It ’s grueling to adapt a kid ’s show — particularly when you ’re attempt to “ get on it up ” for an old consultation . Netflix has strain to do exactly that withFate : The Winx Saga , a tale about fairies trying to equilibrise their magical fate with romance and prep . But can you really become a faery show for preschooler into a sexy teen drama ? All wings head to no .
Fate : The Winx Saga starsChilling Adventures of Sabrina’sAbigail Cowen as Bloom , a teen from California who discovers she ’s in reality a fairy . In this show ’s existence , fairies are the ruling year of a magical spot bid Otherworld and attend a school prognosticate Alfea . Each one check a unparalleled element ( their bon ton also used to have wing but lose them at some point in history , though I ’m guessing that ’s more of a show budget thing ) . Bloom , a fire poove , is recruited to a magical schooltime to hone her magic , where she makes friends with her pouf roomy ; lite fairy Princess Stella ( Hannah van der Westhuysen ) , water fairy Aisha ( Precious Mustapha ) , dry land fag Terra ( Eliot Salt ) , and mind poove Musa ( Elisha Applebaum ) .
https://gizmodo.com/fate-the-winx-saga-trailer-gives-the-animated-fairy-se-1845846018
The Winx-not-Club is ready to hit the town.Image: Netflix
Over the course of the six - instalment season , Bloom and her friend advert a few course of study , get drunk at parties , and flirt with boys from the adjacent military academy — all while battling a orphic menace in the shape of creatures called the Burned Ones . The creature seem to be plug into to the main conflict of the time of year , which is about Bloom investigating her true origin and their contact to her ability . It bring off to feel simultaneously slow and rushed , with scratchy pacing that never quite manages to solve itself by the goal . There were times I was extremely blase and tuned out , only for the next shot to jump in with a bunch of big events or expository talks that took me by surprise .
It ’s also really dark . Not only do the Burned Ones leave a lot of blinking corpses in their viewing ( RIP sheepies from the opening vista ) , but there ’s a real amount of sex and drug and other “ grownup ” capacity . I depose Fate ca n’t go three second without someone throwing out an F - bomb calorimeter . All of that is n’t weird on its face , since showrunner Brian Young worked onThe Vampire Diaries , but it is unusual when you regard the origin of this show . Allow me to explain .
You see , Fate : The Winx Saga is really an adaptation . Winx Club was an animated series from Iginio Straffi about sorcerous fairy teens that started in 2004 , got dubbed in English , and operate for years on various American networks like 4Kids and Nickelodeon ( its latest season ran on Netflix in 2019 ) . It commence out for older tyke but finally became fodder for kindergartner . It also stand as one of the most successful show in Italian television history — it even had its own root word park attractions , at least until they were take down last class . All the characters , including Bloom , her dull - as - crap love interest group Sky ( Danny Griffin ) , and her fairy booster , are live - action at law interpretations of exist graphic symbol but what was a bubblymagical girlshow stands in stark direct contrast with the dismal and brooding teenager adaption we get with Fate : The Winx Saga .
Bloom (left) and the other fairies in Winx Club.Image: Nickelodeon
The biggest character change so far has been turning the three evil witch fibre , collectively called the Trix , into a single femme fatale named Beatrix ( Sadie Soverall)—and dear lord did she ever get on my nerves . This show is surely nothing like the original but since I did n’t grow up with it , I watched the first episode of Winx Club to compare . I ’ve engender to be honest : Winx Saga might be one of the foreign version I ’ve ever seen . I ’ve never reckon a spinoff diverge this abruptly and intensely from its source material . It reminded me of that Dora the Explorer chalk out from Funny or cash in one’s chips .
Despite the comparisons , does Winx Saga work as its own series ? Ehhhhhhhhh .
https://gizmodo.com/9-magical-girl-transformation-sequences-to-inspire-you-1843052480
Okay , let me be fair : This show is n’t bad . In many ways , Winx Saga is decent . The writing is serviceable , giving us some of that Vampire Diaries and Legacies teen charming drama that Young is fuck for . The smaller character moments between the girls were the strongest , as the actresses seemed to truly like each other . Though the highlighting was the fact that it was shoot on location in Ireland . We get some gorgeous snap and vistas that are , to be free-spoken , magical . Makes me lament not being able to journey . Damn covid .
The other clamber free grace is Cowen herself , whose awkwardly confident yet conflicted portrayal of Bloom makes me wonder whether she would ’ve been a better choice to bet Sabrina Spellman on Chilling Adventures of Sabrina . She ’s right smart better here than what she was allowed to be with Dorcas , and I trust to see a lot more from her in the futurity . While the manly eccentric were so biscuit - cutter generic it felt like an sequence of Bridgerton , I thought Bloom ’s fellow Winx Suite roommates had electric potential , namely van der Westhuysen and Salt as Stella and Terra . But I was disappointed with how they become Mustapha ’s Aisha into Bloom ’s glorified helper , without giving her a history arc of her own — especially because she was the main blackened protagonist .
In fact , the show has some diversity subject that would need to be accost in a possible second time of year . For example , some were overturned that the original series ’ Flora ( now Terra)—a character whose design was inspire by Jennifer Lopez and fans identify as Latina — was play by a white actress . It was nice to see some soundbox diverseness in the show with her character , consider how Winx Club was criticized for inconceivable beauty standard by theGeena Davis Institute on Gender in Media , but that does n’t change the fact that the cast is overwhelmingly white . There was also some complicated and unearthly LGBTQ representation that I did n’t understand ; All the girls we see get romantic have been in straight , heteronormative union , and the only queer relationships have been with villainous type being mean and horny . We still do n’t know every main fictitious character ’s preferences , so that could exchange .
Overall , Winx Saga just never get by to set off . This would be bad enough under normal circumstances , but given how small the show has been promoted by Netflix — and how far it strays from the show that kids grew up with — it puts the serial at a major disadvantage . It had a heap of obstruction to overcome and really needed to uprise up from its roots and give us something amazing . That did n’t find . It ’s noKipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts . Word of rima oris is n’t going to save it , and Winx Club fan in all likelihood wo n’t either . I would n’t be surprised if they churn up against it . They might be at the right eld for a adolescent - friendly Winx , but our nostalgic lense do n’t always look kindly on a beloved kid ’ show “ going dark . ”
I ’d be intemperately - press to see Fate : The Winx Club get another season . Hopefully , that does n’t mean the end of Cowen ’s life history , but I ’m guessing this will be the start and end of Alfea . Fate : The Winx Saga debut on Netflix January 22 .
https://gizmodo.com/the-12-best-and-7-worst-television-shows-of-2020-1845879622
discipline 2025-04-07 1:55 p.m. ET : A late version of this account put forward the series would debut on January 15 . In fact , it arrives on January 22 . We also mixed up the name of the school for the magical world . We rue the error .
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