Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles set in 2012 Usagi's Future?
 

Since both Samurai Rabbit and the 2012 series are CGI cartoons. And that Miyamoto Usagi was voiced by Yuki Matsuzaki in both of them. Maybe I'm just overthinking things.

Huh. Didn't know it was the same voice actor! Yeah, not holding my breath, but it's a cool theory. I did feel while watching it that the 2012 designs would fit in pretty well with that show...minus the skin/hair texturing difference.

And after it mentioned a multiverse I'm sort of hoping at least for a TMNT Easter egg if it has another season.

For what it's worth, I think this show was modeled on the 2012 show in some sense. It has many similar stylistic choices and both shows seem to think being stupid just to have stupid things is a good thing. Maybe it's written with the intention to be the future of that Usagi, all the typical Usagi characters aside from Jei and Usagi himself were missing from the 2012 crossover, not to mention how this show has them in the "1000 years in the future" setting instead of Usagi's lifetime.

That said however, I don't think it can be legally considered a spin-off to the 2012 show. The show will most likely never feature any direct references to what happened in the 2012 show or the TMNT in general. If the TMNT do appear against all odds, I'm not so sure it will be that particular version of them. The most realistic outcome you can hope for is that legally distinct copycats of the TMNT show up.

It's not a bad show for what it is, but it doesn't feel like Usagi Yojimbo at all.

I'm never quite sure what "not bad for what it is" really means, I get the feeling that's the kind of thing that gets thrown around a lot to provide an excuse that won't require an argument.

In this case, if it means "It is a cheap kids' cartoon on Netflix probably meant to sell merch and will likely get canned before episode 50, and those tend to be even worse than this." then yes, that is true. But that doesn't mean the show's problems can just be excused, it might be better than what one might expect from something like this but that doesn't exactly make the show good.

It's the old "Richard Pryor Superman III Defense".

In his words: "Hey, for a piece of sh*t, it smells great!" :lol:

That's pretty much everything, these days.

I have to agree with this. It's a common thing I see so much in recent times. "Yeah, well, it's not bad for what it is! It's just a cute little cartoon!" Why can't cartoons be criticized like all other forms of art? They're not supposed to be taken seriously by any means, and the humor in them are supposed to always be found funny, or the fans say that you're a moron who can't take a joke. So if Usagi Descendant Boy farts multiple times in an episode, including during the dramatic scene when his love interest or best friend or whatever dies, then you're a moron for complaining that a dramatic scene was ruined by a very dumb joke.

Its a valid stance, that I think works, when you need to remind people their unrealistic expectations are just that - unrealistic expectations.

Like when they expect dark and gritty action from a show which was intended to be a comedy.

THIS!

It's not a matter of being kind for kindness' sake, it's exactly as described above.

With any legacy property, the fandom always thinks X will be exactly what THEY want it to be, then they get mad when it isn't. You have to adjust your perspective.

In this case of this particular series, it being "good for what it is" means "Sure, this isn't the classic UY we know, but if you can accept that, & acknowledge that this was always meant to be something entirely different, a Kung-Fu Panda inspired kids show that merely takes notes from UY, you'll find it has its own charms, humor, & design work, that stands on their own, among other action cartoons for children." or whatever.

Same for Rise of the TMNT. People go into it expecting drama, darkness, violence, whatever, based on the prior iteration. It was never meant to be that. It's a wacky, random, balls to the walls kid show that puts goofiness first. Just like they said it would be. Yet, people watched it one episode after another going "Where's the multi-part plot driving mystery?!" as if it isn't just meant to be a bag of candy.

"It's good for what it is" simply means "I am able to take this at face value, & enjoy it, despite the fact it is doing something different than I would have initially expected from this creator/series/etc."

I didn't expect it to be dark and gritty. I just wanted it to be a fun action show, maybe with some mature stuff in it, as mature as kids cartoons can get. But this...is not it.

I don't get why people assume the problem would be that that it's comedic or different from the comic, though there are certain things to be said about that as well. If the show was just a comedy that differed from the comic but was actually good, I'd shrug my shoulders and proclaim my disappointment about that particular aspect of it but I wouldn't call the show bad, maybe argue why it should have been more faithful or taken itself more seriously but not say it was bad.

The show does however have problems beyond what I personally felt it should have been like. A lot of the jokes fall flat, the plot doesn't make enough sense, some characters are rather annoying and the animation isn't that great. These are problems, regardless of what expectations one might have.

Sorry, my comment wasn't aimed at Usagi series, since I haven't watched it, more like in general.

If you have unrealistic expectations for something that is still good, you might be a little disappointed but you can still think it's good. If you had unrealistic expectations and it turned out bad, you'd probably still think it was bad if your expectations had been realistic. "Good for what it is" still doesn't work as an actual defense because everything ought to be held to a basic standard regardless of "what it is".

If we bring up a TMNT example, The Next Mutation was a live-action Saban show made without lifting the expensive scenes from other shows, that means it was about as good as one might expect. I don't think anyone would try to defend TNM on the basis that Saban couldn't just splice together footage from Shadow Warriors and Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya with reshoots featuring the Ninja Turtles.

And I have to agree with this.

I don't expect something aimed at kids to be the mature, gritty series a lot of us dream of seeing someday like for the TMNT, but it's disappointing to see longtime awesome things dumbed down to become yet another derpy series like so many aimed at kids now.

I did more or less like this Usagi series fine enough, it has potential, but I was definitely mentally roiling my eyes at some of the dialogue and antics it really could have cut out of the script without taking any kind of loss to the story or entertainment. Looking through that junk, it was rather okay. But that stuff felt like a waste of limited time per ep in a way that was a bit annoying, and could get old fast if they don't grow him as a character in a second season, if there is one.

If nothing else... they came up with an Usagi descendant that might actually mesh with Rise Leo's ego and behavior. The original Usagi sure wouldn't.

Uh... this is about the possibility that Samurai Rabbit is set in the 2012 version of Usagi Yojimbo's future.

Speaking of which, I just noticed two other examples that support the possibility. The 2D flashbacks, and that the alarm sound in Episode 2: Yokai sounded similar to The Kraang's alarm system.

While i WANTED a true OG Usagi series, and we can always still get one, I really liked this one as well.

It's more like Batman Beyond is to Batman the animated series.

It was entertaining and I would love more but those glimpses into the original Usagi's life def leaves me wanting more of that.

This show reminds me of a blend of the TMNT 2012 series & Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness

Show wasn't very good as a whole, but there were some moments I liked such as the 2d flashbacks with the original Usagi.

Overall though it was kind of bland. I was hoping for something like Nick's TMNT 2012 show where it had some plotlines and humor for adults to enjoy, but it wasn't written like that. Way too kid-oriented.

Honestly, I don't think I was ever going to be into it. When they first announced the show, back when the 2012 Usagi crossover happened, I was really excited about an actual adaptation of the Usagi comics, especially after seeing what it could look like in the 2012 show. When they later announced it was going to be a completely separate thing that wasn't really an adaptation, not even of Space Usagi, I completely lost interest. And maybe I'm not taking it on it's own terms enough, but when they made it sound like it would be a bona fide adaptation, that's what I was excited about. It feels like they pulled the rug out, and what we got is just not all that special or interesting.

I still don't understand how people are incapable of judging something by target and goal.

If it does what the players behind it set out to do, it succeeds its goal. If it appeals to its target, it also succeeds. If it does anything beyond that, it's a bonus.

If you make a cartoon that is aimed at 6-year-olds and 6-year-olds love it, then that's a success. It is very much not a failure if it does not appeal to 40-year-olds, because the creators weren't trying to appeal to 40-year-olds. But if it does also appeal to those outside of the target demographic, that's more successful. It's hitting stuff you were aiming at and then some.

(This is not a defense of any specific piece because, for one I haven't even seen Samurai Rabbit. It is basic common sense).