SHE-RA AND THE PRINCESSES OF POWER Season One
Will you Adora?
UK/US Netflix, streaming now Showrunner Noelle Stevenson Cast Aimee Carrero, Karen Fukuhara, AJ Michalka, Marcus Scribner
A progressive, female-led reboot that had fans complaining with every pre-series reveal? No, it’s not Doctor Who – it’s She-Ra, back as a body-positive, friendship-led teen tale.
Adora – an orphan trained for battle by the Evil Horde – discovers a magic sword that transforms her into She-Ra, an eight-foot warrior who joins the rebellion and helps reunite the disbanded Princess Alliance to save the planet Etheria from her former masters.
Fans expecting the rest of the Horde are in for a disappointment – this focuses on a power struggle between Adora, Catra and Shadow Weaver. Scorpia steps up for largely comedic effect, but the Horde seems mainly to consist of three teenage troopers and a lizard. Grizzlor makes a brief appearance, but even their leader Hordak remains in the shadows.
Though the format of the series – a proper arc, not just adventure-of-the-week episodes – works well, at times the animation is flat and crude. Story-wise, “System Failure” is the only real dud, introducing the incredibly annoying Entraptra. Mermista, on the other hand, is hilarious, her uninterested Valley Girl revamp being very on the money for 2018.
Funny, charming and heroic, it’s not the She-Ra that fans might remember, but it’s the She-Ra a new generation will embrace like those before them did. Darren Scott
The series bible for the original She-Ra was co-written by J Michael Straczynski, who went on to create Babylon 5.