#dragons rising euphrasia | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cookii-moon · 11 months

Text

FULL Dragons Rising thoughts and opinions!

PLEASE BE AWARE SPOILERS FOR EPISODES 1-10 OF DRAGONS RISING LIES AHEAD!!! If you have not watched it PLEASE be aware that the following contains both massive and minor spoilers for the entire plot of part 1, if you haven’t seen the full thing and wish to go in without spoilers I HEAVILY recommend you save this for later. I put this message here for those who do not have the spoiler tags filtered.

so… new ninjago show! So far? Absolutely love it. It’s shaping up to be interesting and… …well written??! I really enjoyed It, especially the characterization. Sooo good. No concrete opinions on the overarching plot yet, since.. it isn’t out… BUT I do think it’s shaping up to be pretty great.

Now without further ado-

1: Characters

1.1: Arin

I’d say I enjoy him! I do like how he’s portrayed as giddy and all ready to learn, his dream basically just came true and it’s great. Man hyper fixated so much that he taught himself an ancient art style and like yeah that tracks.

I like his design - you can tell he’s had a rough life by the dirt on his shirt and the scratch marks on his face, but he tries not to give up hope or let it get to him too much. I also like how he has a haircut commonly associated with black people and they kept the theme by also having that one line about a haircut he tried to get reference Zane’s, since Zane also has a haircut commonly used by black people. Nice lil way of alluding to a potentially POC character while still using the Lego skin tones.

His little moments where he lets his struggles get the best of him and showcases how his life these past few years have also impacted him for not just the better but also worse - they’re great. Nice way of balancing his character and personality with his experiences while not losing the charm. Things like him being all self deprecating sometimes, or how he felt seen when people looked up to him - they’re great. Not as much as I’d like, but i get the feeling that while this part was more focused on Sora and her backstory, the next might be more centered around Arin.

On a more personal note - while I think he’s great and has potential, I dunno if he’s really my thing. I don’t hate him, I actually like him, just not as much as some other characters right now. I think he needs some time to grow on me, or it’s just not my thing. Either way, he’s cool. Also I love how he just slaps his medallion on his face when he gets second place… it’s so dramatic-

1.2: Sora

aaaa trans kitty cat girl my beloveddd she’s just ugghhhh I love her so much. Probably one of my favorite new characters. I liked her but was scared they’d go too far with the generic big sister trope and she’d never get any deeper than that but boy I’m glad I was wrong.

I love her design. The whites and blues a pinks? Really glad they didn’t just go for a full color again, it makes her more distinct! I also love the prosthetic arm SO MUCH. Rare to see any sort of disability rep in media. Even rarer to see prosthetics. (Also yes ik it’s possible it’s just like armor or smthn but given the way it moves I’m like 99% sure it’s a prosthetic, plus I could be wrong but It looks a lot like she has it off during the scene where Lloyd wakes them up, since you can’t see her gold/prosthetic arm where it would usually be. Only going based off of pictures and memory here tho so.) < — haaaahaaaa yeah so uh future Cookie here, wrote that part before the statement came out..yeah that aged poorly. Look maybe they said it’s armor but I REFUSE to accept it that is a prosthetic to me. My mind has engrained it as a prosthetic meaning I couldn't change my mind even if I tried. Leaving that part in tho for histories sake. - Also, the Japanese cat girl is such a vibe. I love how I was right with the blue scrunchie in my art of her.,The power of character design.

I loved her story so much. She was just a kid with a love for technology and making the world a better place, she got offered what she thought was her dream job only to realize the cruel truth she’d likely been ignoring, in such a traumatizing way by the person she looked up to. She got shunned not only socially but by her own parents, being told she was a horrible person for prioritizing the dragons life over her cities energy and questioning the dictatorship. She grew to hate her home and fled and made a life for herself. I love her lil deadname tease, I love how she feels towards her powers and how she feels like she isn’t all that Lloyd thinks she is, how she clearly has issues and also her personality. Her siblings energy with Arin is so good. I love when Lloyd and Arin doubt who’s side they’re on too. I like how she doesn’t learn to control her powers like some ex machina when it’s needed on her own. She tries her hardest but fails and instead of constantly letting that get her down she still tries to fight without them, even if it doesn’t always go well. Dhdhfjdjs I could rant all day.

So uhh yeah i love her. Kitty cat girl. I really like the duality between her and Arin but also the stuff they have in common like sndhdhsben. I mean it should be obvious I like her. She’s in my title thingymajig and I made art for her. But still. Hdjdjdhdh I LOVB HER.

Also this isn’t part of my analysis but when she gets fake IDs if you translate the ninjagan on her card it reads “Sora Surname” as a placeholder and I think it’d be hilarious if we just started using that as her last name tag since this community is obsessed with them. Sora Surname. It’d be so funny. Please tag your posts Sora Surname.

1.3: Euphrasia

So like when dragons rising first released I saw quite a few peoples hating on this girl and imo I actually really like her. I feel like the hate is sort of unfounded but I’ll get into that later.

I like her!! I like the idea of her being a cloud kingdom monk, i like the new cloud kingdom designs, I like that FINALLY girls seem to exist there, and her wanting to ignore and hide her powers because she’s happy where she is and she doesn’t want to lose it. Side note, I do prefer this cloud kingdom, I feel like it leaves more room. Like if someone doesn’t like the idea that they write destiny at all they can just.. chose to see them as a sort of religious group who doesn’t actually write fate, and then if you like the idea that they can control some amount of destiny you can say that they do have control over some parts of it, but that they simply can’t control everything and in the end it’s not only up to them but also the people of the world if the prophecies come true or not (personally I like to think that’s how it is/is implied) or that they COULD control destiny but can’t anymore after the merge. Idk you can stretch it more and I like that. So much better than the old cloud kingdom imo.

Back to Euphrasia, I do like her story and the little we see of her. I’m not actually bothered by the fact that she only appears in one episode. I’ve seen people complaining about it but come on guys, we literally only have ten episodes, would you have preferred that she randomly pops into imperium when she has no logical way of getting there and that’s where like every single other episode takes place?? There physically wasn’t anywhere else she would have appeared after episode 5 unless you made her join Sora and Arin, which not only would you need to lengthen the plot to develop her as a character with interactions since they JUST met, but also it’s refreshing to have a new EM who isn’t one of the new MCs.

the OTHER reason I see people hate her is because of Morro. Obviously, she’s the new master of wind, meaning Morro is dead, and his element went back to the cycle and found a new host. So people are upset.

guys. Guys we literally knew this. We’ve known he was dead since like 2015. We’ve known he moved on to the departed realm since 2016. We’ve known that the wind element has gone back to the cycle and found a new host for YEARS. That doesn’t mean Morro suddenly doesn’t exist. He just doesn’t have his element anymore. He could still appear in the new series, and even if he doesn’t I’m honestly ok with that. His arc is done and i get the feeling he’d go out of his way to avoid the ninja after the merge anyway. It isn’t Euphrasia fault, stop hating on her D:

I don’t have much else to say about her yet. I loved her story and moments and design and vibe and everything but there isn’t much else to talk about bc of the smol screen time amount, so yeah.

1.4: Wyldfyre

Silly wolf-raised-girl-trope-with-a-dragon-twist. I love her so much. Not sure I’d call her one of my favs yet (uuugh they’re all my favs… sobs..) only bc we didn’t see much of her character interactions n stuff.

Her design is so pretty. The colors make her look like a Qilin to me which I love so much.

I do like how she’s knowledgeable enough with humans to be able to interact with the rest of the cast while still keeping her draconic behaviors or knowledge that she gained by being raised around them. I think it’s a nice little limbo and I feel like we’re gonna see at least one identity crisis from her now that she’s in the group.

I’m usually not much of a fan of these types of characters but I actually really like her and I’m excited to see where they go with her. Plus, her powers and the lighting they give off are so pretty.

1.5: Lobbo

I had to include him. Look at him. I CALLED IT. I TOLD YOU ALL, ALL THE WAY BACK IN THE TRAILER DAYS I POINTED OUT LOBBOS MECH. I SAID I LOVED HIM ALREADY AND I WAS RIGHT. TAKE THAT INTERNET!! I unironically love him he’s so funny nobody understands him he’s just THERE with parental and relationship struggles and it’s just so funny to me. Little silly orb man. Now onto the villains!

1.6: Empress Beatrix

So I like… love her design, it’s so menacing and I think she’s so awesome looking. Super gender too. I find her weird rules funny but also sometimes I want to punch her in the face. Like.. why did she get so mad about Rapton being incompetent, but then.. fire Ras… who didn’t really do anything wrong except for fail that ONE time.. instead of Rapton.. who physically isn’t competent whatsoever?? Like I don’t get it?? It felt so random. Maybe it’s some form of her wanting to feel superior and in control so she got rid of Ras as a statement. But then… why not also fire Rapton, who thinks highly of himself bc of the position you gave him?.. I dunno I don’t get it maybe they’ll tell us in part 2.

1.7: Lord Ras

Ah yes, the guy people seem to really like. I’ll be honest, I don’t get the appeal?? Like his design feels out of place, which I guess is intentional but I just.. don’t really like the look of the awkward head mold. It’s a personal thing ig. His personality is just kind of boring to me and we don’t know anything else about him because he’s that scary bad guy general except oh wait he screwed up once and got thrown in prison!! Like I don’t get it?? Look guys he’s not even that attractive. I might be aroace but even I can tell that much. It’s the voice isn’t it. Y’all are simping for the voice smh /lh

I guess his whole “plan” thing is a bit interesting but even that isn’t something I’m too interested. I kinda just found him pretty boring and I felt disinterested whenever he showed up.

like in the last few episodes it felt like they were trying to make us feel bad for him with the way the empress treated him but like, they don’t give us anything to feel bad for?? I dunno the whole thing felt awkward and clunky.

Maybe my opinions will change in part 2 where we’re probably gonna find out more about him, but until then, meh.

also I want to punch him in the face sometimes. I dunno he’s just being all th e r e and boring and so I want to punch him and get him off of the screen because it’s like an annoying type of boring. Yk like an annoying torturous silence. But boring. Yeah that. No offense I don’t hate him I just want to punch him off of my screen.

1.8: Rapton

Silly goofy guy. I’ll be honest I found his incompetence a bit.. annoying? Like I get he’s supposed to be comic relief but like it doesn’t feel right sometimes?? It’s just a personal thing ig. I feel like having some comic relief villains is ok but imperium just has too much comic relief in their villain roster?? Like Ras and Beatrix are pretty much the only capable ones in a fight. Ras got chucked in prison and barely shows up or does much, and Beatrix still has comic relief elements in her ridiculous laws and such. LaRow could count but shes not really a competent fighter since she cowers and nopes out the second Arin tries to fight her. I feel like it just.doesn’t work with imperiums vibe having rapton as a general, and honestly i didn’t find his jokes funny (but ofc humor is subjective). I don’t dislike him, I just don’t really care about him. I want to punch him in the face whenever he shows up but out of annoyance.

1.9: Dr. LaRow

She shows up and I want to punch her but this time out of malice and hatred. She’s a good villain and I like how they handled her but I physically can not feel anything but spite for this woman and I love that. Great villain. Hate her with every fiber of my being which is how it should be.

1.10: Dorama

I don’t have much to say about him asides from that the magician vibes are fun and that I want to punch him in the face for his attitude towards living beings.

… apparently I really feel like punching all of them. Huh. I swear I’m not like this usually I dunno something about all these villains is just punchable.

2: Interactions

Honestly? I’d say the interactions in this show were great. Sora and Arin are great foils to each other and best buds. My only thing is I hope the show doesn’t try to push a ship (I’ve seen people complain about shipping them and while I see their dynamic in a platonic familial sense I have nothing against people shipping them romantically atm since we don’t know of anything that’d make it problematic, I just don’t think it should be forced in canon) but I choose to be hopeful and say it probably won’t. Lloyds interactions with his new students are amazing and so funny srfvjrtfjer Lloyds really gone from the guy who didn’t know what a VCR was to the guy who probably still doesn’t know what a VCR is (somehow) but has now adopted two strays and needs to pretend to know what a VCR is. It’s so funny. The sibling bicker between Lloyd, Kai and Nya was ok, I guess? Never cared much for the RGB sibling idea… Iknowww shame on me but uh was it just me or did the interactions feel a bit… forced? I dunno, something about it just felt off. Was it just me or did anyone else feel like that?? Also Soras interactions with Dr. LaRow and Rapton… so good… Overall I like the interactions even if the ones between the ninja felt a bit forced.

3: Writing & plot

So I enjoyed the writing.. specifically the characters dialogue and such. I think this season has some really good balance between dialogue and characters. I liked the pacing a lot up until the imperium episodes. I don’t have a problem with them on their own - I liked the conflict it sparked and the stakes and seeing Sora’s backstory, but I also felt like it dragged on too much?? Like Sora kept escaping and then getting captured and then escaping and then going back like it felt really backtracky and it kind of messed with the consistency and the pacing, yk?? Also the battle with the protacs definitely felt like the writers were trying to stall or smthn. Idk.

Also, did Zane popping up feel.. unnecessary and rushed to anybody else?? Like the IDEA was awesome and cool, things were great up until they opened the pod.. then Zane pops up and he doesn't really do anything except for immediately become a generic background exposition tool, he barely even interacts with Kai and Nya. Having him there felt so… unnecessary? He doesn’t DO anything. You could get rid of him and just give them another way of activating the monastery and it’d change nothing. Plus it’s NOT explained and he’s just so… unemotional and “whatever” about it that it just… feels so unnatural?? Idk I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s just me not liking how they seem to be reverting to making Zane more of a robotic exposition tool like after s4. I don’t like it. You could’ve just left him to part 2 though.

I’ve seen ppl complain about the “retcons” with Lloyd saying he trained under Master Wu for years and being shown as a child, but like, they’re not really retcons…? From what I remember they never give us any sort of specifics towards the timeframe in which S1-S2 takes place outside of S2 taking place only a few weeks after the S1 finale, but that doesn’t really apply to the ENTIRE season. It’s not Impossible that the events we see all take place over the course of a few years, since most of the episodes aren’t connected to each other beyond the overarching plot. And nothing ever said that Wu didn’t train Lloyd. What we see isn’t the only training that took place. Maybe I forgot something important that says otherwise, but the idea that S1-2 took place in only a few weeks/months is completely fan made, meaning it wasn’t a retcon. Sure, maybe it seems weird, but it’s never been stated otherwise. Now, if it IS a retcon, I’m not complaining for one. Why, you might ask? Because them using child Lloyd and saying he trained under Master Wu for years might mean we can FINALLY be rid of the Tomorrows tea confusion!! We could have him grow up naturally, or age him up and clarify and elaborate on how it works, we could FIX the entire stupid argument that has been going on for YEARS. I for one am ecstatic at that possibility. Also, it means we might get additional context and stuff for S1-S2, which sounds fun ,so honestly I have no problem with it. There have been worse plot holes/retcons *glares at Nyad from across the room*

I can’t say much about the overarching plot yet, since obviously it isn’t out, but it’s shaping up to be pretty exciting!

4: Worldbuilding

I feel like I can’t judge this TOO much considering the nature of part 1. I absolutely loved the crossroads and the mix of different cultures, real splatsville vibes, but I do feel like we should get to see more of how the other realms are doing. Imperium felt a bit.. strange? Like it’s just a massive city of humans right?? I don’t really get why it had to be an entire separate realm, I think it should’ve been more unique on like a larger scale. I dunno though. Honestly there wasn’t much worldbuilding in this part, so I hope we get more soon.

5: Visual design & animation

Okay so this new series is BEAUTIFUL. The colors and the backgrounds are so much more vibrant, the lighting is so pretty, the environments are amazing, they kept the wild brain clothing textures and just uuuugh I love it so muchychxhazjchcjdiwhthfs the animation felt very expressive and ueuahahehfhdsj I have no words props to wildbrain and the animators/artists. It’s so pretty.

Overall this part was great and I’m really excited to see what comes next!!

also uh on a side note this post took me *checks date* uhh 2… 2 weeks.. y e a h. So uh. Enjoy.

38 notes · View notes