He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Season 1 (1983)
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He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Season 1 Review
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is a 1983 superhero fantasy animated series produced by Filmation. It’s one of the classic, best examples of quality 80s cartoon programming.
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“By the power of Grayskyll!“
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The first season has a very high number of episodes – 65. So obviously I am not going to discuss the show episode by episode, but rather in terms of the aspects. So let’s start with the overall story. I really like this world first and foremost. It is fueled by terrific attention to detail, amazing world building and excellent locations that it really becomes alive.
I will later talk about the animation, but let me now tell you that this show is enjoyable for everyone. Yes, it has that silly message part in each episode’s ending where some character instructs the children on something they learned during the season, but that segment is great and necessary for kids. Although talking down to them a bit, it’s still a charming product of its time.
But other than that, the show is very much a relevant for this time in particular superhero show with excellent action scenes which are so well imagined, executed and exciting. The fights are sparse, but are great every single time. The highlights are the chases, the escapes and the various gadgetry present.
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So He-Man and the Masters of the Universe features some of the best animation from eighties television as it’s just so great. The color palette is terrific as the show is quite smooth and colorful, the quality of animation is very high and surprisingly polished for its time and TV format plus the character design is top-notch and the backgrounds are beautiful to witness. It truly is a delight.
But the score is also amazing. I loved the score despite its repetitive nature. The show is well composed across the board, but naturally the highlight includes the titular theme which is always catchy, exciting and a lot of fun. I just love the words there and although it appears in every episode, it never gets old seeing Adam power up into He-Man. Though how others never figure out the two are one is ludicrous.
Speaking of Adam, I found him bland. Very muscular and sexualized interestingly enough, but overly good and boring. Cringer is very endearing and funny while Battle Cat is the badass form of his. Orko is a typical cartoon creation for kids, but he’s charming and fun enough. Teela is quite boring, but I found the Sorceress quite powerful. Man-At-Rams is very likable himself.
The villains steal the show here as they’re not only competent and smart, but also a lot of fun. Evil-Lyn is wonderfully theatrical and very amusing, Beast Man and Ram Man are both effective themselves and of course Skeletor is the highlight of the show. He’s so well designed and creepy in his looks, but particularly well voiced and honestly a lot of fun. The interactions between him and He-Man are always some of the highlights here.
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The voice acting is top-notch across the board as is the pacing and entertainment value of the show. Now the dialogue is overly childish at times as are some of the stories and naturally some episodes work less than others, but I was mostly thrilled with those episodes where Skeletor proposed some excellent plan and acted smartly. I loved the trips to interesting locations and those adventurous episodes are wonderful as well.
Overall, the first season of He-Man is a very strong one. It is at times childish and bland, but most of the episodes are very good with the highlights being the ones that focus on adventures, fights and the great fantastical elements. The villains are terrific and the animation and score are the technical standpoints.
Worst Episodes: Game Plan, Dree Elle’s Return and Return of the Gryphon.
Best Episodes: Teela’s Quest, She-Demon of Phantos, The Dragon’s Gift, Eternal Darkness and The Remedy.
