Monster High

Such a great show. It has such a good take on the monster high franchise and I can tell you all now that the one star reviews are just miserable teens who hadn't cared about monster high for the past 5 years that are now complaining about it being different from the original. This show really does deserve to do well whether you like g3 or not because the representation in this show is so good and we're only one season in! Remember what mh has always stood for and think about how it's added all of the representation g1 lacked/Garrett wanted for the original monster high. I personally think that this show has done everything right when it would come to a monster high reboot and that's why it deserves 10 stars.

Okay so to start, I am very biased to G1, but that does not mean I will not acknowledge that I think there were some good decisions with this show. Some of the character designs I do like (Clawdeen, Abbey, and Frankie is okay). However, some of them are terrible (Ghoulia (bad hair, eyebrow and skin combo), Cleo (I thought she was Nefera), Draculaura (very boring)). I understand that this is a reboot, so not everything will be the same, but it really is a struggle with these designs. Lagoona's design is good for her doll, but in the show I do not like it. One thing that bothers me is changing Lagoona from blue and Australian (and implied aboriginal) to pink and Latina, i'm all for representation, but I liked it before when she was implied to be native and I wish they could have continued that here with full confirmation. I do enjoy the expanded representation with LGBTQ characters and disability representation! Very good addition, in concept, to the series. I think the choice to make Frankie non-binary makes a lot of sense: she is a frankenstein-like monster with an amalgamation of male and female body parts; I also like that she has a fake leg because that also checks out with her character. I like that they made Catty Noir and Draculaura plus-sized, but I dislike that it's really only Drac's legs that are thicker while her stomach is no different than the other dolls. I understand this series is to make dolls, but it would not have been hard to come up with a way to make her bigger and still be able to make her into a doll (literally like Catty). As it is a reboot, I'm not against the characters or characters personalities changing, something that still bothers me is how Ghoulia now speaks English instead of Zombie; and even at points could be considered non-verbal-it was very special to me and a lot of fans. Cleo's change is very drastic, and im not a huge fan of Clankie, I think a better ship more people would have been on board with (since its been popular since g1) is Draculaura and Clawdeen. I absolutely despise Clawdeen and Deuce dating, it makes absolutely zero sense. In g1, I think the pairings made sense because of not only the way the characters acted but because Werewolf/Vampire pairing made sense because in stories werewolves and vampires are natural enemies, and Gorgon(Snakes)/Mummy(Egyptian) pairing made sense because snakes are a symbol of royalty and divinity in Egyptian mythology.

I think adding music would have been a good idea, if the music was good. I liked that this series was going for avoiding stereotypes like g1 had such a problem with, but then these songs are not only cringe--it being a kids show should not be an excuse, because they definitely know adults and older teens that grew up with g1 would naturally be interested AND you should be able to enjoy music from shows you grow up with without going back and realising it's cringe--but these songs also have stereotypical musical elements (egyptian character has "egyptian sounding song", latina character has "latina sounding song"). Basically, it sounds like the background beats would fit into a "Stereotypical music from around the world" compilation.

Also why the HELL does Draculaura do magic??

The show itself, at its core, is not good. It's not bad, I wouldn't go as far as to say it's bad because it did have the potential to be something great. Something new for the younger generation to fall in love with Monster High like I did so long ago now (I'm 17, for clarity). I liked some of the ideas, I really hope if Monster High gets rebooted again for a new generation of dolls, they can keep some of the ideas I do think were good (Frankie being non-binary, queer characters being in the series, disability rep, and having plus-sized characters). Overall it was just a lot of bad decisions with good ideas, and then maybe im just being petty for some things. I know this show is already cancelled, but I still wanted to share my grievances with this series. Kids should be able to have a GOOD show to go with the dolls you are selling them, instead of something very mediocre and full of cringe. Some cringey stuff is fine, that's the nature of kids show, and even g1 has cringey moments--but it's not the core of the show or make it difficult to enjoy. Kids shows should be something that someone can look back on when they're older and still enjoy without being embarrassed to admit they ever liked it (like me with Girl Meets World), and something an adult can watch with their child and enjoy (not something they would watch on their own persay, but something they can watch with their child without it being insufferable).

Enjoy my essay.

Why change something that's already good. They changed everyting from their personalities, appereances to relationship dynamics. They changed everyting, but not for the better. Character design is important to any show and it's done poorly in this show. They made many characters change their chloting style completely from many punk characters to hipsters and many more. Also changing personalities and quirks of characters completely. For ecample the fact that Ghoulia can now speak for some reason? I just wish they would have kept even something the same. I just miss the original show. This doesn't keep the watchers attention for a long time.

Generation 1 may not have had the animation kicks that the second and third generations do, but the original generation knew how to tell a story that involved inclusion, acceptance, and how to solve problems. The Generation 1 stories were fun, cute, but held much more meaning, with a storytelling design that was natural and entertaining that respected the audience watching it. It conveyed the messages well and did not rub it in our faces that we were idiots, too much, always maintaining the sense of adventure.

Generation 2 tried to do the same thing, but it came at the wrong time and the stories were more forced, lamer, and just lacking the pizazz that the built up arcs had done with Generation 1. Yet, it still added character development, natural and funny writing, alongside again a decent cast of characters teaching us a lesson. A tad preachier, the movies at least added some sense of the original, but tried to add its own style, even to the point of causing a little darker atmosphere to the mix for engaging levels. Yet it still respected all audience levels it just did not have the commitment.

Generation 3 has come in this weekend and it's okay for me at the moment, though very much pales to the natural style of the originals. This particular generation is following the trend of the modern day of storytelling of being in your face, simplistic, and more about making sure to raise the banner of the messages they want you to learn. The dialogue is very in your face, cheesy, and patronizing, where all the characters feel whiney, incompetent, and sort of simple minded. I don't enjoy all the changes given how simplified and stupid they come off, but I also don't hate them the further the episodes come into play. And the episodic nature will potentially limit the growth in order to make a fun episode that feels like modern day SpongeBob, silly, over the top, and lacking the general audience the originals did.

It's going to cater to the new age very well, and the excuse that it's not for the older generation does hold some merit. However, the originals knew the importance of bringing families into the fray, and this new style of conveying be who you are and don't follow rules, advice, or other sound words makes for a very limited show. The animation is better, though the design is robbed due to copyrights, making them feel like a combination of MH and Alvin and the Chipmunks. However, the show is cute, representative, and serving the purpose of pushing more dolls for the corporation to make tons of cash.

Thus, at lest for the opening, this series gets a 7 so far, due to the potential for fun, the cuteness, and hopefully toning down the hyper aggressive modern tone for better storytelling and adventures. And please work on the dialogue to not be so juvenile, like the real life Loud House did for Christmas.

As a hardcore g1 Stan g3 has been amazing I have all the new dolls watched the new movie 7,000 times and now I watched the new series this is the best show since gen 1 I love the diversity of bodies race sexuality and gender of it I love the different backgrounds giving more room for fans to relate to these characters ofc they can't use the normal looks due to copyright by universal studios owning them but the new looks are just Fangtastic it does not deserve All the hate it's been receiving when they just saw leaks of everything I was always had hope and promise for the new gen so should you.