Thoughts on G5

[Steve Piranha 29,483]

I’m not impressed so far. I’m sticking because the “mane” course is on it’s way. But only a movie, a special, and YT shorts are hardly selling G5 for me 

[Rosy Moonlight 371]

With how much lore and talent came from MLP:FIM, it was easy to see how making G5 a soft reboot of G4 was going to do more harm than good.

Edited July 24, 2022 by Rosy Moonlight

[radspeon 16]

I like G5, the movie is something I've rewatched quite a bit, I feel like it's the best piece of G5 media we have so far. TYT isn't very good, I still can't get over it's art style. I feel like a Pony Life-type direction would've been better, but I can acknowledge the difference between the two. 

 

I have hope for G5 still. I just hope that it doesn't get blander than MYM.

[Rosy Moonlight 371]

I think that G5 itself can be considered one of the reasons why the MLP fanbase seems to be shrinking at such a rapid speed.

One example is the very fact that G5 has basically overridden everything that G4 had built up.

It can make watching MLP G4 content feel like a waste because of how G5 handled the continuity, driven by being part of the very same one.

If G4 could be as great as it was, having first aired almost 3 decades after MLP started, G5 didn't need to be pushed as hard as it was to keep the franchise successful.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Rosy Moonlight

[ProjectRKA 2,848]

1 hour ago, r3dYASHA said:

TYT isn't very good, I still can't get over it's art style.

I haven't watched TYT yet, but this is the main problem I have with the show as well.

[Goat-kun 2,530]

It's just Ponies the Modern Kid Show. The story is meh, the characters are meh, the style is very meh.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,163]

While not everything with Tell Your Tale has been outstanding I still really love what the show is doing with the characters and the world-building; specifically the return of magic, it's shakiness, and how society must adapt to it. That, along with the movie and comics is still showing a lot of promise for G5 to come.

[Steve Piranha 29,483]

3 hours ago, Goat-kun said:

It's just Ponies the Modern Kid Show. The story is meh, the characters are meh, the style is very meh.

Yeah, I think that’s really my “mane” gripe. I know that was expected from G5, but not taking away the fantasy and magic element from the franchise. I know ANG and MYM did, but there’s more TYT that hardly go anywhere. I’d like more of those gorgeous landscapes ANG has 

[Cherrychip 113]

I saw the movie and it was pretty cute! Dunno about anything else though, haven't gotten that far tbh  I liked the CGI in the movie, but the style of the shorts (I don't remember if it's mym or tyt I have no memory-) really puts me off? Idk why.

[Solar Power 329]

I've been liking it a lot so far, perhaps a bit more than I expected to. 

The movie was fantastic and most of the Tell Your Tales have been great. I liked the special a lot but I felt it could have had a bit more to it.

There's so much potential for generation 5 and I hope they manage to fulfil it. I'm guessing we'll see when the Make Your Mark series comes out.

[Megas 27,995]

It's alright. The movie was great but everything after like TYT and MYM have been okay at best(haven't read the comics because they're heavily reliant on Discord and fuck that). Nothing mindblowing, but nothing truly awful. A while back I said most likely I was going to drop G5 out of boredom but unfortunately that seems to be where the trajectory has been headed(though it's still better than how I ended G4)

Honestly they really shouldn't have relied so hard on being G4. They had to live up to such a paradigm shift for the franchise, being a direct follow up to one of the franchises most successful generations instead of being it's own thing and letting itself stand on its own. Even if it mean fucking up G4's crappy ending

Edited July 30, 2022 by Megas

[abronymouse 6,141]

The movie was great, TyT has its moments, MyM is pretty solid apart from the animation. It was always going to be a step down from FiM in terms of fun and edginess given the Faust/Tara combo, but I really feel like the writers love the pony brand and, having got into all of the generations of pony now, I think it fits in.

 

[Rosy Moonlight 371]

I feel like the episodes in Tell Your Tale that do not directly connect to the overarching plot or are not focused on modern technology are often better than those that are.

For example, Sisters Take Flight. The episode is about leaving the nest and how people might react to the resulting attention differently. Nothing about working towards pony unity and the closest to that is the part where the pegasi struggle to fly properly, which not only plays into the episode's themes but it also sets up for Zipp's episode, where she teaches the pegasi how to fly properly.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Rosy Moonlight

[Misty Shadow 8,109]

On 2022-07-31 at 8:25 AM, abrony-mouse said:

The movie was great, TyT has its moments, MyM is pretty solid apart from the animation. It was always going to be a step down from FiM in terms of fun and edginess given the Faust/Tara combo, but I really feel like the writers love the pony brand and, having got into all of the generations of pony now, I think it fits in.

 

The vast majority of FiM had no involvement from Lauren Faust and Tara (presuming you mean Tara Strong) is a voice actor, not a writer or director. Faust was involved with Season 1 and somewhat involved with Season 2, and I believe Tara had some influence in the writing of Sparkle's Seven, but they were not the driving force behind most of FiM. And although Tell Your Tale is written by a new team of writers, both main pieces of G5 content we've been given so far, the movie and the Make Your Mark opener, were written by veteran FiM writer, Gillian Berrow. Most of the staff working on the new generation are new people who do feel like they have a love for G4, however. I also learned recently that the movie's script, despite being written by Gillian Berrow and another writer, was actually adapted from a story written by three other writers. 

Edited October 2, 2022 by CloudMistDragon
Added in information I didn't know at the time.

[Cherrychip 113]

On 2022-07-30 at 8:36 AM, Cherrychip said:

I saw the movie and it was pretty cute! Dunno about anything else though, haven't gotten that far tbh  I liked the CGI in the movie, but the style of the shorts (I don't remember if it's mym or tyt I have no memory-) really puts me off? Idk why.

Finally got around to watching TYT, I really enjoy it! The humor isn't always for me, and I was unsure of the art style, but I find it enjoyable! I think people are overreacting a teeeeny bit: FiM couldn't last forever, as sad as it is to say.

I think G5 is going pretty well thus far, but remember how long FiM lasted! We still have a long ways to go, this is still very early in it's lifespan, I think 

Edit: BUT I gotta say that making it continue off of FiM and not be it's own thing wasn't a good choice. I hope that they somehow retcon that choice, although idk how they would at this point? 

Also a very small gripe is that the cutie marks aren't on both flanks. I know that previous gens didn't always either, but I think it looks better 

Edited August 2, 2022 by Cherrychip

[abronymouse 6,141]

1 hour ago, CloudMistDragon said:

The vast majority of FiM had no involvement from Lauren Faust and Tara (presuming you mean Tara Strong) is a voice actor, not a writer or director.

Lauren set the team going and gave it its direction - she was a huge influence on the direction team eg Larson. The reason I mention Tara is because she had never been near the MLP franchise before, and I get the impression that Lauren was insisting on Tara as part of her overall sassy departure for MLP.  

 

Quote

 And although Tell Your Tale is written by a new team of writers, both main pieces of G5 content we've been given so far, the movie and the Make Your Mark opener, were written by veteran FiM writer, Gillian Berrow. Most of the staff working on the new generation are new people who do feel like they have a love for G4, however. 

I know Berrow is the direction for G5, but she was a writer and not part of the direction for FiM. Berrow has a cute and sweet but FiMish style which feels like a bridge between G3 and G4 to me. I like G3 in the mane, but the new series feels like a decisive departure from FiM (as it should be, given G5 has a new director, but I do miss the FiM style).

[Starset Twinkle 539]

On 2022-07-31 at 11:25 AM, abrony-mouse said:

The movie was great, TyT has its moments, MyM is pretty solid apart from the animation. It was always going to be a step down from FiM in terms of fun and edginess given the Faust/Tara combo, but I really feel like the writers love the pony brand and, having got into all of the generations of pony now, I think it fits in.

 

Did you read my mind? That's pretty much exactly how I feel! >.<

G5 hinges on MYM IMO so TBD TBH LOL

[Steve Piranha 29,483]

On 2022-08-02 at 7:26 AM, Rosy Moonlight said:

I feel like the episodes in Tell Your Tale that do not directly connect to the overarching plot or are not focused on modern technology are often better than those that are.

 

Funny I think the same about Horse Life. Thing about Horse Life, it had it’s healthy share of fantasy, and adding things of it’s own lore apart from FIM. Problem with G5 so far is there’s hardly world building. FIM was set mostly in Ponyville in the beginning, but you knew the world was much vast. G5 has the same potential as their world is very compacted, but that’s because it’s forgotten knowledge and there’s rediscovery, but nothing like that has been brought so far. Thank goodness for the evil alicorn 

[Steve Piranha 29,483]

How long until MYM anyway? I want to see if there are actual plans for where to take G5, as they didn’t have any in ANG 

[Arylett Charnoa 4,919]

I fell out of the fandom so many years ago, due to having been very burnt by ponies all the way back in FiM's fifth season. Without the insane hype of the pony fandom these days, I actually found myself enjoying the series far more when I caught up to the ending. [And also because I believe the quality of it kept rising in the later seasons.]

Thus, I'm no super fan, and have never been. Always have thought FiM was a fairly decent kids' show with my favorite Western cartoon art style and intriguing world building. I only watched one special/movie of this Gen and whilst it was entertaining, I don't find myself interested in watching any more. There are two reasons for this:

• I can't stand the current art style of this series... both 3D AND 2D. FiM had a unique aesthetic that I've never seen in any other cartoon, one that focused on clean simplicity and beauty, rather than the usual style that most Western animation seems to adapt. Now, it looks generic and blends it with the crowd. The 3D ponies give me a serious case of uncanny valley, proving to me that ponies just don't translate well into it. As for the 2D, it looks like Bean Mouth Modern Style, which I dislike looking at.
   
• Then there's the world-building, as many have stated. Whilst I haven't watched all the specials, I have a general sense of what happens. It isn't very expansive yet, and that would be fine... save for the fact that they set this after G4. It doesn't even feel like the same world in the slightest and I will not buy that it is. I dislike it when series do this. I understand that a lot happens in thousands of years, but without any proper set up to explain what exactly occurred to cancel out the positives of Twilight's reign, it falls flat. At the moment, it really is just an excuse to cash in on FiM's popularity. It can never stand on its own now and will forever be compared, in its shadow, because of this poor execution. As I've seen others express, it really should've been its own thing entirely.

I believe that FiM was lightning-in-a-bottle, a series of circumstances that can never be replicated, and that this series would've never reached that level of popularity once the novelty of grown men watching little girls' cartoons wore off. But it could've at least carved out its own niche. Now, they guarantee it cannot.

Don't really have much optimism for it to improve either. Whilst they gave the creatives of G4 enough freedom to write intriguing lore for the series, Hasbro being a toy company who only cares about selling them still sometimes interfered with the quality of FiM. Now that we've started fresh with new creatives that haven't really established themselves, Hasbro can exert more control, which is obvious just from this bone-headed decision they've made. The brony fandom was a nice diversion for them, and they've made a bare minimum attempt to pander to it by connecting this to G4. But bronies' shrinking numbers over the years means that they probably aren't going to make attempts to explain the lore because they aren't willing to put in the effort beyond that.

Of course, I could be proven wrong. They may allow the writers to experiment more as with the risk they took with G4. If I hear of any interesting developments on this front, maybe I'll actually commit to it in spite of the fact that I find its art styles to be highly displeasing. For now though, I prefer to think that G4's ended with the final episode of Season 9, and that this is just some bizarro vision of the future that Discord created to remind Twilight and her friends of the consequences of not doing their part.

[Verdant Shy 964]

I admit it, I really want to hate G5, but I have never seen it. I'm currently focusing on re-watching FIM. (And later movies and stuff). I then want to watch the G5 stuff (and maybe Pony Life, just for curiosity, although I'm skeptical) and see if it's worth.

This may be really unpopular, but I think FIM should have continued with more seasons till today and beyond. G5 should have never happened or at least should have been it's own thing. (It's silly watching 3D cartoon with different ideas that is a continuation of 2D cartoon). But maybe I'm just overly critical and "overnostalgic" for the glory days of the Fandom (I regret not being appart of it during that times, although I really liked the show as a kid).

Maybe something beyond will happen that will bring a fandom renesaince (and even a next gen Bronies), but we don't see it really click right now.

Let's look forward what Hasbro does with G5 on 19. September and see where it goes from there.

I'm optimistic (maybe overly optimistic) that better days for the fandom are ahead. 

Edited December 6, 2022 by Sun Dash Note

[Verdant Shy 964]

On 2022-08-19 at 12:19 AM, Sun Dash Note said:

I admit it, I really want to hate G5, but I have never seen it. I'm currently focusing on re-watching FIM. (And later movies and stuff). I then want to watch the G5 stuff (and maybe Pony Life, just for curiosity, although I'm skeptical) and see if it's worth.

This may be really unpopular, but I think FIM should have continued with more seasons till today and beyond. G5 should have never happened or at least should have been it's own thing. (It's silly watching 3D cartoon with different ideas that is a continuation of 2D cartoon). But maybe I'm just overly critical and "overnostalgic" for the glory days of the Fandom (I regret not being appart of it during that times, although I really liked the show as a kid).

Maybe something beyond will happen that will bring a fandom renesaince (and even a next gen Bronies), but we don't see it really click right now.

Let's look forward what Hasbro does with G5 on 19. September and see where it goes from there.

I'm optimistic (maybe overly optimistic) that better days for the fandom are ahead. 

I think G4 seasons 10 and later could of been good if done right.

Edited December 6, 2022 by Sun Dash Note

[chirox the pony 1,336]

Thus far I just find it boring. The film left me unimpressed and disappointed. The pilot special is frankly even worse. It all comes down to one problem. The characters. They are not interesting. They are rather dull and not distinct from one another. G5 seems to harken back to G1 of all things. Instead of taking what was established in G4, Hasbro seems to have learned nothing from the last decade. It harkens back to G1 in so far as it reminds me of 80s animation. In the 80s cartoons were just 20 minute advertisements and were primarily plot based. Can any of you reading remember the distinct personality traits of Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus? I thought not. The only show I can think of with distinct characters in the 80s is TMNT. Character didn't matter back then. In the 90s however the animation industry went through a revolution which changed the industry for the better. Characters were made distinct and entertainment came first. FIM understood this fact because Faust was a part of said revolution. The people who make this programme seem to be stuck in that 80s mindset. In fact the film itself follows the MCU formula of being more like a theme park ride than an actual story. There are multiple scenes and bits of dialogue in the special with really nothing to it other than to be meme material or just to entertain regardless of bearing on the plot. 

 

15 hours ago, Arylett Charnoa said:

I fell out of the fandom so many years ago, due to having been very burnt by ponies all the way back in FiM's fifth season. Without the insane hype of the pony fandom these days, I actually found myself enjoying the series far more when I caught up to the ending. [And also because I believe the quality of it kept rising in the later seasons.]

Thus, I'm no super fan, and have never been. Always have thought FiM was a fairly decent kids' show with my favorite Western cartoon art style and intriguing world building. I only watched one special/movie of this Gen and whilst it was entertaining, I don't find myself interested in watching any more. There are two reasons for this:

• I can't stand the current art style of this series... both 3D AND 2D. FiM had a unique aesthetic that I've never seen in any other cartoon, one that focused on clean simplicity and beauty, rather than the usual style that most Western animation seems to adapt. Now, it looks generic and blends it with the crowd. The 3D ponies give me a serious case of uncanny valley, proving to me that ponies just don't translate well into it. As for the 2D, it looks like Bean Mouth Modern Style, which I dislike looking at.
   
• Then there's the world-building, as many have stated. Whilst I haven't watched all the specials, I have a general sense of what happens. It isn't very expansive yet, and that would be fine... save for the fact that they set this after G4. It doesn't even feel like the same world in the slightest and I will not buy that it is. I dislike it when series do this. I understand that a lot happens in thousands of years, but without any proper set up to explain what exactly occurred to cancel out the positives of Twilight's reign, it falls flat. At the moment, it really is just an excuse to cash in on FiM's popularity. It can never stand on its own now and will forever be compared, in its shadow, because of this poor execution. As I've seen others express, it really should've been its own thing entirely.

I believe that FiM was lightning-in-a-bottle, a series of circumstances that can never be replicated, and that this series would've never reached that level of popularity once the novelty of grown men watching little girls' cartoons wore off. But it could've at least carved out its own niche. Now, they guarantee it cannot.

Don't really have much optimism for it to improve either. Whilst they gave the creatives of G4 enough freedom to write intriguing lore for the series, Hasbro being a toy company who only cares about selling them still sometimes interfered with the quality of FiM. Now that we've started fresh with new creatives that haven't really established themselves, Hasbro can exert more control, which is obvious just from this bone-headed decision they've made. The brony fandom was a nice diversion for them, and they've made a bare minimum attempt to pander to it by connecting this to G4. But bronies' shrinking numbers over the years means that they probably aren't going to make attempts to explain the lore because they aren't willing to put in the effort beyond that.

Of course, I could be proven wrong. They may allow the writers to experiment more as with the risk they took with G4. If I hear of any interesting developments on this front, maybe I'll actually commit to it in spite of the fact that I find its art styles to be highly displeasing. For now though, I prefer to think that G4's ended with the final episode of Season 9, and that this is just some bizarro vision of the future that Discord created to remind Twilight and her friends of the consequences of not doing their part.

I very much resonate with the point about the visuals. In fact it's been shown that the more processed an image is the less a person cares about it. G4 understood simplicity and used it to its' advantage. Not only that but it was much more visually interesting in general. Ponyville and Canterlot give you a lot to look at whereas Maretime Bay does not. Maretime Bay is colourless and too spread out. 

 

So far it's not looking good. I'll see what the series does but I don't have high expectations. 

[Splashee 28,589]

I stay as far away from the creepy ponies of TyT.

MyM, I really watched all the episodes so far, and think it is a good.... It is a good!

[Cirrus. 1,093]

Generally not impressed so far.

So far I've seen the movie and a little of TYT and MYM. I thought the movie was OK, not spectacular or anything, but better than I was expecting. As for both series, so far I'm not really digging either of them.

I don't like the animation of TYT, Also, from what I've seen so far there is WAY too many scenes of stuff falling all over/piling up. I don't know what's up with that.

From what I've seen of MYM, I haven't been impressed so far either.

 

I think part of it is the characters. I find them just kinda "meh." Izzy is my favorite out of them, but in the series her voice actress, she can sometimes sound kinda creepy randomly.

Overall, to me the new cast just seems more childish in how they act.

 

The Mane 6 of G4 to me seemed to range from late teens to mid 20's. Very similar to my impression of the Scooby Doo cast (I'm talking the original series- In stuff like Zombie Island they're like mid 20's to 30's).

The mane 6 being post high school, and of working age, was something I noticed after the first couple episodes and made me think the show could be interesting- and it was. This actually was probably the biggest thing in why I stayed watching. I was 25 when I first found out about G4 MLP. If they were in High School (EQG ) or CMC age, I wouldn't have been interested. I was also surprised by how well the animation was done with Flash- which is something I've used in school for such, and really liked working with. I don't really care for how the G5 ponies look in the CGI or the new animation style, so that takes points away too.

 

In general though, I think both series are better than Pony Life, The only good I saw out of that is that most of the cast still got to be working together on "something"

Edited October 1, 2022 by Cirrus.