yooo i know u've made stf art in the past so i gotta ask: opinions on sofia the first royal magic? :]
ok I actually watched it so now I can properly comment lol hope you are expecting a LARGE chunk of text :]
My simple answer: It's cute! It's fun! I enjoyed it, but it's not nearly as good as it's predecessor imo, and could have just like a little sprinkling of some sort of plot other than Sofia Goes To A New School. Just like. A Little More Something. Maybe there will be it's still very early on who knooowws. BUT EITHER WAY excited to see more!
My longer answer: I have my gripes and I really feel like an old man complaining that the old ways are better lmaoo but you asked so I will give my honest opinion ☝️ As I just mentioned I wish there was more plot, even the older standalone episodes that didn't have to do with like Cedric taking over the kingdom I feel had more substance, and I know fun short shenanigans at school is super common for kids shows, especially aimed at such a young crowed, but I just feel that it's kind of sad to go from the original show with all it had going on to "Oops we did a spell wrong again let's fix it real quick"
I was not a big fan of the style change but now that I've watched it I've gotten used to it, it's still not my FAVORITE look, but overall it looks nice and the animation is lovely. And also I know he was only in it for like 3 seconds but Baileywick looks really good👌 this style really works for him lmao
The songs are alright, some of them I liked, most of them felt too upbeat modern poppy but maybe that's just to meeee, WHAT DOES GET ME THO is how auto-tuned and weird some of the characters sound???? I think it's to make them sound younger but it's just distracting, ESPECIALLY with James, Zane and Amber, which kills me cause I LOVED it when Amber would sing in the original. I STILL think about 'Bigger is Better', that was a great song and she sounds awesome in that! Even later in the series as her actress aged I NEVER thought she sounded too old, 'That's Not Who I Am' sounds GOOD. 'What Can I Do' from Royal Magic sounded. Bad. I'm sorry, whatever effect they put on her voice is BAD. It ruins the songs. James hasn't sung much but his speaking voice is very squeaky it's also really noticeable.
I also miss the longer 22 minute run for each episode, I think we could get some really good character interactions and development if they were longer, I think this is also why I feel the plots are so lacking cause they gotta Get It Done Quick, but I guess 11 is just the length of most little kids shows now.
I also.. Don't like the designs for the new animal creatures. They look VERY marketable toy designed and I think they look kinda bad and stick out in the environment they are in.
BUT ANYWAY ENOUGH COMPLAINTS LMAOOO HERE'S SOME POSITIVES !! I like the new characters! I especially love Zane and Zaria ! They are very cute, and I love their opposite personalities. Zane's fun and upbeat personality mixed with his apparent lack of any confidence in himself that he seems to have just accepted, and Zaria's calm and deadpan personality while being very confident in herself... I like it. I would like to see more of them.
I also do like all the new kids designs, I think they are cute, and I feel like their outfits are nicer to look at than some designs in the previous show. (I just feel like the original show had the colors be waaay to bright for outfits sometimes :P ESPECIALLY MIRANDA'S MAIN DRESS. TOO PINK.)
I'm glad we got like basically all of the main voice cast back for their roles, of course especially Cedriiiiic, I'm also really glad they didn't just smooth out all his personality now that he's Nice and Good! He's still Cedric :) I like his role as a teacher at the school, he was shockingly good with the kids in Substitute Cedric and I think it's cool they put him in a teacher position after it. Also means he will have decent screen time since he Works There hehehe 😈
N E WAAAYYS this is way too long, despite my old man complaints I will continue watching it and I think it's cute and fun overall! I think little kids would enjoy it and that's what's more important lol