JacobsonCinemas

This year Disney is releasing two new cartoons from France, Dragon Striker and the Doomies. Dragon Striker was created by Sylvain Dos Santos who also created another French animated show Droners (very underrated show that I would strongly recommend). The show is about a boy named Key who is a huge fan of Gorotama and dreams of playing it. Gorotama is a sport similar to soccer where every player has an ability called a tama. During a game Key accidentally activates his tama (the same one his mother had) while defending another Gorotama fan Ssyelle. Both are invited to attend Gorotama school Kal Asterock where they must form their own team called the Knights in order to compete while Key must learn how to control his own tama.

The opening song “Power of the Dragon” is awesome and while I’m not a huge fan of show openings that use episode clips, I think Dragon Striker’s opening does a great job setting up the characters, world and tone of the show. Just listening to the theme song was enough to make me a fan of this show. I don’t think a show has ever hooked me on its intro since Hilda. It feels so great to see Disney do a serialized cartoon again since the Owl House ended. What I found interesting is that the first episodes of the season actually focus more on introducing the protagonist, meeting his new friends/team members, setting up a new team, finding their own field, and their own armor. You’d think that each episode would have a different match much like Sylvain Dos Santos’ other show Droners but this show actually takes it’s time to set up everything and every episode progresses the story fluently. Heck, the Knights don’t even play an official game until episode 7.

The animation in Dragon Striker is absolutely gorgeous and some of the best animation I’ve seen from any Disney show. Everything from the character designs, color pallet, and backgrounds make this show amazing to look at and really makes the world one that you really want to visit. The main setting Kal Asterock feels like a combination between Hogwarts from Harry Potter and My Hero Academia (two pieces of media that I very much adore) while still feeling like its own unique thing. Also, I’m a giant sucker for floating island settings. Much like the houses from Hogwarts, Kal Asterock has four teams (not counting the Knights) that. All the students at Kal Asterock have their own unique and creative tamas that perfectly ties into their unique designs and personalities. It’s really fun to see the players use their tamas either against or together during a game. Key and Milo discovering the that they could combine their own tamas really opens up many possibilities of tama combinations later in the series.

The characters that stand out though are the Knights. Key is a great protagonist. Ssyelle is also a great character and I found it very refreshing that she’s the captain of the Knights when in most stories you’d expect the main character aka Key to be the captain. FYI yes, I do ship Key and Ssyelle. Ameline is definitely my favorite character so far and I really hope we learn a lot more about her in the future. Fun fact: Her voice actress Evanna Lynch also played Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films. Then we have the goyens (coaches)………I freaking hate hate hate the guys!!! There all horrible and toxic people in their own different way. Sugoi I guess isn’t the worst one but even so, she has way to high standard for Key and her team the Dragons. Also, she shows a memory of Key’s mother winning a Gorotama game yet she only tells him about the incident that caused her death instead of actually showing him. Seems way too suspicious to me but we’ll probably find out more later in the 2^nd half of the season, but I’m keeping my eye on you Sugoi! The other goyens have it out for the Knights especially Surya (he’s the worst!) and they (and their teams) have even attacked the Knights at one point. How none of them have been fired is anybody’s guess.

Dragon Striker is the best show of 2026 so far. It has well-written and likable main characters, well thought out worldbuilding and gorgeous animation. This really feels like the return of. I am absolutely looking forward to watching the rest of the series especially after that epic and intense cliffhanger.