The number of hot takes on Neo Yokio that I think fundamentally misunderstand the show is astonishing. I thought it was a well-done show with a pointed critique; casting Tavi Gevinson as Helena, the reveal of what's inside the Louis Vuitton bag at the end, and little details like the underwater brownstones, still occupied, in The Sea Below 14th Street. It was made on a limited budget, and Jude Law couldn't have been cheap, so the people who are upset about the animation quality are I think a little spoilt for choice. In my opinion the animation was fine, but that's at least a point of contention for the animation nerds I guess.
What I don't think is a point of contention is whether Neo Yokio is "just ironic parody of the upper class", "a sendup of mid-2000s anime tropes", or "so good it's bad". It's actually good. Bemoaning that Jaden Smith voices Kaz Kaan, or that Tavi Gevinson voices Helena (for some reason, I see a lot more of the former than the latter! is it possible that the people who recognized Tavi Gevinson's name were more likely to come to the conclusions I did about the show?) instead of a professional voice actor also misses the point, imo. It's not an accident that Kaz values satirical 'high art' like For The Love Of God more than the work of Sailor Pellegrino, who turns out to literally be a demon. He doesn't meet anyone from his outside his social bubble (except Sadie, who he hates) until the last episode. The West Side Gentlemen are shown to be shallow, personal brand mavens obsessed with fashion and social standing (just like Kaz, Lexy and Gottlieb!) and I guess until episode six you don't really have a context to the world they live in.
I am very excited and hopeful that there will be more Neo Yokio to come. It's just been surprising to me that almost every time someone gives an example of why the show didn't work, it's always one of the elements that I think was its strongest success.
Just me?