I'm was a kid from the 80's and one of the best things about the decade was the music, there were just so many memorable tunes for me in this decade that I can still play again to this day, just like this show. This is another childhood relic of mine, I'll confess I'm a guy and I'm a Jem fan, I'm not ashamed to admit that, I thought it was kinda cool. Seeing it now, it's actually kinda silly which makes it a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine but there's nothing wrong with that.
The story isn't anything really special, it's the kind of format you'd see in any sports or music film where it's some up and coming underdog team that is struggling to survive and get to the top. And there is tons of melodrama which makes the cartoon sort of an animated soap opera, from certain absurd twists and snafus, or even love dynamics that get twisty and turnny. Strangely this melodrama I actually found enjoyable because of it's absurdity.
And the characters are actually pretty good, there not entirely three dimensional but it's an 80's cartoon what do you expect. However I do like that there is a certain amount of depth given to them to at times make us actually care about what their going though and what it's going to lead to. Jerica/Jem is solid, she's the typical struggling sweet heroine, selfless, independent, persona wise she's a bit bland but in a good way. Her niche is her hologram ability where some supercomputer gives her the power to change her hairstyle and look so she wouldn't be recognized. Why the hell Rio can't put two and two together that both Jerica and Jem are the same person is anyone's guess, if I were in his position I would be able to tell it's Jenica from her voice, face and eyes. There is a slight romance dynamic with both Rio and Jerica/Jem is decent. And I thought it was interesting for it's time, where for once animated girl and boy would genuinely interact and even kiss, while most animated shows at the time the girl and boy would never kiss which I always found weird.
Though my favorite character of the Holograms is Kimber. She's a fun character, she was feisty, energetic, a little fire, despite naive her heart was always in the right place and held a certain amount of loyalty to her sister Jem.
The Misfits are fun rivals, personally I found them to be the most interesting and fun. My favorite one was always Stormer, whom to me is interesting and I'll admit as a kid had a bit of a crush on her (I said I was a kid). Because she never really seemed like a bad guy she actually was kinda sweet, just a person that I felt was playing for the wrong team or influenced by the wrong people. But also there was this mystery to her, in episodes she kinda can surprise you because she does something that is contrary to the Misfits sometimes.
However it's really not the story that drive the show so much it's really more by it's nature style over toping substance, and this show has lots of style. It really is a product of it's time as it really tackles the 80's customs of music, fashion, and "MTV" when it was still actually good.
I really like the animation, it's the same kinda from some of the other Hasbro properties like "Transformers" and "G.I. Joe" but I'm fine with that I wouldn't want it any other way, I still think it's very good to this day. I mainly like the character designs, for both the Holygrams and the Misfits that are don't know a light way to put it, well sculpted. As well as the wardrobe they wear which is bright and reflects the 80's decade.
And the highlight no doubt is the music, most of the songs I think are memorable, and I remember as a kid I danced to some of them which is cool which is a rare thing in animation. Even like the music video sequences that I think are colorful and fit well with the songs, seeing them really makes me miss the creative aspect of music videos which seem to be few far between now. My absolute favorite is "Starlight" I just thought was beautiful despite kinda sad. And lets not forget the original theme song which is one of my personal favorite theme songs, it's just a lot of fun and full of energy which perfectly reflects the show.
It's true it's not perfect, there are a lot of inconsistencies that are easy to spot as much as a movie on "MST 3000", though in a strange way as I said that I feel ads to it's charm so I can't complain too much. The character Rio sometimes doesn't always make sense for me, at times he's a good guy to bet on but then sometimes he acts like a jerk for no good reason which just comes out of left field. I don't think this is the fault of the character but in the writing. Season 3 I thought was a weak point, I wouldn't say it was terrible but it wasn't great, it was too much about "The Stingers" I really didn't care about them.
And the show had no real conclusion, which is a shame would've loved to of seen what would of happened as the characters get older the lives of all start to change, each started to go their own way and decide to end their carriers on a high note which is what Season 3 should've been but oh well.
Overall Jem is a fun show, that has lots of synergy to make it truly outrageous.
Rating: 3 and a half stars
The story isn't anything really special, it's the kind of format you'd see in any sports or music film where it's some up and coming underdog team that is struggling to survive and get to the top. And there is tons of melodrama which makes the cartoon sort of an animated soap opera, from certain absurd twists and snafus, or even love dynamics that get twisty and turnny. Strangely this melodrama I actually found enjoyable because of it's absurdity.
And the characters are actually pretty good, there not entirely three dimensional but it's an 80's cartoon what do you expect. However I do like that there is a certain amount of depth given to them to at times make us actually care about what their going though and what it's going to lead to. Jerica/Jem is solid, she's the typical struggling sweet heroine, selfless, independent, persona wise she's a bit bland but in a good way. Her niche is her hologram ability where some supercomputer gives her the power to change her hairstyle and look so she wouldn't be recognized. Why the hell Rio can't put two and two together that both Jerica and Jem are the same person is anyone's guess, if I were in his position I would be able to tell it's Jenica from her voice, face and eyes. There is a slight romance dynamic with both Rio and Jerica/Jem is decent. And I thought it was interesting for it's time, where for once animated girl and boy would genuinely interact and even kiss, while most animated shows at the time the girl and boy would never kiss which I always found weird.
Though my favorite character of the Holograms is Kimber. She's a fun character, she was feisty, energetic, a little fire, despite naive her heart was always in the right place and held a certain amount of loyalty to her sister Jem.
The Misfits are fun rivals, personally I found them to be the most interesting and fun. My favorite one was always Stormer, whom to me is interesting and I'll admit as a kid had a bit of a crush on her (I said I was a kid). Because she never really seemed like a bad guy she actually was kinda sweet, just a person that I felt was playing for the wrong team or influenced by the wrong people. But also there was this mystery to her, in episodes she kinda can surprise you because she does something that is contrary to the Misfits sometimes.
However it's really not the story that drive the show so much it's really more by it's nature style over toping substance, and this show has lots of style. It really is a product of it's time as it really tackles the 80's customs of music, fashion, and "MTV" when it was still actually good.
I really like the animation, it's the same kinda from some of the other Hasbro properties like "Transformers" and "G.I. Joe" but I'm fine with that I wouldn't want it any other way, I still think it's very good to this day. I mainly like the character designs, for both the Holygrams and the Misfits that are don't know a light way to put it, well sculpted. As well as the wardrobe they wear which is bright and reflects the 80's decade.
And the highlight no doubt is the music, most of the songs I think are memorable, and I remember as a kid I danced to some of them which is cool which is a rare thing in animation. Even like the music video sequences that I think are colorful and fit well with the songs, seeing them really makes me miss the creative aspect of music videos which seem to be few far between now. My absolute favorite is "Starlight" I just thought was beautiful despite kinda sad. And lets not forget the original theme song which is one of my personal favorite theme songs, it's just a lot of fun and full of energy which perfectly reflects the show.
It's true it's not perfect, there are a lot of inconsistencies that are easy to spot as much as a movie on "MST 3000", though in a strange way as I said that I feel ads to it's charm so I can't complain too much. The character Rio sometimes doesn't always make sense for me, at times he's a good guy to bet on but then sometimes he acts like a jerk for no good reason which just comes out of left field. I don't think this is the fault of the character but in the writing. Season 3 I thought was a weak point, I wouldn't say it was terrible but it wasn't great, it was too much about "The Stingers" I really didn't care about them.
And the show had no real conclusion, which is a shame would've loved to of seen what would of happened as the characters get older the lives of all start to change, each started to go their own way and decide to end their carriers on a high note which is what Season 3 should've been but oh well.
Overall Jem is a fun show, that has lots of synergy to make it truly outrageous.
Rating: 3 and a half stars