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#contrary to the first cartoon where the flaws are more showed
schtroumpfcurieux · 2 years
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i love how following the media, who is close friends to who change
For exemple, with Smurfette, in the comics she's bestie with Vanity. In the first cartoon, she's good friend with Great Smurf, and in the new cartoon, she seems to be good friend with Glasses Smurf (that last one is quite funny, knowing that in the first cartoon it kinda feels like she despises him). The new cartoon seems to push a 'besties Prankster and Vanity' that other medias don't, in the same way the 80s cartoon had 'Glasses and Clumsy(mixed with Dumb) have some kind of friendship' that the other medias don't really have.
Another thing that's very cool is the change in how characters act
Prankster Smurf in the new cartoon is basically a kid, in the first cartoon he seems to only care about pranks and jokes to the point of showing a lack of empathy, and the one in the comics, while still loving pranks, feels more mature in a way. And let's not forget Smurfette who, as 'the girl', will be very different in her character following when the media is from.
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elfindreams · 2 years
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Hit me with ur sans opinions
OKAY HERE WE GO
Favorite thing:
Despite him being an apathetic shitposter, I really like how Sans is... actually a pretty hopeful person? Dude’s secretly depressed as shit even though that “ohhh okay yeah that’s what’s going on, huh” moment only comes quite late in the game and you see what his room looks like, and of course the Lost Soul dialogue during the final boss fight. But he has friends and shows interest in his normal hobbies and sincerely wants to be Frisk’s friend, in the murder route he apparently held out hope that if the player was shown enough kindness, you would willingly go back and fix all the bad things you did and be everyone’s friend instead. Like, way past the point where that clearly wasn’t going to happen. My man is TRYING SO HARD
Least favorite thing:
There are a myriad of Sans-related things which evoke responses from me ranging from disinterested apathy to a mild eyeroll to rabid frothing rage, but none of it has anything to do with the character himself, so it feels unfair to count that against ‘em... uhhh I bet he’s the type of person to talk with their mouth absolutely FULL of food and it would enrage me even more than it usually does because HOW ARE YOU EVEN DOING THAT SIR
Favorite line of dialogue:
Yeah yeah there are the intensely raw lines everyone chooses, and rightfully so, but I got a soft spot in my heart for the prank call where he asks if your refrigerator is running, and if you try to be contrary by saying no, he responds with “ok, i’ll send someone over to fix it. thanks for letting me know. good communication is important”. I seem to remember yelling something like “askdjdbdp YEAH OKAY THANKS SANS, THANKS” at the screen when it happened in my first play through, and my brother cackling bc he didn’t get that call when he played the game and didn’t even know to expect it.
BROTP:
Do actual brothers qualify? If not, uhhh Toriel probably. Joke buddies!
OTP:
I see Sans as pretty much aroace but could equally see him ending up in a very casual FWB thing with Alphys, or in an actual relationship in scenarios where Undyne isn’t in the picture, like the queen Alphys ending. It would be cute and their personalities and general vibes are super compatible imo, but on the flipside I could see their flaws feeding into each other and spiraling downward real quick, especially in the particular scenario of the Queen Alphys ending because uhhh yeah emotional trauma for everybody who didn’t die. Sans is so passive and lazy and conflict-avoidant that he would just enable all of Alphys’ worst behaviors, she would become increasingly isolated and depressed and paranoid and drag him down with her, it would be a mess. (I mean he kind of already does that in canon by helping her keep the Amalgamates a secret instead of intervening in any way??? SHE’S KEEPING PEOPLE LOCKED IN HER BASEMENT DUDE, HOLY SHIT) Sans x a healthier diet and sleep schedule and maybe some talk therapy = the true OTP.
NOTP:
Sans x Frisk. If it’s in the context of a fanwork where Frisk was already an adult when they fell into the Underground, then I guess I won’t HATE it hate it... nah jk I still super hate it, c’mon man why does this literal babeychild need to get shipped with anyone, much less an adult? Let Sans be the goofy sitcom dad figure he was always meant to be, dang it!
Random headcanon:
I’m sure I’ve posted this before but OH WELL, Sans doesn’t actually know what sex is. I mean he appreciates a good 69 joke as much as any not-self-respecting shitposter, but he’s Literally A Talking Cartoon Skeleton and this topic has zero relevance to his life, so he never bothered to look it up or ask anybody. (Papyrus does, though. Confirmed chad.)
Alternatively—
When used against a murderous soul with high LV, Sans’ KARMA ability does damage over time and drains health. However, if a KARMA “attack” were used upon someone with a clean and pure soul, it would have the reverse effect and heal them. Combine that with Sans’ terrible offensive and defensive stats, and you have... a classic white mage with an absolutely BUSTED spell mechanic at his disposal. In a Deltarune-style fight with other party members to physically defend him, all of whom are heroic good guy characters, Sans would make a superb healer. Alas, his abilities are only situationally useful and his boss battle in Undertale is the exact reverse of that scenario, so he’s stuck trying to make do with what he’s got.
(And now I’m having war flashbacks to that dreadful 1v1 fight in Final Fantasy Tactics where I had to minmax my main character’s abilities and equipment and hope to god that the RNG would work out in my favor because all along he’d only ever been expected to fight as part of a team and I hadn’t leveled him up very much... cinematic parallels!)
Unpopular opinion:
Absolutely none, everyone agrees with me and Sir Tobias Foxington himself manifested physically in my house to give me a gold star sticker
Song I associate with them:
uhhh I’ve got a few but how about Many Lives -> 49 MP by Owen Pallett
It’s about a clairvoyant who obsessively stares into the future and keeps seeing/hearing his middle-aged self frantically yelling back through time and urging him to invest more money, dammit. Idk how well the lyrics actually fit but like, VIBES??? lmao
Favorite picture:
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inapat14 · 3 years
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Tex Avery, the Warner Bros. And –  Looney Tunes
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From the  early days of the 20th century to its prolific forms today, Animation has always been a wonderful creative genre, pushing aside both –  technical and –  creative boundaries. But when we think about animation and cartoons from our childhood, we will often first mention Disney:  the stories, drawings and perfectly identified characters.
When it came to other names, we know them all, but often not as well. The graphics, -  credits, -  expressions and the characters rocked part of our childhood but it is often difficult to know where, when or how exactly.  Less well ranked, they nevertheless deserve to be mentioned with respect, like their creators, true artists of the genre who have succeeded in giving life to their imaginary world.
For this first article and to put things in order, let’s talk about –  Looney Tunes and their not-so-famous flagship creator, Tex Avery. And let’s begin by a little bit of background :
In 1923, the Disney studios were created. But at the same time they are not the only ones. All the big majors embarked on the adventure and quickly established a partnership or an animation department in order to broadcast their creations to the cinema alongside newsreels. 
That is when the Warner Bros. set up a partnership with Leon Schlesinger, founder of Leon Schlesinger Productions, a studio rich in talents and creations that have become cult. It is in these studios, at the end of the 1930s, that –  the Looney Tunes characters were created. Absurd characters, cunning, rather clever (sometimes diabolical), overflowing, unpredictable. Characters in total contrast to the sensible characters created in the previous decade like Mickey Mouse or Popeye. Tex Avery has been hired by Leon Schlesinger Studios in 1935. He led a team of ultra-talented artists: Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, Bob Cannon, Virgill Ross and Sidney Sutherland. Together, they collaborated on the Looney Tunes series in black and white, then on Merrie Melodies in technicolor.Originally, Fred Avery (who will take the pseudonym Tex Avery in tribute to his home state, Texas), wanted to work for comics. He couldn't find a job there and decided (luckily for us) to fall back on animation, "time to… ». He will become the masterful innovator of midcentury cartoon humor. 
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Avery will only stay 6 years with Leon Schlesinger and will even leave the studio before the total buyout by the Warners Bros which marked the beginning of the Warner Bros Cartoon. But even if Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck had already been drawn a few years before being taken back by Tex Avery, he was the one who shaped them. 
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This slender gray rabbit who spends his time nibbling carrots and playing with his enemies ? Avery is the one who gives it his cult line, drawing inspiration from his own teenage expressions: "Hey, what's up, doc? ". The great specialty of Avery and its teams was to infuse characters with an irreverent personality. He developed some of the kinkiest, weirdest cartoons ever made but also modeled legendary characters. Today Bugs Bunny is an iconic figure in the Warner Bros. Animation. His popularity even led him to become a mascot for the company Warner Bros.
The Tex Avery style can be summed up in one word: wacky. Everything is crazy about his work because he sought to break the codes. He dismantled the period fairy tale animations into something funny. He tackled all of Walt's taboo subjects: sex, politics, the fourth wall ... The characters are the masters of cartoons and it is often thanks to their hateful flaws that audiences tend to love them.
Unfortunately, this freedom of tone has not always been well received, which isn't going to help Tex Avery get easy recognition. In addition, the gag-man was modest and did not set up his own studio despite his many successful creations. 
He nevertheless obtained 6 Oscar nominations between 1940 and 1956. Gradually and during the second part of the 20th century, his professional peers recognized his importance. Many films and animated series have been inspired by his work, such as The Mask or the Animaniacs.
Of course Bugs Bunny or –  Looney Tunes are not the only interesting part of Tex Avery’s work (quite the contrary, he is also the father of Droopy for example…), but it would take more than one article to talk about all his genius ! But if all of this made you want to know more about Tex Avery, I would recommend –  seeing the King Size documentary : Tex Avery and the Looney Tunes Revolution.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=III4mVWV_2I&t=647s
But Warner Bros and Looney Tunes are also back in the news today ! 
 First because of The film Space Jam: A new Legacy which should be released next July, and put some Looney Toon’s characters at the heart of the debate ! Indeed, the character of Pépé Le Pew was edited out of the sequel to the cult film bringing together the Looney Tunes and the stars of the NBA, because he was accused of perpetuating -- « rape culture ».
On the other hand and if all of this just made you want to dive back into the animations: be aware  that that the legendary crew is back! 200 new Looney Tunes shorts have been created and are currently showing in the US on the HBO Max platform. -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nalw1XRAiMI Mathilde Agaisse
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rachelbethhines · 4 years
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Tangled Salt Marathon - One Angry Princess
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There’s two halves to this episode. The first is a well constructed, if over simple, mystery for the kiddos to solve. The other is a failed attempt at being ‘deep’ and ‘mature’.  
Summary: Attila is finally opening up his own bakery, but people generally don't want to stop by because of his scary helmet. The next day, Monty's Sweet Shoppe is destroyed, and Attila is arrested. He is about to be banished from the kingdom, but Rapunzel makes an appeal to investigate the matter further. 
The Episode is Meant to be a Homage to 12 Angry Men, but Misses the Point of the Original Film
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So for those who haven’t seen the movie, (though really you should) 12 Angry Men is about a jury trying to decide if an accused person is guilty of a violent crime. At first the evidence seems clear, but one lone juror refuses to vote guilty until the evidence has been gone over again. One by one he convinces the other men to vote not guilty as they each have to face they’re own personal biases.
Sound familiar? 
In the show Rapunzel is the sole believer in Attila’s innocence despite evidence to the contrary. She insists on investigating herself while challenging everyone else’s personal biases. 
The difference?
12 Angry Men is a hard hitting look at how privilege, prejudice, and cognitive bias can interfere with the American judicial system. None of the jurors are named, but they are all middle class, presumably Christian, white guys. And that is the point. They are all different from the accused; a young, poor, arguably non-white teen (the play is intentionally vague about the kid’s race so that you can slot any minority in there) who has a history of getting into trouble. If you were to change the ethnicity, race, gender, class, or age of any of the 12 characters then you would suddenly have a very different story. It’s their backgrounds and pre-formed opinions that inform their decisions. Even the main protagonist is not exempt from re-examining his own personal biases. 
Meanwhile the writers of Tangled: the Series are too busy showing off how clever Rapunzel is to actually deal with the themes of injustice and bigotry that they added in themselves in the first place.
Rapunzel Knowing Attila Before Hand Weakens the Message
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In 12 Angry Men none of the jurors know the accuse. In fact, they can’t know him. It’s against the law. In order to have an impartial jury, no one can have any ties to either the defendant or the prosecution, and they must not have knowledge of the case or have had specific experiences that might cause them to be biased or unfair. 
Rapunzel being Attila’s friend means that she already has her own bias and an invested interest in making sure Attila goes free. She’s not acting out of the simple goodness of her heart here. She’s doing something that directly benefits herself. 
I don’t expect a children’s fantasy show to recreate the US judicial system with all of the complexities there in, but I do expect it to uphold it’s heroine as the selfless person it claims her to be. Yet the show constantly undermines this supposed character trait by only having her help the people she befriends, and only if that help doesn’t require anything emotionally challenging or mentally taxing from her.   
How much more powerful would this episode be if Rapunzel was defending a stranger or someone she actively disliked? Imagine if it was Monty who was being accuse and Raps had to swallow her pride in order to do what is right. But that would require the show having Rapunzel actually learn something instead of placing her on a pedestal. It would also mean giving Monty a reason to exist rather than keeping him around to be a convenient red herring.      
Rapunzel Shouldn’t Have to Prove Attila’s Innocence 
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Rather than have a courtroom drama the show opts to have a ‘whodunit’ story instead. This unfortunately gives the implication that Corona’s judicial system runs on a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ mantra, which is backwards to any humane legal system. ‘Innocent until proven guilty’, ‘reasonable doubt’, ‘due process’, are the cornerstones of our modern social ethics. 
In 12 Angry Men, we never find out if the accused actually committed the crime or not. That is because his actual innocence isn’t the point of the story. It’s about whether or not the system is working like it should or if it’s being compromised by human error. 
Once again, I don’t expect a recreation of the US judicial system, but if you’re writing a story for a modern audience then you need to reinforce modern morals. Simply crouching Corona’s legal system as ‘of the times’ or ‘fantasy’ while ignoring why we no longer have such systems in place reduces the story to puerile fare. 
It also means that show’s writers didn’t put enough thought into their world building. 
No One Calls Out the Obviously Corrupt System 
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The show has interwoven throughout its ongoing narrative themes of classism, injustice, abuse, and authoritarianism, but then fails to follow through on those themes by not having any of the protagonists actually examine any of these issues. They just sit there in the background, even as the show tries it darndest to present Rapunzel as an arbiter of reform. However a person can’t bring about change if they can’t even admit that there is a problem to begin with.   
In this episode alone we have
Banishment is considered a reasonable punishment for an act of vandalism. A crime that is usually considered only a misdemeanor unless the damage goes over a certain amount. Keep in mind that not even most felonies would be given such a punishment in the real world
Introduces the prison barge that regularly carries away convicts. In the past ‘undesirables’ would be shipped off to prison colonies as a form of persecution. Attila and every other person we see subjected to Corona’s legal system are of a lower class. 
Many prejudge Attila based off his appearance, lower class, and past upbringing. However, it is either Attila who is expected to change or Rapunzel who is expected to win people over. At no point is anyone told that they shouldn’t be prejudiced to begin with. 
There is no judge, jury, or lawyers. The king alone decides the fate of criminals, the Captain is expected to be the both the prosecutor and the ‘executioner’, which is a conflict of interest, and the defendant has no one to represent them unless they so happen to know a kind statesperson. Meaning you have to be either rich or well connected in order to even have a chance to defend yourself. 
Oh and there’s this...
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Uh, yeah you do. You’re the flipping king. You make the law. You’re the one to bring charges against Attila, and nearly every other criminal in the show, in the first place. 
The show constantly wants us to view Frederic as simply an everyman who is only doing his job, but he’s not. He’s a ruler and as such he has powers and responsibilities that no one else has or ever will have. The series gives both him and Rapunzel all of the privileges of being in charge without holding them to account for the consequences of their actions. 
By not pointing out how wrong these actions are, the show winds up avocating them instead. When I call Tangled the Series authoritarian, this is why. Because authority is never questioned even when clearly wrong and nepotism is presented as the solution to conflicts as oppose to being the problem itself.
The Show Introduces Complex Issues but Then Oversimplifies the Conflicts Surrounding Those Issues
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The creators of the show have constantly declared that the series is ‘not for kids’. That they were shooting for an older audience than the pre-school time slot they were given. Now ignoring the fact that Tangled was always going to have a built in audince of pre-teen girls and ignoring that children’s media can be mature, TTS lacks the nuance needed to viewed as anything other than a pantomime. 
As stated before, this episode alone ignores the very real issues interlaced within the conflict in order to give us an overly simple mystery that anyone over the age of five could figure out.  
It’s frustrating to watch the show constantly skirt towards the edge of complexity only to see it chicken out and go for the low hanging fruit instead. As a consequence the series winds up being for no one. Too shallow for adults and older teens, but too confused in its morals to be shown to small children and younger adolescents. 
I wouldn’t recommend this show to a parent, not without encouraging them to view the series either before or alongside their child in order to counteract it’s ‘lessons’ and I know parents within the fandom itself who’ve stopped showing newer episodes to their kids; stating that they want their child to be old enough to point out the harmful messages to before doing so. 
Once Again No One Learns Anything 
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Rapunzel doesn’t learn that the system is flawed. Attila doesn’t learn to open up to people. Nobody learns to treat people with respect and to not judge others based on appearances alone.
The whole point of the episode is to just show off how much ‘better’ Rapunzel is than everyone else. The show constantly feels the need to tear down other characters in an effort to make its favs look good as opposed to just letting the mains grow as people. 
Conclusion
Tangled the tv series is no 12 Angry Men. It’s no Steven Universe/Gravity Falls/Avatar:TLA/She-Ra/Gargoyles/Batman:TAS either. It barely reaches the same level as the likes of DnD, Sonic SATAM, or Voltron. Interesting ideas but poor pacing, build up, and lack of follow through, with some naff decisions thrown into the mix bring things down in quality. And unlike the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon from the early 80s, TTS lacks the benefit of being a pioneer in the field of animation, where such flaws are more forgivable. 
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stardustizuku · 6 years
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well i guess we’re doing this
@skating-jellyfish @scintillant-h @quasargirl
ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE  
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The Westernization of Magical Girl Genre
By StardustIzuku aka me 
AKA the 2k magical girl essay people wanted me to talk about.
A lot of people were asking about this, wow.
Magical girls. Glitter, cutesy names, stuffed animals, and puns. What is there not to love about them?
It was only bound to happen for it to be tried in the west. Much like transformers, which were a westernization of gundam, Magical Girls are going through their rocky paths to that idolized version of Magic targeted towards small girls.
There are a few shows that are borrowing these themes today in children’s cartoon, so I wanted to talk about them. How they managed to miss the mark with some fans, and why their following is significantly smaller of the likes of Sailor Moon.
Here you have today:
The Westernization of Magical Girl Genre
The thing about Magical Girls is that the plot is often very predictable. It, quite frequently, does not have that much of a great romance, and its villains are basic to the core.  
So, why do we like them if they’re, supposedly, so shitty?
Well…The answer is
Two Things:
The feeling. 
The message.
This is the core of the Magical Girl’s success. If it has a nice feeling but no good message, you get things like kamichama Karin. If it has a bad feeling but a good message, you get things like Madoka.
(Which are in my opinion the two worst things that could have happened to Magical Girl genre)
And having said this, there’s two shows I wanna talk about today. One is SVTFOE and the other is Miraculous Ladybug. Two westernized versions of the Magical Girl genre…And both fail to recreate the very specific beauty of Magical Girls. As they struggle with its own voice, they get something that feels genuine but ultimately disassociated from the genre.  
I will first start with the easiest to tackle.
Miraculous Ladybug;
It does everything right in the regard of plot, romance and villains. It’s a real classic of Magical Girl storyline that could be easy to get behind.
And while I do watch it, I do not feel the love I know I could for it.
The reason is simple: because of the feeling it gives off.
I think the biggest mistake Miraculous did was making it 3D. This means it’s technically easier to make, yes. But it also deteriorates the very particular aesthetics Magical Girls have. And this makes it drop quality.
It feels less magical, and more real. Less sparkles, more concrete. And taking into a count the fact that it’s set in Paris? This show should be looking ethereal. But instead it looks very plain. It feels…wrong even.
There’s also a very key aspect that I think it’s missing: the team. It’s taking them way too long to form the team. Time that could have been spent making the team -Ayla, Chloe etc- feel closer and work through their difference is instead focused on them individually.
And that’s good, since it has a “Monster of the Week” narrative. But it lessens the impact. We are two seasons in, and we have a very lacklustre incomplete team.
By episode 43 -the time im writing this- Sailor Moon was already meeting Sailor Venus -the last Sailor Scout- and heading to the final battle. Sakura was friends with Meilin and biding goodbye and saying thanks for the memories. In Tokyo Mew Mew Zakuro and Mint -the closest girls on the team- were having one of the most emotional fallouts in anime history. Even Amu had finally unlocked her god damn Amulet Diamond and was essentially already friends with the “evil” Utau.
But 43 episodes in Miraculous ladybug and we have three out of the supposedly five characters of the team, queen bee is loosely alluded to, and we haven’t seen Ayla interact with them as superheroes that much.
Its strange, if you ask me, for a team to be presented this way. When are we going to see them start trusting each other? When are we going to see them work together? Ladybug and Chat are good, but how could the team as a whole even remotely begin to feel so close?
Ladybug has the heart and the intention to be a good Magical Girl adaptation…but it simply lacks the resources to make it actually work. It’s wasting so much time in stuff that does not advance the plot, or round up the characters. It has more useless filler than sailor moon.
And that’s not even kidding, because by this point, may I remind you, Sailor Moon is like two episodes away from ending its first season.
Over all, it just feels a bit plastic and stiff.
However, credit where credit is due.
They nailed the romance.
When it comes to romance in MG it falls under two categories:
1.- The straight forward plot with pinning girl. (eg. Sailor Moon, Mermaid Melody)
2.- The dreaded love triangle between the bad guy and the nice guy. (open a shoujo manga)
And Miraculous Ladybug did a pretty interesting thing, fusing the “bad guy” with the “good guy”, in chat and Adrien.
It’s like telling you Ikuto and Takase are the same person. Or Kishu and Masaru are the same guy.
Pretty crazy, if you ask me.
It also solves the “who will she chose” narrative that drives everyone insane. Instead it’s replaced with a slow burn that makes you keep watching. You know they’ll end up together, but you want to know how.
It also keeps the “he’s in love with my alter ego” trope that to this day is a MUST in any magical girl, just because its super fun and never gets old.
So Miraculous Ladybug is very close to becoming the true magical girl adaption we all wanted. I would say it could be better, but there’s a reason why it has a large following.
It did many, many, things right. It just needs a push. I’d rank it number two in Magical Girl Goodness.
Now, let’s jump to a more difficult thing to tackle.
Star Vs The Forces Of Evil;
At first glance, you’d think SVTFOE is a love letter to classical Magical Girls. And while it does borrow a lot of aspects from animes like Sailor Moon and Sakura Card Captor... The more I look into it, the more I see it as faulty westernization of it.
As I said before there are a few things that make a Magical Girl show shine.
The feeling, and the message.
And while Star certainly has the feeling, making it feel crazy but fun and cutesy, the message is…
Very different.
As a matter of fact, I don’t think SVTFOE has a bad message. On the contrary, it’s a pretty damn good one…But the thing is…It’s not one MG often have.
Magical Girls messages are one of two things -although they sometimes mix:
Finding yourself, and the power of girl’s friendship.
Messages that are really cliché, but they thrive because in a society where girls are shamed for being who they are, Magical Girls encourage them to be brave. To seek solace and friendship in one another.
SVTFOE is…different.
Something that really pisses me off, is how Star’s only female friend is Ponyhead, someone who doesn’t really give emotional support.
Girlfrienship is being thrown away, shown as toxic. While Marco and Star’s relationship is put in a high pedestal. Despite being clearly a romance.
Star’s message is nice in a superficial level. Fight racism and stand your ground.
But, it’s also about doing it alone. That no other girl will support you, and that even your mother sometimes will leave you alone. In recent episodes, even Eclipsa left Star.
This is teaching girls to be brave on their own.
The antithesis of typical Magical Girls.
But, we as girl are stronger together. We are not alone, we shouldn’t have to fight alone.
It also shows that fists are more powerful than kindness. It’s kind sad, from my point of view.
The message in SVTFOE is ultimately flawed.
There’s no team. It’s just Star and Marco.
Which brings me to another point:
The plot is good, the romance is the worst I have seen in my life, and the villains are very complex.
Nothing like a sample MG anime.
The romance specially, has jumped through a lot of stages. First being the straight forward pinning girl narrative, then switching to the bad guy vs nice guy (tom vs marco), then switching the roles of the good guy vs the bad guy…And honestly who knows what comes next.
SVTFOE has thrown away any pretence of being a magical girl adaptation long ago. Nothing it has comes remotely close to what a magical girl storyline is. For fucks sake, she doesn’t even have a stick now.
WHEN HAVE YOU SEEN A MAGICAL GIRL WITHOUT A STICK THINGY.
It’s, overall, a very individualistic tale. As a westernization of the genre…it speaks more about the culture we live in than the concept.
I’d place it right below Miraculous Ladybug as an adaptation, maybe 3rd place.
But there is one cartoon that is a neo Magical Girl I love.
The first seasons of Steven Universe;
It has everything, from the healthy girl’s friendship message, to the aesthetics, the kindness on its core, to the monster of the week formula.
Early seasons of steven universe did this phenomenally. Capturing the true essence of Magical Girl. And even then, I would not be able to tell you when exactly it stops being a westenazation, to when it is its own thing.
The actual lesbian romance is without a doubt the best adaptation they could have done, since there’s obvious subtext in early magical girl’s.
But even in episode that are relatively new, you see the contrast. Escalating villains, healed with compassion and offering a hand (Blue and Yellow Diamond), and a Big Bad Villain (white diamond) that needs to be stopped. Not to mention Rose being the Pink One™ and having an alter ego, which was the one Greg fell in love with.
There’s an ethereal beauty that followed Steven Universe during its earliest seasons and that’s why I do think it’s the best westernazation of Magical Girls so far.
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