Review: "Foaly Matripony" (Friendship is Witchcraft E08)

BBBFF, the most exciting colt-band in all Equestria

It's been a long wait, made even lengthier by YouTube problems, but "Foaly Matripony", the latest instalment of SherclopPones' famous abridged series, Friendship is Witchcraft, has finally arrived. I make no bones about saying that this is, and has been for a long time, my favourite abridged Pony series. This episode is based on the S2 finale, though it's much more about the wedding bits than the Chrysalis-fighting stuff. I was disappointed by that lack when I first started watching it, but in the end I think it turned out okay. Review after the jump!



Yes, okay. This isn't, to my mind, the greatest thing we've seen from FiW: that title is still held by the fourth episode, "Cute from the Hip". As far as "Foaly Matripony" is concerned, once you've got past the rather off-colour background plot (which I don't particularly like) the rest is fun. The voices are great, Shining Armor's in particular, and there's some excellent original animation. Maybe not quite up to the standard of that in Bronies (which is briefly referenced!) but very good nevertheless. This aspect of the production seems to improve with every new FiW episode.

Oh, and original music? Of course. It's a decent song, though not my favourite from the series. ("Sweetie's Big Race" from epsiode five takes that title.) I'd say "Foaly Matripony" was a middle-ranking episode as far as this series was concerned, which is pretty good going. (Is the mis-spelling "reigns" on the record cover deliberate? Who knows?) It's level with, or maybe a tiny notch down from, its predecessor, "Cherry Bomb" (and sorry, that Socker Boppers ad was just tiresome) but it's still better than the earliest videos. It's certainly good enough that I'll be keeping an eye out to see if/when a ninth episode arrives. Get hold of it via the official site.
7/10