Misfits and Magic is the tenth season of Dimension 20, an actual play anthology web series which features various tabletop role-playing games. It aired from June 30, 2021 to July 21, 2021 on Dropout with two specials released in December 2021 and August 2022. The season was reviewed favorably, with a sequel season premiering on September 25, 2024 as the 23rd season of Dimension 20.[1]
| Misfits and Magic | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | Dimension 20: Misfits and Magic |
| Genre | |
| Inspired by | Harry Potter |
| Directed by | Michael Schaubach |
| Creative director | Orion Black (season 1) |
| Starring |
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| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 17 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Running time | c. 60–180 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Dropout |
| Release | June 30, 2021 – December 4, 2024 |
| Related | |
| Dimension 20 | |
Inspired by Harry Potter, the show features Aabria Iyengar as the game master with the player cast of Erika Ishii, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Danielle Radford, and Lou Wilson as Americans who are invited to a Hogwarts-like school to study magic. However, the show deviates from and criticizes its source material for perceived bigotry, making modifications to some aspects of the material and highlighting the absurdity in other aspects. In addition, Misfits and Magic sought to rebut Harry Potter's lack of diversity in its central casting, making its own cast and characters majority-black. The second Misfits and Magic season is a continuation of the original campaign set three years later, in which the pilot program members reunite to investigate the disappearance of magic from the world.
Cast and characters
edit- Aabria Iyengar as the game master
- Erika Ishii as Karen Keiko Tanaka, a.k.a. XxBrokenDreamxX, who goes by "Dream" and later "K"
- Brennan Lee Mulligan as Evan Kelmp
- Danielle Radford as Samantha Butler, who is also known by her streamer name Sam Black and later Sam Britain
- Lou Wilson as Whitney Jammer, who goes by Jammer
Premise
editMisfits and Magic is inspired by, and is a reaction to, the Harry Potter series and contemporary changes in its public perception. The reputation of the Harry Potter series slipped in the decades after its release, as various new analyses shone a light on elements of the series—and public statements of its author, J. K. Rowling—that have been criticized as bigoted. Creative director Orion D. Black told The Daily Dot that the season sought to counter Harry Potter's lack of diverse representation in its central cast. At the same time, Black and Aabria Iyengar both felt that the series still had a meaningful impact on them, and wanted to tell a story that captured that. They also sympathized with those who chose not to watch the season because of its connection to Harry Potter.[2]
To that end, Misfits and Magic emulates many aspects of Harry Potter, sometimes as a tribute, sometimes in mockery. In a similar line to Harry Potter, the season follows four Americans with no prior magical ability as they attempt to navigate the culture of Gowpenny, a secret school of witchcraft and wizardry meant to serve as a parallel to Hogwarts. However, the characters also rebel against the source material; for example, during the sorting ceremony, they disrupt the scene with criticism of Gowpenny's (and implicitly, Hogwarts's) tracking of students into "houses", and particularly the existence of the "evil" house. The setting itself also deviates from the source in some ways: the kitchen, for example, was not staffed by slave labor akin to the house elf.[3] Further, in what the creators and actors saw as a departure from the Harry Potter series, Misfits and Magic focuses primarily on actors and characters of color, with the season featuring a majority-black cast and a non-binary character.[4]
Production
editMisfits and Magic departed significantly from other seasons in Dimension 20 in terms of production. Rather than Dungeons & Dragons, the first season of Misfits and Magic uses the Kids on Brooms system, and instead of Dimension 20's regular arrangement of minis and battle maps, it mostly utilizes theatre of the mind.[3] The show was developed by game master Aabria Iyengar and Dimension 20 creative director Orion D. Black.[5] The season was also Brennan Lee Mulligan's first season as a player, as he usually serves as the show's game master.[2]
Seasons of Dimension 20 are broadly divided into Intrepid Heroes campaigns and Side Quests campaigns;[6] Misfits and Magic was the first Side Quest campaign to receive a second season.[7] The first season of Misfits and Magic was the tenth season of Dimension 20; a second season of Misfits and Magic, Dimension 20's twenty-third season, premiered in September 2024. The cast reprise their roles in the second season, which picks up three years after the events of the first season.[1][8][9] This campaign uses the Never Stop Making Magic system, which is a custom mix of the Kids on Brooms system and Dropout's Never Stop System. Like the first season, the second does not utilize battle maps, but instead features other set elements.[10]
Episodes
editSeries overview
edit| Season | D20 season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 10 | 4 | June 30, 2021 | July 21, 2021 | |
| S | — | 2 | December 15, 2021 | August 6, 2022 | |
| 2 | 23 | 11 | September 25, 2024 | December 4, 2024 | |
Season 1 (2021)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Chosen Ones" | June 30, 2021 |
| 2 | 2 | "Class Conflict" | July 7, 2021 |
| 3 | 3 | "Family on Six" | July 14, 2021 |
| 4 | 4 | "We're the Heroes" | July 21, 2021 |
Specials
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | "Misfits and Magic Holiday Special" | December 15, 2021 | |
| 6 | 2 | "Misfits and Magic Live at GenCon 2022" | August 6, 2022 | |
|
Note: Iyengar introduces a different cast of characters to the Gowpenny Academy of Arcane Arts. Features Becca Scott as Andre Henreek, Michelle Nguyen Bradley as Chip n Rip, Noxweiler Berf as Dangerwolf Darkhawk, and Markeia McCarty as Premium Va-Casians.[11] | ||||
Season 2 (2024)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1 | "A Meeting of Misfits" | September 25, 2024 |
| 8 | 2 | "Magma and Mingle" | October 2, 2024 |
| 9 | 3 | "A Place of Knowing" | October 9, 2024 |
| 10 | 4 | "A Change of Plan" | October 16, 2024 |
| 11 | 5 | "K's Anatomy" | October 23, 2024 |
| 12 | 6 | "Code Crimson" | October 30, 2024 |
| 13 | 7 | "The Heart of Weugan" | November 6, 2024 |
| 14 | 8 | "The Man We've Been Waiting For" | November 13, 2024 |
| 15 | 9 | "The Magic of Creation" | November 20, 2024 |
| 16 | 10 | "Turducken" | November 27, 2024 |
| 17 | 11 | "The Show Goes On" | December 4, 2024 |
Reception
editMichael Crider of PC World reviewed the season favourably, complimenting Brennan Lee Mulligan's performance as Evan Kelmp and his character's arc, which foils Dream's. He also wrote that the show's format makes it "a great introduction to the actual play format".[3] Brandon Zachary, for ScreenRant, similarly thought that Mulligan as Evan Kelmp was the show's "highlight" within the entire "delightful" cast.[12] Zachary noted that "among the elements of Harry Potter the series takes deliberate aim at is the inherently evil 'Dark Lord' archetype" and Misfits and Magic "subverts Voldemort's lack of a true character arc by giving their take on that character a far more compelling storyline".[12]
Theo Kogod of CBR recalled Misfits and Magic when Wizards of the Coast, the company that publishes Dungeons & Dragons, released a supplement for a magical university called Strixhaven which is inspired by "Harry Potter and other stories about magic schools". Kogod noted that Misfits and Magic had seen the need for a Harry Potter actual play system well before.[13]
References
edit- ^ a b Buenahora, Andrés (September 4, 2024). "Dropout Sets 'Dimension 20: Misfits & Magic' Season 2". Variety. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
- ^ a b María, Anna (July 1, 2021). "The Black creatives of Dimension 20's Misfits and Magic are redefining inclusivity in tabletop gaming". The Daily Dot. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
- ^ a b c Crider, Michael (February 3, 2023). "Skip Hogwarts Legacy and watch some Harry Potter-style D&D instead". PC World. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
- ^ Nightingale, Ed (July 8, 2021). "Apex Legends actor condemns transphobia with full-throated roar on Harry Potter show". PinkNews. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
- ^ "DIMENSION 20 Brings Aabria Iyengar in to GM MISFITS AND MAGIC Releasing This Month". GeekTyrant. 2021-06-18. Retrieved 2024-10-11.
- ^ Heim, Bec (2 January 2023). "Dimension 20: All Intrepid Hero Campaigns, Ranked". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
- ^ Ashcroft, Helen (September 13, 2024). "How To Start Watching Dimension 20". TheGamer. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
- ^ Radulovic, Petrana (September 4, 2024). "Misfits and Magic season 2 tackles the future of magic". Polygon. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
- ^ Teh, Cheryl (September 4, 2024). "Hit streaming show 'Dimension 20' is raring to go with an all-new season of 'Misfits and Magic'". Business Insider. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
- ^ "Dimension 20: Misfits & Magic Season 2 FAQ". Google Docs (Press release). Dimension 20. September 4, 2024. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
- ^ Misfits and Magic Live at GenCon 2022 (Twitch livestream). Gen Con. August 6, 2022. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
- ^ a b Zachary, Brandon (July 14, 2024). "This Underrated Fantasy Series Figured Out The Voldemort Story Harry Potter Should Have Told". ScreenRant. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
- ^ Kogod, Theo (October 12, 2021). "How College Humor's Dimension 20 predicted D&D's Strixhaven". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved July 28, 2023.