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The Three equestria girls specials feel like a failure


Unlikeable Pony

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(edited)

Compared to the previous 4 movies, the three specials we got feel like a complete failure of an iteration of the series.  SPECIFICALLY, they failed to move the series forward in any way: the last 4 movies all progressed the series in some way or another, allowing for a build up of some sort to the next installment. These specials though feel like they were spinning their wheels, and do not progress the "narrative" of the equestria girls universe. EQG 1: Introduces the human world and its existence. RR redeems sunset and sets up her being a part of the group, FG does the same with twilight, and then LOE introduces the concept of all of them having magical abilities and being magical girls of some sort.
However, these three specials feel very slice of life-ish for the first 2 and fail to establish any real impetuous or push in the third one behind the importance of them possessing magic or there being a present magical threat to their world.

 

Now, I found the Specials to be more enjoyable than I was expecting (about 6-7/10), so don't think I'm saying "THE QUALITY OF THESE WAS S***". Rather, the issue is that they stagnated the series rather than progressed it, and didn't even have the decency to knock it out of the park with a 10/10 slice of life for the first 2. Examine Sunset's doubts at the start of Mirror magic: She SPECIFICALLY notes that what's weighing on her mind is them having magic and wonders if there's a PURPOSE behind them having magic. This SHOULD have built up to their magic being shown to be a neccessary component to their world and that there's a real and pressing threat that them having magic is NEEDED to combat. The climax then should have had a Magical threat that they had to use all of their super powers to defeat in a magical girl manner, affirming the importance of them as a group and them as a group having magic: But the OPPOSITE happened:

1. The magical threat had no Importance or focus put on it. it was just a "Oh, hey, that happened", not a "This is a harbinger of further troubles" or "we've got a job to do in the future". Juniper having a magic mirror was just treated in a "well, that was weird, haha" kind of way rather than forboding of possible trouble to come. This fails to advance the subplot of the magical whisps seen at the end of LOE in a meaningful manner.

2. Their having magic was COMPLETELY Pointless, and if anything MADE THINGS WORSE. the answer that sunset was Posing of "Why do we have these powers and is their a purpose behind it"? Is NEVER ANSWERED. The villain is defeated by Talking, and if anything their magic made the problem WORSE due to them inadvertantly turning Juniper into a giant that threw crap around. This is the absolute OPPOSITE of what the series should have done to answer sunset's Question. The mane seven could have never had magic in the first place and the solution would have turned out the same: just have a non-magical talk from starlight, magic or no magic. If they are going to make them magical girls with magical powers, which the series has dove in on the idea of, they have to actually *ACCOMPLISH* things with their magic.

The specials sadly did not tease anything for the future or set up future arcs or questions: This is a big problem, as to make the series continue to feel fresh and grow, each iteration MUST build up something new and lay a groundwork for the future: if you fail to Evolve the series with each iteration, you run the risk of spinning your wheels in stagnation. Unless Starlight and Juniper are joining the group (Which I highly doubt), there was nothing Laid down or set up for the future of the series.

 

 

 

I honestly want to see this series succeed, but they need to do better and realize that they got to keep building the series as a whole to turn it into its own property.

Edited by Unlikeable Pony
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I made my review on this already and I agree with you

It's on Video Fan Art in Stardom's Creative Resources

What I really want to see in Equestria Girls is Human And Princess Twilight interact with each other. What's your opinion on that?

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I do agree that they should've went forward with their powers and all, but when I think about it, it feels like they were made to introduce Starlight as a character for the series above all

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32 minutes ago, A.V. said:

I enjoyed Dance Magic and Movie Magic.

 

Really, the only problems everyone (including me) seems to have are with Mirror Magic.

My issues isn't specifically with the quality, but the fact that it doesn't graduate the series narrative in any way.  If there was another 3 or 4 episodes coming down the pipe to continue things, that'd be fine, like how You only change up the status quo of FIM in the two parters. Its just that this is all they have this year: it makes it really feel phoned in for their plans for the series.

 

46 minutes ago, Whompy Whomperson said:

I do agree that they should've went forward with their powers and all, but when I think about it, it feels like they were made to introduce Starlight as a character for the series above all

The thing is, I don't see starlight sticking around as a major factor in the show (I doubt they're booting her out of FIM after all)-- she can't be two places at once, and honestly, she kind of feels like a fifth wheel given how crowded the group is.

1 hour ago, Lonely Fanboy48 said:

I made my review on this already and I agree with you

It's on Video Fan Art in Stardom's Creative Resources

What I really want to see in Equestria Girls is Human And Princess Twilight interact with each other. What's your opinion on that?

Pony twilight meeting Human twilight would be interesting, but I feel that would be better as a stand alone type episode for the series if they were to make it a full 26 episode thing. It doesn't really push the group as a whole.

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I haven't seen the specials yet, but I don't think they are a failure, or at least yet.

Given how they are in 22 minute increments, and how Discovery Family is airing them at the same time slot where FIM episodes air during the hiatus, I have a pretty good feeling that they were made to test the waters for an Equestria Girls tv series.

And seeing how they haven't aired in the US yet, I can't tell whether or not they were considered a success or not.

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2 hours ago, cmarston1 said:

I haven't seen the specials yet, but I don't think they are a failure, or at least yet.

Given how they are in 22 minute increments, and how Discovery Family is airing them at the same time slot where FIM episodes air during the hiatus, I have a pretty good feeling that they were made to test the waters for an Equestria Girls tv series.

And seeing how they haven't aired in the US yet, I can't tell whether or not they were considered a success or not.

I did watch them, and I can agree to said statement. It's obvious where the most evident failure was at the climax of the third short. I think everything else accomplished the minimum standard of narrative quality. and slice of life plots

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1 hour ago, Fluttershutter said:

Wait, these are out already??? Can somebody direct me to them?

they were early-released in polish, and I would gladly direct you to the links if not where because it's against the rules around here. On top of that, It's been one or two weeks already, so the links are probably down by now :huh:. Try going to equestridaily.com, and look for the specials' stream discussions, there's where I normally look for the links ;) 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I wouldn't consider these failures at all. These were just 3 short episodes, not a feature length film. It sounds like you expected apples and you got oranges instead.

I came in expecting full well that these wouldn't be world-changing or create some huge new plot line for the series. Honestly, after 4 movies it feels nice to take it slow and watch more slice of life centric episodes instead with these characters. If anything, this feels like this was a set up for Starlight to be introduced into the world without having to spend a half hour of the next movie introducing her to being human.

Another plus was seeing the Crystal Prep girls again. Also Rainbow Dash in heels with short hair is another big plus.

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1 hour ago, takai said:

I wouldn't consider these failures at all. These were just 3 short episodes, not a feature length film. It sounds like you expected apples and you got oranges instead.

I came in expecting full well that these wouldn't be world-changing or create some huge new plot line for the series. Honestly, after 4 movies it feels nice to take it slow and watch more slice of life centric episodes instead with these characters. If anything, this feels like this was a set up for Starlight to be introduced into the world without having to spend a half hour of the next movie introducing her to being human.

Another plus was seeing the Crystal Prep girls again. Also Rainbow Dash in heels with short hair is another big plus.

That's right, but like you wrote of not expecting anything more than slice of life, what I can say it failed miserably was in the climax of the third special. Hell,  Sunny and Starlight part was the shit of all the shorts, until the subplot with Juniper came about that was shit :dry: ("the shit", and "shit" ain't the same yo :smug:). Otherwise it was enjoyable 

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I think Juniper Montage was a cool villain executed badly. Especially in Mirror Magic. Too many little magic-related plot holes on her end, with a somewhat unconvincing reformation.

Though I enjoyed the return of the Crystal Prep girls in Dance Magic, the continuation of the mission to save Camp Everfree in the same episode, the first appearance of Juniper in Movie Magic, and the chemistry between Sunset and Starlight in Mirror Magic.

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I think there would be advantages to seeing more of Starlight in EqG, especially if they try (say) a half season of tv length episodes to test the market.

First, having PoF Twi and Sci-Twi at the same time is going to be confusing; as Starlight has no EqG counterpart, it would make sense for her to be the crossover character.  It would also explain her absence from the pony side and stop people complaining quite so much that it's all about Starlight now.

Second, she is OP ponyside; she has a bad habit of trying to use magic to solve problems, but as we have seen in the land of the changelings and again in mirror magic, she does well enough without magic - being part of the EqG group, she will be low on the totem pole - the established characters already can "pony up" and have geodes for additional power, and Starlight isn't going to be able to do magic at all unless she can figure out how to express her "true self"

Third, having her and Sunset interact more would highlight the differences between them, which is a good thing, and

Fourth, I would like to see her interacting with Sci-Twi, given her almost hero-worship of PoF Twi :)

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idk, I thought they were awesome. Only issue I got is there are only three of them.

but hey, I just love the shit out of EQG so any new content for me is totally welcomed.

But I do agree with you, the conflict in mirror magic kinda had me goin like "wtf" like i dunno the mirror suddenly turning her into a giant was pretty weird and then like she just went stomping around for whatever damn reason 

altho it wasnt enough to leave me feeling disappointed or unhappy, i still enjoyed tf outta tese definitely gotta check em out again

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One thing they should do in the future is take some inspiration from Marvel and DC and expand upon the HuMane 7's Superpowers.

Maybe a nod to the late Jack Kirby when he came up with the X-Men alongside Stan Lee.

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Ehhh. I thought that the specials were okay. They definitely were more directed towards the "slice of life" category. I wasn't expecting much to begin with. I mainly enjoyed seeing Sunset Shimmer go back to Equestria for a bit and interacting with Starlight Glimmer.

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On 19/06/2017 at 5:11 AM, SaburoDaimando said:

One thing they should do in the future is take some inspiration from Marvel and DC and expand upon the HuMane 7's Superpowers.

Maybe a nod to the late Jack Kirby when he came up with the X-Men alongside Stan Lee.

I think the choice to concentrate their "new" powers in the geodes is interesting - unlike their attributes, they can be lost, stolen or transferred....

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 6/18/2017 at 4:22 PM, CypherHoof said:

and stop people complaining quite so much that it's all about Starlight now.

There is an upcoming world-building episode which prominently features Starlight, so I don't see this stopping. 

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(edited)

              I liked the specials but I have to agree with the pointless aspect of it.

They said the episodes would take place after LOE. Which made it seem like it was going to be a serialized story that continued with each episode.

The movies have always told a big story, these three part specials were just like slice of life episodes.

One of the biggest things that has separated equestria girls from the Friendship is Magic series is that it tries to tell an epic story.

Not this slice of life stuff.

 

 

              The three episodes should have been a three parter that continued from the Legend of Everfree story.

Leaking magic, and their new found powers. 

The three episodes SHOULD have in my opinion, been three connected episodes that set the stage for a big connected series for equestria girls.

If we get a Equestria Girls spin-off it needs to have a serialized story.

One episode continues after the last. With a big overarching story telling one epic story.

 

             They shouldn't have done slice of life episodes in my opinion.

 

Edited by Firedog
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I honestly feel pretty disappointed with them. Yes, they were good, but where was Flash? And I thought after LoE that Flash and Sunset would be a couple. I also wish that Sunset and Sci Twi were alone together because I think they should be best friends. But overall, they were okay.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 15/07/2017 at 1:17 AM, MLPReshaStorm said:

I honestly feel pretty disappointed with them. Yes, they were good, but where was Flash? And I thought after LoE that Flash and Sunset would be a couple. I also wish that Sunset and Sci Twi were alone together because I think they should be best friends. But overall, they were okay.

Seem to recall Sunny said that she wasn't actually attracted to Flash, she was just using him for popularity. I think they do better as friends, and after all, it DOES leave him available for shipping with the rest of the rainbooms :D

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