General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20266 min read

The Idhun Chronicles

The Idhun Chronicles (Spanish title Memorias de Idhún) is a Spanish animated television series in anime style that Netflix released as its first Spanish original anime production, premiering on September 10, 2020 in more than 190 countries.¹ Produced by Zeppelin and developed in Vitoria-Gasteiz, it adapts La Resistencia, the first volume of the bestselling fantasy trilogy Memorias de Idhún by the Spanish writer Laura Gallego.¹

Key fact	Detail
Premiere	September 10, 2020, on Netflix in over 190 countries¹
Format	10 episodes in two parts of five episodes each, about 25 minutes per episode¹^•²
Source	La Resistencia, first volume of the Memorias de Idhún trilogy (published from 2004) by Laura Gallego¹^•³
Production	Zeppelin TV for Netflix; animation made in Vitoria-Gasteiz over more than two years⁴
Director	Maite Ruiz de Austri, two-time Goya winner for animated film and the first woman to direct an anime series in Spain⁴
Spanish cast	Itzan Escamilla (Jack), Michelle Jenner (Victoria), Nico Romero (Shail), Carlos Cuevas (Alsan), Sergio Mur (Kirtash)⁵
Status	Cancelled after two seasons; the second and third books of the trilogy were never adapted⁶

Spoilers

Premise

The story opens on the day of the astral conjunction of the three suns and the three moons of Idhún, when Ashran the Necromancer seizes power and begins the reign of the winged serpents. The first battle for Idhún's freedom is fought on Earth, where the teenagers Jack and Victoria work to stop Kirtash, the assassin Ashran sent to eliminate the Idhunese who fled his tyranny. Unbeknownst to them, both are part of a prophecy that will entwine their destinies in a plot of love and hatred leading to duels to the death and unlikely alliances.⁷

Netflix's character descriptions present Jack as a thirteen-year-old who is optimistic, a little impulsive, and stubborn, with a special connection to Victoria and admiration for Alsan, who becomes his teacher in the ways of a warrior. Victoria is cheerful and determined, with magical powers of healing and connection with the Soul of Limbhad that the magician Shail helps her develop. Shail, the Resistance's magician, received the gift of magic from a unicorn as a child and is fascinated by Earth's technology.⁸

Production

Origins. Gallego began building the world of Idhún at about fifteen years old, around the character of Jack, and worked on the setting, plot, and characters for roughly fourteen years before writing the novels, which she published one after another starting in 2004.⁹ The trilogy became one of the best-known works of Spanish young-adult fantasy.³

The adaptation was announced in February 2019, with Gallego participating in the screenwriting so the series would stay as faithful to the book as possible, and the drawings based on the art Estudio Fénix had created for the comic adaptation of the trilogy, published since 2009.³^•¹⁰ Director Maite Ruiz de Austri explained that the existing comic was a key reason to choose animation over live action: the characters and settings, both in the real world and in Idhún and Limbhad, had already been visualized, so the next step was to animate those designs.¹¹ Gallego also preferred animation because it gave more hours to develop the story than a film would, because it was easier and more affordable to depict Idhún in animation than with special effects, and because she wanted her characters not to have a specific actor's face.¹²

The screenplay is credited to Gallego and Andrés Carrión, with music by Kaelo del Río.¹³ The animation process took more than two years and was carried out in Vitoria-Gasteiz by about twenty local professionals.⁴

Release and structure

Netflix commissioned ten episodes and released them as two parts. Part 1 arrived on September 10, 2020 with five episodes of 25 minutes each; the second part of five episodes followed on January 8, 2021.¹^•⁶ Together, the two seasons adapt only the first book, La Resistencia.⁷ The series was produced in Spanish and English versions.¹³

The dubbing controversy

Before release, the choice of voice cast became the series' main controversy. The selection process had been conducted largely among professional dubbing actors, and Gallego took part in the casting; she stated that an ensemble of dubbing specialists had already been chosen. Netflix and Zeppelin instead cast well-known screen actors, including Itzan Escamilla of Élite, and Gallego publicly disapproved, saying that from the beginning her wish had been for all characters to be performed by actors specialized in dubbing and that Netflix's preference prevailed.¹⁴

Fans criticized the Spanish dub as poor in quality, with the exception of Michelle Jenner, an experienced dubbing actress.¹⁰^•¹⁵ Ruiz de Austri and producer Alex Barroso defended the cast, saying the actors had committed themselves fully and done very good work, and that the series was faithful to the books to the point that everything appearing in the books appears in the series.¹⁵ Sergio Mur, the voice of Kirtash, also publicly defended the performances.¹⁶

Cancellation

On January 8, 2021, the day the second part was released, Gallego stated that no more seasons were planned and that no agreement had been reached to adapt the following books, Memorias de Idhún II: Tríada and Memorias de Idhún III: Panteón.⁶ The story, complete in the books and the graphic-novel adaptation, therefore remains incomplete in animated form.¹⁷ The reason for Netflix's decision was not officially stated; promotion for part 2 was minimal, with no trailer uploaded to Netflix's official channels.⁶

Reception

Critical and audience responses were mixed. Common Sense Media praised the animation, describing scenes in a refuge for Idhunese expatriates as glowing, and the glimpses of Idhún with multiple suns and moons and dragons, but found the characters flattened into types and the pacing clunky.¹⁸ A review for But Why Tho? called the animation stellar while noting thin characters and a short season.¹⁹ On aggregators the series scored 5.5 on IMDb and 24 percent on JustWatch.²⁰ Director Ruiz de Austri later recalled that Netflix's anime division in Tokyo congratulated the team because they had not believed the work was Spanish.²¹

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Web-native and streaming-original series › Genre web series: horror, thriller, science fiction, and mystery

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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