Not long to wait, at all, and things sound like they're gonna ramp up another notch; heck of a new cast member! I suspect it'll be six episodes, aka the remainder of the split season, ala Voltron, but if the prior seven are any guide they'll really be made to count. I'm especially eager to see where Catra goes next; it's certainly not gonna be straight to Bright Moon.
Yeah. Since the two "seasons" are just a few months apart, they're definitely half-seasons like Voltron did. The lack of a finale to the recent 7-episode block confirms it was just a half-season.
In his defense, it made sense that he wanted Adora to keep her alter ego secret *on Eternia* (at least, to the same extent that *his* secret identity ever made sense) to protect their friends and family there. Not sure it is his fault that Adora continued to think that was how she should operate once back on Etheria. The new She-Ra took a bit of getting used to for me, not because I didn't think she was as "sexy" as the original (which has never been a consideration for me - that was reserved for Cheetara and certain MTV video girls ), but because I had always imagined that one of the things the power swords did was make the wielder an embodiment of physical perfection in both strength and classical beauty. I figured that the artwork wasn't quite up to showing it, but that it explained why people didn't see, for instance, that He-Man was just Adam with a tan and a different outfit. Instead, in the new version, it just makes her bigger, her hair longer, and her eyes bluer. Well, okay. And I'm used to her now. I guess if I'm left with any quibble, it would be that it might be nice if the transformation appeared to make her a little *buffer*. But, it's a magical effect, so whatevs. "I am become Skeletor, destroyer of worlds." Thanks for the tip - I'm going to watch the link you posted to the movie sometime soon. It's the cartoon equivalent of calling desktop wallpaper a "screensaver", which I hear regularly in my line of work. It's the ship containing the telephone sanitisers, account executives, hairdressers, tired TV producers, insurance salesmen, personnel officers, security guards, public relations executives, and management consultants that we're all descended from. Much like with G.I. Joe and Transformers, coming up with the characters for the toys, the storylines, etc, was often handed off to comic book writers and other professional storytellers who just couldn't help but actually care at least a little about the story they were telling - no matter how cynically the toys were being made or sold. The shows and comics weren't necessarily non-stop "high art", but they definitely had some great moments. Not sure if he covered Rose Quartz being a jackass, but that part is definitely true, at least in my opinion. I see her as the show's embodiment of a conservative's stereotype of a "liberal" as a privileged Starbucks-drinking starry-eyed 20-something white girl (or effeminate boy) who is super-impressed with her own opinions and jumps to "defend" every cause she says she believes in, even when that defense is counter-productive and not wanted by the black/LGBT/Native American/etc people that she claims to be doing it for - even though she's really mainly doing it for her own indulgence, self-righteous feelings, and entertainment. Basically, everything Rose is shown doing and her attitudes and things she says while doing them, except *maybe* sacrificing herself to bring Steven into the world, seems to bear this out. OTOH, Steven is a more realistic liberal: he REALLY cares about everyone and wants to protect his friends and the world, and he definitely *doesn't* think he knows everything about everything. Up to and including being worried that deep down inside, he's really his mom and his motivations should be suspect and examined because of it. I don't like Rose Quartz. But I also don't see it as a reason not to like *the show*. She's part of the richness of how characters are portrayed, and I'm not of the opinion that we should have to LIKE all of the characters to enjoy a story being told. One of the worst things about the Internet, IMO, is enjoying some piece of entertainment, and finding things to appreciate and identify with in it, and walking away thinking it was a good experience - and then going online and finding 10,000 people who will tell you why you're wrong.
By what standards of beauty, though? Such things are subjective. Male-dominated society has pushed the perception that male beauty is big and muscular and masculine and female beauty is curvaceous and slim-waisted, but not everyone agrees. If anything, women are generally attracted to more slim and feminine-featured men; the "ideal" of the bulging-muscled he-man is designed to satisfy male self-image fantasies and insecurities, not female gratification. (Japanese culture today seems to embrace a more androgynous standard of male beauty than is accepted in the West, at least judging from the Japanese TV shows I've seen with feminine-looking bishonen males who sometimes even wear makeup and hair decorations.) And by the same token, male society's definitions of female beauty aren't necessarily the same as how women would perceive their own ideal appearance (as proven by the fact that this She-Ra has a female designer). This She-Ra is visually defined by her height, fitness, and power, not by her breast or waist size, and many women and girls would find that as much an ideal appearance for a female hero as men in the '80s would've found He-Man's appearance ideal for a male hero. It depends on whether you're defining beauty as "What I want to have sex with" or "What I would ideally like to be." I do feel, though, that the character design isn't as effective as it could be at conveying She-Ra's great height, because the character design style makes her boots so big that it makes her look stockier than she should. But that's not about beauty, just proportion.
I actually answered this in what I said: *classical* beauty. Statuesque and fair with features that correspond well to the Golden Mean. I definitely agree that there are all sorts of valid standards of beauty. But for a medieval-style fighter, classical seems appropriate. To me, the 80's He-Man looked like if styled realistically he'd be a beautiful Greek wrestling build, and Adora could have sat for a painting by a classical artist and looked right at home. Edit: I definitely agree about her height and the proportions on her boots.
Just because it's 'for children' doesn't mean it has to be shallow and simplistic. The very best kid's stuff can be as rich in themes and ideas as more adult fare, with the added bonuses of it not being shackled by a need for 'realism', and thus able to make full use of imagination, and not dwelling unduly on graphic detail. She-Ra is a prime example of this in its characters, plotting, themes and vibrant world, and I'd take it over most adult programming right now.
I am always shocked to see people use "for children" as if it meant "low in quality and unworthy of caring about." That's a truly horrifying way to think. Nothing deserves more care and quality put into it than the stuff we make for our children. The fiction we show our children shapes their knowledge, their personalities, their values, their goals. It shapes the future of the world. How is that not hugely important?
Yes. Because they based it on a cartoon that was made for us when *we* were children. And because the real world sucks to an increasing degree, and a little escape - whether it's watching a cartoon, or talking about it - is a relief. And because it's soooooo much sillier than discussing a show where people travel vast interstellar distances by communicating with mushrooms, and turn into salamanders if they go too fast, Mr. I'm Spending Time On The Same Board As The Rest Of You.
Finally finished season 2, really enjoyed every second of it, good to see the wait for 3 won't be long. Scorpia was probably the highlight of it for me, her adorkable crush on Catra and bonding with Sea Hawk were fun. One other interesting thing is last season Scorpia mentioned that the Horde landed in her kingdom and her people allowed them to stay and gave the Black Garnet willingly, but in Shadow Weawer's flashback we see that was very much not the case and I wonder what will happen when she finds out the truth. Nice to see a bit more from Hordak as well, he seems to be trying to open some kind of portal, likely to bring Etheria back to the proper stary universe. The flashback with him bringing Adora seems to confirm her origin might be the same as the original series. Speaking of the original series, the DnD episode was great, and not just the hommage, but all the other characters' individual takes. The Catra/Shadow Weaver subplot was heartbreaking. I guess Catra is the one who will be off to Beast Island now. I do wonder if that might even turn out to be where she's originally from? The finale was clearly not a proper season finale but it's okay because Bow's dads were great, Adora's faking academic speech was hilarious, it was a lovely coming out allegory and it ended on a neat (mid-season) cliffhanger. There's probably lots of other great stuff that I forgot to mention, while these season drops are nice when you wanna watch the show at your own pace they're not very conductive to episode-to-episode discussion, and it's kinda a shame in this case since there's lots of lore and fun stuff to speculate and theorize about in each episode.
Oh, I hadn't even thought of that. Bow is coming out to his gay dads. Sort of inverting expectations there. I do kind of wonder how the two dads have so many kids, including Bow, who looks like he could be a mix of their ethnicities. Did they adopt and it's just a coincidence, or does Etherian biology allow them to procreate on their own somehow? I was amused that Bow's dad George was modeled on the original version Bow (ethnicity aside) and named for original Bow's voice actor George DiCenzo. Yeah... I watched the whole half-season in one afternoon/evening, and it's more individual moments that stand out than distinct episodes. For me, one of the most memorable moments was when Bow (or was it Glimmer?) realized that Entrapta was alive and was immediately overcome with guilt at leaving her there. That was a bit heartrending. Otherwise, yeah, I think a lot of people (including this one) would agree that Scorpia was the MVP of the season so far.
Scorpia was awesome! Watching her attempts to ask out Catra was funny and adorable, and her heart-to-heart with Seahawk was sweet. Also just her all-around goofiness was pleasant. When Catra finally agreed to hang out I cheered!
Season 3 will apparently have Geena Davis as Spoiler Huntara! Maybe Hordak will bring her through with his portal. I'm hoping along with Leech and Mantenna.