Make Your Mark Chapter 4.

[CastletonSnob 3,025]

It's finally here. The newest chapter of Make Your Mark has come out. Post your thoughts on it here!

[DivineMist1000 71,102]

C4: EP1: Bridlewoodstock

An absolutely awesome first episode of the new season!! It feels so good having MYM back again!! 

I feel like the animation has gotten even better since the last season and everypony is a lot more expressive and everything is a lot more colorful and vibrant. 

Seeing Pipp set up a “Bridlewoodstock” was absolutely awesome and it was so fun seeing Pipp so excited about it and setting it all up too. 

But I’m glad she learned to listen to Izzy and the local unicorns about the legends of the forest and the location with the Luna Bloom!!  And it was kind of creepy at the end seeing the Trogls steal ponies’ voices too. 

Hitch and Zipp working together to solve the mystery of Bridlewood was pretty cool too and the two of them got good chemistry. And it’s always awesome seeing Sunny tap into her Alicorn powers to help her friends in a situation! 

But my favorite part was all the awesome pony bands that showed up for the performance and seeing them all come together at the end was AWESOME!! 

And hoo boy, all the songs were so good and so upbeat and catchy!! On top of all that, I really liked the look of Ruby and the Earth Pony band too! 

A great start to more MYM goodness and I can’t wait to watch more! 

[AlbaTross 1,581]

Ok, that is a decent start to the "chapter".  I've only seen the Bridlewoodstock episode so far, but this series certainly seems better when it has self-contained plots.  Actual care went into this special that ensured it didn't just tread previous ground, and I think The Dreamlands were almost referencing the history of the franchise in a subtle but clever way, as if indicating that ponies are still relevant no matter how much time has passed.  

There are minor nitpicks, of course.  The Luma-Bloom effect could have certain done with some better CG than the budget would allow, so from a visual standpoint, it's not as impressive as the ponies seem to think.  The Dreamlands were incredibly easy to convince to set aside their doubts with just a few words, just because Sunny started glowing.  Sunny being the bland but OP Mary-Sue she has been to date just made me roll my eyes.  Electric Blue only performed instrumentals, but it would have been nice to see their act too.  

Overall though, this isn't a bad start, and I did like that Pipp learned an actual friendship lesson, and learning to respect the concerns of another culture is a pretty good one.  I think this is far from the development she and the other characters need, but it's a start.  I did say the CG is not that impressive, but this special is visually pleasing, so I guess it does its job in that regard.  All in all, this series still has an uphill battle ahead of it towards being where I hope will be, but I'm all for episodes that are just fun, and good for turning off one's brain.  

[River wisp 90]

¡¡MAJOR CHAPTER 4 SPOILERS AHEAD!!

This chapter was... better than expected. The animation was a huge step up and the plot actually progressed this time. It's a solid 8 episodes that are worth a watch, there was never any time where I thought that any certain aspects needed to be changed.

Bridlewoodstock: This was the best one in my opinion. The song was a bop, the new characters were great, and it actually had a plot. Which was unexpected to say the least. I love the g1 references with the Dreamlands and Electric Blue were cool but got basically no screen time. Ruby Jubilee was an amazing character design with stunning vocals for a children's show, however she wasn't really part of the plot like the other acts. I think Izzy wasn't really worried enough about the troggles, however I do appreciate her not wanting to crush Pipp's plan. I'm not sure how to feel about the absolute absurdity of Pipp trying to make a music festival in less than a week. They do have magic, and not much seems to go on In equestria so it's technically feasible if you look past all the work and money Pipp would've had to put in. But hey, she's royalty I guess. I respect them putting multiple problems in, with the headlining bands and the troggles separately. I think they were both handled very well, although I don't really understand the resolve between the bands not headlining. 
Overall it was an 9/10

Ep2: we go from the best to the worst. It wasn't awful, it just wasn't special or particularly interesting. But hey, Sprout's back! I know a lot of people wanted to see him again. The A plot was ok on this one; trying to unicycle the old canterlogic place into a communal area is a cool idea, but Sprout is right: he does still technically own the place. That could cause some legal issues down the line. We got some fuel for the Zitch shippers, which is always interesting. I also enjoyed the song on this one, not as much as the last though. The B plot with Zipp was pretty simple, but cute in its own way with her trying to decode the message from Twilight. However I liked how Misty and Opaline finally got to know about it. 6/10

Ep3: I liked this one. They managed to use sparky in a NOT god-awful way this time, so that's great. The A plot was basically the same as that one tyt episode, with queen Haven going out with Alphabittle and the girls getting annoyed. However, I'm not annoyed at this. I see tyt as a testing ground for ideas for upcoming episodes, and i personally think that it was a great idea. Queen haven and 'Alphie' got some more time, and the sisters are utterly disgusted buy it. It's hilarious. I like how queen Haven snapped at the end, showing how she needs her own life too. The B plot, (I don't know which one was A or B tbh, I'm guessing don't sue me) was not as good, but enjoyable. It was funny seeing the ridiculous rules of the unicorn games, and Hitch try to abide by them. Sparky getting stuck in the tree at the end was one of the only times I've been happy to see him. Sparky forced Hitch get into action and In the meantime got some funny reactions from the nearby unicorns. Misty was featured a bit, she was sweet as always. Her taking the picture back was cute, and the transitions between the unicorn games and her were nice. 8/10

I've watched them all, I just don't have time to review the rest for now. I might soon though.

Edited June 7, 2023 by River wisp

[Savygriffs 5,022]

Eeeeeeeee!!!! Best chapter yet!!

I love, love, LOVE the improvement!!

[Old Accnt. 3,147]

3 minutes ago, Savy said:

Eeeeeeeee!!!! Best chapter yet!!

I love, love, LOVE the improvement!!

Yes it truly is a amazing chapter I love it such a huge improvement I can't wait to see the next chapters 

[Steve Piranha 28,782]

Only animation mistake I’ve observed, are the sky seen from the windows being obviously flat, specially one in one of the later episodes where the window frame’s shadow covers the skybox 

[Misty Shadow 7,085]

I've only watched Bridlewoodstock so far thanks to me having a busy week at work and only being able to get tomorrow off despite having wanted today off, but oh my goodness, that was a lot better than I expected it to be. I already had a good feeling the songs were going to be great, but I was kind of stunned that the story wasn't just good, it was really, really good. They put a lot of time and care into building up to the festival with all of the musicians being so likable, the mystery in this one absolutely did not feel rushed like the mystery in Winter Wishday with us even finally getting to see Zipp and Hitch investigate together in the show, and FINALLY getting ghost monsters in MLP was fantastic. Onyx having another scene where she gets to slay it is just a bonus. I knew that Gillian Berrow was a good writer who did her best with the MYM pilot despite its faults and the fandom was definitely right to have faith in Tony Fleecs. I also definitely feel right in having faith in the rest of the episodes of this chapter impressing me now. 

[The Nth Doctor 652]

The only thing that improved was the animation 

...Sorta

Spoiler

Thankfully that was the worst it got

Feels like they're actively avoiding world-building, what with not elaborating on that one scene in episode 4 with Opaline's backstory, and avoiding having Zipp ever explain her Conspiracy wall by covering it with music and putting it in a filler episode

[Silly Druid 6,140]

I've only watched the Bridlewoodstock special so far, and I liked it. It manages to avoid the chaotic style and narrative problems that the previous MYM seasons have, so the overall quality of G5 content seems to be improving. And the songs are good, especially "Iconic." The story isn't very interesting or anything though, and I hope we get more of the Opaline storyline in the remaining episodes, which I'm going to watch one per day, and post my thoughts here.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Silly Druid

[Rosy Moonlight 367]

I feel like releasing the Mark Your Mark episodes, especially the ones with mystery plotlines, on a weekly basis would've worked better and done them more justice.

[Props Valroa 26,046]

I'll give a full review on these episodes once the threads are properly made. Bridlewoodstock is AMAZING. 

[Evil Pink One 12,990]

..... First of all... What.....what  the !?? Did i just watch 

I like the reaction they make..... But it got weird....especially izzy.... She had too much sugar... Or drugs. She sniffed to much glitters....

Well i guess it is better?  I didn't fall a sleep so thats good.

 

Holy crap its only 12 mins.... It felt like an hour watching.... 

This series invented time control. Cool

[Smart Heart 35]

Fantastic story! Loved Misty’s character development here and the lore behind Opaline’s motivations! Here’s hoping the next chapter proves to be the most epic! I’ll be keeping Stan Bush's "The Touch" on standby.

[AlbaTross 1,581]

Ok, I binged all the episodes, and I think this chapter is definitely an improvement on the previous ones, and at times it really feels like the show is starting to approach the one I think it ought to be...but it does still fall short in some regards.  Still: 

For the longer answer, well, I'll have to at least try to condense my thoughts on several episodes, but maybe I'll start with why the series still falls short with me, but end with the positives.  Anyways, it seems there are times when the episodes are unfocused, as they seem to try and cram in multiple subplots all at once, and each one ends up having to be resolved a bit too quickly for my liking.  Even the 45 minute special feels like that at times, and the result is that even a longer runtime often doesn't allow an episode to avoid feeling a bit rushed at points, as at least the TYT shorts are allowed to focus entirely on one character/plot if need be.  Conversely though, there are other times where it seems some of the cast don't actually have much to do, yet the episode feels the need to accommodate them anyways.  The result is that episodes can in other ways feel padded out.

At times, the show violates the rule of showing and not telling in a visual medium.  The race Hitch participated in being explained to us instead of shown is one such example, and the cynic in me knows it's probably to avoid having to animate that part.  At least Misty and Opaline acquiring plot-relevant things off screen is more subtle, but it also means we miss out on seeing certain overarching plot-related things play out. 

Of course, the entire Opaline plot manages to feel both rushed and drawn-out in equal measures, in more ways than one.  I do feel as though more time would have been needed to explain Misty's backstory, and maybe we could have seen a visual of it?  I get the sense the decision to use 3D animation is prompting some corners to be cut to save budget, and is another factor that's working against the show.  On the other hand, Opaline's arc is still going.  I guess the criticism of FiM having too much plot and/or action-focus is out the window now that we have a show that's far more centered upon a single villain arc that refuses to end.  

Time for a lightning round.  As always, the show continues to over-rely on festivals and community service as a means to facilitate subplots.  Are the characters so flat and uninteresting that a normal day in their life can't fill 22 minutes?  Also, I guess property ownership isn't a thing in Maretime Bay.  I suppose if the entirety of the law is upheld by one stallion, there isn't much room for bureaucracy though.  The paring of Queen Haven and Alphabittle isn't new to us, so why introduce it as such?  I'm assuming that episode was meant to air before the corresponding TYT short, and as such, is probably evidence of MYM's release schedule being delayed.  Speaking of, why rehash the subplot of Pipp being sick again?  TYT already did that.  While aspects of the show's references to G4 are interesting, it does still come across as being bad fanfic, so I prefer when we aren't reminded of that particularly problematic aspect of the series.

Now for the positives.  Both the Bridlewoodstock special and Misty's reformation ended up being better than I was expecting.  Of course, I was expecting a steaming pile of horse dung, so that's not saying much, but my expectations were exceeded regardless.  The former ended up treading new ground, which is great because I was getting fed up with this series just rehashing subplots already done in FiM and not doing them as well.  I was even intending to see if I could get the full episode of The Mane Attraction and post it here, with the comment that that's how I think an episode based around a musical pony should be done, but my plans were dashed when the special didn't end up being an inferior rehash.  Drat, I'll get you next time G5 (JK).    I was also expecting the next episode to be a rehash of Castle Sweet Castle but with more ponies weighing in with their ideas, but that episode went in a different direction too.  

Misty's reformation may have been a bit rushed at points, but overall, I think it did end up getting the proper time and attention it needed, which surprised me (I was expecting it to be more rushed/anticlimactic).  It's not Shakespeare, but I think the writers managed to pull off something resembling proper pacing for her arc.  Her butterfly cutie mark (I think) matching the one she painted on previously in Chapter 2 does kind of make sense, even if it's also probably a means to avoid having to create a new one for her.  I am kind of invested in where the plot with Opaline is going now, especially now that Misty will no longer be an agent for Opaline, but may want to fake it.  

We finally got to see more of Bridlewood.  Neat.  I like the architecture.  Maybe one day we can actually see the inside of a building other than the cafe, but it's a start.  The music is getting better than the vast majority of tracks from previous chapters and MYM, I think, with the characters having more opportunity to sing, though it is still fairly mono-genre and is still a ways off from where FiM music was at even in its early seasons.  I'll take any increase in quality though.  

All in all...yeah, the show has improved.  I think it has a ways to go before I consider this series to be even in the same ballpark as FiM, but I can respect that it's getting better.  

[Evil Pink One 12,990]

Lol was it episode 2 where they tried to remove the flying rats? The ending was soooooooooooooooooo AaaaaaAAAAAAAAA!?

HAHAHAHAHA 

THEY JUST SANG AND WAS INSPIRED AND LEFT?!?!?

AHAHAHA!

the writing is legendary in this one. 

Its like "im the villain and because you sang and inspired me im not evil anymore.... Good bye." Hahahah

Episode 1 was like.......nah it didn't even give me a laugh... But episode two did or was it three?....

 

[Evil Pink One 12,990]

Finally finished it... Hmmm okay? I guess? The alicorn battle was..... Hmmm . Lullaby for a princes is 10x better though. 

Misty's redemption is.....well it reminded me of starlight glimmer.....

And why didnt the dragon die though. Disappointing hahaha. Im betting we gonna see amber or spike on the next chapter. Or maybe smolder.

Theres a lot of boomerang effects on the characters.

[DivineMist1000 71,102]

C4: EP2: Top Remodel

This one wasn’t as mind blowing as the last episode, but it was still a really good one with some awesome team ups and a good investigation from Detective Zipp. 

Seeing Sprout get the spotlight again after the movie was interesting and it’s good that he’s not stuck in his ways and he legitimately feels bad for what he did, but I wish we could’ve seen Phyllis too because she was at fault along with him too. 

Other than that, it was cool seeing Pipp and Hitch team up and it was fun with Pipp trying to scare Hitch, which actually makes me surprised that Pipp likes scary things too. The two of them and Sprout helping get the critters out the building was good that new song from Pipp and Hitch was awesome too! 

Zipp investigating Twilight’s message from Chapter 2 was interesting and it shows how close she’s getting to figuring out who the big villain is and this makes Opaline more tense and desperate to get her Dragonfire! 

Sunny and Izzy’s story was great too and I liked how they were trying their hardest to please everypony with the new space and trying to accommodate everypony’s ideas. But like Izzy says later in the episode: “If you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one…” 

So instead what they do is make it a space where anypony can just do their own thing and create their ideas themselves using the space, which I thought was a good solution. 

All in all, another great episode of MYM and it just keeps on getting better. 

[AlbaTross 1,581]

8 hours ago, Kujamih said:

Lol was it episode 2 where they tried to remove the flying rats? The ending was soooooooooooooooooo AaaaaaAAAAAAAAA!?

HAHAHAHAHA 

THEY JUST SANG AND WAS INSPIRED AND LEFT?!?!?

AHAHAHA!

the writing is legendary in this one. 

Its like "im the villain and because you sang and inspired me im not evil anymore.... Good bye." Hahahah

Episode 1 was like.......nah it didn't even give me a laugh... But episode two did or was it three?....

 

I wasn't too surprised by that TBH.  Note how quickly The Dreamlands got over their doubts in the previous episode just because Sunny said a few words and glowed.  This show is full of subplots that get resolved on a dime because there's no time to give them a proper resolution.  This is certainly an example of something I hope improves going forward.  Maybe if less was crammed into episodes they could all focus more on a single subplot, and have that subplot be paced the way it should.  As it stands, the show often needs to constantly cut away to what another character or pair is doing, and it often comes at the cost of none of it getting the proper time and attention.  

[RDDash 18,866]

Wait, The Dreamlands? As in Generation 3 ponies from the Dreamland. Happy to see Minty in Gen 5 cartoon.

[Silly Druid 6,140]

Episode 2: Top Remodel

I liked it. It's quite engaging to watch, and the storytelling quality is getting better compared to chapter 2. There is some progress of the main story here, with Zipp trying to figure out Twilight's message. There are some interesting things going on with Misty as well...

[Fluttershutter 2,120]

Bridlewoodstock was cool. It was fun to see them working together to get a music festival going, Zipp and Hitch trying to solve the mystery, and Sunny using her magic. I loved Pipp's wing bling. But for a music episode the songs really didn't blow me away.

[Rising Dusk 26,085]

Overall, Chapter 4 is a big improvement from the other three chapters.  The story writing is better and the animation seems to only be getting better and better, much more smooth.  Or maybe I'm just getting use to it so it just seems to be.

Briddlewoodstock - This special was just a lot of fun.  Bringing in the Dreamlands is a blast from old MLP and quite lovely.  One of my favorite things in this special is just all the pony designs, specially all the glame the mane five wear.  Pipp is amazing in her element and stressed Izzy is interestingly adorable.  A huge thing this highlighted for me is how G5 focuses more on things like body paint and such for design updates, rather than implementing clothing changes like G4 did.  A little sad the other bands didn't get full songs for the album, but Ruby had a good song.

Top Remodel - Good Zipp episode and a good lesson for Sunny in the remodel if she's to end up the leader of the group.  Fun to see Sprout again and he disappears just as quickly.  Continuity building in Pipp's love for spooky things. 

The Jinxie Games - This one was, random.  But I suppose that's fitting in Izzy's world.  Unicorns developed, strangely in this new Equestria.  Speaking of which, interesting history drop as the announces put a time line that the magic was sealed thousands, yes with an 's', of Moons ago.  G5 is a lot further in the future from G4 than I thought.  The Queen Haven and Alphabittle love story seems a little jarring, as it was already covered in TYT.  Maybe a little mistiming on when those were suppose to release?   Still want to know about the Princess' father.

Sunny Side Up - A fun Hitch and Sunny episode that played on their long life friendship.  Misty gets magic!  Even if she doesn't notice. 

Spoiler

Okay, this episode was huge to Equestrian lore.  I know, with a grain of salt as Opaline might be an unreliable narrator.  However... Celestia, Luna and Opaline were all Alicorns together!?  Opaline was given a sacred domain of fire, just as Celestia was the Sun and Luna the Moon.  And even more!?  Opaline dropped the name of a location Skyros where the three of them grew up and the sisters were considered the 'golden' ones.  Home of Alicorns!?

Fun to see Opaline out of her castle and struggling with... peasant work.

To be continued...

[Fluttershutter 2,120]

Top Remodel

So...that IS still Phyliss's property, right?

Well, we see Misty and she did indeed ditch the necklace but she's still working for Opaline. Wonder what she told her? 

And more of Twilight!   The whole magic thing is getting pretty complicated. Either they actually have a plan or... So Opaline needs to get dragon fire to become a fire alicorn to take the rest of pony magic. Does she have alicorn magic of her own or is that all in the crystals too?

 

[Evil Pink One 12,990]

This show is just riding on gen 4. They shoulda just made a new one.

Heck it woulda been better if this wasnt connected to gen 4.

Fire alicorn woooooowwwww....

Dragon mcguffin!!?? Wooowowowowwowwww... 

Opaline got the power! Woooowwwwww oh look ahe still lost and trapped on the bubble.... Wow.....

Oh look they won... What did they do.... Nothing.... Hahahahahaha! 

This definitely made other gen4 episodes better thats for sure.

Maybe they made gen 5 to make gen 4 look better. Then they'll make a remake of gen 4 etc. Or because gen5 is bad it'll make gen 6 better since they'd be compared to gen 5 instead of gen 4.

Yeah i think gen 5 was made to lower peoples expectation. Or to kill the brony fandom.