Things you don't get why they are popular?

[Raskolnikov 168]

Yeah I'm actually a bit confused because to me the majority of FiM is slice of life and that's what makes it cosy escapism to me? So many episodes are just the characters living their lives and having regular human (err, pony) problems with nothing really horrible going on in the grand scheme of things. I liked the first 3 seasons especially because Twilight could just be a normal pony with normal pony problems most of the time

I do think I agree with OverTheStars in that I value character writing over gogogo action, though it's not either/or to me either, I think a good mix of both makes the best stories

[Raskolnikov 168]

22 hours ago, OverTheStars said:

Usually I can see the appeal in most things, but...

Minimalism - sort of a weird one, but I feel like minimalism for everything has been on the rise. Sometimes it looks neat and stuff, but most the time it just looks bland or boring to me, like companies don't have to put any thought into design or marketing under the guise of "but look at how sleek and simplistic it looks!". I just really like colors and interesting stuff, I'd take tacky over minimal any day

 

Yeah I've started calling this trend the "colour tax" because hey, I can't think of a reason companies choose to remove all colour from designs unless colour comes with extra tax, right? :p

It's a soulless aesthetic with no personality and honestly makes me feel depressed. Worked in businesses with these kind of modernist designs and idk how the staff who spend more hours in those buildings stay sane.

[Snoopy Fan 4,187]

On 2025-04-27 at 9:08 PM, Fluttershutter said:

I don't get bottled water in general. I know sometimes it's convenient if you're going somewhere but why at home?

And I especially don't get why people would buy the expensive brands, This Liquid Death crap. Wow, they gave it an edgy name and now you'll pay five bucks for a can of water. 

I normally just take one of my metal water bottles, fill with water from the faucet and ice from the freezer, and take it wherever I go.

[Dawnshine Wonder 1,812]

21 minutes ago, OverTheStars said:

My main problem isn't really with dramatic fight scenes, but with boring storytelling. I'm actually okay with some slice of life or "soap opera" type stories if the characters are interesting, the only thing that really turns me off of a show is if it's just one dimensional characters that I can't bring myself to care about (or if the show tries to lazily slap on some tragic backstory to make us care) and when it values those dramatic fight scenes over all character writing and pacing. An example of a Shounen anime/manga I really liked was Fullmetal Alchemist, both Brotherhood and the og, because of how great the characters and dynamics were. The story was told well I think and even though the characters go through a lot of bad stuff, we still care about them aside from that. The way that alchemy worked in that universe was genuinely interesting and the characters felt like actually developing people.

I don't like a lot of slice of life since I agree some parts tend to meander (unless it's a comedy that I actually find funny), but I love some animes like Nana or Princess Jellyfish because even though it's not some grand epic adventure with magic, there's still really interesting and relatable characters that I want to watch. 

That being said, those are just my tastes. When it comes to media I'm someone who tends to gravitate towards stories that focus more on characters and storytelling than just action. Because of that I'm okay with more casual settings and scenarios as long as the characters are interesting and engaging. Also sometimes whether I like an anime is totally random. Like I really loved Saint Seiya even though that show IS purely action and a bunch of pretty boys beating each other up

Sure, OG Dragonball was better though because that show did more than show people fighting, it showed not only Goku on his quest to collect the Dragonballs and we got to see him develop his skills in his childhood. Putting the absurdity of a child entering World Martial Arts tournaments aside, he used his Power Pole to get himself out of situations that he could not handle without it, such as reaching Kami's Lookout. This was before he learned how to fly I think, he did not really display that ability until the final Tournament with Piccolo. He could launch himself into the sky using his Kamehameha, but only for a short time and that showed how skilful he became with his powers, he learned to improvise and find a way around his limitations with strategy, and arguably was much less of a fool than he typically is portrayed in Dragonball Super, and he nearly blows himself up with Kaioken just to fight Hit in some petty tournament where there were no stakes involved besides knock each other out. Goku was willing to kill a villain if it meant saving the planet as well, such as when he killed Tambourine for killing Krillin. He did not leave it to chance just because he enjoyed fighting, he was more of a no nonsense fighter back then. He let Piccolo Jr live, but mainly to keep Kami alive and the dragonballs, by that time he was confident of his own power that he could keep Piccolo in check, at least until Raditz arrived.

 

I like an adventure story that has mystic elements, however having the characters use strategy with their powers is equally important in my opinion.

[Dawnshine Wonder 1,812]

47 minutes ago, Raskolnikov said:

Yeah I'm actually a bit confused because to me the majority of FiM is slice of life and that's what makes it cosy escapism to me? So many episodes are just the characters living their lives and having regular human (err, pony) problems with nothing really horrible going on in the grand scheme of things. I liked the first 3 seasons especially because Twilight could just be a normal pony with normal pony problems most of the time

I do think I agree with OverTheStars in that I value character writing over gogogo action, though it's not either/or to me either, I think a good mix of both makes the best stories

But in so doing, they made their villains a joke, and almost a non threat as well. Case in point is the Mean Six episode of My Little Pony FIM, this is where slice of life genre fails miserably because the story telling shackled Mean Six from actually being imposing characters, and while they did cause mischief in the background, it wasn't exactly life threatening, was it?

Some villain Queen Chrysalis is, she cannot even launch an actual war in that episode because all her minions were doing, is pulling pranks on Mane Six and not much else, and they destroyed themselves later on, without Mane Six even knowing what transpired.

I don't know about everybody else here, but I for one, do want villains to be a threat in a story, otherwise their existence becomes nothing more than comic relief. There's no challenge for the characters in this situation, this is the problem I have with My Little Pony, and some other fans I have spoken to, the adventure aspect of it can be dull at times, if it were an actual adventure story, there would be something to fight for, a kingdom to defend.

[OverTheStars 293]

44 minutes ago, Dawnshine Wonder said:

Sure, OG Dragonball was better though because that show did more than show people fighting, it showed not only Goku on his quest to collect the Dragonballs and we got to see him develop his skills in his childhood. Putting the absurdity of a child entering World Martial Arts tournaments aside, he used his Power Pole to get himself out of situations that he could not handle without it, such as reaching Kami's Lookout. This was before he learned how to fly I think, he did not really display that ability until the final Tournament with Piccolo. He could launch himself into the sky using his Kamehameha, but only for a short time and that showed how skilful he became with his powers, he learned to improvise and find a way around his limitations with strategy, and arguably was much less of a fool than he typically is portrayed in Dragonball Super, and he nearly blows himself up with Kaioken just to fight Hit in some petty tournament where there were no stakes involved besides knock each other out. Goku was willing to kill a villain if it meant saving the planet as well, such as when he killed Tambourine for killing Krillin. He did not leave it to chance just because he enjoyed fighting, he was more of a no nonsense fighter back then. He let Piccolo Jr live, but mainly to keep Kami alive and the dragonballs, by that time he was confident of his own power that he could keep Piccolo in check, at least until Raditz arrived.

 

I like an adventure story that has mystic elements, however having the characters use strategy with their powers is equally important in my opinion.

I can't really speak on Dragonball at all, I haven't watched it and I don't really plan to. But I do agree that most the interest for me when it comes to action is how the characters use their ability, not just how much raw power they have.

[Snoopy Fan 4,187]

Beavis and Butthead, like South Park, I just think it’s really annoying.

[Dawnshine Wonder 1,812]

11 minutes ago, OverTheStars said:

I can't really speak on Dragonball at all, I haven't watched it and I don't really plan to. But I do agree that most the interest for me when it comes to action is how the characters use their ability, not just how much raw power they have.

Right, and in the Mean Six episode of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, they had neither of those things, because no battle with Mane Six even took place.

This is where the limitations of slice of life show, because while it does focus on relationships of the characters, it also prevents high stakes conflict a lot of the time. I don't even know why Queen Chrysalis exists in the show, when she seems incapable of coordinating a war in the later seasons (main timeline) without the help of Tirek or Cozy Glow.

As for her energy drain abilities as shown in To Where and Back Again, pathetic if you ask me. If I recall researching this correctly, her energy drain power had severe repercussions for victims in the comics, and she was able to drain others to the point of passing out. Guess they won't be needing a medic or a healer then.

[OverTheStars 293]

4 minutes ago, Dawnshine Wonder said:

Right, and in the Mean Six episode of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, they had neither of those things, because no battle with Mane Six even took place.

This is where the limitations of slice of life show, because while it does focus on relationships of the characters, it also prevents high stakes conflict a lot of the time. I don't even know why Queen Chrysalis exists in the show, when she seems incapable of coordinating a war in the later seasons (main timeline) without the help of Tirek or Cozy Glow.

As for her energy drain abilities as shown in To Where and Back Again, pathetic if you ask me. If I recall researching this correctly, her energy drain power had severe repercussions for victims in the comics, and she was able to drain others to the point of passing out. Guess they won't be needing a medic or a healer then.

I don't care much for the later seasons anyways, so the villains being watered down isn't surprising because of the general downgrade in quality. What I'll have to disagree with is that more casual settings and slice of life can't have high stakes. In real life, bad and scary things happen and emotions can run high. Just because the entire world isn't at stake doesn't necessarily mean there aren't any stakes at all. Think of negative things in your own life, arguments you may have gotten into, people who are important to you, etc. In the grand scheme of things, they might not seem like much, but to you and those around you they likely mean a lot. If a show can really get you to care about the character, regardless of the setting, then it doesn't matter how large the stakes are in the grand scheme of things because you're still invested in the character's well-being. 

I'll use Nana as an example, even though the characters are just ordinary people, as you watch and begin to connect to the characters you start to care about the character's and their futures. Even though there's not 1000 lives or a kingdom at stake, you still feel upset at the idea of one of them ending up in a toxic relationship. Or even though there's no magic or combat, you still really hope that a character is able to get out of an abusive situation. Not every story has to be about saving the world, even most Shounen anime usually hone in on things such as the characters' family or lives in order to get you to care, because even though the whole world might be at risk, you still don't have a reason to care unless you're investes in the characters in that world.

I would also argue that the earlier seasons of MLP are a great example of how slice of life and adventure go together. The earlier seasons are the most well-liked, and the majority of episodes are based on slice of life problems alongside adventure and magic. Chrysalis' writing in the later seasons wasn't the fault of trying to combine slice of life and action (the first few seasons proved you can do it and do it well), but the result of poor writing that can be seen through various elements of the later seasons. Both slice of life and adventure have always been a part of FiM, and if you remove one then it's not FiM anymore.

[Dawnshine Wonder 1,812]

8 minutes ago, OverTheStars said:

I don't care much for the later seasons anyways, so the villains being watered down isn't surprising because of the general downgrade in quality. What I'll have to disagree with is that more casual settings and slice of life can't have high stakes. In real life, bad and scary things happen and emotions can run high. Just because the entire world isn't at stake doesn't necessarily mean there aren't any stakes at all. Think of negative things in your own life, arguments you may have gotten into, people who are important to you, etc. In the grand scheme of things, they might not seem like much, but to you and those around you they likely mean a lot. If a show can really get you to care about the character, regardless of the setting, then it doesn't matter how large the stakes are in the grand scheme of things because you're still invested in the character's well-being. 

I'll use Nana as an example, even though the characters are just ordinary people, as you watch and begin to connect to the characters you start to care about the character's and their futures. Even though there's not 1000 lives or a kingdom at stake, you still feel upset at the idea of one of them ending up in a toxic relationship. Or even though there's no magic or combat, you still really hope that a character is able to get out of an abusive situation. Not every story has to be about saving the world, even most Shounen anime usually hone in on things such as the characters' family or lives in order to get you to care, because even though the whole world might be at risk, you still don't have a reason to care unless you're investes in the characters in that world.

I would also argue that the earlier seasons of MLP are a great example of how slice of life and adventure go together. The earlier seasons are the most well-liked, and the majority of episodes are based on slice of life problems alongside adventure and magic. Chrysalis' writing in the later seasons wasn't the fault of trying to combine slice of life and action (the first few seasons proved you can do it and do it well), but the result of poor writing that can be seen through various elements of the later seasons. Both slice of life and adventure have always been a part of FiM, and if you remove one then it's not FiM anymore.

They should have just gone with adventure and action story telling, IMO that would have solved it in the long run, and given Hasbro more freedom to write in more threatening villains without it being a negative to anything else.

Look at Transformers, this is where both adventure and relationships of characters are shown, even in the 1986 animated film this was done well. They get the balance just right between drama and non drama scenes, and just because other characters have their own problems, they don't ignore the danger of what they are up against, Unicron and the Decepticons.

In a similar way, Queen Chrysalis in MLP FIM should have been viewed as an active threat for as long as she free to do whatever she wants and was not petrified or otherwise imprisoned or destroyed. But episodes like Mean Six had the Mane Six not even acknowledge her existence and that continued right up until Mean Six died, so it did not really feel like the fate of Equestria was at stake at all, far from it.

[Sparklefan1234 174,834]

Why would you go to the movies on a first date if you're just going to sit in silence and not get to know the other person? 🤷

I don't know if this counts.🙃

Edited April 29 by Sparklefan1234

[Dawnshine Wonder 1,812]

1 hour ago, Snoopy Fan said:

Beavis and Butthead, like South Park, I just think it’s really annoying.

I like comedy shows, Beavis and Butthead is one I watch from time to time however I can understand why Snoopy Fan would find that one annoying, that's a fair point to make, there are some scenes which could be considered cringeworthy, however comedy is not to be taken seriously, no actual story happens, it's just a cartoon about two jerks who run around all day annoying other people with their antics.

I cannot for the life of me understand why Slice of Life is liked though, I hate it for the same reasons I hate Soap Operas. They remind me of things I hate about the real world, including toxic relationships and petty arguments.

I cannot be invested in something like that when that is all that ever happens. What I like to see are things like redemption arcs, which often happen in adventure stories, it's not always satisfying to watch, but when they are, you end up liking the characters for who they became, not who they were, and it is why Princess Luna is one of my favourite characters from My Little Pony FIM.