| Directors | Jeevan J Kang, Naveen John |
| Producers | Graphic India and Arka mediaworks Production, S.S Rajamouli, Sharad Devarajan, Shobu Yarlagadda, Jeevan J. Kang & Shaik Maqbool |
| Creators | Sharad Devarajan, S.S. Rajamouli |
| Episodes | 9 |
| Genre | Animation, Action |
| Platform | Disney+ Hotstar |
– No Spoilers –
The thing about the Baahubali franchise is that there’s very little that the story tries to branch out other than showcasing Mahishmati being attacked by external and internal forces and Baahubali coming to the rescue to save his beloved kingdom. In this Hotstar Special animated series, the external attacker is Raktadeva, a man who wears red armour (because ‘rakt’) and looks disproportionately huge in front of everyone else in any given scene.
Just like the live-action movie from 2015, the dialogues in this series are clunky and over-the-top, whose grandeur gets lost in the cliched direction the story takes. Showcasing the main characters going on their own journeys after having a shocking enemy makes a horrifying display of power, the series gets boring and uninteresting soon enough. There isn’t enough story power for the grandness to peek through at all and it just ends up being another “epic” show without anything epic about it. The storyline is what lacks the most and feels extremely disjointed – there are moments that feel like the series didn’t know what it wanted to show us and thus it meanders heavily without a direction.
With 9 episodes (thankfully 20 minutes long), the ~4.5 hours of watch time is painful and boring. The animation is somewhat okay, although we have seen many other shows with much better animated sequences. The action sequences are fun and done well, although they lack emotion and anticipation, especially because of the voice work that leaves much to be desired. The emotional sequences are cringy and the voice acting doesn’t help. It hardly puts forth the emotions being showcased, taking us out of the experience at every step.
The characters in the series have very little going for them as well. Some of their motivations are confusing and seem short-sighted. The characters also feel extremely one-dimensional and shallow and make you not want to follow their journeys in any capacity. For example, Bhallaladeva is known to be a war-lover but there’s something about a man who knows and talks about nothing other than cutting people’s necks that is very cliched and unimpressive. All of the characters have one thing that they are obsessed with and have nothing else going for them other than that.
In the end, the problem (or maybe not) with the show is that it’s not for adults. Kids are going to enjoy watching this light series without many stakes or violent sequences with tales of bravery sewn into it. With little to no character development or story complexity, it’s the perfect watch party for the young ones to enjoy with their friends. However, adults will find every facet of this story lacklustre and unimpressive, especially considering how the animation industry has progressed by leaps and bounds yet we are still standing at the same juncture we were at a few years ago.
Baahubali: Crown of Blood Review: Final Thoughts
The simple and ineffective storyline and the subpar voice work leave much to be desired in this animated series, although the animation is pretty good. I couldn’t help but wonder about the point of the storyline since it doesn’t do anything other than introduce a new character. All of the primary characters have little to no character arcs and feel like directionless caricatures. However, the series will entertain kids thoroughly but not much beyond that.
Also Read: My Hero Academia Season 7 Episode 3 Preview: When, Where, and How to Watch!