babysitter bunga (episode 1 season 2)

[zerodix]

it is on kimcartoon! and the song sounds familiar if you are a diehard fan. it was a lovely opening for the 2nd season! how did you think of it?

[Panpardus]

I have to say, color me impressed; I actually found a lot in this episode that I liked.

[spoiler]The beginning sequence with the jackal pack's (now missing most of the kids and adding an out-of-nowhere sister for Dogo and two older individuals we haven't seen before; wonder who they are and what happened to the other pups...) zebra hunt was the best action scene I've yet seen from this entire series, and pretty much on par with the level of stuff I've been yearning to see for this entire show's run. Sure, words over fists (or teeth and claws, as it may) but I feel like most of the fights in the first season were severely toned down because Disney was worried how it would be received showing their characters tussling and actually biting each other, but in doing so they cheapened the conflict, lowered the tension beyond what they should've been for a given situation, and just overall made the sequences less exciting to watch. Sometimes, when it's time to throw down, you've just gotta throw down, and I'm glad they finally delivered on that with a good, realistic, well-choreographed, hunt/fight scene, with everyone getting physical in a manner that more or less makes sense for their respective species. The whole thing just worked out really well, and if this is the level of action we can hopefully expect for the rest of the season (and series), I am officially excited for what's in store later on, particularly if we get to see more of the jackals, who I can now buy as tangible threats - I never saw them as such before, in part because there were initially only two adults and whenever we saw them they were either in the Outlands or attacking prey that was too big for them to tackle anyway, so it carried no weight - especially since the dry season is coming and it looks like Dogo and his sister are being trained for their first actual kill. See, this is what happens when you use your antagonists properly; I actually want to see the jackals again! (Also, they got rid of Goigoi's sleeping gag; I don't mind him being the dumb husband character, but that gag never made any sense to me and I'm glad they seem to have gotten rid of it.)

Bunga's plot was actually quite enjoyable and not as middling as I thought it would be, especially since I feel like they wrote the story around "Teke Ruka Teleza", though it might've just been happy coincidence that the song proved itself to be usable outside of the context of the episode as just some random "let's get active!" Disney Jr. commercial. The song itself is catchy and I actually find it okay from a musical perspective. It's no "My Own Way" (still the standard bearer to me for what a good African-influenced song should sound like from this series), but it's definitely not the worst. Seeing Bunga actually being responsible in his own way was nice; I definitely find him a lot more likeable now than I did early in Season 1, and they seem to have figured out how to write him better. Pride Lands herbivores though... "You taught my children how to defend themselves?" Isn't that your job? But I digress. I'm glad they didn't really stretch the rest of the guard's "what will we do without x member" side story into a full piece; there really aren't a lot of antics you can pull from that, and it tends to bring the story to a halt.[/spoiler]

Overall I thought it was a pretty good debut episode, especially for a "day in the life" story with no real moral lesson or overarching major plot points. Let's see what happens when we get some meatier story elements involved!

[gothprincesskiara]

Bunga seems to have matured alot more

[AnonLion]

It was a fun episode. Though Bunga is the comic relief character it's nice to see him take on big responsibilities without messing up. The song was alright, I appreciate how it was used to introduce new swahili words. I also liked how the guard depends on all members, including Bunga.

[zerodix]

i too liked how bunga developed. he is now more fun adventurous and kind, instead of an abnoxious brat. he might get my sympathy in this new season!

[Elton John]

I thought it was a solid start to the second season.

[PridelandsPhantom]

I was surprised how much I actually liked this episode with Bunga being my least favorite of the guard, but he was mature in this episode. I enjoyed seeing all the baby animals, especially the lynx! I do like that the guard didn't have to save the baby animals and that Bunga was able to have them save themselves. I always enjoy seeing the jackals and Rei Rei is one of my favorites.

Why were there only two jackal cubes (Dogo is one) with Rei Rei and Goi Goi? They had many more cubs, and they are all males, at least I assume because Goi Goi refers to the cubs as "the boys." I guess I'm confused as to why predators can't hunt? Or is it just animals from the Outlands can't hunt in the Pridelands? If the Outlands has no meat how do they survive?

The one word I remember from the song is because it's like one of my favorite anime characters Rukia

[gothprincesskiara]

yeah I am stumped on that one Im still trying to figure that out, I feel sorry for them and the hyenas a bit

[Elton John]

I'm guessing it's because they overhunt? Or can't be trusted by the pridelanders?

I mean there are many predator type characters in the pridelands, like makuu. Respecting the circle of life means never taking more food than what is necessary to survive.

Makuu and his group are allowed to live in the pridelands likely because they only eat when necessary.

[Squeely]

Bunga's actually a great babysitter. Who knew.

This was a fun and enjoyable episode, though I did wonder why Bunga didn't use his stink against Goi Goi. My house currently has eau du skunk wafting through it and I'd reckon the skunk wasn't nearly as threatened as Bunga was xD. My guess is the writers are trying to distance themselves from things that resemble farts, since that's another reason why Bunga wasn't well-received at first.

We need a 5-episode arc dedicated to that serval, on the basis of pure cute factor