I was a little too young to ever get into He-Man or Masters of the Universe but something about it has always interested me. When this CG 2021 reboot got announced, it definitely did not seem like it’d be my entry point, but I then thought perhaps it’d be the best way to get the basics of who the characters are at the very least with a relatively short episode length. I found a cartoon with odd decisions that isn’t inherently terrible.
I can at least say going in that I’m mostly a blank slate on what the lore and characters are supposed ot be, so I should be able to judge it on its own merit. Many of the lore changes even if I might recognize some of them are clearly not going to be a big deal for me for this reason. But even from just this show you can clearly tell they were made as toys first and only given a backstory later. I can actually appreciate that they gave epic backstories to some of them but it only works if you don’t overthink the world too much or it’ll just feel silly.
From what I’m able to gather this is a remix of the main events but still also trying to do its own thing. The CG is rather good which some fans might not want to say just because the show is heavily stylized. You have very cartoony proportions that make it look for kids, which it was their intended target audience. I do think they go a little too overboard with the proportions of the character designs. The character designs hit a nice balance between being a bit extreeme and cartoony.
The background are so nice, the whole themed world and look is just fantastic and done so well. Truly mystical. The whole cartoon in general you can tell it’s aimed at young kids, to try to connect with a new generation, but almost wish it were a little less childish, you can be both as many animated shows have done in the past. I just love the 90s energy they got for the look, so refreshing to see. It’s a shame the writing is not as good and too toned down. It does alright with what it gives us but it could be so much more and the dialogue does not help. Easily the weakest link. I also think the whole Masters of the Universe skin hurts the show, it might’ve been more interesting if it did its own thing without that legacy on its back.
I’m only seldom familiar with the original characters so i’m not the best judge but this is mostly my introduction to al these characters. I am not a fan of Teela being brown, I love her design though, same with Sorceress, it’s just a shame losing another red haired hero. He-Man and Prince Adam well I like the Shazam dynamic they gave him but the transformed pody is too ridiculous. Ram-Ma’am, the original character is so ugly, here she his a cute alien girl, basically a different character but I’m cool with it. Duncan/Man at arms is a very different character as a scaredy cat, I’d figure he’d be a voice of authority, he gets the worst redesign. Now all of them actually have morphing transformations like Power Rangers for their power ups, not just He-Man though none of them are too interesting.
As far as the Villains you have, Keldar Skeletor who is somewhat intersting though not as much as he coudl’ve been. Trapjaw and Evil-lyn however are not as intersting and kinda lame. It’s wild the reboot changed a bunch of aspects but it doesn’t do it in a terrible way, and for the most part it works with what lore existed. It starts Season 1 as a solid reimagining. You do get tons of villain decay by the second season and they start becoming silly. They get the havoc power to make them interesting again but it’s not enough. The weird style between being too cartoony and yet it went for a very dark look. Season 3 tries gto go darker and fix the villain decay but I didn’t find it as interesting.
The show just loses its way and gets a bit generic. I guess for someone they could find stuff they enjoy. It feels they were trying hard to do world building but also at the end they do give a finale and even burn some bridges on the status quo for the villains. Kaiju Skeletor and the magical powers of Friendship just didn’t hit it with me. The theme is alright though. It’s a show that has flaws, has potential, it doesn’t do much either way to feel a specific way about it.