trademark2

Well, as something of an example, in one episode of steven universe, they have to travel to an aquatic world and place a statue to save the area from being destroyed. They face a lot of danger(for a cartoon) in getting there, only to find that stephen left the statue behind on his bed. It was very funny. But, MLP would have a harder time doing something like this. A lot of things get added flavor if there is some danger involved, and this is one example of that. So, I think with some legitimate danger(which is what is represented by turok), the episodes can portray things better. Actually it had started to do this slightly in one season, i remember applebloom trying to get a cart through a haunted wood and being attacked by a chimera. But I think they may be hesitant to do this. Stephen and mlp are both kids shows, and kids deserve quality entertainment. Some say mlp is aimed at a younger audience, and its true that kids are a large demographic for the show, but that doesn't mean every single solitary thing has to be aimed at the intellectual level of a Y-7 year old. Like the post above me said, the communist village episode was very interesting; they can do more of that, and they can put some danger into some episodes to spice things up. The whole world opens up and becomes more realistic if you allow danger to be portrayed. Of course you can do the YA plot thing where everyone is always safe in the end, its the portrayal itself that opens the door

I think it's a good philosophy in life to have a disgust factor of 0. If everyone had this, the world would be a much better place. The oppressive right, the authoritarian wing of the left, people hating bronies... all of it would just go away. Instead of hating zephyr, one should try to understand him. His actual cutie mark maybe should be in getting others to do what he wants, as opposed to hairdressing . Zephyr stayed in character the whole time, and there was a backstory that explained his character too; during his childhood, he didn't have enough direction, and was able to get his parents to do everything, which translated to problems later in life. It also tied into real world people, there are many people like zephyr, who just will not apply themselves until they are homeless, and have to make a comeback. Theres many reasons for this, not just laziness. Objectively, there is nothing wrong with this episode. The song inspires me when I work on tough projects; starting really is the hardest part sometimes.

WHY do some people keep using this arguement to try to ward off things that would improve the show. It's not even related at all. Children deserve quality entertainment. It's a kids show, so why does it need to be appealing to anyone else? Well, why does it have to have quality writing and good music. Why shouldnt it be like thomas the train. How does the fact that children are a demographic of viewers prohibit having thought provoking episodes

People with high disgust factors just think about the world differently.

This is THE BEST POST of the thread!

I can see this. I think it would work to have story arcs too, but if they are going to be episodic and still increase the fanbase, I think they need to do something more. I don't think just being a cute kids show is going to increase the fanbase. Yes, it might please some bronies on here, but its not going to attract new(brony) viewers. Kids too, someone said they deserve quality entertainment. Well, this would be another level to that. MLP is quality already of course, but it got kind of shaky in SOME ways last season. The writing itself was very well done, but they didn't stick to character with some things, like applejack doing convoluted farm chores forinstance. They relied on these mischaricterizations for some of their plotlines. If they don't have any other ideas, its a direction they could go. If you have 3 building blocks, you can arrange them in 6 different ways, but with 5 building blocks, you have 120 different ways. Same with plotlines If this is true, then they should move to online streaming or something. But is there a source for this?

There have been many thought provoking episodes in the show to date though.

I don't like it much either, you see. But according to some metrics it is the number one cartoon, so I was curious as to why. And I did see some things that were good in the show. Can we get the thread back on track though about discussing whether MLP should go farther in its plot ideas?

The herd report does show there are a substantial number of adult fans however, I will leave it there.

I don't know how this misunderstanding started, but I wasn't trying to say adult content or ideas should be in the show. People are acting like im advocating for 'rainbow factory' to be part of canon. I do think they can at least go as far as they have in the past, which was the battle with turok. That is far enough. They could stray over to the edge of that boundary more in plotting, and it would make the show interesting if they did. If you have 3 different blocks, you can arrange them in 6 different ways. If you have 5 different blocks, you can arrange them in 120 different ways. It's the same way with plot elements. Just straying a little towards the boundary gives them so much more combinations for plotting.

I was thinking more about this, and I didn't really go far enough in my last post about why I find this view so objectionable, because on the surface it doesn't seem that bad. The reality is, the show could lower its quality quite a bit and still be appealing to children. It doesn't need super high quality songs and music, good writing, or innovative plots. It just needs to be average. The question for us isn't whether or not it's good enough for children, it's whether or not it's good enough to support a fandom. If children are happy, and everyone else leaves, then I personally would consider the show dead. For it to justify us going to conventions and meetups and stuff, and defy social norms in liking it, it has to be of better quality than 'just another childrens show'. And, as someone who wants to go to conventions and associating with other diehard fans, I hope it maintains the level of quality to justify doing so. THATS why I want the show to be the best it can be. These clauses aren't mutually exclusive. The show can be appealing to us while still being appealing to children. The show shouldn't just throw children under busses in favor of bronies. But it should not be limited either. 'we can't do that! this is a childrens show', is an arguement I hope was used very sparingly in production. Because traditional ideals of what a childrens show should be are already very restrictive in and of themselves, and they shouldn't be. in the level of writing, in the level of eloquence, and for the level of music, it clearly exceeds what it needs to be to be appealing to children. That goes without saying. But if this is all one cares about, there is no need to really maintain the current quality at all, let alone think about improving. TLDR; yes, children are a demographic the show is targetting, but pleasing this demographic isnt the only thing that matters.

Actually bronies make up most of the viewers of the show, from what I have read, not a minor demographic. According to this study http://www.herdcensus.com/2014%20STATE%20OF%20THE%20HERD%20REPORT.pdf

I am going to move this here from page 2:

I always edit my posts rigorously, as i ussually see something after that needs changing. its not a sneaky edit lol. I take it that you don't want thought-provoking stuff in the show, and want it to be something only kids will enjoy. And that would be very tragic, for all bronies. I don't want to be direspectful to you or your views, but I can't really believe you're serious about this.

So you don't think it can compete with steven universe then, since the other show is allowed to do more things? This is just a status quo arguement. MLP obviously shouldn't be super violent, but theres no reason they have to market it exclusively towards kids, when they have another demographic and its airing on the discovery channel. They can do the same things steven universe can... In other ways. They shouldn't add a fat kid with a gem, but they can do it in other ways. Its really annoying to see this being espoused here "Its only a show for children", i am an open brony and get that literally everywhere, and its just not true. Some of the people watching the show are children, but it is an all ages show, not only a childrens show. Some true childrens shows try to co-opt the all ages tagline for themselves, and people may get confused, but there is a difference between a children's show and an all ages show. And the writers are already taking this into account, to some extent, but they need to do it more. Season 6 had refrences to a major horror film, an indiana jones type episode, I'm not sure what else. By your arguement you want less of this type of thing, and more of genericness like the applebloom gryphon cutie mark episode. Your view is an existential threat to the show as we know it, in that if it ever pervades in the writers and producers of the show, it will regress back to the way it was in season 1.

I think the average brony age is above the age of the average steven universe viewer, however. Some of the references in 'My Little Pony' are much deeper than what is in steven universe. The average viewer for steven universe is 17 according to data i looked up, while the average brony age is twenty something I see the true reason you did that... i guess i agree with it. But imo my little pony can compete with steven universe evenly, without the need for stuff like this. Although, now that I understand the problems a few dedicated bronies had with season 6 better, maybe nows not the best time to be mentioning competition. I don't really think the shows appeal to the same demographic. At least for me, and probably for the artists and music people, they see a lot of beauty in MLP, which is not in Steven Universe. I don't think the shows are direct competitors with each other, although people may watch both shows.

ofc he will! i bet he gets one in the movie for one thing, almost guarentee it in fact.

The title was changed by a mod, but this thread is supposed to be about my thoughts of what MLP could do better after watching a few episodes of steven universe. edit: In retrospect I think it was a good idea by the mod to change the title I think MLP needs more thoughtprovoking episodes. With steven universe, the art style is really bad aestetically, but the episodes... You don't know what will happen, and some of the stuff is really funny. I think MLP needs more unpredictability and more humor in the show. More things that make you actually think about stuff. It has music, and cuteness, but thats not enough. I really think season 7 will be the best season yet and address this though. MLP should get some 8 bit tunes as well! Edit: OK some people have very strong feelings about this. Please note that I dont advocate major violence, real world events, or adult themes. When you read the thread there are some implying that this thread is advocating for these things to be added to the show, and that is not true.

how is flutter butter one of the worst episodes!? its one of the best! who doesn't know someone like zephyr, and that song?? how can you say its the worst? I don't know what that acronym means i just became a brony like a month ago lol. but Its totally in rainbow dash's character to be a prankster. she is the mischievious type. well i do think season 7 will be better than 6 though

wow are some bronies self concious? I am going to the theatre in one of my MLP T-shirts that i got an an anime con. Its cool to be a brony guys! don't hide!

I am so excited for season 7. I think its going to be amazing and pull a lot of people into the fandom! There will probably be more action, and the show will be made more appealing to 'bronies' The writers can see the negative reaction season 6 got, and they are going to make season 7, and the movie, to avoid the problems SOME PEOPLE had with season 6(i personaly liked it)

Im surprised people don't like 28 pranks later, it was one of my favorite. Maybe its only good if you watched 28 days later?

OH you know that might be it! Hooves should be hooves , its so cute when they use their mouths to carry something. But now that I can pin it down it matters less.

Rainbow dashs' charm comes from her pure personality and cuteness, and the eye shadow just detracts from that. IMO. I REALLY don't like it. And it seems strange that she only has it in some scenes. It's almost like they were going to put it in, changed their mind, and some of it got left so certain animations pull it up. it works very well for rarity, but not for rainbow dash. IMO.