My Little Pony - Generation 5

Here's a promo for the upcoming special, Bridlewoodstock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDwBnI1ZK9o

Edited by Bluecatcinema on May 16th 2023 at 12:22:40 PM

Sheesh, who is that title for, the parents of bronies?

Is G5 really as bad as people say it is? It just feels aggressively average to me.

It's like you said, it's very average. Not terrible, but it lacks spirit and energy. I blame Hasbro for being too greedy by launching two shows at once and starting it off with a movie that sucked a lot of creative energy out of what should have been the first season.

I like the movie. :)

The movie's the best thing to come out fo G5 so far (I haven't watched the 2D show though because I find its artstyle offputting.) but I still enjoy the show even if it's not as good as FiM or the movie was. With the next special and next 6 episodes coming out soon though hopefully we'll get more plot to sink our teeth into. I feel like the show really wants to dig into the plot but it's being held back by the slice of life stuff.

Edited by Chariot on Jun 12th 2023 at 9:13:16 AM

It's pretty good actually, I just think it's being overshadowed by 4 simply by virtue of how popular and generally good and just big 4 was (which is not inextricable from the original hatewatching campaign that probably wouldn't happen nowadays)

It's like what happened to star trek after deep space 9, where nothing was ever really going to recapture just how popular and generally good deep space 9 was unless it got lucky.

G5 has not yet gotten lucky enough to have a hatewatch campaign that turned into genuine interest, and the fact that it's come about in a time of streaming's and as a direct to streaming thing hurt it too, in that a tv network can't effectively force you to watch it. Options are much less limited than they are in classical distribution, so people can look at it, and say "nah I'd rather watch this other thing instead" rather than "well I'm on the channel and it's not like there's other options in this timeslot"

I think that if this spontaneously became big, it would do well enough for itself. After all, G4 never had much of a story excepting at the ends of seasons and occasional bits that were like "by the way there's a bigger plot going on". It was very episodic.

This show is hardly bad enough to warrant hatewatching. Hell, it's still a massive step up from gen 3,5.

One of the biggest problems is that the series feels like a step down from the movie in terms of plotting, complexity, setting, and characterization. A viewer can't help but feel a bit let down because of that.

Another problem is that, even without the movie, the series lacks a sparkle and cheekiness that early Fi M had in spades in the first season. There's no grouchy, slightly cynical Twilight Sparkle to balance out the more saccharine aspects of the show, which is a major part of widening the last show's appeal, just to name one thing.

Most of the plot - of what exactly happened to Equestria - is left to the comics at the moment. Which are very good, but still aren't as seen as much as the show itself.

4 wasn't bad enough to warrant hatewatching either, but a hatewatching campaign did nonetheless occur, and that was pretty definitively where the fandom started, when the hatewatching changed into just normal watching.

The point is that's not happening and is unlikely to happen with 5, because My Little Pony is seen as less of a target now.

It wasn't, but there was a scathing review suggesting that it was, and that was what inspired the hatewatchers. And then they discovered that this show was Good, Actually, and thus the brony fandom was born.

I mean I procrastinated on G4 and would have likely watched it even if it didn't get it's praise (Didn't regularly watch any Star Trek until 2006 when I was 24 and that was the animated series of 73), but I guess my skepticism of G5 interest is if say a Transformers show of similar quality (average, but not bad) would be lacking in fans equally.

Again, it's why I'm not shy on watching shows aimed at girls even if average or even less. Just that giving gender conventional shows more leeway to be bad or average while only watching the exceptionally great girl shows just seem disingenuous (Like claiming one doesn't let biases influence their critical nature, when they indeed do such.).

This show isn't all that girly, anyway. I've seen more girly stuff on the Powerpuff Girls or Totally Spies, and those shows are still popular with boys, too.

I think it's mainly the horse thing that makes people think it is a girls show, because clearly only girls like horses and no man would want to be seen anywhere near one.

G5 is definitely starting to slide towards that insipid kind of girls show where the girls don't really have much agency of their own because they are surrounded by magic that basically does all the important and difficult stuff for them. G4 had the Cutie Map, but at least that was a passive thing where the ponies still had to put in effort and find the actual solution. The magic lantern in G5 just straight up gives them what they need without so much as being asked.

I know it's cool in some parts of the brony fandom to be dismissive of Faust's influence, but there's no denying that she made the right decisions from the start for G4.

It's not necessarily the horse thing (after all, knights ride horses too and they are seen as manly). It's specifically the "cute colorful horses", and the fact that the toy line that the show is based on is marketed toward girls.

Will Chapter 4 be when MYM Grows the Beard?

It hasn't even grown a stubble yet. I'm not holding my breath.

Remember that while they call these things "chapters", we are not even out of season one yet.

Edited by Redmess on Jun 3rd 2023 at 9:06:23 PM

How would you rate G5?

I like it but it's probably not going to do exactly what I want from it. 7/10 in principle but as a show 8/10 since it does what it sets out to do mostly.

6/10, unambitious and low energy. This is just about the bottom of what I'd consider watchable.

As I brought it up before as a recommendation, anyone check out Strawberry Shortcake Berry in the Big City?

Chapter 4 of Make Your Mark came out today.

There's a clip going around about Opaline's origins that further proves that G5 should've never been a sequel to G4.

So Opaline is apparently just as old as Celestia and Luna (both are probably around 1100 years by the start of Fi M). Not only that, Opaline was seemingly born an Alicorn. They also introduced something called an "Elemental Duty", Celestia and Luna being the Sun and Moon and Opaline's being fire. This implies that there are dozens of Alicorns who were born and doing their own thing I guess. Makes ya wonder why they never helped Equestria or mentioned in the various flashbacks. This retroactively creates a plothole in G4.

Why did Opaline wait for more than a thousand years to exact her revenge? Most of the villains had an excuse of why they attacked when they did. In fact, why did she wait until Equestria was united with different creatures and not the interim between Nightmare Moon's banishment and her return?

Remember how Stygian fell to villainy because he was overshadowed by his friends and allowed himself to be corrupted because he thought The Shadow was the only pony who cared about him? Well, Opaline became a villain because Celestia and Luna were like the popular mean girls and they made fun of her, I guess? And knowing this show, That's the extend we're probably gonna get.

Edited by Afrovenator on Jun 6th 2023 at 5:57:13 AM

1. It surprised us by including that much G4 era worldbuilding, so who knows we won't get more?
2. In G4 these questions were not detrimental, in fact speculating on such was the fuel for the series popularity. Any idea why that isn't the case for G5?
3. It seemed more like Opaline was jerkish back then, and it was others favoring C&L, who were too young to know better, that caused it not the sisters. That's needless bashing when there are more legitimate complaints.

On the subject of Opaline's origins, from her character folder:

• Ambiguous Situation: Aside from her being a "fire alicorn", whatever that entails, how she became an alicorn despite her despicable persona remains unanswered. It was previously shown in FiM that ascension only occurs in good-hearted ponies^note Cozy Glow being the sole exception via Grogar's magic who are exceptional and shares the gifts that they have been given with others, inferring that Opaline somehow obtained her wings by less-than-righteous means.
• Ambiguously Human: Or perhaps Ambiguously Equine. The finale of Chapter 2, she refers to herself as a "fire alicorn" with Misty's comment about her being "made of fire" implying some other nature. Earlier in "The Traditional Unicorn Sleepover", Misty refers to her mistress as "not a pony, but an alicorn queen". Whether or not that specific part was made up or contains a seed of truth remains to be seen. Opaline's curved horn also implies a connection to the umbrum (King Sombra's kind in the IDW comics) or the eastern-region unicorns (Mistmane's kind).

What should be done with these given [[spolier:it seems she's a normal alicorn]]?

Also, Opaline's folder says (UNMARKED SPOILERS) but spoiled out stuff from Chapter 4 has been added and spoiler markup for Chapter 1 removed from WesternAnimation.My Little Pony Make Your Mark citing "despoilering some Late-Arrival Spoilers", also it an Opaline fall under First-Episode Twist which I think means not worth keeping spoiled. So:

1. Should said stuff be unspoiled? Or should should we remove the (UNMARKED SPOILERS) part and spoil out stuff after X point? (She doesn't seem any more spoilery than other villains after the First-Episode Twist.)
2. Likewise should we do the same for Misty who has the same circumstances and (UNMARKED SPOILERS) warning? And now she's officiated joined the heroes should we move her folder yet, or if not how long do we wait? (FIM had it's moved to the redeemed villains page so that's the precedent).

Opaline could be lying about knowing the royal sisters.

I had always assumed the whole "fire alicorn" thing to be the result of Opaline using some crazy forbidden magic to cheat the system. And her comments regarding the Royal Sisters could simply be her observing them in their normal princess activities and getting jealous.