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.
Review of Xiaolin Chronicles
