Welcome to a new series of articles we’re titling “Must See,” a collection of TV shows, movies, or anything you watch that we’re suggesting you see. While reviews would fit a single episode or a whole movie, we’re taking a look at something either wider or narrower here. Let’s say there’s a TV show you must see (pun intended), but one episode doesn’t do it justice, or a movie with one scene with one descriptor that can only be: fantabulous or dreck.

Today, I want to talk about She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. No, I’ve not gone off some meds, I don’t take them in the first place. It is a reimagining of the 1980’s cartoon under the same banner as the cartoon for young girls, pitted against He-Man’s typical young male audience. It was primarily a series that spawned from the children’s toys from the Master of the Universe line, following some legal business with the FCC that meant shows were long advertisements for toys. This worked. She-Ra, on the other hand, didn’t have the same legacy or longevity in the hearts and minds of people.

After only two series, airing in the space of about fifteen months, the show was canceled and Princess Adora had fallen out of common nerd culture. So much so that when I asked someone I know that loves the Masters of the Universe franchise, he had forgotten She-Ra was a thing at all. Of course, the franchise as a whole continues in small part to nostalgia and the bankability of Skeletor, He-Man, and the Filmation aesthetic. So bankable, in fact, that a price comparison/financing site used He-Man and a gyrating Skeletor for their ads.

Now, it is 2019, so kids are no longer playing with toys. Instead, they are spending all their parent’s money on microtransactions in mobile phone games of questionable quality. We’re out with the flogging useless guff and shilling moral values to children for colorful cartoons that are just fun. Of course, the first thing one has to ask/retort against when they are in their early 20s, watching a cartoon for children, and writing things on the internet: No, this isn’t a “My Little Pony” fan-fic thing I’m promoting. Instead, it is one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is about the planet of Etheria, a collection of mythical lands split up between several princesses, the Rebellion, and the Horde. Princess Adora, our lead protagonist and She-Ra herself, has been part of the Horde since she was found as an ickle little baby. She has also been training within the Horde’s system since then to become one of the maniacal villain’s captains in their army, “The Force.”

It should be said, I didn’t see the first iteration of She-Ra. Being born in the 90s, I’m hardly the age or prescription for the nostalgia connected with it. I don’t know the story of the ninety episodes that aired, and I doubt they would hold up either. We may be retreading old ground with this second embodiment of the princess and her alter ego She-Ra, but as I said, I wouldn’t know. I do know, however, that most of the messages aren’t “drugs are bad, and strange men are a no-touch area!”

Nonetheless, Adora doesn’t know she is a princess of power, tasked with protecting all of Etheria while under the Horde’s roof. In an attempt to have fun with her best friend Catra, a panther-person, the two steal a skiff from the Horde and go into a forest around the Fright Zone, an area controlled by the Horde. The two hit a tree, Adora falls from the skiff and finds a sword. Ta-da, She-Ra’s sword and we know who will be getting a hold of that soon enough. Yes, this is to get you up to speed at a break-neck pace, probably skipping some bits.

The issue is the two aren’t in the Fight Zone and the forest they are in is on the edge of the rebellion’s front. While trying to get a hold of the sword, Adora comes across Glimmer and Bow, a princess of power and her best friend, who are both a part of the Rebellion. Adora gets captured, the sword is outside her reach, and the Horde is without their new force captain.

The thing is, the Rebellion and the Horde are both fickle militias trying to hold off each other with miss-matched strategies. The Horde relies on child soldiers and robots for the most part, with a commander caught up by Adora’s disappearance. Meanwhile, the Rebellion is a small collection of princesses, some dark elf-like soldiers, general magic, and children. Once Adora realizes the issues with the Horde (that’s hardly a spoiler) and switches sides, the two are evenly matched, for the most part, still just eking out wins over each other.

The Evil Hordak is the only one in the kingdom that knows how to think two steps ahead, and he’s the evil one. It is in the name: the Evil Hordak. So why am I suggesting you watch this cartoon aimed at children, especially young girls aged between about 6-16? It is beautifully written, with excellent character work, and there’s a lot of representation in the colorful cast. From two gay dads, a non-binary character coming in the 4th season, and Noelle Stevenson’s response to questions on the rainbow wave at the end of the first season as “The Gay Agenda.”

With Adora, Glimmer, Catra, and Bow all being about their late teens/early twenties, they all have a juvenility to them. Both sides fail, win, and grow from mistakes. The key to this is how they all react to situations, with Catra’s desire to get her best friend back with gentle flirting upon finding her every time, Adora’s journey to learn She-Ra’s powers, and Glimmer’s desire to prove she can command an army to her immortal mother.

Between the writing, voice acting, and overall aesthetic, it is hard to hate or not at least understand everyone’s basic desires and place in the plot. Glimmer wants to impress, Bow is the “adorkable” male friend to the two female protagonists, Catra wants the only friend she trusts, and Hordak (yes, that Hordak) wants to conquer without wasting time or resources. That doesn’t even consider plenty of side/recurring characters shaping out the rest of the plot. Entrapta loves tech, Sea-hawk is burning stuff and impressing Mermista, and Mermista needs a full explanation.

Mermista is played by the fantabulously cast Vella Lovell, as a mermaid princess of power that’s done with it all. Usually with something so “tween” or aimed at young girls this character is your typical outcast, emo, or a loner. Mermista isn’t any of that, she’s just disinterested by people as her kingdom is in ruin. With Lovell’s wonderful dry almost mono delivery, as displayed in the brilliant Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, she is the perfect audience surrogate to misanthropes: me.

At 22 minutes an episode, compelling characters, and a fantastic story, there’s no chaff. Unlike my desire to take a whole paragraph to talk about an actress and character. Each episode hangs around and focuses on a subject for as long as it needs to, and keeps the pace for the typical Netflix binge. I can’t recommend She-Ra and the Princesses of Power enough. So let’s point out its shortfalls.

The animation is limited. It is beautiful and full of color, even breaking slightly from the static Filmation stock models and hand-painted aesthetic of the background. Nonetheless, there is more that could have been done with the models, often just standing around talking with little emotion displayed. It gets the job done, but could have done more.

Some voice acting can sound restrained, with either abrupted stops in cadence or downplayed acting. While for some characters it works, such as Scopia or Entrapta, it can be jarring to hear. It may be several accents colliding, though it sounds either like overly long pauses breaking up the pace or hastily edited together voice lines. Given that in a year there have been three seasons with a fourth releasing tomorrow, I could understand the hastily thrown together nature. Nevertheless, it can pull you out if you are listening for it.

Slight nitpicks aside, don’t sleep on this one! I didn’t think twice about shrugging off She-Ra and the Princesses of Power when it released, and that was a mistake. As far as a simple cartoon goes, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power deserves to be seen by as many people are possible right now. Showing both that evil does not mean idiot and that you may not always be in the right yourself, She-Ra is by far a must-see show right now. 

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