Make Your Mark: Chapter 2 - Overall Discussion

[Sparklefan1234 169,802]

I'm curious if we are going to have to wait a REALLY long time for eight more episodes aka "Chapter 3"

or if the wait will be short so people won't lose interest too quickly. 

Edited September 27, 2022 by Sparklefan1234

[nightshroud96 124]

3 hours ago, Reform Conundrum said:

I myself don't think he's cute AT ALL, and at first when he used his magic fire before reasoning with myself was like "wut", HOWEVER the ending with Opaline shows you the direction they are going with Sparky in the story, and I think that Opaline harnessing "actual magic" I.E Sparky's magic makes a little more sense to me than her being able to steal magic that needs unity for it's base... Like how could you steal the magic of unity/friendship and then use magic that takes LITERAL harmony to use... Unless she can corrupt their magic to...? So they are using Sparky as a literal "magic prop".

They may write a better plotline involving Sparky but for now he's just a prop to me.. and no I'm not crazy about him, he isn't cute, but he could make for some cute pony interactions/plots and he is kind of playing a HUGE role in MyM, had you told me this a month ago, I probably would have been disgusted and cringed, but after watching 8 episodes, he's something I can deal with ...

Also didn't mean to erase your sentiment about Sunny, I also really loved that to, that her talents/purpose are connected to her emotions almost completely, haha there is no cutie mark of a smoothie on her flank, this is something she has done to occupy her time and keep employed, ponies will start taking her causes more seriously in the future, I sure hope Opaline brings the fight to Maretime Bay, just more interesting dynamics that way, I'm not interested in her empty castle lol ..

Edit: MY BIGGEST SURPRISE when it comes to Sparky, goes with what Opaline said... I mean Sparky should be revered and closely studied by the ponies of Maretime Bay, if it TRULY has been as long as Opaline says it has been since anypony has seen a dragon... But most ponies seem entirely indifferent to him, maybe in the future there will be a pony that has a rational fear of dragons or something lol seeing what they can do, but idk we will see what he can do/what they do with him in time 

Double Edit : They arent all "indifferent" I suppose, at least they think he's cute on clip trot lol

 

I feel like its a bad move to have Sparky be a newborn instead of already lived some years.
"Goo goo gaga" is really not a character and him being essentially a prop is really doing dragons(and Spike in terms of successor stuff) poorly

[Megas 27,567]

Watched up to Episode 3 so far and that one has been my favorite of the bunch, I'll probably wait till tomorrow to see more of it

Spoiler

If the Steam Deck isn't taking up all my time already

 

[RDDash 19,163]

I feel like the main show is that YouTube 5 minute long episodes. The Netflix series is an afterthought spinoff with the antagonist alicorn. The 3d animation is not that ugly, but at the same time its ugly and I don't feel like I care about the baby dragon. It's like, sometimes MLP generations had dragons so now the G5 has a dragon too.

Edited September 27, 2022 by RDDash

[HereComesTom 2,266]

5 hours ago, Reform Conundrum said:

Which on a happier brighter note was subtly answered for me as Sunny ran past that plant and stood it up and then you saw the Earth Pony magic make it glow, like they answered me "yes, we are going to acknowledge the fact that Sunny should have and will have EP magic" lol...

In the video game, Sunny does have EP magic, and actively uses it to turn sunflowers into giant springboards that she can jump onto to reach higher places.  I'm not sure how canonical the video game is, of course, but I'm pretty sure Sunny's intended to have EP magic in general in G-5.

 

So far, I've seen the first three or so episodes.  They were pretty good, and so far at least, I'm starting to see in G-5 the one thing that I wished G-4 would give me, but never did:  a season where there's a main villain whose machinations drive the A-plot or the B-plot of most episodes.  For that "or the B-plot" part that I'm emphasizing so much, I'd had in mind episodes that were mostly slice-of-life, but that had villains' plans running in the backdrop and getting thwarted as the B-plot, which more or less describes one of the episodes I've seen.

It left me looking forward to seeing more, but I intend to pace myself on watching them; some part of me wishes Netflix had released the content one-episode-per-week instead of all at once like this, but at least this way, I can decide how much I want to consume at a time.

[nightshroud96 124]

13 minutes ago, RDDash said:

I feel like the main show is that YouTube 5 minute long episodes. The Netflix series is an afterthought spinoff with the antagonist alicorn. The 3d animation is not that ugly, but at the same time its ugly and I don't feel like I care about the baby dragon. It's like, sometimes MLP generations had dragons so now the G5 has a dragon too.

Maybe if Sparky isn't a literal baby and actually a character, we would be more inclined to care about him

[Ganondorf8 11,286]

1 hour ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

I'm curious if we are going to have to wait a REALLY long time for eight more episodes aka "Chapter 3"or if the wait will be short so people won't lose interest too quickly. 

Depends on how far in advance these episodes were made. If they were made say at around the same time as Chapter 1, then we shouldn't have to wait too long for the next batch. If not, then we may have to wait a few months.

[Splashee 28,563]

28 minutes ago, nightshroud96 said:

Maybe if Sparky isn't a literal baby

 

1 hour ago, nightshroud96 said:

"Goo goo gaga"

 

The Netflix intro (baby dragon animation) is sooooo bad

[Rising Dusk 27,519]

Alright, overall impressions:  I really enjoyed it and can't wait for more. 

The animation is better than the Chapter 1 special, which I am most thankful for, and I hope it continues to improve.  The VAs feel a lot more invested and there just seems to be more energy put into the work.  Watching the special the night before and then seeing this, I could just really see the difference.  Especially in Izzy.  Pipp continues to be fabulous, so wonderful to see her growth from the underuse she suffered in the movie.  Zephyrina, I love her detective work and the way they have the Princess sisters play off each other, like actual sisters.  Sunny, feels a little too happy-go-lucky at times, but she has such a charm.  Even if she did lose some of that smugness from the movie.  Speaking of which, Hitch has moved closer to his movie self than what we got from the special, which is nice.  Izzy has moved closer to Pinkie than her movie self, but I think that's just how she's going to be.  I did not find her nearly as annoying than in the special, though.  Maybe TYT helped me get use to her.

As for new characters.  I like Misty, she's adorable and awkward, I love it.  Surprisingly, I actually found myself liking Opaline.  Maybe I just miss some of that cheesy classic cartoon villain, but I do enjoy she's continuous and serves as the looking-glass into 'ancient' Equestria.  Sparky, I do not like.  Nope.  Nada.  Don't like the design, don't like the character (for what character baby amounts to) and I don't like him as a plot device.

Extras, I like the change in episode flow.  I like that each episodes just flows into the next, each building on the next.

Dislikes, really just boil down to nitpicks for me.  Animation could tell be worked on and I hope it only gets even better.  At some point I might as well just say every episode needs to be movie quality, which likely isn't going to happen.  As it's probably part of it, I'll also add the world just feels really empty.  Maybe it's budget or just a limitation with 3D, but there just really aren't that many ponies around Maretime Bay.  Ponyville always felt populated and live in, but here they struggle to get more than 10 ponies on the screen at once.

Bonus, Tara Strong returns as Hologram Twilight Sparkle!

Edited September 27, 2022 by Rising Dusk

[The Nth Doctor 661]

Kinda amusing that Sparky knows how to edit together videos and set up a death room - kid's already smarter and more involved with the plot than the Cake Twins, Flurry Heart, and Spike combined.

This was definitely written for the Alpha generation and I wonder if it'll mature as it goes on.

 

[Sparklefan1234 169,802]

3 hours ago, RDDash said:

I feel like the main show is that YouTube 5 minute long episodes. The Netflix series is an afterthought spinoff with the antagonist alicorn.

 

That's how I feel, too.

I feel like my thoughts should be flipped but I grew to love the characters from the movie and Youtube while the Netflix series is the

"continuing adventures" stuff so it's kinda like a reverse of the Equestria Girls movies and the later on Youtube shorts and specials. 

Edited September 27, 2022 by Sparklefan1234

[Toastypk 923]

I told myself I wasn't going to do the whole binge thing. I didn't want to, I liked the Friendship is Magic style once a week thing, maybe I would do one every day.

But I did see them all in one day. Though I really did stretch it out, I didn't see everything in one sitting.

And I liked it! Lots of good humor, intrigue, really getting to know this Misty, who seems to be a real mystery. Not a lot of questions were answered though, but that isn't a big problem. I like the format of the "meanwhile at the evil lair in the background" thing, all the plotting revolving around each of the episodes. I'm just wanting to know more!

[ProjectRKA 2,848]

8 hours ago, NavelColt said:

Portrait of a Princess was easily the highlight of Chapter 2 for me. Zipp and Pipp's relationship has had a stark contrast between Tell Your Tale and Make Your Mark up until this episode, with Zipp being overall more distant and unsympathetic towards her sister in MYM, while being a little more noticing and interactive in TYT. Seeing them positively interact in the 3D side of G5 media was really nice. I still think the theory holds true that, when magic is gone or in danger of vanishing, Zipp becomes laser focused on solving it, and it can make her seem cold and uncaring towards things that aren't a priority for her at that point in time. When magic isn't in danger, like in TYT and these parts of MYM, she acts a bit warmer. Zipp clearly sees flight as a form of self expression and freedom that means a great deal to her, so this fixation makes sense.

Pipp confirmed that she loved spooky stories in this ep too, so I now have even more canon evidence for a story I've just finished.

My major gripe with basically every facet of G5 is the bland setting, and C2 hasn't changed that. Maretime Bay is, quite frankly the most boring of the three primary cities/towns/villages, and it has been the sole setting for almost all of MYM. I can enjoy slice of life just fine, but if the setting doesn't change things teeter off to bland very quickly. I really hope we leave Maretime Bay soon, and for more than one scene in a batch of episodes.

It's understandable with Zipp though. All her life, she has been wanting nothing more than being able to fly. And the thought of losing that ability is utterly terrifying to her. Pipp however doesn't seem to mind either way, since she's used to living the lie that royals can fly. 

 

One other thing that bothers me about MYM though is the animation. I'm almost inclined to say that TYT has better animation.

[Evil Pink One 13,506]

I think its much better that gen 4 is not canonically connected to gen 5.... Because they made a LOT of mistakes....

I skipped a lot of the scenes... Better than 1 but still boring....

Lots of questions to be answered again... Which fine. That's okay... But they're really making stuff up as they go...

I think they didn't really do research on gen 4 and just winged it....

 

 I also thought that opaline might be crysalis.... But dragon fire?.... When did chrysalis need that!?....

The comics is much better in my opinion for now.

Who is opaline?

Who is Twilight sparkle!? (Because apparently this is not the same twilight sparkle we know.... The elements of harmony doesn't exist. Then maybe the mane 6 are dead... Hence adult alicorn twilight should exist and not small twilight. Hence who the F. Is this Twilight!?)

What is this dragon fire mc guffin!?

 We have 3 mcguffins now... There purpose?.... Have no idea.... Toon in on the next chapter.....

Excited!?..... Nope..... But will watch.... Mehhh... I've seen better fanfics.... 

[RDDash 19,163]

11 hours ago, Sparklefan1234 said:

I'm curious if we are going to have to wait a REALLY long time for eight more episodes aka "Chapter 3"

or if the wait will be short so people won't lose interest too quickly. 

Who knows? Netflix is famous for keeping the show episodes in literal jail releasing all the episodes in one go instead of simulcasting 8 episodes for 8 weeks 

[ProjectRKA 2,848]

39 minutes ago, RDDash said:

Who knows? Netflix is famous for keeping the show episodes in literal jail releasing all the episodes in one go instead of simulcasting 8 episodes for 8 weeks 

Netflix usually go with the binge model, releasing all episodes at once. But I've read and heard that they're going to be dropping that model and going for weekly releases like everyone else are doing. It would be smart of them to do tbh. It's a much more sustainable business model.

[Rushing cash 836]

I really liked is batch of episodes. Thee animation looks better and doesn't throw me off like in the special. The songs were good for the most part but underutilized in the series itself. I don't like sparky is design and noises

Spoiler

but it seems like will have a crucial role in the series. I do like that he brings that protective side of Hitch though.

I think Sunny needs more development, 

Spoiler

she did get attention in episode 4, but it was not enough.

I really liked the interaction between the characters, I still ship Izzy and Sunny, I enjoy the interactions between the royal sisters (and their mom). 

Spoiler

I loved Misty and her bad social skills, it was very entertaining to watch. I was afraid that Opaline would be lame, but she seems intriguing and at times even intimidating. I was wary off her voice after watching the trailer, but I actually like what her voice actress does, she sounds intense at some scenes.

My ranking for the episodes are (might change when things sink in):

1. Ali-conned - 9\10

2. Portrait of a princess - 9\10

3. The traditional unicorn sleepover - 8\10

4. Have you seen this dragon - 8\10

5. Growing pains - 7\10

6. Hoof done it - 6\10

7. Izzy does it - 6\10

8. The cutie mark mix up - 5\10 

Edited September 27, 2022 by Rushing cash

[Splashee 28,563]

Misty's mane is seriously taking up most of the rendering time for this show

I wouldn't want to be the one having to redo any of her scenes and waiting for them to finish.

[Sweet Sweet Dreams 49]

Overall, I'd say it was cute. Not great but not bad. 

Well, I'd say that the first half of Chapter 2 was very well done. Izzy and Hitch, while not as good as they were in the film are way better than they've been in Tell Your Tale mostly. And Zipp and Pipp's history of them once being very close but then growing apart but then them coming back together was very heartwarming. Plus, MORE ZIPP SINGING PLEASE!! And Sunny's arc in the Al-Conned episode was very tragic. Sunny feels that she needs to be an Alicorn to be accepted or liked, that hit me very hard. But I wish Opaline did more with her communicating with Sunny as it makes this episode feel a bit pointless, but I still enjoyed it.

But the second half is where it lost me. I was excited many months ago when I heard that Sunny and Hitch's cutie marks where gonna switch much like Starlight did with Celestia and Luna, but it just left me confused due to them also all of a sudden swapping their personalities as well? it was just too distracting to me. Episode six I thought was gonna have Misty kidnap Izzy or something but didn't, but I still enjoyed the episode a fair bit, but the story's that Sunny and Misty brought up where never made clear on which or even either is correct and like many fans, Twilight creating the crystals feels like a Starlight move. And episode seven and eight really disappointed me. Episode seven I thought was finally gonna have Zipp catch Misty's moves but instead it's just Pipp admitting something else. And the final episode was just ugh! I'm personally not a fan of having villains trying to take down the hero over and over and failing again and again in what is or almost every episode of a show. I am happy to see that Opaline's moving along in getting some of her magic back but it feels almost too late. For example, Cozy Glow, Chrysalis and Tirek in season nine of Friendship is Magic, they where just behind the scenes popping up once in while and every time it moved the plot along. In Frenemies we get to have their characters get the bell, decide to betray Grogar and work together. Then in Summer Sun Setback they where still doing the same thing but this time it was very different by switching between their doings and our heroes during it all in just one twenty two minute episode. But Make Your Mark's story is going at a snails pace. This feels like Steven Universe how you had to wait for weeks to entire months to see more of what you where becoming curious with the show's lore. 

Overall, like I said, loved the first part but was very disappointed with the second. Probably cause I was expecting more plot. But the next pack of episodes will be longer next time so hopefully that means we get something moving along. My hopes are is that the mane five discover more about Twilight Sparkle and how the crystals created, Opaline making huge progresses to her take over, some actual answers, development for our mane cast and Misty and just overall more engaging next time. I'd give it a 6/10.

[Sweet Sweet Dreams 49]

2 hours ago, Splashee said:

Misty's mane is seriously taking up most of the rendering time for this show

I wouldn't want to be the one having to redo any of her scenes and waiting for them to finish.

Lol

I really really like Misty and I love her design but yeah, she seems to be in a stroke when it comes to her mane rendering.

[Star_Quake 28]

I wasn't exactly excited for the series, MOSTLY because it would be following this new format of having short episodes (barf) but I expected it to be really awful. I'm not surprised that it was decent, however I haven't finished it all but overall it's a 3/10. And that's the highest it deserves.

Enjoyed the second episode, it graced me with Sprouts presence. I also really love Misty, she is so cute it's giving me cavities. 

[Splashee 28,563]

If you have ever been on a film location, and you watch the actors between the shots (when they are not caring to act), this is what the Hitch actor looked like:

[thegreenpony 82]

i just dont understand the point of point th dragon in if its not really doing much

[Sweet Sweet Dreams 49]

2 minutes ago, thegreenpony said:

i just don't understand the point of point the dragon in if its not really doing much

Agreed. 

[Splashee 28,563]

3 minutes ago, thegreenpony said:

i just dont understand the point of point th dragon in if its not really doing much

Dragon, or should I say.... "baby", is doing a lot for Hasbro sells.

But it could do more if the 3D team cared more about animating it!