tek's rating: ¾

Jentry Chau vs. the Underworld, on Netflix
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Jentry Chau (voiced by Ali Wong) is a Chinese-American girl who originally lived in the town of Riverfork, Texas. At the start of the series, she has been living in Seoul, South Korea, for several years. On her 16th birthday, she is attacked by a jiangshi named Ed, but he is pacified by Jentry's great-aunt, Flora (whom she calls "Gugu"). They go back to Riverfork, where as a young child, Jentry had accidentally caused a very destructive fire with supernatural powers she didn't know she had. The fire was attributed to an unknown "demon girl", who has become a local urban legend. Now, Jentry's powers reawaken, and Gugu wants to train her to control them properly. There's a mogui named Mr. Cheng who wants to steal Jentry's powers, and had sent Ed and other monsters after her. But Ed becomes a friend of Jentry and Gugu. Jentry is also reunited with her childhood friend (and current crush), Michael Olé. When Mr. Cheng himself arrives to confront Jentry, Gugu defends her, and dies in the process. But her ghost continues to look after Jentry for the rest of the series.

After defeating Mr. Cheng (for now), a portal to the underworld (or "Diyu") is left behind, and Jentry must learn to close it. Until she does, more monsters periodically come through to the land of the living. Meanwhile, Jentry begins attending the local high school, as does Ed, who also tries to become a social media influencer, originally hoping to scare people, though that desire lessens over time. (He continues using social media, however.) The school's vice principal. Mr. Wheeler, believes Jentry is the "demon girl" who caused the fire years ago, and hopes to prove it. Jentry meets a student named Kit, who becomes a potential love interest, though he's keeping a secret of his own. Jentry also becomes friends with Michael's girlfriend, Stella Gonzales. Throughout the series, Jentry learns more about her past, and how she came to possess the powers she has, and about the deaths of her parents, Moonie and Peng Chau. All this leads her to distrust Gugu, for reasons I won't spoil. But despite being mad at her, Jentry continues to care about Gugu. And Mr. Cheng continues trying to obtain Jentry's powers, for a reason that isn't entirely bad. But he still causes a great deal of trouble. And even after he's defeated, there are other demons Jentry will have to deal with. Also, Michael begins having visions of the future, and wants to help Jentry fight demons, but she rejects him, fearing for his safety.

Well, lots of other things happen throughout the show's 13 episodes. I've probably said some things out of order. And I don't want to spoil any more details of the story, nor how it all ends. But I think it's a really cool and interesting story, with lots of drama and supernatural action. I like Jentry a lot, and the other characters are good, too. I also want to mention that I like the theme song, Flame, by KATSEYE. I wish there would be another season, but there probably won't. The final episode works well enough as a series finale, I guess. And I don't know what else to say.


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