Misty Shadow

Out of respect for this thread's purpose, I'll pretend that I don't like G5. No, I do not want FiM to be brought back because I felt it hit its peak during the middle of its run and would only continue to slowly decline in quality. I'm tired of shows we used to love getting worse and worse and shows we used to love that have ended being rebooted in place of new shows being made. That's just my opinion too. That doesn't even factor how from a business perspective, going a generation back would be a stupid idea.

Honestly, I can't really say that I do. G4 had a good run. Nine seasons is fine, in fact, far better than fine for kids show standards. The Mane 6 got to tell their story and we have still seen them in bits of G5. It's time to move on.

The new episode came out right on schedule, it's this episode thread that has now been made. The OP was just busy. Bridlewoodstock (MYM) takes place after Missing the Mark, it was the original Chapter 5.

This was a good, well-needed step up from the last episode that fell short with its weak recap plot. Very standard episode that did admittedly make me roll my eyes at the part when Rufus didn't recognize Pipp, reusing that silly gag from Pippsqueaks Forever where Pipp's fans can't recognize Pipp for a silly reason, but it's everything that I expect from a TYT episode done adequately. I really laughed at the part with Zipp and the filters and how the group was able to find their footing without needing Pipp to save the day. Only other complaint is the lazy title, easy distinction from the MYM special would've been nice. At least our other confirmed TYT episode about Bridlewoodstock will have a unique title.

I normally like 2D better, but I really think that 3D suits G5 more. The cheap look of TYT is something I got used to, but I'm a lot more invested in the look of MYM with how it stays faithful to the movie's look despite the understandable downgrade.

Oh yes, plans can change. I posted about this on another site. I'm serious...it's looking more and more likely that what actually happened here is that they truly were not anticipating that growth the MLP property saw in late 2021 and 2022. We all assumed that TYT being set back to only being bi-weekly was so it wouldn't get too far ahead of MYM and spoil plot points...but check out this original schedule from G5's most accurate leaker. The delay only affected Chapter 4's release by two months and the new Chapters 5 and 6 releases by ten days. Would they really make TYT bi-weekly for an entire year just for that? Or could it be that they actually originally wanted it to end alongside MYM because the G5 franchise's life expectancy was initially estimated to be a lot lower? What if the real reason TYT appears to be getting "the favorite child treatment" is actually just because it was the much easier show to renew at the last minute?

While I do not believe they're lying about the stats, the greater thing of note here is what I've already mentioned, these stats do not indicate a failure on MYM's part at all. A difference of fourteen dollars in "basket size" and apparently 22% more people buying MLP products again because of TYT does not indicate that TYT is immensely more profitable or popular than MYM. MYM had been dormant for a while when that analysis was conducted too. TYT's unprecedented popularity is likely a result of unexpected demand for G5 content, not just because of the aforementioned downward trend of G4, but also because of the worst inflation we've seen in decades, something Hasbro has acknowledged. The amount of jumps to conclusions over these minor statistics that could easily become outdated I've seen lately is getting ridiculous, I even saw a guy today who used to doubt that MYM would be ending this year abruptly turning around and saying that "all things related to G5 are now going to use TYT's art style". Like, where did this come from? This is demonstrably false. G5 toys are still using 3D promotional art, the mainline G5 comics are still using the art IDW MLP comics have always used, and the upcoming video game is likely going to be in 3D like the other G5 games, A Maretime Bay Adventure and Mane Merge.

Although this video is well-made, there is something that needs to be brought up. The commonality I've been reading in comments questioning whether or not this news actually does mean the end for Make Your Mark is that there's no confirmation of it being canceled and that CG shows take time to produce. Those things are true, yet there's more stuff that needs to be pointed out. Shameless self-promotion, I talk about this in my MYM Chapter 4 review too. https://www.deviantart.com/cloudmistdragon/art/MLP-G5-Make-Your-Mark-Chapter-4-Review-968464575 To apologize for that shameless plug, I'll start with stuff I didn't talk about in the review. First of all, Hasbro's determination of Tell Your Tale being more profitable was done by a "basket size comparison" of TYT bringing in fourteen more dollars than MYM and a "higher repeat purchase rate" of 22%, something that does not indicate that MYM is failing in comparison to TYT at all. Second, although it's been viewed more than MYM for understandable reasons, MYM's views on Youtube are fine, with an MYM video outdoing a TYT video in viewership on the official MLP channel actually being a common sight. Moving on to stuff I did bring up in the review, data from the presentation that determined TYT's slightly better profitability was gathered from an analysis in March 2023. This is a time when MYM was in what is currently its longest period without updates yet. However, even if MYM is intended to end this year, that actually would not be unusual for a plot-centric kids CG toy promotion show. MYM was conceived long before the G5 movie's release, a time when Hasbro had no clue how successful the G5 franchise would be and had a reason to not estimate that long of a lifespan for it given G4's downward trend in toy sales. There is a good chance that this twenty-seven-episode order was intended to tell a story with a definite conclusion, it was the same way with another plot-centric kids CG toy promotion show, Lego Ninjago, which originally had twenty-six episodes meant to tell all of its story. That show was revived rather than renewed after it initially ended because of the Lego Ninjago franchise's outperformance and it didn't get any new content the year following its original finale. Yet it kept going until 2022 and even has a sequel series airing now. If the G5 franchise continues to trend upward in the growth it saw in late 2021 and all of 2022, MYM could see a continuation even if it's planned to end.

Did a review of this chapter in much greater detail after watching every episode again. https://www.deviantart.com/cloudmistdragon/art/MLP-G5-Make-Your-Mark-Chapter-4-Review-968464575 Yeah, this is the fastest I've ever done a review this lengthy because this chapter was just that freaking great.

I don't think "end" is the proper term myself. When I last talked to that leaker who got the Chapter 4 release date right, he said that more episodes could be ordered. The show's still going to be broadcast on more places than just Netflix in 2024, so if they're not continuing it at the moment, I think the proper term for the show's status is "on hiatus".

Brutal honesty, this is probably one of my least favorite episodes. I despise writing that sentence, but it's how I honestly feel, it made me feel like I was watching a recap clip show episode of an anime. Hardly anything happens in the story with the plot just being a retelling of MYM Chapter 4's finale. Also, it's not that funny, the only thing that really got a laugh out of me was the part with Izzy's donuts. Shame we got something underwhelming like this after debatably one of the best TYT episodes of all time.

I second that, I think that it's more likely this special will actually center around character development for Sunny Starscout. It's coming out around the holidays, and part of the lore around the holiday, Winter Wishday, was the wishing star. Secrets of Starlight could also actually be referring to secrets about Twilight Sparkle, considering her connection with stars and potential connection to Sunny.

Yeah, it's extremely unfortunate that they've apparently not ordered new episodes. https://www.equestriadaily.com/2023/06/everything-that-was-revealed-in-mlp.html I don't want this to be the end of plot-heavy storytelling for MLP, even if it comes in the form of them making another show as like a "Part 2" to MYM or making TYT more plot-focused, considering these longer form specials.