Dance Magic

[Rikifive 23,486]

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I don't see a thread for this, so --- Yell at me if I did wrong. 

I really like Equestria Girls Series, because that's where my pony adventure began. That's why I was hyped for the EQG Episodes!  

 

What are your thoughts about Dance Magic? 

 

As for me~

It's kiiiinda not the same anymore. I really liked it, but it was... slightly empty? Things were kinda happening too fast.
It was noticeable, that some events were forced, in order to introduce next scenes, though after rewatching it, I think it's generally not that bad.

We've got some cliche ending and stuff, but well, that's the typical pony happy end, so that's nothing I could complain about.  I really don't mind that.
 

Rarity yelled, Rarity cried, she's so cute when she's angry.

It's still hard to get used to Sci-Twi - it's just not the same. She's a totally different character and talks much less. I really miss the normal Twilight Sparkle. To be honest, it's hard to get used to all of those new characters from Crystal Prep, but I'll give them time. At first I was like 'nuuuu there will be problems', but I see, that they can be nice.. I hope.  

 

This episode wasn't filled with action, explosions, nor even pony magic, that's true. Well, there was a tiny little bit at the end, but nothing significant - only pony tails and ears. Maybe that's better, as there was too much science going in third and fourth movie.  
Anyway, I really liked the episode.  

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

Actually better than I was expecting, though that's not saying a whole lot I guess.

I hated the ending though. I know this is all about "FRIENDSHIP" and s***, but I hate the cliched "everyone makes up!" ending.
I'd much rather the Mane six have smacked down those b**** with an original Music video they all made working together.
I mean, this is basically the exact same plot as rarity takes manehattan, where a seemingly nice person steals Rarity's Ideas-- it should have ended the same way, with Rarity Beating the shit out of the copy cat like she beat Suri.
Also, this is trying to be a Series so hard it hurts.

7/10, its nice that the characters all felt in character, and rarity was good, but still felt kind of boring and HIGHLY unsatisfying in the end for the resolution.

 

On 5/14/2017 at 11:07 PM, Rikifive said:

It's still hard to get used to Sci-Twi - it's just not the same. She's a totally different character and talks much less. I really miss the normal Twilight Sparkle.

Going to be honest, I VASTLY prefer this twilight to pony twilight. she's pretty cute, and much more interesting than Pony twilight is at the moment. Her being the smart guy of the group and less the all perfect leader is a nice change.

[Peter16373 103]

Too be honest I didn't really care for this episodes plot that much. I'm just happy I finally got the song Dance Magic with animation that I've been waiting for ever since the release of the Friendship Games soundtrack in 2015.

Edited May 17, 2017 by Peter16373

[Will Guide 21,325]

Managed to see it on dailymotion with English subtitles.

In my opinion, I think the animation is more fluid than before.

There's also a shot of the front of Canterlot High; the horse statue is still missing after the events of "Friendship Games" I'm sure the portal still works; it's just the statue is gone!

One of the characters mentioned that EG Dean Cadence is now principal of Crystal Prep; Looks like that bit of fanon used in fan fiction has become canon!

[BritishBrony2012 719]

It good to see Lemon Zest again, like the move she did.

[ShadowSJG 62]

Did anyone read the book? I noticed in the book, sugarcoat says it’s only been three weeks since the Friendship Games while in the actual special, she says a few months? Which is correct? 

 

[Sovereign Leader Rarity 12,000]

Wait, the first episode of Equestria Girl's has released already? Whoah...I need to process this information and get my ass down to dailymotion this instant. I've been gleefully anticipating this for some time now.

[Castle Bleck 19,166]

My favorite of the 3.

 

Nice to see more Shadowbolts (sans Indigo Zap for some reason).

 

Now if we could just get more Dazzlings and/or Counterpart!Sunset...

[Frostgage 7,972]

Definitely my favorite special! Everything about it was fun and Crystal Prep bae Lemon Zest came back

[takai 1,060]

I'm glad we finally got a reason for the "Dance Magic" song, back in the day it had no purpose or place like every other song.

I think this was a fun one, I'm especially happy to see the Crystal Prep girls again. Sour Sweet was the clear stand out this time around. If EQG has anything going for it consistently, it's the designs of characters.

[joshuachasseur 6]

What's the placement for this special? They say it was after LOE, which was summer, but ShadowBolts mentioned a spring dance.

[Rikifive 23,486]

3 hours ago, joshuachasseur said:

What's the placement for this special? They say it was after LOE, which was summer, but ShadowBolts mentioned a spring dance.

Not sure about the exact timing, but I'm pretty sure it is after LoE, because they mention renovation of Camp Everfree.
At the beginning of LoE, they weren't aware of camp's condition and such - they've discovered that later, so I think this episode takes place after they were there.

[PinkiePie97 913]

I liked it. I enjoyed Rarity in it. I do like that she decided to help the Crystal Prep Girls rather than go with her original video upon finding out that they didn't actually have anything. I also enjoyed seeing the video ideas the others had and I liked the song.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

11 minutes ago, PinkiePie97 said:

I liked it. I enjoyed Rarity in it. I do like that she decided to help the Crystal Prep Girls rather than go with her original video upon finding out that they didn't actually have anything. I also enjoyed seeing the video ideas the others had and I liked the song.

Encouraging more ethical behaviour from the crystal preppers is a good thing though

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

I finally watched this one as intended and I must admit that it was pretty good though there were some things that never got explained which I attribute to time constraints. For one thing, where was Indigo Zap? She is part of the core group of Shadowbolts so why omit her? Also, when did Cadance receive her promotion as it were and whatever happened to Principal Cinch? I did like how Rarity was the main focus, a change of pace from the usual EQG flare we've come to expect, and we got to see the human world's version of Opal--and Rarity's house.

[Thrond 3,257]

I just found it hard to be invested in any of this. I don't really care about Camp Everfree, there weren't a lot of funny character moments, and I didn't feel this developed any of the characters very much. Also, maybe I'm alone in this, but I found the song pretty forgettable as well, rap verse aside. I'm glad the animation is improving, but this one was way too simple for my tastes, so I just found myself bored. I honestly don't see how this is much better than any other generic little girls' show, with its simplistic conflict and shallow resolution. Really not satisfying to me. 

Full review at my blog. 

Honestly, it's not so much villains I'm tired of in this series as school events. I want to see more of the Girls' personal lives, and get a better idea of what their goals and hobbies are. Flesh them out a little, will you? As is right now, it feels like they don't even have much of a life outside of whatever the school plans for them.

I know all of MLP is basically a toy commercial, but isn't it supposed to distract me from that fact? This was basically just a bunch of buildup to a simplistic moral and a dance number with fancy costumes. Basically just filling space to remind people that the brand exists. 

[Music Chart Fan 818]

Overall, this episode mostly feels like a generic basic cartoon, and consequently, I had little investment in it. It feels like the episode drags as it tries to stretch out the rather obvious conflict to fit the episode length. It's kind of nice to see the Mane Seven and the Crystal Prep girls work together to win the contest in the end, but the prior scenes to that don't seem to do much (if anything) to lead to that solution, making them feel like, as Rarity herself says, a waste of time. I guess it's good that there were a couple of lines about the Crystal Prep girls learning not to steal in their singular drive to win, but those went by pretty quickly, and I wonder whether the Crystal Prep girls learned not to promise things (like that the spring dance would be held on a yacht) if they have no definite plan to make them happen. At least the Mane Seven get invitations to the dance on the yacht at the end of the episode (even if Rarity has to be the one to suggest it); I feel like they deserve it after bailing out the Crystal Prep girls and probably putting in the most work to make the winning music video.

First, I'm not sure how much of this is my own lack of investment in the characters versus the show's lack of investment in them, but I still can't even recall the names of all the Crystal Prep girls, and I have only the vaguest idea of the personalities they're supposed to have. I kind of remember Crystal Prep having six girls to rival the Mane Six from Canterlot High in Friendship Games, so subtract Sci-Twi and there would be five Crystal Prep girls remaining, yet we only see four of them in this episode. But hell if I know who the missing fifth girl is (without looking her up), or any reason why she's not in this episode.

Next, a high school having a spring dance on a yacht strikes me as an idea that the audience is intended to laugh at for being ridiculous. When Lemon Zest tells the other girls that their classmates will say that it's their fault that "the spring dance had to be held in the boring old auditorium instead of on a yacht like we promised", that prompted a sarcastic "Oh, and that would be just terrible!" response from me. And yet the episode and all the characters never seem to bat an eye at the concept of holding a high school dance on a yacht, as though that's a perfectly normal and understandable thing to do.

One other thing that the Mane Seven arguably could have stood to learn, but might not have, is to think through big decisions (particularly involving money) before making them. Sci-Twi is the only one of the Mane Seven who vocalizes any significant concern about giving Rarity the already-raised funds, but she quickly conforms, and those concerns are never brought up again. I'm left still wondering how many entries are expected to be submitted to the contest, what the caliber of the other entries will be, how many people and with what experience would be working on the other entries, etc. It seems like the odds of winning the contest, taking all of those factors into account, would warrant at least a bit of consideration first.

Now for a few other miscellaneous observations:

I'm curious as to how Big Mac's truck could have gotten that muddy just from doing normal farm chores or whatnot. It looks more like Big Mac had just gone mudding before going to the car wash.

It's weird to see the Crystal Prep students at the mall and around town hanging out in their school uniforms. I went to a high school where uniforms were required, and essentially all the students considered the uniforms the height of uncool (and uncomfortable) and were eager to get out of them as soon as possible.

It's funny how the episode goes out of its way not to mention any specific dollar amounts for the prize money, the funds raised so far, how much money is needed for the Camp Everfree repairs, etc.

During Pinkie's explanation of her video concept, the episode makes sure to show us that Sci-Twi's microphone doesn't penetrate her spacesuit helmet, but then Spike apparently takes a bite of the cheese through his helmet.

I find it a little strange that neither Rarity nor the Crystal Prep girls saw or heard each other (even as Rarity cries and obnoxiously "noms" on her ice cream) prior to Rarity starting to overhear them talking about their lack of an original song.

When Rarity asks the rest of the Mane Seven whether they're in on the idea of making a combined music video with the Crystal Prep girls, all of them except Pinkie are shown as being hesitant. But after Pinkie's exclamation of "Best music video idea ever!" we cut away to a future shot where everyone is working together. So what, was Pinkie's exclamation all that was necessary to convince the rest of them to go along?

Finally, it sure is convenient that both the Mane Seven and the Crystal Prep girls apparently each needed only about half of the prize money, so that there apparently was no conflict over how to divide the winnings.

[Sonic5421 423]

Well, as the first of the three specials to run for 22 minutes instead of like the hour-and-a-half movies, I really enjoyed seeing how things were going some time after the events in Legend of Everfree.

The Rainbooms are raising money to help with the repairs to Camp Everfree, probably as a result of what happened with Gloriosa, and when Rarity discovers the competition that could help them raise the funds more easily, we get to see most of the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts again, sans Indigo Zap. We learn that Cadance has become the new principal in place of Cinch, and the Shadowbolts are trying their best to put their "win at all costs" policy from their days with Cinch behind them, along with trying to raise funds to have their spring dance on a yacht.

At the end, when the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts join forces to win the contest and raise money for both of their intentions, it shows that, given time, Crystal Prep will be able to become better friends with Canterlot High, and the Rainbooms and Shadowbolts are that first step with how friendlier they've become since Friendship Games.

I think I'm giving this a 9.5, maybe a 10/10 as my score.

[Rikifive 23,486]

1 hour ago, Sonic5421 said:

We learn that Cadance has become the new principal in place of Cinch

 Oh, now that you've mentioned that, it made me think of something.

The Crystal Empire was formerly ruled by King Sombra (evil) and then taken by Princess Cadance and Shining Armor (good).
Now there's the same thing with Crystal Prep Academy - Formerly there was Principal Cinch (evil) and now she was replaced by Cadance (good).

Not only these have tons of visual resemblances, but also meet the same fate - and more importantly - Cadence takes a part of that!  

Coincidence?  I don't think so. 

[cmarston1 5,951]

I finally got around to seeing it and I thought it was pretty enjoyable.

For starters getting more character development for the Shadowbolts was much appreciated, seeing Rarity freak out is always entertaining, and the music video had some pretty fluid animation, and Dance Magic is a really enjoyable song.

If this is the kinda thing we can get if EQG finally becomes a full fledged tv series, than I am all for it.

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

15 hours ago, cmarston1 said:

I finally got around to seeing it and I thought it was pretty enjoyable.

For starters getting more character development for the Shadowbolts was much appreciated, seeing Rarity freak out is always entertaining, and the music video had some pretty fluid animation, and Dance Magic is a really enjoyable song.

If this is the kinda thing we can get if EQG finally becomes a full fledged tv series, than I am all for it.

I'm glad they were given development as they were pretty dull and uninteresting in Friendship Games. However, they didn't explain why Indigo Zap wasn't included with her fellow Shadowbolts as she is just as part of the group as the others are.

[Sonic5421 423]

On 6/25/2017 at 10:15 PM, Rikifive said:

 Oh, now that you've mentioned that, it made me think of something.

The Crystal Empire was formerly ruled by King Sombra (evil) and then taken by Princess Cadance and Shining Armor (good).
Now there's the same thing with Crystal Prep Academy - Formerly there was Principal Cinch (evil) and now she was replaced by Cadance (good).

Not only these have tons of visual resemblances, but also meet the same fate - and more importantly - Cadence takes a part of that!  

Coincidence?  I don't think so. 

Now that you mention it, it is interesting that Dean Cadance succeeded Cinch as CPA Principal like how Princess Cadance became ruler of the Crystal Empire after King Sombra. With her as principal now, the Shadowbolts are sure to become even better friends with the Rainbooms and their fellow Wonderbolts from Canterlot High. I do hope we see Principal Cadance again in the future, alongside Indigo Zap since she was absent from this special.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

28 minutes ago, Sonic5421 said:

Now that you mention it, it is interesting that Dean Cadance succeeded Cinch as CPA Principal like how Princess Cadance became ruler of the Crystal Empire after King Sombra. With her as principal now, the Shadowbolts are sure to become even better friends with the Rainbooms and their fellow Wonderbolts from Canterlot High. I do hope we see Principal Cadance again in the future, alongside Indigo Zap since she was absent from this special.

I wonder if they will start building statues of Sci-Twi's dog?

More seriously, I think Rainboom / remane 5 friendship seems to be infectious; I am sure continued association with them will be as reforming for the shadowbolts as it was for Sunset Shimmer

Spoiler

and presumably for Starlight and Juniper too....

 

[Sonic5421 423]

17 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

I wonder if they will start building statues of Sci-Twi's dog?

More seriously, I think Rainboom / remane 5 friendship seems to be infectious; I am sure continued association with them will be as reforming for the Shadowbolts as it was for Sunset Shimmer

  Hide contents

and presumably for Starlight and Juniper too....

 

That sounds pretty good to me. Juniper could use some time getting to know the Rainbooms better after nearly destroying them out of personal revenge and jealousy because of what happened with her uncle and the mirror.

[MalekPony 36]

Whatever happened to Abacus Cinch? Did she get fired/demoted or did she just quit her job as principal?