"Winter Wishday" is out today!

For those with Netflix or with... other means to acquire the special, "Winter Wishday" has now been released. I'm not sure whether or not it officially counts as the first episode of Chapter 3, or whether it's meant as a standalone special, but either way it's out there. I will be watching it, but not for a little while as I have a lot of other stuff to catch up on. Not least the little reviews of Chapter 2 episodes, which I hope to begin on by this weekend.

Make Your Mark hits Netflix today, and how I'll cover it here

It's been a long wait since the first one in May, but at last "Chapter 2" (as the first batch of eight episodes is being called) is available to watch on Netflix. I have to be honest and say that this modern way of doing things just doesn't feel as hyped-up and exciting as the 2010s FiM approach of releasing one episode a week. Okay, part of that is that so far G5 itself hasn't wowed me enough, but not all of it. Still, it's 2022 now and Netflix is how we're getting MYM, so we'd better get used to it.

As for coverage here? Well, I'm not someone who enjoys binge-watching, so I won't be burning through all eight episodes in a row. Yes, I'll inevitably get spoiled, but that's my problem. Also, with UK PonyCon now only 11 days away (10 if you count the day I travel up) I'm just not going to have a lot of spare time until that's over. As such, don't expect much in the way of G5 reviews here until mid-October. I might get the time to write about the first one, but I might not. We'll have to see.

But after that? Right now, yes, I do intend to write episode reviews for Make Your Mark. They're unlikely to be as long or detailed as the reviews I did (originally, not the rewatches) for G4 content, but they'll be more than just a couple of lines. I think there'll be enough to talk about, and you can rest assured that unless the new batch is dire, it won't just be a bunch of whinging. I do like to look for the good in Pony content, even when I do nitpick about the less impressive parts.

Make Your Mark extended theme

MLP G5 – Let's Make Our Mark Together

Okay, this isn't all that new, but I wanted to post something here. For various reasons I haven't had the time to rewatch and write up S5E26 yet as I'd originally planned – hopefully Thursday now – and the whole Funko NFT crap is just too depressing for words. (When MLP Merch is unenthusiastic about MLP merch, you know something's up.) So instead you're getting this, the full-length version of the Make Your Mark theme song. And you know, it's actually pretty darn catchy. Apologies if I've earwormed any of you by posting it!

Mike's review of Make Your Mark is worthwhile, but the latest Tell Your Tale...

Over on Fimfiction, Mike Cartoon Pony has written this very detailed review of Make Your Mark. It's fair to say he's clearly more negative about it overall than I was, but it's no hatchet job: he does explain why he's unhappy with various aspects, and if I'm honest it's hard for me to disagree with most of them. I suspect I'm just a bit more inclined to be forgiving of significantly flawed material "because Pony" than Mike is; the same is true of the final seasons of Friendship is Magic.

One thing in particular from Mike's review that really does resonate: I'm not at all sure how much rewatch value Make Your Mark will have. As I'm finding right now, I can rewatch the great majority of FiM episodes with no trouble at all, even those which have clear flaws. They're still fun, for the most part. But will MYM prove to be a rather empty vessel? I fear it might. As things stand I'm still more positively inclined to it than Mike is, but his review has given me something to think about.

Still, however much Make Your Mark may irritate me in the future, I doubt it will be as off-putting as episode 13 of Tell Your Tale was. Fair to say "Dumpster Diving" has clunked to the bottom of my TYT ranking so far, and it's done so with some considerable ease. Probably the most off-putting characterisation of Izzy I've seen in any official media so far. I've actually enjoyed a fair bit of this series (for what it is), but not this episode. So, episode with fan-favourite character being obnoxious but a catchy song? Sounds familiar... though this is worse than that was.

Special review: Make Your Mark

The lighting inside the Bright House is really rather appealing

So, here we go with My Little Pony's real return to "non-cinematic" content: the 44-minute special that is Make Your Mark, preceding the full series in September. It's fair to say it's had a mixed response from fans, and although you can't treat IMDb scores as more than a vague indication its current score of 6.3* isn't especially great. That's similar to a lower-middle tier episode of Friendship is Magic. Still, I went in with an openish mind, having enjoyed A New Generation last year, so what did I think?
* At review publication time. It may well have changed since

Right, I'm putting a page break in here. If you go any further, expect spoilers by the tonne. You have been warned!

In case anyone is wondering...

 ...yes, I have now seen Make Your Mark. I have a busy couple of days going on at the moment, but rest assured that I will be writing about the special here before long. Sneak preview? I liked it. Not without reservations, but I liked it.

Make Your Mark three-minute trailer!

( Text link )

Less than a fortnight to go now until Make Your Mark hits Netflix! The trailer above looks to contain the first three minutes of the 44-minute special. As the thumbnail doesn't give away anything remotely significant, I'm not going to bother with putting the entire post behind a spoiler cut. However, I will mention a couple of things now that do contain some spoilers, so pass this point at your own risk

Some initial G5 thoughts

There's another storm (Franklin) causing problems now, so once again I don't have very much time. But I'll add some relatively brief thoughts about the G5 announcements after the page break. Spoilers beyond this point.