This was supposed to be a bullet point on the final epilogue rant, but it got way too long, so this is the result. I think it's fair to assume that everyone knows this series is a (very loose) adaptation of the Winx Club animated series. Also, I started this rant before I watched the Netflix adaptation, but realizing that I truly won't be able to understand the absolute fuckery of it all if I didn't watch the Netflix series, I forced myself through all six episodes.
Once again: What the actual fuck was this adaptation.
Like where's the style, where's the fucking power that the OG series had?
Like compare all of this:
(Also Dark Bloom, cause that version was a MOOD):
With this:
Like listen. I don't care that the plot and lore of the world changed or that Bloom has major parental issues (actually, yeah I do, bc she had a perfectly functional and loving relationship with her adoptive parents, why tf would you change that—), or that Stella has mommy issues (eh, this one's debatable. While I really don't like what the series did to Stella, the conflict with her mom was a bit more realistic as the only heir to Solaria).
But you know what the OG series had? Soul and heart. As campy as the first four seasons were, it never lost the soul and heart of what made the series have some amount of rewatchability. The seasons beyond season 4 are debatable on that end (THANKS NICKELODEON), but my point still stands.
Also yeah, the pop cultural references were fucking grating on my nerves, like during the first episode, there was a rather fucking cringe conversation between Bloom and Aisha about the Harry Potter houses and I just...skipped past it cause no, I will not stay and sit through that cringe fest.
Like, yeah, okay, the live action has a bit of a darker tone, but like so did the original series (that is, from seasons 1- 4). The OG animated series explored way more mature themes in a way the target demographic could understand and while if they were compelling or not is objectively debatable, they at least made sense for the characters and their respective arcs. It never had the need to be edgy to be cool, it was cool because they focused on the characters being likable and creating an overall enjoyable show.
Also like, does no one remember that Bloom was the sole survivor of the genocide of her home planet Domino? Setting aside the trauma of genocide, like, does no one remember the little thing called Dark Bloom from S2? And the Trix actually winning a few fights? Like say for example, in season 1, HOW THEY MANAGED TO ACTUALLY STEAL BLOOM'S POWER AS A FAIRY?? Yeah, remember that, when the series wasn't afraid to incapacitate and/or do things to its main characters to show just how high the stakes are?
(I'm sorry I'm just salty that the latter seasons are just so...kiddish in comparison. THANKS NICKELODEON FOR FUCKING UP EVERYTHING)
I thought they were going go the genocide route with Bloom and the reveal of the Aster Del massacred, but nope, they walked their way out of their main characters having any reliable nuance. Beatrix, from what I hear, replaced the Trix witches, which was one hell of a damn shame. But for what it's worth, I liked Beatrix as a show original character.
The live action is literally a teen drama with fantasy elements thrown in with the usual cliches. Like literally, everyone has said that this took a page from Riverdale. While they aren't wrong, I liked the first season of Riverdale, despite the drastic change in tone in comparison to the comics, and this is coming from someone who has read the comics growing up.
Speaking of Riverdale, I still don't know if I lucked out or not by stopping at season 1, and yes, I'm well aware that the series has since gone off the rails. It's also worth noting that while being bat shit insane since season two, Riverdale had the advantage of their source material having no visible serialized plot that is singularly canon. It's like reading superhero comics: they had multiple canon timelines, and the comics themselves were for the most part, slice of life. You could argue that Riverdale is just another iteration of the slice of life comics, despite the growing insanity of the show.
Fate: The Winx Saga doesn't have that advantage, and it suffers because it doesn't understand what made the source material so popular in the first place. In any case, it felt like another high school fantasy drama and at the end of the day, that's what pissing me off. Watching the series, it's fine as it's own original show, but I'm being generous here. It's abysmal as a adaptation of the Winx Club.
Also, the girls in the OG series actually liked each other! Say what you want about Season 8 (or anything after Believix really), at least the bond between the girls was still there and they functioned well as a team. In fact, that was one of the best aspects of the OG series and for all of the flaws and plot holes of the later seasons, we still liked the characters and their friendship!
Also the erasure of Tecna, the whitewashing of Musa? Not here for it. Like I didn't even realize that it was Musa until I recognized the pigtails, ten minutes into the episode. When someone who grew up with the show can't recognize a major character in an adaptation, that's...not a good sign.
Not surprisingly, there was controversy surrounding the blatant whitewashing and Netflix didn't think we would care about it at all?? And the actress for Bloom said something along the lines of "we need to have these conversations". Like, it's such a blanket statement and she could've not said anything at all, because that doesn't help anybody or anything. Netflix could've respected the OG creator's demands to keep the cast diverse, but they didn't. Fuck Netflix, and they could honestly stop pretending that they care about being diverse.
I didn't include Flora in this because I heard she's coming for season two, because me thinketh that the backlash of replacing Flora with Terra got to the show runners and Netflix enough for them to tease Flora appearing in Season 2....eth. This still doesn't redeem them for fucking with the diversity for S1. And for that matter, I still don't see either Flora or Aisha having major arcs in the second season, because Netflix really does love pushing aside its POC characters.
Back to the likability of these characters: I was so mad when Stella first appeared in the live-action adaptation. Like, she's the literal opposite of her animated counterpart, it's insane! In the animated series, she had an rather sunny personality, the slightly dumb friend who meant well. She was iconic and sassy, but she definitely wasn't mean spirited about it. While I think the OG show definitely flanderized her more ditzy and fashionista side in the later seasons and the 2nd movie, she was still fucking kind and a good friend all around.
Again, why the fuck would you change that?! The live-action just turned her into a super unlikable and shallow character, and ugh, why. Considering that Stella was Bloom's introduction into the world of magic to begin with in the OG series, this was a massive fuck up. She is Bloom's guide in the reboot as well, but much less welcoming and honestly just straight up flip-flops between bitchy and needy. This was supposed to be the adaption of the same girl who tried to sneak Bloom into Alfea when they met and found out about Bloom's magic. Like who the fuck in the writer's room though that changing this fundamental part of Stella as a character was a good idea???
Someone pointed out that she's literally Diaspro, but worse, and honestly, I can see the comparison. The show should've just replaced Stella with Diaspro if they were gonna pull this mean girl shit. And even with the OG show, they absolutely wasted the potential they had with Diaspro as a character. Hey, I never said that the OG show didn't have its share of massive problems.
Given the adaptation Stella's pressure with being the only heir to her home country Solaria, I would've much preferred that struggle having gone over to the OG Stella, who I believe would've maintained her compassion towards people she cared about and her sunny personality despite all of that pressure. Also that entire thing with Ricki was not needed, like at all. Even out of jealousy, Stella would not accidentally blind her best friend.
And the live action also literally introduced a love triangle between Stella, Sky and Bloom. Like out of everything, this is one of the biggest insults to Stella and Bloom's friendship because in the OG series, they didn't need any of that bullshit. I don't think they ever once fought over a boy in the OG show, and they didn't need to cause they had their own separate crushes, and Sky wasn't flip-flopping between Stella and Bloom. The worst Sky did in the OG show (other than basically cheating on Diaspro with Bloom) was switch places with his best friend, Brandon, so for a while, Bloom thought Sky was Brandon and Stella thought vice versa. Stella's main reason for being angry was that she was being lied to, and she's completely valid in feeling that way.
(Besides, wasn't there a love triangle already in the OG show between Diaspro, Sky and Bloom? At least there, it made sense since Diaspro was Sky's former fiancee. And now that I'm looking back, why the fuck did Bloom get back together with him—
Again, the live action really should've just replaced Stella with Diaspro, given that they literally did that with Terra and Flora. And no, I don't care that Terra is "fLOra's cOusIn".)
The friendship between the girls was one of the most important aspects of the series, and the live action adaptation made it so fucking fractured, it's not even funny. Stella bullies Terra every chance she gets, Aisha is the Mom stereotype/therapist of the group (haven't we seen that before), Bloom rarely cares about her friends constantly putting their lives on the line for her, Musa is honestly the blandest one out of the group, and Terra kinda annoyed me tbh.
Speaking of Brandon, where tf was he? I was looking for him in the adaptation everywhere and NEVER FOUND HIM. Like the live-action show thought it best to bring in Riven, but not him???? They thought adding show original characters like Dane was a good idea but not have Helia or Nabu or Timmy?? The fuck?!
Speaking of unlikeable characters: Bloom. Oh my god what the fuck did they do to you. When I was young, Bloom was my favorite character because I related to her a lot with her hesitant and shy personality. Well, second favorite, because Flora was a fav for a while and she looked like me; you don't get a lot of brown girls in animation and even though she was coded as a Latina, as an Indian girl growing up in Canada, she was a huge comfort character, even if back then, I never really knew why. Back to Bloom: yes, she still has that MC Syndrome, but I still liked her and wanted to follow her journey.
Yeah, chuck out all of that and turn her into an angsty, selfish teen who's "special", who has "not like other girls" syndrome, with "witty" remarks for measure. I cringed at her first interaction with Sky, it was that bad. She also hates being around people and just stand-off-ish in general.
Also while I sympathized with Bloom at times, I'm perfectly willing to call her a selfish prick all the same. Like Aisha is constantly trying to warn Bloom and advising her to not do stupid shit and Bloom does not get the hint, like at all. If it was OG show Bloom, she would've actually listened to Aisha. Conversely, rather than just advising Bloom, OG show Aisha would've been there for Bloom and bounced back actual ideas while gently breaking it to Bloom that maybe throwing yourself into a dangerous part outside of Alfea isn't a good idea. The adaptation version of their friendship is again, so fucking fractured and at the end of the day, when Aisha says that she's done pulling Bloom from falling off the edge, you're just like "thank god, fucking boundaries have finally been set!"
Also, like seriously, some of the stuff Bloom said to her mother is just mind-boggling, my ass would get fucking beat if I was in her position, and I'm a quarter century old by this point. Ah, the joys of being Indian. Although, her mom was definitely a bitch in that scene, good fucking god. Some of the stuff Vanessa said to Bloom, you would never be able to imagine coming out of Vanessa in the animated series, cause that woman is an angel compared to her live action counterpart.
Mike and Vanessa were perfectly good, state of the art parents in the OG series. They were understanding of their daughter and didn't do stupid shit in order to control Bloom. They were confused a lot of the time, but they also came through for Bloom whenever she needed that parental and emotional support. Given that the OG show was inspired by American high school dramas, Bloom having a loving and understanding relationship with her parents is kinda mind blowing in that context of inspiration.
Going off on bit of a tangent, but there was a scene in one of the OG movies where Bloom got into a disagreement with her bio parents (this takes place after Secret of the Lost Kingdom) and goes back to Earth to her adoptive parents. Don't remember what happens in between, but afterwards, Oritel and Marion give Mike and Vanessa a visit and they have an incredibly sweet (if not a tiny bit generic) conversation about raising children before showing home videos of Bloom growing up. It's a really sweet scene that had me tearing up and like, the OG series is made up of similar emotional scenes like that.
Now riddle me this: can you honestly see Bloom's parents in the live-action series in that position? Leaving aside the fact that Domino doesn't exist and Oritel and Marion don't seem to exist either (at least not in name) cause Bloom is a changeling (wtf honestly, it wasn't enough that she was a powerful fairy, now she's something else entirely??), that's kinda the point I'm making. They barely knew their daughter before she got shipped off to Alfea, what makes you think they know her better than her birth parents? Yeah, they raised her, but before Alfea, we rarely saw Bloom having a positive relationship with her parents. And no, the few Skype calls she has with them does not count, cause even then, she was hiding the fact that she had magic and was at a school for learning and controlling magic.
And while we're on the subject of Bloom's past, in the OG series, her older sister Daphne sacrificed herself to save Bloom by dropping her into Earth and having her found by Mike during his job as a firefighter. That was so much more interesting honestly. And even while as a spirit, Daphne helped Bloom from time to time whenever she needed it the most.
Not to mention, weren't the Specialists themselves supposed to be at another school? Alfea was primarily meant for fairies, and yet they literally turned it into a co-ed boarding school with separate departments for the fairies and Specialists. Which in hindsight, its one of the few changes I don't have a huge problem with, honestly, but it still took away some of the uniqueness of the series.
In the OG show, having the fairies and Specialists as two separate schools highlighted how different they were and how they used that to their advantage whenever they had to work together. Not to mention, the overall world that the series was set in was unique as hell. Setting aside the different schools, the technology was futuristic and the overall plot of the story gives off the vibe that it could take place at any time, despite the world itself having its own set of technological advances. In short, the animated series showcased different parts of the world and thus had this little thing called world-building.
Also as far as the transformations go, fans of the OG series are not asking for a shot for shot recreation of the original animated costumes or the transformations themselves. They just felt underwhelmed by what was shown, and they're totally valid in feeling that way. I think they might've been building it up with Farah Dowling's comment about fairy transformations being a thing of the past, but honestly, I'm giving the show way too much credit.
I've read comments on YouTube saying that it might be a partial transformation, like you earn your wings and then everything else as you prove your worth, but like...take a look at the Charmix and Enchantix arcs in the OG series and you'll quickly realize why I have a hard time buying the "partial transformation" excuse.
The costumes and fashion were a huge part of the appeal in the animated series, and yet, in the live action adaptation, the everyday fashion was kinda uninspired. Again, the live action adaptation didn't need to be a shot for shot remake of the fairy costumes or their everyday wear. But even in a realistic setting and darker tone, you can make the fashion pop out. Verionica Lodge in Riverdale has way more fashion sense (Cheryl Blossom's fashion sense is objectively unhinged, don't @ me) than the rest of the Winx combined in the live action adaptation.
And the thing is, if I had seen this show without knowing that it was an adaptation of the animated series, I would've been fucking shocked at how different it was, although, that's virtually impossible, because it's well known that the show's an adaptation. It's essentially what Dominic Noble would invoke the "In Name Only" clause for, and if you know him, we are friends forever.
And for newcomers into the world of Winx Club, that's fine and dandy (i suppose), because they don't have an emotional attachment to the series. But it's a whirlwind of emotions for the people that do. It's also gonna be an experience similar to the live action adaptation of A:TLA, for better or worse, where newcomers who liked (or hated) the Netflix adaptation want to check out the source material for the hell of it, and end up realizing how much the live action pales in comparison to the OG source material. Sure, the English dubbing is....weird at times, but other than that, Winx Club was a solid kids show, and most of the show still holds up to this day.
Like I'm not gonna act like the animated series doesn't have its problems (say, season 8, the de-aging of its characters post season 7, certain tropes from the early seasons having aged like milk). But what we come back for are ultimately, the innate likability of the characters and their relationships with each other.
Also the live action replaced Faragonda with Farah Dowling. Why would you replace the most iconic headmistress of the series. Also Griselda is missing as well. I'd say I'm shocked but honestly I'm just numb by this point. Aside from that, Dowling's a decent character who's done some shady shit but ultimately does care about her students' well being. I just wish she was Faragonda.
Edit (1-7-2023): The actress who played Dowling was also Rhaenys Targaryen in House of the Dragon. I spent literally the entire S1 of HOTD trying to figure out where the hell I'd seen her because she looked so distinctly familiar before eventually looking up the cast list. So that was fun.
The thing is: I don't care how realistic the show is trying to be, it's literally adapting a show about colorful, sparkly fairies, some of that campiness should be allowed to seep through.
Honestly, some of these CW-type writers and show-runners could stand to take notes from Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. Yes, I know MI was a animated reboot of the Scooby-Doo franchise, but that just proves my point on how much Fate: The Winx Saga completely missed the mark, both as a potential reboot and as an adaptation. For all of the dark shit SD:MI has (and for a Scooby-Doo show, it gets real fucking dark), it also had some of the campiness that made the franchise popular, and it balanced the comedy, teen drama stuff and the serious stuff perfectly...for the most part, you could've chosen literally anyone for Velma to date at the beginning of the series and yet it had to be Shaggy. Although, Scooby and Velma fighting over Shaggy later was kinda hilarious, if not malicious at times, cause good god, Velma—
Also if you want an example of how dark Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated could get, look no further than the earlier episodes, most notably, S1 E17: Escape from Mystery Manor. Honestly, out of S1, this is one of those episodes that just...sticks out to me the most, for reasons you will understand once you actually watch it. Don't get me wrong, the S1 finale ends one a rather dark note, but I remember the Mystery Manor episode the most. Also, I know I just plucked out a random episode an example, but you really do need to watch this show chronologically to truly understand the steadily growing danger the gang is heading into.
Anyway, I got off track, where was I? oh yeah—! Back to ranting about how Fate: The Winx Saga failed as an adaptation.
Hell, the adaptation could also take notes from the HTTYD movies. For all of the changes the movies made to the plot and characters being changed around, whether you hated or liked the changes, at least they made sense and the movies are still identifiable as an adaptation of the book series. You can still see similarities between the book version of Berk and the movie version of the village. You could still see movie Hiccup being an adaptation of book Hiccup. You could potentially make the argument that Astrid is a spiritual adaptation of Camicazi from the book, but having read up on the relationship between Camicazi and book Hiccup, it's safe to say that Astrid is a movie original character. The main conflict in the first film, while being (from what I understand) vastly different from the first book that it was adapting, still had the same climax and endgame as the book with Hiccup loosing his leg.
Really, this entire adaptation makes it pretty obvious that Netflix just doesn't give a shit about who the show is aimed at, aka fans of the original Winx Club, and just want to make a quick buck off that nostalgia. Like take away the characters' names, change Alfea College to another name, and all that's left is another high school fantasy drama with fairies. It's virtually unrecognizable as an adaptation to the animated series.
Here's the absolute kicker though. I think that I, as well as other fans of the OG series, would've been a little more forgiving if the adaptation was a spin-off of sorts. Like with all of the changes made to the lore about fairy transformations being ancient magic, the show could've definitely gotten away with it being a next generation type of story, where it takes place years after the OG Winx girls have graduated Alfea and are famous, mystical heroes that have some amount of nuance shoved into their characters. You can still keep Alfea as a co-ed boarding school, with Alfea and the Specialists school having since merged because of how much they work together, and how that changed both groups accordingly in how they train. Meanwhile, the new characters also have to deal with new shit being thrown at their world after years of peace the Winx brought to the world. You can even keep the Burned Ones plot point with this. The new main cast eventually start using the Winx Club as a reference to how they solve some of their problems and start becoming heroes in their own right. (Unfortunately for the writers, that would require effort in creating new and likable characters. Why do that when you can repurpose old ones?)
Now, does that sound like the plot of a fanfic? Maybe; i do write fanfic, after all. Does it sound slightly better than what we got from the adaptation? If yes, then I've succeeded in making my point.
Or maybe that's just me.
To sum up this rant via a meme:
The Winx Club:
Fate: The Winx Saga:
You know, the shocking thing about this rant was that despite the fact that I started writing it before I watched the adaptation, I found myself not changing a large portion of the rant, and instead adding even more about what I found wrong the minute I started on the first episode! Because, well...the arguments I made before subjecting myself to the torture of the adaptation were pretty much on the mark. That is fucking rare. But for what it's worth, it's not a bad show, it's just a horrible adaptation (and just boring at times) and let it be said that at times, there's a distinction between being a decent series and a decent adaptation.
What's your experience?! Comment and/or vote and Sayonara till the final rants! 🥰