Parents' Guide to Robotomy

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Common Sense Media Review

By Will Wade , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 15+

School is a battleground in violent cartoon for older teens.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 15+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 13+

Based on 6 parent reviews

age 11+

Based on 34 kid reviews

Kids say that the show is a mixed bag, with some praising its clever humor and unique take on adolescence, while others find it overly violent and inappropriate for younger audiences. It appears to have significant appeal for older kids and teens, but many feel it didn't receive the recognition it deserved and has far too many problems, including confusing plots and questionable content.

  • clever humor
  • violent content
  • mixed reviews
  • target age
  • under rated
Summarized with AI

What's the Story?

Thrasher and Blastus are just trying to find their place in high school, but on the planet Insanus, school is a dangerous place where students might be blown to bits or pummeled just walking down the hall. Fortunately, on the animated ROBOTOMY, the characters are all anthropomorphic robots that can recover easily from even the most violent mayhem.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 6 ):
Kids say ( 34 ):

Good thing, because violence is the key ingredient on the show. The storylines are pretty thin (and the episodes are typically a short 15 minutes), and the focus here is on the imagery that sells the metaphor of school as a battlefield. Director Christy Karacas also helmed the even-more-violent Superjail, which was definitely aimed at adult viewers (and, like this show, appears on Cartoon Network's late-night Adult Swim programming segment); this show is a bit more tame, but is best for older teens. Subtle it is not, but Robotomy does feature characters that will appeal to anyone who ever struggled to find acceptance in high school.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about high school conflicts. What do you think about the way this series portrays school as a dangerous place where people can get blown up on the way to class? Do you think the bigger message has some truth, that school can be a battlefield as students vie for status and popularity?

  • What do you think about the violent images in this show? Is it art, or does it go too far?

TV Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

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