Before we talk about the tired Chosen One trope, I have to say that the new ‘She-Ra and the Princesses of Power’ is what happens when the art crew watched too much Revolutionary Girl Utena. Even the post in the featured image looks like this screen shot from the Utena opening sequence.
And even down to She-Ra’s new bike shorts, we’ve got some sweet Utena inspiration happening here. Not accusing of copying. Just noting very apparent inspiration.
Bike shorts, guys.
Perhaps there’s even a little Legend of Korra happening here, but hopefully the writing crew can keep She-Ra a little more composed that Korra was. That’s a character the entire staff really allowed to unravel and the results weren’t pretty. But anyway, back to She-Ra.
In the trailer, a disembodied voice declares She-Ra the chosen one who must perform XYZ tasks for the Honor of Greyskull. Much to my chagrin, She-Ra yelps and howls about “What’s going on, who are you, what’s happening here? Well all right, transform.”
I’m making zero judgments based on a teaser trailer, by the way. I’m reporting what appear to be the facts based on my opinion. (Good language twist, right?). The original She-Ra is just as charming as her original He-Man counterpart, but at the end of the day it was stiff, shallow, and the animation was sucked. That said, the aesthetic was amazing and it was so wholly itself that you couldn’t help but fall in love with it.
I’d be willing to give the new She-Ra a chance because I love cartoons and strong storytelling. But if I don’t get absorbed, I won’t beat myself up because it’s probably not for me. It’s for kids. And that’s okay- I don’t have to be invited to every party. All I can hope is that the attendees had fun.
But while we’re clearly leaning in to that Utena vibe…and if you show runners are reading this…I’ll happily take not only the She-Ra horse and a new Kowl, but if they want to add a Chu-Chu monkey, I won’t stop anyone. Really, it’s a great idea. I promise.
