lunarsrealm

So i’m a sofia the first superfan I loved the show, rewatched it so many times and the songs and the lore and connection between the characters was so intense and memorable. Leading up to the new royal magic it was clear the animation and the look of it would be new and more child-based and i liked the way they led up to it posting shorts and teasers and the trailer did very well. But watching the first 8 episodes I’m very disappointed. I get that sofia’s new passion is magic and this makes sense watching the old show, she was clearly better at magic than others but I don't like how the whole show is just about magic. Like in the royal family what's the use for baileywick or servants any more if everything can just be done with magic? Now Sofia can do all spells she may as well be running the castle and for cedric, he said hes still the royal sorcerer of enchancia but i struggle to believe he can take orders from the king and be a teacher at charmswell. I wish they’d keep the learning magic for just at school as we get enough school episodes anyway.

The biggest disappointment though is the songs. The songs from the old show were hands down the best part of the show, the youtube clips got millions of views and I still listen to them, they are emotional, the villain songs and duets are literally Broadway level. However, all the songs from the new show sound the same, they all have this cheap sounding techno beats behind them so they sound like club music i guess to keep kids hooked but they have no emotion or harmonies in them. They are not memorable and wouldn't really search them up after watching the episode. They all seem to be about some minor struggle like perfecting a spell whereas songs in the old show were about saving the kingdom, choosing whether to be evil or nice, much more significant problems. The lessons seem to all be the same there's overcoming jealously in 3 of them, sofia being intimidated by Prince devin, layla being afraid her butterfly wings aren't good enough and amber being jealous of sofia’s magic. Jealously was tackled in one episode of sofia the first in four’s a crowd we don't need so much repetition of the same thing.

Also why are the characters either super insecure or super boastful, is there anyone but sofia who’s actually normal? In the old show Vivian was shy and scared but she never threw like a tantrum or needed to take deep breaths before doing a lesson, it kinda gives the impression that the show is for crazy toddlers. It’s odd as well how boastful Cedric is. In the finale he was so surprised and grateful to be called cedric the great and now hes almost mad if you don’t call him that and telling the kids to do the spell exactly like he is. Isn’t he acting like his father? He took so much effort and sofia’s help to grow out of the fear of a controlling parent. I get its been many years since his redemption but he can’t forget like a few episodes ago on our side he couldn’t even do a simple spell in front of the king and was plotting to freeze sofia’s family. I think he does deserve respect for his new greatness but I don’t like how entitled he is because we all know how he started. I like though how his personality is for the most the same he’s still his grumpy, clumsy self and makes quirky noises but he normally had those grumpy, sassy moments when he was planning on doing something evil and when he was kind to sofia he was genuinely sweet and bonded over her, teaching her magic nicely. I wish this was a little more balanced rather than grumpy being his baseline mood. I like how cedric’s in more episodes since he works at the school it seems but it is kinda weird to see him working alone with the other kids when we’re used to seeing him with sofia and its so weird seeing the other kids almost worship him. The kids from Hexley Hall when he taught at royal prep for a day had heard of him and how incapable of magic he was so why do they think he’s the most amazing sorcerer? I like that Cedric now mutually hugs Sofia and they hold hands etc I really like how close they are now given how much history they have but it’s also a little too much/ casual. Before they held hands when he saved her from being struck by lightning by Prisma and now they do that because he gave her a new wand?

I do like the new princes and princesses but I don’t particular like the way they say camila’s name like its almost like the voice actors have to ditch their normal voices to say her name. Also amber and james sound very different, miranda and roland sound the same so I think it’s odd for old fans watching to have this mismatch. I’m sure they could have found more accurate voice matches for the old ones because amber sounds like 16 and way too posh. I don’t mind that the show focuses on sofia rather than her siblings but I would like some more castle episodes, especially with cedric in his worship rather than the classroom and some more with the king and the servants. Also I hope clover, robin and mia return.

And another weird thing is when a character is leaving a scene why do they run off so fast like baileywick and clover just dashed off in the royal picnic, like isnt baileywick 60 please make it realistic. It feels like the old show was normal life and followed a story. These new episodes feel like they are just snippets of their life they  have one tiny little problem as the focus of the episode and if a tiny tangent character was there they get booted off to return to the main lesson. Like one episode of sofia the first covered more lessons and a story than the whole 8 episodes combined. They kinda are teaching kids that school and these lessons are the biggest part of your life which it’s really not and wasnt sofia being a protector and story keeper and now she just goes to school? It sounds like a massive downgrade and she honestly feels younger than what she was before. This feels like this was the school before royal prep as that school seems way more fancy and technical they were doing fencing and royal derby and now they are doing show and tell and making potions. Not to mention the other kids seem like they already know so much magic. It feels unequal from the beginning like layla is the only one who can fly so whats the point of the other kids trying to learn that.

It really seems like a kids only show which just doesn’t make sense for them to try and bring back the old top cast. Craig Gerber said in an interview they weren't planning on bringing the show back but only because of the massive lore and nostaglia being posted on tiktok etc they realised the show could still be alive. But instead of making the show for those teens who grew up with the show and are the one still obsessed with it because they’re old enough to understand the lore, they bring it back as a simple cocomelon version. If you said you were only bringing it back because of the older fans why not keep the same winning formula and expand it? The toddlers watching weren’t even alive to see the old show so whatever they watch will be new to them, you may as well have secured a massive teen fanbase as well. I don’t know why they took a show with so much depth and potential and made this, another series of bluey would have been great for the younger kids.