Things G5 does better than G4

[OptimisticNeighsayer 471]

I definitely agree that the friendships in G5 feel more organic than in G4. Let’s face it, in G4 the Mane Six were pretty much brought together, whichever way you look at it, by either Celestia herself or a nebulous, overriding “fate.” G5’s friends are clearly together on their own free will. (Ironically, that makes it better suited for the friendship angle G4 had, versus the activist “make a difference” angle of G5.)

The main characters are also more difficult to classify into well-worn archetypes (particularly Zipp), so there’s more thought there. 

That extends to the character designs as well a bit. While it doesn’t personally bother me, I know several people who were turned off by G4’s mains all having the same basic body type; the variety in G5 gives another outlet for character expression and creativity. 

On 2023-05-11 at 11:55 PM, Sparklefan1234 said:

 

I love Rarity to bits but I think that Pipp does a better job with the "overly-posh diva" thing because it feels more like a persona for Pipp than

a full-blown personality. 

Personally I think it’s hard to tell whether Pipp’s diva character is a persona or a personality. She’s supposed to be a social media influencer, which requires a real blurring between acting and genuine belief. 

 

On 2023-05-15 at 10:40 AM, Fluttershutter said:

It did Easter better. G4 never did anything Eastery.

I disagree. While “Uprooted” has no obvious Easter motifs, its original airdate near the Easter holiday and its themes of resurrection and collective remembrance give it very strong Easter vibes that strike at the meaning of the holiday more than some painted eggs would. Also Winter Wrap-Up itself is kind of a springtime rebirth celebration. 
 

On 2023-05-13 at 9:41 AM, Megas said:

While obviously not perfect(G5 spends too much time at Maretime Bay) I feel G5 treats all 3 races equally and making them all feel special, vs G4 which spends 90% of the time being a Unicorn wankfest and then going "oh yeah, here are the other two", especially with Earth ponies

I never got that vibe at all frankly in G4? The series spent most time in Ponyville, a uniquely diverse place in Equestria, and barely ever aggrandized unicorn qualities as such. 

Edited May 18, 2023 by OptimisticNeighsayer

[Sparklefan1234 161,672]

2 hours ago, OptimisticNeighsayer said:

I definitely agree that the friendships in G5 feel more organic than in G4. Let’s face it, in G4 the Mane Six were pretty much brought together, whichever way you look at it, by either Celestia herself or a nebulous, overriding “fate.” G5’s friends are clearly together on their own free will. (Ironically, that makes it better suited for the friendship angle G4 had, versus the activist “make a difference” angle of G5.)

 

This is an excellent point, BFFFF! 

 I keep forgetting that the Mane Six were "chosen" for Twilight to meet and that her going to Ponyville was all part of a plan orchestrated by

Princess Celestia. 

[DivineMist1000 71,098]

Things G5 does better than G4

    1.    Songs: I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t care for most of the songs in FiM because I felt that they were a little TOO peppy sometimes, but G5 has offered a great variety of songs and I’ve definitely enjoyed every song this time around.

    2.    Male ponies: G5 definitely has the distinction of having Hitch as a main male character and he’s not just a romance option or just “there” like in G4. Not only do we have Hitch as the sheriff and as a dragon dad for Sparky, but we also get Argyle, Alphabittle and Rufus who are all unique in their own ways.

    3.    Background ponies: G5 actually gives all of its characters time to shine, not just the main characters, whereas G4 95% of the time was about the Mane 6 or the CMC, and the background ponies only got ONE episode to show what they were all about.

    4.    Themes: While G5 still has its “friendship” themes, this generation actually takes it further than that and tackles more serious points of life.

Throughout the series, it’s talked about grief, fear, separation, loneliness and even death, because G5 knows that life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, but you can get through all of it as long as you stick together and work as one.

    5.    Mane characters: I’m gonna be that person and say that I actually prefer the New 5 to the Mane 6 because I like the personalities of the New 5 more and they feel a lot more unique.

Sunny is optimistic and always wants to help ponies with their issues. 

Zipp is athletic and smart, but also wants to investigate all the strange activities going on in Equestria. 

Izzy is creative and doesn’t want anything or anypony to go to waste because she believes she can help make them better. 

Pipp is a big internet celebrity and a stylist, but she cares about her fans and her friends and we’ll drop what she’s doing for the sake of her health and the happiness of her friends. 

Hitch is the sheriff of Maretime Bay and a dragon dad. He always follows the rules and he uses these rules to protect ponies, but he can also get in over his head with everything he does and he realizes that he can’t always do things by himself. 

 

I still love G4 and everything it has offered, but we cannot just ignore this new era of MLP and everything it will bring and I believe this will be another wonderful generation of MLP! 

[nataalya 38]

On 2023-05-18 at 9:31 PM, DivineMoon1000 said:

 

    5.    Mane characters: I’m gonna be that person and say that I actually prefer the New 5 to the Mane 6 because I like the personalities of the New 5 more and they feel a lot more unique.

I haven't heard a similar opinion yet, or I've read answers that were too difficult for me, but... well... This short post made me think the same. 

I think there are very few people who liked all the manes the same... I mean, everyone had their own type. Favorite one. And it's not that the rest of the Mane6 were not liked ... they were needed for our favorite character of course -  for example AJ. She gave me a lot of reasons to like RD more, but she was indifferent in herself for me. My favorites were Rainbow and Twilight... and I had a hard time watching the episodes without them... I can say I didn't watch episodes without them. 

And it's not like my example is the only truth. A lot of people love Fluttershy and don't like RD. It's a matter of taste. Some people find shyness sweet but I personally love confidence. Nothing wrong. But that only means the truth is that a lot of people didn't care about the rest of cast so much. Me either. But I understand how important these characters are.

I don't feel it in G5, I like every character. I hated Pinkie Pie (although she had moments where I understood that my opinion about her is reallyunfair) but Izzy is awesome - I find some similarities in these characters so I put them in the same row if we talking about role. And oh man... I won't list everything, the only character I can't stand is Pipp - but only sometimes. The phone cult and rushing for followers drives me crazy, but Pipp as herself is a cool character I think.

Anyway... 4/5 likeable characters sounds better than 2/3 right?

And yes. The development of the male characters here is a big thing. But I feel the difference in Hitch from the movie (by the way I liked him more then) and now. It's not bad, but different.

From myself, I will simply add to the topic the longevity of the antagonists in the series. The format in G4 was simple, episode first and last in season. Here Opaline plays her part throughout the chapter/season and I like it. I hope there will be more villains in the future and they will be more active.

Edited May 20, 2023 by nataalya

[Skylight Scintillate 1,849]

I'll just go along with the others and say that G5 did male characters better by making them more in-depth and multi-dimensional, especially with Hitch. Unlike, Spike, Hitch actually feels like a mane character, while Spike was kind of just there. I feel like G4 was trending towards this with the pillars and the student six in the later seasons, but G5 started with this right off the bat. 

In addition, I think that starting off with the movie for G5 meant that the friendships forming felt more natural and less forced due to having more time to develop and the ponies having reasons to go along with each other. However, in G4, if I recall correctly, the other five kind of just showed up at Twilight's place and then followed her into the forest after talking to her once or twice, and then Twilight was quick to say that they were her friends when confronting Nightmare Moon even though Twilight had just met the others.

In addition, the G5 movie made a lot more sense than the G4 one because it felt kind of strange squeezing a movie in between two seasons of a TV show, and especially how they had to bend several established plots to make the movie work. These are some of the things that G5 does better than G4.

[CastletonSnob 3,025]

Boiling hot take: Pipp and Misty have better designs than any G4 pony.

[Peace Petal 9]

On 2023-05-21 at 8:56 AM, CastletonSnob said:

Boiling hot take: Pipp and Misty have better designs than any G4 pony.

I'll agree with that.

I'd also say that the G5 cast has more variety than the G4 cast. Zipp stands in contrast to the rest of the group (and any G4 character) as a character who's introverted and not really friendly but also confident. We have a pair of siblings and a pair of childhood friends in the cast instead of them all becoming friends at the start of the show. And of course their designs are more varied, having different body types, wing shapes, multicolored wings and manes, accessories, etc.

G5 has also done better with equality between the tribes. Earth pony magic helps a lot, and G5 doesn't give special privileges or get-out-of-jail free cards to magically gifted unicorns like G4 did.

G5 has a better portrayal of alicorns. In contrast to G4 where being good at magic was basically a prerequisite to alicornhood (and therefore to political authority), G5 let a bucking earth pony be both an alicorn and the protagonist. Never would have happened in a million years with the way G4 was going, as Luster Dawn's existence illustrates. Opaline represents the G4 worldview; because she is (was) powerful with magic, she thinks she's entitled to rule and is better than other ponies.

G5 has a greater variety of musical styles and genres than FiM did at this point (about 1 season in, more or less).

G5 has managed to give Bridlewood Forest a more unique culture and aesthetic than probably any G4 location.

[PrincessBonBon12 26]

I like that MyM is more cutsey and less memey than FIM. I loved FIM, especially the first 6 seasons, but I also like Pony Tales, and I feel like G5 brings back some of that cutie cute feel. I love the conflict between the different pony types also, because there is a lot to be learned there.