2016 PPG makes me deeply uncomfortable

 Hi.

I was originally going to make this a youtube video, but I swear to all of my dear gods that I truly do not have it within me to watch the entirety of that horrible, horrible, should-have-never-been-created reboot. I will take some notes from my script of that video.

I hope you will enjoy my distaste for the Powerpuff Girls reboot of 2016. 

This time, I actually gave the show a chance. At first, I was willing to ignore and hate it just like everyone else for the sake that it’s not exactly like the original. It’s easy to hate something just because it’s a reboot, but it’s powerpuff girls, a franchise I've loved for almost forever now, so how could I not give into the three girls I've loved since childhood?

The first thing I have to say about this is that I don’t really like how the show producers chose to redesign the bed, when the original design was perfect on its own. Bubbles also has actual hair bubbles in her hair, and Buttercup has a piece of hair flying up for some reason. I guess that’s the cast’s way of differentiating their vision from the original. I do admit Bubbles looks adorable with the hair ties, but it takes some getting used to, to Buttercup’s hair fluff.

Pet peeves about designs aside,  the girls having actual cell phones sort of defeat the whole point of them having super powers, because the phones can do almost everything they can, and it could even help enhance their powers. It’s nice to see some actual conflict between the girls’ interests, like in the original’s episode, Super Zeros.

The cast had poor decision making when choosing to remove Ms. Bellum from the reboot. She was replaced by a character named Bianca Bikini, which completely undermines the feminist power Ms. Bellum had in the original. Ms. Bellum stood for a lot of things, while Bianca is like a cardboard cutout compared to her.

Another failure is the writing for Bliss. They missed out on the chance to make Bunny an actual non-offensive character, and instead wasted time by trying to pass along Bliss as an valid character.

The new animation style is something to get used to. It either grows on you, or it doesn’t. The series appears to take some inspiration from the 2014 special, dance pantsed. It would be interesting to imagine how the series would turn out if it was in that art style. I wish just someone, anybody could have taken the chance to include the Powerpunk Girls in an episode. But no, the opportunity is missed until further notice.

At first, I thought I would hate the new expressions, but I actually like how they are used in the show. I like how Blossom is expressive with her bow at times, but the real 1998 Blossom would never do that IMO.

Mojo Jojo is surprisingly depicted accurately enough to pose no difference from the original. The narrator is just the same as well.

Bubbles is actually adorable with her knowledge of unicorns in Episode 3. It shows a struggle that could’ve taken place in the original series. The unicorn episode could have been inspired from My little pony: friendship is magic’s twilight’s yearning to be a alicorn. I could be wrong though, as it’s been a few years since I’ve watched the show. The professor’s ray accidentally turns Downy (I think that’s the unicorn’s name) into a monster instead of a unicorn. As a result of this, he breaks out into a rage and starts destroying everything in sight. Bubbles defends herself by revalidating her belief in unicorns. A group of unicorns come and restore Downey's original form, and the pickle shop. I feel like it’s a parody of Celestia and Luna from MLP gen 4.

“Man Up” seems to be inspired off of the episode called “Makes Zen to me”. Maybe this episode idea was created by the crew’s misunderstanding of the episode. The storyline is almost exactly alike. Buttercup is too impatient and rowdy to learn anything new, so she has to learn how to find peace in herself. This episode almost feels like a parody of that episode, Cartoon Network could’ve just re-aired the original episode to take its place. The storyboard is almost completely copied as well. I kind of feel like this episode’s production was  a waste of time because it’s a complete stereotypical parody of the 60’s hippie era. It’s overall just a weak episode, with the story half copied and pasted with older elements. It’s literally just Makes Zen to Me with newer elements.

The action parts aren’t that bad as well. I actually enjoyed them, as they’re somewhat impressive.

The show seems to have unnecessary nostalgia references to the 80’s and 90s. Also, is it just me or are the animators addicted to drawing the girls flying in one pose? It doesn’t make much sense for this to be a common resting pose. The girls lift one leg up to help them fly more, not do practically anything.

I also think that self insert character from someone that was on the 2016 crew, that is supposedly in love with Blossom is disgusting beyond words. So Cartoon Network finally did something right for once in that decade by taking the show off the air. I don't think I will ever forgive this distasteful crew for contributing to this hot pile of animated garbage.

Even though there were parts I actually liked..

So, does this mean I actually like the show and the crew is redeemable for all their mistakes?

NOPE.

With all of this being said, I wouldn’t mind there being an Hi Hi PUFFY AmiYumi reboot coming out soon, as the shows bare some similarities.