoiler pool. Be forewarned.

Season six begins with a surprisingly dark twist for Finn. The severed limb seems something of a metaphor for his inability to reconnect with his father, who was literally in his grasp but aloofly blew him off on their first meeting, leading to various adventures throughout the season as Finn tries to cope with injury, recover emotionally, and continue to search for his father, albeit, at times, a bit differently -- particularly in terms of motivation -- than his first attempt that went terribly awry. In these episodes, the show proves to be much more of a dramatic powerhouse than one might be led to believe from the outside looking in, though certainly there are a number of lighter, even frivolous episodes scattered throughout, such as Jake's "dream circus" episode or the widely praised "Food Chain." But the show's core remains a colorful adventure through the very strange land of Ooo and the even stranger collection of characters that dot its landscape, all of them colorfully animated in more ways than one.

To be sure, it's the show's collection of characters, more so than many of the adventures or the various settings ("kingdoms") throughout Ooo that make it so memorable. The show thrives on randomness, even in its main characters but also in its portrayal of secondary and tertiary figures who, even just taking up space, seem like a mad scientist amalgamation of weird whimsy and identifiable form and function. Another unique aspect is that ~11.5 minute runtime for each episode. This is as quickly digestible entertainment as one is going to find out there. It proves time and again enough temporal real estate to tell a complete, satisfying tale (though some key stories are spread along two episodes, like the season's bookends) that always capture the characters' and world quirks, reinforce core thematic concepts, build on the season's main arc, or just have fun with the weird absurdities that make the show so special. Tremendous voice work, effective animation, and talent imaginations that run wild make this one of the most fundamentally enjoyable and unique properties going.

Adventure Time: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Adventure Time: The Complete Sixth Season's 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer is presented with the older VC-1 encode, but it's all good, anyway. The image is a standout of color and contrast. Bright primaries impress, and the show is comprised of a seemingly endless series of showy pinks, yellows, greens, blues, purples, pretty much every basic shade in the rainbow. There's not a lot of nuance or subtle transitions, but there's no mistaking the effortless pop and punch on display. Lines are clean and well defined (some jaggies appear in stills, but the program looks fine in motion), and the source enjoys a crispness and clarity thanks to the 1080p horsepower. Black levels are deep as well, and there's precious little in the way of source or encode artifacts. Clean lines and plenty of color are the highlights, and fans should be thrilled to see their favorite worlds and characters looking this good.

Adventure Time: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Adventure Time: The Complete Sixth Season's fun doesn't end with its excellent 1080p video, but Warner's Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack doesn't really contribute anything beyond the basics. The title song and various bits of music present with decent separation to the sides and enough clarity to please, including that opening theme that isn't exactly recorded to the highest standards (and that's more charming for it). Some basic sound effects play with adequate shape and definition, though nothing offers any substantial heft, serious width, and of course no immersion. Dialogue features effortless clarity and prioritization, presenting with a "phantom center" placement that mimics a center speaker. It's a very routine listen and disappointing that a high profile TV show can't (won't?) come with a multichannel track, but this 2.0 presentation at least gets the job done with no obvious hiccups.

Adventure Time: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Adventure Time: The Complete Sixth Season contains all of its dosh on disc one. A UV digital copy code is included with purchase, as is a leaflet listing all the season six episodes. And, hey, it comes with a slipcover that's actually differentiated from, and works in conjunction with, the cover art underneath. Neat!

• Song Demos (1080p): Music set to static images. Included are Food Chain (1:29), Breezy Song Part 1 (0:38), Breezy Song Part 2 (1:06), All I Need (1:01), Baby's Building a Tower Into Space (0:37), Seven's Rap (0:17), Something Sweet (0:14), Lonely Bones (0:36), The Slumbering Ones (1:02), Booboo Sousa Song Part 1 (0:27), Booboo Sousa Song Part 2 (1:02), and Chips and Ice Cream Song Part 1 (0:37).
• Galleries (1080p): A collection of stills that advance automatically or with a press of the "chapter" button the remote control. Included are three different sub-sections: Concept Art, Backgrounds, and Models.
• Animatics (1080p): Episodes-as-storyboards set to sound. Included are Is That You? (11:28), Escape from the Citadel (10:50), The Comet (11:10), Jake the Brick (11:19), The Mountain (11:27), Ever Green (11:27), and Walnuts & Rain (11:16).
• Food Chain Featurette (1080i, 1:38): Images from the episode.

Adventure Time: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Adventure Time's sixth season begins heavy -- much heavier than expected in contrast to the significantly lighter video game I played beforehand -- and nicely builds on its arc throughout, both for Finn himself and how his quest to find his father shapes the world around him. Yet it's still the seriously fun, colorful, catchy, and decidedly unique program at its center. Adventure Time: The Complete Sixth Season's Blu-ray release features colorfully precise 1080p video, a passable and unexciting lossy two-channel audio track, and a few neat extras. Highly recommended.