First off, spoilers (obviously).
Overall, I'd give this first part a 7/10. There was some REALLY solid stuff here:
Everything with Arin was phenomenal. Episode 8 was definitely the standout episode of the season, and maybe even of the show. Not to mention the scene between him and Sora at the top of Episode 9. Lots of great stuff.
The return of PIXAL is a really welcome addition, and that entire train fight with her and Zane was -- again -- a standout of this part.
Kai and Nya's interactions as siblings was really fun to watch.
Seeing the Forbidden Five [not you, Zarkt] steamroll the Ninja over the first 8 episodes was nice to see, after all their buildup in S2.
Ras and Arin might go down as the two best characters in Ninjago history. Every scene with them was great. The voice acting on the two of them, as well, was just incredible. Also it gave us Ras throwing chopsticks at Arin.
Morro was handled well. Arin and him meeting could've been very bad, but it wasn't, and I commend the writing team for that.
The ANIMATION? The FIGHT CHOREO? I think my favorite staple of Dragons Rising is their one shot fight scenes, I mean the fight in Djinnjago in Ep. 6? The juggling of the Prismatic Blade in Ep. 9? Lloyd vs. Thunderfang in Ep. 10? These animators need a raise.
The comedy in this part was on point.
THE SOUNDTRACK IS SO BUSS. NINJAGO MUSIC COME BACK, PLEASE.
Things I had an issue with:
The Forbidden Five fell apart for me when we hit Episode 9. They're supposed to be this unstoppable force when they're together, but the Ninja are able to get a 10 minute fight out of them. I will say, I liked that Nokt went off on his own quest to finish off Ras, it felt in-character and showed that the FF are a dysfunctional group. I also liked the combo Nokt and Rox performed on Arin at the end of the episode; the only thing is, it feels like the five of them could've done that 10 minutes ago, if they were capable of doing it.
On the topic of the FF, this part definitely gave Drix and Kur their spots to shine. Nokt had his moment in S2P2, so not seeing much of him in action was understandable... but Rox and Zarkt? Rox felt so... Bland? She didn't feel like a threat in any of the battles we saw her in, and she was only able to succeed in Ep. 6 after she used a DIFFERENT source of power to stop the Ninja. If she hadn't used Wish Magic, Rox would've lost, which makes me wonder how she became a conqueror in the first place? Let alone the leader of the FF.
And then poor Zarkt. Turns out, the real power of Misfortune is being incredibly unfortunate yourself.
The scene with Arin at his parent's graves felt very undercooked. I did not feel any form of emotion other than "Oh, ok."
Things I don't have an issue with, but are worth mentioning:
Rogue/Jay was... There. Hoping to see him do stuff in Part 2.
I need more clarification on how the Spectral Realm works, but it seems that'll also probably be coming in Part 2.
These are my initial reactions, I'll probably post more if things come to me.
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