Could G5 be as big as G4?

[The Recherche 29,965]

I'm just going to be blunt: I would be genuinely taken aback if it were even half as big. Whether we like to admit it or not, bronies during their trendy phase lived off of their shock value... which no longer exists. While it would be a stretch to say that bronies are about as mundane as a light summer breeze, they won't catch anyone off guard anymore. Will Generation 5 be successful? I believe so, but I have yet to be convinced that it will reach the heights of Generation 4 during its peak. These are just projections, though: I could very well be proven wrong one day.

[BornAgainBrony 2,395]

4 minutes ago, The Recherche said:

I'm just going to be blunt: I would be genuinely taken aback if it were even half as big. Whether we like to admit it or not, bronies during their trendy phase lived off of their shock value... which no longer exists.

Are you saying that being controversial is actually what kept people hooked, even perhaps to the point of being more important than the show? Not sure how I feel about that. Furries are a close cousin to Bronies, and even though they've become borderline mainstream (retail stores are beginning to sell animal costume parts all year round now), their numbers are still growing, and that fandom is roughly 20 years old now.

[The Recherche 29,965]

2 hours ago, bornAgainEquestrian said:

Are you saying that being controversial is actually what kept people hooked, even perhaps to the point of being more important than the show? Not sure how I feel about that. Furries are a close cousin to Bronies, and even though they've become borderline mainstream (retail stores are beginning to sell animal costume parts all year round now), their numbers are still growing, and that fandom is roughly 20 years old now.

Not necessarily; there are most definitely genuine bronies who enjoy the show, merchandise, etc., but I'm saying that I can't see bronies becoming a trend again. The main reason we rose to prominence was due to our defiance of the status quo: grown adults enjoying a show about ponies, intended for young girls? At the time, this was unheard of... but that's the past now. A new batch of bronies joining the fray won't thrust MLP into the mainstream again, due to the fact that the shock value is gone. As I said, though: Generation 5 could very well strike a chord with many folks out there, but I firmly believe that our days of being spoken about in news headlines, having our own exclusive conventions, and a whole manner of other things are behind us.

[RaphLuna 305]

You can have amazing charecter designs, and cool background, and build a whole new kingdom and change how things work and all.. However without a Powerful Strong interesting story to go with it... its all useless will end up crumbling and Fail.

The Story is the most important part, without it its just another Slezy way to Push more Merchandise to sell to the public.  

[BornAgainBrony 2,395]

On 8/18/2018 at 6:22 PM, The Recherche said:

Not necessarily; there are most definitely genuine bronies who enjoy the show, merchandise, etc., but I'm saying that I can't see bronies becoming a trend again. The main reason we rose to prominence was due to our defiance of the status quo: grown adults enjoying a show about ponies, intended for young girls? At the time, this was unheard of... but that's the past now. A new batch of bronies joining the fray won't thrust MLP into the mainstream again, due to the fact that the shock value is gone. As I said, though: Generation 5 could very well strike a chord with many folks out there, but I firmly believe that our days of being spoken about in news headlines, having our own exclusive conventions, and a whole manner of other things are behind us.

Maybe we're just mincing words about what is meant by how "big" G4 is vs. G5 because we might be equating how popular the show is to how popular the fandom is. Does G5 need the "controversy" of Bronies for it to have as large a following. I know the initial Christian freak-out had some of an impact on early growth. Not so sure about the Brony hate that came later. There's enough entertainment out there doing just fine without needing a controversial fanbase to make it grow. Can the show not develop a huge following without the media making a huge manure-fest out of the people who like it?

But we're also probably forgetting the importance of a certain independent marketing behemoth: 4chan. They may have actually been even more important than Hasbro's own advertising. It's staggering to see how much social influence that site has had on certain random topics over the years. If the 4chan machine gets interested in it again, I think there's a good chance of a resurgence.

Another thing to keep in mind about the controversial aspect, is that it's really rooted in the narrow-minded concept of, "If you're X then you are also definitely Y," which means Bronies are 'feared' at the core because of people who fear other things that they also inevitably assume about Bronies. Those other phobias aren't going anywhere, and may have actually made somewhat of a comeback in the past year or so due to the major political shakeup (in one specific nation anyhow, but then now that I think of it, there are nations that are far less phobic or intolerant than America where Bronies became just as popular).

[PacificGreen 1,163]

Late to the discussion, but my thoughts are that it probably will be good (or at least miles better than G3 & Newborn Cuties-type stuff) and garner a sizable base, most of whom will be bronies from G4. But here's the thing: It's very hard to capture lightning in a bottle twice (or whatever the phrase is).

MLP was a viral trend around 2011-2013. Part of its success was part bronies just spamming pony wherever they could and people getting annoyed, but the other part was that everyone expected this generation to be low quality girly garbage and being surprised when the show was actually pretty good, or at least tolerable. That's virality that grew (somewhat) organically, which is a big component of viral trends that tend to stay or be remembered through the years. Going by what I've read about the leaks, it seems Hasbro is actively seeking to recreate that virality by making the series more action-oriented and along the lines of Star Vs. or Steven Universe. While many would agree that those are great shows in their own right, having that kind of objective could backfire. What so many people liked about MLP was that it was its own thing in many ways, but at the same time they knew how to make it good. And trying to shape the franchise into something it's never really been before, or trying to latch onto the success of other shows can come across as "trying too hard". 

TL;DR I'm sure the show will be good and have a fanbase, but I am a little concerned because, in some things in life, if you try too hard to make something good, you may end up making it less enjoyable.

Or maybe I'm just worried because the Mane Six could be changed forever. Who knows.

[chirox the pony 1,334]

I would agree with the majority when I'd say the kind of popularity seen in the early 2010s is likely to never occur again. That is the media frenzy that surrounded it. However I do think it is very possible that a lot of the former fans (people who were into the show during the early 2010s) may actually return. 

One possible reason I believe it could happen is because the animation industry seems to be entering another dark age. A lot of the renaissance cartoons of the 2010s are ending soon with not much to really engage the western animation community in their place. Except for (maybe) MLP G5. G5 is meant to be more action/adventure oriented as well as having greater focus on lore and world building. I think this is a really smart move as it is responding to the demands of the western animation community. Many have been unhappy with the state of western animation due to it's focus on comedic and less animation intensive cartoons over the past few years. I think due to these conditions it's very possible that a lot of the same people who were into MLP G4 (as well as completely new fans) may embrace G5. I also think it's emphasis on greater lore will allow for heavy support from youtubers. For example theorist channels could potentially have a field day with it. Them having a TV show that actually does have a deep lore for them to speculate on is actually really good for engaging a large online community. 

 

Of course I could be completely wrong and MLP will just sink further into irrelevancy but having weighed up all the factors I think 2020 may see a resurgence in the MLP fanbase. 

[Plonkett 341]

Way I see it, G5 will bring in new fans before they even got into MLP prior.

[Guest]

I think it's very possible that such a thing could happen. No one expected G4's success, and yet it was insanely popular.

[Plonkett 341]

I had another thought. Remember Mighty Morphin Power Rangers back in the 90s? Back then it was extremely popular. There are still new Power Rangers shows coming out, but none of them have anywhere near the same amount of popularity as the first series. I'm hopeful that MLP won't suffer the same fate, but who knows.

Edited February 5, 2019 by vgmaster9

[PacificGreen 1,163]

On 8/18/2018 at 3:22 PM, The Recherche said:

Not necessarily; there are most definitely genuine bronies who enjoy the show, merchandise, etc., but I'm saying that I can't see bronies becoming a trend again. The main reason we rose to prominence was due to our defiance of the status quo: grown adults enjoying a show about ponies, intended for young girls? At the time, this was unheard of... but that's the past now. A new batch of bronies joining the fray won't thrust MLP into the mainstream again, due to the fact that the shock value is gone. As I said, though: Generation 5 could very well strike a chord with many folks out there, but I firmly believe that our days of being spoken about in news headlines, having our own exclusive conventions, and a whole manner of other things are behind us.

I'd like to add to this one more thing: most people have already made up their minds what they think about MLP and bronies. 

I've sifted through comment threads, both past and recent, of articles specifically about FiM and the fandom, as well as videos that offhandedly mention MLP and bronies (yes, I know that breaks one of the most important rules of the internet, "don't read the comments", but sometimes I just can't resist!), and from what I've gleaned, the general spectrum of reactions hasn't really changed. You have people saying that bronies are the scourge of the Internet and need to die, you have fans defending the show to varying degrees of politeness, saying people should give it a chance, and then you have the people who just plain don't care. Most of the people who are willing to give it a chance have already given it a chance, those who aren't have moved on, and pony as a meme has pretty much lost its steam. Consequently, the number of new fans the show gathers has been at a pretty small scale post-2015, arguably post-2013, no matter what new developments the show comes up with. Remember the season 4 finale with the big Dragon Ball Z-like fight between Twilight and Tirek? Fans everywhere were fangasming about that fight and pointing to it as a prime example of how the show isn't just a girly show, yet, as awesome as that scene was, I can't remember coming across anyone saying that that particular moment was what drew them into the show. 

The MLP fandom has kind of been at an equilibrium for quite a while now, even with the growing lore and the increasingly mature themes. There will always be a large portion of people who won't want to watch the show, simply because it's directly connected to a girl toy cash cow from Hasbro (honestly I don't blame them; if they're not interested, they're not interested), and we'll always have small volumes of people both joining and leaving the fandom. Bottom line, I think it would take a MASSIVE overhaul of the franchise as a whole to get a large number of people now to change their minds and brew up the same kind of hype as G4 had back in its heyday. I'm not sure how big of a risk they're willing to take with it, what with the risk of alienating current fans and compromising the generally lighthearted, kid-friendly air the franchise has had for so long.

[AJ2489 2,855]

I suppose it depends on how well the show is crated. If we get a show to the same quality level as FiM (like the character development, humour and plots that appeal to most) then it has the possibility to be as good as Fim is (though I doubt it'll be better...) 

Regardless of the shows quality, I think a large part of this fanbase will give G5 a chance before deciding ether it's worth our time or not. 

 

However times, they are a changeling (get it! XD) and I see 2 possible outcomes: 1. The brony community thrives with a load of new members from G5. 2. The Brony fandom steadily declines until not much remains of it, though I hope this aint the case!

[LordRichard9 9]

I personally think that while it'll have a largish following, It wont get itself anywhere near as large as G4. I think that if the show has a good quality, not even to the level of FIM, that there would be around the same number of new bronies entering the fandom as we have leaving, leading to a null zero situation.

Now if the show is able to be as good as the one we have now, then we have a different kind of beast on our hands. I could see a large increase in our fandom's membership, but I dont see it ever reaching it's hight again.

[lua 105]

Probably not, it could be a good show but no one knows yet. I feel like it could be popular but not even close to how popular g4 was during 2011-2013

[Cirrus. 1,088]

 

I don't think G5 is going to end up as big as G4. I'll be surprised if it is.

But it's hard to say at this point how G5 is going to go. I'll definitely check it out. If it looks good and has good writing and voice acting I'll probably watch. If it's lacking in any of these three important elements I probably won't.

G4 was literally a random thing. Lauren was at Hasbro to pitch something else and they gave her an old MLP DVD and asked, "Can you do something with this?" Right person, right place, right time. Little did they know she had already been working on it as a child.

 

Edited February 25, 2019 by Cirrus.