Dragons: The Nine Realms

There was an opportunity to make this show as exciting and as wonderful as The Race To The Edge. But it fell short on just about every count. Weak storyline, weak characters and the ending was just a huge let down. What exactly was the point of doing this series any way. If the point was to make sure that not another How To Train Your Dragon series ever gets written again, then mission accomplished. I doubt any network would gamble on another spin off especially with the show runner that created this monumental stinker of a show. I really hope the show runner has a back up job that isn't writing for TV.

As an enormous fan of How to Train Your Dragon franchise I was, like many others, not very optimistic, even doubtful for this show when it was first revealed.

While many of my concerns did crop up, my expectations were fairly low and I am happy to say the show surpassed or subverted many of my worries.

If you were a doubter, I would say to give the show a chance. While it is nothing groundbreaking, I do believe The Nine Realms will give most fans the feeling of a return to his universe, even if it is in the modern world.

Most of the stories are fairly simple, and the animation is a hugely mixed bag, but there are some compelling elements to be had amongst it. Feathers and Alex are two characters who are the most interesting, as having a dragon as a sort of support animal is both a new and rich concept that I hope will be explored further.

Huge props must be given to the composer who modernised, but captured the feel and soundscape of the Dragons soundtracks that have preceded it and honestly do the most work in carrying much of the show throughout its six episodes.

On the note of number of episodes, 6 episodes means the show is neither a huge investment for a viewer, which is good, but also leaves a lot to be desired, with rushed pacing and character moments that sometimes need more time to set.

I feel like I'm not able to give it a lower score in good faith simply due to the restrictive structure a short 6 episode season brings. In my eyes, they've done alright with what they got, and the first season essentially acts as an extended pilot.

While I really appreciate some of the nods and parallels to earlier Dragons iterations, I hope the show expands in scope in a lengthier second season to capitalise on all the promising aspects yet to be fully explored.

I will admit that I only watched the first episode, but there doesn't seem to be anything to keep me watching. I honestly can't think of a thing I liked about it, so I'll move on to the negatives.

1. The story felt too bland 2. The characters are unlikeable (to me at least) 3. The animation looks a bit sloppy compared to the projects the HTTYD series has had in the past.

4. The style of the humans does not seem to match with the past films or series's, the human designs all look vastly different to each other. (Not in a good stylized way) 5. This last issue may be a personal gripe, but the voice actor for the the lead character does not match the body and age, it feels very off.

Overall, if you are looking for a bold new leap into the future of the HTTYD franchise, this is more of a backwards summersault leading into a face plant. Give it a try if you want, but to me, this is a disappointment.

It has the same animation as How to Train Your Dragon, so it's a guarantee of a good job.

It has an interesting story that takes dragons to the modern era, or more accurately to the future, coordinating how Toothless and Hiccup's adventure ended. The first 5 episodes introduce the protagonists and their dragons, and then a final episode. The only bad thing is that this final episode is not an ending in itself, it feels like a normal chapter of the previous series rather than a final episode.

In fact, the reason I give it a 6 as a rating is that my son looked at me with a "put the next chapter" face and I had to explain that it ended like that, which seemed strange to him too.

It promises to be a fun series, as its predecessors had been, but hopefully they will give it a season finale if they return.

My personal favorite piece of HTTYD content is Race to the Edge, I thought it was fun well developed and interesting. This show is not that. It honestly feels more akin to a bad modern AU fanfic than a proper show. It also doesn't help that the animation might be the weakest the series has had since Riders of Berk. The characters just aren't as interesting as the original Dragon Riders in RTTE and you can try so hard they're trying to emulate those dynamics but without any of the chemistry or dialogue that made it work. The issues for this show are made more frustrating by the fact that the show is only 6 episodes which prevents any interesting or real change from happening.

The only character that really works is the nerdy character who has some very good delivery and some of the only good lines in the show. They alone are keeping it from a 1/10 Even if you're a big fan of HTTYD I still wouldn't suggest checking it out honestly if you like the concept just go on a fanfic site and I guarantee there's something that does concept better.