Usagi Yojimbo tv series!! - Page 6

*IndigoErth* · 04-29-2022, 07:56 PM

It's 10 eps and I assume it's the full season since it wraps it up with its save the world ending, then finishes with the usual kind of hint that it may continue.

Good question, did Netflix make this one themselves or just throw money at someone else to produce it?

I suppose even if they end their animation division that doesn't necessarily stop them from outsourcing animation to other studios.

*neatoman* · 04-29-2022, 08:35 PM

Alright, I've seen all of it now. The full thing is even dumber than I expected it to be. The humor is really stupid, a lot of characters are fairly annoying, character development tends to feel sudden and Gen's sister just seems to exist because... I think it's because someone on the show thought the idea of reusing Gen's macho looking character model for a female character was hilarious. If that's the case, I can't say I approve, having two almost identical major characters exist just for a gag seems stupid. Also the idea that people hate one guy after a thousand years is... Odd...

I'll give them this though, I did not expect the twist villains to essentially be the Combine from Half-Life, that was really unexpected after all the focus demons and magic. Maybe they're setting an appearance of the (NOT-)TMNT?

Really seems like the creators went in with the idea that "TMNT is stupid, this is related to TMNT, therefore we should make this stupid". As a kids' show, it's acceptable but I don't like the idea that kids might watch this and grow up with the idea that Usagi should be inherently stupid because "it's about a Samurai Rabbit, you aren't meant to take it seriously". That kind of bullshit attitude is what has stifled the potential of TMNT and I don't want to see it happen to Usagi Yojimbo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Few questions:

1. Is the entire season up or only a few episodes?

2. With netflix recently saying they ended their animation division, is this show already canceled?

Netflix has a weird tendency to carve actual seasons up into chunks marketing them as seasons. Odds are we have at least 10-16 episodes left and that's assuming they didn't order a second actual season. But yes, there is like a 10-25% chance these 10 episodes really were all of season 1.
Possibly, I think Netflix just licensed this from Gaumont though, so it might be safe. Really depends on how much Netflix had a hand in this. Regardless, I doubt this would last much longer anyway.

*Allio* · 05-02-2022, 07:47 PM

https://archiveofourown.org/works/38755524

Created a quick story of how I imagine Samurai Rabbit could introduce Jei.

*neatoman* · 09-07-2022, 05:17 PM

Alright I watched season 2 (which, given that this is a Netflix show, was probably really just season 1 part 2). It's... More or less the same quality, maybe a little worse because it has a bunch of crap that barely goes anywhere. Not that I think anyone cares but it ends fairly conclusively, so I doubt anyone will be all that torn up if there is no season 3.

*CyberCubed* · 09-07-2022, 06:47 PM

It's really bad. It's not even Usagi really, just a bunch of animal characters with vague martial arts thrown in.

*neatoman* · 09-07-2022, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

It's really bad. It's not even Usagi really, just a bunch of animal characters with vague martial arts thrown in.

Eh... I still maintain that while, yes, this show is indeed bad, it's still more or less the same quality as the 2012 TMNT cartoon. The main difference is that the I-N-O factor is far greater here and there are fewer episodes to space things out. In many ways, this show seems to have been modelled on the 2012 TMNT show and I can't really think of that many differences in terms of how well anything is executed in an objective manner. What the 2012 TMNT show has over this is that it's (somewhat more) reasonably close to the source material and that there are more episodes to distract from how terrible the over-arching plot really is. But point 1 just made it less likely to get rejected by old fans and point 2 really only earned the show favors if the viewer wasn't attentive enough, they're not really objective measures of quality here.

Spoiler:

*CyberCubed* · 09-07-2022, 07:32 PM

It's not really the same. The Nick show had better humor/interactions between characters, structured episodes (either one-shot eps or episodes that continued into larger arcs), and less how I do put it, kid-oriented interactions? It's hard to describe, but in the Usagi series a lot of the dialogue and friendship stuff reminds me of things from educational pre-school shows aimed at 3-6 year olds, the Nick 2012 TMNT show never had things like that. There was always a certain "edge" to that show and its dialogue because Ciro and the other writers knew adults were watching it.

*neatoman* · 09-07-2022, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

It's not really the same. The Nick show had better humor/interactions between characters, structured episodes (either one-shot eps or episodes that continued into larger arcs), and less how I do put it, kid-oriented interactions? It's hard to describe, but in the Usagi series a lot of the dialogue and friendship stuff reminds me of things from educational pre-school shows aimed at 3-6 year olds, the Nick 2012 TMNT show never had things like that. There was always a certain "edge" to that show and its dialogue because Ciro and the other writers knew adults were watching it.

The thing is though is that I suspect that it's mostly because that show was longer from the get-go. I'm pretty sure season 2 was ordered fairly early on in season 1's production and I think both season 3 and 4 were ordered before season 2 finished (but feel free to correct me, I'm honestly not sure if that's entirely correct). So that was basically a 100 episode guarantee, pretty much from the start. This show is just 20 episodes spread out over "2 seasons", so there's obviously not as much wiggle room to do whatever, which basically forces you to notice how terrible the plot really is.

I get what you're trying to say but trying claiming the 2012 TMNT wasn't particularly childish seems absurd to me, if anything it was extremely childish. "Mike drinks anti-mutagen and gets acne" isn't exactly what I'd call a mature plot, nor are a good chunk of the other episodes either. And the humor wasn't particularity clever wither, much of it was just screaming and dumb things like hallucinating a pineapple head. Maybe I laughed at more jokes but I think that, once again, that has more to do with there just being more episodes and thus it's more likely for it to have more winners so to speak.

And I get what you mean by "edge". It's true that this show doesn't really have it while that show did. But first off, this show is intended for children so calling it childish as a criticism is somewhat strange since that's clearly who they are trying to appeal to and wouldn't really qualify as an objective measurement of the quality. It would be nice if the show tried to appeal to older audience, it's just that I can't really use that against it if I want to be fair in my criticism. And to be honest, the edge tended to give me a bit of tonal whiplash in the 2012 TMNT cartoon, it just felt like I was watching two different shows at times. Even if that wasn't the case, I would still be incorrect in saying having some level of adult appeal made the show objectively better, because it wouldn't.

Again, I don't think this Usagi show is good and I do like the 2012 TMNT cartoon better. It's just that if I look at what both shows were trying to do and how they accomplished it, it's really hard for me to honestly say the Usagi show is much worse beyond any subjective experience.

*Shark_Blade* · 09-07-2022, 08:55 PM

They really use a cliche, boring, clumsy teenager called Yuichi Usagi as the protagonist instead of the cool, highly discipline, interesting background lore and admirable moral compass legend that is Miyamoto Usagi?? What idiotic executive made this decision?

Watched the trailer and my initial reaction: it looks like a typical ass cartoon for kids with no edge so I’ll pass.

Last Ronin · 09-07-2022, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shark_Blade

Watched the trailer and my initial reaction: it looks like a typical ass cartoon for kids with no edge so I’ll pass.

Same here. Saw the trailer and it sucked then watched a best of fight scenes and holy crap were they boring and stale as Fuk.

*IndigoErth* · 09-12-2022, 08:21 PM

Second season was... "okay." Still feel the same of it that I did with the first season. There's a lot of stuff I could do without and a lot of attempts at humor that fall flat. A few genuine laughs in there, but sadly not that many.

It has the potential to be a decent show but something about it just feels so...shallow, I guess? Hard to put a finger on it and a problem with a lot of "kid" shows now.

My favorites of it has to be the whole cat ninja thing. I just keep seeing Lady Fuwa as something of a lady cat Shredder. lol And Chizu as rather Karai-like. Though you'd think that if there was a trend of female kittens being kidnapped it MIGHT actually click with people that the local all-female cat ninja group might have something to do with it? No?

Also Karasu-Tengu, that crow yokai, who was sadly barely in this season.

But damn it bugs me that the background townsfolk all have the same bland face models per species. Three or four bear people together.... maybe different body types and fur colors, but the face is all the same one.

*CyberCubed* · 08-06-2023, 09:14 PM

The show has been canceled, and won't be getting a third season:

https://www.thenexthint.com/samurai-...-3-at-netflix/

Yeah this show was pretty bad.

Maybe one day we'll get a cartoon that accurately adapts the comics into animation like a manga to anime.

*Cowabung-Gal* · 08-06-2023, 09:20 PM

It felt too…”kiddy” for my taste. And no one really cares about Usagi’s distant descendant; what they really want is a show about Usagi himself.

Loonatics Unleashed tried that concept too and it also got cancelled after two seasons

*Shark_Blade* · 08-06-2023, 09:21 PM

Oh thank God for this cancellation. This calls for a celebration!

Mutant Mayhem then pizza dinner Woot!

*CyberCubed* · 08-06-2023, 09:22 PM

I don't know why they can't just adapt the comics, there are hundreds of issues of Usagi that can be adapted almost 1:1 to episodes, as I said like manga are adapted to anime. And you wouldn't need "filler" either because Usagi already has so many comics to adapt.

*Shark_Blade* · 08-06-2023, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I don't know why they can't just adapt the comics, there are hundreds of issues of Usagi that can be adapted almost 1:1 to episodes, as I said like manga are adapted to anime. And you wouldn't need "filler" either because Usagi already has so many comics to adapt.

I can only assume they’re lazy to do research and just gave us half ass attempt. Like why even bother doing this spin off at all, should've create their own IP.

*Cowabung-Gal* · 08-06-2023, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I don't know why they can't just adapt the comics, there are hundreds of issues of Usagi that can be adapted almost 1:1 to episodes, as I said like manga are adapted to anime. And you wouldn't need "filler" either because Usagi already has so many comics to adapt.

Maybe because those comics are a bit too “dark” to be adapted into a kids show on Netflix. After all, when someone tries to kill Usagi, he usually doesn’t leave any survivors. There are also seppuku, crucifixion, and murder scenes in the series so yeah, maybe not suited for kids under 12.

It’s like when they adapted Cuphead into a Netflix series for kids. In the games, the characters are drinking, smoking, and gambling, the third of which is what led to Cuphead and Mugman nearly losing their souls to the devil. But in the cartoon, they removed all smoking, drinking and gambling references and instead of meeting the devil at a casino, the brothers meet him at a carnival where Cuphead lost his soul to a toss game. But it’s rather pale and even dumb in comparison to the game that started the franchise

*LeotheLateBloomer* · 08-06-2023, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shark_Blade

Mutant Mayhem then pizza dinner Woot!

Nah...I'll still to the Super Mario Bros Movie and a bowl of spaghetti and mushrooms, thank you!

*Cowabung-Gal* · 08-06-2023, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeotheLateBloomer

Nah...I'll still to the Super Mario Bros Movie and a bowl of spaghetti and mushrooms, thank you!

Barbie Movie and a nice cold glass of piña colada for me.

*Powder* · 08-07-2023, 03:19 AM

The fact they didn't just give it a 4kids styled treatment is insane to me. You know, adapt as much as you can, lighten the tone when necessary, deaths merely implied, off camera, or swapped out with fainting, etc. There's such a wide breadth of material there, most of which pretty accessible & easy to translate to TV or make kid appropriate when needed. They made a generic Kung-Fu Panda rip-off, instead of using the opportunity to tell so many amazing, culturally rich tales, that showcase Japanese history, the strength of spirit, & value of community/hard work, all the while being incredibly engaging for even young minds. What a waste of a brilliant IP.

05-02-2022, 07:47 PM	#103
Allio Foot Elite Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 4,208	https://archiveofourown.org/works/38755524 Created a quick story of how I imagine Samurai Rabbit could introduce Jei. __________________

08-06-2023, 09:20 PM	#113
Cowabung-Gal The Party Dudette Join Date: Apr 2022 Location: U-S-A!! Posts: 2,606	It felt too…”kiddy” for my taste. And no one really cares about Usagi’s distant descendant; what they really want is a show about Usagi himself. Loonatics Unleashed tried that concept too and it also got cancelled after two seasons __________________ Cowabunga

04-29-2022, 07:56 PM	#101
IndigoErth Team Blue Boy Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: U.S., East Coast Posts: 16,296	It's 10 eps and I assume it's the full season since it wraps it up with its save the world ending, then finishes with the usual kind of hint that it may continue. Good question, did Netflix make this one themselves or just throw money at someone else to produce it? I suppose even if they end their animation division that doesn't necessarily stop them from outsourcing animation to other studios.

09-07-2022, 06:47 PM	#105
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 43,881	It's really bad. It's not even Usagi really, just a bunch of animal characters with vague martial arts thrown in.

09-07-2022, 07:32 PM	#107
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 43,881	It's not really the same. The Nick show had better humor/interactions between characters, structured episodes (either one-shot eps or episodes that continued into larger arcs), and less how I do put it, kid-oriented interactions? It's hard to describe, but in the Usagi series a lot of the dialogue and friendship stuff reminds me of things from educational pre-school shows aimed at 3-6 year olds, the Nick 2012 TMNT show never had things like that. There was always a certain "edge" to that show and its dialogue because Ciro and the other writers knew adults were watching it.

09-07-2022, 08:55 PM	#109
Shark_Blade Emperor Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 7,909	They really use a cliche, boring, clumsy teenager called Yuichi Usagi as the protagonist instead of the cool, highly discipline, interesting background lore and admirable moral compass legend that is Miyamoto Usagi?? What idiotic executive made this decision? Watched the trailer and my initial reaction: it looks like a typical ass cartoon for kids with no edge so I’ll pass.

09-12-2022, 08:21 PM	#111
IndigoErth Team Blue Boy Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: U.S., East Coast Posts: 16,296	Second season was... "okay." Still feel the same of it that I did with the first season. There's a lot of stuff I could do without and a lot of attempts at humor that fall flat. A few genuine laughs in there, but sadly not that many. It has the potential to be a decent show but something about it just feels so...shallow, I guess? Hard to put a finger on it and a problem with a lot of "kid" shows now. My favorites of it has to be the whole cat ninja thing. I just keep seeing Lady Fuwa as something of a lady cat Shredder. lol And Chizu as rather Karai-like. Though you'd think that if there was a trend of female kittens being kidnapped it MIGHT actually click with people that the local all-female cat ninja group might have something to do with it? No? Also Karasu-Tengu, that crow yokai, who was sadly barely in this season. But damn it bugs me that the background townsfolk all have the same bland face models per species. Three or four bear people together.... maybe different body types and fur colors, but the face is all the same one.

08-06-2023, 09:14 PM	#112
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 43,881	The show has been canceled, and won't be getting a third season: https://www.thenexthint.com/samurai-...-3-at-netflix/ Yeah this show was pretty bad. Maybe one day we'll get a cartoon that accurately adapts the comics into animation like a manga to anime.

08-06-2023, 09:21 PM	#114
Shark_Blade Emperor Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 7,909	Oh thank God for this cancellation. This calls for a celebration! Mutant Mayhem then pizza dinner Woot!

08-06-2023, 09:22 PM	#115
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 43,881	I don't know why they can't just adapt the comics, there are hundreds of issues of Usagi that can be adapted almost 1:1 to episodes, as I said like manga are adapted to anime. And you wouldn't need "filler" either because Usagi already has so many comics to adapt.

08-07-2023, 03:19 AM	#120
Powder 40 Years of TMNT Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Shell-Ri-La Posts: 26,956	The fact they didn't just give it a 4kids styled treatment is insane to me. You know, adapt as much as you can, lighten the tone when necessary, deaths merely implied, off camera, or swapped out with fainting, etc. There's such a wide breadth of material there, most of which pretty accessible & easy to translate to TV or make kid appropriate when needed. They made a generic Kung-Fu Panda rip-off, instead of using the opportunity to tell so many amazing, culturally rich tales, that showcase Japanese history, the strength of spirit, & value of community/hard work, all the while being incredibly engaging for even young minds. What a waste of a brilliant IP.