#OKAY lemme be thorough because I'm afraid someone will point out:

[kelpermoosee]

hii its the anon who asked abt the samus thing, ngl id love to read a a post abt your opinion on the series since you hinted at that in the initial response

Hi again! Glad you're willing to hear my thoughts about it because, ohhhh boy, do I have a lot! I'm not the best at articulating my feelings, but I will definitely try!

Not entirely sure how to structure this, although I do want to make it clear that I am probably NOT the target audience for this show. So most points might seem a bit nit-picky if anything, but then again I am just rambling about my personal thoughts haha!

To start off, I obviously enjoy the show a lot. Like, way more than I ever expected. I get super excited every time new episodes come out, and I have re-watched the entire thing multiple times. I think the music and artstyle is nice, and the voice acting is surprisingly good for a web series like this. There's no denying that a lot of time and effort was poured into it, and you gotta give credit where credit is due.

Despite this, I do have a few personal gripes, mainly about how they utilize their characters. To make things easier to read, I'll put them into a numbered list:

1. The Constant Romance

Okay, most highschool AUs are going to have some sort of teen romance, it's practically inevitable. However, with Nintendo High I can't help but notice how its a constant thing in nearly every episode. Granted, a lot of teen dramas probably do the same thing and they're just playing off that, but I don't really watch that kinda stuff. I'm also aromantic (and again, NOT the target audience), so I am more critical of how romance is portrayed in media. Other people might not mind it at all, and that's completely fine! It’s all up to preference!

Yet after some time, I found the constant romance plots to be a bit tiring. There's a lot of ideas you could do with a highschool AU outside of romance, especially if your cast consists of Nintendo characters. Have the cast establish a new club! Face off in grade-wide competition (like a version of senior assassin)! Go on a field-trip! Pull an all-nighter for an assignment! There's a lot of fun highschool things they could twist into something unique, and I'd love to see it!

Maybe this is why I enjoy episodes like Identity Theft (S1 EP 4) and Rivals (S2 EP 1) so much. I think all NH episodes are creative in their own ways, but these plot lines certainly stood out the most.

2. How the Show Handles its Female Characters

In addition to the constant romance, I'm not the biggest fan of how the female characters are portrayed in the series. Generally, they only seem to be included/described when its regarding their relationship to a male character.

When most of them get screen-time, they're always talking about crushes, gushing about a hot guy, or fighting over some dude. Even if they're not talking, they're probably blushing at another male character. This part also falls under the constant romance thing, except I think it fits better here.

This is very apparent in minor characters like Rosalina (and maybe even Zelda and Samus?). She hardly gets any time to be her own character outside of her relationship with Waluigi. Even her series introduction was when Waluigi fell in-love with her at first sight. This may be due to time constraints, though it still bothers me to an extent.

I can say that the series is trying to get better at developing their female characters. Royal Pain (S2 EP4) clearly tries to do this by moving away from Mario and Luigi to instead focus on some of the girls. In fact, you could argue that Rosalina and Zelda get to show off their personalities more, but to be honest I have mixed feelings about this episode.

This is definitely crossing extreme nit-picky territory, because I think I'm just disappointed by how it was about babysitting of all things. Of course, I understand that this is a common trope in lots of shows. But when compared to Mario and Luigi-centric stories, the boys get to go on a fetch-quest around school, deal with an alter ego, find out about their (presumedly deceased) parents. While on the other hand, the one episode starring the girls as main characters is about...babysitting.

Sure, the babysitting plot line is a neat way to include Ness and Lucas (actually, I loved how much chaos they caused), and doesn't center itself on romance. However, I think it pales in comparison to the scope of other plot lines. It's not a boring episode by any means, I just feel weird about giving the girls attention outside of their relationship to the boys, to then immediately put them into a caregiving role. That's probably me overthinking it though, for sure.

I believe Peach and Daisy are handled way better in Mall Brawl (S2 EP8), specifically during the Mario & Luigi-inspired fight scene. Not only was it fun to watch, but it also shows how capable they can really be. Overall, it's a great step forward and I would love to see more moments like that!

3. Mario & Pauline's Characterizations

In a show like Nintendo High, it's obviously going to have its own interpretation of the characters. Nearly everyone is a teenager after all, you can't expect them to be exactly the same as their original counterparts. Yet, even with this in mind, I still dislike how Mario and Pauline are characterized in this series. They feel so far removed from the source material that they're practically OCs.

For Mario, they trade his cheerful, happy-go-lucky nature for something more sarcastic and nonchalant. These traits aren't a bad thing to have, but it doesn't feel like Mario anymore to me (even if the show tries to imply that this behavior/teenage angst stems from the loss of their parents). I don't need him going "Oh yeah!" or "Let's-a go!" in every sentence, I would just like to see a little more enthusiasm is all.

Maybe I'm over-exaggerating, since he's gotten slightly better across the course of the series. It's small, yet noticeable I suppose.

For Pauline, they twisted her to fit the "mean girl" archetype because they needed someone to be Peach's rival. This drastic change tosses away all of Pauline's core personality traits, so she's no longer kind-hearted and confident. Instead, she's egotistical and overly jealous, which doesn't really sit right with me. Especially after the elephant fruit joke at the end of The Date (S2 EP7), it really rubbed me the wrong way.

If NH needed to have a rival for Peach, I believe there are a handful of existing characters they could've used without changing Pauline. Maybe Princess Shroob would've been fun, even if she's more obscure in comparison.

With Season 3 currently in production, perhaps these points won't be as relevant anymore. Again, I obviously care a lot about the series and I wouldn't have so much to say about these aspects if I didn't. There's some room for growth, and these are simply my personal feelings. Although, if anyone wants to discuss more about these points, I'm willing to listen!

It's been a while since I've re-watched the entire series, too. So I'll probably get to that once the next episode comes out. <3