Series: Kung Fu Panda: The Legend Of Awesomeness

.....no.

Now watching the recent episode, Rhino's Revenge. A Rhinoceros lost his job as a prison guard because Po killed Tai Lung. They couldn't that prison for anything else?

I watched several episodes yesterday and... and... I like it. This series reminds me how much I love the character of Po, and how refreshing it is to watch a show where the characters aren't hipsters or really random.

It's actually an episode discontinuity, since throughout the series it's shown that Chor Gom is being used as a prison. The rhino seems like he's lying of course.

Wait a minute Po killed him? What the hell? I thought he incapacitated him or something because his defeat was so humorous. This is probably a good example of mood whiplash.

Ah wait, nevermind. This should be the first episode though so that it explains how Chor Gohm becomes a prison again.

The rhino killed himself by pushing Po away.

Didn't Po kill Tai Long? I mean we never see him die, but he has never been mentioned again, not even with a "he's now back in prison". Not that I want Po to be a killer (or any of the other characters) mind you, but that's what it looks like to me.

The series is ripe with Ship Tease, as another thing found in the latest episode - Tigress sleeping on Po's shoulder.

Btw, we now have a Recap Page for the series: Kungfu Panda Legends Of Awesomeness. Warning, it contains spoilers. Contributions welcome!

It's certainly taking a long time for the newest episodes to find their ways online. Nick posts the full video of new episodes of Armored Adventures the day of (sometimes even the day before), but it's been four-five days and all we have of Bad Po and Owl Be Back are one minute clips. To say nothing of all the episodes that've aired since then.

At least I was able to find all of Bad Po and the last part of Owl Be Back in low quality recordings on Youtube.

edited 29th Nov '11 10:07:13 AM by KnownUnknown

I really, desperately hope Po and Tigress don't end up together. That would feel horribly wrong.

After watching a few more episodes, I like the show even more. The writing is very good, taking situations that would be average in other shows and finding extra details for them For example, when Po is attacked by the mind-controlled Monkey on "Scorpion's Sting" he doesn't realize what's going on at first because the two had been playing pranks on each other before. There's also the way Evil Po is defeated in "Bad Po" which is a blink-and-miss-it use of the Chekovs Gun trope.

And the humor! Rapid-fire jokes that still fit the situation. I'm still LMAO at Po having to go through the Hall of Incredible Pain several times in "Fluttering Finger Mindslip" because he insisted on not reading the full instructions first (which seems to be the theme of the episode, since if he'd studied the scrolls in the correct order he wouldn't have caused the amnesia mess in the first place.)

The only part I haven't liked so far was in "Owl Be Back" when everybody was SO convinced Po would turn evil *just because he discovered a new technique* that they didn't even say goodbye when he banished himself to the mountains. Not even Shifu, who seemed to have such a close connection to him in the movie. Yes I understand that was all to set up Fenhuang's return, but it could have been written better, IMO.

edited 29th Nov '11 3:47:09 PM by Sijo

I just realized Monkey is voiced by James Sie, who voiced Jackie Chan in Jackie Chan Adventures. This makes so much sense that I feel really dumb for not noticing it earlier.

Anyways, is it just me or is Po really good at attracting a rogues gallery? It seems like every other episode there's a new baddie being carted away while swearing eternal vengeance.

And honestly I can't wait to see all of them return. Even Taotie, my least favorite strike: villain on the show, is fun enough that I like seeing him recur. Fenghuang in particular I'm interested in seeing return.

I really liked the end of Rhino's Revenge. Mostly cause it reminds me of the end of "Lock-Up" from BTAS.

So Jungjie is a recurring villain too eh? Need to see some evil version of Shifu after all.

Another problem I have with the show is that the characters don't seem to learn from their mistakes. How many times is Shifu going to tell Po about a dangerous item and then expect him not to use it? On "Jailhouse Panda" I actually expected Shifu to have deliberately tricked Po into using the shiftstone, perhaps thinking that his naivete could fool Tong Fo (which it did.) But apparently that was not the case.

Related: is Po going to ever reuse all the moves he's been learning? (The Mindslip Finger at least was erased from his mind, but what about the Forbidden Moves? Or the Golden Clap?)

Yeah, I understand that in a series like this Status Quo Is God but given the other continuity nods in the show (like Taotie getting the bill from wrecking the training hall in an earlier episode) i expected a bit more.

Po wouldn't use forbidden techniques since it's sort of out of character of him - it's like he'll only use it when the situation comes.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him bust out a few of the Seven Impossible Moves in another match against Fenghuang down the line. On the other hand, they could just as easily go the route of having him outsmart her... though given this is Po, they'd have to pull that off pretty well.

...Is it just me, or is Viper sort of getting the shaft line-wise? She doesn't seem to speak as much as the rest of the Furious Five... like she's pulling a Movie!Monkey or something. I expect both she and Crane will get a spotlight episode somewhere down the line, but all the same, she sort of feels underused to me right now.

Also... Peng. What does everyone think of "The Kung Fu Kid"?

Is that the one that ends with The kid revealing that his uncle is Tai Lung? If so...oh man. Yes. Loved it. I only saw the ending but that's all I needed to see.

You know what I really like about this show? It's not only acknowledging the movie(s) (unlike other animated series like Barnyard and Penguins), but it's even building from them, like this episode.

edited 30th Nov '11 3:48:08 PM by Sabertooth1000000000

The problem is that we, the audience, know that Po knows those moves now- and even if he'd be reluctant to use them, every time he's in a desperate situation I can't help thinking "why doesn't he use __ move?" It's annoying.

Saw two more episodes recently, Rhino's Revenge and Master Ping. Boy, are my reactions to them opposite!

I hated "Revenge". Not just because Hundun turned out to be a irredeemable character (for no logical reason) but it was really sad that Po tried so hard to help him and failed. Doubly so when Hundun played the "I'm OK now!" card. Argh! And to top it off: since when has Po had that weakness to round kicks? In fact ALL the Furious Five where given combat weaknesses *just so* Hundun could beat them. At least Po overcame his (not very convincingly) but I'll bet the other's will never even be mentioned again.

Now, "Master Ping" was (IMHO) the most touching, yet utterly hilarious episode so far. Not only it revisited Po's relationship with his father (and remember, this is before the events of the second movie) but it managed to use Ping to cause mayhem while still being perfectly in character. OK, his learning a Kung Fu move by accident was a bit much (gee, Kung Fu is REALLY easy to learn, it seems, from this episode and others) but it set up the "battle" between Ping and Po and for that alone I forgive it.

Favorite quote so far (from "Sight for Sore Eyes"): Crane says to a (temporarily) blind Po, "You can't see us, but we are smiling. Well, except Tigress."

Tigress: "I AM smiling. This is my happy face."

edited 30th Nov '11 5:42:22 PM by Sijo

Wow, Sight for Sore Eyes was a damn good episode. Hell, this whole series is pretty damn good.

I am very pleasantly surprised.

Junjie is my favorite villain next to Fung.

Also, dat callback

On the move thing: I can accept that the inexperienced Po wouldn't necessarily even think to bust out some of those moves during the heat and stress of battle, simply because he isn't as used to it.

And if "Rhino's Revenge" is set before all the other episodes (as it seems to be), then Crane's weakness, at least, came back during one of his matches with "Bad Po", as that was exactly what Evil!Po did when fighting him.

Speaking of moves, is the show still trying to keep up with each of the Furious Five's style of Kung Fu like the movie did? Eg. is Monkey still using Monkey Style, Crane using Crane style etc? Anybody know? (I'm not knowledgeable enough in martial arts to tell. The fights are just too fast for me to follow anyway.)

edited 1st Dec '11 5:46:13 PM by Sijo

Yeah they still use the style, although they incorporate some new stuff (e.g. Monkey using drunken style and Mantis knowing how to use pressure points).

I smell a jealous Tigress! I wonder if we'll see more Su though.

Crane barely fights, but he got a really nice part in "Sight For Sore Eyes" where he takes on a snow leopard minion and uses a style that really impressed me in how simple, calm and controlled it was, rather than the incredibly acrobatic styles everyone else used.

Though I like those (Monkey had a similar scene in that episode that cements him as having my second favorite fighting style of the Five), it's nice to have a character use a style that simple, effective, and cool.

Are we ever going to get an episode where Viper gets focus? I love how we're getting focus on Monkey, Tigress and even one for Mantis, and I don't mind so much that Crane is always out of focus because he kind of works that way (Mantis as well, him getting a focus episode was a bonus, I'd say), but alongside Monkey I kind of feel Viper is a sort of wasted potential given how she has personality but hasn't really been able to have it fleshed out.

Especially after seeing Secrets Of The Furious Five, I think Viper needs more lines at least.

edited 1st Dec '11 10:11:33 PM by KnownUnknown