HereComesTom

I just saw the first two episodes of Pony Life, and...well, I thought Princess Probz wasn't very good, while Best of the Worst was actually pretty decent.

Princess Probz suffered from pacing problems and didn't feel like it had much of a conflict, and it almost entirely focused on Pinkie's zaniness, messyness, and clumsiness for slapstick comedy.  (But Pinkie wasn't clumsy or messy much in FiM, was she?)

Best of the Worst felt like it was better paced, with a decent opening that established RD's personality and motivations, and the episode had an actual plot and conflict to it.  It had some slapstick, but that wasn't bad, and didn't feel like it broke any characterizations from FiM.

I wasn't too keen on the overly-simplistic visuals that either episode showed; they made Ponyville look like it was made mostly of edibles with the occasional bite taken out of them.  With a lake of pink lemonade right next to Sugarcube Corner, no less.  (Was it even close to water in FiM?)

Also, because of the fast pacing, the characters don't get much characterization in Pony Life; it's like they're relying on FiM to tell us what their personalities are---and then they have changes to them, e.g. Pinkie being clumsy and messy, all of a sudden.  If it's not in continuity with FiM (and if you go by Ponyville's layout, then it's not), then the show should really be able to stand on its own without relying on another series to tell us what we need to know about the characters.

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On the whole, I don't know how optimistic I should be about the Pony Life series in general.  I get the feeling that it's going to be mixed overall, and probably there'll be plenty of bronies saying "It's mixed at best".  But I'm planning to keep watching and following the new series, at least for the time being.

Makes me wonder what's going on in the Season 10 comic books...