Hello eveyone, I'm Akaraah!
I am a member of 3DS forums who recently developed a love for My little Pony: Friendship is Magic upon watching it my very first time a few weeks ago. How it started off...all these pony images popping up on those forums and across the web since late 2010. Somewhere along the line I heard the name of the show though I don't quite remember when or where. Initially I chose to avoid it until around mid-September! Before I actually chose to see it, I was reluctant. Was the show these "ponies" were from so bad (like the Street Fighter American cartoon) that people made fun of it by posting images from it, or was the show so good that it became their top fandom? As you can assume, I got curious and decided "Hey, why not look up some reviews on this cartoon that is popping up all over the web?" And so I did on youtube and the search results that came up boasted a 15 minute review from a youtube account called TheOtakuAscended, or something similar to that (I might post a link to it at some point). I watched the review and based on the (two) reviewer's impressions, despite it taking on the IP My little pony, which is automatically branded girly and bleak by design, it was actually, ACTUALLY a genuinely great cartoon! To confirm the notion I watched the first episode with my twin brother along side me (who was also skeptic at the time) and had a great deal of fun doing so. The characters, unlike many other generic cartoons out there have actual personalities and despite the world being fantasy it almost seems believable (disregarding the inclusion of magic, slapstick, and a dominantly female population). My brother grew to love it too, and now this cartoon is my favorite cartoon to date! As the reviewer said, "it's a kid's cartoon...that takes kids seriously!" interpret from that quote what you will, but am 19 so I am not a kid. Lauren Faust and the others knew how to make a 'ponytoon' great, and did so, although they could have easily did a half baked job as many cartoons of a similar nature feel like.
So on and so, I do not have an exact favorite, but me and my brother both really enjoy Rarity's personality. Some don't see her as the element of generosity for some reason, but I think that is very silly. The characters aren't bland archetypes or cardboard cutouts; they have extremes and faintness. Flaws and positives! Rarity here is generose but has standards and wants things for herself, so she is like me in that way, wanting to do nice things when I can but also wanting things for myself.
Anyway, I don't want to introduction too long, but I'l happily engage in these forums when I'm not as busy (I take online college courses and have some assignments to complete) whenever I can. I haven't loved a cartoon this much in a long time, and that's coming from a guy who usually paid more attention to action/adventure tales.
Akaraah (first post)