Samurai Equine

Hey there, my crowd! How's the ponies? 

Actually, I have to specify which ones I'm talking about now, because it looks like we're on the dawn of a new era of ponies.
I've been avoiding speaking about anything because designs and other leaks have popped in and out of discovery. To me, leaked images mean nothing. I'm waiting on something more concrete.

Well, we finally got something. Not just 2D images, but 3D CGI images, and an unfinished piece of CGI animation. So I guess it's time to give my thoughts...

I want to wait til we have a real trailer. With sound and everything.
Right now, I'm not super hyped about the designed. It looks like a mix between G1 and G4 style. These characters are expressive, but not the way I'm use to. G4 really had its own unique art style. These new ponies feel like they could stand side-by-side with the characters from Frozen, or any of Disney's other CGI cartoon characters. It's hard to make CGI as expressive and as charming are 2D animation. I felt they struck a good balance with the "Hello Pinkie Pie" shorts. It's better than those fanmade SFM animations, at least. You can talk about the voice acting all you want, but I really felt like the CGI in those shorts really did close the distance between stiff CGI and the cartoon's expressive style. However, this new CGI feels more like a step back.

Not that it matters much, I guess. Based on the 2D images I've seen, they were always going to abandon the G4 style in favor of this. The ears are a little more pinched at the base of the head. The eyes are smaller and narrower. I saw a fan draw them in G4 style and it looked way better than the official art that was leaked.
But none of that matters because I want to fall in love with the story. I want to fall in love with the characters and what they are going through. All of that is either going to make or break the next generation. It's not about what's new, it's about if Hasbro can still bring us good stories and great characters. It would be such a waste if Hasbro decided to regress the brand or learn nothing after how successful G4 was. 

That's all for now. Hope everyone is either enjoying the new ponies or keeping an open mind. We never know what else is around the corner!

Take care, my crowd.