Template:Episode updated V.2"The First Friend is Here" is the fifteenth episode of the first season of the animated television series Lovely World. The episode is directed by Harrison Reid and written by Matthew Anderson. The series follows the adventures of the main character, Edward, who gets transferred to an in-digital world and is tasked with surviving while constructing his own "world". The plot follows Edward discovering a person named Michael that teleported from the sky and after that, he befriends the latter. The episode originally first aired in the United States on the children's network Children's Avast Television on May 7, 2011.
"The First Friend is Here" began production during the series's early stages of development with John Collins serving as the head writer for the story. Michael, the character that the episode heavily focused on, was originally developed by May 2010 and instead being to be a "old man", which John hated and ordered a redesign. Before release, the episode went through story changes. It was met with a generally positive reception.
Plot
While walking through the streets, Edward and the villagers chat, and the others discuss plans to go to a water park, which surprises Edward. However, a bright light appeared in the sky, confusing and worrying the villagers nearby, and soon a screaming person emerged and crashed into a nearby tree. Edward is taken aback by this, and as the villagers rush to check on the injured person, Edward realizes that someone else has been caught within the portal, and he is not alone. Following that, Edward rushes to the scene, where a person is about to die. As the villagers try to give him more blood, he calls himself Michael before passing out when Edward calls his name to him. Edward and the villagers rush him to the hospital, where he is kicked out but accepts it. Following that, the news of the person, who is now Michael, spreads throughout the village, and Edward engages in a conversation with the villagers about it. Meanwhile, Michael is resting in his hospital bed, confused about where he is, and soon panics when he notices that the doctors look different, but they calm him down and act confused about what he is saying. Michael claims to be from another world, but the doctors don't believe him and abandon him while they get food for him.
Meanwhile, Edward is informed by the doctors that Michael is doing well and orders that he go see him. After releasing the doctors, Edward and Michael engage in conversation, and Edward sits down and talks with Michael about the incident. Michael explains that he was part of a group that investigated buildings at risk of collapsing and discovered a portal. This shocked Edward, who explains that he was involved in the same incident many weeks ago and is now trying to find his way home. Following that, both Michael and Edward promised to find their way back to real life, and Edward left to sleep in his temporary home. Many days later, Michael is released from the hospital and panics when he sees a large crowd of villagers waiting for him, but Edward appears and they escape from the crowd. After hiding, the two giggle and go for a walk, with Edward instructing him to use his sweater to avoid attention. During that time, Edward and Michael go hang out together. Toward the evening, Edward and Michael visit the local beach, where they talk while walking near the ocean, and the two express an interest in becoming friends following their successful adventures. Edward then felt sad because he hadn't seen his friends and family in weeks, but Michael assured him that he was going through the same thing and promised to return to real life for a second time. The episode concludes with the two running toward the sunset.
Production
"The First Friend is Here", like all episodes of two seasons from the Lovely World television series, was produced by Starlight Productions and is based on the Lovely World books. The episode was directed by Harrison Reid and written by Matthew Anderson from a story by John Collins. John Collins refers to the first half of the episode, which began production in mid-2010 during the early stages of the series' development, as "the beginning of the second book." During the series' production, John ordered the creation of new characters for the animated series, one of which was Michael. Michael, one of the four main characters, was introduced in this episode. In early scripts, Michael appeared to be a "old man," but John despised the idea and directed the production team to completely redesign Michael to be the same age as Edward. However, the production team had planned an original idea instead. Worried about a disagreement with the production crew, he wanted to keep the original from the team and combine it with his idea. Michael was supposed to be teleported from the middle of the street in the village in an original storyline with a deleted scene featuring Edward and Michael meeting for the first time from July 2010, but an animator explained that between that month and October, John changed his mind about the idea and had the character appeared from the sky instead. As a result, the storyboards differed significantly from the original.
Critical reception
Upon its debut, "The First Friend is Here" was met with a positive reception from television critics and local audiences. The episode originally premiered in the United States on Children's Avast Television on May 7, 2011. In a June 2011 review, Lucas Mccarthy says that the "episode largely did a good amount of job focusing on Michael while not moving away from Edward and the villagers"; he finds the storyline of how Michael entered the world "very interesting to him and hoped that the series explore his character more in future episodes". Madeleine Burke rated the episode a "A" and praised the animation and writing.