When I first heard "The Powerpuff Girls" were getting a reboot, I was really excited for it. It was one of my favorite childhood shows and, in my opinion, one of the best female-centered shows. That is, until the reboot aired. I've watched every episode of the reboot so far, and I'm not really impressed with what I've seen. The show has some potential, but as of right now it needs work. Here are some of the problems I saw with the show:

1. Character Intros

In an interview for the LA Times, a writer for the show said that they were making the reboot for a younger audience that were not as familiar with the show. I was upset at this, but I knew it made more sense to reboot it rather then continue it if they are trying to reach a new audience. The problem is, they don’t introduce any of the characters in a way that a new person coming in would understand. The show reads more like a sequel, but its not supposed to be. In the episode "The Stayover," one of the original villains of the show Mojo Jojo appeared for a few seconds telling us how his attempt to trick the girls failed. As an older fan of the show, I know his history and understand why he was trying to sneak into the girls homes, but I don't think many of the younger audience would have gotten the joke, since many of them may have not seen the original show.

2. No Origin Story

I’ve said before in the previous point, but this is supposed to be a reboot. Which means you have to explain everything for the new generation of kids coming in to watch it. There were ways they could have gotten the origin out without having to use an episode on it. They could have used the opening theme like the original or created a short to explain it. However, there wasn’t even a hint of sugar, spice, everything nice or even Chemical X to show how they got their powers.

3. Miss Bellum

Miss Bellum was a character from the original "Powerpuff Girls," and one of the smartest characters in the show. Her role in the show was to be the mayor’s hyper-competent, but faceless, assistant doing most of the work for the mayor. For the reboot, it was decided to remove her because she didn’t fit the direction that the show was heading into. This saddens me because, as a fan of the original show, you can’t deny the role Miss Bellum played for the girls as a surrogate mother to them. "The Powerpuff Girls" don’t have a mother, so when they came across problems that the Professor couldn’t help with, Miss Bellum was one of the two characters (the other being their teacher) that the girls could go to, and I think the show made a mistake removing her character.

4. Very Little Professor

Unlike Miss Bellum, the Professor will be in the show. However, he'll have very little screen time, which isn’t a good thing. I know that the show is trying to have the "girls solving their own problems" (La Times) but as their dad and creator, the Professor should play an important role in their lives. If the show wants to focus on the girls and their lives as much as they say they want to there needs to be showing of their home life. The fact that they aren't normal girls is a big part of their characters and the professor is the cause of that and so far he's just a plot device to incite a problem.

5. Lack of Iconic Villains

Every hero has an iconic villain whom you enjoy seeing them going toe-to-toe. "The Powerpuff Girls" have quite a few of those characters. Many of which, like the character Sedusa, are a parody of different tropes in the superhero genre. Out of the fifteen episodes so far, we have only seen two of the iconic villains and with the staff confirming that not everyone will be in the reboot, and this is not a good thing.\

6. Pacing

It's not odd to see fifteen minute episode shows. The original even had some fifteen minute episodes, however this show needs to work on its pacing. At times, it can be beneficial to the show for the episode to be shorter, and there were a few episodes of the reboot that can be used as an example. The Princess Buttercup episode could have done better with better pacing or a longer episode time. The show wants to fit in a lot of messages along with the story's actual plot that makes it seemed rushed. I hope as the show goes on, it gets better with each coming episode.

7. Inconsistent Themes

When looking at the reboot, you can’t not compare it to the original- namely with how formulaic the cartoon was. There was a narrator that both opened and closed the show. In the reboot, there isn’t a narrator that opens the show, but he does speak during some episodes. While I would enjoy it if the show would return to the original formula, it doesn’t have to, and I'd rather it just not acknowledge it rather than be inconsistent. In the reboot there are times when they introduce characters or jokes and don't bother explain them, only for them to never appear again.

8. Overused Pop Culture References

I like references to pop culture as much as the next person, but I feel like there's a way to use them and when not to use them. I don’t mind the girls now having cellphones, but I do mind them twerking and Bubbles constantly throwing out memes. I’ve always been under the impression that a good story will bring in an audience, but to date a show with what is considered "cool" at the time will make a show outdated in a year when those memes are forgotten for new ones.

8. Heavy-handed Messages

Girl Power, loving your true self and being able to express it as you please are not bad things to tell children, but I think you should let the plot tell your message rather than stating it to the audience. There is an episode in which Bubbles meets a pony who wants to be a unicorn. It has a transgender subtext to which I was surprised by because of the usual networks feelings towards this topic. While I support the message, I wonder if it could have been told in a more subtle way then: the professor telling the pony that "its his body, so make sure this is what he wants" or Bubbles telling him that it's because he is a "unicorn in his heart." I feel like there could have been a better way to show it that would have impacted the story more. Many shows in the past have done similar issues such as Sailor Moon with its characters Uranus and Neptune, without it needing to be said that it is okay for them to be themselves. The fact that this show delivers its morals with such heavy-handed and almost oppressive force almost implies the opposite message.

10. Art Style

Many complaints towards the reboot regarding the art style is because it isn’t like the original. I don’t like that it's not the original, but that's not my complaint. My problem is that the show doesn’t have a defined art style. "The Powerpuff Girls" stick out but not in a good way. Some of the background characters look like they come from a completely different show. I feel that if they were going to change the art style, you should work to make characters that look like they fit in the new world they’ve created.

While I have mentioned some of the bad things in the show I do want to stress that I feel it could still be good. Cartoon Network has been reviving a lot of there iconic shows lately. In my opinion, this show needs to go the "Teen Titans Go!" route and chose to either make the older fans happy, or acknowledge that they can’t make everyone happy and just create something new.