Thoughts on G5

[Misty Shadow 7,636]

Insanely overhated gem, people need to take their nostalgia goggles off already. 

[Cheerilee 26,566]

I've watched all of it whenever possible, even though I do not really like it as much as some of its fans still do - I'll still find the time to watch it. It is still ponies, and the alternative is having no ponies at all. While I am deeply nostalgic for G4, I'd rather there be at least something for current fans to enjoy, even if I personally do not believe it is as well made as G4 was. It still gives people something good to watch, and if people really like it as much as some do, hey, more power to them.

[Rafa Stary 2,464]

I prefer to share my thoughts on each invidual production first

The Movie really wasn't what I expected for a sequel to G4 or for a new generation, I expected more, but I totally embraced it the way it is, the characters, the world, the stories, the concepts, I really like them all, and I really praise how it tries to be a sequel and a not a reboot, I genuinely liked that.

Same thing with Make Your Mark, despite all the flaws, I think it was in overall equal to the movie. I definitely don't think the stories are awesome as the ones from G4, but I think they were interesting and exciting enough to make me enjoy the series. And actually, there is one thing I enjoyed in MyM more than in G4, the villain, I really love how they decided to make a villain who lasts for a lot of episodes, having a full arc, and not just 2 episodes, not only I think that was better, as Opaline herself is my favorite villain in the franchise, she's definitely not the best, but she is my favorite, I think she was so much fun to watch, the whole show did keep me entertained.

So, even though I'm not very passionate about the two, nor I think they're awesome like G4, I definitely like A New Generation and Make Your Mark, for me they were fun, interesting and specially, bold, they tried to take risks, a lot of people don't like the decisions made for both, but I really appreciated it, I do understand some of the criticism, but I think people were way too unfair with these two (specially MyM), I saw effort, I saw a interesting story and character arcs being told, and the whole artistic & visual part was good too, I liked the character designs and the 3D models & animation, yeah, MyM is a big downgrade compared to the movie, but I still think it looks really good and expressive. So the two 3D productions of G5 definitely deserve a place in my "worth rewatching" box 

But now...the elephant in the room, Tell Your Tale.....eeeeh....it's complicated, honestly, I don't think it's exactly bad, but I don't think it's good either, yes, there are good episodes, I love rewatching "Opaline Alone", but in overall? I just think it exists, it's there, it's a cheap show more aimed at little kids who like fast short silly stories with barely any depth at all. Everything that makes me like The Movie and Make Your Make is just done in reverse in TyT for me. For me the visuals, even though I got very used to the the art style after watching more than 70 episodes, are just not good, they're mid at best, and the animation is just not impressive at all, it's rough, bland and not fluid, it shows how cheap it is, but that's just the visuals, now the story...

If I think ANG and MyM story-wise were interesting, exciting and bond, then I think TyT is just the opposite of all the three, again, I do think there were episodes with really good stories, but for me in overall, most of them were just bland and forgettable, with no rewatch value at all. The stories told just aren't exciting or interesting, they are super predictable, a lot of nothing happens in them, the characters mostly just have no goal, there's no conflict, there's no story being told at all, and sometimes when they try to tell a interesting story, it's just not good because the short format doesn't help. I know this show is mostly meant to be a slice of life series, but honestly? Even slice of life stories, with no big lore or anything, can be fun and exciting to watch, they can be bold, I just don't see this here, the episodes are just weak, there's nothing impressive in them at all, yeah, the two latest episodes were good, but I think being good just doesn't mean that it's any interesting or exciting to watch, what is this series trying to do? This series replaced Make Your Mark, it's the only animated production we have for this generation now, it continues the story and it's necessary for me to watch if I want to know what's going to happen next. But every episode they release just makes me ask myself "why do I keep watching this show if I'm just not impressed, excited, nor entertained by watching it?" There's just no reason for me to keep watching this, and it just bothers me that I'm forced to watch this and bear this short format if I want to know what's going to happen.

I think I came to the point that if this show was canceled, I really wouldn't mind it, but there are people who likes it and feel happy watching it, so I hope this doesn't happen, just because I'm unhappy with it it doesn't mean other people aren't, so it'll be good if it continues to keep these people entertained.

So in the end, I think G5, even being very inferior to G4, had a great run from 2021 to 2023, the Movie and Make Your Mark were good, there was a lot of effort and risk put into them, they were creative and made me care about the characters, these traits are the minimum for me to consider a series important. Traits that I just don't see in TyT at all, and now unfortunately it's the only animated production that is stil running for this generation, making 2024 (and probably 2025 too) just a disappointing year for it in my opinion.

I'm unfortunately almost done and I've already made my decision, I'll wait for the next week's episode, if it doesn't excite or entertain me, then Season 2 Episode 15 is going to be the final episode for me, there's no need to keep watching something that is just not interesting for me at all, being well-written and having cute moments is just not enough to justify the need to keep watching this. I know TyT or G5 fans in overall are going to hate me for this, but I just don't want to continue watching something that doesn't make me happy 

15 episodes for me are a good run, so it's the final chance I'm giving to it, the very last sparks of the firewood of my hope.

[Misty Shadow 7,636]

With TYT's improvement in quality with Season 2, I have to say that I like both G5 shows better than the movie now, not just Make Your Mark. I've also been more impressed with the comics than I expected and with some really cool stuff coming soon (like a G4/G5 crossover )...I think the movie's now my least favorite piece of G5 content (not counting stuff like games and the podcast).

[Iforgotmybrain 4,870]

I think I’ve shared my overall opinion before, and it hasn’t changed too much. Loved the movie, really liked MYM, TYT is hit or miss.

The movie is the best MLP movie imo. Not that there was a ton of competition, you had the 86 movie, A Minty Christmas, the EQG movies, and then the 2017 movie (I think). And while I love the 2017 movie for giving us hippogriffs and Princess Skystar (and inadvertently, Posada in EAW), I do think ANG is just a better movie.

Make Your Mark. The first chapter…. Is rough, like really rough. But, that is just one episode. The rest of the chapters are all good even if there can be some “eh” episodes. The show was genuinely improving with each chapter too, imo, which makes it even more devastating that it’s seemingly done for good. I’ve said before that I enjoyed MYM about as much as I enjoyed the later seasons of FiM, and yeah, that still stands true. I know if you don’t like the later FiM seasons that might not be a great compliment but for me at least, even those later seasons are like 8/10s.

Tell Your Tale. Season 1 was… okay. A lot of the episodes very much felt like anime filler to me. Not bad, but not really anything I’d go back and rewatch or look back fondly on. I actually have a list of my favorite season 1 TYT episodes which only totals 14 episodes. Most are Izzy or Misty episodes, I’ll admit I do have a bias towards them lol.

Season 2, though, has been a lot better. The episodes, even the slice of life ones, feel more substantial and memorable. Maybe that’s because it’s the only show we have so it isn’t getting overshadowed by its longer, higher quality 3D counterpart. Which, on that note, despite season 2 being better, I just don’t think it’s enough to carry this generation with its biweekly releases. It’s simply not enough content. The episodes either need to be weekly, longer, or we need another 3D show. If they were to make the episodes longer, I think they could absolutely get away with like 11 minute episodes biweekly or something. If you want a good example just look at Smiling Friends, another 2D animated show, and how much it does with its 11 minutes.

I’ve also played both the games. A Maretime Bay Adventure was really, really short. Thankfully I got it for super cheap, but still. It’s hardly a game. A Zephyr Heights Mystery was a big improvement. Way longer, more interesting, hope we end up with a 3rd game set in Bridlewood.

I haven’t read the comics, though I probably should.

Anyway, my overall feelings on G5 are: I really like it, I love the characters, I just wish we were getting more content currently. The biweekly 5 minute shorts aren’t enough for me. That’s my biggest complaint by far, which is why I’m always bringing it up 

[Luciferase 15]

I think it's alright tbh! It started pretty strong with the movie with a solid premise for the world, though I think it did kinda fizzle out a little when the series came around. Both series really did make an effort and I can at the very least appreciate that, though you can also tell they had to make some cutbacks which ended up hurting the overall staying power of G5, which is a shame cause boy if G5 had the potential to be something real great if it was just given a better chance from the higher-ups. IMO I think it would've been better to just have one dedicated series, that way the already limited resources it was given wouldn't be spread even thinner. Also, I do kinda think the connections to G4 were a bit of a mistake in the long run. Still do wish they just let G5 stand on its own two hooves cause adding G4 to it just made things messier and made expectations way too high 

Tl;dr I think G5 is pretty solid! Has the potential to be real great, just needs to let go of G4 and to have a better environment to properly flourish, cause it otherwise has such a strong world and characters as is!

[Rafa Stary 2,464]

1 hour ago, Luciferase said:

I think it's alright tbh! It started pretty strong with the movie with a solid premise for the world, though I think it did kinda fizzle out a little when the series came around. Both series really did make an effort and I can at the very least appreciate that, though you can also tell they had to make some cutbacks which ended up hurting the overall staying power of G5, which is a shame cause boy if G5 had the potential to be something real great if it was just given a better chance from the higher-ups. IMO I think it would've been better to just have one dedicated series, that way the already limited resources it was given wouldn't be spread even thinner. Also, I do kinda think the connections to G4 were a bit of a mistake in the long run. Still do wish they just let G5 stand on its own two hooves cause adding G4 to it just made things messier and made expectations way too high 

For me G5 was already great, and I liked the connections with G4, specially because they actually tried to tell new stories with them and not just deliver fanservice and nostalgia bait, despite its flaws, I saw effort put into it, and honestly, I bet that even without them, fans would still complain a lot about G5, there would be less complaints because their expectations would be lower? Yes, but fans are still fans, they'll always complain about something, there would still be G4 x G5 comparisons even if it wasn't a sequel, so I really don't see it being much different if it wasn't a sequel.

1 hour ago, Luciferase said:

Tl;dr I think G5 is pretty solid! Has the potential to be real great, just needs to let go of G4 and to have a better environment to properly flourish, cause it otherwise has such a strong world and characters as is!

But It already did let go of G4, Secrets of Starlight and the Season 2 of Tell Your Tale have no more connections with G4 except from a very few easter eggs that have no value for the story, all the stories they told so far post Opaline's arc are completely original (almost feeling like that they are pretending the connections with G4 were never made in my opinion), I personally really disliked Season 2 of TyT and I don't want to watch it anymore, but if you really want G5 to avoid G4, then it might be perfect for you ☆

[Finding_Marty 609]

I watched G5 because I saw a comercial on Netflix. I was having a long break from ponies and didn't even know how the G4 ended (or if it was already finished). I was a bit confused when I saw Twilight and her friedns at the beginning because I thought it would have no connection to G4. I simply felt in love in G5 from the 1st minute I saw young Sunny and found the movie incredibly entertaning. After some time I saw that some people complained that G5 was a failure as a continuation of G4. Their arguments acctually made sense. Nevertheless, G5 is awesome 

[Rafa Stary 2,464]

10 hours ago, Finding_Marty said:

I watched G5 because I saw a comercial on Netflix. I was having a long break from ponies and didn't even know how the G4 ended (or if it was already finished). I was a bit confused when I saw Twilight and her friedns at the beginning because I thought it would have no connection to G4. I simply felt in love in G5 from the 1st minute I saw young Sunny and found the movie incredibly entertaning. After some time I saw that some people complained that G5 was a failure as a continuation of G4. Their arguments acctually made sense. Nevertheless, G5 is awesome 

To be honest I think a big part of them are mostly haters who had unrealistic expectations for this generation, some of them saying that "it ruins the G4's legacy" just shows that, but we can't really do anything about it 💦

[Otaku-sempai 328]

I'm disappointed in G5; it is meant to be a sequel to Friendship is Magic but doesn't seriously try to be true to the lore of the earlier series. On the other hoof, the show is definitely not aimed at me. It is very much intended for little girls who aren't going to care for the inconsistencies and aren't looking for the (relatively) more complex storytelling of FiM. 

[Finding_Marty 609]

6 minutes ago, Otaku-sempai said:

I'm disappointed in G5; it is meant to be a sequel to Friendship is Magic but doesn't seriously try to be true to the lore of the earlier series. On the other hoof, the show is definitely not aimed at me. It is very much intended for little girls who aren't going to care for the inconsistencies and aren't looking for the (relatively) more complex storytelling of FiM. 

I think you have a point there. Can't argue with that. If think you either like G5 as it is or you just don't 

[Rafa Stary 2,464]

20 minutes ago, Otaku-sempai said:

I'm disappointed in G5; it is meant to be a sequel to Friendship is Magic but doesn't seriously try to be true to the lore of the earlier series. On the other hoof, the show is definitely not aimed at me. It is very much intended for little girls who aren't going to care for the inconsistencies and aren't looking for the (relatively) more complex storytelling of FiM. 

Which show? Tell your Tale? Make Your Mark? Or both? I don't agree with the sequel to FiM part very much, but I definitely agree with the rest if it's considering Tell your Tale, that show just disappointed me a lot and I don't like it, but I feel that it's just really not for me, people who enjoy its purpose must really like it, that's why I stopped watching it, I want something else, I want a complex storytelling, and for me Make Your Mark delivered that, that's why I liked that show.

[Jon the VGNerd 857]

1 hour ago, Rafa Stary said:

Which show? Tell your Tale? Make Your Mark? Or both? I don't agree with the sequel to FiM part very much, but I definitely agree with the rest if it's considering Tell your Tale, that show just disappointed me a lot and I don't like it, but I feel that it's just really not for me, people who enjoy its purpose must really like it, that's why I stopped watching it, I want something else, I want a complex storytelling, and for me Make Your Mark delivered that, that's why I liked that show.

TYT felt like a wasted potential because the overall plot was not set in stone by Hasbro. I myself wanted to like it, but it just felt lackluster and lost interest afterwards. MYM was okay, but my interest for this show just wasn't there. I guess it's because G4 was what captivated the most and somehow, Hasbro lost their touch. Just my personal opinion is all.

[Otaku-sempai 328]

4 hours ago, Rafa Stary said:

Which show? Tell your Tale? Make Your Mark? Or both? I don't agree with the sequel to FiM part very much, but I definitely agree with the rest if it's considering Tell your Tale, that show just disappointed me a lot and I don't like it, but I feel that it's just really not for me, people who enjoy its purpose must really like it, that's why I stopped watching it, I want something else, I want a complex storytelling, and for me Make Your Mark delivered that, that's why I liked that show.

I think my comments apply to both Make Your Mark and Tell Your Tale though the short runtime of TYT doesn't help either.  It's a format that works best with slice-of-life tales but not so well with more adventurous stories, especially when juggling multiple sub-plots. 

Edited July 20 by Otaku-sempai

[Rafa Stary 2,464]

5 hours ago, Jon the VGNerd said:

TYT felt like a wasted potential because the overall plot was not set in stone by Hasbro. I myself wanted to like it, but it just felt lackluster and lost interest afterwards. MYM was okay, but my interest for this show just wasn't there. I guess it's because G4 was what captivated the most and somehow, Hasbro lost their touch. Just my personal opinion is all.

I understand why some disliked MyM, even though I liked the show I actually agree that it just doesn't feel like FiM, which is expected, both shows were made in completely different times with different minds, G5 has its own feel to it that is very different from G4, the characters, world, and format of story telling all have a different approach, so there will be those who'll like it and those who'll dislike it, for that reason, I admit that I also think they should've just made G5 a reboot, even though I liked the connections with G4, I don't think connecting two completely different shows was the best decision, I really appreciate the courage and risk they took, but we saw how the reception was.

2 hours ago, Otaku-sempai said:

I think my comments apply to both Make Your Mark and Tell Your Tale though the short runtime of TYT doesn't help either.  It's a format that works best with slice-of-life tales but not so well with more adventurous stories, especially when juggling multiple sub-plots. 

Yeah it's pretty much what I said multiple times about the show, I just don't think the short format is appropriate for the stories it tries to tell at all, that's why I felt the interesting stories were just wasted, TyT is just not the show for this kind of goal to me, that's why I think they should've finalized the story in Make your Mark, and not continue it into Tell your Tale, and let that show just tell its slice of life stories with no lore building or anything, that was its purpose in the beginning after all. There are MyM fans who are curious for what's going to happen, forcing them to watch TyT, a show with a different purpose and format, just feels wrong to me, I'm very aware that there are people like me, people who liked MyM but not TyT. 

I have this personal belief that Make your Mark was made with the older fans/audience in mind, that's why that show had longer episodes, a more complex storytelling, connections and references to G4 that only the older fans would really understand and care about. While Tell your Tale was made more aimed on little kids/the younger audience, that's why its stories are more simple, with a cheap production and shorter episode format, because the younger fans won't care about it, they'll enjoy it the way it is, and they don't care about G5 being a sequel to G4.

That's why if you look back at some of episodes from TyT, you'll see that the show just lacks any kind of connection to G4, Spike doesn't even show up in the retelling of "Roots of All Evil", Twilight or any character or element from G4 are never mentioned, at best you'll only see easter eggs that have no value for the story (like Sunny wearing a Nightmare Moon costume).

Being a minor, secondary and extra production with no purpose of telling relevant stories or doing any lore building was the original prime concept of Tell your Tale.

[Misty Shadow 7,636]

I'm definitely starting to appreciate it even more now that Wild Manes has basically been what G5 critics think it is so far. 

[Silly Druid 6,567]

As I mentioned elsewhere, I like the movie and the second part of Make Your Mark (chapters 4-6). These are the only parts of G5 with quality comparable to FiM.

I don't really care about MYM chapters 1-3 and TYT, they just don't "work" for me.

I haven't read the comics yet.

[Otaku-sempai 328]

6 hours ago, Silly Druid said:

As I mentioned elsewhere, I like the movie and the second part of Make Your Mark (chapters 4-6). These are the only parts of G5 with quality comparable to FiM.

I don't really care about MYM chapters 1-3 and TYT, they just don't "work" for me.

I haven't read the comics yet.

In my personal opinion, Set Your Sail is one of the best G5 (comics) stories I've seen to date. I just hope the ending sticks the landing!  

[thenote23 60]

I dont like it and I gave it a chance; it just didn't do anything for me. My prediction that would be the case was right. Im not saying that the Gen 4 level of hype can't happen again I just don't think it's happening anytime soon. Even though I think Gen 4 levels of craze can happen again I'm not going to wait for years for it to happen. Im currently watching other shows at the moment.

[Rafa Stary 2,464]

1 hour ago, thenote23 said:

I dont like it and I gave it a chance; it just didn't do anything for me. My prediction that would be the case was right. Im not saying that the Gen 4 level of hype can't happen again I just don't think it's happening anytime soon. Even though I think Gen 4 levels of craze can happen again I'm not going to wait for years for it to happen. Im currently watching other shows at the moment.

Yeah I also think that is not happening anytime soon, I actually think about the possibility that we may not even have a G6 at all, at least not in this decade, not really optimistic about the franchise's future 

[Misty Shadow 7,636]

11 hours ago, Silly Druid said:

As I mentioned elsewhere, I like the movie and the second part of Make Your Mark (chapters 4-6). These are the only parts of G5 with quality comparable to FiM.

I don't really care about MYM chapters 1-3 and TYT, they just don't "work" for me.

I haven't read the comics yet.

I think every part of G5 has quality comparable to FiM, even if the peak of the quality is MYM Chapters 4-6. I also grew to like the comics better than the film, not a single part of the main series of the comics underwhelmed me.

[Ice Princess Silky 12,326]

G5 is the new generation! A reflection of the newest generation of people. Alpha! They’re a legacy of the generations before them and should be honored.  

[Dupluna 271]

Hi, I'm DUPLUNA, and my opinion on Gen 5 is: I don't like it. What about you?

 

[Interstellar Sketch 849]

Hmm, are there any reasons in particular as to why you do not like Generation 5? (Personally, I am yet to watch the series, so I am still open-minded about it. I liked the movie.)

[Dupluna 271]

Please share your thoughts and opinions.