The Dragon Prince

shortstorymachinist

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I watched the first three episodes tonight, and as an avid A:TLA fan, I was simultaneously excited and wary. I was afraid that anything to follow the Avatar series would inevitably be crushed under the weight of impossible expectations, no matter how I tried to manage them.

Generally, I can say I am impressed and relieved. Aaron Ehasz carries over all the quality from A:TLA, at least in terms of writing. I was a little nervous when the opening voice over seemed to hit cliche after cliche, but it quickly moved past that into the nitty gritty lives of interesting characters, where the story came alive thanks to witty dialogue, subtle world building, and genuinely relatable relationships.

The computer animation is shoddy and sometimes uncomfortable to watch, but the voice work is great all around, and it doesn't hurt that Jack De Sena (Sokka from A:TLA) makes a return.

I'm on board.
 

Cobalt Jade

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Is this based on Melanies Rawn's Dragon Prince series?
 

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I was so excited when I first heard about it only for that excitement to wither away when I saw the trailer. Did you get used to the animation?
 

shortstorymachinist

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I was so excited when I first heard about it only for that excitement to wither away when I saw the trailer. Did you get used to the animation?

Not really. It gets a bit smoother during action scenes, but for the most part you just have to ignore it as best you can. Sometimes it's smooth and sometimes it's like watching a flipbook. IMO the writing is doing a good job making up for that lack, but I still wonder why Netflix didn't want to shell out for proper animation. They did with Voltron. *shrugs*
 

Brightdreamer

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Watched the first episode last night, and boy does this remind me of the kind of cartoons I grew up watching in the 80's (in a good way.) Prologue is indeed a little overlong and telly, but the story looks to be making up for it.

The animation style reminds me of what little anime I've seen; it seems to be a deliberate choice, and it's quickly gotten used to.

Right now, my main complaint is a lack of decent merchandising to go with it. I want me one o' those awesome dragons, dang it!

ETA - Finished watching all 9 episodes, and I want more! Now! Gah... may resort to rewatching, which I didn't think I'd do. Some of the dialog, especially in the later episodes, is brilliant. (Much, much better than Disenchanted, which is watchable but overlong. If you have to pick one, pick Dragon Prince. Seriously. And I say this as an adult, not a kid.)
 
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shortstorymachinist

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Watched the first episode last night, and boy does this remind me of the kind of cartoons I grew up watching in the 80's (in a good way.) Prologue is indeed a little overlong and telly, but the story looks to be making up for it.

The animation style reminds me of what little anime I've seen; it seems to be a deliberate choice, and it's quickly gotten used to.

Right now, my main complaint is a lack of decent merchandising to go with it. I want me one o' those awesome dragons, dang it!

ETA - Finished watching all 9 episodes, and I want more! Now! Gah... may resort to rewatching, which I didn't think I'd do. Some of the dialog, especially in the later episodes, is brilliant. (Much, much better than Disenchanted, which is watchable but overlong. If you have to pick one, pick Dragon Prince. Seriously. And I say this as an adult, not a kid.)

Same, I finished the series and thought it was great. Apparently this was some sort of trial run and depending on how well it does Netflix will greenlight more. I'm kind of nervous about that, because that's how Korra was handled and it really seemed to hurt the pacing.

From what I've seen you're right about the animation, they did it on purpose to avoid the 'floatiness' that computer animation can have. Apparently they're aware of the complaints and if enough people don't like it, they'll try to improve it in future seasons. Overall though, yeah, I agree that it's easy enough to ignore/get used to.


Do iiiiiit!
 

Brightdreamer

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Same, I finished the series and thought it was great. Apparently this was some sort of trial run and depending on how well it does Netflix will greenlight more. I'm kind of nervous about that, because that's how Korra was handled and it really seemed to hurt the pacing.

I hope they can maintain quality going forward. Keeping seasons short like this seems to help.
 

Lissibith

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I feel a little bad because I didn't necessarily think it was great. The big problem really is the animation --and boy is it hilariously bad sometimes. It had my sister, an animation buff, alternately laughing and swearing from start to finish, and even I (not an art critic by any means) was still wincing every time someone suddenly teleported around or did that weird stuttering thing where it looked like they took already-rendered video and slowed it down WAY too much. Overall, it reminded me of RWBY with a third of the frames cut out.

But also, I found some of the characterizations to be really uneven and some plot points come and went so quickly that I was left wondering what the point had even been. I do find myself wondering if they didn't actually intend to end the "season" here originally, because it's entirely possible there could be an explanation for some of this stuff coming later. But in a vacuum? I found it a little baffling. I'm sure a rewatch will help.

And I probably will rewatch at some point. I didn't think it was anywhere near Avatar, but I found it highly enjoyable, and even the bits I didn't like had so much potential. I really hope they get more of this greenlit. The design of the whole thing is beautiful, most of the characters were great, and their interactions gave me life. :) (And if Awesome Aunt could be in it more, that would be amazing)
 

Kjbartolotta

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...I kinda checked out pretty early, too many fantasy tropes I get cranky about. Probably give it another try this weekend.
 

Brightdreamer

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...I kinda checked out pretty early, too many fantasy tropes I get cranky about. Probably give it another try this weekend.

IMHO, the first ep is the weakest; that prologue really could've been trimmed or broken up, and it kinda throws the momentum off. It picks up after that. By the second or third, it's hitting a decent stride, and characters start to move in some unexpected directions.
 

shortstorymachinist

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IMHO, the first ep is the weakest; that prologue really could've been trimmed or broken up, and it kinda throws the momentum off. It picks up after that. By the second or third, it's hitting a decent stride, and characters start to move in some unexpected directions.

QFT.
 

Lissibith

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IMHO, the first ep is the weakest; that prologue really could've been trimmed or broken up, and it kinda throws the momentum off. It picks up after that. By the second or third, it's hitting a decent stride, and characters start to move in some unexpected directions.
Oooh, yeah. I think I'd managed to block out that prologue whenever I think about the series, but ... yeah.