#I Hope i find pony or weird toy tomorrow

[cloneboywonder]

Goodnight we are all in Patrick world together I’m kissing all of you

[moonlightreal]

Winx Club season 8/1

In which the Winx are back and younger than ever.

Welcome to season 8!  I love this show, I love everything about it... including the parts I don't like, because I can snark at them.  So warning: there will be some snark when I see something dumb.

About the new art style:

Why I don't like it:  The girls have gotten a little more samey-samey with the loss of their individually shaped features, and Tecna's eyes shifted from turquoise to blue.  I know that's a tiny thing, a slight eye color change but it's one more step towards them all looking the same.  It feels like by the time we get to season 20 they'll be six identical fairies!  Also the girls now look twelve.  There’s been no mention so far of them de-aging so it's just the art style change, but... ok most of y'all wouldn't care but I'm writing a fanfic that parallels the show and now I have to decide whether to de-age my characters or what!

Why I like it: They're sooooo cute! They look like Moondreamers or Lady Lovelylocks or some 80s dolls!  I love it!

I have a theory about why the style change.  This is only a guess since I don't know animation, but is it possible they're using a program with sort of mannequins, and they're now using the same bodies for both Regal Academy and Winx?  To save money maybe, since now the animators will only need to learn one style?  Is that even the way computer animation programs work? Animators, help me out here!

And yes, Musa and Flora are now basically Caucasian looking.  This is not cool.  I have acknowledged it and written to Rainbow about it but since there’s nothing else I can do I’m going to enjoy my show in spite of it.  That’s my response to the color change; your response is something you’ll have to decide for yourself.

1 Night of Shooting Stars

We open at Alfea where some minor fairies are watching shooting stars.  Familiar minor fairies!  It's not just the Winx who have a new look; the whole class has been ported over.  I'm really happy about this!  I was sure they'd just do a whole new background cast and we'd lose more continuity, but here are Evie and Lori, those two dark skinned and indigo haired girls, and other familiar faces.

The Winx are up on a sort of bridge over the courtyard-- Alfea has had slight upgrades for the new season and it looks great.  And so do the girls!  They're so detailed, the layered outfits and all their accessories are so fun.  Their necklaces sway when they move, even, props to the animators.

Bloom is delighted by the shooting stars but Musa’s not feellin’ it, she was hoping for musical inspiration but it isn’t coming.  Flora, Tec and Aisha join them and it turns out Musa wants to write the new song for the concert tomorrow!  Tecna conjures her “astroscope” so they can watch the stars, and starts to explain something but Aisha shuts her down. Kiko pops up on the other end of the astroscope and scares Musa when she looks through.  

Out comes Stella, for a selfie!

In the Italian, Stella says “Selfie time!” in English.  Heh.

But Musas’s glum face spoils the selfie.  Stella says there should be no problem since, “You have ME to inspire you!”

Kind of not a great intro for the girls, but now we leave them and cut to Twinkle being chased by star-eaters.  Which are cool, as villain minions go.  They look like dark purple puffs or blobs, I’m getting a very Original My Little Pony vibe from them.  A whole swarm of them are chasing tiny Twinkle through the rings surrounding planet Magix.  They merge into a giant blob that roars as Twinkle flees towards the planet below.

Musa’s spidey sense tingles!

The star-eaters display their power of splitting into tadpoles and joining together again.

The Winx are concerned: this star is coming down awfully close!  Twinkle zooms above their heads and crashes in the woods.

The girls arrive in the scene we saw in the trailer and are immediately charmed by the sleeping Twinkle. Stella identifies her as a Lumen, “a creature of pure light that lives inside stars.”  They take their find back to Alfea to take care of her.

But evil is watching them!  Or at least a turban-wearing lackey of evil with a bunch of star-eaters around him is.  Obscura says, “Oh no!  That Lumen managed to reach the Winx!” so he knows who the Winx are.

In the Winx common room Twinkle is still asleep and the girls and Faragonda admire her cuteness.  I think she’s got some kind of charm ability!    Stella gives us some more information, “She’s from Lumenia, the star that lights Solaria.”  and Faragonda says Lumens never leave their stars except for serious reasons.

The next morning—daylight shots of Alfea, great cg—Twinkle wakes up, gets scared of Kiko, there’s some chaos and room destruction, Twinkle flies around screaming until she bangs into Stella.  Stella introduces the Winx, “We’re fairies and this is our school.” and asks why Twinkle came.  But Twinkle can’t remember.

Tecna scans Twinkle and detects “a memory lapse.”  The Winx offer to help her remember but Aisha thinks scaring her is the way to go!  So they try to scare Twinkle, who just laughs.  Short slapstick scene.

Then Bloom gets a text: the boys are coming!  Their ship lands in the courtyard to a rockin’ beat.  The girls stand with little hearts around them, Stella twirling her hair.

The boys look so weird in this art style.  I will try and probably fail at not mentioning this every time they appear.

And oh heavens, Brandon still has a deep post-puberty voice in his 12-year-old body.  I think this may be the same voice actor from last season.  Voice weirdness aside, he brought Stella a big pile of presents.  These two are the best couple.

Helia is showing Flora a picture he did of “a rose from the planet Iris, but its beauty is nothing compared to yours.”  Wasn’t Iris where Diaspro’s from?  Flora blushes and it’s cute.

Sky and Bloom kind of twirl each other around and laugh, which is sweet.

Timmy and Tecna are already up in the dorm working on a Lumen amnesia curing device, which explodes. Twinkle bounces and chirps, “Again!  Again again!”  Ok she is a little bit adorable.

They get the memory viewer going and its screen shows Twinkle’s memories of being chased.  She freaks out and flies into the air glowing brightly.  Then the memory viewer overloads.

Cut to the courtyard, the girls ponder what they saw while Twinkle looks glum.  Kiko tries to cheer her up. Stella says that Lumens are peaceful creatures with no enemies, so the girls don’t know what was chasing her.  Poor Twinkle is very down, and Stella prescribes music to cheer her up.

Over at Red Fountain we’re in either the ship or a locker room.  The boys are tired out, they’ve been on a mission to the Omega dimension before the Winx called!  Points to the writers for remembering the names of places!  Also points for how the boys are powering-down their suits, it’s a neat little detail that they do this.

The boys talk about how they wish they could’ve helped the Lumen, then do some reminiscing!  They had a mission on the planet Hypsos where they beat a horde of space mutants and destroyed an opal dragon??  And apparently neither of these was as scary as the landing!  Timmy, who was the pilot, droops.  Then he blames Helia for not being able to read a star chart.  It looks like they’re about to fight when…

A Mysterious Figure arrives!  Wearing a kind of ship-captainish coat and purple neck scarf.  Codatorta said he could come back.  The boys are pleased, more pleased than most of the fandom is!

The mysterious figure is not Venomiya, so there should be no sabotage at the Winx Band concert we go to next.  More great cg Alfea.  Is there an official map anywhere, of what rooms are what?  There are some weird outbuildings and stuff. I’m not even sure if the bridge is new or if it’s just that the girls didn’t hang out there in previous seasons.  And did the wings attach differently before?  I can’t tell if the school has changed shape or not!  I think it has...

And there’s a blast from the past, it’s Knut the ogre, Alfea’s handyman!  He’s back after many seasons, helping set up the lights for the concert with Kiko’s help.

And here’s Grizelda, and the new art style has not been kind to her!  She looks younger and has a more WoW art style look, and I don’t like it!  And whaaaaaat happened to her voice?  She does the ‘I’m watching you’ thing at Knut.  she’s not very nice.  I mean, she’s not supposed to be nice, she’s supposed to be a scary lady so that’s good.

The concert is being held at the top of the steps in front of the main door to the school.  All the minor fairies hang out on the steps or in the courtyard to watch.  It is so nice to see the same minor fairies as before.  They’re super excited to see the Winx in their—freaking adorable—concert outfits.  The girls are all in brightly colored fake fur and music note themes, with streaks in their hair.  Bloom dedicates their first song to ‘Our new friend from far away.’  and Twinkle giggles with delight.

And then… concert transformation! The girls’ PURSES do magical girl henshin routines and transform, Bloom’s into a microphone, Stella and Flora get guitars, Musa has a keytar and Tec gets a three-piece piano while Aisha’s got drums. Ok, I love this.  I know, it’s gotta be a gimic to sell toys, but sparkly henshin instruments, it’s wonderful!

The song’s all right, it’s Winx pop just like every song in Winx and I don’t think the voice actresses are in any way professional singers, but it’s fun.  Miss F, Grizelda and Palladium are in the audience.  Twinkle loves the music. Knut seems to be trying to pick up on the minor fairies, but Grizelda shuts him down.

Then the concert is rudely interrupted by a portal opening and delivering a bunch of star-eaters!  Twinkle sees them and remembers what happened to her and flies for help!

Stella observes the sun-eaters don’t look too scary, but then they all pile together into one big one.  Oh no!  The minor fairies, unable to fight since the artists haven’t designed transformations for them, back away in fear.

Faragonda and the teachers—Wizgiz appears too—direct the minor fairies to take cover inside.  The Winx transform.  Butterflix time!

Twinkle is impressed.

The girls fight but the giant eater can portal in and out and break apart whenever it wants.  Only Stella’s sun power seems to have any effect!  Then they get an idea: Twinkle lit up with the memory viewer, maybe she can help here!  Stella gives her some power and little Twinkle is just so happy!  She lights up like a sun and the big eater breaks apart into little eaters that all look despondent and flee back through their portal.

Since Twinkle has remembered everything, now she can tell her story!  The girls and Grizelda for some reason meet with the headmistress in her office.

Twinkle is the messenger of Lumenia, on a mission from Queen Doranna(?) to the “most powerful fairies in the magic dimension.”  The stars are in danger!  The eaters are eating their light!  I do like that there’s a reason the Winx are going to be called to save the world again, that Doranna specifically requested them.  

Then there’s… Faragonda tells them this is a delicate mission and to be cautious.  Stella breaks in with, “caution is our middle name!  well, more of a nickname.” Heh.

Then Bloom has an anime moment, she goes to the window and puts her hand up to her reflection, with a serious expression.  Not the kind of moment we usually get in Winx, and I really like it.  “Tomorrow we leave for Lumenia, Queen Doranna can help us understand what’s going on.  This is a mission for the Winx!”