The original 12 issue story arc in the comics, particularly the first 6 issues written by the original creators, are better than this show. And while most of the season two arc was better than the Narissa arc from the comics, the comic version defenitely had the better ending. Other than those two arcs that the show was based on, it's best not to bother with the comics: they get really stupid afterwards.
The Endarno Arc had a better story, more intelligent writing and was genuinely better than the original series, so no. The Ari arc had a bad magic world story, but also featured the Astral Drop storyline, one of the best pulled off things in the series overall. It also introduced Orube.
Season 2 Cartoon absolutely demolishes any of the comics plots, by the way. It's a ton smarter, better paced, wittier, has more action... The only thing the comic has on it is arguably art quality.
As for the ending of Nerissa's arc in the comics... I'll have to argue that it wasn't a better ending. Nerissa was winning, then stupidly decides to backstab her own minions just for a bit of extra power which she didn't even need. Cue main minion(Shagon) almost killing her in one blow for the guardians to mop her up. The cartoon held to the character of their characters. The comic suddenly turns Nerissa into an idiot to make her lose.
What makes it a feminist show? Purely because it has female leads? Because as a piece of media it looks like something that happens to have female leads instead of something promoting female rights or enpowerment.
Albertosaurus means apolitical feminism. Not just female leads, but ones who make their own decisions for better or worse and whose normal life goes beyond girly things. It's something that should not be notable, unfortunately still is to some extent. I'm not sure if "feminist" is the right word to apply but it's an important point about it.
Stories don't tell us monsters exist; we knew that already. They show us that monsters can be trademarked and milked for years.
cillianflood: Did... did you not read the first paragraph? They broke down why they don't consider Totally Spies! to be a feminist show despite having all female leads, and they detail what makes WITCH different to them.
It's not in the first sentence, but you'd at least read a paragraph before commenting on someone else's opinion.
Yeah I read the entire review. I just don't see how being well written and having female leads makes it feminist. It makes it a good show that happens to have female leads. Feminism is about female rights and empowerment when this show does nothing to promote (or discourage) such ideals.
Even though it isn't as well made I'd consider Totally Spies a more feminist show since it does have a girl power trend to it despite, as the author describes it, featuring air heads and bimbos. While in WITCH the characters, male and female kick ass and their gender isn't brought up at all. Granted I probably haven't seen Totally spies in over a decade.
It just feels like calling it Feminist is giving it a lot more implications than was necessarily intended. It'd be like calling Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles a maninist show because it happens to feature a male primary cast when in reality gender probably never came up at all during the creative process.
But having a primarily male cast in a show focused on fighting is the cultural default, so audiences don't read anything into it unless their attention is specifically drawn to it. Female leads fighting evil is more "marked", to use a term from linguistics.
Stories don't tell us monsters exist; we knew that already. They show us that monsters can be trademarked and milked for years.
Reymma, that\'s exactly what I was going at. For instance, I read a lot of Tintin comics as a kid, and I still love them. However, the Tintin comics have virtually no female characters of any importance - the only recurring female characters are Bianca Castafiore and Tintin\'s landlady. The point is, I never noticed this as a kid, because men having adventures is the cultural default. A comic book series featuring women having is something I would have noticed. That\'s why I consider W.I.T.C.H. to be a feminist show. It\'s doesn\'t have to blather on about girl power all the time - just show girls being interested in other things than just fashion and boys and have them kick ass.
Leave a Comment:
Genuinely feminist fun
While watching this series, I couldn't stop thinking about Totally Spies, despite the two being very different shows. Perhaps a comparison will bring to light why one of these shows is good, while the other one sucks. Both are shows about a team of teenaged girls who kick ass and save the world on a regular basis. However, that does not make Totally Spies a feminist show: its main characters are airheaded bimbos obsessed with fashion and boys and have all the personality of a cardboard cutout. They may kick ass, but they do not transcend stereotypes.
This is where WITCH succeeds: credible heroines who break stereotypes. Boys? Oh yes, four out of the five girls eventually acquire a boyfriend, but they never become the center of their lives. Fashion? Doesn't come up very often. Personality? You bet. It must be admitted that the series takes a while to find its feet - arguably the entire first season, because the second season sees a noticeable increase in quality, when a new villain with fiendish plans is introduced. However, that doesn't mean that the first season can't be enjoyed, just that season two is so much better.
Any downsides? Well, I wasn't overly fond of the school scenes, especially when the bullies were involved. But that's really all I can think of. Alright, and I didn't care a lot for Blunk. As for the rest, this is a fun and genuinely feminist slice of fantasy. It's just a shame I've never been able to get my hands on the original comic books.