Trying to Defend the Weird World of Totally Spies

[@limontree476]

I would argue Clover being the one brainwashed the most isn't a fetish, its because she is the gullible airhead trope which fits narratively.

[@Colby2D]

Yeah and I’ve read a couple comments saying Sam gets brainwashed the most, which makes sense since she’s the smart one, and clover usually gets captured or transformed the most, which you could argue may be since she’s the most superficial or something

[@RadikAlice]

Not to mention "Dumb blonde" is a trope basically older than most of us

[@eerieeric834]

Clover acting like a dog in one episode and then passing by a fire hydrant and then Sam saying don’t even think about it

[@Colby2D]

I forgot about that moment/repressed it, definitely a bad moment, but I also feel like I’ve seen this same moment in other shows and people don’t consider it too weird there. One of the better examples from the show for sure

[@eerieeric834]

@@Colby2D thank you

[@eddog6666]

Other shows have characters hypnotized into acting like creatures. Heck Pokémon did it several times!

[@borntoclimb7116]

This show is sh*t

[@videocrowsnest5251]

Pretty common gag in cartoons. However: probably also good to ponder on who the shows main target demographic is. Show is starring three teenagers (so that and younger), and as sterilizied as it is (you simply could not have a kids show that accurately portrayed how teenagers are like cause that age isn't the domain of so to say innocent sweet little angels), some of the jokes could be explained by looking at the main characters age and writing ballpark. I can't with good conchience say anything but that if this scenario happened to me as a teenager there would have been a similar crack by someone. It's such a low hanging fruit of juvenile humour, basically. Now an adult comes along, it suddenly can have a lot more meaning, because we are weird, and like to forget how we thought of things earlier on in life. Most like to pretend like they never were teenagers or forget the whole time period to the best of their ability. And I just had the weirdest cognitive feeling of why do I even having entered the third decade of my life, only to feel obliged to politely remind on the internet that teenagers A) exist, B) have juvenille senses of humour C) have a lot on their minds and to say which would never make it pass TV censorship of any kind if it was actually how they are. So sterillized as it is, some remnants probably need or will make it in. Otherwise, and if done far too vigorously, it probably enters the uncanny domain of "how do you do, fellow kids?"

[@alicebunnymera]

I think its less that the show is innappropriate and more that there just happens to be a lot of different but specific f*tishes

[@26th_Primarch]

With quite a few recurring ones...

[@poochyenajones1362]

Honestly all I can see is exclusively beneficial.

[@Markus2E5I6]

Yeah, there's a fetish for everything. A show this wacky that needed a gimmick for a villain would eventually bump into many.

[@nicholashodges201]

There's also the fact that it's French. They have a way of portraying certain things that comes off as a bit fetishistic to anglophones, even when they don't necessarily mean it that way. And are historically a bit more open to public display of fetishism, which probably leads to the first item.

[@finland4ever55]

​@@nicholashodges201and its influenced by anime. Almost any givwn Japanese show is kinky. Even in anime popular with kids like Naruto and One Piece you have some weied kinks or suspicious stuff (Naruto for examplw has rhe s*xy jutsu despite being a minor) and even characters openly admit they are horny (OP, Naruto arw again two examples)

[@OnizukaAllMighty]

Jerry is the myth, the legend, the funniest character in the whole show

[@Colby2D]

Jerry is my goat

[@OnizukaAllMighty]

@@Colby2D "Our goat" Soviet hymn music in the background

[@walpoleandworcester]

One of Jess Harnell’s best characters he voiced at least for the first few seasons. I never got used to the voice change.

[@pichufan101]

Jerry the best cartoon man in history

[@changvasejarik62]

He is the second funniest jerry Lewis there ever was.

[@RygasV]

Last week when I heard people say this is a fetish show, I was questioning them. Like, is it a fetish show, or do you just have that fetish and watched this show? Cause anything can be a fetish for somebody.

[@Colby2D]

True, I would say it’s mostly the latter like 10%/90%

[@decadentgamer3108]

Exactly. As someone who watched the show right when it debuted (I was in the 6rh grade when it came out on CN in America), I don't recall anyone saying the show was about fetishes, even my parents and babysitters didn't think anything of it lol.

[@MaximumPayine]

It is a fetish only to people who do not understand what is natural and what is a deviance from what is natural. You wouldn't need to HAVE a fetish when you are satisfied in your love life.

[@animeknight8958]

I can confirm that this was a fetish show.... and the BIGGEST fetish was foot fetish due to almost EVERY episode having a close up of each girl's feet.... I was one of the lucky one who didn't become a foot fetish fan when watching the show.

[@arc8216]

Fetishes are mostly stuff children find funny.

[@chasformer3091]

Almost all cartoons had unintentional family friendly fetish fuel. Especially in the 80s and 90s.

[@greendemon905]

Totally Spies is a very formulaic show, with every episode following the same plot structure (Inciting indicent, one of the Spies having a personal issue, WOOHP'D, gadgets, inflitration, death trap, final confrontation, resolving the personal issue). And part of the formula is: who gets affected by the villain's invention? Clover usually gets physical mutations (becoming a furry, growing to 500 pounds, becoming a buff ice skater), because she's the one that cares most about her looks. Sam is the smart one, so she's most often the victim of brainwashing or mind control (becoming a hooligan, regressing into a child, etc). These episodes also often show how vulnerable Clover and Alex are without Sam's guidance. Alex is kind of a wild card. Anything can happen to her, which befits her chaotic tomboy nature.

[@ETPlayground]

I feel like the only person who saw the belt scene and thought "so they're more afraid of their parents than ninjas" since the belt is old school discipline. Not saying the other implication isn't clearly there for the adults watching, but that's how good entertainment is made. It's not "weird" or "gross"; it encourages parents to watch along with their kids, spending time together. The fetish fuel allegations on this show come off more like projection than people uncovering anything.

[@danilolopez3005]

Nah I also got that feeling.

[@Colby2D]

Yeah I kinda saw the belts turning into nunchucks as a little more goofy and theatrical and the spies might’ve thought it was lame, but definitely agree about a lot of these shows having multilayered jokes so parents could watch these shows with their kids, and there’s a lot of studies about very early childrens media that has random references in it like Sesame Street for example, and how parents would be more willing to watch this with their kids, and in turn, this helps the child develop and learn more having them in the room

[@robertkalinic335]

Children are generally treated like idiots, i feel like people complaining about the show were told about how sex works when they got their id cards. I cant explain how else is anyone putting sneezing on the inappropriate sexual context list.

[@tatsumitwi348]

I think the outfit changes stand out more because Totally Spies was pretty unique in having multiple outfits per episode that werent just Sam Alex and Clover being "on model" with a standard design

[@Colby2D]

The different outfits and locations every episode was a really nice touch, I personally think it makes the show look to be pretty high quality

[@gagejoseph91]

I genuinely think the whole "Totally Spies is weird" meme has gotten out of control to the point that what may have started as just a joke has now been taken far too seriously. Every time I watch videos on the subject, it's stuff like "Why is she covered in sticky fluid!? Pervs!!!" Like...was all of Nickelodeon's old slime games pervy, too? There are the occasional lewd jokes that even I can't deny, but like 90% of the things the internet get on this show's case about seem to be making a mountain out of even less than a molehill. "That's a weird position! PERVS! They're bound up! Like BONDAGE! PEEEERVS! This ONE frame of the bear sneaking up behind her looks weird!!!! *PERVS!!* " Like...This all just comes off as "prn poisoning", like methinks thou doth protest too much. It's a witch hunt, that's all; trying to find an enemy where there isn't one, so creating one for the sake of it.

[@JayceCH.]

Ive seen the vids. They are mostly just clickbait bs... Theres definitely some anime fanservice, but not the majority of it.

[@Darkfawfulx]

I've definitely seen people take slime and other stuff way to seriously. The Quiet on Set documentary made a big deal out of some things that were just 90s gross out.

[@kyoyameganebereznoff]

The “bondage” accusations especially drive me crazy. They’re spies! Spies get tied up when they get captured! It happens to male spies all the time! Why is it not a fetish when it happens to them?

[@1TieDye1]

“Witch hunt” seems extreme. It’s just funny. I think most people who engage at all can tell this meme isn’t legit. Like, just looking at that document with episodes+fetishes, most of the fetishes are clearly huge reaches.

[@Colby2D]

Yeah there’s definitely a lot of reaching in retrospect to both totally spies and Nickelodeon’s stuff. I think there’s a lot more valid arguments with the nick situation than there is with totally spies, but the slime was definitely a reach and kinda dilutes the actual points to be made

[@PeanutButterfly92]

I've see people on the internet say that Alex is more likely to be the one who is kidnapped, Sam is more likely to be the one who gets brainwashed, and Clover is the one who is more likely to be transformed somehow. I don't know the math on this to know if that's statistically true, but theme wise, that makes sense. The spies have a tendency to be prideful and vain. So it's kind of ironic that when the villains get the upper hand, they humiliate the spies in what each girl is the most prideful about themselves. Alex is the most athletic, yet she gets easily overpowered and kidnapped. Sam is very smart, but she gets brainwashed despite her high intelligence. And Clover is very vain about her looks, but that gets taken away from her when the transformations changes her appearance. It's almost the show is trying to teach these girls a lesson in humility, but they keep forgetting their lesson the very next day.

[@Colby2D]

That’s really interesting, in a way I figured it was to get the most contrast or to take away their biggest strengths, but yeah a lot of the episodes from the list were clover getting captured, and usually transformed, with Sam and Alex saving her, so it’s fun to see other times where the duo to save the other gets mixed up

[@xLadyRaine]

I feel like Alex gets transformed way more than Clover does

[@Arko777777]

I think you're right. From the top of my head I can recall three episodes where Sam was brainwashed (evil dentist episode, her becoming childish, or having her intelligence stolen to give it to a brat with a big brain). I feel like you're right with Clover, but there are also these rare cases when all three of them get transformed (Freaky Circus Episode, Super Nerd Much, I Hate the 80's), so it's hard to tell overall.

[@starstruck8862]

​@Arko777777 I'd argue that the case applies to character specific episodes, and perhaps the group being affected is a way to spice up the formula. Maybe if the show had the benefit of certain lessons sticking after the fact, it would be more obvious.

[@blakethebeast3174]

Regarding Jerry's sexuality, I remember him having a crush on an old female friend and he and MOM from the Martin Mystery crossover were seriously into each other, so there's that.

[@darkmyro]

I think this is the Texas sharpshooter fallacy. It's based off a story of a Texas sharpshooter was asked how he made so many bulls eyes on a barn, he answered by saying he shot the barn and then drew the targets on them. In this case, if you go into looking for anything that could possibly be a kink you'll find it. I've heard people make similar arguments about teen titans go in some episodes. Though I also think this could fall into "the writers/animators thinly veiled fetish" with some episodes. Also also everyone has their sexual awakening, this just happens to be some peoples. If it wasn't this, it would have been something else.

[@Colby2D]

That’s a good analogy, definitely a lot of retrospective analyzing by people. I’ve never heard people say similar things for Teen Titans, maybe because the cast wasn’t all gals

[@13KuriMaster]

The real deal here is that the Villains' tendency for wacky schemes (and ignoring how much more profitable some of their machines would be over what they plan to do with them) put the girls (especially Clover) in a lot of varied wacky situations. And since there's a fetish for EVERYTHING, having "a lot of varied wacky situations" means you wind up crossing paths with a lot of them.

[@changvasejarik62]

It’s not always about the money… It’s about hanging out with your favorite celebrities on a perpetual cruise/flight and petty spite.

[@dudem1310]

One thing to note is the fact that niche fetish knowledge is a new thing. When this show was being made unless you had the weird fetish, you largely did not know about it. Additionally, people tend to find things when looking for them. The only one of these that seemed odd was the crawling on ice and the shrinking clothes, but for me the crawling thing just looks like an angle change and the butts are not drawn explicitly and also if it were men doing that no one would notice it I would argue. And the shrinking clothes is odd when viewed in that light but it is also playing on something that kids conceptually understand in the sense of "I don't want to be naked in public" which is similar to having your pants drop while talking in front of the class (or while giving a speech) which is a classic joke anxiety in media but especially kids media. And the belt nunchuck thing I specifically remember as a kid I saw it as the girls thinking what the heck are they doing and with the cartoons at the time I was expecting it to be a they pantsed themselves joke and they were just going to run past. I just tend to think people have become so open about what they are jorking it to nowadays that anything is game to the point where now average or above average appearance characters are "fetish shows" becuase a character looks potentially attractive to someone.

[@Colby2D]

Yeah some of the jokes like the belt I figure are at least 50% random/weird, before assuming it’s a really dark joke

[@juliamavroidi8601]

When you're on ice, you're not supposed to crawl on your hands and knees, you're supposed to lay down flat on your stomach and either wait for rescue or crawl to the shore like that (depending how likely/quick) rescue is, so to me the inappropriate thing isn't the butt shots, but that they're teaching a wrong/potentially dangerousvbehavior to children 😅

[@Sonicfalcon16]

I feel like people are over exaggerating when they say this is a fetish show. To the point its like a way to trick people into watching what is french anime admittedly sold anime-like designs and episodes inspired by Cat's Eye & City Hunter. Given the way they're designed.

[@Colby2D]

For sure, the inspiration from Cat’s Eye surprised me too, because I hadn’t heard of it before working on this video, might check it out sometime

[@leroypreston2973]

I guess too it's the fact that these transformations happen to young women that make it feel like fetish fuel. I'm sure if they were 10 year old boys or young men, it wouldn't get accusations that it was a fetish show. I just figured that for young boys growing up, seeing women in certain scenarios will unlock something in them. Just like how furry fans feel towards various cartoons and claiming that funny animal cartoon characters back in the day were furries. I don't think that these were sexy for the creators as they would be more specific with their scenarios. Plus as tv writing is a group effort, it muddies the waters of who found what sexy. I also didn't know if the other writers would be cool with a writer putting their fetishes into a show. I think parts of the show were intended to be sexy (the costume changes) but stuff like weight gain, muscle gain, gigantification, shrinking, animal transformations weren't sexy to the creators, episode writers, etc.

[@finland4ever55]

​​@@leroypreston2973true but Kim Possible is also popular yet nobody thinks its a fetish show. There are transformations and lots of tying people up including Kim, just like TS yet people only think TS is for adults. As if KP isn't any kinkier than TS. They 100 percent are blowing things up. Honestly even Disney movies are kinkier in terms of how much tying up they have, as well as acrively putting adult jokes and risque female characters starting in the 80s. The mouse singer from Great Mouse Detective. Ariel wearing just a bra? Jasmine? Esmeralda? Megara? Kida from Alantis who wears basically lingerie (and Helga who is introduced seducing Milo)? Elsa?

[@leroypreston2973]

@finland4ever55 With Kim possible, while bondage did happen a lot, I also figured with totally spies getting the fetish label is the transformations in most episodes. For young boys, it can unknowingly unlock something within them. When they see hot young women undergoing a variety of scenarios, it can unknowingly have them interested in various fetishes. Though I also wonder if it's how the female form is inherently sexualized over male bodies. In Kim Possible, while transformations happened, Kim barely got anything. She got turned into a monkey but that's it. Yes the episode calls attention to it but since it was a one episode thing, it doesn't indicate creators having kinks. It was other characters who got transformed. Ron got made muscular, Ron gained weight, Rufus got made into a giant but Kim barely got transformed into anything. It shows how we constantly sexualized women and say that women in any situation is inherently sexual.

[@leroypreston2973]

I also wonder if art style can be another factor, the art style of Totally spies feels more realistic, vs. the toonier style of Kim possible. While we have women like Shego, most female designs aren't sexualized and most of the time, the camera isn't focused on the female form.

[@geonunes10]

Jerry is not gay, it's cannon that he dated MOM from Martin Mystery

[@zane1790]

but did he LIKE it or did it prove to him he was gay?

[@DjPrimeVideos]

​@@zane1790 from the conversation they had they seemed to have got along pretty good.

[@shinkaiatsuya950]

M.O.M is ❤ Was also strange seeing her in Team Galaxy.

[@Scoopsdepoop]

The bi-door remains open!

[@poochyenajones1362]

Jerry isn't gay, he's just British.

[@kyoyameganebereznoff]

I feel like a lot of the weird things can be explained by considering that the writers needed to find funny, goofy ways to put the girls in danger that would not be considered too violent or scary for kids. I think a lot of the fetish accusations are a result of internet brainrot. We’ve learned to see fetishes in things that are not inherently sexual.

[@Colby2D]

For sure, avoiding violence definitely goes more down the path of very random sequences

[@heartnet40]

I don't mean to make waves, but I genuinely think the only reason this shows was called "fetish-y" is because it all was happening to women. Turning into animals, muscle episodes, episodes where the characters get chained up, giant and mini episodes, mind-control, etc...that's all stuff that happens in other cartoons. It happens because these are silly, dumb, cartoon tropes. I get if people want to spotlight these things because the Spies were conventionally attractive girls and all, but the idea that this stuff happened on purpose is stupid.

[@Colby2D]

I agree, while I think there’s a couple bad moments, it’s overthought to a very large degree that similar shows without women protagonists don’t get the same flack

[@RadikAlice]

*Preach.* Sexism in general isn't just a thing, but a whole system. It just gets ratcheted up to 11 when it comes to misogyny

[@starstruck8862]

I agree. I mean, this may be a stretch, but I don't see anyone pointing to Ben 10 Classic where Ben turns into the Benwolf as 'fetish-y' due to how he transformed compared to the (on occasion reasonable) flack Totally Spies gets. Like, if you look at the episode in Ben 10 Classic without the benefit of hindsight. Ben's and Clover's transformations are the same fundamentally, but I suppose Ben's situation has the benefit of being a play on the Werewolf. Maybe if she turned to wolf-girl, it would have been different....

[@BNK2442]

@@RadikAlice I agree with the main comment. That said, calling it 'misogyny' is a streach. The world misogyny is overused these days, as it doesn't even mean sexism, it means hatred for women. Ted Bundy was a misogynyst. Most things called misogyny these days are, at best, sexism.

[@leroypreston2973]

@heartnet40 I agree too, loads of cartoons had male characters gain weight, become muscular, enlarged, shrunk down, become werewolves, etc. Yet I don't see discussions about how the writers were into these things. Yet when they happen to women, we claim that the creators were into certain things. I also see fewer discussions of such scenes online as something that helped people discover their s*xuality. I see from gay/bisexual men yes, but not women discussing it. I imagine since the assumption is that most writers are straight men, they would be more interested in scenarios involving women over men. We also are taught that the female form is inherently s*xual and thus any scenario a woman is in is s*xy just cause and that the male writers are somehow into something just because they had a scenario of a woman undergoing something.

[@shizuwolf]

I thought it was more silly than suggestive

[@Colby2D]

I agree I think a lot of the situations can be seen this way

[@JayceCH.]

Like the muscle episode. I thought it was hilarious. But yea if you think about it, the world is fucked up in this show.

[@filipvadas7602]

1. Totally Spies is one of those shows that I think a TON of people were at least aware of because it was *shockingly popular* and is actually *still* going with a suprise Season 7 that aired earlier this year 2. Someone alredy mentioned it, but due to being made by the same parent company both Totally Spies and Martin Mystery technically take place in the same universe. They even had a crossover at one point.

[@Colby2D]

Seeing the Martin mystery crossover without seeing Martin mystery was confusing, but interesting lol

[@filipvadas7602]

​​​@@Colby2Dyeah, my main issue was that it was kind of a crossover that used Martin as a novelty at best. As it was basically just a Totally Spies episode with Martin guest starring in it , alongside M.O.M. , as well as addmitebly a more supernatural antagonist in the form of the Yeti. None of the suprisingly dark/horror inspired atmosphere or investigation from the show was really there for this crossover; which is kind of a shame It is kind of interesting to think about tho: Totally Spies is super kid friendly most of the time, whereas Martin Mystery implies in its *very first episode* that the monster in question had kidnapped hundreds of children over the centuries and left them in its home dimension to *die* as "punishment for being naughty". Its such an insane shift in tone that its almost funny that these two apparently share the same universe.

[@DjPrimeVideos]

I feel like most of this stuff is either people needing to touch grass or...just shock value. Idk about you but spontaneous muscle growth from being shot by a dart is definitely something id call shocking. Also the belt scene is just a subversive joke

[@dizvoices]

I only started trying to wrap my head around it, being more suggestive after the viral tiktoks and whatnot. I loved this show as a kid and loved they had crossovers with Martin mystery, etc. I still watch them today. I think you nailed it when you said the internet just overthinks, and the target demographics for these shows wouldn't see 90 percent of this as problematic.

[@Colby2D]

Yeah like I think the jokes people make about it are funny, and I think especially later on they had to know about their reputation, but when people note every episode it’s hard for me to take it seriously

[@Aaron__Parker]

correlation doesn't equal causation If the spies were guys, no one would be saying they're constantly putting the characters in fetish situations. Are there weird and questionable moments, of course. Is it like every episode as the list says? Doubtful. "middle age clothing" No one would be saying a guy dressed in the middle ages is fetish material, most would hardly notice, it's a part of fitting in around the people they're investigating. People like attributing sexual intent where there wasn't any to begin with.

[@Colby2D]

Definitely agree, I think there’s some valid moments and scenes but a very large percentage of the examples feel like some kind of objectification/ sexism

[@brandonlyon730]

I think the term you’re looking for is “Double Standards”.

[@Aaron__Parker]

@@Colby2D 22:16 then there's this lmao

[@vandagylon2885]

​@@Colby2Dnawwww

[@tfordham13]

Counter point people do imfact call fetish stuff towards males fetish stuff

[@TheGrumpiestPanda]

Funny timing that you posted this. A few months ago me and my two good friends watched all of Totally Spies. We all went in expecting it to be awful and to rip it apart; especially with the fetishy stuff. But it's actually pretty decently fun and wacky to watch. It's not super deep or anything, but you can tell everyone involved with the show was having fun. Heck, i could even tell they had the buget increase every season as the animation got smoother and cleaner.

[@Colby2D]

Yeah it’s a fun show to watch with friends, also is a really good background watch when playing a game or something

[@ThePigKnight]

Between Sam from Totally Spies and Ms Frizzil a young PigletSquire had no choice but be attracted to smart red heads.

[@changvasejarik62]

The unparalleled beauty of a redhead voiced by Jennifer hale… It says a lot about Alex that I think she’s best girl instead of Sam.

[@mutantsupremacies]

people love to make videos like “ruined childhood” where they just apply adult fetishes/themes to basically any cartoon show. some shows genuinely have adult humor put into them.

[@mutantsupremacies]

like i really think the people who are the real culprits of perverted behavior is whoever believes/made the list

[@Colby2D]

Yeah I definitely feel like some of these were a little more of a joke like “chicken suit” but also a lot of others are like “the creators didn’t have a dirty mind here, you did”

[@DDDzombie]

Mythbusters once looked into hypnosis, because of the science behind a possible reaction a person can have to "going under" is arousal. That could be a reason for Clover's blush, but that's probably a massive reach.

[@Colby2D]

I assumed her blush was because she’s in love with Ricky, but that’s interesting I haven’t watched a lot of mythbusters I should sometime, I only remember the episode where they pulled phone books apart, but I really liked it

[@tatsumitwi348]

People WOULD and have responded similarly to a guy getting super muscled up (from normal size) the Ron Stoppable muscle episode makes the rounds to this day

[@walpoleandworcester]

I always thought that they were like older Powerpuff Girls but going on missions and blending it with everyday high school and college stuff. And yes, I did watch it each day coming home from school and looking back, I see the implications of the weirder stuff on this show too. I still think it was more coincidental more than anything else.

[@adamismagic1179]

I recently rewatched this show starting last year and finished it months ago early this year and there wasn't I single thought I had where this show was too inappropriate for kids. When I was kid, I didn't even know what sex was at the time when, I first saw this show and just thought this was a fun, cool, goofy cartoon like others I watched back then. And even now I think the show has great action, cool gadgets, and creative plots in how goofy and weird it can be. Clover is my favorite character too and I think she represents the show well. She's girly, a bit shallow, over the top, and a valley girl but, she's also a tough spy who can be pretty smart and strategic in the right moments.

[@Colby2D]

Yeah I think the show is really good for anyone watching, and from the panels and Q+A’s I watched was a really uplifting for a lot of girls especially as there wasn’t really a lot of shows like this at the time

[@xLadyRaine]

The wild style episode always scared me. The villain wanted to skin these people alive to make fur coats , it’s terrifying g

[@mizorenight3851]

We had so many of these tropes through multiple series. One that is coming right to my mind is how almost every cartoon had that "body switch" episode, or that episode where "Your dream comes true, but your life before was even better". Thing is totally Spies had 3 girl protagonists, while most other shows were mixed, or just had one male protagonist (I seriously cannot name one cartoon with a team of protagonists that had only guy members, except maybe TMNT, but even there you get April as persistent sidekick and the dudes were turtles (not that this would stop everyone)). With the Spy premise, how many episodes they got and that times 3 for each of the girls, they are bound to come up with stuff someone is in to (or awakened to like many proclaim). Just imagine them always fighting in normal clothes instead of their suit as spies, or always wearing the same clothes while they are introduced as generally fashionable. I say it like this, because a lot of the fetishes on the list are about fashion/costumes (Episode name: Stuck in middle ages with you ; Fetish: Middle age clothing ._______. ) Also in regards to Jerry: He was shown to have a bit tooo much interest in MOM / Martins boss from the center

[@Colby2D]

Yeah I definitely appreciate all the locations and outfit changes, it definitely adds a lot of quality for a spy show, and it probably shows the list as being more neutral in a way since there’s nothing inherently inappropriate about the vast majority of the outfits. I forgot about the Martin mystery crossover, I still need to check that show out someday

[@mizorenight3851]

@@Colby2D I can only recommend it, and M.O.M awakened at least as much as Sam, Clover and Alex :D

[@sarahtelles1931]

Oh yeah they told moonbaby that she was going to create a song for a spy show they never told her it was a show aimed at kids

[@zanderj2121]

Let's put one thing a side. The Villain of Wild Style has the ability to make Furries real! Do you know how much money she can make just by letting people become thier Fursonas!

[@Colby2D]

The ability to make furries real and she uses it for coats, she would probably make more on fur suits

[@JennyBlaze253]

​@@Colby2D Three things: 1: I don't know what has more horrifying implications. Making a transformed human into a fur coat or making them into a fursuit. 2: Pretty sure making someone into an anthro and then killing them to make a fur coat violates the Geneva Convention. 3: ...not gonna lie, I'd love to be transformed into a wolf anthro. x3

[@IrishKatana]

Yeah you don’t notice this as a kid but when I watched this again as an adult you realize the implications of what she’s done. Like this psychopath and her henchmen have a confirmed body count. I’m kind reminded of that last scene of the Metalocalypse episode with the “special leather”.

[@JennyBlaze253]

@@IrishKatana Was it implied that she had done this before? I mean, don't get me wrong, attempted murder is just as illegal as murder (even if one is more severe than the other, both are bad) but I assumed in the episode she was doing all this for the first time. You are right, though. This is legit psychopathic behavior right here.

[@IrishKatana]

@@JennyBlaze253 when she confronts the spies for the first time and she’s modeling the furs she’s says something along the lines of it being 100% lawyer fur

[@Straven93]

5:44 I wonder if that is meant to be a reference to James Hetfield. Who lost had a terrible pyrotechnics accident that lost him is able to playing for the band for a awhile

[@Colby2D]

Interesting, I would say it probably is, considering he’s the most notable musician injured by pyrotechnics for sure

[@codeyvo]

I won't lie... I always felt sorry for Mandy in a way. I have the same feeling towards Sissi from Code Lyoko. I think both of them wish that they were friends with the main group but both struggle with expressing themselves and end up acting counterintuitively. There are multiple episodes where we get to see that they're capable of acting nicely when push comes to shove.

[@Colby2D]

It definitely would be fun to have Mandy have more episodes with the crew / as a spy, code lyoko wrote sissi really well actually having her be useful and not always antagonizing. I think Mandy doesn’t have as many opportunities to do so because she parallels Clover so much, she doesn’t offer too much unique as an occasional 4th member

[@starstruck8862]

​@@Colby2DIf Sam is the brains, Alex is the brawn and Clover is the beauty. Then Mandy is the back-up.

[@kingmagikarp97]

I loved this show as a kid and I still love it now and I'm glad it's coming back

[@Colby2D]

Me too! I haven’t checked out season 7 yet but looking forward to it

[@IrishKatana]

Yeah it’s mostly just people on the internet looking to much into things.

[@bepstein111]

this whole thing is just proof that people will get turned on by literally anything, but I don't think that's at all what the animators, script writers, producers, directors, or voice actors were getting at, and I don't think it makes sense to fault the show for "awakening" your ridiculous "fetish"

[@LycanFerret]

My favorite is that there is apparently a fetish for wigs, female criminals, middle age time period clothing, and traditional swiss clothing according to the "fetishes in show list". Like at what point is that no longer the show's problem, and a you problem? If you're going to a Renn Fair to get a hard on I think that speaks more about you.

[@danieltaylor4185]

I think this is a great exercise in analyzing context. Anyone can show you an out of context picture of one of these scenarios. But, with these things, you always have to take context into account. Sometimes, the plot demands that the bad guy ties up the spies and leaves them while they do their evil plan, because it's the practical solution to their problem of having spies attempting to thwart their evil plan, and the script needs to show you an escape scene. I would say that I mostly agree with this video. There are some things from the show that people just took out of context, that aren't meant to "awaken something" in someone. And sometimes, I think maybe the show-runners have some unpacking to do about WHY they wrote some things into the script. But, generally, it feels like the internet just created a bandwagon of nit-picking every little thing that could possibly be called out, if viewed in the least charitable light possible.

[@starstruck8862]

Those are some fair points, though I do think it's also bolstered by the fact the Internet is more sexually-charged compared to when the show was originally produced, so a lot of tropes that were common may have stumbled to fetish-y categories, or even stuff typical of the genre (like unless its intended to be seen a certain way, being tied up is not sexual) as there's a point to be made about intent vs. reception, especially when there are absolute dinguses stating Totally Spies is fetish show as a fact, rather than the speculative theory it is (even the cookies episode, you'll find that weight gain was a common thing in cartoons back then as a side effect of something negative, which is what happened in the episode, so you can't really claim it was written due to a fetish as fact just because it's become more widespread nowadays.) Overall though, bandwagoning and out of context examples definitely started the fire.

[@KGKSkull]

I’ve seen a weirder series.kamen rider, the show that had a cyborg karate bug man fight facists, mayonnaise put on a donut, talking belts, a fruit themed samurai. And more

[@someuser4166]

11:17 seeing as how this show takes a lot from anime, I'm surprised you didn't mention gunsmith cats (1993 ova) . The character designs are very similar they just made clover taller. They both have smart redheads, blond boy crazys and tan tomboys. Also very similar haircuts and color schemes

[@j-mm4763]

This show was one of my favorite growing up since it had a lot of good action scenes and the gadget were disguised as common things teenage girls would have. On top of that, every episode they had different outfits and would be in different themed locations and settings. I also liked trying to figure out how Jerry would pull the 3 of them out of their day to day life in the most creative ways possible. Even more so, the villains didn't really get stale. Yes, they did reuse some ideas a few times and every villains motive was "Someone slighted me once", but the writers did get creative with its execution. As for the fetish stuff, I think the writers(French) did have some motives, but a lot of those things like the /co/ list was an after the fact interpretation. And yes, someone out there watches the chicken suit episode more than anyone else. Also Colby, I noticed that you reused some lines in this vid lol

[@DarkJstrike57]

People just wanna find reasons to hate on a good show...i dont know where but i think i heard or saw something that compares the "Inappropriate" stuff to something Dan Schnider would be into and would make yeah Dan Schneider shows and Totally Spies are two vastly different things. Sure Totally Spies had its innuendos but you could say the same for shows like Spongebob or Rocko's Modern Life heck maybe even Rugrats I'm sure you can find atleast a few innuendos in older or more recent shows....things you didnt pay no mind to as a kid but as an adult your like "Did that really happen in a kids show?!" Like you mentioned if it was any other show or if the characters were different the innuendos would just be funny but since we got it the way it is (probably doesnt help that Sam, Clover and Alex are most likely either teens or in the teen age range) people are gonna complain about any little thing and grasp at straws to get everyone else to jump on their "Totally Spies is inappropriate" bandwagon.

[@Jayday12345678910]

I loved watching this show as a kid after school. I vividly remember writing a fanfiction when I was bored in class one day in my notebook that was a few pages long that was about them crossing over with the Powerpuff Girls lol.

[@pedrofracaro9222]

I'm so glad I found your channel, i love rewatching old shows and hearing your takes

[@LCSteeler16]

This is one show I grew to appreciate as I got older, it’s definitely an awakening, that’s for sure

[@Dorked]

Tbh, I think it really is at least in part people on the internet seeing fetishes even in places where they don't belong. If you want to point out creepy fetish stuff in kid shows, any Nickelodeon series Dan Schneider has worked on has at least some weird foot stuff going on. I think some stuff in Totally Spies definitely hits weird, as you said, but I agree wholeheartedly that some of these are really innocuous and overblown.

[@Colby2D]

Definitely agree, I feel like the list was made here at least in part ironically, and then when the Schneider stuff came out people were hyper aware of every moment in any Schneider show, which is a kind of similar phenomenon to the over analyzing here, though it’s probably a lot more justified with the Schneider shows

[@LuckyIStar]

Under the right lens, I can definitely see how this show, especially in todays world, would be seen as a Fetish Fuel cartoon. Luckily, I was too young to be thinking about that kind of stuff in the first run. That said, I'm still astounded I didn't walk away with at least a bondage fetish from reruns. From memory alone, I don't think the girls have gone 3 consecutive episodes without getting tied up at least once. As for my favorite Spy? I love all 3 equally, but we don't do ties here. Alex, Clover, then Sam. I've always liked the Tomboy with a girly streak archetype and she's part of the reason why. Keep up the nostalgic streak, my guy.

[@Colby2D]

That’s a great point, and I love how popular Alex seems to be among the comments. Thanks for watching!

[@kimberlyannkitsuragi6144]

I loved this show growing up. I really connected with Sam as I wanted her smarts and Alex because she’s young and a bit naive♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

[@WildDancer101]

I've watched this show as a kid, and not once did I have any 'awakening' for some alluring parts, if you catch my drift.

[@bartholomewjackson6534]

People just got dirty minds. This was Totally* typical pg 2000's fun. Great show.

[@Zyra19]

Clover becoming a cat girl is considered inappropriate, but not the lady kidnapping people so she can sell their skin as clothing...

[@kristofgriffin384]

The Passion Patties episode was the one that had the most impact on me as a person, as it's probably the reason why I prefer bigger women.

[@TheReapers520]

Man hitting banger after banger for solid topics and videos lately. Nice on yah Broski

[@Colby2D]

Much love thank you

[@RedDragonForce2]

Muscular women have been around since comic books. I know She-Hulk has been a thing for a while now, so overly muscular women shouldn’t be as divisive as they made it out to be, but I can’t blame them for assuming it.

[@madsci1011]

I think that people are mostly just forgetting that there is a huge overlap between cartoon imagery ane fetish imagery... mostly bc people figure out stuff that they like that doesnt happen in real life by watching things that aren't confined by realism, especially at an early age. Its sort of the nature of the beast tbh

[@Colby2D]

Yeah, can definitely make an argument one leads to the other or vice versa

[@madsci1011]

@@Colby2D fun fact that kinda feels similar- there used to be a problem where people were occasionally wayyyy too into statues, but that has largely died off since the invention of blow up dolls. It kinda makes you wonder what people would have been into if it weren't for seeing animated stuff lol

[@alanmadison9004]

The thing is there are so many fetishes out there that the shows couple weird moments draw attention to the show, and starts people nitpicking from there. Relatively innocent stuff by itself is magnified by the initial wired moments.

[@banquetoftheleviathan1404]

it's gotta suck knowing you can do the most wholesome thing and somebody will still find a way to jack off to it

[@richardduska1558]

4:55 The merch is a great question. Why didn't they made any? It's not like If girl (Altough this is more of a mixed one) shows did not had it.

[@chewviewleonardo6511]

There is merchandise but not to the scale that would be expected. Apparently, Wikipedia states there is a videogame in 2024??? A month ago? Personal uneducated guess is that the commodification in France is not as abundant as the Americas or Asia. My assumption is that products with plastic are cheaply made between Asia and Americas. Of course, France could do it, but their primary industries are not producing an output of high quantity, the toy merch. Otherwise, they are looking into other venues. As a side tangent, custom print clothing nowadays is easiest. Print companies like CustomInk is abundant. It's what I saw at a single search in regard to fan prints for this show. Currently plushes have been more accessible. Something like keychains or other made at artist alleys in conventions. I don't make light of the difficulties of startup vendors. I also would be interested what Colby has for a follow-up for this inquiry!

[@ajflink]

I knew about the sneezing when someone is talking about you in anime. I did not realize the "idiot crow" was a thing. That is funny. I think Total Spies and the OG animated Teen Titans series were the most obviously inspired by anime conventions and did not try to mask it. Although, Teen Titans felt like an American twist to anime as I cannot recall a series with a similar style to it aside from Teen Titans Go kinda doing that, but it does its own thing and not meant at all to be taken seriously. I feel like there is more valid claims of more recent SpongeBob episodes being poorly masked fetishes or just being pure gross-out material.

[@Colby2D]

For sure, teen titans anime inspirations were really interesting like puffy Ami Yumi doing the theme song, or the movie in Tokyo

[@Colby2D]

SpongeBob definitely feels more like gross out specifically, but I feel like it’s focused on that for the last decade more or less with some of the more notorious episodes, but I haven’t really checked out the recent episodes, and heard it’s been pretty decent

[@ajflink]

​@@Colby2DI've honestly lost interest in the show ever since a certain transition. I cannot pinpoint. It is basically whenever they started using the exaggerated faces very frequently instead of special moments and when all the characters started to be drawn and animated like they are made jelly or something where their default regular portions of being drawn is noticeable not frequent throughout many episodes. I still don't get why people point at Totally Spies as being fetish fuel. Although certain episodes definitely are in some aspects subtly.

[@richardduska1558]

When I was a kid I did not tought that this show is "wierd", it was prety base line to be honest. But now I'm an adult and I do look at it in a different way. Outside of the fetishy things the show itself was good. Sure it did not had big story arcs but not ever show needs it. If you have fun characters some times that is enough. EDIT: Oh this is french. Did not know that! Than that explains a few things since in the pre internet era the cartoons made in different countries and continents had very different standards.

[@Xecryo]

I can't say I ever watched the show growing up beyond an odd episode here and there. It's ultimately harmless I think like a lot of shows for that age demographic they sneak some cheeky things in for fun without pushing it too far. I think accusing it of say appealing to furries intentionally is a stretch. That'd be like blaming Beauty and the Beast for furries or appealing specifically to furries.

[@Colby2D]

For sure, I think a point could be made about her outfit being a little too revealing as some people said, but yeah hearing her compared to Lola bunny is just funny

[@LycanFerret]

​@@Colby2D If that's revealing then going to a beach should be considered pornography. And I don't want to live in that world. Almost every show has a beach episode and no one bats an eye at bikinis. But put a catgirl in a crop top and capris, normal women's clothing you can find in the store and kid's clothing stores, and everyone loses their mind.

[@changvasejarik62]

17:34 heads sizes can be deceptive at times. Also, being self-conscious about your head size was probably one of the things I could relate to clover and Dib about because my head can’t fit an XL. Also the muscle clover episode, I loved that even the villian thinks he may have gone too far upon seeing her.

[@Rixec2]

I love Totally Spies, watched it as a boy with my family and several of my friends of both sexes did as well. My favorite is Clover, but I do love all three. And as for what the show awakened, well, in reality, you can make a kink out of anything. Some of those things on it might seem weird, like lunch lady outfit or such, but to someone it does mean something to them. Anything and everything can be a kink depending on how it affects someone and what they want to do with it. And in things aimed at kids, it makes sense whether intentionally or not these things would happen. In stuff aimed at older audiences you're typically allowed things like guns a blazing, blood everywhere, and so on. But in kids shows it tends to get toned down, so they have to get creative with their plots to have something exciting and dangerous, but too far out there to be anything the censors would complain about. So, it allows for all these bizarre situations to come about. And that leads to them probably awakening something in someone. Whether or not the show really did mean to bring all these about, there's no denying Sam, Clover, and Alex are fully formed characters who can kick butt. There are good characters and plots here, showing a lot of thought went into them still rather than doing anything just kinky. Maybe it did awaken many things in people, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing.

[@Colby2D]

Totally agree, I think that’s a really nice levelheaded view on it all, and I’m sure there was a lot of challenges making a spy show aimed at children without too much violence or suggestive situations

[@Adam-ix1gv]

I remember watching this everyday and discuss it with my friend at school,it was one of our fav shows even tho it was kind girls show

[@kingmagikarp97]

I hope we get a sequel video to this

[@SB-hr2mk]

Another amazing video to add to your collection, insert general grievous meme.

[@Colby2D]

Thanks very much!

[@neo84401]

8:04 I'm not the only one who thought that was "cake" for a split second, right?

[@LycanFerret]

I didn't see the guitar until your comment, lmaoo. I thought he was in a thong wearing a cropped leather jacket.

[@decadentgamer3108]

Totally Spies was one of those shows I couldn't help but love (at the time lol) and the thing is, I didn't have sisters and I still didn't mind watching shows aimed at girls provided I found it interesting and since Totally Spies was an action show with some decent enough fight scenes I had no problem getting into it. I still remember when it first debuted on cartoon network and thinking the concept was interesting (I hadn't seen Charlie's Angels at the time just yet lol) Sam was my favorite character since I found her the most relatable since at the time, I was quite into schoolwork though mostly for English Literature & History classes and not so much science. Still, I loved her character and I liked how even though she was the "nerd" of the team, she could still hold her own in a fight and had neat fashion (especially in the later seasons when they had her go in a more bohemian hippie-ish style direction). Overall though, I liked all 3 leads even if Clover didn't interest me as much as Sam & Alex but there's no denying that she was just as much an integral character of the show and I appreciated her presence, I couldn't picture the show existing without her. The whole fetish thing that people started accusing the show of in the a lot more in the 2010s always kind of annoyed me because most of the wacky things that happened in the show, I just figured were cartoony silliness and not meant to be some creepy fetish to influence kids. I'll admit though that the theme song, I was quite surprised when I heard the original song to say the least haha ("I don't do sex but I do, do second base", I did a mental double take when I first heard that lyric lol) But yeah back to the fetish thing. I'm glad you said what you said about Clover turning into an anthromorphic cat. I too did not get any inappropriate vibes from it and the writers did well enough to not make the situation not feel unseemly. Same for all the other victims who got turned into animals, they didn't do anything fetishy with them and the situation was just absolutely terrifying. This episode was one of the first that totally intrigued me to stick with the show as a kid because I was so shocked that they'd go that far, the stakes were so on point and I agree, it had one of the best action sequences in the whole show. With "Passion Patties", I can see how it could be a play with fat fetishism, especially the "gainer" fetish but again at the time as a kid, I just though the situation was supposed to be comical. Same with Willy Wonka with Violet's "blueberry" transformation though you're not wrong and it's so weird how that became a fetish of all things lol. But yeah, I didn't really see Passion Patties as a fetish slide-in and something that was meant to be silly but I can understand why others may feel different. (Also the villain's motivation was just so dumb lmao). And okay the one about the enhanced athletes, I didn't think that Clover being muscular was creepy or wrong but that shot of Sam and Alex crawling on the frozen lake, that was so not necessary! So I can see the inappropriateness there, hands down haha. And overall, when it comes to these "fetish" thing, as a gay man myself who is not attracted to women, I think that's probably why I didn't think much of most of what was in this show as steamy or titillating. I feel like the closest thing that could've done that was the episode with the protein bars that made bodybuilders get huge but as much as I find bodybuilder type guys attractive (in this case Raymond before he ate the bars lol), the way that the bars made the guys look was grotesque and not sexy at all, at least not to me so uh, yeah, no dice there 😅 I think overall, the show is not creepy or inappropriate. I watched this show back in 2001 as a middle schooler and I don't recall hearing other kids say off-putting things about the show and it really wasn't until I got onto DeviantArt around 2005/2006 where I saw people posting screencaps of certain things from the show but the views were low and it wasn't that frequent. So I feel like the reputation it got came much later in the super late 00s to early 2010s much after the show's run and internet culture with all the horniness that came with it is what corrupted the view of what was once seen as just a silly little spy cartoon.

[@TheCube404]

I watched this show in brazilian portuguese, hearing "cum powder" made me start an incontrollable attack of laughter, I rolled crying for more than 10 minutes straight.

[@Colby2D]

😭

[@dragonflower17]

Used to watch Totally Spies after school. Loved it (Alex was my MVP). Some of the stuff is a bit awkward, but I think it mostly got weird as I got older and actually learned what fetishes were. Otherwise they were harmless and wacky hijinks or direct response to whatever the plot was that episode.

[@Colby2D]

For sure, I would say some of the moments come off as awkward more than anything, and with awkward execution definitely leads to more speculation of if it’s a tongue in cheek reference, like the belt nunchuck scene feels like awkward execution more than a really dark joke to me

[@wootmasterzorsx]

I watched the show as a kid, and while some of it is definitely questionable, I’d agree with the not guilty verdict. I’d even go so far as to say the guilty verdict on the Cookies episode is unwarranted if it’s only based on what others say. As you discussed in the video, and I’d agree, a good portion of this seems to be people looking at something and interpreting it negatively just because you can possibly construe it as weird or problematic. You even said you didn’t think much of it was that bad. I’d also point to something like Phineas and Ferb for an example of another show that nobody bats an eye at doing like, half of this stuff. Doofenshmirtz has done mind control, he’s turned himself into a platypus, has inflated himself and Perry, he’s cross dressed, et cetera. And I never hear any talk of anything being weird there. Also, my favorite of the three is probably Alex, since I like her quirkiness. But Sam might have the top spot because Jennifer Hale is a great voice actress.

[@Colby2D]

Yeah that’s a great point about phineas and ferb, and I feel like I’ve seen most comments so far say Alex, a lot of Sam, and the least for Clover which is a really interesting result

[@starstruck8862]

Honestly, if the Passion Patties episode was less about girl scout culture but instead a minor jab at fast food industries and how it affects people (which might have been the case to an extent, I don't know), it might have been received better. Also don't forget the Werecow episode Doof starred in.

[@finland4ever55]

A better comparison is Kim Possible which was the biggest "girl spy show" and main rival to TS. Kim wore several revealing outfits, characters got tied up and kidnapped a lot, lots of female characters were heavily sexualized in their designs (Shego, Bonnie, Warmonga, etc) or portrayed as "hot". And for more boyish cartoons, Batman, ATLA Teen Titans and Danny Phantom. TT and almost every Batman show in the 90s and 2000s had lots of tying people up, Batman, TT, ATLA, and DP all have female characters who dress in revealing clothes or are sexualized (TT has Starfire and Raven AND Blackfire, Batman has Catwoman, Harley, Poison Ivy, Barbara, Veronica, etc) and MANY OTHERS. DP had Ember, Paulina, Lydia, Kitty, Spectra, ATLA was pretty horny when it came to Azula, Ty Lee, June, and even sometimes Katara. Look at how revealing those bathing suits are and how the camera lingers on their bodies). Batman the Brave and the Bold literally had Huntress, Catwoman, and Black Canary, three heavily sexualized characters, sing a song that was a thinly veiled metaphor for how easy and loose they are and how the dudes f*ck like mad. That is kinkier than TS.

[@Regenmacher175]

Fun fact: in the French dub, Alex's voice actress, Céline Mauge, also voices Mandy.

[@Colby2D]

That’s funny, in English mindy is voiced by Jennifer hale who voices Sam and Mindy

[@rubberbandba11craft]

yeah that episode with the cookies probably did stuff to me

[@youngbounty1394]

As someone that grew up with Totally Spies, I can say that the people calling it a fetish are overthinking or overreacting. There were many kid shows that did similar things. Even the clothes shrinking thing wasn’t any more inappropriate than Kim Possible or Martian Mystery. Could you find any hidden adult jokes or something inappropriate? Absolutely! Were they done on purpose? Definetly! However, many shows were doing this. Disney was doing this in their movies too. Teenage girls wore midriffs, short skirts, tight pants and skin tight clothing in cartoon shows all the time in the 2000s. Nobody cared and parents didn’t think anything of it.

[@bainbonic]

To be fair on episode 2, I refuse to believe that animators who knew what the idiot crow was didn't know what a catgirl is or how they're usually received.

[@shelbybayer200]

The "Idiot Bird" actually makes an appearance in the HyperDimension Neptunia the Animation OVA Nep's Summer Vacation too

[@Colby2D]

Interesting, I haven’t seen Neptunia before, but I remember there being an anime around 2014

[@ScarletRebel96]

They actually just rebooted the show recently tho the English dub isnt out yet only the french dub

[@Colby2D]

I’m looking forward to checking out the dub, haven’t really checked it out yet

[@yoyo51010]

@@Colby2D it is not even a full reboot is something like a soft reboot and a new season

[@xeldrine66]

I'm just glad that they kept the same French voice actors. It's also pretty disappointing to see the internet go up a storm because Clover is bi. She is the one who makes the most sense to have crushes on both genders.

[@1TieDye1]

@@xeldrine66why does she make the most sense to be bi?

[@xeldrine66]

@1TieDye1 For me, it kinda makes sense to make the one who is the "beauty" of the trio bi. She loves pretty people, and it fits her to find everyone pretty. She is also a charmer, so that fits her personality. It's also nice to make the girly character bi because you don't promote weird stereotypes like queer women are all tomboys. Between you and me, I still kinda wish there was a thing going on at the end of the show with the three of them romantically speaking. But that's just me.

[@AG-hx6qn]

I LOVED that you used the "BOND with me JIMMY" image. XD And thanks so much for this. So many videos have gone way too far.

[@GerardMenvussa]

Oh no! 😰 Not sneezing and 16:59 ..... swiss traditional clothing???? Wut? I "totally" forgot this show existed. Just like Martin Mystère by the same company, it always felt a bit too cringy for me as a kid. Like this shows are trying way too hard to be cool. They had the merit of having a unique art style though.

[@Sornemus]

Totally Spies merch was at some point sold inside HappyMeals at McDonalds, in Eastern Europe. It was aight, for a happymeal toys - but nothing special either.

[@Colby2D]

That’s a pretty great idea for a happy meal. I saw a version that was half totally spies merch and half this brand called spy gears so they could have a boys half

[@josephfox7068]

spy gears has some comercially available spy toys, as in not a happy meal toy, so i think they could have done a collab back when the show was running.

[@Neocrossfire]

This also needs to be addressed and put out more. Frances other Anime, Wakfu. Or Dofus. It’s had a main anime and couple of movies and couple of games. Really goated series especially giving one of the best characters in fiction, Nox.

[@Colby2D]

Definitely. Wakfu is on my list of shows to cover someday!

[@Neocrossfire]

@@Colby2D Let’s go! Hyped for that bud 🦾

[@lexycocoa9483]

How is it any different when other cartoons do it?

[@Colby2D]

It’s not really, that’s why the fan reaction to this show sometimes feels a little over exaggerated

[@khalidpatterson1422]

but are they outright wrong ??

[@khalidpatterson1422]

just because other cartoons have done it doesnt make it ok

[@lexycocoa9483]

@@khalidpatterson1422 I know, that's why I've seen worst when they do it.

[@lexycocoa9483]

@@khalidpatterson1422 yes but other cartoons did it worst then this.

[@chaotic5245]

I honestly feel like the episodes aren’t fetishy at all; they just have weird concepts, which isn’t necessarily bad, and I honestly think maybe it’s just how the spies in the show are girls that this show gets its fetish reputation because in shows that have boy main characters, none of these “fetishy” things would be considered fetishy and just wacky things. Heck, it could be argued that the Cookie episode, despite it having gainer/feeding fetish vibes, has an actual message that is normal for girl shows, with it being okay to look different from everyone else.

[@flinnparrygrowney2714]

24:11 I'm not sure if this is just me, but seeing THAT description for The Elevator got a big laugh out of me, for whatever reason.

[@Colby2D]

It’s hilarious, I originally had a line mentioning this and I had the 50 cent “what he say fuck me for” clip but I scrapped it

[@flinnparrygrowney2714]

​@@Colby2D can also admit, I almost edited to add a consolation prize for "Dat ass" because that got me pretty good as well. Whoever wrote this list was having way too much fun.

[@Colby2D]

For sure, i think it kinda goes to show the list was made more in good fun

[@mabbilnan]

at 8:01 I thought for a sec that the guy on the cover was CAKED. why does the guitar match his skin tone so well 😭

[@chickofmusic001]

I see it too for a second 😳😂

[@rb-afterdarkstudiosnsfw2035]

I to this day never seen Totally Spies as a "secret fetish show 4kids" cause I was used to these tropes in many Saturday morning cartoons since like forever. (The transformations, the bizarre world of talking whoever, mind switch, etc) and this show is part of the statistics and nothing more or less. But, I get what they're coming from. I just think it gages with people's world views, taste and also sexual experiences. Like people get all prudish and go dramatic about films and shows about female sexuality for a general audience like "Sailor Moon" or Pixars' "Turning red" Which are both frankly harmless shows but some out there will still have a bit of a dirty little mind on show focus on females and get to those out there conclusions.

[@Colby2D]

For sure, I think the same tropes are in tons of shows, but because of the specific characters it’s seen as inappropriate. Like a lot of the same things are in every spy movie I can think of

[@rb-afterdarkstudiosnsfw2035]

@@Colby2D And don't get me started on every reused Sat. Morning Cartoon Episode templates. Name every "Incredibly Shrinking" Episode, we might be here all day. probably.

[@starterking]

This show probably is firmly a bit of both in my book. I recall seeing a video on how fetish development is about mental association during puberty. Probably isn't sound logic, but the idea went something like this. Where something you typically saw before puberty doesn't set you off but something during or after does. Your mind focuses on what's different and that can develop into a fetish. Say people were used to clover for 14+ episodes but on episode 15 she is a cat girl or muscles later. And people are developing an attraction to the character. That could be the cause of that furry awakening or other fetishes developing.

[@Colby2D]

I definitely agree about it being a bit of both at times, and I really like your point about the development / puberty angle. I watched a video on KZbin of someone going over the psychology of this, but I believe they did it under the umbrella of Pokémon, was an interesting video

[@dexterthoma867]

After watching the entire thing no I don’t think any of them all guilty of anything, and to be honest I didn’t have a favorite character until Gladys

[@Colby2D]

I find it so weird Gladis came out before Glados from portal

[@blackchibisan8116]

I think the real X factor for this show and why it is treated that way is the Spy Suits. I understand them for an entirely practical and cool spy reason. Like Samus' Zero suit isn't inherently a problem... but it drifts it close enough to spice potential that everything everyone does in those contexts that even approaches a fetish has some people's minds prepped for awakening even if they don't realize it. Just like the crawling over the ice lake wouldn't have been an issue if they were in proper military kit, but because they were in their spy gear, it automatically becomes fanservice for you guys. Which makes sense because it was.

[@DanielMWJ]

It definitely was. But I don't think they went particularly far with anything. It was all pretty tame.

[@blackchibisan8116]

@@DanielMWJ I agree… but it was close enough for many… and I think that’s hilarious.

[@SamsonArtChannel]

Totally Spies is not guilty of anything, some people are just weird.

[@TheAceFireFox]

Ye I grew up with Totally Spies and never found anything wrong with it and still don't really see anything wrong with it, looking back. Maybe I should rewatch it and maybe there are a few ??? things, but I think people are just looking for reasons to be mad or offended, as always

[@Verebazs]

I mean come on! None of Totally Spies can hold a candle to the Dial M for Monkey shorts from Dexter's Laboratory, where Monkey and Agent Honeydew are dating eachother for 3 seasons straight. There's even one where they bath together, and share a banana icecream...

[@Colby2D]

I have a video planned for dial m for monkey, and the other dexters lab shorts sometime this fall; they were pretty crazy lol

[@yuliea]

When i was a child watching this show i didnt think anything was out of line or weird because i didnt have the mind set of an adult obviously so i dont think its as bad as people say. seeing them crawl across the ice as a kid i didnt think anything of it than just that.

[@adamismagic1179]

Thanks so much for doing this show! You've done now 3 of some my childhood favorites Totally Spies, Code Lyoko, and Xiaolin Showdown. Anyway, I don't think Totally Spies is a fetish show nor, do I think it's any weirder than any other cartoon. There are plenty cartoons that have weird, goofy stuff and I think the way people think it's weirder than them is because it happens somewhat more often per episode. When actuality it's on the tamer side of things since it never gets too dark and gross compared to something like Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy which has supernatural and horror elements. I think the fetish thought comes from the fact it's an animesque cartoon and anime is known lots of fanservice and weird sexy moments.

[@Colby2D]

Thanks for watching! Definitely a few of my favorite shows, though I caught them more as a teenager, Xiaolin showdown’s probably the one i feel the closest to. I definitely agree the style and nature of the show leads people to overthink some aspects that are in any other spy show

[@Terrahex1]

I think of Lopunny from pokemon the same way. Sure. You can find it weird if you're looking for it, but 12 year old me just thought it was a nice rabbit

[@number3378]

28:20 - Sigh of relief ? you mean sigh of disappointment

[@blaa6]

It was Lola Bunny and not this show that gave me a "furry awakening" if albeit a small one. To give it some credit, akin to Powerpuff Girls, I probably would have crushed on Sam and Alex at the time if I grew up with it the same way I would have crushed on Blossom and Buttercup if I watched PPG more in my childhood.

[@JazzyBlade-pp4hv]

Speaking of European style anime, think you can cover the two seasons of W.I.T.C.H?

[@Colby2D]

I have it written down on a list of shows to cover someday, haven’t seen it before but I’ve heard interesting things about it!