THE DRAGON PRINCE

           The Dragon Prince: No Avatar, No Problem!
In the magical land of Xadia, magic comes from six primal sources: the sun, moon, stars, sky, earth and ocean. When human mages create a seventh kind of magic -- dark magic -- they start capturing and harvesting the unique magical creatures thereby leading them to conflict with the Elves. The kingdom is then split in two; the magical realm of the Elves and the human Kingdom and the border protected by the Dragon King; Thunder. When the humans however destroy the Dragon King and killed the Prince, the stage is set for an unrelenting war and the attempt to even the scores by taking the lives of two humans; King Harrow and his heir, Prince Ezran. What do you get when an assassin becomes a friend? And a deceased person turns up, not dead?......... Adventure!!!

The Dragon Prince was arguably the most anticipated Netflix animated show in 2018, and it was not unconnected with its uncanny similarities to Avatar, the Last Airbender. The show began with a 3rd party narrative of the origin of war, which we must confess did a pretty beautiful job of introducing the principal characters, the plot and the conflict elements, all achieved within a space of some 5 minutes. This is testament to one of Netflix's strong points; time management and precision in content delivery.
  The animation style adopted by Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond is eerily similar to that of Avatar, the Last Airbender. Perhaps Netflix loved his work with the latter and wanted to retain him and his style for this project. On a personal note, I felt the animation style was a little bit outdated, perhaps something in the line of Avatar Legend of Korra would have done more justice to the overall look and feel of the characters.
 Character movements and combat felt a little jerky, and lacking in fluidity, but nonetheless the fight scenes were brilliantly presented. It was reported that Netflix chose to scale down the CGI a little bit to give the movements and combat simulations a little more realism and reduced "floatiness". Perhaps that explains why one may be forgiven for not noticing the slight jerks, especially when it's a combat scene.
  Character dialogues are not too sensational, which we may put down to one of two factors;

 It's the first season, and much of the work revolves around the children yet.
 Secondly it's a whole new situation for the principal protagonists interacting, i.e between humans and Elves. The latter plays to the credibility of the show, as it creates that feeling of realism and does away with the surrealism that one would have felt if the show gave the characters awesome dialogues right off the bat.
  On a more positive note though, the dialogues between the older characters are nothing but sensational even though few and far between. The conversation between King Harrow and Viren, is of particular importance. It was brilliant, it was deep and it ended on a spectacular note; the mage on his knees. The conversations involving general Amaya and Viren was also brilliant. Perhaps we may get more of these brilliant dialogues and scenes in the second season.

  Let me run back to the principal characters and their performances. I'd say so far, the character with the most character armour is Claudia, Viren's daughter. She seems like the series X- factor, there are a lot of things strange about her, and her character is definitely in stark contrast to Soren, who seems like a dim witted idiot whose only strong suit is his combat ability. The team of Callum, Ezran and Rayla are just flat without much going for them yet. We haven't gotten any real attachments to them, we do not relate yet on a cosmic level with them. That perhaps is the only difference we have seen so far in comparison with the Avatar tv show.

  On a content level, the show is Brimming with a whole lot of ideas, the Elven custom that almost ruined the life of Rayla and the rest of the Assassins is just curious. Viren's practice of the dark arts and his seeming mastery of it leaves a lot to be expected. The discovery of the elemental powers and the impact they may have on the overall outlook on the show is of epic proportions which we still can't fathom. Essentially there is a lot out there waiting to be explored!

  The conflict element of the show is basically simple, from both the point of view of the Elves and from the point of view of the Humans. But it's simplicity may perhaps turn out to be its strong point, as it allows for flexibility in moulding the plot theme. We feel that with the conclusion of the first season at 9 episodes, we have a feeling that the main theme or conflict element has not yet been introduced. The creators have only presented us with the general idea of the conflict, but leaving out what conflict will carry the series through 3 or 4 seasons. We are very much interested and curious to know where the show is headed.
   For connoisseurs of good TV this is definitely something you must pick and watch. For fans of Avatar, this may even seem as though it were a spinoff. You will absolutely love to love this show. The show will leave you no choice than to relate and get involved.
  Created by Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond.
  Written by Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond
   Directed by Villads Spangsberg and Giancarlo Volpe
Starring ; Jack De Sena, Paula Burrows, Sasha Rojen, Racquel Belmonte
FCA'S AppR: 8.7/10
"This show is brilliant, it's engrossing, it's interesting, it's delectable. In fact when I was younger, this is the type of show I would have said  was 'sweet'......"
 @Skaeiyrecszxx