Nas

Since it's starting from a completely blank slate I don't know what to say except for the show to be in 3D. As much as I've warmed up to the characters and how they look in the movie, I don't think I'll be able to fully enjoy an entire generation of it as opposed to 2D animation like gen 4. I kinda assume it'll be, though. Other than that I hope the worldbuilding stuff isn't entirely gone. I know gen 4 did bring back some lore stuff from previous gens and I hope they do that here as well. Some of the creatures and stuff they introduced were awesome, even if some weren't quite fit for a children's pony playset, haha.

Well, 11 years later, here we are, finally with the first batch of next era of horse content to enjoy and comment on. And so begins a new several years of countless art, music, cons, memories, and most of all, adorable colorful horses. And I did say for months that I was remotely interested in the new generation of pone, since G4 had been such a big part of my life and done and led to so many wonderful things for me, and watching the old episodes I started off with will always bring back warm fuzzy memories, and despite not following the show much between season 4-8 I still and will always love the show and the general stuff that comes from it, like the fanart and cons, the latter I'll still go to one day, and just knowing it'll be touching countless amounts of people and inspiring tons of more new minds for years to come as it did me, and all the friends I had on here. (Also, it was neat seeing some friends and horsefamous peeps move on to bigger or other things, but I do wonder how many of them will come back for this!) In short, I think what turned me off from being interested if anything was the 3D characters...I couldn't get into the idea of the whole era of horse being defined by 3D stuff, it just didn't sit well with me and reminded me of, idunno, generic CG cartoon horse stuff I've seen. But silly me, here I am, 2 years after G4 ended, once more writing up on a Saturday morning how I feel about the latest horse stuff like I used to. And that's cause, well, the charm that won me over back then, was very prevalent here, enough for me to forget about how odd I thought the 3D stuff looked...mostly! Enough for me to say, yep, I'm definitely on board once again. These new pastel equines are filling my idle thoughts much like the previous ones did when I started watching. I don't intend to be AS active as I once did, probably. But definitely tuning into whatever the next ep/movie/whatever will be for the time being. Especially if the show or whatever the main stuff'll be will be in 2D. Anywho, the movie itself... Wow, the budget is obvious, this gen got off to a great start in terms of visuals. One of the things that made the 3D characters more tolerable for me is how well they were animated. Everything was so smooth, I was blown away by how well everything was animated like the show of yesteryear. Like I said, I still hope the show is 2D, but it was still all beautiful here. The pacing felt a bit odd in places, though I doubt that was a result of it introducing the characters and having one big adventure with them in one movie. Like everything else that I didn't find amazing in it, it wasn't bad enough to ruin my enjoyment though. Some of the lines and line deliveries and even some song lyrics kinda missed that punch that was in most of gen 4. I don't know, there were a bit more deliveries and lines that felt awkward and not really funny than I can count on my fingers, but it was mostly alright. The music and lyrics that we good were VERY good though. The best songs far and away were Izzy's song and the first half of Scout's song, they're both super catchy. And some of the lines and gags were legit hilarious. The plot? For the most part it was a nice fun way to start the new gen, and honestly if you don't take it as seriously as FiM, it's great, and I think I was able to quickly adjust, especially- And yeah, I felt it had a lot of high points and was a pretty satisfying ending. I do look forward to how all the stuff at the end will translate or hint at what's to come, whenever we even hear about the show. And finally, of course, the ponies were cute. Sans the 3D template they all had which definitely still looks weird at some angles, are still adorable and charming as heck most of the time thanks to their designs and voices. Izzy won me over even when I wasn't planning to see this movie before, her silliness and sometimes obliviousness are adorable and remind me of my inner self a bit. Sunny and Pipp are a definite second. It'll be interesting having a boy as part of the main cast from now on, I'm totally for that. I don't doubt these characters willl win over tons and tons of people for years to come, I'm already looking forward to all the art, especially at cons. And like I've said, this whole package despite some flaws, has lots of funny stuff, emotional moments, great music, just a well balanced horse movie that's packed with the charm of G4. Here's to another some years of heartwarming life morals that even we can learn from again sometimes. (And hopefully we get an announcement for the show soon!!) My final word, I think the amount of G4 was comforting, and a great way to bookend the old and start the new. How fitting, most of all, that G5 is beginning just a week short of this forums' 10th birthday, too. Oh, and Izzy is best pony.

Besides the premiere for this final season, I don't remember the last time I made a post in an episode thread. Though fitting, since this was the last episode ever before the finale, and the last morning premiere. Other than the episode itself, which I did enjoy a good bit, I can't stop thinking about this. The instant I saw this after the premiere (it was a background event that I missed so I had to first catch it when people were posting about it after), I about damn near cried. Way back in the beginning of my time obsessed with this show in 2012, Lyra- as well as Minuette and Berry Punch- were my favorite BG horses. Even had all 3 of them on a signature early on. 7 years later, after many years of being into pony, then out of pony, then sorta into pony again, this happens. Not only is a secondary proposal going on alongside the first one, one of the fandom's biggest ships from over the years was made canon, not to mention a gay couple is confirmed for the show (makes sense to including in a show like this, and it's perfectly subtle)! Quite a lot to take from this little scene, and for a little background event (that foreshadowed the ending of the episode, at that), it surely is huge. What an awesome thing to pull towards the end of the final regular episode of the show, all of the stuff I just mentioned really show how far the show has gotten over the decade. Background events are usually unimportant, and casual stuff going on amidst crazy stuff like the apple invasion are usually played for laughs, but this was both important and sweetly heartwarming, and really satisfying to see at the end of this show's incredible run. After all this time, one of the ponies that stole my heart when I was first watching the show back in 2012 ends up getting canonically, genuinely married. I never would have believed it if you told me that back then, but I wouldn't have believed a good number of incredible things that has happened in the show and fandom since then. This moment in particular fills my 2012 self with joy and tears, and I'll never stop being giddy that it's real. They're really pulling out all the stops towards the end in this and many other ways. The big journey ends this week, I can't believe it. But I'm going to enjoy every single last bit of it.