by Panpardus » September 22nd, 2017, 8:21 pm
Definitely a fun episode, with constant threat of fire providing a good atmosphere and sense of danger, even though it does take a while for the disparate story elements to come together. I thought it was actually pretty clever how the guard was able to prevent the spread of the fires via digging ditches, and I couldn't help but wonder if Kion was going to try and use the storm cloud roar at some point - and was relieved when he didn't. (I was actually looking up the effects of wind on wildfires after I watched the episode, and basically if the wind is blowing fast and hard enough it can wipe out a fire, so I guess the use of the roar was as scientifically sound here as you could get with a magic roar.) That said, part of me wishes that the roar only caused more problems, building into an extended version of the "Never Roar Again" arc, with Kion's unintentional misuses of his power that cause him to question whether he should use it at all.
The other half of the actual story of the episode was interesting enough. Our mandrills' scenes together were nice, and I could definitely stand to see more of just them interacting in their mentor-student relationship. I do find it a little funny (and a bit of a mark of poor writing here) in how Makini keeps having these big ceremonies thrust on her such that she never learns about them until the day of, and her entire lesson has to be mastered in the span of a single afternoon or something, and I'm also still not quite sure what the point of this episode's ceremony was, not that it was a major plot point or anything, it just didn't make enough sense to me. Also, I can't help but be curious about whether Makini's second lost staff is going to amount to something later on; they took some time to linger on that shot and show that she got yet another one at the end of the episode.
On the titular "new neighbors", I guess they're likable enough individually and they're clearly not malicious or anything, just a couple of adolescent goofballs. (I still found the gorilla princes to be much more annoying with fewer redeeming qualities, even if they saved Kion's life, since it was their screwing around that got him in trouble in the first place.) I actually found it interesting that the show tried to somehow play with the angle regarding how adolescent males of a variety of social species are usually kicked out of their natal herds/groups when they come of age (in part because of their rambunctious, hormonal behavior), but nobody actually acknowledging that fact in-universe - not even Rafiki - was something I found very odd, and the way the show resolves the issue felt like they were trying to reach for some moral that didn't really exist here. In my opinion, it would've been a lot better if they'd just played it straight, then you could have a more interesting theme or moral while still having the same ending. (Once again, the downsides of being a preschool-targeted show.) While it wasn't as bad as I was expecting (i.e., "Tickbirds and Rhinos" 2.0), I found the song to be pretty much in the same vein as I did the one in "The Lost Gorillas" - an unremarkable montage song over an admittedly fun sequence. (Seeing Makuu and the crocs was great in its own way, though is it just me or does it look like they've changed location since we last saw them?)
Overall, fun episode with some rewatch value.