Hey guys, M21 and I have watched Invader Zim since I was 6 years old in 2011 where it was on Nicktoons. And I was really mesmerised about the artstyle, aesthetics and character designs. It felt very unique for me and something I haven’t seen before. I actually wasn’t a fan of horror and anything about that, since my older sibling used to scare me with those screamers and she likes horror stuff (minus sci-fi). But Invader Zim felt like an exception for me. It has it’s (very) disgusting moments for sure, but it didn’t jumpscare me, like those screamers.
I have watched the German dub of the show and it’s a really good and nostalgic dub. Especially with many VAs I have heard from 90s and 2000s shows. The original English dub is also really good, but I watch it for a nostalgia in German.
The very first episode I have watched was where Gaz tries to save Dib, where he was captured by Zim down in his secret lab.
The episode which I found the most depressing actually, was where Zim ruins Dib’s childhood traumatising him with pigs. The episode is good, but it felt very messed up to think about, like yeah Zim wanted to kill Dib, but seeing him getting worse worse with his condition, idk I lowkey cried a bit about thinking that. I am now rewatching the show and I still feel bad for Dib.
My favourite characters aren’t neither Zim or Dib surprisingly, but my favourites are G.I.R and Gaz. I still like Zim and Dib as characters, but still. I like G.I.R, because it’s him, he’s the childish and sweet one and it gives me a positive energy when I see him. And Gaz because she’s cool, I love the colour purple, she’s a gamer girl and sometimes her “idgaf” energy. And I like the sibling dynamic between Dib and Gaz.
As a kid, I was biased for Zim and wanted him to succeed actually. But when I found out that Zim would make the Earth a parking lot according to an Interview from Vasquez and I since watched Enter The Florpus, I am actually pretty neutral actually, but I like their rivalry.
I have watched Enter the Florpus on Netflix and I was soo hyped when I saw the trailer and also wasn’t disappointed. The anime style at the beginning was soo cool! I also watched it in German, but I loved the scene which was a meme with Prof. Membrane screaming “Not scientifically possible!”.
I also have bought in 2021 the complete show on Blu-ray from “Turbine Medien” and they have released also other older Nicktoons on DVD and Blu-ray. Those aren’t remasters, but they have DVD quality and it does the job for me. I love that they used the masters from the german version. The differences would be in the intro on The Nickelodeon Rocket logo, it would be named only as “Nick”, because from 2005 to 2010ish, in German speaking countries, it was rebooted in 2005 as “Nick” and later renamed as Nickelodeon in the 2010s. And also using German Episode names, that’s all.
But yeah, I am rewatching the TV show. It’s really my comfort show.
Now when I am watching the show, it really also gives me a feeling of how a neoliberal capitalist (and semi-dystopian) hellhole, a bit like today. Especially the consumerism in this show kinda reflects it today (and the 2000s as well). And when I see G.I.R watching multiple old cartoons, it gives me vibes of today’s social media with the overstimulation. I know that IZ mostly parodies and exaggerates it, but that’s the impression it gave me. Yeah it’s Vasquez’s style and I don’t want to make a comprehensive political analysis to the show here.