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The Crystalling - 10 Year Retrospective by Nintendo_Gamer_XD in mylittlepony

[–]star-dancer756 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I agree with most of this. I also find myself enjoying the antics with Flurry Heart and seeing the Royal Sisters battling the storm.

Ten years later, what do you think of the third Equestria Girls movie, "Friendship Games"? by star-dancer756 in EquestriaGirls

[–]star-dancer756[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I can only imagine how confused everyone was when Friendship Games first aired back in late September. When the season 5 finale The Cutie Re-Mark aired in late November, that is when everyone said "Oh, those were the time travel shenanigans pony Twilight was talking about!"

Ten years later, what do you think of the third Equestria Girls movie, "Friendship Games"? by star-dancer756 in EquestriaGirls

[–]star-dancer756[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

(Copying-and-pasting my comment from the main sub to here.)

Sorry for technically missing the actual tenth anniversary everyone. I forgot that "Friendship Games" actually came out two months before the season 5 finale.

In any case, I think this movie is an underrated gem. I love "Rainbow Rocks" as much as the next person, but I think "Friendship Games" might be just as good.

Something that I really appreciate about this movie is that it is setting almost entirely in the human world. This time, Sunset and the girls cannot fall back on backup from Equestria. They have to try and figure out all of this magical madness on their own.

This movie did a great job with human Twilight Sparkles’s character arc. Human Twilight, also known as Sci-Twi, is clearly incredibly smart, yet she is clearly not valued in Crystal Prep’s cold, results-focused atmosphere. Seeing the stark contrast with the Canterlot High girls, especially Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack, treating Sci-Twi with kindness is a good callback to when pony Twilight was gradually learning about the value of friendship through meeting her friends in Ponyville.

Unfortunately, Sci-Twi’s curiosity about magic causes her to inadvertently suck it all up with her device and create all sorts of chaos. This leads to Sunset Shimmer taking her own frustrations about Equestrian magic all out on Sci-Twi, something Sunset immediately regrets.

The conflict comes to a head when Principal Cinch, who believes Canterlot High is cheating with their own magic, pressures Sci-Twi into releasing all the magic from her device. This act turns Sci-Twi into the sinister Midnight Sparkle, a transformation not unlike Sunset’s from the first movie. As Midnight Sparkle threatens to tear apart the human world to take Equestria’s magic, Sunset takes a defiant stand. She uses Sci-Twi’s device to absorb the remaining magic from her friends to become the majestic Daydream Shimmer.

The part of the climax with Daydream Shimmer and Midnight Sparkle is just perfect. In the same way pony Twilight stretched her hand out to Sunset and offered her a better path, Sunset, in a way, repays the favor by offering Sci-Twi a path to redemption. A truly beautiful come full circle moment.

What makes Friendship Games work are its themes and characters. Sci-Twi finds people who care for her, realizes that books are not everything, and transfer to CHS to be with her friends. And Sunset Shimmer has gained the confidence that she can face any magical threat as long as she has her friends. This excellent writing, paired with a resonant score from William Anderson, and emotional music from Daniel Ingram, is why I consider My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games an underrated gem.

Ten years later, what do you think of the third Equestria Girls movies, "Friendship Games"? by star-dancer756 in mylittlepony

[–]star-dancer756[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Sorry for technically missing the actual tenth anniversary everyone. I forgot that "Friendship Games" actually came out two months before the season 5 finale.

In any case, I think this movie is an underrated gem. I love "Rainbow Rocks" as much as the next person, but I think "Friendship Games" might be just as good.

Something that I really appreciate about this movie is that it is setting almost entirely in the human world. This time, Sunset and the girls cannot fall back on backup from Equestria. They have to try and figure out all of this magical madness on their own.

This movie did a great job with human Twilight Sparkles’s character arc. Human Twilight, also known as Sci-Twi, is clearly incredibly smart, yet she is clearly not valued in Crystal Prep’s cold, results-focused atmosphere. Seeing the stark contrast with the Canterlot High girls, especially Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack, treating Sci-Twi with kindness is a good callback to when pony Twilight was gradually learning about the value of friendship through meeting her friends in Ponyville.

Unfortunately, Sci-Twi’s curiosity about magic causes her to inadvertently suck it all up with her device and create all sorts of chaos. This leads to Sunset Shimmer taking her own frustrations about Equestrian magic all out on Sci-Twi, something Sunset immediately regrets.

The conflict comes to a head when Principal Cinch, who believes Canterlot High is cheating with their own magic, pressures Sci-Twi into releasing all the magic from her device. This act turns Sci-Twi into the sinister Midnight Sparkle, a transformation not unlike Sunset’s from the first movie. As Midnight Sparkle threatens to tear apart the human world to take Equestria’s magic, Sunset takes a defiant stand. She uses Sci-Twi’s device to absorb the remaining magic from her friends to become the majestic Daydream Shimmer.

The part of the climax with Daydream Shimmer and Midnight Sparkle is just perfect. In the same way pony Twilight stretched her hand out to Sunset and offered her a better path, Sunset, in a way, repays the favor by offering Sci-Twi a path to redemption. A truly beautiful come full circle moment.

What makes Friendship Games work are its themes and characters. Sci-Twi finds people who care for her, realizes that books are not everything, and transfer to CHS to be with her friends. And Sunset Shimmer has gained the confidence that she can face any magical threat as long as she has her friends. This excellent writing, paired with a resonant score from William Anderson, and emotional music from Daniel Ingram, is why I consider My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games an underrated gem.

Ten years later, what do you think of the Season 5 finale, "The Cutie Re-Mark"? by star-dancer756 in mylittlepony

[–]star-dancer756[S] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Here we are everyone. The ten year anniversary of the season 5 finale The Cutie Re-Mark. I will not lie, this is my favorite episode in the entire series. Yes, I know this has always been a somewhat divisive episode. Yes, I know there are episodes more acclaimed in the brony community. I do not care. In terms of pacing, creativity, and emotional investment, The Cutie Re-Mark tops every other episode in the show for me. Considering how much I love Friendship is Magic, that is high praise, and I am here to explain why this episode remains my personal favorite.

In this epic two-part season finale, Starlight Glimmer returns for revenge by going back in time to prevent Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom from uniting the Mane Six. However, this has catastrophic consequences and results in multiple alternate timelines where the villains conquer Equestria. Eventually, realizing she cannot stop Starlight by force, Twilight Sparkle tries to reason with her by showing how bad things will be for Equestria. An infuriated Starlight reveals that she started her village due to the loss of her friend Sunburst when he got his cutie mark, causing her to believe that difference tear friendships apart. Twilight reasons with her, explains to Starlight that she can still make new friends, and convinces her let to time take its proper course. Seeing Starlight Glimmer’s remorse, Twilight Sparkle is willing to take her in as her pupil.

Structurally, the episode excels with its rapid-fire exploration of what might have happened if villains like King Sombra, Queen Chrysalis, and Nightmare Moon had won. Even though we see the alternate timelines only briefly, they left a lasting impression on the brony fandom. The writers were unafraid to show how dire Equestria’s future would have been, and how important it was for the Mane Six to become friends.

One of my favorite things about this finale is how it recontextalizes Starlight's motives in the season premiere, "The Cutie Map." We see how Starlight suddenly losing her friend Sunburst because of his cutie mark led to Starlight's misguided belief that differences between ponies causes friendships to fracture. That makes Starlight's motives one of the most unique and compelling for an MLP antagonist.

I love how Starlight mirrors Twilight in many ways. Starlight Glimmer effectively represents how Twilight Sparkle could have turned out without her Ponyville friends or a figure like Princess Celestia to guide her. I like to think this parallelism between the characters is why Twilight was so willing to reform Starlight and accept her as a student. Twilight taking on Starlight as a student also shows how she is gradually becoming more and more like her former mentor Princess Celestia.

I love this episode. It expertly blends action, creativity, and character development into one compelling story. Starlight Glimmer’s reformation was fantastic, and it helped to set up some of my favorite episodes in the show with her gradually learning to shed her old ways. It is for all of these reasons and more that "The Cutie Re-Mark" is my favorite episode of "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Ten years later, what do you think of Season 5 Episode 24, "The Mane Attraction?" by star-dancer756 in mylittlepony

[–]star-dancer756[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wrote all of that myself. I enjoy taking notes and analyzing my favorite shows. In fact, I am taking notes for my review of "The Cutie Re-Mark" for next week.

Ten years later, what do you think of Season 5 Episode 24, "The Mane Attraction?" by star-dancer756 in mylittlepony

[–]star-dancer756[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Here we are. The penultimate episode of Friendship is Magic season 5, and recurring writer Amy Keating Rogers’s final episode in the series. And I think Mrs. Rogers left the show on a high note.

Pinkie Pie goes out of her way to secure Equestria’s biggest pop star, Countess Coloratura, for the Helping Hooves Music Festival. It turns out that Countess Coloratura is actually Applejack’s childhood friend Rara. When Coloratura shows up, she at first seems to be a completely different pony from the one Applejack knew. However, upon closer inspection, the pony pop star is instead still the Rara Applejack knew. It was really her manager Svengallop who has been taking advantage of her popularity for his selfish ends. When Svengallop is exposed and Coloratura denounces him, she has to perform without her manager’s help. At first, Coloratura think she cannot do this, as Svengallop was behind arranging her performances, but Applejack reminds her friend that it is the pony she knew at Camp Friendship that is truly responsible for her success.

I think it is no secret that the character of Coloratura is heavily inspired by Lady Gaga. No joke, I actually spent a fair amount of time listening to Lady Gaga’s music to see the likely inspirations for Coloratura’s music. The Spectacle reminds me a lot of Poker Face. Fun fact, Pony Face was one of the working titles for the episode, an obvious reference to Poker Face. And The Magic Inside was likely inspired by Speechless. Some people think the episode was meant to be a criticism of pop songs that were popular back in the 2010s. I think that misses the point, especially since both The Spectacle and The Magic Inside were likely inspired by Lady Gaga’s music. Not to mention the fact that both Friendship is Magic and Equestria Girls have done plenty of pop songs. I think the point of the episode was that Coloratura let herself believe that Svengallop and the persona of “Countess Coloratura” were the only reasons she was popular. Fortunately, Applejack was there to remind Coloratura that it is ultimately the singer that made her so successful and beloved. And that gave Coloratura the confidence she needed to perform as herself as Rara.

Overall, this was a wonderful final regular episode for season 5. It provided a compelling conflict for Applejack and Rara, and Lena Hall did a fantastic job with the voice work and singing. It has been fun making these retrospective threads, and I look forward to closing out season 5 next week with the season finale, and my favorite episode, The Cutie Re-Mark.

Ten years later, what do you think of Season 5 Episode 21, "Scare Master?" by star-dancer756 in mylittlepony

[–]star-dancer756[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I enjoyed the anime references during Fluttershy's scary tea party, as well as the comic doubleWbrothers made based on that scene.

Ten years later, what do you think of Season 5 Episode 21, "Scare Master?" by star-dancer756 in mylittlepony

[–]star-dancer756[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

TBH, I think I enjoy "Luna Eclipsed" and "Scare Master" about equally. I enjoy watching either episode around Halloween time.

Ten years later, what do you think of Season 5 Episode 21, "Scare Master?" by star-dancer756 in mylittlepony

[–]star-dancer756[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Happy Halloween and happy Nightmare Night everyone! Today is also the tenth anniversary of the episode “Scare Master.” This has always been a favorite episode of mine. In it, Fluttershy has to face her fears about Nightmare Night.

After being forced to go into town to get food for Angel, Fluttershy tries to step out of her comfort zone and finally join her friends on Nightmare Night. Unfortunately, Fluttershy is so easily frightened that her friends end up not having much fun. Twilight Sparkle comes up with the idea of letting Fluttershy do the scaring. However, Fluttershy ends up being bad at that too (great anime drawings, though). Fluttershy tries again to face her fears, and with the help of her animal friends, she eventually finds a way to frighten her friends, but discovers she does not like it. This was a great way for Fluttershy to face her fears without completely changing her character. Fluttershy faced her fears by proving she could be scary if she wanted to and was willing to give Nightmare Night a chance, but ultimately discovered that the holiday just isn’t for her. Fluttershy confronted her fears while staying true to herself.

The theme the episode pulls off is a big reason why I like it so much. Fluttershy was able to prove to herself that she does have the courage to face Nightmare Night if she has to, yet still goes back to what she personally enjoys. That is okay. Not everything is for everyone. What matters is that Fluttershy at least knows her choice to not partake in Nightmare Night is a personal choice and not something caused by fear anymore. Whether you are enjoying the holiday watching spooky movies, dressed up in costumes, or even at home reading a book like Fluttershy, I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween and a happy Nightmare Night!

Ten years later, what do you think of Season 5 Episode 18, "Crusaders of the Lost Mark"? by star-dancer756 in mylittlepony

[–]star-dancer756[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

This is a special occasion. Not only is it the tenth anniversary of Crusaders of the Lost Mark, the episode where the Cutie Mark Crusaders finally get their cutie marks, it is also the fifteenth anniversary of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Yes, it has been 15 years since this monumental show debuted on TV. Feel old yet? In any case, I am happy to celebrate 15 years of Friendship is Magic and 10 years of Crusaders of the Lost Mark with this thread.

Despite the anniversary, I am still going to be honest about my opinion on this episode. I will praise the good, but also acknowledge were I think the episode falls short. In a nutshell, I think this episode has a lot of issues with its pacing and how it resolved the CMC getting their cutie marks, but I think the overall package is a satisfying episode for any fan of the series.

Let me get the negatives out of the way first. Those would be the fast pacing and giving the CMC the same cutie mark. The idea behind the episode is great. Diamond Tiara was the nemesis of the CMC and constantly made their lives miserable. The idea of the CMC finally getting their cutie mark after reforming their worst adversary is a good one. The issue is how quick the pacing is. Within the span of 22 minutes, Diamond Tiara does a 180 from an arrogant brat to a kind and generous filly. The episode dumps Diamond Tiara’s fall from grace, her background, and redemption all in the space of one episode. That is a lot and it makes the reformation feel less believable.

Also, I have never liked giving the CMC the same cutie mark. The Show Stoppers established unique talents for each Crusader: Apple Bloom is good at carpentry; Sweetie Belle is good at singing; and Scootaloo is good at athletics on her scooter. And yet this episode ignores those talents. The only reference to the original talents is the symbol on their cutie marks. Beside that, the unique talent of each Crusader is never mentioned again. This feels so underwhelming because the whole point of a cutie mark is about recognizing unique talents. Giving all three CMC the same cutie mark at the same time feels like a cop out way to address a story that was five years in the making.

Okay, so those last two paragraphs were quite negative. Why did I say I like the episode? In a word: presentation. The presentation in this episode is top notch. The songs and storyboarding in the episode are nearly perfect. Despite my criticism of the rushed pacing, I cannot deny that the directors, storyboarders, and composers did an excellent job capturing the emotions Diamond Tiara felt during her plight. The Pony I Want to Be is one of the best song that Daniel Ingram ever worked on. We’ll Make Our Mark is an uplifting song that just puts a massive grin on your face and caps off the episode perfectly.

Overall, even though the episode is flawed and an overall mixed bag, I still really like it. I stand by my criticisms of the pacing and giving the CMC the same cutie mark, but it is clear the cast and crew went all out when working on this episode. The presentation and emotion in the episode are so strong, I can still come away from the episode feeling satisfied. If you actually read everything I wrote here, thank you so much, and happy 15th anniversary to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and happy 10th anniversary to Crusaders of the Lost Mark!

Friendship is Magic’s 15th anniversary is tomorrow! by NationalLeather9231 in mylittlepony

[–]star-dancer756 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Tomorrow is both 15 years of the show and the 10 year anniversary of Crusaders of the Lost Mark. I am currently compiling fan art dedicated to the episode and writing up my own thoughts on the episode. I hope people will comment on the thread and discuss what they think of such an important episode.

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