New LEGO Friends The Next Chapter animated series launch special now streaming on Youtube – my first impressions!

January 29, 2023 | 9

It’s a huge year for LEGO Friends, with all-new characters, all new sets, and also, an all-new animated series!

Titled LEGO Friends: The Next Chapter, the first season will follow the everyday lives of Aliya, Autumn, Leo, Zac, Nova, Paisley, Olly, and Liann, new LEGO Friends main characters as they navigate their first year of high school while becoming friends.

The first episode, a 44-minute launch special is now available to watch in its entirety on Youtube, ahead of 10x 22-minute episodes (plus a holiday special), which will begin streaming on Youtube in March 2023.

In addition to the main show, there will be over 300 minutes of supporting content including vlogs, music videos and talkbacks to allow fans to dive even deeper into the world of LEGO Friends.

If you can’t already tell, I’m a huge fan of the LEGO Friends theme, and while I was quite sad to say goodbye to the core group of LEGO Friends characters, the 2023 LEGO Friends Reboot is totally refreshing, and a great opportunity to breathe new life into Heartlake City.

I had the chance to preview the launch special with my daughter who’s the Jay’s Brick Blog CFO (Chief Friends Officer). She’s a massive fan of LEGO Friends, and is responsible for building most of the LEGO Friends sets that get reviewed here, and has religiously watched the entire catalogue of LEGO Friends animated series, so I seriously do go to her with any questions.

It’s been fascinating to observe how she had little to no hesitation in embracing the new LEGO Friends characters, both in the new 2023 sets, and also in the cartoon.

We’ve been slowly going through the 2023 Friends reboot sets (mostly at her pace), and she’s already gotten to know most of the sets, and characters in them, and she was very excited to see familiar settings and even side characters like Aditi from 41732 Downtown Flower and Design Stores make an appearance in the episode.

In fact, just like the older animated series, plenty of actual sets like the aforementioned 41732 Downtown Flower and Design Stores make an appearance in the launch special, and it was quite fun to try and spot all the minidolls and settings during the episode.

As an adult, the animation was quite crisp, with a new cell-shaded, almost cartoony-style, with minidolls looking like their actual LEGO counterparts, as opposed to the more human-like designs in Girls on a Mission.

It’s very well-made, and enjoyable, with the first episode setting the scene for the entire season. It’s important to note that all the new 8 main characters are new to the school, and don’t know each other well yet, so there’s some setup here for friendships, but also competitive conflict which will likely play out in the remainder of the episodes.

Oh, and Mia also makes an appearance here and there, which was great for us OG Friends fans.

Autumn, her daughter born with a limb difference gets plenty of spotlight, as one of the main plot points involve her balancing her school work, with her animal rescue and pet adoption passion project.

The episode also revolves around Leo, a football wunderkind who is also a great baker, as he juggles both his interests and talents, grappling with fears about his football team not accepting him if they find out that he’s also the Leonardo Messi of baking and confectionary.

I got to observe my daughter and she thoroughly enjoyed the episode, and was quick to point out who all the side characters were, and which sets we had built, or were yet to build.

She was quick to warm to the new characters, and as a young girl, I’m grateful that the content was light, funny, and most of all, seemed to lightly touch on topics such as fears about being authentic, and accepted by friends at school, to perfectionism, as well as struggles with school work.

If you’re a parent with young kids, especially if they love the LEGO Friends theme, this is a great watch, and something you can confidently leave them to watch, as it’s quite wholesome.

We’re definitely looking forward to the rest of Season 1 when new episodes drop on LEGO’s Youtube channel in March 2023.

The first episode is available now, so if you have time, be sure to check it out on Youtube!