- Title: Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles – The Big City
- IMDb: link
Poor Usagi, what has Netflix done to you? Inspired by the rabbit ronin creation of Stan Sakai, but feeling more like a watered down version of the TV adventures of Kung Fu Panda (which themselves were watered-down version of the Kung Fu Panda films), Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles introduces us to Yuichi Usagi (Darren Barnet). Unlike his ancestor, Miyamoto Usagi, our new Usagi is a bit of a screw-up who dreams of becoming a samurai although his only true skill is bringing chaos and disaster with him.
One of the things that allowed the original Kung Fu Panda to work was making Po an instantly likable character with a big heart he wore on his sleeve. While both Po and Yuichi are fanboys who share dreams of bright futures, and a thirst for adventure, there isn’t much else in common. Yuichi seems indifferent to much of the trouble he causes in the first episode and doesn’t give a second’s though in how he will work to achieve his dream.
After a short introduction to the character living on a farm, Usagi sets out for the city of Neo Edo where he immediately interferes with a bounty hunter (Aleks Le) allowing a wanted criminal to escape, ruins a con artist’s (Shelby Rabara) puppet show, gets in a rumble with a street gang, destroys a woman’s (Mallory Low) home, and releases violent and dangerous Yokai who were safely locked away in the Ki-stone before his arrival. I guess we know what mess Usagi will be spending his time cleaning up next.