I'm four episodes in and consider it absolutely adorable. It's super cute with cute interactions and cute things happening. Love that.
I said that on twitter and so far at least one creep has popped out of nowhere to yell at me about it. Boy it's She-Ra all over again.
It's probably gonna get weird later on, as despite the super-precocious look it hasn't shied away from having blood splatter to a small degree. Gives me those "Adult takes on wholesome cartoon" vibes.
You are not alone.Question for those who have actually watched the show (at this time I have not and do not plan to): On High Guardian Spice there's a Cliffhanger example. Is that example valid? Because to me it reads more like a Sequel Hook than a Cliffhanger.
they definitely should've focused more on letting the show sell itself, rather than it's creation process, their first ad was basically bait for chuds
Bumbleby is best ship. busy spending time on r/RWBY and r/anime. Unapologetic SocialistI've gotten around to watching the first episode. It feels like one of those magical girl anime that aired on 4Kids TV in the early/mid-00s at 7am. It's just a cute show for young kids... which makes me really confused about the content warning. Legitimately one of the most harmless shows I've watched in months outside actual preschool programming. Unless LGBT characters that aren't being used for the viewer's sexual gratification are really that terrifying to the Crunchyroll audience.
Edited by RacattackForce on Nov 5th 2021 at 12:34:34 PM
I wonder if the content warning was because Crunchyroll was concerned that if the moral guardians saw anything lgbt in a show aimed at kids they would raise a giant-ass stink that CR didn't want to deal with.
Plus the use of a few shits and some blood and stabbing (of bugs onscreen, one character off) made them decide the content warning was the safest thing to do, as stupid as it was.
My troper wallI was planning on asking this in the complaining cleanup thread, but I realized not a lot of people there have actually seen the show, so:
Does Snapdragon struggle with their masculinity in general, or is it specifically toxic masculinity? There's an Trans Tribulations example about it on the main page and someone edited it just to remove the "toxic".
Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢I'd say that's accurate. From what I've seen Snapdragon has issues with being toxic, and issues with being masculine, but they're largely separate things.
It's funny how I can still be caught offguard by a saccharine looking show having mature elements. The upbeat attitude and colorful visuals are so genuine but it also doesn't shy away from having an animal graphically stripped of its flesh or having a character say "Shit" off the cuff. I'm used to that happening but in those instances the authors seem to be having fun with it, so you can sort of see it coming. Here it's dropped so casually.
Watched the first two episodes and they were cute. Seems like it would have been right at home on the Saturday morning cartoon blocks of the 90s and 00s, and whatever their modern equivalent may be. An inoffensive mix of bright colors and plucky young heroes to entertain kids while teaching a lesson or two about inclusivity.
Who's the target audience for this? The characters' designs and personal goals, the vocal performances, and the storyline all scream "6-11 year olds" to me, but are there many of them using Crunchyroll or VRV? In 2016 a former COO of Crunchyroll said that 90% of their audience are between 13 and 34
. Even if there were no backlash, I don't think that it would have had much success due to the mismatch in apparent desired audience and Crunchyroll's demographics alone.
I think this would've been more appropriate on a platform or network with more young children in the audience, with removing the S-bombs that apparently show up later and the red blood. I get the vibe that the artists ultimately wanted to make a kids show, but weren't willing to make some sacrifices to get it down to a Y7 rating so it could be marketed directly to younger kids. (Yes, I recognize that the mere presence of LGBTQ+ folks may also give the show an uphill battle to a lower content warning, and I definitely don't think that they should be censored to coddle bigoted parents, good their intentions to "protect" their children may be. Is that alone still enough to bar it from Y7 territory in the USA?).
I'm hopeful that someday, this show will find its way on to a platform that many young kids regularly access, and they'll have a more positive reception.
imo the hatersnote are encouraging the Streisand effect herenote encouraging neutrals to look into this kind of generic show.
- On a petty note, I'm really not a fan of the 80s-looking designs, and they exacerbate the "not a Japanese production" effect by taking a lot of visual cues from 30-year old anime, rather than more contemporary shows. The witch has girl Ranma's hairstyle, and many of the characters have huge fluffy hair and fashion that's out of date on both sides of the Pacific. Is it just me, or do many anime-influenced American cartoons take a lot of inspiration from the likes of Rumiko Takahashi and Dragon Ball, regardless of when they're made?
Edited by hibiscusleilei on Nov 14th 2021 at 7:46:45 AM
100% agree that the audience that this show is best suited for (elementary school-aged children) is a total mismatch for the main userbase of Crunchyroll (teenagers and young adults). Like I noted before, my friends and I joked while watching that the content warning was to prepare viewers terrified of shows . Do we have a good trope for that? Maybe Misaimed Marketing?
Edited by RacattackForce on Nov 14th 2021 at 9:34:21 AM
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Oh, I totally get that any LGBT content means a work automatically gets a higher rating and/or requires a content warning overseas. I simply find the warning amusing regardless, because the presentation makes for some nice Mood Whiplash.
I’ve noticed that the show has some irredeemable male characters. Aster seems to be a deconstructed love interest for Rosemary, Cal is a jerk who gets no good moments at all, and Mandrake is portrayed as a homicidal maniac. Not to mention the Triumverate are evil counterparts to the Triad and the Triumverate are guys. I think there is a YMMV trope for this, but I don’t know what it would fall under.
You'd want Trope Finder or the Trope Idea Sounding Board
. Also don't Slime Boy and Professor Caraway exist...?
Might just fall under The Unfair Sex.
If it gets talking about in an article possibly Unfortunate Implications.
I've also heard trans men dont like how the only positive male character is trans, sort of lumping him in with the rest of the girls. Could count as Offending the Creator's Own.
Edited by Moroaica on Nov 23rd 2021 at 12:26:03 PM
I wasn’t trying to exclude Slime Boy and Caraway. I meant more that the antagonistic characters seem to be guys. I know that Amaryllis started off as a bad guy, as did Olive. However, the show gave them a chance to redeem themselves. Aster, Mandrake, Cal, and the Triumverate weren’t given the same treatment at all. Granted, I don’t know what the plan for Cal is, but the show has firmly established him as a jerk with no redeeming qualities at all. Also, I don’t really know what the plan for the surprise villain at the end of episode 12 will be. Honestly, I expect the show to try and have her be redeemed somehow especially considering how she ties into the show.
Edited by kataangluvr on Nov 23rd 2021 at 12:30:12 PM
https://twitter.com/dinoraye/status/1463248400053268480?t=itV7yzpm2D_95Tjt_c9dAg&s=19
Here are some very early storyboards from Raye Rodriguez from 2013, back when he tries to pitch the show to Frederator.
Saw my wife watching the show during the Fall Festival episodes and enjoyed all the Petting-Zoo People designs and gave it a shot the next day.
The first couple episodes were definitely eye-roll inducing. But the snarky older lady in The Triad coupled with the potions teacher were quite enjoyable. Additionally I was curious about the rot and Thyme's storyline with it. I kept at it and the show definitely grew the beard over the course of the season.
One part I really liked was Snapdragon during the Fall Festival. Her using it as an excuse to try on a dress reminded me of exploring gender identity by crossplaying at conventions years ago. So of course I wanted to hug the shit outta her through the whole two-parter.
Voice acting wasn't really too noticeable for me aside from Slime Boy, but even then it kinda worked with the character. He'd probably be great to hang out with if more age appropriate.
Amaryllis definitely took time to warm up to, but she did seem to be learning a few things by the end.
As for things being appropriate to a medieval fantasy setting, well, fantasy lets you do whatever the fuck you want. There allegedly weren't queer people in medieval times? Well there definitely wasn't magic, pink hair, school uniforms, or teachers piloting robotic squid beasts.
Overall it's decent and I do want to see the remaining seasons. Not quite groundbreaking but definitely not a pile of shit.
The Man in Black fled across the Island, and The Doctor followed.Unsure if anyone here would be interested in this, but eh might as well — there's current a cleanup thread for the show in short term projects to remove any complaining from the High Guardian Spice pages, and it'd be nice to have some more people helping out.
The link is here
for anyone interested.
I just saw this review
talking about the show. Should I use this as a citation for Offending the Creator's Own to back up the claim that some people in the intended target demographic took issue with the writing?

What do you guys think of Aster? I kinda feel like he was meant to be seen like Gaston from “Beauty and the Beast”. The only thing is I don’t think he was as bad as the show was making him out to be. I’ve seen characters be portrayed in worse manners than him and who deserve a little comeuppance for being rude, arrogant, or even sexist.