Legend Quest: Masters of Myths: Not Not-Gay

Who knew that a cartoon about fighting monsters could be so complex?

Legend Quest: Masters of Myth  (2019) sends a team of Mexican monster-fighters far and wide under the orders of some mysterious monks called the Brotherhood.

The monster-hunting team consists of:
1. Leo, a 12-year old boy from 19th century Mexico.  He's voiced by Benny Emmanuel (below) in Spanish, and in English, Johnny Rose, who is impossible to research online because he shares a name with the Eugene Levy character on Schitt's Creek.  

I don't know if this series is set in the 19th century, or if the monster-hunters exist outside of ordinary time.

In 2015 Benny starred in Tremulo, about two guys hooking up.

2. The ghost of Don Andres, a 16th century Spanish conquistador (voiced by Andrés Couturier, Oscar Cheda).

2. Teodora (Mayte Cordero, Annamarie Blanco), who is astro-projecting her spirit back from the 21st century.

4. Alebrije (Ricardo O'Ferrill, Paul Tei), a comic relief monster based on the Mexican folk art figurines.

How did these beings manage to find each other?  We don't find out. The show starts in media res, with hunts for a powrie (Scotland), an efrit (Egypt), a caipora (Brazil), a tsukumogami (Japan), a wendigo (Canada), El Coco (Spain), and an anansi (Africa).

Meanwhile they must search for their missing leader, Brother Godofredo; deal with a competing monster-hunting team led by the snobby Marcella; deal with the Brotherhood, which turns out to be evil; and save the world from the Cthulhu-monster Moon Goddess.

Whew.

The Latin American focus is interesting, and there's little or no heterosexual machination, not even between Leo and Teodora.  I'd prefer a buddy-bond, but just not mooning over Teodora is enough for a gay subtext. Or even a gay text -- who ever said that Leo was straight?

Turns out that we're in media res because this is Season 2, being marketed as a new series in order to confuse viewers.  In the first season, called Legend Quest in English, Leo is a 12-year old boy living in 19th century Mexico, who has the power to see ghosts because he is, according to his abuela, the Chosen One.  When the townsfolk start turning into zombies, he and his ghost friends find a way to rescue them.  This leads to more adventures, and eventually a gig with the mysterious Brotherhood.

And it takes only about 10 seconds for Leo to start mooning over Marcella, the Girl of His Dreams.

Bummer.

The characters first appeared in a film series.  The first, La Leyenda de Nahuala (2007), starred Fabrizio Santini (top photo) as Leo, and gave him a different origin story.  I'll check it out -- maybe he'll go back to being not-not-gay.