This review contains minor spoilers on the TV show Jet and the Pet Rangers.

Here comes Jet and the Pet Rangers, iWant’s first original animated series produced by local animation studio Studio Nonego and directed by Patrick Apura. It follows the adventures of a superhero kid named Jet, along with his superpowered pets Liksi the dog, Tiyang Manok the hen, and Gigi the goldfish, as they help out animals in trouble around their neighborhood. The show is designed for children with the goal of teaching good moral values to its viewers each episode.

For this review, I will be focusing only on the production aspect of the show and the themes and narrative structure it uses to tell its story. I’m clearly out of the show’s target demographic so it would be just obnoxious to write a deeper critical analysis of a kids’ program.

Anyway, Jet and the Pet Rangers is a charming-looking cartoon. The animation is fluid and the art design looks superb; from the adorable character designs to the beautifully drawn backgrounds that nicely incorporate Filipino culture without overdoing it. It can be mistaken as a Nick Jr. show for its high production value with the Tagalog dub being the only giveaway.

As for the story, you pretty much know what you’re getting into if you grew up watching similar shows on Nick Jr. or Disney Junior. Each episode (that I have seen) is a typical three-act story structure; an animal is in trouble, Jet and the Pet Rangers rush to their rescue, and the problem is solved by applying positive Filipino values. It’s simple and traditional but it works well enough for kids to follow the story.

Surprisingly, though, the writing gives nuance to our main character Jet. He’s portrayed as a bright and courageous rural kid who loves hanging around with animals. But the show also spends some time to deal with his emotions. We see him engage in a heart-to-heart conversation with his mother and one episode(*) even involves him confronting his past mistakes. This gives his desire to help animals a more meaningful purpose, rather than being a one-dimensional superhero kid who is driven to do good just cause he can.

* This episode in particular revolves around the team rescuing a crippled dog, who got into a road accident that was unintentionally caused by Jet when he was younger. It’s the strongest and most mature episode of the show based on the three episodes I sampled.

Jet and the Pet Rangers is a breakthrough, both in Filipino animation and children’s programming. Its polished production design gives the show the honor to be benchmarked against foreign kids’ shows such as PAW Patrol and even Peppa Pig. The story succeeds as well in delivering important lessons to its young viewers such as compassion, respect, and teamwork. iWant should be proud with what they have here and I hope this inspires the streaming service to create more animated content but for all ages.

I only saw three episodes of the show because I felt that it didn’t make sense for an adult to finish an entire season of a cartoon made for preschoolers on his own. But I do recommend watching it with your own kid(s) or pamangkin so you can let them judge the rest of the season. Jet and the Pet Rangers is a fun and slick animated series that can effectively teach young children about basic Filipino values and culture.

Score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5 stars that turn you into a superhero.

All seven episodes of Jet and the Pet Rangers are available to watch on iWant. I’ve seen the first three episodes for this review.