Yes, it's Text Review Roundup time. Quite a few of the regular text-based reviewers didn't write up their thoughts for this one, but enough did to make a TRR worthwhile. It's fair to say that nobody listed here was exactly blown away by Rainbow Roadtrip, although the balance of opinion was on the positive side of neutral. The slow pacing was a common complaint (with the notable exception of DrakeyC) but the character moments were more appreciated.
Dark Qiviut – broadly positive ("way too long [to get going] and the lack of humor makes this plot develop bland and way too simple [plus] songs aren't the best [but] Everyone's in character [and it's] so wholesome [...] charming, heartfelt, and warm [...] a very pleasant surprise")
DrakeyC – positive ("a fun little thing [...] felt kinda like a Gen 1 adventure [...] intro song was fine, the mayor's song was awful, last song was fine. Ending was FEELS CENTRAL [...] basically an hour-long episode, but it was a very good episode [...] didn't feel padded or dragged to fill its run time")
JDPrime22 – positive (rated 9/10; "a pleasant surprise! [...] Though the animation isn't as smooth as the movie, it's still welcome nonetheless [...] music was also top-notch [but the special] tends to drag on a bit")
Louder Yay – fairly positive (rated 3/5; "A very good, Pony-appropriate moral [with] Some nicely varied guest characters [and] Attractive animation [but] Pedestrian pacing [and] Songs a notch below the show's best")
Mike Cartoon Pony – broadly positive ("special might be a bit of a misnomer [and it's] indecently long [but it] meets its simple but nuanced goals really, really well [and has] writing with no lapses or inconsistencies that acquits itself and its characters really well")
MLEEP Reviews – largely positive (rated 8/10; "a very slow burn [and] may be targeted for a much younger audience [than the 2017 film, but] I am so glad to see that [Kerfuffle] being an amputee wasn't made into a big deal [...] a sweet but fun story with some beautiful animation and memorable new characters")
Present Perfect – mixed ("seeing the squishy ToonBoom animation on the small screen [...] was weird [...] heavily G3-inspired [...] pretty much every pony introduced in this special is the best pony ever. Except Barley and Pickle [... the Mayor's song was] a really good song, oh my god [...] the plot was pretty dull overall")
The Railfan Brony – negative (rated Bad; "doesn't even feel at all like a special [...] just drags on [...] The theme about helping others does work out, however [but the special] felt as colorless as Hope Hollow [despite some good character moments]")
TheDragonWarlock – broadly negative (rated 5/10; "Although the characters, new and Mane 6, end up being well written, has a solid premise, and some world building, it can't save the special with its abysmal pacing, lack of comedy, and plot holes making it end up as gray and dull as Hope Hollow itself")
Personally I enjoyed it but I think Best Gift Ever was a far superior special. And while Boulder Media did a pretty decent job with the animation, you could see where they cut corners especially during the final song where most of the background Ponies had the same cutie mark.
ReplyDeleteOh, I preferred "Best Gift Ever" by some margin. Things actually happened in it. :P
Delete"Indecently long" is a good way of putting it. :D Looks like I get to be the only one who liked a song this week! :B
ReplyDeleteWell, not everyone else said they disliked Sunny Skies' song, so you may not be quite alone. Definitely a minority view, though.
DeleteOn the subject of Backstage Pass, it doesn't officially air until 27th July. If your usual slate of reviewers have covered it anyway based on the Mexican early airing then fair enough, but if not, you may have a few more weeks' wait before they post their reviews.
ReplyDeleteQuite right! A slip-up on my part, there. I will be waiting until it's been shown in the US, then.
DeleteI just had visions of you posting a TRR with four people in it, wondering why so few reviewers had apparently bothered to cover it!
DeleteYou may jest, but this is pretty much what doing TRR for S7 was like! If you look back in the archives, you'll see that there's a gap after "Rock Solid Friendship", with the feature not returning until "Fame and Misfortune".
DeleteIf the plot is so thin and you have to make an one-hour special, fill it will extremely funny stuffs and in mlp case, good songs. Mlp the movie's story is average but at least, it has very good songs and many funny moments. I missed the older seasons, no matter how awful the episode's story is, they had a lot of funny moments and good songs so you can turn off your brain and enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteI was watching "Sisterhooves Social" earlier, as it happens. Now, that's a good episode anyway, but it did strike me how much more there was going on than there was in this special.
DeleteBetween the film, Best Gift Ever, and this, I prefer the movie more, but I believe RR's the best. The plot didn't get going at all until after 1/3 of Roadtrip passed, but when it did, the M6 demonstrate why they embody the Elements of Harmony.
ReplyDeleteP.S.: Also, apologies for plugging it in, but I posted my review for it early in the week. Didn't give it much fanfare. :P
Link: https://mlpforums.com/blogs/entry/24423-rainbow-roadtrip-quickieview/
Whoops – my search skills failed me there. I've added your review now (I think it counts as "broadly positive").
DeleteI must say I do regret not having the review up at the time when this post was made. Of all the excuses I can make when I hadn't had a review up around the time of the special's release was mainly because if you know my style I didn't have a lot to work with at the time. Eventually I did manage to get it all complete, even though it took me practically two parts to fit it on my own blog given it was my longest review to date. Even if this isn't acknowledged on this list, I hope you still enjoy it (Though I should warn you it's not one of my most 'positive' reviews). You'll be seeing a review of this weekend's episode sometime after Saturday, it's all a matter of when it gets done.
ReplyDelete