Lifelong fan of She-Ra and I found this amazing!
I grew up with She-Ra and had the action figures, the books and watched all of the episodes on tv. My younger brother really enjoyed He-Man and we used to love to play together as He-Man and She-Ra who were also brother and sister!Now as an adult, I collected all of the dvds for He-Man and She-Ra which are hilarious to watch now with the shameful one-dimensional characters and gender stereotypes. The obligatory mascot/jesters (Kowl and Orco) and the strange moustached macho men (Bow and Master at Arms). It's especially funny to watch the episodes where He-Man visits Etheria - and his sister for random adventures - just stepping through a portal at will. Etheria seems to have a 95% female population and He-Man is in peril of sexual assault from all of She-Ra's flirty friends - all with names ending in A, and wearing as little as possible!!
Anyway, when I saw this new show advertised, I was worried about this being another lame reboot. It looked a lot like the style of Teen Titans and I was convinced this would be ruined for me. I couldn't be more wrong!
This is such a funny, engaging and refreshing reboot - I've been absolutely blown away by the level of detail and the obvious affection for the original show. It is very tongue in cheek but the depth of the characters really makes you care about the new personas. It changes the conception of 'good and evil' and how most people in a military force believe they are on the side of good, Look at all of the staff involved in working for the bad guys in James Bond films or even the Storm Troopers in Star Wars. Loyalty is usually to those closest to you, and the new Scorpia really shows this the best.
I love the fact that this strays from typical gender stereotypes and it even explains the love heart that Bow wears on his top! The episode where you see him at home is hilarious - even more so if you remember what the original Bow looked like!
For animation, it is fantastic to have female forms drawn in non-sexual ways. All of the Princesses look so different, and female, but not like they belong in a Victoria's Secret advert! The Japanese animation style really brings emotion to them and even more so in Season 3.
My younger self was always very annoyed at how weak and lame Adora was as her own character. She would always trip over tree roots and sounded so pathetic when she talked in a soft voice. In this show, Adora is a strong young woman in her own right, and it makes you feel she is much more deserving of the She Ra mantle. The way that she interacts with Catra throughout these 3 seasons really develops and makes you care about whether she can reach Catra in the end.
There is so much I could talk about with this new show, and while I rarely write reviews, this inspired me so much that I felt I had to share it. I cannot praise the writers and producers of this enough, and I honestly didn't believe that anyone could make a better show than the original. I am 40 years of age and She Ra made such an impact on my childhood. Now after seeing the new show, I absolutely love how anyone of any age can watch this and still take something away. This gives positive role models, with realistic body figures and questions morality at an individual level - rather than someone being just good or evil. Even Hordak shows a softer side at times!
Absolutely fantastic and I cannot wait to see more!
score 10/10
emmaofnine 17 September 2019
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5126948/1064
Pages:
[1]