Mane 6, Songs, and general problems with Season 3

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

I'll explain.

 

In Season 3, I feel like the personalities of each of the ponies had something missing. Especially Pinkie. Remember when Pinkie Pie used to randomly burst into song at random times (Giggle at the Ghosties, Grand Galloping Gala, Twilight is my bestest friend, Hop Skip and Jump, the list goes on) prominently in Season 1? I don't remember her ever doing so in Season 3 (correct me if I'm wrong) and that was one of my favorite thing about her.

 

Twilight had less adorkable moments. "Is there a book I should read on being a princess?" is the only standout one I noticed. She seemed more of a serious character this time around.

 

Applejack, not a huge change. Actually, I preferred her singing this season to any other. The way she sang in "A True True Friend" was extremely professional and very catchy (I whistle her part every day at school).

 

Rarity had less drama and obsession with dresses. We didn't see much of her and Opal. There wasn't even an episode revolved around her, but that was probably due to the number of episodes being halved. Still, I missed that "fabulosity" aspect of her that I saw less and less of as the season progressed.

 

Fluttershy, less adorable moments.

 

Rainbow Dash didn't change much. The two tomboys seemed to retain their essence as a character IMO.

 

--

 

A thing aside from the Mane 6 that saddened me the most in this season was how the songs didn't feel as memorable. Sure, Babs Seed and True True Friend and the alike were kind of catchy, but they weren't as strikingly beautiful as songs such as Winter Wrap Up, Find A Pet, Becoming Popular, Flim Flam Brothers, At The Gala, Smile Song, This Day Aria, and Art of the Dress. The only song that I feel contested with the previous seasons was the "Crystal Ponies" song.

 

Another thing I didn't like as the show progressed is the slight change in character design. It's very subtle, but fillies' legs are a bit thinner, and the face and leg design of the ponies in general looks a bit more organized. This can be seen as better or worse by different people, but I prefer the look of the Season 1 (my favorite season) ponies.

 

--

 

There are probably more issues that I have that I can't think of ATM. But remember that this is all my opinion. There are probably those out there who completely disagree with me and that's fine. If you think Season 3 was your favorite season, post all your reasons why.

 

What are your thoughts on my points? Do you agree? Disagree? Neutral?

Edited March 8, 2013 by Scootabloom

[Princess Twi Sparkle 3]

I disagree with you in terms of songs. I actually really like A True, True Friend, and it's quickly becoming  one of my favorites. I have to say I agree with you on all the other points for the most part. While I enjoyed Season 3, it felt different to 1 and 2. It felt really rushed to me.

[Pinkazoid 3,493]

I'll explain.

 

In Season 3, I feel like the personalities of each of the ponies had something missing. Especially Pinkie. Remember when Pinkie Pie used to randomly burst into song at random times (Giggle at the Ghosties, Grand Galloping Gala, Twilight is my bestest friend, Hop Skip and Jump, the list goes on) prominently in Season 1? I don't remember her ever doing so in Season 3 (correct me if I'm wrong) and that was one of my favorite thing about her.

I've been saying this for weeks :L

 

No, months.

 

 

Not only that, she lost her personality, she used to be funny, cute, and most importantly, what I considered a free spirit, now she's just there as a filler, or, as previously mentioned, a laughstock.

 

I really hate what this season did the to the Mane 6's orginal personalities, I'd understand them growing up, but not this soon :L

[Motion Spark 7,807]

I agree with you regarding Pinkie Pie, in fact I said many times already that they idiotized her character for comedic purposes, which I found awful for her. Pinkie didn't feel Pinkie anymore, it's a shame.

 

Twilight being less "adorkable" makes sense, she was maturing throughout the episodes to become a princess, of course she didn't know for what kind of thing she was ready, but she knew that she had to be ready, whatever it was. This season I felt a more grown Twilight who is capable of making choices without strictly reading a book, I liked that feeling of "progress" of hers.

 

 

Applejack, not a huge change. Actually, I preferred her singing this season to any other. The way she sang in "A True True Friend" was extremely professional and very catchy (I whistle her part every day at school).

Rarity's part was better :x not only that, I managed to see a much more responsible, motherly and caring side of Applejack that we saw before but this time was multiplied by 10. Now, Applejack > Pinkie Pie.

 

 

Rarity had less drama and obsession with dresses. We didn't see much of her and Opal. There wasn't even an episode revolved around her, but that was probably due to the number of episodes being halved. Still, I missed that "fabulosity" aspect of her that I saw less and less of as the season progressed.

I didn't feel her fabulosity missing, it happens that she didn't even had enough time to show it  the lack of Rarity this season, impacted on how much of her personality she could show during the season, it was super shortened. However, her very brief appearances were remarkable this season.

 

 

Fluttershy, less adorable moments.

true.

 

 

Rainbow Dash didn't change much. The two tomboys seemed to retain their essence as a character IMO.

 

 

she changed plenty!  do you remember wonderbolts academy and sleepless in ponyville? these episodes shows Rainbow Dash as I never seen her before, ever! in fact, she was so different that I had my doubts if she was in "character" or not. Nonetheless, she was very cool this season, ignoring her bumpy start in the Crystal Empire.

 

 

A thing aside from the Mane 6 that saddened me the most in this season was how the songs didn't feel as memorable. Sure, Babs Seed and True True Friend and the alike were kind of catchy, but they weren't as strikingly beautiful as songs such as Winter Wrap Up, Find A Pet, Becoming Popular, Flim Flam Brothers, At The Gala, and Art of the Dress. The only song that I feel contested with the previous seasons was the "Crystal Ponies" song.

The Babs seed song, was so cliche, expectable and "safe". The song has this american 50's feeling to it (not my cup of tea) that I didn't enjoy, in fact the episode was a tad mediocre, and the song so boring that I practically vanished that from my brain, I really don't remember almost anything about the song, however the animation, was incredibly well done.

IMO there are a lot of memorable songs, The Crystal Ponies, The Cutie mark song, A true true friend and Celestia's Ballad. These 2 last songs hit me right it the feels, so IMO they are great.

Remember also that this season had half the episodes of a normal season so having these songs as favorites is actually a lot.

Edited March 8, 2013 by Sparkity

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

 

she changed plenty!  do you remember wonderbolts academy and sleepless in ponyville? these episodes shows Rainbow Dash as I never seen her before, ever! in fact, she was so different that I had my doubts if she was in "character" or not. Nonetheless, she was very cool this season, ignoring her bumpy start in the Crystal Empire.

Eh.

 

Dash has shown her "feels" side to the show many times, but very subtly. She participates in group hugs, loves her friends, but her pride gets in the way of showing it so it isn't evident.

 

And perhaps I'm used to it after reading so many Scootalove fanfics

[Scootalove 10,689]

The only problem I see in Season 3, is pretty much how Twilight has changed. She used to have funny, sarcastic, jokes to make and pulled off very funny serious faces. Now she is sort of a boring character. Not trying to insult her, but she is a bit boring. I missed her pluckyness.

Edited March 9, 2013 by ~Chaotic Lightning~

[Yellow Diamond 7,569]

The only problem I see in Season 3, is pretty much how Twilight has changed. She used to have funny, sarcastic, propaganda. Now she is sort of a boring character. Not trying to insult her, but she is a bit boring. I missed her pluckyness.

 

I'm curious: what do you mean by propaganda? Do you mean that she would frequently kiss up to Princess Celestia? Otherwise, I don't recall Twilight being much of a mouthpiece for any cause in particular. (The mental image of dictator-for-life Twilight is a funny one, though.)

[Scootalove 10,689]

I'm curious: what do you mean by propaganda? Do you mean that she would frequently kiss up to Princess Celestia? Otherwise, I don't recall Twilight being much of a mouthpiece for any cause in particular. (The mental image of dictator-for-life Twilight is a funny one, though.)

Did I say propaganda, my bad. I meant funny material and jokes, I just think that in some cases this season she doesn't make that many jokes. I would never imagine dictatorship at all.

[Motion Spark 7,807]

Eh.

 

Dash has shown her "feels" side to the show many times, but very subtly. She participates in group hugs, loves her friends, but her pride gets in the way of showing it so it isn't evident.

 

And perhaps I'm used to it after reading so many Scootalove fanfics

easy group hugs means nothing compared to what I saw of Rainbow Dash in Wonderbolts Academy, actually she thought before acting, she had a mentality of teamwork the whole episode, she never strived for pride for herself only, she genuinelly cared about others, even if she knew that they were weaker than her.

She self-sacrified her dream, not only for her friends, but because she felt like she was stepping on others to get success, because she was feeling reckless, like she said, in all honesty, I have never EVER seen Rainbow Dash as mature and thoughtful as she was in Wonderbolts Academy.

[hawkflame 3,310]

I generally have to agree, I think that there was something missing this year.  Except for Rainbow Dash, they either all lost their personality quirks, or they became nothing *but* personality quirks.  Where's Rarity's passion and drama?  Pinkie Pie was funny and random, but that's kind of all she was.  The writing has not been as consistently good, and I feel like the writers don't have 8quite* the handle on the characters that they did in Seasons 1 and 2. 

 

Maybe it has to do with Lauren Faust leaving.  Allegedly the last thing she did have input on was A Canterlot Wedding. 

[pinkiefan1287 610]

You bring up some good points and I agree with you on some, but I feel you are wrong about a few things.

 

Pinkie Pie- It's true that Pinkie Pie did not have many random songs this season. Still I felt that Pinkie made that up by having more random moments. So the songs part left, but she still was the same pony with just being random.

 

Twilight- Agreed, Twilight did not have many cute dorky moments in the show. But she was barley in an episodes this season. The only one I can think of that can count, would be when she told AJ about the Dragon code and that everypony should know it. Still I think it was something Spike and Twilight made up one day when they were playing with each other.

 

Applejack- She got a song this season. Which is a good thing for her.

 

Rarity- The problem with Rarity was that she did not get an episode this season. Still I feel she did had some other moments besides about dresses. Like in the episode, Games that ponies play, When she was trying to get Caddice mane ready. True the episode did not focus on her, but it still had that Rarity charm to it.

 

Fluttershy- I felt Fluttershy had some cute moments. Not a lot, but a few. Like how she was wanted to hid in her closet after getting out of Ponyville. The way she said it was cute. Still she could have had more.

 

Rainbow Dash- Rainbow Dash acted less like a tomboy in this season. Like the episode with Scootaloo. Now to me that just felt like a huge fan-fic and I did not care for the episode, but I still feel Rainbow Dash was better at showing her element of loyalty then an other episode. Now, Wonderbolt Academy did a great job with Rainbow Dash. She was living her dream, she wasn't trying to do stupid stunts and tried to act more serious than other times. She was even more conceder about her fellow ponies.

 

So I feel the show did do a weak job with some of the characters, but I still feel they still showed some of their good signs. 

[Whofch 128]

Just on the characters from my PoV (in no particular order):

 

AJ: I think this season has been great for her. So much screen time showing her as the caring one, keeping everything going.

Rarity: Had some amazing moments. Lack of screen time is what hurt her.

RD: Started shakily but progressed away from her *insert nasty word here* side and showed her true feelings on certain things.

Twilight: She's becoming Boring. Not sure how else to describe it.

Fluttershy: Hit and miss throughout. There was cuteness but some of it felt forced. I still love how she was portrayed in the Flutter on episode though.

Pinkie: Large amounts of forced homour. Felt very out of place and annoying at times. Had her moments though.

 

This season also made me fall in love with the CMC who I previously found to be dull.

 

The episode count was what I felt to be the thing which hindered progression the most.

 

Side note: I love most of the songs from season 3. Worst in my opinion being the crystal fair one

Edited March 9, 2013 by Greenlitsky

[LunaEclipse 101]

I agree with a lot of what's been said already.  Our ponies for the most part seem less, putting it simply, delightful than the other seasons.  I'm not sure of the reason why, but this season had a much more aloof feeling to it.  As far as observations like Twilight losing some adorkableness, Rarity getting less spotlight, and Pinkie Pie losing some of her Pinkie charm, I agree with the sentiments.  I miss a lot of what made season 2 and 1 more enjoyable I guess.  

 

One other thing that bothered me about season 3, and I'm not sure if many others feel this way, the LETTERS!!  They writers seem to have ditched the aspect of the ponies writing their lesson-learning letters to Princess Celestia at the end of every episode.  I liked that they had this ritual, but the ponies stopped writing their letters.  I thought it was a good way to reiterate the lessons learned to younger audiences, and it offered a nice feeling of resolution to older audiences.  

 

As far as the music, I didn't really detect a difference in the quality between this season and the others.  Perhaps it was because there were more episodes to incorporate song and music into, but still, with the numbers of episodes in this season, I feel like they did a pretty good job.  Especially with the last episode compensating for the apparent lack of music.  A True, True Friend, The Ballad of the Crystal Empire, and What My Cutie Mark is Telling Me were some of my favorites of the season.  

 

Season 4 is supposedly scheduled for 26 episodes just like seasons 1 and 2.  My hopes are up for the charm and personality quirks to return to everypony in season 4.  Maybe they'll feel less rushed, having more time to bring out what we loved about each character...hopefully.

[Display Name 448]

I am stating my own opinion, so please don't rage.

 

But i honestly think Season 3 was a big disappointment.

 

From Rarity having barely any screen-time, to Twilight being completely boring and Pinkie Pie 

not being herself. *not completely*.

 

I'm somewhat looking forward to Season 4, hoping it will fix some mistakes the writers made

in Season 3. I want more Derpy, more random Pinkie moments, and more Rarity. e.t.c.

 

But i did read somewhere that the end of Season 3 was a three-parter. Let's hope that is true.

[Shanks 10,816]

Twilight Sparkle: I think it is largely because there really weren't that many episode focusing on Twilight this season except for the Crystal Empire two parter and Magic Duel which were more adventure style stories as opposed to the slice of life episodes which is where Twilights adorkable side and slight OCD like tendencies usually come out. Other than these observations she still seems like the same old Twilight to me.

 

Applejack: She had the strongest showing since she was first introduced as a character in this season and I loved every minute of it.

 

Rarity: Exactly where was she this whole time? They keep this up and they will start to tell jokes about Rarity being a background pony like they did with Applejack.

 

Fluttershy: Fluttershy has a lot of great episodes throughout the series and I of course liked Keep Calm and Flutter but one huge problem I have noticed with Fluttershy throughout the series is how inconsistent her character is written. One minute she learns a lesson and then it seems like it is forgotten, I realize it is difficult to write a character like Fluttershy effectively and her change will be slower than the others but it is getting a little ridiculous.

 

Rainbow Dash: She grew and matured the most of any of the mane 6 this season, sure she has showed some subtle hints of her softer side throughout the series but we have never seen it quite as overt as in Sleepless in Ponyville. And her willing to risk her dreams of becoming a Wonderbolt to do the right thing just shows that she is growing up.

 

Pinkie Pie: With the exception of Too Many Pinkie Pies Pinkie Pie didn't really have much as a character this season with the exception of occasional comic relief.

[Dr. Eggnog 203]

The Babs seed song, was so cliche, expectable and "safe".

Wha, really?  I thought it was extremely weird and different and modern.  I thought it was good, though I thought it was more weird than good.

 

Anyway, I like Twilight being more serious.  I thought Keep Calm and Flutter On was Fluttershy's best episode, even if there haven't been as many cute moments.

 

I LOVED the song What My Cutie Mark is Telling Me.  The Crystal Fair song was good too, as was Babs Seed.  I also liked Sweetie Belle's bad singing in Sleepless in Ponyville.

 

I really loved Sleepless in Ponyville and Magical Mystery Cure.  And I don't think season 3 had an outright bad episode (though Spike at Your Service wasn't far off).  Really, I think season 3 was hurt by being half length but otherwise I liked it.

Edited March 9, 2013 by Dr. Eggnog

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

I think the characterization and writing problems came form the short season, it seems the writers felt to pressed to compress all their ideas into a amount of content far shorter then what the show usually gives them to work with per season. 

 

As for the music, I think it's been getting better and better with each season. We've evolved from the little jingles of season 1, all the way to the full blown musical numbers of seasons 2 & 3. 

[Hangman 320]

I hated how short it was. It started out a little slow, but I think Wonderbolt Academy, Apple Family Reunion, Sleepless in Ponyville  were great! I love the Babs Seed song. Also, the double perspective of Games Ponies Play with Spike At Your Service was really entertaining to me. If it was a full 26 episodes, I think that at this point the momentum would be up enough. to where some more memorable episodes would be coming out. It has to be difficult to the writers knowing that they now have 2 audiences to please. They have a lot resting on them, no doubt in my mind season 4 will make up for this. I think 3 was just sort of an experimental thing.

Edited March 10, 2013 by thenext

[XUNUSEDXXX 3,459]

Rarity- The problem with Rarity was that she did not get an episode this season. Still I feel she did had some other moments besides about dresses. Like in the episode, Games that ponies play, When she was trying to get Caddice mane ready. True the episode did not focus on her, but it still had that Rarity charm to it.

 

Even with her not getting an episode this season, her screen time didn't have the same vibe and Rarity-feeling to it that I saw in the previous seasons.