What Happened to She-Ra's Style? 

New entrapta is the first tome ive ever been able to say "this compleatly asexual romance appeals to me"

To Catra’s design: I think one of the main reason she’s now a cat girl is because, in the original, Catra was able to shift between being a human and being a cat- if my memory serves correctly. Since she no longer turns into a cat, I think the creators decided to merge them, giving Catra more cat qualities, like her ears, tail, and claw-like fingernails. For the headpiece... I was never really bothered by it, but maybe it’s more of a callback to the original cartoon?

Personally, Catra's crown feels symbolic to me, like she's trying to keep herself together (which of course backfires in Season 4 but she does pick herself backup in Season 5 after one of its episodes: Save The Cat)

To the point about capes, I wonder how many of us millennials took to heart Edna Mode's rant about all the various ways the cape-wearing supers died :')

Catra having heterochromia is a reference to the fact it occurs a lot more often in cats. It's still a little weird that like ALL of her eye except for the pupils are those colours though, not just the irises.

Oh man the Pyrrha death joke had me dying, I never even thought of that I actually like the Catra design. The eyes have always made the character stick out to me more, but I can easily see why you wouldn't like it.

I see catra's different eye colour as a way to show some kind of duality in her mind, the whole series they show us what she wants and what she thinks she wants and she tends to get confused on which is which.

I remember my first time drawing Spinnerella and Netossa for June 2020 and I noticed how their chokers matched the other character. I always feel happy when I'm reminded of that design choice.

I really like the new designs. The old ones just felt the same with odd color choices. The new one wasn't making a show to sell toys so they actually designed the characters with their specific personalities, locations, and themes together. I think a lot of people think that the new ones are bad because they have a lot of nostalgia for the '80s one. But because I did have an opinion on them and watched them both... I can say that I can enjoy them in different ways. Nostalgia just blinds people I guess...

Catra's crown/headpiece thing combines with her hair is meant to look like a lion. She is fierce, she's not a housecat, cute catgirl, she's a predator. Also I think the heterochromia (two color eyes) is meant to symbolixe her inner conflict throughout the show (loving adora vs hating adora, wanting to have power vs wanting to have friends, etc)

I know this is a copout answer, but :SPOILERS: I love all the Hordak/ horde prime clone designs. Every single one of them. Their so balanced, my favorite is the season 3 hordak redesign, with or without the arm canon. It's so simple, while still having the cool facial details. The only thing I don't like is how horde prime's face isn't symmetrical, three eyes on both sides would have really suited him, considering how he's always watching and has a very uniform aesthetic outside of his face.

I always thought that netflix’s first she-ra costume always looked off to me and I don’t know why until it got redesigned in S5. S5 She-ra looks more mature and more powerful then S1 where she looked more immature and like a child (which I know is intentional). But no matter which design you like we gotta all agree that the 80s She-ra is the most impractical outfit for a battle show next to Scarlett Witch and Sailor Moon (even if I still love those two designs)

Personally, I always wanted Netasa to be a haughty Russian woman so she could constantly say, "NYET!!!"

“Scorpia is definitely the the funniest character in the show” B-but Sea Hawk

I love that you recognised these aren't "changes" but rather *new versions of the characters.* So few commenters do that.

The accidental panty shot line makes me think of the 90s Sailor Moon anime. That show had plenty of panty shots of the characters randomly put in despite being for kids. As much as I love the 90s anime, I always found this creepy. Especially when they did shots of Sailor Moon’s future daughter who was only like six or seven when she first appeared.

Honestly, for those who points out that new she-ra don't have big boobs. Even so, the original one was a woman, this one is much younger, so I think that was the main point to not make her look mature. The original wanted to portrey a strong, femine and adult warrior, someone that this she-ra was yet to become. Entrapta is in fact one of the oldest in the cast. And just look at Mara's designe that was adult and had the right proportions, the same goes for Angela or Shadow Wever and others. They knew what they were doing.

Honestly, while I like Adora’s new design, I think her old design isn’t the worst- it doesn’t fit her role in the show or make her role obvious, but as a standalone I would be able to understand she’s a fighter because of just the similarities her uniform has to me, and her lower half resembles a leotard. Also I am just... not a fan of Glimmer’s second design for some reason, I can’t really pinpoint why? But I really did like the bit about Entrapta :) Also, I’m in the middle of trying to design an ensemble cast, and these design videos really help a lot. Thank you!!

My only problem with She-Ra is the last season design. You see,her design never bothered me,but then the new outfit came in and... I can't stand the first one anymore. It's not ugly,not at all,but the new one is so much more better

That point on colour theory, I have a real world example. My goth friend decided to wear rainbow socks one day. Let me tell you, I could no stop starring at their exposed socks, simple because the rainbow contrast drew my eyes there. It was quiet embarrasing.

I noticed some key point to create good characters design it involves 1. hair: color and length. Hairstyle 2. Eye color, shape and size. Extra design for pupil or pattern. 3. Face shape. 4. Cloths. It equal ones personality and fit for body shape. Or given a ideas. 5. Extra design or key thing that character is given to reader or view that there more that meets the eye.

As a guy who was born in the very late 90s I can see where they were going the original She-Ra designs in that they were mostly made to give very young women powerful idols but also giving the men some eye candy. I can also see the fact that back in the day action figures were all the rage and that if there was a show that needed to be made there would have to be corners cut in order to make them therefore most characters would have their models copy-pated onto each other with only personality and color palette differences. She-Ra back in my day was in my own experience with the show actually made engaging due to it's much more fantastic setting rebelling against the evils of technology. Sure the characters were copy-pasted but I can understand where they were going and I support that way of thinking. As for the whole skin color thing, I'm not bothered by it as I was growing up I had friends of color who wanted more reps in the media that weren't total flanderizations of their cultures while also wanting equality to be more prevalent. This new She-Ra generation was whiplash at first but I got used to it very quickly. In fact, this new version of the world feels more real than the previous version as in the old days Etheria was a beautiful fantasy world that was invaded by the evil Horde and their technology. The Fright Zone was the main base of operations for the enemies but it was also a singular location that really made the world look like it had only one big zit that needed to be popped. There were other smaller locations that the Horde had visited before that were totally trashed by them but those places didn't last long in the spotlight. Nothing about the world screamed that it was under Horde rule.

this is a really good video ! as for the things about catra, I remember reading an interview with Noelle Stevenson where they explained that the reason why Catra had heterochromia (and was a catgirl) was because they wanted to symbolize her inner turmoil. They had also ditched Catra's ability to shift between cat and human and decided making her a kenomomimi would work better. also apparently if kittens are not getting enough food or warmth they can develop a condition where their fur becomes discolored which. when you look at Catra's hair poofs it's like. :( I'd love to see what your thoughts are on the later designs in She-ra! I know you went a little into Glimmer's new design but I'd love to see what your opinions are on She-ra's redesign and the distant future looks of Catra, Adora, Glimmer, and Bow! obvs no pressure tho :)

I prefer the reboot She-Ra costumes overall cause they look so distinct and varied. The 80s designs are dated but I think they have their charm. My favorites of the new show are Catra, Entrapta, and Scorpia. I love the unique touches that make them so distinct and play into their powers, it comes off as a way of conveying so much about them visually. Conversely, I do sort of wish that She-Ra's design felt more special though cause I like her Adora design more and I kind of wish she had a larger more exciting headpiece since the one she has is just a thin circlet with really big wings. Looking at the headpiece in the episode where they wore the old costumes honestly, it looks really regal and I wish it was the headpiece she had the whole series. I actually notice that more people cosplay the Adora look compared to the She-Ra one, and I get why. The coat and belt and hairstyle have a timeless quality and everything about that outfit design is really nice.

There’s actually lots of half animal half human types in She-ra! Thaymor, the first town Adora visited, had lots of half deer and goat people with horns and hooves but people bodies. And in season 4 there’s that town that was all moth people. They had moth ears and no noses but had human bodies. They just never properly showed another half cat person like Catra which makes her stand out more.

yeah, but Catra's suit design, 14:15, for the dance? Nice.

"flat chest helps audience identify themselves with the characters better" i laughed so hard

I actually love that they draw muscles on women in the reboot. We stan muscles

6:14 This part just made me think the two shows could be different dimensions! The 2018 version had talk of portals, space, different universes... it would be really cool if the multiverse theory was integrated into the canon of the shows and had them both exist "simultaneously"

I srsly can't wrap my head around the fact that there's people out there who don't like Catra's new design 😭To me it was clear from the beginning that they were basing her redesign on the Magicat race that appears on the 80s show and the fact that the original Catra (which btw is not her real name but an alias) was named the Queen of the Magicats because she had in her posession the magicat mask, that not only allowed her to transform into a panther, but also served as a crown. Keeping the head piece was a great wink to the previous version of Catra but imo it also symbolizes pretty effectively her need to become powerful, to climb her way to the top and become the real leader of the war against the Rebellion, even trying to overthrow Hordak in the process. I personally think it's one of the most clever redesigns in the whole show and Netflix really hit the nail on the head with how awesome it turned throught her whole character development!!

I think you can also tell the sign of the times based on the amount of Leotards. Leotards were THE thing to wear for all atheltic people. I mean, look at Superman, Batman and WonderWoman. Their original designs were essentially just "character specific colours on a gender specific leotard". Batman didn't use to be fully armoured, he was essentially "dark" superman in design. WonderWoman had the more femme cut of a leotard in which her legs were just exposed. Even moving on to more "iconic" magical girls... sailor moon. We call it a Sailor Fuku "Pretty guardian in a sailor outfit" but the BASE of all of the outfits... white leotard with a skirt on top. And really, it IS a good base to start with because you can add more and more to the Leotard to make it more character specific. Wonder womans eventually evolved into armour clad with a roman skirt. Batmans became FULL body armour. And now we have She-ra, who started similar (leotard) into a jacket and pants.

On the point of the breast plates, When it comes to breasts plates that show the chest, I personally only have issue with it when it doesn’t fit the character. I am comic nerd, so I am constantly comparing characters designs that cover up as well as dress down characters. So I completely understand and agree with problems the 80’s style had for She-Ra. If a character is supposed to be a sort of femme fatale whose skill set can compensate for the risqué look, I can get with it. Characters like Emma Frost, whose powerset is either telepathy, which allows her to attack opponents from a distance and construes their minds to the point where they can’t focus on her, and a Diamond form that literally lets her tank close combat, I allow her that design element. She shows off her body and lucrative lifestyle in that costume. It fits her character and isn’t a liability in combat. But for characters like the Invisible Woman, who is supposed to embody the mother figure and is usually conservative with her style, giving her a boob window in a leotard with nothing covering her arms and legs is just so jarring. When looking at Catra, I get Catwoman vibes, so I am fine with both designs honestly. Both are easy to move in (except her old hair and cape. Swear to god, how does she not get tangled in all that biz). Her old design though gives me cheerleader vibes, as well, so I am not sure if that was ever intended in the original design…..maybe I do like the redesign better than the original…..

I'd figured Catra's mismatched eyes suggested internal conflict

Personally, I think I was one of the few people who was actually down with the new She-Ra design back when it was first announced. And I was honestly getting tired of everyone calling her Ben 10 in a dress.

8:56 ...... How could you, you monster XD As for Catra, shes personally my favorite in terms of design. The new outfit feels like it fits her personality and the crown thing is somewhat reminiscent of the one Adora has as She-Ra. As far as the cat-girl thing I assumed that she has fur and is a full animal-person like Rogelio but I could be wrong about that. I agree with pretty much everything else you said tho

I think catra’s head piece is something that has a deep meaning. In one of the episodes she took it off and ran her fingers through her hair crying (i forget the episodes) also the eyes are probably because she is half cat, cats probably have green eyes idk like cat noir lol, maybe one is green because she is only half cat.

I never even heard of this show until a couple months ago, and I still haven't watched it, but I probably will now after seeing all the new designs

My opinion on the designs is that they all succeed in the basics of being easily recognizable from one another, eye-catchy and different color palettes (except Glimmer, Entrapta and Spinerella who are all fighting for the same main colour) and shape language. Where they fall flat to me is in the actual clothes. Some look goofy like Shera's tennis skirt and boots (which is fixed in the last season only), same with what you said about Catra and generally I believe some don't make sense: Frosta is the best example since she first appears at her kingdom's party with fur and fully covered (because, you know, an ice kingdom may be cold) but then everyone else at the party wore sleeveless dresses and when she's outside her kingdom she doesn't ditch her fur coat or anything so I guess the ice kingdom's temperature is no different from the rest of the world??? But on the other hand, yeah Scorpia is best girl

“I don’t like Catra” >:0 “Only because of the head peace thingy” :D

My only problem with the designs isn't really with the designs themselves but more of the art style, this goes for the reboot but the original show also is a bit guilty of it too. I like the designs and all but I can't help but feel like the characters aren't really wearing layers of clothing and more like their wearing skin tight body suits with graphics designs on them, maybe with few accessories on top. I hope I'm explaining it right- like instead of drawing a piece of metal or cloth as a 3d shape it's just drawn as a single line over the body, Mermista, Bow, Catra and Angella I think are most guilty of this. It's very likely cause it makes the animating process easier and faster, and at the same time not all the characters have it. (Adora, Frosta, Scorpia, Hordak, ect) So I can let it slide, but it's certainly isn't going to not be at least a minor pet peeve to me. Overall I personally prefer the reboots designs, all except Netossa because I literally love her stupid stupid fishnet cape on her original design hfghdasga

I love all of the new designs, I can't find fault with any of them. And the final She-Ra form is the best thing ever, I love it so much.

“But Adora, She-Ra when she’s not She-Ra-ing” Wiser words are yet to be spoken

I love, LOVE how when Glimmer was stressed and angry and frustrated with her mom’s death, her coronation and stuff she loses weight but then when she’s back to her normal self she gets chubby again, I just think that’s a cool detail, like how their emotions are also affecting their body.

Cattra is heterochromatic because it shows that she is NOT good or bad. She is divided between her love of Adora and her pull to the dark because she was hurt. It is intentional and it is clever

The ending is something I'm gonna keep in mind to improve my own OC designs.

I think one of the most improved redesigns in my opinion was Shadow Weaver's. She went from being a hood with eyes, green hands, and boob outlines to being this badass-looking character that just- she's just really epic to me.

I like the new designs sooo much better! 1. Diversity: Like you said I didn’t like at all how everyone looked like a copy paste of each other. They looked just boring and I couldn’t tell them apart, which is just bad from a character design standpoint, but I understand why they did it (doll production). 2. Inclusion: The diversity makes the characters not only more recognizable, but also more inclusive! I love how they have so many different features and body types and they’re all considered beautiful. Also I personally didn’t mind the race swaps in this case, but I guess that’s debatable. 3. Character design: One of the most important things about character design is making the characters background and personality obvious by looking at their design. Because in the original everyone looks so similar, this unfortunately isn’t really the case. Not only that, but they also prioritized making the characters pretty and sexy. Like I mentioned in another comment, the clothes of Entrapta in the original design are way too sexy and glamorous for her science obsessed character. 4. Yeah, I also didn’t like how they made the women so sexy in the original. Why do female superheroes always have to be so sexy? There’s nothing wrong with being sexy, but it’s just super impractical and unrealistic to look like this and wear those clothes while you fight. Also this is a kids show! The characters don’t need to be sexy! 5. Ok this one is highly subjective and a lot of people are disagreeing with me and that’s fine. It’s the artstyle! I like the new artstyle much better, but that’s just because I can’t stand realistic and semirealistic art and love cartoony art. But for a lot of people it’s the other way around and they like the other artstyle better, but I don’t!

Also I love how they mad entrapta shorter, her hair touching the floor and being so much longer than she is really sells the idea that they're super long

Question: do you plan to talk about Utena in the magical girl month?

The reason I love this she ra reboot is because they treat anyone who lgbtq+ as normal.

i love how entrapta can so easily blend in with either the villains or the hero’s because of her design and colors

Better Adora: Netflix -Not big boobs (GUYS THIS IS A KIDS SHOW!) -Cooler sword! -Better hair -Nicer clothes -Not as much make up -Cool backstory

Great Video as always. I personally love the catra design. I think the different eye colors give her a lot of character. Abd Entrapta is best girl and yes I will die on this hill.

She-Ra’s new sword is not something I a fan of. I’m a stickler for weapons and the OG sword is one of my favorites. It always reminded me of a Xiphos and looked easier to handle because it was very streamlined. The problem I have with the new one is that the guard is just too much, especially compared to the size of the handle.

I absoluley adore Catras design and just found it really iconic, (also her 2nd outfit looks so good but prefer her fluffier hair but think they slimmed it down to try and show her trying to keep herself together) I found She-Ras outfit okay, but her 2nd one in season 5 is just amazing by combining lots of elements together and showing her being more mature and finding herself more

I love how you mentioned the red head thing. I am not against diversity especially as the western nations become more diverse in their audience... but there's always this weird thing where they ALWAYS take out the gingers and replace them with "other race". They don't do much with the main character, cool okay fine. But you say "oh I wouldn't be bothered if one day they changed Daphne's race" but if they did, they would yet again delete a ginger from media.

I am an oldschool Masters of the Universe fan and most of the redesigns are fine. I would like a bit more detail in the character art and maybe a bit more grit in some but overall, I think they look better but also, they are written better!

15.37 After many years I just noticed that Spinerella and Netossas necklaces represented eachother

The way I see it, Catra’s design took some risks that can make someone either love her or hate her, which in hindsight is pretty ironic. She’s a very complicated character, so designing her was likely a complicated process, but she also needed to be especially memorable, which she certainly is. I’d definitely say it’s a big improvement over her generic villainess look in the original show, whether you’re into the cat-girl with heterochromia or not.

8:56 THANK YOU! I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR _YEARS!_ If you expose your chest in a warzone, you're going to get _shot._

The newer designs are more creative, and actually suit their fighting styles. Characters who wield heavy weapons require a more muscular body shape, while others who use magic dont need to worry about physical strength

WHAT A GREAT WAY TO END SUCH A FUN MONTH! I LOVED ALL OF MAGICAL GIRL MAY I REALLY HOPE IT COMES NEXT YEAR AND MY GOD THIS VIDEO IS PERFECT FOR CHARACTER DESIGNERS 12/10

6:13 best part for me, can't we just like bot versions?? To me, the twi shows have great designs, but of course i have my favorites: She-ra/original Adora/reboot Gilmer/reboot Hordak/he-man 2002 Catra/reboot Season 4 Sea hawk/original Scorpia/reboot Frosta/original Mermista/reboot Entrapta/reboot Swift Wind/original Bow is complicad, i like him in the reboot but i like him as a red Head too. I like the more fantasy medieval of the original, but the more futuristic one is realy good one. I like how original She-ra reminds me of Wonder Woman ir Xena, when i think on badass warrior women, this are the first 3 that comes to my mind, and i like the reboot She-ra, but i love the original, in fact, the reboot brings me back to the original, in a good way, long live tho both She-ras

The only reason your close-ranged fighter should ever wear a cape is to have something that looks neat to throw away before a fight.

Start of the video: Hey, I love this! This great! Sub and upthumb! Catra part: One star, you are dead to me. Because it's... kind of glaringly obvious why she has heterochromia. First, the condition itself and that color scheme in particular is hugely common in cats, like... seriously. Certain breeds more than others like how a different expression of it is common in huskies. But more than that, it was an expression of her divided mind, how she was messed up by Shadow Weaver, she wants closeness but pushes people away. She strives to do things that conflict. It makes Horde Prime's mental assault more powerful, because he gives her monochrome eyes when he has taken her will and given her peace.

My mom grew up on the original she-ra and does not like the reboot she said “ why is she-ra gay ? Why not he-man he’s more gay than she-ra”

I’m surprised you didn’t mention the season 5 She Ra design when talking about Adora/She Ra.

Honestly the main thing for me is the new design’s faces just feel more expressive

I think the new Shera is a verry good REIMAGINING of the original story, but not a good "adaptation ". Becouse I'm of the belive that an adaptation should stay as close as possible to the source material, that includes character design (as much as that might suck xD) But with an reimagining like this or Voltron, you can basically go wild! That's what's fun about reimaginations! :3 I personaly don't care about diversity in skin color and body shape, it's not what's important to me in characters (that would be there personality). It neather makes me happy or angry, I just don't care xD I personaly like the new Shira character designs more becouse I think the clothing design of the old versions suck xD (Gues I'm just not a fan of the clothing style of that aera in general )

0:15 Wow. That was way longer and in-depth than I thought.

Honestly, I had the same reaction to Catra's redesign. I felt like making her into a typical anime cat girl was such a step down. Sure, she has feline powers while humanoid, but now her crown has no purpose. Before, it was her main weapon. She slides it down and it transforms her into a vicious, armored, purple puma. Thus the codename Catra because the mask gave her cat-powers and characteristics. All of the meowing, purring and shrieking she did while in human form was the mask trying to assert itself and permanently turn her into a cat. But she didn't want to give it up because without it, she had NO OTHER POWERS. But, now....why is it even here? Where and how in the Horde would she get it?

You're really going to go the whole video without mentioning the *incredible* job they did with Hordak's redesign?! When I look at the original Hordak I think "Skeletor Version 2.0 (maybe even 1.5); he's a goofy looking, goofy sounding, bumbling joke villain that wears chicken bones around his neck and boots that make him look like a duck. I have no problem believing that She-ra and the rebellion could take him out with the most minimum of efforts if they truly wanted to. But when I look at redesigned Hordak I see a *true* villain. This Hordak is menacing, intimidating, a villain that you take 100% seriously and know will actually be a threatening challenge for our protagonists to overcome. And the coolest part is they kept a lot of his original design elements, such as the red eyes and teeth, and the bone white skin, but made him look FAR less silly; it's a miracle they were able to pull it off so well given what they had to work with (his new voice is also a vast improvement, but since this video is about character design I'll just leave it at that). Overall I like She-ra's more functional redesign (though I have a big soft spot for her original look, mostly because of the outfit) with one exception: her new headpiece. To me it just looks far too slim and delicate. I know I shouldn't think too hard about a magic tiara, but every time her hair blows in the wind--and she has a LOT of hair--I keep expecting it to blow right off her head or become bent out of shape. I much prefer her original headpiece which looks much sturdier, but other than that she looks great.

I like the bit of advice better about character design, if you have anymore ideas please include them I really appreciate it! Also I can’t wait until magical girl may next year love your videos so much already

Catras old headpiece had a function it would transform her into a panther . I am a fan of the original I saw the original when I was a kid when I found a old dvd. The new ones really does look so much better especially considering they are supposed to be teenagers. I always assumed she ra was in her 20s was shocked they are teens.

Being a person who is obsessed with cats, cat boys or cat girls… well. I like Catra’a design

This was a really well put together character analysis video. Really well done tbh … I enjoyed it and I actually learned a lot from you. Keep it up

My answers to your ending questions: 1. 80's Adora or Netflix Adora? Honestly, I have to say Netflix Adora. I don't know, 80's Adora, I think they could've done better with her design back then. I get it, times have changed, but there are so many ways they could've made her design just better, and the fact that Netflix made their Adora the balance between 80's Adora and modern design (which I love about the character). 2. Do you think Catra looks better with the dark eyes or the bright eyes? I like her better with the bright eyes. I think when they did the design, they were really trying to emphasize the cat part of her, and since you'll most likely see different colored eyes in a cat than a human, that's how they emphasized it more 3. Do you like old Mermista's outfit but prefer her new body shape? Yes, I actually really like her old design, although, I feel like if they made the colors more vibrant like instead of using an off baby blue, they used like a sky blue. The sky blue with the green would've been great. And the fact that she's more thick in the Netflix version, love it! (also, don't get me started on the sneakers she's wearing, they really fit her personality like she's a princess, but the laziness to her character) 4. Do you like Glimmer's new hair but prefer her old hair style? I like Glimmer's new new hair a lot more. I kinda wanted it to be like shoulder length, but I liked how it turned out! Don't judge me for my opinion, it's what Iike

I think problem is the modern shera fans invalidating old versions of them… because they do get upset if ppl use old skin tones. Characters. Which is kinda weird… I think issue with people in media thinking others that they incapable of making something new… they just want do for marketing…

I feel like i like the old shera was better because it connected with he-man and continued the story such as her being his sister who was stolen and that is what made it intresting and I feel like what most people dont like is they look more childish for the shows theme

As someone who was upset at the redesigns at first. I completely agree. Also yes, why are all the red heads disappearing in media? Red hair can be a really nice design feature, especially to bring the eyes somewhere since it's such a powerful color!

I hope they make a heman remake like shera

The reason I like original She-ra's design more is because she's all pretty but then she's strong at the same time, it empowers feminity, it shows how a rose can have thrones, I liked the way she had this feminist power aura, I loved the way she was never a damsel in distress.

God I remember all the fake drama of this show been terrible and original been so much better. So I had to watch it to have an opinion on the issue. Glad I did cos it was so good, would not have watched it otherwise. I do remember people saying the style and outfits where so wrong compared to original but come on its like 30+ years between the 2, style changes. Reminds me of the transformers animated series when it came out, the style was so different that many immediately shunned it as " for little kids" but after watching it the story telling was considered one of the best and the art style grows on you. Never judge a show on its art style alone.

Great video essay.. hope to see part 2 👍

12:35 Because it's a great narrative tool since it's removable. That was she can look fierce with it on and more vulnerable with it off. also again the reason why her eyes are two colors is to show how off-balance she is and how she acts fierce but is also very vulnerable. Also further emphazing her feline nature works really well in both cases. Showing the feral ferocity in battle and the cute vulnerability. Catra's wild, assyemtrical and muted look is also meant to sharply contrast's Adorra's proper, symetrical and more vibrant appearance. Almost every change just boils down to 1 things: the 80's look was for merchandizing and the new look is for story.

Also (sorry for comment spam) out of all of them, I will say I prefer Catra's old design over her new one. I LOVE the combination of a bold scarlet red over black hair. I think those colours are incredibly good in combination and tells you exactly the kind of character you are dealing with. The new Cat is just so... muted. Dull brown on dull brown-red.

I would LOVE a part 2 to this where you can breakdown some of the background characters compared to the original version, like Peek a Blue or Sea Hawk, I've recently been looking into the 80's She Ra and I love seeing how they kept some things and ditched some old things. I'd love to hear more about colour theory and patterns and all that stuff, it was super interesting to me :)

I only know the show throught osmosis but Catra's design is the one I like the most specially the eyes lol *after the video* Oh no I cant unsee that crown thingy! I had menteally blocked that part for the most part and now is back in my eyes xD

I wonder if I'd like the eighties designs better if the eighties show had animation quality comparable to the remake, instead of the archaic and cheap techniques they had to work with at the time.

The new designs look so good! They express each character’s identity well.

Everyone’s chests being flat may also be attributed to many of them wearing more combat-oriented outfits; there are dozens of videos detailing how “boob plates” and the like can seriously inhibit sword combat and such.

About Catra’s design, specifically about why she’s a humanoid cat rather than just a full cat person or full human person with cat motifs; I had a thought that maybe the fact that Catra is somewhere in-between really adds to her character in the way that she just doesn’t mesh well with other people. When Adora left she was completely alienated from the other cadets before she got her promotion and power to order them around. That is absolutely because of her attitude around them, but the way she awkwardly sits in the middle of being either one really adds to her being an outcast that can’t fully relate or sit with either group of humans or animal.

I like this discussion as an invitation to think about your own creative preferences! I'm a writer before I'm any kind of visual artist, but I think this still rings true for my own creative process, especially the idea of characters growing into new designs. That's part of why Catra's headpiece works for me, because it very quickly takes on a metaphorical quality in the story, as something that she wears to conceal the parts of herself she was brought up to believe were weak. (And, *spoilers here,* her being forced to eschew both the mask and her long hair is a choice I really like as well -- even though she is indeed forced into this new visual vulnerability and has no say in the matter, the entailed emotional vulnerability becomes a very active choice on her part. And when we see her in the future vision, her hair has grown back and is as wild as ever, but the mask is still gone. ..... Can you tell Catra is my favorite? Lolol)

I never really thought of how this show would be. I saw a few ads about it, but I always felt like it would be some kind of wonder woman anime knockoff. Seems kinda cool after watching this video tho.

I totally agree with the part about Catra’s headpiece. I LOVE her short hair without the headpiece and I think she looked adorable! Oh, and I also wanted to say that even though I love Scorpia’s design, I hate how only her upper lip is black! Sometimes it looks okay but most of the time it looks really odd.

loved itt! do a part 2!

I feel like Catra in the reboot having just the slight cat appearance instead of full cat makes sense for how she feels about herself compared to others. She feels like an outcast, so her being not enough like the humans as well as not enough like the more animalistic people makes a lot of sense. I like it even more when you think of Scorpia, a girl who shows up later in her life who makes Catra feel better about herself. Scorpia is definitely more scorpion than Catra is cat, but she is still there for her, and I really like that

I asked my mom about it, and she refuses to think the designs In the new she-ra are better.

I’d love to see a part 2 to this video. I’m interested to hear what you’d have to say on Swift Wind.

I really like how much more dull the colors are in this show because there is a lot sparkles and magic and light beams so have a lot more dull or calming colors for characters especially feels and looks so much better.