Xavier

Have only seen a couple of episodes of Xavier, Renegade Angel, a computer-animated TV series from the Wonder Showzen producers.
Here's what an IMDb commenter said:

It's sub-par 3-D animation. I've seen one episode where they made us watch an acid trip while this shitty character Xavier (who is already an eye sore) plays a damn flute! This went on...and on...and on...and on... THIS IS NOT ENTERTAINMENT! There's zero balance. The show is such a constant mind-fudge you never really get a break from the insanity and you come out of the episode feeling a bit dumber and mentally drained.

Pushing hard against a medium with inherent limitations (Bryce or Poser-style animation), the producers have given us the state of the art of anti-Pixar, at least in a commercial vehicle. In Pixar the artists try to do everything "right"--obey the laws of perspective, continuity, etc to create "marvels" within a convincing illusionistic framework. In Xavier, the animators are turned loose (or directed)* to be as "wrong" as possible--so knee joints swing forward, skies change color for no reason, etc. The question is whether this is genuinely subversive or a frisson of subversion in a show that plays by the ultimate rule of never breaking out of the "game grid" (to use a Tron term). In either case it seems like an experiment--half comedy, half a network equivalent of Silicious. It's amazing something this difficult and/or "mentally draining" has lasted a couple of seasons.

*The animators normally work in video games--thanks to J for the info--and they seem to be reveling in their freedom from 3D convention, but it's hard to know from casual viewing how much they are being guided by the writers. Thanks also for J articulating the show's central dilemma well.