My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

[Oniya]

What is that in the background? O_O

[Major Major]

That, is Pinkamena Diane Pie; of whom the Bronies have come to the conclusion that she is an insane, Joker-style serial killer, who Pinkie keeps in check with parties and always being happy; because she fears that if she doesn't.... Well...

[Kunoichi]

Though in all seriousness, that's just fan-characterization.  The only time we saw that particular side of Pinkie was in Party of One, and it mostly seems to be what she looks like when she gets depressed.

My Little pony Friendship is magic : Pinkie Pie Happy to insane sad in 20 secs.

The alternate interpretation comes from... well...

Pinkie Pie Loses It

[ReijiTabibito]

I dunno...there's a basis in canon for it.

Or need I remind you of Madame LeFleur?

[Kunoichi]

Already posted the video for it, Reiji.

The thing to keep in mind is that, even when confronting her friends over it, she never once showed any sort of violent tendencies.  She just called them out on what she thought was going on, then went back to her old happy self once the misunderstanding was resolved.

She even apologized for accusing them, as I recall.

[Dhi]

I went from not liking Pinkie Pie much in the first few episodes, to really enjoying her as a character, mostly thanks to the depth that Pinkamena Diane Pie adds. What I think is very interesting is that Lauren Faust originally designed Pinkie Pie as a pegasus pony. A sketch of Pinkie Pie's original design sold in charity auction to benefit Japan tsunami relief, for a little over $4,000. I wish I could say I ended up with it, it's a one of a kind thing.

[Kunoichi]

[SunnyBlack]

See this show, i donno i just cant get into it. And i'm a horse person. I compete in dressage competitively and own my own friesian colt. But this show....i grew up watching the original and like I know it's suposed tobe a more intuitive remake, but it still bores me. I donno...maybe if they had a hot evil elf to fight against id be invested, but that's part of the problem. There's no real villain. That nightmare chick was vanquish din the pilot and since then there's been no real advisory, which i believe is important to a story's development. Meh.

[Shjade]

After spending months ignoring the show entirely and refusing to watch it in large part due to the unexpected and inexplicable popularity it's gathered on ZE INTERNETS complete with memes, captions for goof pictures, etc., as well as informing those among my friends who expressed great enjoyment of the show that they were insane, I decided I should probably watch the show before continuing along this line of critique in total ignorance.

So I did.

Having now watched the show, I have to admit...that my pre-watch judgment was completely on the mark. Average show aimed at lower age groups with expected predictability in characters and episode arcs. It's not bad, but I can't say I see anything in it of note. Even the animation's nothing special.

I'm as confused by people's fascination with the show now as I was before personally watching it.

[SunnyBlack]

After spending months ignoring the show entirely and refusing to watch it in large part due to the unexpected and inexplicable popularity it's gathered on ZE INTERNETS complete with memes, captions for goof pictures, etc., as well as informing those among my friends who expressed great enjoyment of the show that they were insane, I decided I should probably watch the show before continuing along this line of critique in total ignorance.

So I did.

Having now watched the show, I have to admit...that my pre-watch judgment was completely on the mark. Average show aimed at lower age groups with expected predictability in characters and episode arcs. It's not bad, but I can't say I see anything in it of note. Even the animation's nothing special.

I'm as confused by people's fascination with the show now as I was before personally watching it.

Thank you Shjade you just made my earlier point.
In comparison to Hasbro's original MLP (back in the 80s) this show is monumentally better. But yeah, being an animator myself, the flash animation is recycled (meaning they have set character and set formulas that they essentially just change the color or size of before recycling it back into the series. It's a basic flash animation technique which makes animating easier, but on the other side more...repetitive and unoriginal.)

And like i said before the episodes are random stories that have little to do with each other. The only steady plot development i see is with those baby ponies and their cutie mark. However i appreciate that they're trying to make a pony world more dynamic and believable rather than just have us accept it like in the original show. I.E. explaining about a pony's development and personal powers.

This is Hasbro remember? They're after your money. plain. simple. done. Their goal is to sell toys, it's the same with Transformers, Jem, and G.I Joe. Sure the stories can be fun and even actively engaging, it doesn't change the fact that the end product of the show is to motivate viewers into buying the toys. I'm a big TF fan myself and there's this GIANT debate about the cartoon incarnation vs. the need to sell toys on the TF forum. It's a pretty intriguing concept when you think about it. How much of the show is designed to just be entertaining and stand on it's own, and how much of the show is designed to sell toys?

Anyway ending on my earlier statement. If MLP:FiM is suposed to be engaging as a series, I would suggest that they get a conclusive villain in the series. Some type of prominent adversary for the ponies to work against. Because just as the show is, it's floating by purely on the 'cuteness' factor of the characters. And that can work for awhile (like it did in the original show) but the ultimate end point is hallow and missing.

[Oniya]

Not to mention there is just as much marketing potential in the 'bad guys'.  Once you have Optimus Prime, you have to get Megatron to make them fight each other.  G.I. Joe had to have Cobra around to out-smart (even in the infamous 'Viper' episode.)  Jem - I forget if they marketed Misfits dolls.  I was much more interested in watching G.I. Joe.    Heck, even the original Strawberry Shortcake series had Sour Grapes and the Purple Pieman.

And now that I've thoroughly admitted to knowing way too much about these shows off the top of my head...  *flees!*

[SunnyBlack]

Not to mention there is just as much marketing potential in the 'bad guys'.  Once you have Optimus Prime, you have to get Megatron to make them fight each other.  G.I. Joe had to have Cobra around to out-smart (even in the infamous 'Viper' episode.)  Jem - I forget if they marketed Misfits dolls.  I was much more interested in watching G.I. Joe.    Heck, even the original Strawberry Shortcake series had Sour Grapes and the Purple Pieman.

And now that I've thoroughly admitted to knowing way too much about these shows off the top of my head...  *flees!*

Hey babe, worry not. I am a proud late-night viewer of 80s cartoons. Hell I grew up in the 90s watching the 80s. haha.
I LOVE The Transformers, I love Snake-eyes in G.I.Joe (So much potential with a silent sexy ninja-comando), and I even loved Jem. (although Jem's a little silly, but Riot is awesome. Super gay-sexual 80s hair band geek FTW!)

And honestly there's nothing wrong with promoting toy lines. Hasbro is a toy company. That's their goal in life. But to give the cartoon incarnations credit, I wish they would TRY to make the show stand on it's own without having to rely on promoting toys to keep it going.

That's what I love about TF:Prime. It has some really great writers that are trying very hard to make it work for the fans. While the original G1 show from the 80s was all over the place, barely made since, and constantly threw new characters at you in hopes of promoting the identical toy coming out that season. Meh. That's the 80s for you. :)

[Kunoichi]

Eh, the show isn't for everyone.  That much has been obvious from day one.  I'm really not good in debates, so that's all I'll say on the matter. ^^;

[Dhi]

Friendship is Magic is a show about recognizing the value of others. I don't think preserving the artificial dichotomy of hero and villain is especially appropriate. I do like the episodes with villains and monsters, and I do sometimes find the interpersonal episodes formulaic, but here's the thing: I don't expect the show to appeal to my adult sensibilities. Instead, I appreciate that a show made for children respects its audience enough that I can not only stand to watch it, but genuinely enjoy it.

[Wolfy]

http://mylittlefacewhen.com/

for when you just can't find that right expression...

Also:

[Sabby]

Finally, a use for that 3 foot strap on.

[Dhi]

OMG the best! 

Are there any more shots? I want to see the wings!

[Kunoichi]

Discord: An Agent of Chaos

An inevitable comparison, but I think this particular one was rather well done. ^^

[Kunoichi]

...And Discord's been turned to stone again.

From what I've read, this episode and the one before it were originally planned to be the last two episodes of Season 1, rather than the first two of Season Two.  Given Celestia's gambit with the letters in this episode, I can't help but think that it really would have been the perfect ending note for the first season...

[Autumn Sativus]

Why haven't I seen this thread before?

Well, now that I'm here;

[Kunoichi]

Welcome to the thread, Saffron. ^^

Hmm.  Apparently there's going to be a two-week break between last week's episode and the next one.  The supposed plot summary I've heard for it sounds interesting, though.

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Apparently, Twilight Sparkle starts freaking out because she doesn't have a friendship report to send to the Princess.

[Wolfy]

Ahem:

[Kunoichi]

No.

[Wolfy]

...I want this in theaters. Now. I would buy SO many tickets.

[Kunoichi]

Wow, the fans have really started doing some good work of their own...

Pinkie Pie in "Present Prank"

Edit: In terms of looking like the show, I mean, not writing quality. ^^;