Some initial trailer thoughts, so spoilers underneath the cut
"This looks AI generated" mfers are in SHAMBLES! This animation is the shit babeeeeyy
that being said... those kids' heads are WAY too fucking big and copypasted😭 Craig was not lying when he said that they revised this shit 9 times. It definitely looks better than the unfinished leak. It looks a lot like Miraculous Season 6 (whose animation I will ALSO go to bat for).
"A school for royal magic." Omg he said the thing guys, he said the thing!
The facial expressions and details on the characters are really charming though! Amber and Sofia's especially. They definitely took advantage of the new software and unique art style. It's not perfect, but it still does a lot with their TV budget (it's also leages better than the EoA finale designs).
On Sofia being "the most powerful princess in the realm." I can somewhat buy that all of the exposure she's had to magic in her life (the Amulet, and her Storykeeper/Protector era) would pretty much make her magical, but the most powerful? I'm definitely gonna wait until the show comes out to elaborate on that because I've got nothing.
Okay clunky proportions aside, I'm... mildly interested in the new characters. I think the teaser was trying so hard to re-introduce everyone to the returning cast that it didn't do much to give us any substantial crumbs of what the new cast'll be like. I'm hoping more information comes out like interviews
CEDRIC HOW I HAVE MISSED YOU.
THEY PLAYED A REDUX OF THE ORIGINAL THEME SONG FOR THE TRAILER. PLEASE LET THAT BE THE ACTUAL THEME SONG FOR THIS SHOW I BEG YOU.
Please don't tell me this is gonna be another Flo thing..
The fact that all of this is canonically happening whilst Elena is going out murdering the woman who killed her parents is so fucking funny. I doubt Elena herself will make a cameo, both for continuity purposes and to avoid alienating the young audiences who weren't around for EoA's original run, but a mention could be interesting
And that's what this all is. Really interesting. At worst I'm neutral/skeptical in some areas, but at best I'm really excited for it. I'm probably not going to enjoy it as much as the average child, but I'm still pretty hyped.
Okay so finally got to the rest of the episodes: Let's dive into it, shall we?
Episode 2A
Lmao the Mission Impossible reference in the first two minutes. Whoever wrote that joke in I love you.
CEDRIC HOW I HAVE MISSED YOU.
10/10 on his design. Beautiful. Flawless. Gorgeous.
So I'm guessing the first scene specifically takes place before Sofia leaves for Charmswell in Episode 1?
Ohh... Minimus will take some getting used to in this new style...
Wait, so it doesn't take place beforehand? Then why did Sofia show off her wand in Time to Shine??? Did I miss something??
Ok I know I just gave shade to Minimus' design, but I am LOVING how he was rendered. I know it must've been a NIGHTMARE to have to give so much detail to his fur and feathers.
hi pepper.
So the scene from the trailers that I thought was Sofia creating Pepper was just her making an illusion of his species!
Thandi's music spell is gonna be stuck in my head.
I can already tell what the moral is, but I still like it, and it's one that even I at the age of 20 am still working on. I think it speaks well to its intended demographic, especially since impostor syndrome is a very real thing most kids can often develop and deal with.
"There are no accidents."
Song is an 8/10: Damn this shit actually slaps!
"Are you gonna show Devon how it's done?" "No, I'm gonna show myself how it's done." Perfect, perfect line.
I can't tell if the Jeebles are uncanny in a weird way or in a cute way.
Force-field babeeyy
OH AND HER DRESS CHANGED COLOR WITH IT.
Conclusion: Really loved the moral, and the plot really works with it. The only main thing I disliked was the continuity error in the beginning but, small potatoes.
9/10
EPISODE 2B
CEDRIC IS THE SORCERY TEACHER AT CHARMSWELL OMFG
THE BUTTERFLY WINGS OMG!!!!!
Layla and Sofia both getting magical jewlery from their newly crowned parents is so sweet.
I'm not done, the wings are a really great part of the design, and again, are rendered beautifully! It's really pretty to look at!
Song is an 8/10:
I would suggest Layla think about baby jaquins to calm down lmao.
Lmao Cedric still has his sass.
I love the ruby spell callback!
LAYLA FOR THE WIN
Conclusion: Not much to say about this episode but it was okay.
Having grown up with the original Sofia the First series, hearing news of a spin-off in 2022, later re-tooled into a sequel in 2024 was absolute hype. I've been following updates on the show for four years now, give or take a few things, so might as well give my thoughts in a liveblog where I watch the entire episode for the first time to give my raw thoughts.
Let's gooo
I do not care what anyone says, the theme song is fucking magnificent.
I'm glad they came up with a canon explanation for why Sofia didn't go to EverRealm Academy. Upon hearing the premise I was like "Okay so I assume Sofia changed her mind about it," and my assumption was correct.
The opening scene of the family heading to Charmswell is brilliant. It shows us exactly what each character is like, what their personality is, and how they bounce off each other. If you're watching this directly off the heels from the original, it's refresing, but if you haven't seen the original, this is a great entry point. I've mentioned it before but the target demographic of this show is not a problem. It all comes down to how the show is executed, and the writing of this scene is a good step.
Miss Nettle being the headmaster/opener of Charmswell School is a beautiful approach to her character. I'll probably go on a separate rant about that later, but it just feels right.
"What exactly do you learn at a school for royal magic?" HE SAID THE THING GUYS, HE SAID THE TITLE OF THE SHOW IN THE SHOW!
"Make way for Miss Nettle!" OH MY GODDDD YESS
Okay so I've been really defensive over the new designs and animations (and I still am) but Miss Nettle kinda looks... off. Again it's nothing bad but it'll take some getting used to.
"Named after my favorite fellow fairies..." okay well now I'm miffed that we didn't see an episode of the original where Flora, Fauna, and Merrywether met Miss Nettle post-redemption.
Time to Shine is a 7/10. The vocals and lyrics are okay.... yeah it's just... okay.
So I did not watch the shorts that came out earlier this month. Both bc I was too lazy and because I wanted to see how well the show itself introduced its new main characters on its own two leg. A general rule of thumb is that supplementary content shouldn't be required to follow a narrative along. Fortunately though, this first episode does a good job introducing us to the mains.
And on that note, I am getting used to their designs!
I was neutral to Sofia's pink Amulet design in the first show but here?? I love how it looks!
I feel like the "castles" are meant to be the kid-friendly/this universe's equivalent of college dorms and I find that sweet.
Honestly I don't know why I'm surprised that this first episode is basically a race contest but y'know what, I'm in!
Oh so peppercorns are a species! I assumed that it was some hybrid animal that Sofia creates.
So I was initially dreading Pepper after seeing the first trailer. I was worried that he was A) going to replace Clover (which Craig later debunked in a tweet) and B) he was going to be oversaturated like Flo in EoA. But he's actually kinda funny here. The way he just goes "ABSOLUTELY NOT" got a chuckle out of me.
Camilla mastered her teleportation spell in like, 4 minutes lmao. That's a new record in this verse.
Idk why but I'm just completely neutral to Devon. His boasting and bragging doesn't phase me at all. I think this is one of those moments where I realize that I'm definitely not in this show's target demo lmao.
The Enchanted Carriage is like Siri.
There's a lot of creative animation and movements in the ballroom scene, I'll give them that.
Honestly I'm surprised that Devon is playing fair here.
One thing I like about this race is that it gives each member of Castle Merryweather their "Time to Shine" (lol) by showing their own talents and abilities. I think I would've liked it more if all of them had some struggle that they overcame when it came to using their magic, not just Sofia but even with that in mind, this, again, is a good way to get us introduced to these characters.
...the emotional moment felt kinda forced though. Pepper has been with them for 6 minutes I'm not sure if he's a viable candidate to give this pep-talk to Sofia (oh wait, "pepper" "pep-talk" now I hear it).
"Can't you see how good at this you all are" "Now I do, but they don't" - Correction, only Zane doesn't. Camilla and Layla are sad about Zane leaving, but they've had no qualms about their own abilities during this race and have actively deus-ex-machina'd the group out of each obstacle. Show, don't tell.
And because of this, Sofia's pep talk to all 3 of them rings hollow. She's the only one who had any struggles with her magic, if anything, they're the ones who should be giving her a pep-talk.
Zane being the one to solve the ballroom puzzle is pretty good though. Predictable, but good.
Oh shit, a reprise??
Ok this reprise is 5/10. It works narratively but... man it comes out of nowhere and the lyrics don't even finish!
... I promise not to say anything about Sofia's peppercorn design... but it is not good 😭😭😭
Oh so NOOOW Devon is cheating. I knew I'd have a good reason to hate him :))
I don't hate Pepper and I did get a good laugh about him but... I'm still neutral. At the very least my fears for the character have been debunked so I'm gonna take the L with pride :))
Ok well that's a good wrap to the first episode, see you guys next week- WAIT THERE'S STILL THREE MINUTES LEFT OF THIS?
Oh
OH WAIT YES
RAPUNZEL
She looks way more accurate to her movie design than she did in the Ivy special!
MAXIMUS
Wait, so the Amulet didn't summon Rapunzel. I guess that makes sense, Sofia had that ability when Elena was trapped in it, and we never saw her use it again after Elena was freed so it makes sense that the Amulet doesn't summon princess again.
So does this confirm that the Tangled series is canon to StF?? If Rapunzel already returned to Corona beforehand and has her blonde hair then that pretty much means that this episode takes place during Season 1 of TTS.
But also Season 1 of TTS has the time coverage of 6 months, so is Maximus just... super fast? Y'know what, I'm not gonna think too much about this.
"There's a council of princesses." Maan Athena P is gonna have a fucking FIELD day with this shit. I'M trying to wonder what on Earth that would look like.
"Cinderella and Ariel say hi by the way" fun callback!
"You have become the most magical princess in the EverRealm." Again, I can understand this knowing how much magic Sofia was exposed to both before and after EatSoA.
So instead of draining one's magic like the Scepters of Light and Night, the Amulet grants powers the more you use it. I guess you don't have to be trapped inside of it for 41 years to become magical (wait, Sofia was ALSO trapped inside of it for like a few hours, damn)
I'm on the fence about this "final scene." On one hand, it implies this show will have an ongoing 'narrative' or at least crumbs of one and I like that. And having this 'cliffhanger' thingy in the first episode can garner interest. On the other hand, I feel like the threat of villains wanting to steal the Amulet could've just also been shown throughout the show and didn't need its own "prologue" here. Maybe someone more literate than me can tackle and dissect this scene better but I'm really 50/50 on the whole thing.
That being said, I love Rapunzel's voice here. Belle Adams sounds exactly like Mandy Moore and you wouldn't even tell the difference.
Goddamn it, Rapunzel bringing out the frying pan made me laugh WAY harder than I should've.
CONCLUSION
A solid start to the series! It has a few hiccups but other than that, it manages to make a good first impression, both to returning fans and to new viewers. Animation is very easy to get used to, and the new status quo is very easy to digest.
I'm yet to watch the other 7 episodes and this doesn't drop on Disney + until tonight so if anything I say here is contradicted or recontextualized by the rest of Batch 1, please do not spoil it for me in the reblogs or replies. But I'm pretty excited for what we're gonna see next!
