I heard a lot of good about this series, and a lot of people on the internet saying that people needed to see it. So I binged it, and I can’t deny it is great. Do I think it’s an absolute masterpiece? Well…. There will be some degree of spoilers in this for Season 5, but not the finale itself.
First off, it looks great. Though I didn’t grow up with the original series from the 80s (honestly I’d be surprised if a lot of people who watched this series did), I can say that the character designs do harken back to the originals, while still being their own thing. The world of Etheria is also pretty to look at, with a lot of different colors without getting to the point of being garish. The animation also allows for some great shots, and some good fight scenes.
Next, the characters are very well defined, with clear personalities and traits that make them memorable, and fun to watch. The two best characters are certainly Adora and Catra, with their relationships forming one of the core elements of the series. The other characters are fun, and no one can deny the representation they offer is important and valuable. A trap some series have a tendency to fall into is making a character’s LGBT status the only definable trait of the character, to the point they have no identity beyond being LGBT. Thankfully, that’s not the case here, though.
The villains are good, but not great; actually let me rephrase that, some are great, but others not so much, because while Catra and Shadow Weaver are functional as villains, Hordak isn’t as good. He’s not bad by any means, but by choosing to focus on the latter two, this guy who’s nominally the Big Bad, comes across more as a Greater-Scope Villain, who’s only tangentially involved in the story. Horde Prime suffers from a similar issue; compare Fire Lord Ozai from A:TLA, who also wasn’t properly introduced into the last season. He was built up heavily throughout the whole show, not just talked about, but also shown through flashbacks, with just enough left untold to make him mysterious. Horde Prime was established in the third season, and only really shown through a brief flashback scene (not including his cameo). He does prove a real threat in the final season, but he never really had the great presence needed to be the big final boss of a long running series.
(Sidebar: I think Double Trouble’s a good antagonist, but I’m personally not a fan of their constant smug, mocking demeanor.)
As for the story, well, it has a similar problem to what I mentioned earlier, in that they there are clear plot points and characters they prioritize, such as Catra and Adora’s relationship, which is done very well, but the problem there is that some elements (important ones at that) begin to take the backseat. For example, Cartra’s redemption arc comes a bit too quickly in Season 5; of ra point of comparison, Zuko’s redemption arc consisted of him being an antagonist in the first season, but we get a clear set of motivations of him, which makes his struggles in the second season more meaningful, and his ultimate redemption in the third more dynamic. Catra remains an antagonist all the way up to the last season, and her primary struggles are just with dealing with Adora being on the opposite side. That all said, her motivations are still believable, as is her redemption, but it’s definitely not one of the great arcs I’ve seen characters go through. In addition, the romances with the other characters aren’t given the proper attention to really flourish, and not all confessions seem entirely earned at the end.
In the end, I think She-Ra sits comfortably as one of the great animated shows, in spite of a few issues. I’d definitely recommend it.
A great, but not flawless series
I heard a lot of good about this series, and a lot of people on the internet saying that people needed to see it. So I binged it, and I can’t deny it is great. Do I think it’s an absolute masterpiece? Well…. There will be some degree of spoilers in this for Season 5, but not the finale itself.
First off, it looks great. Though I didn’t grow up with the original series from the 80s (honestly I’d be surprised if a lot of people who watched this series did), I can say that the character designs do harken back to the originals, while still being their own thing. The world of Etheria is also pretty to look at, with a lot of different colors without getting to the point of being garish. The animation also allows for some great shots, and some good fight scenes.
Next, the characters are very well defined, with clear personalities and traits that make them memorable, and fun to watch. The two best characters are certainly Adora and Catra, with their relationships forming one of the core elements of the series. The other characters are fun, and no one can deny the representation they offer is important and valuable. A trap some series have a tendency to fall into is making a character’s LGBT status the only definable trait of the character, to the point they have no identity beyond being LGBT. Thankfully, that’s not the case here, though.
The villains are good, but not great; actually let me rephrase that, some are great, but others not so much, because while Catra and Shadow Weaver are functional as villains, Hordak isn’t as good. He’s not bad by any means, but by choosing to focus on the latter two, this guy who’s nominally the Big Bad, comes across more as a Greater-Scope Villain, who’s only tangentially involved in the story. Horde Prime suffers from a similar issue; compare Fire Lord Ozai from A:TLA, who also wasn’t properly introduced into the last season. He was built up heavily throughout the whole show, not just talked about, but also shown through flashbacks, with just enough left untold to make him mysterious. Horde Prime was established in the third season, and only really shown through a brief flashback scene (not including his cameo). He does prove a real threat in the final season, but he never really had the great presence needed to be the big final boss of a long running series.
(Sidebar: I think Double Trouble’s a good antagonist, but I’m personally not a fan of their constant smug, mocking demeanor.)
As for the story, well, it has a similar problem to what I mentioned earlier, in that they there are clear plot points and characters they prioritize, such as Catra and Adora’s relationship, which is done very well, but the problem there is that some elements (important ones at that) begin to take the backseat. For example, Cartra’s redemption arc comes a bit too quickly in Season 5; of ra point of comparison, Zuko’s redemption arc consisted of him being an antagonist in the first season, but we get a clear set of motivations of him, which makes his struggles in the second season more meaningful, and his ultimate redemption in the third more dynamic. Catra remains an antagonist all the way up to the last season, and her primary struggles are just with dealing with Adora being on the opposite side. That all said, her motivations are still believable, as is her redemption, but it’s definitely not one of the great arcs I’ve seen characters go through. In addition, the romances with the other characters aren’t given the proper attention to really flourish, and not all confessions seem entirely earned at the end.
In the end, I think She-Ra sits comfortably as one of the great animated shows, in spite of a few issues. I’d definitely recommend it.