I remember when She-Ra She-Ra and the Princesses of Power reboot was revealed and I was really put off by the character designs. I couldn’t help but see She-Ra as a man, and the Diversity squad designs only worsened things. This show is a great example of not to judge a cartoon by its designs, since they do work here. I love the animation, and overall look the cartoon has, it reminds me of the mystical Kipo show.
Adora looks fine when she hasn’t transformed, but once she becomes Shera the shorts and head band thing make her look like a man. The other princesses just look like out of a parody. I’m not a big fan of design changes or these ones at first sight but… Counting I’m not a classic Masters of the Universe or She-Ra fan, I don’t really know who any of these characters were and their original designs definitely reek of the 80s. I have to say I grew to like these designs, they do modernize them and they do feel very 2010s. Overall I love all the designs, even if they can depart from their originals and perhaps don’t seem as much of warriors as before. She-Ra is the one who never really had a great design which is a shame, the potential was there but her powerups fixed some things while holding her back still.
It has cute origins of the characteers and it’s well written. Some episodes are more episodes of the day which can be a bit boring. Despite liking some of the cast I don’t really love any of them for the most part. Episodes can sometimes not be very engaging despite the arc they tried to expand on. Villains are mishandled as any interesting aspect about them is quickly undone. The show is definitely more for girls which is their target audience and it might not hit what you’re looking for if you aren’t one.
Overall, with season 2 it does get better, Seasons 3 and 4 are ok, but I didn’t quite like how the story ended up evolving with having a new big bad. The last season in particularly felt a bit unecessary and long. So I can’t praise the show completely as it kind of missed the bigger picture as they unraveled the plot. Overall She-Ra was a great show to watch and man what a banging intro, they don’t make them like they used to but they got the memo for this show.
This show was unironically much better than either of the He-Man reboots released shortly after. I like Etheria and the She-Ra allusions. In fact I was bummed that we couldn’t get any type of He-Man crossover but the little easter eggs were at least a fun nod for fans. It’s a shame rights issues have kept these apart as they can complement each other more together.
It’s also a shame we didn’t get any figures forom this show. I particularly fell in love with Entrapta’s character. She had the best arc in the show and while I didn’t quite love how generic she ended up as, it was still a good arc and there were plenty of character arcs in the show. Entrapta was just such a fun character to follow and one that easily steals the spotlight. And with that little tribute to her we finish this one.