guardmaster

With how divisive G5 is, I feel that maybe we shouldn't just judge it strictly to comparison to other Generations. G1-3 don't really set too high of a bar, in quality, while on the other end of the scale G4 is still seen as masterpiece in its prime and one of the most influential cartoons in the past decade, setting up a very high bar. It might be also be worth discussing how it fares as a standalone cartoon and how non-bronies might watch it. Do you think its holds up as something more general animation fans might enjoy? There are quite a lot of bronies who genuinely enjoy it.

I've always wanted see MLP to regain and retain mainstream popularity for wider audiences in the long term. After seeing so amny fan works, I feel that the franchise has so much more potential to be a franchise aimed at all sorts of audiences including older views and fans. I know that the franchise is primiarily intended at young girls, but I would really like to see Hasbro go all out with aiming for general audiences, seeing at how they probably benefited a lot from FiM's success. I understand that there are many who say that FiM was lightning-a-bottle in its success. But when other franchises like Star Trek (which I see MLP compared to it most in regards to lightning-in-a-bottles sucessses) they still have a lot of popularity in a mainstream, with new content still being produced for it and even having its own extended universe. In contrast MLP FiM, despite its massive influence, doesn't get brought up or referenced a lot in mainstream or internet culture, even compared to other modern cartoons like Gravity Falls or Adventure Time, which get brought up more often even long after they ended. It kind of frustrates me how somewhat niche the brony fandom had somehow become, seeing how much content they create compared to so many other fandoms. The kind of evolution I would like to see the franchise go would be something like what the Kirby franchise has gone through. Through much of its 30 year history, the Kirby series hasn't had too much mainstream popularity until fairly recently. I even remember on its spin offs, Epic yarn, attracting some hate. However, within the last decade, the franchise has experience a massive growth in its fandom, and despite its cutesy exterior, has become a series with appeal to all sorts of audiences, with lots of background lore call backs to various points in its long history of games, and a good amount of fanservice. That is the kind of thing that I would love to see MLP to become in the future. If it regains enough popularity again, it just might motivate Hasbro to do something like this, seeing how a wider audience would definitely lead to more financial benefit. So what do you think it would take for MLP to to not just regain relevance in mainstream and/or internet, but retain it for the long-term, whether its by G5's efforts, the fandom's or by something else?

I found it a bit surprising that there is not too much discussion of how Netflix will handle G5, given how Netflix had has a recent habit of cutting shows short, espcially animated series, even if they prove to be super popular and/or of high quality. If Netflix decides to cancel G5 even if gets very popular later on, where do you think Hasbro will air MLP whether or not they decide to continue G5 or move on to G6. Do you think they may return to Discovery family again, or somewhere completely new?

I remember that fans said the first season of FiM was also a tad more childish than the rest of the series. Might we hope to see a similar situation here where future chapters/seasons will widen their approach?

How do you think we can help get MLP back into relevancy? Despite it being called a niche fandom, I still see have more fan works done there that I see with other niche or even more mainstream franchises (even more recent or one-shot concepts like Midnight sparkles and kirins seem to have their vocal fans). Honestly, the one thing that seems to keep such a long-running and influential show from have having an even more vocal fandom is due to some stigma. Do you think the G5 series to also help significantly in some way if it continues the movie's seemingly strong stride? (sorry for the double post. meant to quote you before)

How do you think we can help get MLP back into relevancy? Despite it being called a niche fandom, I still see have more fan works done there that I see with other niche or even more mainstream franchises (even more recent or one-shot concepts like Midnight sparkles and kirins seem to have their vocal fans). Honestly, the one thing that seems to keep such a long-running and influential show from have having an even more vocal fandom is due to some stigma. Do you think the G5 series to also help significantly in some way if it continues the movie's seemingly strong stride?

I get your point. I just feel though that it would be natural for Hasbro to try and get MLP to appeal to a wider audience after seeing its fandom and create a shared ongoing universe for MLP since they are doing the same for transformers with their aligned universe. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/TransformersAlignedUniverse I'm a bit frustrated at the possibility that they will completely forego that. That being said, it does seem like they are taking some steps to attract wider audiences, as I said before. Plus with the collectors items previously mentioned before, they clearly haven't forgotten about it adult fanbase. Critics seem to like the ANG movie much more that the 2017 movie, so if the series itself continues that stride, there's a good chance it might blow up again, and give Hasbro the chance to really go for it.

Many popular and franchises I know with a changing cast tend to go out of their way to milk their roots are much as possible though. Digimon, for example, still promotes Agumon as its mascot even when it airs series that don't even feature him. In addition Adventure Time, a show that had an equally long lifespan, is still getting support with specials and reruns. Honestly, I'm hoping G5 will be successful enough too bring new viewers to watch G4 as well, which when its "ends" may motivate Hasbro to either merge the two settings either as direct continuation of G5 that could air alongside G6, or (more likely) make a show with new group of ponies under the mentorship of the Mane 6 to still make it friendly to other newcomers. FiM, being the long lasting show that it is, isn't going to go anywhere anytime soon. Last thing I want is a complete reboot of FiM, since it would take forever to rebuild its world.

I understand that we're not really the target audience, but MLP is also still sort of a merchandise driven franchise so wouldn't it make sense for Hasbro to want to expand their audience more after seeing what the franchise can really do? Considering how the G4 cast are pretty much the face of MLP now they probably would want to do more with them in the future with G5 still looks intent to keep them in memory, and FiM still available to stream alongside G5.

So I've watched a few episodes of the show, and I'm starting to enjoy it. Still, I've always wondered if the franchise in general going more out of its way to appeal to its fans and older audiences in general. G5 seems to taking some steps to appeal to a wider audience, like for example having a male pony part of the main cast. Still, looking at all the various works in the fandom, I feel that the world of MLP has so much potential to do even more. Considering how much of a phenomenon G4 was in its heyday, and how strong and active the fandom still seems to be, do you think it may try make a show that mainly appeal to fans as well as older audiences in general, while still being marketable to the franchise's original demographic, especially if G5 is successful enough? What kind of show would you like it to be if that's the case? I've always dreamed of Hasbro doing a show of that kind that continues the adventures of the G4 cast alongside the G5 cast, (maybe with a new group of ponies under their mentorship in order to give it sort of a fresh start) in an ongoing shared universe. Future generations could each take place in new undiscovered part of Equestria so that they can stand out on their own while still being part of the universe (kind of like how they do regions in Pokemon). The fact that G5 takes place ages after G4 kind of damages that idea, but It would still to be cool if they could pull it off. While a reboot of FiM would probably be obvious, my main problem with that idea is that it would undo a whole lot of world building with well-defined characters that would take forever to rebuild. While franchises like Batman and Transformers are used to having animated canons, MLP only really has one definitive take in the fandom's eyes. Sure, G1-G3 exist, but they are nowhere nearly held in as high regard in the fandom in comparison to the various canons in the aforementioned other franchises. Given how the original show isn't that complex in plot and seems to have a lot of filler, a continuation might not be too hard for newcomers to drop in too, especially since the franchise still seems to be trying to keep G4 in memory. Still, what would you like see Hasbro do to appeal to bronies and wider audiences if they decide to go that route?

Hey everyone! I've been following the MLP fandom for a while now, but for some reason I've never really watched too much of the show itself. Before I actually start watching it, I would like to know something. Do you think that MlP FiM as a whole still retains much of its appeal to adults and newcomers, even in the face of other cartoons like Steven Universe, which from what I've heard seems to do the things FiM is good at much better. I've noticed that it faded from the mainstream more than other modern cartoons despite its massive influence it seems to have on them. Is it just because less people are willing to give it a chance due to some stigma? On a related note, I've heard that the ANG movie seem have had a strong start with both fans and critics alike. If it continues its stride through at least the series's first season, do you think it will be enough to bring it back to the mainstream consciousness (not as insanely much as it was in its heyday, but at least as much as other well-regarded modern cartoons). On more less related question. How is the humor in FiM? I definitely don't expect to be something as adult like in the Amazing World of Gumball, but how good is it compared to something more like in the Ducktales reboot?