History YMMV / FateTheWinxSaga

** Stella's characterization in the first season was ''not'' warmly received by viewers at ''all'', especially among fans of the cartoon, where she was a fan favorite. Here, the writers flanderized her from the sweet LovableAlphaBitch she was in the cartoon, to being a raging {{Jerkass}} who bullies whomever she pleases. However, in the second season she gets a lot of sympathy for putting her codependent relationship with Skye behind her and being fine with Bloom's relationship with him, supporting and helping the other members of the group continually while receiving little help or sympathy in return, being effectively tortured by her mother and Rosalind, and having an interesting arc in her RomanticTwoGirlFriendship with Beatrix.

* EvilIsSexy: Beatrix is a DarkMagicalGirl dressed in flattering outfits and dark make-up, with a vampy FemmeFatale personality. Her actress Sadie Soverall is extremely attractive.

* ClicheStorm: As [[https://dailytitan.com/lifestyle/review-fate-the-winx-saga-sucks-the-sparkle-out-of-cartoon-origin/article_f997090a-6414-11eb-8876-a75314425b8e.html these]] [[https://variety.com/2021/tv/reviews/fate-the-winx-saga-netflix-review-1234889555/ reviews]] point out, the series seems to be more interested in regurgitating plots and character tropes from other young adult works than trying to do something more unique or at least close to the cartoon to begin with. Namely the 'misunderstood' CoolLoser protagonist who finds out she has a SecretLegacy, attends a magic school hiding a DarkSecret where it's emphasized how super special and powerful she is, gets into a love triangle involving the popular ex-boyfriend of an AlphaBitch rival, and so on and so forth.

* [[HoYay Les Yay]]: Although it's Terra who comes out as gay, Stella and Beatrix in Season 2 share a lot of scenes that can make them come across as lovers rather than friends.

* SugarWiki/TheyReallyCanAct:
** Danny Griffin was thought of as a rather bland love interest, there to be MrFanservice in Season 1. Come the next season where [[spoiler: Sky has to kill his own father]], and he collapses weeping in an almost painfully realistic way.
** Hannan van der Westhuysen shows that she can do more than just play the AlphaBitch in the numerous scenes of Stella being tortured in Season 2, as well as her InelegantBlubbering as [[spoiler: she discovers Beatrix's corpse]].
** Abigail Cowen likewise really brings it in the scenes where [[spoiler: she has to say goodbye to Farah and Sky respectively]]. You can practically feel the heartbreak in her voice.

* LesYay: Although it's Terra who comes out as gay, Stella and Beatrix in Season 2 share a lot of scenes that can make them come across as lovers rather than friends.

* SpecialEffectsFailure:

* WTHCastingAgency: Fans are displeased with the aforementioned RaceLift and have complained that the actresses playing the Winx Club appear too old to convincingly play teenagers, given that the actresses' ages - and those of their love interests - range from early (Abigail Cowen, 22) to late (Eliot Salt, 27) twenties. In fact the only main cast member under the age of 20 is Sadie Soverall who portrays Beatrix. Eliot Salt's casting was received a little better, despite the whitewashing, for adding some body diversity.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Many fans of the animated ''Winx'' series were not happy about the changes made to this series, saying like ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'', it has just became another generic YA work that invokes TrueArtIsAngsty without actually understanding either the original cartoon or how angst actually works, making it look like an ascended DarkFic. This includes but not limited to:

* TheScrappy:
** Bloom, thanks to her being a DesignatedHero. Even viewers who aren't familiar with the original cartoon dislike her for acting like a {{Jerkass}} most of the time, being incredibly rude and mean-spirited towards the other girls, including Terra. The fact she has little personality outside the elements the writers took from other young adult works doesn't help. Not even her [[JerkassRealization apology]] to Dowling was enough to redeem her to many, feeling that the fact that it came in the last episode wasn't enough to make up for her behavior throughout the season.

* WhatAnIdiot: As the show goes on, it can seem like Bloom gives her trust and loyalty to whoever she spoke to last, regardless of their previous actions or attitude, and immediately transfers all of her suspicion, dislike and distrust to whoever they tell her to, leading to her ping-ponging between sides with whiplash speed. This comes across as especially dumb when she decides to place all her trust in [[spoiler: Rosalind, who she knows deliberately took down the spell protecting the school in the first season, nearly resulting in the deaths of multiple students, purely because Rosalind decides (based on a stated ulterior motive) to not turn her in for freeing and helping Silva - who Rosalind was responsible for the wrongful imprisonment of in the first place.]]

* WhatAnIdiot: As the show goes on, it can seem like Bloom gives her trust and loyalty to whoever she spoke to last, regardless of their previous actions or attitude, and immediately transfers all of her suspicion, dislike and distrust to whoever they tell her to, leading to her ping-ponging between sides with whiplash speed. This comes across as especially dumb when she decides to place all her trust in [[Rosalind, who she knows deliberately took down the spell protecting the school in the first season, nearly resulting in the deaths of multiple students, purely because Rosalind decides (based on a stated ulterior motive) to not turn her in for freeing and helping Silva - who Rosalind was responsible for the wrongful imprisonment of in the first place.]]

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: When it was announced Terra would take the place of the fan-favorite Flora in the show, quite a few fans of the original cartoon quickly labeled her as a ReplacementScrappy. However, her reputation quickly improved after the start of the series thanks to her being the nicest and most likable character of the show and an IronWoobie who can keep her positive attitude regardless of the circumstances. Quite a few fans are also grateful that by accepting Sam and Musa's relationship almost immediately, she avoided starting even more romantic drama on the show. Her coming out as gay in Season 2 was also well-received, especially in light of Flora joining the main cast.

** Stella's characterization in this show has ''not'' been warmly received by viewers at ''all'', especially among fans of the cartoon, where she was a fan favorite. Here, the writers flanderized her from the sweet LovableAlphaBitch she was in the cartoon, to being a raging {{Jerkass}} who bullies whomever she pleases. See UnintentionallyUnsympathetic below for more detail.
** Bloom is in a similar situation thanks to her being a DesignatedHero. Even viewers who aren't familiar with the original cartoon dislike her for acting like a {{Jerkass}} most of the time, being incredibly rude and mean-spirited towards the other girls, including Terra. The fact she has little personality outside the elements the writers took from other young adult works doesn't help. Not even her [[JerkassRealization apology]] to Dowling was enough to redeem her to many, feeling that the fact that it came in the last episode wasn't enough to make up for her behavior throughout the season.

** Likewise, Bloom should be written so that you as a viewer have to empathize with her and her issues with both her social anxiety and her family, not to mention when she discovers she is a changeling and wishes to find out more about her origins. The staging of the script, however, not only does not emphasize the empathy factor but even makes the character of Bloom assume strong negative connotations linked to selfishness, arrogance and egocentrism. Bloom, throughout the first season, behaves like a crazy and borderline splinter that breaks the rules several times, ignores her friends and their problems to focus solely on hers, challenges the authority of the principal Farah and the other professors with her insistence and, in the end, she even gets to free a homicidal maniac without thinking twice to get her damn answers (thereby endangering the whole school). Realizing at the end of the last episode of the many bullshit she has done and remedying herself by saving the whole school sadly wasn't enough to make many fans forgive her.
** The show tries to present Stella as a JerkassWoobie whose toxic behavior stems from the huge amount of pressure put on her through her position of Princess of Solaria and her mother being extremely emotionally (and it's implied physically) abusive. However, these revelations come a good while after the audience sees Stella bully, belittle and berate the other girls and Bloom especially, never own up to her own faults and basically strong-arm her ex Sky into taking her back. The majority of viewers had lost all sympathy for her by that point. It doesn't help that she never actually drops her mean girl attitude after returning, nor apologizes for the way she treated her suitemates, but the other Winx for some reason decide she's their friend now.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** Musa developing a romantic relationship with the original character Sam rather than with her canon LoveInterest Riven is seen as this by those who consider their relationship from the cartoon toxic and even abusive at points. Some viewers seem to like Sam as well.
** It was eventually confirmed that Flora would be introduced in Season 2, played by Paulina Chávez, who is indeed Latina. This was in response to the backlash to the Caucasian Terra replacing Flora in the show. And when Flora debuts in the second episode of the season, she's presented as AlwaysSomeoneBetter to Terra and matches her cartoon persona's perky all-loving nature. Grey being added in as well possibly could have been to amend the whitewashing associated with Musa's casting, [[spoiler: and the MaybeEverAfter the season ends with between him and Aisha indicates that he'll be sticking around]].
** As noted below, the wardrobes of the characters in Season 1 were considered a letdown compared to the more colorful and vibrant style of the cartoon. Season 2 gives all the characters more colorful clothes, as well as making Alfea look much brighter and having more SceneryPorn. It also switched up the complaints of ColorCodedCharacters by not having the Winx only wear colors corresponding to their element. Bloom in particular spends a lot of time wearing blue outfits, which was her signature color in the cartoon.
** While Aisha as a character was well-received in Season 1, it was criticized that she had no role outside of being a supportive friend to the others. Season 2 gives her a subplot to herself, as well as a scene where she tells Bloom the latter can't always rely on her to be her moral compass.
** Terra coming out as a Lesbian and being accepted and supported by her friends, was received very warmly by fans who complained about the negative LGBTQ representation in Season 1. It also allowed for a bonding moment to properly affirm the friendship that many fans felt was poorly developed in the first season.
** In response to Bloom being a self-centered, unaccountable character in the first season, the second has many moments of her being much kinder. There are also many times where she puts herself in danger to keep everyone else safe, including the season ending with her [[spoiler: going into the Realm of Darkness to close the portal, even knowing it'll separate her from everyone]].
** For those who felt Stella was too EasilyForgiven for her mean girl ways, Season 2 shows her getting punished quite horrifically by Queen Luna, and going to great effort to defend Bloom [[spoiler: after she kills Rosalind]]. She also strikes up a friendship with Beatrix, and [[spoiler: brings about a HeelFaceTurn for her]].