7 is a more generous rating (more accurately like a 6.5), but I will say this show has gotten more hate than it deserves.
First to quickly address the elephant in the room for fans of the movie trilogy when watching this, this does a lousy job fitting anywhere in the story. Supposedly takes place after Kung fu Panda 3, but Po has the skills and maturity of maybe post Kung fu Panda 1. Even then, how competent or mature Po is is determined by how mature or immature the story *needs* him in the moment. No Shifu, no furious five, none of that.
SO, with that being said, if you disregard this as a continuation of the story, and moreso just a fun side spin off with elements and certain characters from this IP (like a certain spin off show of this IP from the past), it gets rather enjoyable.
The first season (especially the first few episodes) are hard to sit through. It took me awhile to get through them just because there wasn't much substance. The animation was terrible, voice acting was phoned in, the plot was paper thin, it was hard to watch.
However, if you make it through that, you are rewarded with better animation (not amazing, but no longer displeasing to the eye), better voice acting, a more engaging (yet somewhat convoluted) story, improvements to the characters, better music, and an overall fun experience that even made me a bit sad it was over by the end. The same feeling I would have gotten if I had just finished playing at a friends house as a kid, and was told I had to go home.
It's not amazing, and I would not blame anyone for not picking it up because that first season is indeed pretty bad. However, there are surprisingly some more intense scenes than I would have expected, and some moments that were more emotionally charged than I would have initially given this show credit for.
For some reason, it seemed like the creators of this show began putting effort into its creation in the last two seasons, where as the first definitely reads "cash-grab".
Long story short, if you want more Kung Fu Panda, and you don't mind parting this in your mind as its own separate thing from the movies, this show *becomes* an enjoyable experience after the first season. Especially for kids. Whether or not you feel that is worth sitting through a very lack-luster almost annoying first season is up to you.
First to quickly address the elephant in the room for fans of the movie trilogy when watching this, this does a lousy job fitting anywhere in the story. Supposedly takes place after Kung fu Panda 3, but Po has the skills and maturity of maybe post Kung fu Panda 1. Even then, how competent or mature Po is is determined by how mature or immature the story *needs* him in the moment. No Shifu, no furious five, none of that.
SO, with that being said, if you disregard this as a continuation of the story, and moreso just a fun side spin off with elements and certain characters from this IP (like a certain spin off show of this IP from the past), it gets rather enjoyable.
The first season (especially the first few episodes) are hard to sit through. It took me awhile to get through them just because there wasn't much substance. The animation was terrible, voice acting was phoned in, the plot was paper thin, it was hard to watch.
However, if you make it through that, you are rewarded with better animation (not amazing, but no longer displeasing to the eye), better voice acting, a more engaging (yet somewhat convoluted) story, improvements to the characters, better music, and an overall fun experience that even made me a bit sad it was over by the end. The same feeling I would have gotten if I had just finished playing at a friends house as a kid, and was told I had to go home.
It's not amazing, and I would not blame anyone for not picking it up because that first season is indeed pretty bad. However, there are surprisingly some more intense scenes than I would have expected, and some moments that were more emotionally charged than I would have initially given this show credit for.
For some reason, it seemed like the creators of this show began putting effort into its creation in the last two seasons, where as the first definitely reads "cash-grab".
Long story short, if you want more Kung Fu Panda, and you don't mind parting this in your mind as its own separate thing from the movies, this show *becomes* an enjoyable experience after the first season. Especially for kids. Whether or not you feel that is worth sitting through a very lack-luster almost annoying first season is up to you.
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