#tong fo

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Kung Fu Panda Legends of Awesomeness - "Father Crime"

Episode 21 Season 1

Synopsis:

When Shifu's father Shirong returns to the Jade Palace, Po thinks the family reunion will be so sweet. He soon learns that Shifu and his father don't get along.

Characters:

Kung Fu Panda is a franchise that is well known for tackling the subject of daddy issues and father-son relationships in general.

Master Shifu is very cold to his father, understandably so. The way how he talks about Shirong to his students like he's not even there. Or rather, he specifically speaks this way to get back at his father. It's not just bitterness and anger talking. He truly knows his father. The flicker of hope in his eyes when he saw the picture, the hurt when his predictions were confirmed, when his father came back, and them saying goodbye to one another. It was a roller-coaster of emotions.

Po is very invested in their relationship. In his fanboy fashion, he wants to know all the details about his master. When he learns about how complicated things are he tries to help. Po has a very strong bond with his father Ping, and master Shifu is like a father figure to him, so obviously he wants them to make up.

I think I got my wish. In the previous episode, I noted how the Furious Five tend to just blindly follow the master. Tigress did what she thought was right. She knows Shifu, he doesn't say it but if something bad actually happened to his dad or worst, died, Shifu would feel guilty.

By the way, the whole sequence with Po going to save Shirong only to run into Tigress who's doing the same thing and then switching to Shifu saving his father is phenomenal. It's ''subverting expectations'' in the best of ways, not like movies today where they lie to the audience. It's a great setup and pay-off.

This episode is my favorite so far. In the beginning, the series was just a Saturday morning cartoon with morals for the kiddies. The last couple of episodes are a non-stop study and expansion of characters from the movie and introduced in the show. Now let's hope the winning streak keeps going.

Villains: Fung and the Croc Bandits are still working for Tong Fo. They want to hammer home hoe creepy Tong Fo is with his eyes and getting up in peoples  faces, but I think he could be a lot creepier. He was scary when he started listing all the horrible stuff he’ll do with Shifu and intimidating Shirong.

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Kung Fu Panda Legends of Awesomeness - "Kung Fu Club"

Episode 66 overall 

Synopsis:

Shifu sends Po to shut down an underground fight club, but Po disobeys and joins the club instead, only to find that Peng, Po's old friend, is the leader. Soon, Tong Fo tricks Peng into fighting Po through threatening his girlfriend.

Characters:

This is the last episode of Peng's trilogy. And it feels like there should've been one more episode before and after this one. Peng's enlightenment about teaching others self-defense and his romance with Lian could've been its own episode instead of a flashback.

Also, he said that there's nothing wrong with him and that it's the kung fu masters' fault for not teaching everybody how to defend themselves.

Peng, in all your episodes, including this one, you showed huge anger issues. You still need to work on yourself.

Going back to his girlfriend Lian, she's awesome. Her relationship with Peng is cute. I really wish we could learn more about her and her worldview. In a way, she's the reason why Peng went back to doing kung fu. Did Peng have to save her and taught her to fight, so she's never in danger again? Was she already good at kung fu, taught it to others, and inspired Peng to do the same? The lesson about being able to fight for yourself is driven home by her saving herself. If she didn't do it, Peng's improvised plan would've killed her. My only real complaint with her is that couldn't the artists give her a more unique design? She looks like every other female leopard in the show. Maybe her spots are a little different, but it's not visible enough, especially in a fast fight.

Po is excited about teaching citizens how to protect themselves. I guess he forgot about Hundun, or thinks it's fine because he wont talk about others' weaknesses.

Meanwhile Shifu is worried that it will cause trouble, violence, and many untrained people will hurt themselves while training. And his right, we see a lot of people with broken bones and lost teeth but they agreed and got better at fighting. After witnessing citizens help beat the bad guys Shifu changes his mind.

Peng and Lian ride off into the sunset to start new clubs and to never be seen again.

This one is alright. Not a bad episode but with so much potential it feels underwhelming.

Villain: Tong Fo is probably at his weakest here, I mean physically. A master couldn't outrun people who trained for a couple of weeks? I choke it up to their overwhelming numbers. He manipulates Peng and disgustingly caresses his bicep. Sounds like Tong Fo.

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Kung Fu Panda Legends of Awesomeness - "Mind Over Manners"

Episode 56 overall

Synopsis:

A powerful gem stolen by Tong Fo gives Po the ability to read minds after being struck by lightning, but it isn't long before this new power starts driving everyone else crazy.

Characters:

Po is shown to be more incompetent than usual. Viper feels the need to point out how it's Po's fault for losing the gem. The episode would've been the same if it was just stolen as it was no one's fault. Also, Po wants to eat before delivering Tong Fo to jail.

Everybody gets annoyed with Po for revealing their secrets and simply by mind-reading being so intrusive/creepy power. Panda gets frustrated also by being overwhelmed by all those thoughts he doesn't want to know. The Five come to rescue Po and he is shocked by it. Sure he can be annoying but his friends love him.

Besides those minor mean-spirited moments, it's a great episode.

In the Polish dub Po keep confusing the words niepokonany (invincible) and niepokalany (which means faultless but also, virgin).

Villain: Tong Fo is great this episode. By not trying so hard to make him creepy and intimidating the writers actually made him that. Previously it was more comical, but this episode it's genuine. He ties Po to a table and tries to electrocute him to death, reversing Dr. Frankenstein. In the end, he tries to trick the gang into thinking he has mind-reading powers, highlighting how manipulative he is.  

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Kung Fu Panda Legends of Awesomeness - "Jailhouse Panda"

Episode 17 Season 1

Synopsis:

Po goes undercover as a prisoner in Chor-Ghom Prison to learn where a diabolical criminal named Tong Fo has hidden the ultra-dangerous weapon called the Sacred War Hammer of Lei Lang.

Characters: Tigress and Monkey are on a mission, Crane is out shopping, Viper is shedding her skin and Mantis is on a patrol. Shifu doesn't want to send Po on a mission because he thinks the panda lacks the needed skills. And he's partly right. I believe that Master Shifu would observe how his student is doing only to jump in when need be. The second stone was set up at the beginning, so it doesn't come out of nowhere. Po using the crocodiles and then letting them go might be a nitpick. But he had more urgent matters at hand and he couldn't exactly arrest them and give them to the authorities in a criminal disguise. They got caught later anyway so no harm was done.

Monkey and Tigress are the ones to help fight Tong Fo because they were getting back from their mission. It's a nice detail that Monkey is the one to notice Po's voice and fighting style. Meanwhile, Tigress is more skeptical.

Po proving who he is by saying things only he would know was funny and wholesome.

Good episode!

Villains: Tong Fo has a gimmick, people are weirded out by his big eyes, and he clarifies his skull is just small. He’s a serviceable villain. Just not my favorite. Fung and the Croc Bandits were caught off screen. Po, in disguise, uses them to escape. They later return to help Tong Fo.  

I’m adding Tigress’s crush on Shifu to the list. Nothing ever come out of that. (Thank God!) But I’m still adding it.

Interspecies relationships in Kung Fu Panda:

Mantis and a caterpillar/butterfly. 01.02

A pig female and a duck male married couple. 01.13

Mr. Ping, a duck, and all his girlfriends, Mrs. Yoon a goat, a pig, a mantis, a water buffalo, and Lady Scorpion. 01.15

Tigress's crush on Shifu 01.17