S05:E24 - The Mane Attraction

[Burizinatu 93]

I love every episode from my little pony and when i say i LOVE it i say that i LOVE it but in this episode i loved the way the manager is EVIL the Evil is good mmwahahaha..

[Pastel 7,630]

Except the last song (which was awesome), I didn't like it that much. It felt a bit too rushed.

[powerpuff-tsubasa 448]

applejack's old friend has the most beautiful voice. great eppie btw

[Stardust* 3,302]

I very much enjoyed this episode! I had many feels right there at the end. I love Ra-Ra! <3 The song at the end was awesome too. 

[Amethyst Splash 86]

Best Applejack episode ever! Wait .... Was there even other Aplejack episodes?

[Bright Voice 8]

I LOVED this episode. If you also noticed, the name Coloratura is a soprano voice type. Pretty interesting.

[SoulfulSerenade 8]

I love this episode! It was such a sweet episode~

[BrawnyCharger 513]

I really liked the episode's message and the way it teaches us about showcasing true talent as well as the jab it takes at Hollywood agents and managers. 

[Thrond 3,263]

Coloratura's conflict is nice and all, but she had no personality. Aside from her stage persona and her (pretty great) songs near the end, there's very little memorable about her. She's pretty, she's Applejack's childhood friend, she had to choose between her livelihood and being true to herself... but who is she, really? And I don't see how anyone can call this the "best Applejack episode ever," since she doesn't learn a single thing here. I've complained that season 5 often felt like it had the mane six learn absolutely nothing to push forward a dull secondary character, but this is about as literal as that criticism gets. This adds nothing to Applejack's character arc or even anything else we might reasonably expect to see again any time soon. It's as if Amy Keating Rogers wrote this episode as a farewell letter first and a meaningful My Little Pony story second, and I find it utterly inconsequential as a result. 

[Nagisa452 182]

This episode was one of my all time favorites. I have two very good remixed version of RaRa's song. I love it so much! (Is it bad that i sing to this song in the car on my way to work? )

Not to mention i could really relate to this episode when one of my closest friends left for years and then returned home. He is a brother to me, we grew up together and then he left for the Marines and now he has returned way different than he used to be haha. I also really enjoyed the lesson somepony can learn from this episode. That everypony is unique in every way but has a special part in somepony's life.

[Thrond 3,263]

I struggle to accept this episode's moral. If Coloratura was happy making pop music with a glitzy image, what the hell is wrong with that? By all appearances, she was perfectly comfortable with her image, and only ditched Svengallop because she realized he was being a jerk. I still admire her need to choose between her career or her values, but Applejack's insinuations that there's something wrong with Coloratura's image come across to me as just being rude and judgmental, and since Applejack doesn't learn a goddamn thing, the episode feels that way as well. Coloratura clearly holds on to most of her values, so I'm honestly not clear on what she learned unless the episode is just whining about pop stars being phony. 

The only other conflict here arises from Svengallop being unambiguously bad, and that's honestly a really shallow foundation for a story. This episode has more or less the same pros and cons as "Canterlot Boutique," and that comes with the shallow, meaningless main conflict which I struggle to be invested in. I don't care that Coloratura is different from how Applejack remembered her, and I don't know Coloratura well enough to care that Svengallop is betraying her. At least Sassy Saddles had hints of depth and was given a second chance; Svengallop exists solely to be hated. This episode even has the same meaningless lesson of "stay true to yourself," which feels facile because, again, Coloratura didn't seem to mind her image. 

But those songs are nice, and that musical number is wonderfully flashy. I find Coloratura inviting the CMC on stage a little forced, and I don't think the episode's emotional content even remotely justifies the grandiosity of these songs, but they're damn good songs nonetheless. That this season kept pushing these all-encompassing notes of finality really cheapened the actual finale, though, so I sort of wish this episode took it down a notch. 

Coloratura herself is pretty okay. Her design is nice and I like that she sticks to her guns no matter what Svengallop or even Applejack tell her. Honestly, she's a little more fully formed than Starlight Glimmer, but if she does appear again, I hope she's explored in a little more detail, because this sort of straightforwardly confident personality isn't really the most interesting to me, and she's not given any obvious flaws here. 

Score: 

Entertainment: 6/10

Characters: 6/10

Themes: 3/10

Story: 5/10

Overall: 50/100

[Larrydog 320]

For this comment, I'm gonna be defending svengallop here (this is mostly the only time this is ever gonna happen lol) and bring up stuff about his hate I don't understand 
 

okay first yes it was wrong to use Pinkie like he did and use rara's fame to get what he wants, I get that I'm not defending this part, however, there is something else I wanna bring up,svengallop at the end of the day was still doing his job and helped rara become famous, And as far as bullying others is concern he didn't seem to really be bulling Rara and she seems to be pretty happy with who she has become.And I feel the school pony scene is a good example of not bullying her because yes he didn't want her to do it but he didn't STOP her from still doing it.He got mad but he bit his tongue about it, which I think tells volumes of how much he allows her to do,Also the fact that he did indeed make her a star at the end of the day and has done EVERYTHING for her,now we are still unsure how she got this image (in the sense of who thought about it) but still she didn't complain about it until Applejack made her start second-guessing herself and found out how he was treating Pinkie.

also, the fact that Sven left and Rara didn't just fire him also tells me something since it seems like the fact that If sven said sorry or something and stopped bullying others then she most likely would not have fired him because it seems beside that nothing about there relationship was toxic since if it was really bad I really think she would have brought up more things so if anything maybe he is an overworked manager that just started going on a power trip feeling "I do all the work so I should get the credit" (and I think what confirmes that for me is when Rara is freaking out having no idea what she is doing). sure there is no way to know but still, their relationship was very ambiguous  when you think about it and this could be just as possible 

also just wanted to add that even if none of this is true Sven isn't the worst character ever.like far from it I mean the main villains have done WAY worse things than him like Sombra and chrysalis have done very bad things include enslaving others and feeding off them but yet they still have fanbases with people loving the fact there evil and never want them to change but Sven is the exception why? I mean I know the excuse of more relatable jerks get more hate then over the top ones but still over the top ones can still be pretty relatable when you really think about it.

but yeah that's it and besides that, I think the episode was solid and her first song was pretty good,Also just wanted to put Sven in a better light since he never is.

[Singe 2,111]

On 12/31/2017 at 11:59 PM, Larrydog said:

For this comment, I'm gonna be defending svengallop here (this is mostly the only time this is ever gonna happen lol) and bring up stuff about his hate I don't understand 
 

okay first yes it was wrong to use Pinkie like he did and use rara's fame to get what he wants, I get that I'm not defending this part, however, there is something else I wanna bring up,svengallop at the end of the day was still doing his job and helped rara become famous, And as far as bullying others is concern he didn't seem to really be bulling Rara and she seems to be pretty happy with who she has become.And I feel the school pony scene is a good example of not bullying her because yes he didn't want her to do it but he didn't STOP her from still doing it.He got mad but he bit his tongue about it, which I think tells volumes of how much he allows her to do,Also the fact that he did indeed make her a star at the end of the day and has done EVERYTHING for her,now we are still unsure how she got this image (in the sense of who thought about it) but still she didn't complain about it until Applejack made her start second-guessing herself and found out how he was treating Pinkie.

also, the fact that Sven left and Rara didn't just fire him also tells me something since it seems like the fact that If sven said sorry or something and stopped bullying others then she most likely would not have fired him because it seems beside that nothing about there relationship was toxic since if it was really bad I really think she would have brought up more things so if anything maybe he is an overworked manager that just started going on a power trip feeling "I do all the work so I should get the credit" (and I think what confirmes that for me is when Rara is freaking out having no idea what she is doing). sure there is no way to know but still, their relationship was very ambiguous  when you think about it and this could be just as possible 

also just wanted to add that even if none of this is true Sven isn't the worst character ever.like far from it I mean the main villains have done WAY worse things than him like Sombra and chrysalis have done very bad things include enslaving others and feeding off them but yet they still have fanbases with people loving the fact there evil and never want them to change but Sven is the exception why? I mean I know the excuse of more relatable jerks get more hate then over the top ones but still over the top ones can still be pretty relatable when you really think about it.

but yeah that's it and besides that, I think the episode was solid and her first song was pretty good,Also just wanted to put Sven in a better light since he never is.

Applejack was not happy so things had to change. It's like Hearthbreakers again on a small scale.

Methods and attitude aside, Sven helped put Rara be at the number 1 spot. There should be nothing wrong with being proud in one's own part and accomplishments. If Rarity can be proud about the glory of her dresses, then Sven should to an extent. 

I think the 2017 movie pretty much showed that after this episode Countess is no longer number one.

[Larrydog 320]

2 hours ago, Singe said:

Applejack was not happy so things had to change. It's like Hearthbreakers again on a small scale.

Methods and attitude aside, Sven helped put Rara be at the number 1 spot. There should be nothing wrong with being proud in one's own part and accomplishments. If Rarity can be proud about the glory of her dresses, then Sven should to an extent. 

I think the 2017 movie pretty much showed that after this episode Countess is no longer number one.

2

I'm glad you agree yes I admit Sven was going overboard but I still don't see a problem of giving himself some credit of the fact that he pretty much did everything 100 percent for her and rara even said "Svengallop has always supported all my interest" tells me he is not or at least wasn't a slave driver with her 

to me also It seems yeah Applejack couldn't accept her friend had changed and wasn't trying to understand said change and just wanted to see her as how she did when they were young 

and I'm not sure about the movie since I do kinda consider it uncanon since I can't find where it could work in the timeline 

Edited January 8, 2018 by Larrydog

[Singe 2,111]

1 hour ago, Larrydog said:

I'm glad you agree yes I admit Sven was going overboard but I still don't see a problem of giving himself some credit of the fact that he pretty much did everything 100 percent for her and rara even said "Svengallop has always supported all my interest" tells me he is not or at least wasn't a slave driver with her 

to me also It seems yeah Applejack couldn't accept her friend had changed and wasn't to understand said change and just wanted to see her as how she did when they were young 

and I'm not sure about the movie since I do kinda consider it uncanon since I can't find where it could work in the timeline 

This was handled with a black and white resolution, no middle ground resolution. The part that took this overboard, Applejack was able to talk the Countess into participating in a sting operation in the middle of setting up this concert to test Svengallop. 

I'm very surprised the other ponies agreed to go along with this with not one concern that it could impact the concert.

Here is one thing I thought of, if Svengallop could threaten to pull the Countess then that means they were not likely under any legal contract. If Pinkie Pie was paying them money, Svengallop would not be able to pull Countess and walk off with the money. The whole negotiation booking details would be too complex for this show.

Edited January 8, 2018 by Singe

[Larrydog 320]

31 minutes ago, Singe said:

This was handled with a black and white resolution, no middle ground resolution. The part that took this overboard, Applejack was able to talk the Countess into participating in a sting operation in the middle of setting up this concert to test Svengallop. 

I'm very surprised the other ponies agreed to go along with this with not one concern that it could impact the concert.

Here is one thing I thought of, if Svengallop could threaten to pull the Countess then that means they were not likely under any legal contract. If Pinkie Pie was paying them money, Svengallop would not be able to pull Countess and walk off with the money. The whole negotiation booking details would be too complex for this show.

yeah that is what I was thinking it seems Applejack needed to interrupt the entire concert just to get svengallop caught when she and the others really had no idea how much of a impact Svengallop was actually having in terms of making her a star and how he made her number 1

and the way I saw that scene is that it was most likely just a hollow threat than anything since he knows he really can't pull her out of the show and he really wouldn't do it since I still Think he lets rara do what she wants and was just using that more as a scare tactic for pinkie and maybe people in the past who were being difficult, so maybe it was more so like his lifeline to get others to do what he wants that he took too far 

[Nye 1,652]

A cool way to prepare for the end of the season, bringing in a character who is so powerful with their cutie mark that it glows and stuff. Also, Coloratura is a good singer.

[bigbertha 414]

I hate this episode so much. No other episode has been so pretentious, so cheesy, so much like a Lifetime original movie. But It's not a parody of these kinds of movies, IT PLAYS IT COMPLETELY STRAIGHT!

The entire thing boils down to "be yourself" and "don't let others control you". Wow, so original. The episode doesn't even put a unique spin on it.

Everything about this terrible story is a cliche. There's the evil manager who's controlling the one who was once so pure and perfect, but who has now been corrupted by capitalism. Luckily, their friend is there to show them to be themselves.

If you're going to play a story like this seriously, you shouldn't have the most stereotypical over the top caricature as your antagonist. It makes the entire story seem so shallow, like there was no effort into creating a subtle or nuanced message. 

This episode also has the worst writing in the entire series with the line, "This song may be familiar, but yet it's totally different. Kind of like me: Rara", being the worst line of dialogue of the entire show.

The comedy is almost nonexistent and the jokes that are there are incredibly unfunny (A straw named Fernando? What?).

The song at the end is by far the worst thing I've ever heard in this show. It's just as bland and poorly written as Rara herself.

It's like the show lost all self awareness it once had to create this piece of garbage.

Score: 0/10

 

Edited July 22, 2018 by bigbertha

[qwerE 96]

Last bit of music was great, but as for the story, it's lacking in depth. It felt rushed and I couldn't emphasize with anypony. 

[Meushell 52]

Is it wrong that I liked Rara’s flashy song way more than her “true self” song?

I kind of like Svengallop, only because he was written to be so stupid in the end. He has his own demands, and Rara is fine with that, so why would he give Pinkie so many last minute demands? The charity stuff seems to be, in part, why Rara is so popular, so why is he against it. It doesn’t seem like he has to be there. He can get his pedicure while she’s with the kids.

 

On 6/10/2017 at 4:56 PM, AlexanderThrond said:

but Applejack's insinuations that there's something wrong with Coloratura's image come across to me as just being rude and judgmental, 

Well, that kiss stamp hoovies thing was creepy.  That’s really the way it was introduced though. She and her fans seemed to like it.

Edited December 12, 2018 by Meushell
Part of my text looks bigger. No idea why. Tried to fix it.

[bigbertha 414]

I hate this episode so much. It is the most pretentious and cheesy episode of the entire show. Everything is so simplistic and bland that it feels like G3. Svengallop is bad. Coloratura is good. There is nothing else to the story other than Coloratura being manipulated at first and she needs Applejack to save her. There is nothing interesting done with the situation. It all plays out in the most generic way imaginable. Applejack is called out for disliking Coloratura's image just because it's not what she remembered, but that doesn't matter because Applejack is right and Coloratura needs to conform to Applejack's standards. It's not like Coloratura had millions of fans who enjoyed her music and most likely didn't grow up to be vapid shallow pawns in the corporations' games. Though I bet this episode would say that if they addressed it. This episode is the equivalent of one of those "back in my day people didn't use all these fancy new-fangled effects" old guys being taken seriously. 

The moral is the most meaningless moral of all: "Be yourself". This is a phrase that has no practicality and ignores all of the situations where that's not enough. If an episode is going for a "be yourself" moral, there has to be something else there. "Be yourself" is not enough.

And yet that's all this episode is. It's an empty platitude with no charm, imagination, or anything that people like about MLP. There are no funny jokes, the moral is garbage, and the story is one of the most paper thin of the show with a black and white morality trying to pretend there's nuance. I am never watching this trash ever again.

Score: 0/10

[Astralshy 26,796]

Like the most people I enjoyed this episode. There are other MLP episodes out there with a deeper and more complex  plot, but in my opinion it's also completely fine for this show.  Especially if one considers that it's directly before the exciting Season 5 final.

I think both songs are good while the second one is of course the far more emotional one. Considering Lena Hall is voice actress/singer behind Rara is also not a surprise.

So I think it's a good episode even if it's not for everyone.

 

[abronymouse 5,442]

I'd forgotten how cute and realistic Rara's pet name was I can absolutely see to fillies at camp coming up with that name from the mounthful that is Coloratura

 

I love that needing your cherries separated is peak pushy pony  in this ep

I also llove the music

[Iforgotmybrain 5,720]

This is a breath of fresh air after the past 2 episodes. I really like this episode and a lot of it is just because of the pony version of Lady Gaga. The songs are great, Rara's designs are super cute, and so is her backstory with AJ. Good episode :3

[Antiyonder 1,153]

The episode is present on this compilation at the 1:47:42 mark:

A solo video will be posted when uploaded.