Women Wearing Shoulder Pads Review: A Telenovela Perfect for Adult Swim

Stop-motion animation has always had a home with Adult Swim. Experimental animation has been a part of the brand since its very inception, and success with shows like Robot Chicken, Morel Orel, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenhole have proven that stop-motion animation could stand right next to all of the other animated favorites. But Women Wearing Shoulder Pads is starting a whole new kind of era with Adult Swim, as not only is it stop-motion animation, but it’s entirely in Spanish with English-language subtitles. It’s looking to break through the ceiling with Adult Swim, and it makes a strong case for doing so.

Adult Swim has been further experimenting with showcasing non-English language series with subtitles through anime releases on Toonami, but Women Wearing Shoulder Pads is one of the first non-anime shows to do so. Adult Swim fans couldn’t ask for a better first impression of this whole new world of animation possibilities. Gonzalo Córdova and the creative team at Cinema Fantasma’s newest animated series is everything great about classic telenovela hits, but injected with just the right amount of wackiness and imagination that’s perfect for Adult Swim.

Women Wearing Shoulder Pads introduces Marioneta Negocios (Pepa Pallarés), a wealthy woman coming from Spain to the town of Quito, Ecuador, with the intent of breeding guinea pigs as pets and starting a massive empire. But in this town, guinea pigs are the size of bulls and Matadors like the mysterious Espada (Kerygma Flores) kill them for sport. Soon, everything starts getting chaotic in Marioneta’s life as she has a rival, Doña Quispe (Laura Torres), a masked stalker, revolutionaries who want to free the guinea pigs, and more. It’s all a struggle as all these people hate (or love) Marioneta for one reason or another.

The first thing that you’ll immediately recognize about Women Wearing Shoulder Pads is that it’s incredibly gorgeous and well put together. Thanks to the team behind Cinema Fantasma (Frankelda’s Book of Spooks), Quito is full of life and has a color palette that’s just wonderful to look at. This extends to every single one of the characters, as each of them has a stark design that stands out from one another, and just looks incredible in motion. While we’ve seen stop-motion work with Adult Swim in the past, it honestly has never quite looked as good as it does here. This show really just goes next level with how it puts a scene together.

For example, there are a number of rain scenes across Women Wearing Shoulder Pads, which are just a marvel to see in motion. There’s one, in particular, as Marioneta is breaking up with someone before getting kidnapped shortly after, that’s lit in such a way that it captures a perfect vibe. All the while, these characters are moving with intricate emotions, with beads of rain cascading down without interruptions. It’s just so captivating that, on top of whatever is happening in any given scene, you can’t help but be absorbed in looking at it all go down.

What helps in this matter is the type of story Women Wearing Shoulder Pads is telling. This is going to be the first experience that many animation fans have with soap operas, and that’s especially true for the telenovelas produced in Latin America. These shows share a lot of similarities with daytime soap operas in the United States, but aren’t afraid of a harder edge, or to make its characters unlikeable. Marioneta is a driven woman, and as a result, has a huge target on her back. It’s like the world revolves around her, and thus, characters are wearing their emotions on their sleeves.

There’s a healthy dose of drama and intrigue throughout the series, and even a fair bit of eroticism to help give it even more energy in motion. Women Wearing Shoulder Pads is just packed to the brim with energy; not only are the characters fierce and have clear motivations, but through the episodes, it all coalesces into a finale that weaves all of their separate paths together. It’s just so intriguing of a watch, and each new episode leaves you waiting for the next one, much like the best of TV’s soap operas.

But it’s not all serious, and that’s where the true magic of Women Wearing Shoulder Pads lies. Because while it might be playing its story and universe straight, it very much uses the fact that it’s stop-motion animation to be a little wacky. It’s a show where guinea pigs are the size of cars, and it’s also where you can see a duck willingly throw itself into a paper shredder. Then Marioneta will hilariously pay it no mind because it’s all just part of her world. She’s someone who will just naturally accept she has multiple stalkers who love her because she believes she’s that great.

These characters and moments aren’t wacky just for the sake of being wacky — the humor stems from a character like Marioneta working her way through the world, and seeing how everyone else bends around her. She’s so well realized as a lead character that the rest of the drama around her becomes compelling. Couple that with other standout characters like Espada, who spends the season dealing with the fact that her love for Marioneta goes unrequited, and it’s just a splendid watch.

Women Wearing Shoulder Pads is unlike anything you’ll see on Adult Swim. It’s a compelling soap opera, with an all-female cast, that’s not afraid to go for hilarious visual gags or random jokes when there’s space for it. It’s also just a sublime work of art to see it in motion, and by the end of the season, you’ll be asking for more.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Women Wearing Shoulder Pads premieres with Adult Swim on Sunday, August 17th at midnight.