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Make Your Mark: Chapter 2 - Overall Discussion


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Moments ago, Props ValRoa said:

That is true, although I feel like Sunny needs to learn to stand up for herself instead of walking away under pressure. 

True, maybe once the story keeps moving forward we'll get that.

Insert Encanto "Under the Surface" Sunny PMV

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On 10/4/2022 at 6:43 PM, Props ValRoa said:

I felt that Sunny was very uninteresting, very one dimensional. Her only personality trait is 'unity' between the ponies, but nothing really personal about her. I do not see anything about Sunny that makes her a leader - I feel as if Zipp should be. Sunny needs more development. 

Sunny is a poorly written character, with almost no flaws. Everything she does has a reason to be!

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After a disappointing Chapter 1, Chapter 2 is exactly what MYM needed.

  1. The animation and lighting are much, much better. No, it doesn’t need to be as fantastic as ANG. It needed to be adequate. The animators more than stepped up here.
  2. The majority of the stories are entertaining and satisfying, Episode 7 notwithstanding. Almost all of them are engaging with various conflicts that are well in character of the Mane Five. Portrait of a Princess and Sleep-Over are excellent and compete with some of FIM’s best.
  3. Misty is Ch. 2’s standout. For the first time, an adult blank flank is in MLP. Temperament-wise, she’s similar to Fluttershy, and also extremely innocent. For so long, she wants to have her Cutie Mark and will do whatever it takes to impress Opaline to get it. Someday, she’ll earn it and become one with the rest of the Mane Five.
  4. Opaline is vindictive and as unreliable a narrator as there is in the last two generations. She claims about alicorn SA like her being immortal rulers, but she twists Equestria’s post-M6 history so much that you can’t help but believe she isn’t telling the truth. Opaline puts Misty in a bind with all of her schemes. Even though none of them succeed, she’s one step closer to being Equestria’s premiere threat.
  5. Pipp and Zipp are the Mane Five MVPs and complement very well from TYT. Zipp already has an established character beforehand, but Pipp was the weakest, which is a shame, for she has so much upside. TYT does a tremendous job making Pipp a solid, relatable character. Equally effectively, Chapter 2 does the same. Zipp has an arc of her own, being the M5’s detective. While no one else was suspicious of Misty, she was and rightfully made sure she wasn’t up to any tricks.
  6. Everyone has time to shine. 
    1. Hitch is an amazing dragon dad to little Sparky, and I love their adorable father-son relationship. His reaction to Sparky being kidnapped is exactly what any dad would do.
    2. Sunny is the leader of the group and had to adjust to being groveled on as an alicorn, even though she's the same pony.
    3. Izzy is outstanding this chapter. Like ANG and TYT, she resembles many of Pinkie’s biggest strengths while being her own, like her creativity and unconditional accessibility with others. She was the first to lend an open hoof with Misty. When things went wrong, she was visibly upset and admitted to missing home.
    4. Sparky was extremely pivotal to the plot. Not only by being extremely connected to magic in Maretime Bay, but also by having magical powers himself. More importantly, he’s extremely smart, immediately understood what Misty was up to, and knew exactly what to do to foil her plan.
  7. ANG foreshadowed the importance of Earth Pony magic in the post-credits scene and in TYT. Chapter 2 explores it further. Back in Twilight’s time, Earth Pony magic was extremely subtle, depending on cues by various ponies and their various connections over time. The intertwining apple and pear tree is the most obvious example. Thousands of years later, Earth Pony magic evolved into something more. Their connection to the earth is visible and greatly impacts vegetation and agriculture.

It’s only eight episodes, but Chapter 2 packed a lot of insight and details. Chapter 2 does a great job evolving what ANG started. With TYT going strong as well and how good MYM became, G5 as a whole is well on its way to becoming FIM’s worthwhile successor.

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4 hours ago, Orchid_Fiore said:

Sunny is a poorly written character, with almost no flaws. Everything she does has a reason to be!

I completely disagree. Sunny has had a much harder life than people claiming she has next to no flaws will acknowledge. She lost her father at a young age, wasn't liked by any pony in town besides Hitch, and her only friend tried to put her in jail. Ali-Conned also shows that Sunny is very gullible, falling for Opaline's trick that she was a reflection of her inner self even after Opaline made a slip of being confused about Sunny's dream when she was supposed to be her. She also had to sequester herself to her room to cry after she couldn't handle learning that the townsponies didn't actually care about her, needing her friends to lift her spirits. That shows that she's flawed in the fact that she doesn't have the mental strength to overcome every obstacle by herself like a Mary Sue would be able to. She also still can't control her alicorn powers effectively and needed the lamp Izzy repaired to help her save the ponies from the void in Make Your Mark's pilot. 

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7 hours ago, CloudMistDragon said:

I completely disagree. Sunny has had a much harder life than people claiming she has next to no flaws will acknowledge. She lost her father at a young age, wasn't liked by any pony in town besides Hitch, and her only friend tried to put her in jail. Ali-Conned also shows that Sunny is very gullible, falling for Opaline's trick that she was a reflection of her inner self even after Opaline made a slip of being confused about Sunny's dream when she was supposed to be her. She also had to sequester herself to her room to cry after she couldn't handle learning that the townsponies didn't actually care about her, needing her friends to lift her spirits. That shows that she's flawed in the fact that she doesn't have the mental strength to overcome every obstacle by herself like a Mary Sue would be able to. She also still can't control her alicorn powers effectively and needed the lamp Izzy repaired to help her save the ponies from the void in Make Your Mark's pilot. 

I think that's very well said.

Sunny is, IMO, a hard character to read. She is the leader of the group, and the one that the other ponies look up to. This is something she recognizes and tries her best to live up to, but as we saw in MYM2 and TyT she struggles with that. Even in the movie she was a tad too headstrong in Bridlewood in regards to challenging Alphabittle, and she very well could have lost everything up to that point.

That said, there has been more focus on characters like Zipp, Pipp, and Hitch in TyT and Mym so the perception that Sunny is infallible is understandable, but again, that doesn't mean that Sunny is perfect.

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8 hours ago, CastletonSnob said:

Could G5 become the Star Trek: TNG of MLP? A sequel to a massively popular show that had a rough start and was stuck in its predecessor's shadow, but eventually got better and could stand on its own?

Oh my hoofness, I will never be able to get that famous quote from Wayne's World out of my head when I look at this show. :maud:

"Ah yes, it's a lot like Star Trek: The Next Generation. In many ways, it's superior. But will never be as recognized as the original." 

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What if a major part of Misty's character arc is getting over the emotional damage Opaline has caused her?

Should Sunny be given more flaws?

Maybe make her a bit more self-righteous?

 

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Zipp seem be top pony. I enjoyed the series, but hear people are disppointed about G5, hope they imporived like movie did, expect to keep the movie voive actors? I still love Sunny and Izzy, but Zipp come third I found her interesting. I feel Minty cloud sixth pony cos mane five need a another unicorm as they are two earth ponies, two pegasus and one unicorn, also some people like her, me alittle bit.

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On 2022-10-07 at 3:35 PM, CloudMistDragon said:

I completely disagree. Sunny has had a much harder life than people claiming she has next to no flaws will acknowledge. She lost her father at a young age, wasn't liked by any pony in town besides Hitch, and her only friend tried to put her in jail. Ali-Conned also shows that Sunny is very gullible, falling for Opaline's trick that she was a reflection of her inner self even after Opaline made a slip of being confused about Sunny's dream when she was supposed to be her. She also had to sequester herself to her room to cry after she couldn't handle learning that the townsponies didn't actually care about her, needing her friends to lift her spirits. That shows that she's flawed in the fact that she doesn't have the mental strength to overcome every obstacle by herself like a Mary Sue would be able to. She also still can't control her alicorn powers effectively and needed the lamp Izzy repaired to help her save the ponies from the void in Make Your Mark's pilot. 

Actually the opaline reflection hit me.... My inner self always doubts my actions:crackle:

 

Inner self: you're gonna get ourselves killed again aren't you.

Me: yup.... You should've had stopped me earlier.

Inner self: I'm not psychic you know.

Me : yup... 

 

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This chapter was overall just alright at best. It had both high points and low points, but it was mediocre for the most part. Unfortunately, it seems like most of G5 so far is just the standard kids show, that doesn't really have much to offer outside of that.

While the characters aren't bad, they are lacking in comparison to the Mane six. None of them really intrest me as characters, so I don't really care that much about them. However, and exception to this is Misty, who manages to be my favorite character in the series so far. Many of the pest parts of this chapter involved her and her interactions with the main characters. Plus, she has some of the most potential out of any of the characters in G5

The setting is extremely underwelming. FiM had a whole country with various cities across its expanse, whereas this generation only seems to have three. Not only that, but almost all the screentime is just in Maretime Bay, which is a fairly bland location in it of itself. The setting is one of the aspects of this series that needs the most improving. 

The plot and story for the episodes varies, but as mentioned before, it is mediocre. The first two episodes are fairly forgettable, though the second shows how inconsistent this generation with FiM's lore. The third episode was decent in that it gave the pegasus sisters some development, but other than that, it wasn't written very well. The forth and fifth episodes also weren't very interesting. Episode 6 though, was a good one, especially because of how much Misty got to interact with the main five characters. The last two episodes were average for the most part, but they did give Misty some more screen time. in

This series felt like a decent kids show, but not something that really stands out. FiM showed that it could be entertaining to all ages, this one seems more catered to its target audience. The writing is lacking the depth to get me very invested in it. That being said, this chapter at least has enough going for it that I'll at least be willing to watch the next chapter when it releases. 

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On 2022-10-07 at 6:30 PM, CloudMistDragon said:

Oh my hoofness, I will never be able to get that famous quote from Wayne's World out of my head when I look at this show. :maud:

"Ah yes, it's a lot like Star Trek: The Next Generation. In many ways, it's superior. But will never be as recognized as the original." 

I can see that comparison, especially with the pilot film for G5 literally called "A New Generation".  Still, do you really think G5 has the potential to one day be "in many ways superior" to FiM?  As it stands, I'm still waiting for it to excel in even one way over FiM.  I suppose the odds of at least the latter are higher than zero though, hence why I'm still here.  Hopefully Chapter 3 will continue to improve things.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, I finally watched chapter 2 of Make your Mark. It took me a long time to finish it because chapter 2 is actually a pack of 8 episodes, 21 minutes per episode. I don’t understand why the animation team or producers did this after having one fine chapter months ago. Maybe the first chapter was too long, maybe they had extra time for chapter 2, maybe there was a different pipeline after chapter 1, who knows.

Before I start sharing my thoughts, I have four common complaints for all episodes.

1) Some of the main characters abuse one character feature per pony too much. Zipp was cool acting like a detective in chapter 1, but when you do that over and over again for many episodes, it starts to feel lazy and derivative. It reminded me of those moments in Friendship is Magic where Pinkie Pie starts to scream to someone.

2) This repetition is reinforced with some background music that feels like stock footage music. In the case of Zipp, whenever she talks, there’s always that cliche detective theme. I don’t know if they had very little of what they had in the editing department and sound department, but I think doing this constantly will make these characters less interesting of what they were in A New Generation and the first chapter. It would be a disservice in the long run.

3) Sparky as a character isn’t really interesting. I don’t think he’s annoying, but he’s getting there in some parts. And his breath magic of randomly changing things feels off and out of focus. I can’t think of many possibilities with this idea.

4) While I chuckled with one or two jokes each episode, I wish these were funnier. While some sequences are essentially slapsticks, it doesn’t get it right when it comes to physical comedy. If that’s the intention of the writers, I think they should go for a contemplative approach.

With all that said, let’s talk about chapter 2.

In a lot of ways, pretty much a lot happens. There’s Sunny’s birthday, there’s Misty who works for the villain Opaline who might have some intentions, earth ponies discover they can do whacky things with magic, the little dragon is kidnapped, etc. I don’t mind seeing little subplots in this type of episodes, but most of the time it loses their focus very quick, to be point where they have to depend on slapsticks more than they needed. It’s kinda weird, because, as far as I know, chapter 1 doesn’t have a lot of crazy slapsticks. If anything, most of their sequences were just conversations and how Sunny tries to maintain the friendship she achieved after so many struggles. Because of that, episodes like Growing Pains, The Cutie Mark mix-up and Have you seen this dragon (episodes with a hevy focus on slapsticks) aren’t very interesting, which is a pity, because I think one rewrite of these episodes could make them stronger and more focused.

The episode I was afraid the most out of all the eight episodes was Ali-Conned, a story where Sunny gets every kind of positive attention only because of her random alicorn powers. For some context, in the first episode Misty arrives to Maretime Bay to give Sunny a golden mirror as a gift, a magical mirrow that allows Opaline to see her and easily manipulate her when the occasion is there. In this episode, she has the chance to manipulate. I was really afraid because since the very first minute I already imagined the outcome of the story: Sunny not fighting the temptation, letting it go and using her power for her own benefit, because it already happened in the past, many times I must add. However, as soon as Opaline’s plan jinxes because of Sunny’s positive attitude, I was glad that the writers did this. In addition to that, there’s a very good line of Sunny later in her house that’s pretty great:

“I don't want to be followed and adored just because of what I am. I want ponies to believe – truly believe – in what they're fighting for. That they can make the world a better place for every ponykind.”

It’s pretty great to hear something this refreshing in a kids show, especially after the ending of Friendship is Magic. And I love Izzy’s answer to Sunny’s concerns. I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s very good and very cute. When it comes to stories targeted for kids, I always bring up the responsibility argument. I don’t care if someone tells me that “I’m a justice warrior” or whatever that means. If you don’t care about the consequences of what you do, as if the end justifies the means, as if there’s no place for integrity, that says more about you than what you want to say. I’m glad they didn’t go for the obvious route in this episode, because we’ve seen it many many times and I’m tired of it. If this was a story written by Josh Haber, the result might have been what you were already imagining. I think this one gets better in a second watch than the first one, kinda like Family Appreciation day from the season 2 of Friendship is Magic.

The sleepover episode was also very decent because, despite I have little problems with one detail of the ending, the Mane 5 have a chance to meet Misty. Since she’s a unicorn, Izzy gets so excited and so invested in getting to know her that it’s very cute. And, like Campfire tales, there’s a story within a story. Not only that, there are two versions of one story. It kinda reminds me of a couple of history books I had to read back in school art (because there was a subject called “Spain history”) and how some people tried to rewrite history by changing one specific detail of the story to make it look different yet “authentic”. Kinda like what Misty does here. I like to see something like that, I don’t remember anything like this in Friendship is Magic. And no, P.P.O.V. from season 6 doesn’t count. It was very boring and very meaningless. I’m talking about an actual meaningful story with very clear stakes.

There’s a couple of specific details I don’t like about chapter 2. For example, I don’t think Sparky is very interesting as a character. I know he’s a baby, but I don’t see why his dragon fire is that interesting. It just changes the shape of anything randomly. Oh wow, the garbage can became a carrot because of dragon fire. It’s literally the same outcome of the joke, something changes as another thing in a random pattern. I already mentioned how often Zipp acts like a detective, but did I mention that she wears some science fiction glasses? What’s that about? How are all these futuristic gadgets, including a little flying robot, related to detective stuff? I associate this type of things to superheroes. If Zipp was wearing this because she wanted to be like a hero, then yeah, that would be funny. But the fact she’s wearing this while acting like a detective (when a detective is supposed to not be noticeable) is very weird. And again, the physical comedy doesn’t work as much as if the show would have been animated in 2D.

One quick positive note: While the pop songs are tiring sound wise, the songs that sound different are great. There’s a song in the ending of Portrait of a princess (very decent episode, by the way) that works from a emotional and dramatic standpoint. This type of songs is what Make your Mark needs. And there’s also a lullaby at the end of Have you seen this dragon that also sounds beautiful. The only problem is that you have to go through so many crazy slapsticks before.

Despite the problems, I still like chapter 2. If you ask me, I think chapter 1 is better because it has a lot of focus on the characters, which is good. Chapter 2 is fine, but it falls on the trap of repeating the same character feature over and over again instead of adapting the character in different situations or territories. Friendship is Magic had that problem, but it came out waaay later, right in season 3, not season 1. I really hope the writers give more room to the Mane 5, because I don’t think Zipp ever needs more detective episodes after this. In chapter 1 it made sense because it was something new, something I didn’t expect, but I didn’t expect her to be the detective all the time in chapter 2. I like her as a character, I like her voice, but I also don’t want her to have only one character feature. Let the mane 5 evolve, please, and I don’t mean “give them ambiguous morals at the expense of the show”, I mean give them different character features that allow them to be expressive.

Before I wrap this up, I have to talk about two things. There’s a big spoiler in the ending of the second episode where we see Twilight Sparkle. Unfortunately I saw the spoiler before watching the episode, which is a shame. I got spoiled in DeviantArt and in Derpibooru, and I think there has to be a way to filter all this stuff as “big spoiler” covering the information I didn’t need to know before watching chapter 2. And while I don’t think the reveal was whacky, I do hope it’s just a recorded message, because I really don’t want Twilight to directly interact with the Mane 5. Let the Twilight tale be over. She had a good run.

The second thing is Misty. While we already saw her at the end of chapter 1, we didn’t know exactly who she was. And before watching chapter 2, I watched so many fanarts about her being the “sixth one” of the Mane 5. My inmediate thought was “is she going to be the new one at the end of chapter 2?”. But at the end of the last episode she isn’t, which is pretty rare. Considering how incredibly rushed Cutie Remark was back in 2015, you’d expect the writers to go for it and say “Misty gets reformed out of nowhere”. But no, it concludes with Misty getting yelled by Opaline and crying in her room because of her attitude. I’m assuming they’re gonna take some time to develop her more in the future, which is great. Can you imagine how weird, odd and uncomfortable would it be if Misty only appeared in the beginning of the first episode and the ending of the eighth episode and suddenly said “yeah I changed” right at the end of chapter 2? I’m glad they’re taking their time, because something like this wouldn’t have been possible in Cutie remark back in 2015, let alone Cutie map. And we kinda know what the stakes are considering what and who Opaline is interested in.

If they want to make the plot more meaningful, there’s a couple of things I’d like to see in the future.

First, I’d like to see less slapsticks and more scenes where the main characters share their views on a problem or a situation. That totally worked in chapter 1, so I hope they go back to that.

Second, I want to see more character features in the main characters. Zipp as a detective in chapter 1 was fine, but I got really tired in chapter 2. I really hope we can see more of these characters.

Third, I absolutely love everything what they’ve done with Sunny Starscout. I hope they maintain the character, her idealistic attitude, her view on friendship and her integrity, because it would make her struggles more heavy in the next episodes. I’ve never liked that much a main character of the My Little Pony franchise since the first episode of Friendship is Magic and Call of the Cutie back in 2011, so I hope she doesn’t lose her charm.

Fourth, I’d like to see Sparky having a shorter growth aging process compared to the ponies in Make your Mark. While I’m not fully interested where he came from, I want him to grow as a kid who can talk and have his own opinion. I don’t want him to be like Spike, but I’d like to see a character who’s more curious than the Mane 5. I think this can lead to some interesting conflicts and revelations.

Lastly, and seeing what they’ve done with Misty so far, please, PLEASE, don’t repeat the Starlight situation. Keep the story simple and straightfoward. Don’t glorify a powerful hypocrite, please. Don't overcomplicated things. We already had enough in the last 4 seasons of Friendship is Magic, thank you. The more vulnerable a character is, the better the audience can relate to the blank flank. Do something different with Misty, something more meaningful, something more refreshing, something more authentic.

I think that’s everything. Hopefully chapter 3 will be as good as chapter 1 and A new generation. I want them to do something new and different.

Edited by Ring Team
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5 hours ago, Ring Team said:

So, I finally watched chapter 2 of Make your Mark. It took me a long time to finish it because chapter 2 is actually a pack of 8 episodes, 21 minutes per episode. I don’t understand why the animation team or producers did this after having one fine chapter months ago. Maybe the first chapter was too long, maybe they had extra time for chapter 2, maybe there was a different pipeline after chapter 1, who knows.

Before I start sharing my thoughts, I have four common complaints for all episodes.

1) Some of the main characters abuse one character feature per pony too much. Zipp was cool acting like a detective in chapter 1, but when you do that over and over again for many episodes, it starts to feel lazy and derivative. It reminded me of those moments in Friendship is Magic where Pinkie Pie starts to scream to someone.

2) This repetition is reinforced with some background music that feels like stock footage music. In the case of Zipp, whenever she talks, there’s always that cliche detective theme. I don’t know if they had very little of what they had in the editing department and sound department, but I think doing this constantly will make these characters less interesting of what they were in A New Generation and the first chapter. It would be a disservice in the long run.

3) Sparky as a character isn’t really interesting. I don’t think he’s annoying, but he’s getting there in some parts. And his breath magic of randomly changing things feels off and out of focus. I can’t think of many possibilities with this idea.

4) While I chuckled with one or two jokes each episode, I wish these were funnier. While some sequences are essentially slapsticks, it doesn’t get it right when it comes to physical comedy. If that’s the intention of the writers, I think they should go for a contemplative approach.

With all that said, let’s talk about chapter 2.

In a lot of ways, pretty much a lot happens. There’s Sunny’s birthday, there’s Misty who works for the villain Opaline who might have some intentions, earth ponies discover they can do whacky things with magic, the little dragon is kidnapped, etc. I don’t mind seeing little subplots in this type of episodes, but most of the time it loses their focus very quick, to be point where they have to depend on slapsticks more than they needed. It’s kinda weird, because, as far as I know, chapter 1 doesn’t have a lot of crazy slapsticks. If anything, most of their sequences were just conversations and how Sunny tries to maintain the friendship she achieved after so many struggles. Because of that, episodes like Growing Pains, The Cutie Mark mix-up and Have you seen this dragon (episodes with a hevy focus on slapsticks) aren’t very interesting, which is a pity, because I think one rewrite of these episodes could make them stronger and more focused.

The episode I was afraid the most out of all the eight episodes was Ali-Conned, a story where Sunny gets every kind of positive attention only because of her random alicorn powers. For some context, in the first episode Misty arrives to Maretime Bay to give Sunny a golden mirror as a gift, a magical mirrow that allows Opaline to see her and easily manipulate her when the occasion is there. In this episode, she has the chance to manipulate. I was really afraid because since the very first minute I already imagined the outcome of the story: Sunny not fighting the temptation, letting it go and using her power for her own benefit, because it already happened in the past, many times I must add. However, as soon as Opaline’s plan jinxes because of Sunny’s positive attitude, I was glad that the writers did this. In addition to that, there’s a very good line of Sunny later in her house that’s pretty great:

“I don't want to be followed and adored just because of what I am. I want ponies to believe – truly believe – in what they're fighting for. That they can make the world a better place for every ponykind.”

It’s pretty great to hear something this refreshing in a kids show, especially after the ending of Friendship is Magic. And I love Izzy’s answer to Sunny’s concerns. I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s very good and very cute. When it comes to stories targeted for kids, I always bring up the responsibility argument. I don’t care if someone tells me that “I’m a justice warrior” or whatever that means. If you don’t care about the consequences of what you do, as if the end justifies the means, as if there’s no place for integrity, that says more about you than what you want to say. I’m glad they didn’t go for the obvious route in this episode, because we’ve seen it many many times and I’m tired of it. If this was a story written by Josh Haber, the result might have been what you were already imagining. I think this one gets better in a second watch than the first one, kinda like Family Appreciation day from the season 2 of Friendship is Magic.

The sleepover episode was also very decent because, despite I have little problems with one detail of the ending, the Mane 5 have a chance to meet Misty. Since she’s a unicorn, Izzy gets so excited and so invested in getting to know her that it’s very cute. And, like Campfire tales, there’s a story within a story. Not only that, there are two versions of one story. It kinda reminds me of a couple of history books I had to read back in school art (because there was a subject called “Spain history”) and how some people tried to rewrite history by changing one specific detail of the story to make it look different yet “authentic”. Kinda like what Misty does here. I like to see something like that, I don’t remember anything like this in Friendship is Magic. And no, P.P.O.V. from season 6 doesn’t count. It was very boring and very meaningless. I’m talking about an actual meaningful story with very clear stakes.

There’s a couple of specific details I don’t like about chapter 2. For example, I don’t think Sparky is very interesting as a character. I know he’s a baby, but I don’t see why his dragon fire is that interesting. It just changes the shape of anything randomly. Oh wow, the garbage can became a carrot because of dragon fire. It’s literally the same outcome of the joke, something changes as another thing in a random pattern. I already mentioned how often Zipp acts like a detective, but did I mention that she wears some science fiction glasses? What’s that about? How are all these futuristic gadgets, including a little flying robot, related to detective stuff? I associate this type of things to superheroes. If Zipp was wearing this because she wanted to be like a hero, then yeah, that would be funny. But the fact she’s wearing this while acting like a detective (when a detective is supposed to not be noticeable) is very weird. And again, the physical comedy doesn’t work as much as if the show would have been animated in 2D.

One quick positive note: While the pop songs are tiring sound wise, the songs that sound different are great. There’s a song in the ending of Portrait of a princess (very decent episode, by the way) that works from a emotional and dramatic standpoint. This type of songs is what Make your Mark needs. And there’s also a lullaby at the end of Have you seen this dragon that also sounds beautiful. The only problem is that you have to go through so many crazy slapsticks before.

Despite the problems, I still like chapter 2. If you ask me, I think chapter 1 is better because it has a lot of focus on the characters, which is good. Chapter 2 is fine, but it falls on the trap of repeating the same character feature over and over again instead of adapting the character in different situations or territories. Friendship is Magic had that problem, but it came out waaay later, right in season 3, not season 1. I really hope the writers give more room to the Mane 5, because I don’t think Zipp ever needs more detective episodes after this. In chapter 1 it made sense because it was something new, something I didn’t expect, but I didn’t expect her to be the detective all the time in chapter 2. I like her as a character, I like her voice, but I also don’t want her to have only one character feature. Let the mane 5 evolve, please, and I don’t mean “give them ambiguous morals at the expense of the show”, I mean give them different character features that allow them to be expressive.

Before I wrap this up, I have to talk about two things. There’s a big spoiler in the ending of the second episode where we see Twilight Sparkle. Unfortunately I saw the spoiler before watching the episode, which is a shame. I got spoiled in DeviantArt and in Derpibooru, and I think there has to be a way to filter all this stuff as “big spoiler” covering the information I didn’t need to know before watching chapter 2. And while I don’t think the reveal was whacky, I do hope it’s just a recorded message, because I really don’t want Twilight to directly interact with the Mane 5. Let the Twilight tale be over. She had a good run.

The second thing is Misty. While we already saw her at the end of chapter 1, we didn’t know exactly who she was. And before watching chapter 2, I watched so many fanarts about her being the “sixth one” of the Mane 5. My inmediate thought was “is she going to be the new one at the end of chapter 2?”. But at the end of the last episode she isn’t, which is pretty rare. Considering how incredibly rushed Cutie Remark was back in 2015, you’d expect the writers to go for it and say “Misty gets reformed out of nowhere”. But no, it concludes with Misty getting yelled by Opaline and crying in her room because of her attitude. I’m assuming they’re gonna take some time to develop her more in the future, which is great. Can you imagine how weird, odd and uncomfortable would it be if Misty only appeared in the beginning of the first episode and the ending of the eighth episode and suddenly said “yeah I changed” right at the end of chapter 2? I’m glad they’re taking their time, because something like this wouldn’t have been possible in Cutie remark back in 2015, let alone Cutie map. And we kinda know what the stakes are considering what and who Opaline is interested in.

If they want to make the plot more meaningful, there’s a couple of things I’d like to see in the future.

First, I’d like to see less slapsticks and more scenes where the main characters share their views on a problem or a situation. That totally worked in chapter 1, so I hope they go back to that.

Second, I want to see more character features in the main characters. Zipp as a detective in chapter 1 was fine, but I got really tired in chapter 2. I really hope we can see more of these characters.

Third, I absolutely love everything what they’ve done with Sunny Starscout. I hope they maintain the character, her idealistic attitude, her view on friendship and her integrity, because it would make her struggles more heavy in the next episodes. I’ve never liked that much a main character of the My Little Pony franchise since the first episode of Friendship is Magic and Call of the Cutie back in 2011, so I hope she doesn’t lose her charm.

Fourth, I’d like to see Sparky having a shorter growth aging process compared to the ponies in Make your Mark. While I’m not fully interested where he came from, I want him to grow as a kid who can talk and have his own opinion. I don’t want him to be like Spike, but I’d like to see a character who’s more curious than the Mane 5. I think this can lead to some interesting conflicts and revelations.

Lastly, and seeing what they’ve done with Misty so far, please, PLEASE, don’t repeat the Starlight situation. Keep the story simple and straightfoward. Don’t glorify a powerful hypocrite, please. Don't overcomplicated things. We already had enough in the last 4 seasons of Friendship is Magic, thank you. The more vulnerable a character is, the better the audience can relate to the blank flank. Do something different with Misty, something more meaningful, something more refreshing, something more authentic.

I think that’s everything. Hopefully chapter 3 will be as good as chapter 1 and A new generation. I want them to do something new and different.

Solution: get a better writer... 

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42 minutes ago, Kujamih said:

Solution: get a better writer... 

Not really.

Chapter 2 has some decent episodes like the sleepover episode, Ali-conned and the one about Zipp and Pipp. And these stories have interesting point of views and good positive morals. It's just that sometimes they lacked focus. Emphasis on sometimes.

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11 hours ago, Ring Team said:

Not really.

Chapter 2 has some decent episodes like the sleepover episode, Ali-conned and the one about Zipp and Pipp. And these stories have interesting point of views and good positive morals. It's just that sometimes they lacked focus. Emphasis on sometimes.

.... Yeah and you need a good writer to execute those properly... Then again they might not be so lucky... Since luck also plays a big role of being successful. 

For example... Gen 4 dosn't really have big competition.... Gen 5 has so many... 

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3 hours ago, Kujamih said:

.... Yeah and you need a good writer to execute those properly... Then again they might not be so lucky... Since luck also plays a big role of being successful. 

For example... Gen 4 dosn't really have big competition.... Gen 5 has so many... 

I don't necessarily agree with that (since Gravity Falls and Steven Universe are better than Friendship is Magic). All I'm saying is that the chapter 2 could have been worse.

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1 hour ago, Ring Team said:

I don't necessarily agree with that (since Gravity Falls and Steven Universe are better than Friendship is Magic). All I'm saying is that the chapter 2 could have been worse.

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Hahaha... If gravity falls lasted more than 2 seasons then maybe FIM would be in trouble... But luckily it didn't and those two are hardly comparable. Then if Steven universe didn't have very long hiatus.... Then maybe FIM would be in trouble... plus the crappy ending of Steven hit the nail on the coffin... Plus they did bad everyone there.... Lapis... Peridot... Spinel... Ugh what have they done with my favorite characters... Pearl wass great though... She's my number 1 repressed nerd. 

But gen 5 has loads to be compared with... Especially to gen 4...

I'd watch molly mcghee than this though.... Gen 5 movie has so much potential... 

 

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I watched all eps of chap 2 a while ago.

I quite enjoyed the watch overall - it's colourful, pretty fun, has decent dialogue, some decent jokes and a couple of catchy songs. Even its best aspects aren't enough to make it something I would watch if I wasn't a fan of ponies in general (it's miles better than the pilot though) and it doesn't compare with the movie or any FiM stuff except Ponylife and the clay-mation fare (some EqG stuff is ropey but 90% of it is head and shoulders above). Its worst aspect for me, as a few people have said, is the lack sharp things that adults can sink their teeth into - the world and characters are just kiddie-fuzzy to me, even after watching two seasons. My excitement at this new pony world still pretty much comes from the movie, although I do like the concept of earth pony magic, I think it's executed poorly. The look of the show also still isn't quite right - I don't like any but the movie quality 3D stuff because the eye is so critical of 3D things (same with game graphics).

 

I tried to watch MyM with my neices and they strongly t-downed it. Unfortunately, they grew up with FiM and there's loads of FiM and they think "well why the hay are we watching these ponies when we could still be watching those ponies" and a large part of me thinks the same :P I am now re-watching G1 MLP n friends, and while that show has some big flaws... I'm actually enjoying it more than MyM (it has moments that are sharper than MyM easily), and I'm prolly gonna rewatch FiM at some point too.

 

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really cool, chapter 2 is million times better than whole movie and first special together... as I hoped but It's a pity it's so short.  There's still a lot to improve, but at least it's not bad. The animation is much better done. It's not as good as in the movie but it's not as bad as in chapter 1. The only thing I miss now is the lack of developed characters - and I don't mean Mane, they are cool. The antagonists are also interesting. But I have a feeling that the new main characters are the only ones thinking there. Only they care about magic and orderliness. Or does it seem to only me? In G4 we had Celestia and many many more and here? The highest personality seems to be Queen Heaven but please... :dry:

I don't worry about it because there wasn't much time. Chapter 2 didn't even take us to Bridlewood Forest if I remember well. I can't wait for the next series. I haven't watch TyT since 20th episode so I don't know if it mentions anything about the plot or not.

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