Ahsoka for those like me that haven’t seen CW or Rebels

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info do I need to fully enjoy the new series?

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Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm say the force is female

There is a list of the essential episodes of clone wars and rebels to watch in the disney+ app. I think it was around 8 episodes

GIRL BOSS!!!

Even if you’re not into the Ashoka character, the last season of CW is worth it for the Bad Batch and Maul storylines. The last 3 or 4 episodes of CW is unlike anything else in the series.

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I'm not 8 years old, so I never watched this.

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I stand by your side on this matter. While expressing this might lead to a flurry of unpopular downvotes, I've consistently believed that integrating animation into a canonical series alongside live-action films is a misstep. These two mediums attract distinct audiences.

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What important background info do I need to fully enjoy the new series?

All I know is that Ahsoka was trained by Anakin because I saw most of the first season of CW.

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1) Ahsoka was Anakin's Padawan.
2) She left the Jedi Order shortly before the end of the clone wars after being framed for bombing (something?)
3) Star Wars Rebels comes out. Rebels features ex Jedi Padawan Kanan Jarrus, pilot Hera Syndulla, Mandalorian airbrush artist Sabine Wren, and teenager turned Jedi padawan Ezra Bridger.
4) Ahsoka is featured at some point in the show. Ezra saves Ahsoka from being killed by Darth Vader.
5) Ezra and Sabine develop feelings for each other. Kanan sacrifices himself to save the team.
6) Grand Admiral Thrawn shows up (blue guy from the old EU). Ezra "sacrifices" himself to save the team by being sent with Thrawn across the universe by hyperspace traveling space whales.
7) Hera becomes general in the Rebel Alliance/New Republic (mentioned at the end of Rebels) and has a baby with Kanan.
8) Ahsoka has a cameo appearance in a couple episodes of the Madalorian. She is hunting Asian space lady Morgan Elsbeth (someone who was involved with the creation of the Imperial Navy) for information on the whereabouts of Grand Admiral Thrawn.

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I've consistently believed that integrating animation into a canonical series alongside live-action films is a misstep. These two mediums attract distinct audiences.

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I thought exactly like this until I took the time to watch Clone Wars and Rebels. And I am here to tell you that, those two animated series are better than any and all of the live action movies and D+ shows. Except for maybe ESB.

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So, I think this is lazy thinking when it comes to these characters

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There are certain posters here, who regularly show up in these threads to skyscream, who will never accept anyone but a strong, male lead in a show.

If you’re complaining about the female leads in this show that have been thoroughly fleshed out, supported in good SW content, then your agenda is obvious.

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Ahsoka did not start as a Girl Boss and her path is much like other female jedi in history.

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This. Her start was as an annoying padawan that Anakin did not want (hence his nickname for her, “Snips”). She didn’t start out as some the powerful character she is now.

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I'm not 8 years old, so I never watched this.

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That was my standing as well until I got about 3 seasons into CW (almost all of that was the show being on as background noise as I was doing other things). Season 7 (the final season) was impressive in its depth. The only thing kid-related about that season was that it was animated. I'm more of a story guy but the animation style is off-putting and Ahsoka's voice in S1 and S2 was like nails on a chalkboard. That said, it was worth going through the series. Once. (also, I understand why they did animation over live action as the time and costs to do even half the live action things they did with animation would have been unrealistic - still, they could have used a style not as child-oriented)

A lot of the plots in the early seasons are very kid-oriented with their transparency. Still, they serve a purpose as they (laboriously) create a solid foundation for the Jedi and clone army not only working together but becoming trusted friends (or as near to that as possible within a military hierarchy). As the series winds on, it eventually matures as we see Anakin begin to struggle with following the path of the Jedi, some Jedi turning away from the Jedi Order (even betraying the Order), lots of killing (not just shooting robots) and characters making choices based on events that have shaped them over the course of the show (understand though, there's a LOT of episodes to go through so that view is arrived at only by going through lots of filler content).

By the time Order 66 is given, it actually means something as they've spent years and lots of episodes creating character development that the order destroys. Unlike something like the last movie, once the series is over you get the feeling (only through retrospect though, at least for me) that a LOT of serious thought and effort went into crafting a solid fleshing out of the story which bridges the time between Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One.

I just wish the whole series would have been more adult-oriented but their overall idea seemed to be a bit like Rowling did with Harry Potter by making the content of each installment appealing to an audience as it ages (but with more content within a shorter time frame, if that makes sense).

I'm somewhere in the 2nd season of Rebels and it seems to be following a similar progression path.