that netflix shera fanfiction

 

 So I just wrapped up watching the reboot of that goofy bad 80's cartoon She-ra on Netflix with my fiance. Her fifth time watching it, my first. Western cartoons are good, actually.

(not this one)

First, the bad. Well, "bad." This cartoon is really good. Most of my problems with it are mostly just weaknesses in the show's pacing and visuals. The first season is pretty weak in comparison to everything after it, which is a good thing and a bad thing. Like, the back half steals the show. It rules hard! It just means the first half is comparatively weak. Also, the visuals range from serviceable to really good, but there's a lot of really wonky shots. Also, like any show with a 50+ episode count it has some dud episodes.

Now onto the good!

The characters rule hard. This show really understands not only how to instantly characterize someone but then reinforce that characterization. Every single important character is easily understandable and when they do dumb shit or act "illogically" it makes real tangible sense in the writing. Catra is EASILY the best example of this. She's the best character in the show by far, actually. Every action she takes is so understandable even when she's doing dumb/awful shit. She's a Zuko type. You want to see her redeem herself and grow as her bad choices spiral her down an awful path.

Catra RULES

The show manages to have a TON of thematic depth as well. It goes places I REALLY didn't expect. A lot of themes in the latter half reminded me of some really cool things I like, like Attack on Titan with its discussions of the morality of war and the ethics of overwhelming force. Another REALLY STRONG theme it has revolves around destiny and inheritance. Also it has power of friendship done really well, granted I'm an incredible sucker for that to begin with. So much thematic depth in this Netflix cartoon for kids.

The art style also grew on me a lot. All of the redesigns of the classic cartoon characters are wonderful and are so full of imagination and creativity. The standouts for me are probably Entrapta and Catra for sure. I will say that the show has some pretty flat coloring which doesn't lend itself to detail, but it still manages to look good, and when things get more detailed with the shading/coloring the designs hit HARD.

Entrapta is the purple one on the bottom right :)

Netflix She-ra gets compared a lot to magical girl anime shows. I want to say that that comparison, while not unfounded, doesn't feel quite right to me. It reminded me more of really good battle shonen series. Stuff like Yu Yu Hakusho and Dragonball come to mind. It has a large focus on combat and teamwork and interesting powers and their applications. Like, it manages to make "can create magic nets and throw them" into a badass, unique power that looks sick in action. Shit rules.

Also, obviously, I can't talk about She-ra as an LGBT+ person without mentioning how fucking queer this show is. From season one you have a married WLW couple with Spinerella and Nettossa, season 2 introduces Bow's dads, Perfuma is a trans woman, Double Trouble is NB, one of the endgame couples is the GAYEST, and all the women simp for She-ra herself. To steal this next line from two people I know, one of which being my lovely fiance, Legend of Korra barely made it through the elevator doors with Korrasami so Netflix She-ra could earn the gold medal at the relay race SOLO. It's great.

The only characters to kiss onscreen are queer couples!

So yeah. Cartoon good. Really good. What started with a 7/10, solid season 1 gave way to a truly wonderful experience that I can honestly recommend to anyone who likes either cartoons, battle shonen anime, queer shit, or just good art.

STRONG 8 to a light 9, leaning more towards a 9/10 on this one. Go watch it.