I liked Ni Hao, Kai-Lan when I was little, but I lost interest in it when I got older, mainly because I believed the false claim a lot of people had made about it being a rip-off of Dora the Explorer. I went on this page in October 2023 so I could do a negative review, but then I saw a review that said NHKL was a good show for autistic kids. I liked the sound of that, with me being on the spectrum myself, and I thought to myself, "Maybe it's not as bad as I remember. I shall revisit it at some point. Doing a review on it can wait." I watched a few episodes on Paramount+ recently, and I now like it again! It is much better than Dora, and it fixes most of the problems I have with the latter! I read in another review that the voice of Dora sued the creator of Kai-Lan for ripping off Dora, which led to the former getting canceled. That's a stupid reason to cancel it because it's fake news, although it's easy to see why people would think that it's true. Sure, the two shows handle their fourth wall breaking similarly, they both teach foreign languages, and they both have a bilingual little girl title character with a friend group that consists mostly of animals, but that's all they have in common. There's a big difference between them; Kai-Lan teaches Chinese instead of Spanish, and the animal characters are nothing like Dora's animal friends.
Even though Kai-Lan does ask the audience dumb questions at times, similar to Dora, she handles her fourth wall breaking in a more tasteful manner than the latter. Thankfully the former knows where things are and doesn't scream all the time. She always asks the audience how they think her friends are feeling and what they (her friends) should do to work out their problems, and a lot of the time she answers, "I think so too!" I don't think those questions are that dumb because they're opinion-based questions, and some of Kai-Lan's opinions are agreeable (e.g., in the episode where Hoho hits Rintoo, she thinks that the former should use his words to say how he feels instead of hitting, and I'd have to agree). Her catchphrase, "You make my heart feel super happy!", is incredibly sweet and heartwarming! I can't imagine how anyone could go wrong with a catchphrase like that. Making other's hearts happy can easily make me (and probably you) happy too!
I agree that this is a good show for autistic kids and kids at heart. Why? It shows how to handle emotions, which can be hard for those on the spectrum at times, including yours truly. Kai-Lan always says that whenever you feel too mad, all you have to do is calm down. In the episode I mentioned earlier where Hoho hits Rintoo, Kai-Lan's grandpa Yeye (I think that's Chinese for grandpa) gives the former a time out for doing such a thing, gently explains to him that hitting hurts, says that he can get out of time out when he (Yeye) comes back in the playhouse, and doesn't yell at Hoho or spank him at all (after all, that would go against the message about not hitting people. That's a violent way to punish kids if you ask me). Kudos to Yeye! I'm sensitive to loud noises, including yells and screams, and I've had a strong dislike for being disciplined for all my life. I vaguely remembered the aforementioned episode before revisiting it, but I forgot about Yeye's gentleness, and he calmly explains to the kids that they need to shape up and act right whenever they misbehave, tries not to be too hard on them, and doesn't expect their attitudes to magically change from bad to good, which I like. Ever since I was 7 years old, I've always strived to be good and stay on my best behavior, but I wish would've revisited this sooner or didn't lose my memory in the first place because I now have a better understanding as to why parents and guardians sometimes give their kids timeouts when they misbehave after all these years. I've heard complaints about the characters throwing temper tantrums and being angry so easily, and that's another one of the main reasons why I used to hate this. They always learn from their mistakes the hard way and find a way to work things out, making the aforementioned criticism somewhat invalid. The show also promotes acceptance and diversity, which some non-autistic people may struggle with around autistic people. Even though Tolee is timid and quiet, and the characters are all different in their own ways, they still include each other in their activities and don't leave anybody out. That's every disabled or outcasted kid's dream (or is it?). Also, he and Rintoo are polar opposites, yet they're the best of friends, showing that those who are different can still be good friends, which I've experienced in real life a number of times. I've heard theories about Tolee having autism, and I think it could be true because he has various symptoms of the spectrum (e.g., he has a special interest in pandas, it takes longer for him to calm down than everyone else, he has angry outbursts when frustrated, has a stuffed panda to comfort himself, cries easily at times, has anxiety, etc.).
One of the main things I like about this, other than what I already mentioned, is the art style. It's bright and colorful like many other preschool shows. Kai-Lan's head is shaped similar to Mickey Mouse's head. The characters have cute as heck, anime-like designs. Most of them have big heads, big eyes, and small bodies, somewhat resembling Funko Pops, which makes them as cute as they are. Hoho has a tendency to land on his friends' heads when he jumps because he jumps so high, and he's much smaller than the rest of the characters, which is adorable as heck.
I give this a 7/10 for a reason: there are some big (and not so big) aspects about it I don't like, like how Kai-Lan talks down to the audience from time to time, sometimes Rintoo can have mean-spirited moments when he's angry (e.g., he has a tendency to disregard the winner's achievements, be mean to his friends, kick, and scream when he loses a race or game, he often acts before he thinks, and he can be rambunctious at times), and most of all, the characters sing the lesson over and over again in some episodes. There are a few episodes where the lesson is sung 2-4 times, which gets repetitive. This is one of the very few problems with Dora that hasn't been fixed here. Also, there are other Nick Jr and Noggin shows that I like better than this, like Blue's Clues, Max and Ruby, Wow Wow Wubbzy, Little Bear, Franklin, The Backyardigans, and a few others.
If you don't like Dora, watch Ni Hao, Kai-Lan. Maybe you'd like this better!
Even though Kai-Lan does ask the audience dumb questions at times, similar to Dora, she handles her fourth wall breaking in a more tasteful manner than the latter. Thankfully the former knows where things are and doesn't scream all the time. She always asks the audience how they think her friends are feeling and what they (her friends) should do to work out their problems, and a lot of the time she answers, "I think so too!" I don't think those questions are that dumb because they're opinion-based questions, and some of Kai-Lan's opinions are agreeable (e.g., in the episode where Hoho hits Rintoo, she thinks that the former should use his words to say how he feels instead of hitting, and I'd have to agree). Her catchphrase, "You make my heart feel super happy!", is incredibly sweet and heartwarming! I can't imagine how anyone could go wrong with a catchphrase like that. Making other's hearts happy can easily make me (and probably you) happy too!
I agree that this is a good show for autistic kids and kids at heart. Why? It shows how to handle emotions, which can be hard for those on the spectrum at times, including yours truly. Kai-Lan always says that whenever you feel too mad, all you have to do is calm down. In the episode I mentioned earlier where Hoho hits Rintoo, Kai-Lan's grandpa Yeye (I think that's Chinese for grandpa) gives the former a time out for doing such a thing, gently explains to him that hitting hurts, says that he can get out of time out when he (Yeye) comes back in the playhouse, and doesn't yell at Hoho or spank him at all (after all, that would go against the message about not hitting people. That's a violent way to punish kids if you ask me). Kudos to Yeye! I'm sensitive to loud noises, including yells and screams, and I've had a strong dislike for being disciplined for all my life. I vaguely remembered the aforementioned episode before revisiting it, but I forgot about Yeye's gentleness, and he calmly explains to the kids that they need to shape up and act right whenever they misbehave, tries not to be too hard on them, and doesn't expect their attitudes to magically change from bad to good, which I like. Ever since I was 7 years old, I've always strived to be good and stay on my best behavior, but I wish would've revisited this sooner or didn't lose my memory in the first place because I now have a better understanding as to why parents and guardians sometimes give their kids timeouts when they misbehave after all these years. I've heard complaints about the characters throwing temper tantrums and being angry so easily, and that's another one of the main reasons why I used to hate this. They always learn from their mistakes the hard way and find a way to work things out, making the aforementioned criticism somewhat invalid. The show also promotes acceptance and diversity, which some non-autistic people may struggle with around autistic people. Even though Tolee is timid and quiet, and the characters are all different in their own ways, they still include each other in their activities and don't leave anybody out. That's every disabled or outcasted kid's dream (or is it?). Also, he and Rintoo are polar opposites, yet they're the best of friends, showing that those who are different can still be good friends, which I've experienced in real life a number of times. I've heard theories about Tolee having autism, and I think it could be true because he has various symptoms of the spectrum (e.g., he has a special interest in pandas, it takes longer for him to calm down than everyone else, he has angry outbursts when frustrated, has a stuffed panda to comfort himself, cries easily at times, has anxiety, etc.).
One of the main things I like about this, other than what I already mentioned, is the art style. It's bright and colorful like many other preschool shows. Kai-Lan's head is shaped similar to Mickey Mouse's head. The characters have cute as heck, anime-like designs. Most of them have big heads, big eyes, and small bodies, somewhat resembling Funko Pops, which makes them as cute as they are. Hoho has a tendency to land on his friends' heads when he jumps because he jumps so high, and he's much smaller than the rest of the characters, which is adorable as heck.
I give this a 7/10 for a reason: there are some big (and not so big) aspects about it I don't like, like how Kai-Lan talks down to the audience from time to time, sometimes Rintoo can have mean-spirited moments when he's angry (e.g., he has a tendency to disregard the winner's achievements, be mean to his friends, kick, and scream when he loses a race or game, he often acts before he thinks, and he can be rambunctious at times), and most of all, the characters sing the lesson over and over again in some episodes. There are a few episodes where the lesson is sung 2-4 times, which gets repetitive. This is one of the very few problems with Dora that hasn't been fixed here. Also, there are other Nick Jr and Noggin shows that I like better than this, like Blue's Clues, Max and Ruby, Wow Wow Wubbzy, Little Bear, Franklin, The Backyardigans, and a few others.
If you don't like Dora, watch Ni Hao, Kai-Lan. Maybe you'd like this better!