Xiaolin Chronicles

When I was younger, I LOVED watching Xiaolin Showdown. Everything about Showdown is great... I wish I could say the same about Chronicles however. I saw the sequel announced years ago and it caught my attention but never got around to it until recently. I decided to re-watch Showdown first and grew to appreciate it even more as an adult. It's funny, clever, original, entertaining, and has good character development. Chronicles possesses everything BUT those characteristics. I don't even know where to begin with this huge letdown of a series.

First and foremost, this is NOT a sequel despite what it's labeled as. It's basically some form of spinoff series I guess? Reason I say this is because some of the backstories don't match up with the original at all. Shen Gong Wu have different names (I get it's because of copyright but I don't care) and some of them don't even have the same powers as the ones from Showdown such as the Golden Tiger Claws for instance. Instead of transporting you anywhere in the world, it travels through time. Most of voice actors are different (not necessarily why I hate it, but it's still a letdown). They introduce a new character Ping Pong (basically a mini-Omi who's less egotistical) who is just downright boring, obnoxious, and uninspiring. Ping Pong basically adds nothing to the series. Dojo is the worst of them all. Aside from the fact that he's yellow now for whatever reason, he also has a huge obsession/hard-on for Master Fung. Like REALLY obsessed, to the point where he's just down right unbearable. Always calling him lovey dovey nicknames and day dreaming about him. It doesn't help that when he senses a new Wu now he gets some kind of rash boil attack that's really not pleasing to look at.

Even the showdowns itself aren't even exciting to watch anymore. They decided to make them CGI which is odd since Showdown didn't do this. Even the transition from reality to the showdowns are rather weak. It used to be exciting watching two characters challenge each other, explain the game details, yell "XIAOLIN SHOWDOWN!", then everything just transitions around them to transform into the showdown arena. You just knew before they even touched the Wu that things were about to go down. Now it just doesn't have the same feel. Feels like they just quickly rush into the showdown, Dojo does this spinning thing in front of the screen, then everything becomes CGI.

I wanted to enjoy this, I really did, but completing this was very difficult for me to do and I constantly wanted to drop it. I even found myself not paying attention at times because I would distract myself with other things due to how much boring it ultimately is.

If you are a fan of Showdown and plan on watching Chronicles, I recommend watching it with very low expectations.

Watched this show with my grandson who is 6-years-old. Had a blast. His favorite character is Raymundo and mine are Dojo and the cowboy. I'd say all the main characters are pretty well defined, with unique traits and quirks. Good character development in general. Liked that there is a backstory from the old days. I'd bet they can go a lot deeper into that world… Would be fascinating if they would ever make it. Hope so. Would really like to see more stories on Raymundo, may be next season? Master Fung should be in more stories also. He's quite the character and can make the show richer. If I had to be super critical, the animation, especially the 3D part, can be improved. Overall, it's a fun, entertaining show for kids. Love the magical adventures myself. Wish there is a virtual reality component where we can fly on Dojo. Now that'd be some magical adventure! My grandson now wants a sword just like the one Raymundo uses. Where to get it?

Xiaolin Chronicles is a show that tries to be a continuation, but when it ended after only 26 episodes, would be labeled a stand alone show. While I have seen Xiaolin Showdown when it aired on Cartoon Network, this continuation was made without Warner Bros. As a result, the Shen Gong Wu have been renamed because WB owns the rights to the original names (Orb Of Tornami is now called Orb of Torpedo, and Monkey Staff is now called Monkey Spear),which I understood as this is done by a different company, as well as the change of some voice actors due to it being made in Canada, and Canadian laws require an all-Canadian voice cast (although Tara Strong and Jennifer Hale do return from Showdown to voice Omi and Katnappe).

So, the story is that Omi, Clay, and Kimiko have reached the title of Shuko Warriors (a title Raymundo reached in the final episode of Showdown), and now must find a new Xiaolin Temple after events lead to its destruction. Joining them is Ping Pong, a new Xiaolin Monk who is basically a mini-me of Omi, and they face threats old and new.

So, the thing with this series is it can't make up its mind on whether or not it's a continuation or a reboot. A lot of things have changed, as Dojo is now yellow, the first episode changes the tale of Dashi's fight with Wuya where he imprisons her in a spring, and the characters' personalities have been changed (with Omi getting the worst of it, as he becomes a brat who tends to hog the spotlight, and Raymundo is not the leader of the group). I don't know if these changes were also done to avoid legal issues with Warner Bros., since Christy Hui did return to direct, but it can be jarring at first.

Another thing keeping it down is the new character Ping Pong. He is basically a mini-me of Omi in different clothes, and a good example of what a Gary Stu is, as despite being a novice (and his element being wood), he can use the others' elements without problem (which contradicts an episode of Xiaolin Showdown). Also, Chase Young gets a sidekick named Shadow, who is basically a Villain Sue, only there to be the sexy character. Also, character backstories are different than in Showdown, which can cause confusion.

But one of the worst things in this series is how the Xiaolin Showdowns are done. Now they are done in CGI, and sadly, for 2013 standards, it looks so generic and bland. While the action is good and it is nice to see Xiaolin Showdown brought back, I feel this failed due to the changes it made, hence why Hui would call this a stand alone series instead of a continuation.

So after what was arguably a pretty good show got cancelled because they couldn't make any merch to sell, someone at CN saw the success of Despicable Me and thought: what can we make that has characters that look like Minions?! IDEAS?! Xiaolin Showdown?! Let's do it!

I mean, you tell me. Tell me what was the point of introducing another minu Omi who was more annoying and sounded more squeaky other than trying to have their own Minion merchandise?

So to make a soft reboot while not officially a reboot but definitely a reboot, and doing the same things but cheapening out even more on animation for cheap cheese 3D animation that Jonny Quest did 20 years ago during battles. What do all these ingredients make this soup? Why it's definitely NOT the Lah Oh Mah soup for immortality, it's the stinky cheese soup of Amnesia. Because no one wants to remember this series ever happened.

I have to say that this series looks nicer, but the writing is definitely not as crisp and clean. Jokes of disgust leaves you with more disgust (just look at the last picture on this series and you tell me if this is funny joke). The jokes about Jack getting beaten around definitely feel like they have been cut by the new censor of the studio. I guess that only leaves childish rug rats jokes of disgust.

But my problem comes again to the mini minion. Why would you ruin the formula with a 2nd Omi? Why did you need to change all the names of weapons of the very show you made 5 year earlier?! Oh yeah, to avoid paying those royalties to the original writers.

Am I glad that this idea ended on such an embersssing reboot? Yeah, kind of. It shows why reboots should not be attempted. Just because Scooby Doo can do it, doesn't mean that anything can.

Since I'm a big fan of the original series, Xiaolin Showdown (I grew up watching it every Saturday), Xiaolin Chronicles isn't really a continuation of Xiaolin Showdown regardless of what many people might think. I conducted an interview with the show's producer a while back on a school project, and I found out that one of the major differences was that the network/studio required this new series be episodic. This surprising requirement presented big creative challenges in storytelling for the writers, since they wanted to tell evolving stories in the tradition of Xiaolin Showdown. Evolving stories require longer arcs, spanning over multiple episodes, which resulted in many 2-parters and 3-parters in Xiaolin Showdown. The old series was serialized through and through. As each season of Xiaolin Showdown progressed, the seasonal arcs also evolved. That's one of the reasons why Xiaolin Showdown was a great kids show. Without the ability to write shows in a serialized manner, this takes a way a lot of opportunity for character growth, story build up, and evolving conflicts, just to name a few. We all know that plots need time to develop, evolve, and thicken… I understand this even though I am not a professional writer. Therefore, Xiaolin Chronicles is not meant to be a reboot or continuation of Xiaolin Showdown, and it is unfair to compare them under the same light. Additionally, Xiaolin Chronicles is made under very different circumstances, with many creative constraints. For starters, it was not even made in the US, and the crew spoke French. So there, it should tell you how different the production settings were between the two shows. The old show — a product of a major US studio. The new one - a product made in France by a small independent. So all things considered, I'd say Xiaolin Chronicles turned out great. It's a fun action adventure show. Having said that, I still like the fact that the Xiaolin monks are back! It served the purpose of re-introducing the Xiaolin monks to a new set of audience. And I love that there is a new monk joining the adventure. Sure there are always things to pick on… in any given show. But to me, it's always fun to watch Xiaolin. However, I'd love it even more if the new Xiaolin shows can be done in a serialized fashion, so that the stories can evolve and grow in order to bring out the best that Xiaolin has to offer. Stay true and stay faithful to Xiaolin Showdown. That'd be a good thing.