Thursday 7 June 2012

DVD review #3 Winx Season One Disc 2

Cover of French version season 1

Note: I watch the French version, but I'm pretty sure that all the versions are similar. 

This evening (14th May 2012)  as I was feeling sleepy and therefore not up to heavily concentrating on Shugo Chara which is still relatively new to me I opted for Winx. I smiled when I realised it was the episode where Professeur Paladium tests the girls in the magical simulator.
Winx standing in the simulator
Think of it as a big holo deck like the ones in Star Trek. It's very awesome, not only creating environments to test the students, but as a magical gateway to sending the Winx to Domino in later episodes.


Bloom takes the lead in this episode, with o one volunteering to take the test first she's chosen by Professor Paladium. Kiko, her adorable bunny, loves her dearly and doesn't want to miss out on the fun so he stows away in Bloom's bag.
Bloom oblivious to the stowaway on board. 
 
Little did he know he'd end up duplicated like a hologram at the end of the test as the simulator broke after the Trix's mischief.
Thanks to a computer glitch there are lots of Kikos!
Bloom is distressed when they appear and force Kiko to fall into lava, so mad that she becomes consumed by powerful flames.
 You don't want to any Bloom!
At this point she has no idea just how powerful a fairy she is or who her family are, whereas the Trix recognise her power & want it for themselves, hence their interference to see if she is truly powerful.

Being a fairy involves lots of acrobatics as Bloom dodges the Trix's attacks. It involves keen powers of perception, such as when the Winx realise there is a soporific atmosphere in the second episode I watched. Tecna uses her technolgic knowledge to identify the problem and create a bubble which purifies the air. Only by working together once they've woken up do the Winx dispel the soporific odour & neutralise the enemy who is making the tortoise whose shell is the base for the trees grumpy.

Tecna saving Bloom from the sleep inducing mist 
I love how peaceful the girls look when they are asleep. They are just like us in the way they wish to be left alone to sleep some more. Musa has a rough time for earlier she gets "eaten" by the tortoise. Im not quite sure how she avoided drowning while captured, prior to being rescued, as she didnt have a bubble of air so she could breathe, which the others created. Bloom makes the tortoise sneeze which is a genius way to get it to open its mouth.

The girls get to use their own specialised abilities in some episodes with Flora's bond to nature help provide fast growing cover for the water nymphs to build their homes underwater and receives a gift in return.
In other episodes the girls' personalities - both positive and negative aspects play a role. Stella is overly curious and doesn't know when to hold her tongue - although usually the girls forgive her and laugh about it after she's insulted them. It's so funny when Tecna loses her infamous cool self - who can blame her foe getting mad at Flora's invented plant trapping her in the wardrobe for hours. Musa doesn't pry like Stella so didn't concern herself with the odd noise coming from Tecna's temporary prison. Flora hates arguments and is prone to getting upset.
A sad Flora - this was the best picture I could find (probably not to do with the episode I'm talking about) 
 
She pleads forgiveness for her enthusiastic plant experiments which the girls concede to at the end after her nature magic helps save the day.

There is just so much packed into each 25 minute episode that the themes covered are as complex and intense than non cqrtoon dramas. Go try an episode, filled with ups & downs of friendship and life challenges.

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