Niko and the Sword of Light

My daughter who is 12 years old has just watched the first episode of Niko and the Sword of Light with me.

She thought the story line was genius, truly original and like nothing she has seen before. She really liked the fact that Princess Lira is very independent and provides a good example to young girls that it's not only male characters who can be strong and heroic.

The story has a great balance of adventure and humour and conveys a strong message about how believing in yourself and never giving up can enable you to achieve great things, even when the going gets really tough! The characters bring this message alive in a way that will really engage and inspire young people.

My daughter loved Niko and the Sword of Life and felt children younger than her will enjoy it too. The humour makes the scary bits not very scary!

I stumbled upon this show when flipping through Prime. I liked the story in both seasons. I didn't think that I would enjoy the 2nd season that much, but it was alright in the end. not a lot of character development, you just follow the Niko while he discovers the world and explore together with the Princess/Queen. Lovely world, where the dark battles with the light. Moral lessons present: greed, friendship, responsibilities, tradition vs new, inner self.

Niko and the Sword of Light is an interesting amalgam, trying to balance some good storytelling and a unique fantasy world with the censorship and simplicity of children's programming. To be clear, this is very much a children's program, with on-the-nose dialogue, simple character motivation, and easy-to-understand message themes. Nevertheless, show is able to distinguish itself by being well-paced and engaging.

The animation is also hard to pin down, as sometimes it looks like some low-budget direct-to-video stiff animation, while other times it suddenly jumps into unique, flowing, and exciting action.

The setup is surprisingly similar to Samurai Jack - a 'shape- shifting master of darkness' is challenged by a pure-hearted hero with a magic sword. This show gets points for having a plot, though. The backstory of the villain and of princess Lyra are both fleshed out a little more than Samurai Jack, but that's not saying a whole lot.

All in all, a unique and engaging children's cartoon.

Niko and the sword of light is amazing show. I really enjoy watching it and I think it is great. Watching the characters grow, develop, and gain confidence is definitely a treat. Niko is the bombdiggity, when I grow up I want to be Niko and battle the forces of darkness on the behalf of my people as their champion. I would like to don his attire as I go journey through the urban landscape cleansing its inhabitants of the evil influencing their actions and doing harm.

These days, there are many great fantasy cartoons out there with engaging plots, such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, She-Ra, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, Pokémon, Tangled, Gravity Falls, Voltron, The Owl House, Amphibia, and even more. If you like any of those shows, this will be perfect for you. It is both lighthearted and fun, with emphasis on being fun and funny, but also has a great serious plot that will keep you interested. The animation might put some off as it resembles that of certain gross-out cartoons, but this is not one of those. This is a super fun action and fantasy show for anybody. Even if you don't have kids of your own, you should give it a try. You won't regret it!