ponyvangelist

I'm glad The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone did well, but I'm not sure we can consider it a trend. Because Griffons.

Hugs All Around I also absolutely love Tree Hugger, her character design, the way she is voiced by Nicole Oliver (Princess Celestia!) and how she makes a such a perfect friend for Fluttershy while adding a delightfully playful poke at new-age naturalism. That said, I can also understand how some fans may not warm to her, because she is pretty over the top in just about every way, and somewhat incongruous from other characters we've seen so far in the series. But I think that will eventually change. People just need like a few minutes to clear out their chakras before they can hug her from a place of authenticity.

Well gosh, maybe I've been under-reacting.

Tomodachi Wa Mahou At first blush, this would seem to be redundant with the original Friendship is Magic series. However, if it did feature ponies that were "Japanified" with classic anime style and tropes, I think it would be awesome. Akira Himekawa blends the original Western style with a Japanese interpretation for the official MLP Manga, and what results is both cool and adorable. Anime ponies? Hell yeah!

My Little Desu~ If Friendship is Magic were truly a legit anime, it would be almost exactly like Equestria Girls, except with a lot less Bratz and a lot more moe moe. Fig. 1: Choose your waifu.

Fanning The Fans If there's one thing this show has taught me over the years, it's that you should never judge an episode of Friendship is Magic by its premise. Some of what are now my most favorite episodes are the same episodes I rolled my eyes at when I read the synopsis before watching them. Episode 100 may be an intolerable orgy of shameless pandering to background pony fans, or it may be a great episode on its own merits that happens to pander to background pony fans as well. We'll know soon enough. But one thing we can count on for sure, no matter what: There Will Be Drama.™ :grin2:

Ratings Are Like, So Superficial, You Know? The air date delay could have cost some momentum, and the title is a bit clumsy, so those may be factors. And while Discord has a lot of fans on the Internet, non-fans may not have tuned in on Discovery Family simply because it was a Discord episode. Or maybe not as many viewers liked the episode, simple as that. On the bright side, I thought it was a great episode, and Tree Hugger (voiced perfectly by Nicole Oliver) is like, totally Best Pony as far as my chakras are concerned, so I'm hoping we'll see her return in future episodes as Fluttershy's groovy organic, recyclable friend. Blessings.

People are just jealous because Flash Sentry has Phoenix Wright hair, drives a cooler car than they do, and Twilight Sparkle is his waifu. And yes, Vincent Tong is awesome.

First Principles This is a very cool theory, makes sense, may very well be what Meghan had in mind when she wrote those bits into the story, and I think just became head canon for me. But as in all matters of this kind, the objective, scientific truth may ultimately just boil down to... Because Pinkie Pie™

Putting On Pony Years In Alternate Poniverse Canterlot High School World, everypony is in high school, even Granny Smith (though admittedly on the staff, rather than in the student body). Meghan McCarthy wanted as many familiar characters as possible from the TV series to be in the movies, so the Cutie Mark Crusaders had to get some screen time. Since it is an alternate reality with different rules from Equestria, the Pony Mane Six are presumably already past high school or its equivalent in Equestria, and humans and ponies age at different rates (at least in this world), it's not too much of a stretch to accept the CMC being freshmen at Canterlot High. If we consider that here on Earth, ponies reach adulthood at about four years of age, and are already full-sized (though immature) at two years of age, putting the CMC within a few years of the Mane Six in the human world is actually surprisingly consistent. Or not. You decide.

Brwnd I don't like to self-label, so I don't call myself a "brony". However, I have very high regard for the "brony community" and believe the adult MLP fandom as a whole signifies something extraordinary and important. I'm happy to be a part of that fandom, and am happy to have discovered such a wonderful show in the most unexpected of places. And most of all, I'm happy to have learned valuable lessons about friendship and magic.

"Awful As I Wanna Be" Let's face it: when the plot calls for a pushy, arrogant band leader, there's simply no one else suited for the part. Fig. 1: She's awesome. Take caution. The silver lining to human Rainbow Dash's flanderization in Rainbow Rocks is that it does make her look a little better when we finally see her playing alongside the fully redeemed Sunset Shimmer in the ending credit roll. Fig. 2: Bad girls gone good. Ultimately, as far as I'm concerned, her character is strong enough that even at her worst, Rainbow Dash is still as awesome as she wants to be.

Let's Do Science I like "Scilight". It's a nice, convenient way to reference "Scientist Twilight" and watch out! I'ma steal it. Meanwhile, I'm glad to hear Ishi is working on EG3, because I think he really brought a lot of energy to EG2. Although he's new at directing, Jayson and Jim undoubtedly chose him as their "padawan" for good reasons and wouldn't have picked someone they weren't impressed with. For anyone wanting to know more about Ishi, here's an interview he did with Sweetie Bot last year on Equestria Daily: Rainbow Rocks Q&A With Co-Director Ishi Rudell I know I'm impressed! tl;dr version: Squee!

The Human Touch When I found out the first My Little Pony movie since Lauren Faust's creative revolution was going to feature our beloved mane cast as human teenagers in a high school, I was absolutely mortified. It seemed to betray everything Lauren brought to the franchise, like a huge, soulless corporate step backward. Frankly, I still hate the premise. For a long time, I didn't want to have anything to do with Equestria Girls because of that, and I don't think I was wrong to feel that way. Nonetheless, I utterly respect the incredible talent at Hasbro Studios and DHX, and know these people aren't prone to kicking out poor work, so I did eventually buy a copy of the Equestria Girls Blu-Ray and sat down to watch it with as open a mind as I could. I was blown away. In hindsight, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised about that, but I did have my doubts, and given how intolerably trite, overdone and stale the use of the high school setting is in animation, still feel fully justified in being skeptical. Indeed, there are some elements of the crossover that continue to grate on me a bit, but the way the cast and crew bring such vibrancy and life to the characters of Canterlot High enriches both the human and pony worlds. I'm very happy the Equestria Girls initiative has been so successful for Hasbro and, despite my misgivings, consider myself hooked. When I found out about Rainbow Rocks months ago, I pre-ordered the Blu-Ray within minutes and am very happy to have it in my collection. Having said that, I still think there's something unique and special about our little ponies as ponies, believe the magical land of Equestria is a grand enough vision to offer many, many years of top-notch entertainment on its own merits, and am really looking forward to future seasons, the feature-length movie and hopefully plenty of other new pony-related projects. tl;dr version: If the Equestria Girls spin-off had never happened, I wouldn't have missed it, but now that it's here, I'm very impressed and I'm glad it's here.

First Principles I could foresee the third Equestria Girls movie actually focusing on human Twilight being transformed from an isolated nerd to a leader in her community as she discovers the magic of friendship, just like pony Twilight. I like the symmetry of that.

Pippington Promise Oh, I do. I do! Ever since he lost his eye, he's been craving nothing but candy! Sorry, admittedly somewhat off-topic, but for some unknown yet undoubtedly disturbing reason, when the question is "Remember Pipsqueak?" my first thought is of that scene.

On A High Note And to think, I've been following her all along! Great singer and great choice for Octavia. Go Kazumi!

My reaction is that with no theaters nearby, I want this movie on Blu-Ray NAOW! October 28 is just too far away. :okiedokielokie:

I cringe at the thought of a Pony episode about death, but then I used to cringe at the idea of a Pony episode about bullying. Instead of a groan-inspiring After School Special, they did a surprisingly good job on One Bad Apple. So while I have my doubts, and Hasbro apparently has theirs, I've come to respect that if anyone could pull off something like this, the Pony team can.

Mind Officially Blown As with the Season Three Finale, I put off watching because I was worried about how it would affect the feel of the show, and only now just finished watching Twilight's Kingdom. To be sure, I was right to expect big things in both cases, and have yet to be disappointed. Fig. 1: She seems a little taller now... And as with Magical Mystery Cure, I found myself stunned by what the amazing people at Hasbro and DHX are capable of pulling off. Once again, after the final credit roll, I caught myself staring at the screen in disbelief. Fig. 2: Needs just a little more rainbow... I'm still chewing on all the many new things Twilight's Kingdom has brought to the world of our little ponies, so I guess I'll tend to be a lot more succinct than usual. I can say I'm very happy I'm going to have to watch these episodes several more times before I'll feel confident enough to comment on them in depth. Oh the horror. On the bright side, I'm quite confident that any fears I may have had that the show might go downhill in Season Four have been permanently laid to rest, along with my concerns about how "Rainbow Power" might ruin everything. The cynic in me says that's one hell of a way to kick off a new toy line, while the fanboy in me says that's one hell of a way to kick off a new toy line. A nice double play on their part. I give the finale episodes a "10" for pure awesomeness and eagerly look forward to what the wizards at Hasbro and DHX are brewing up for us next. Positively Epic.

Du Hast Mich, Peruvian Style It's a photoshopped version of a still from a video recorded at an Equestria Girls promotional event at a store in Lima, Peru. Since then, it's taken on a life -- or "afterlife", if you will -- of its own. No word on what sort of therapy young attendees subsequently required, but if Equestria Girls toy sales are any guide, the psychological trauma was probably mild and transient in nature.