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| A good cross-section of the faces many viewers were probably making |
First up we had Katie Chilson's "Princess Probz", a title of the "How do you do, fellow kids?" style that rather made my heart sink. Still, first up was the opening theme, which I unashamedly like. I do wish it had just a few notes of the MLP theme that's appeared in every other series since G1, but oh well. The episode itself was... frenetic. At 11 minutes, and that split into two parts, it could hardly be anything else. Technology has appeared – the show's art director gave the frankly unconvincing justification that "today's kids don't know a world without technology", something which was true in 2010 too!
The Mane Six were largely recognisable, which was something, though it wasn't always their most endearing features that were turned up to 11. Twilight's constant freaking out really did start to grate quite fast. It was interesting that Applejack was the one who did the fourth wall break at the start, though Fluttershy got almost nothing to do. And for some reason the ponies seem to chug potions at every opportunity. Yay, do drugs, kids! All in all? A lack of FiM charm, as expected, but also a bit of a lack of truly funny jokes – though AJ's rhyming was amusing.
In short: Frenetic
On to the second episode, "The Best of the Worst". This one was written by Whitney Ralls, who gave us "Sunset's Backstage Pass" last year. My feelings about this one can be summed up as "potentially interesting concept, fell short in execution". All a bit late-series FiM in that respect. I've got used to Pony Life's art style surprisingly quickly, but the design of the colt who praises Rainbow Dash (who isn't Scootaloo!) really didn't work for me at all. He looked more like a cat than a pony. On the plus side, it seems the Royal Jelly Juggernaut contest will be some kind of running arc.
But then there was Dishwater Slog. Given what we know about Equestrian naming habits (even allowing for the fact that Pony Life takes place in an AU) you do have to wonder what the guy's parents were thinking. I was hoping that at least he'd turn out to be a Ragamuffin-type character who was only pretending to be an eternal loser in order to demonstrate to Rainbow that... er... something. Also, what the hay was Fluttershy's bizarre "Noice" pronunciation supposed to be for? I was mildly amused by the book reveal at the end, but a lot of the rest felt disappointing
In short: Frustrating
So, am I going to keep watching these things? For now at least, yes. I don't actively hate them, and they might grow on me. On the other hand, they might do what the Equestria Girls shorts did after a while and feel entirely disposable. We shall see.
I didn't particularly take much interest in the build up to PL, but was that *really* the justification given for the tech upgrade? Also, I can't help but find it weird that a justification was even needed... It feels a little in the "Hey don't worry, kidzzzz, we still get you" type of cringe. Just put the tech in there and be done with it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched the episodes, but it does sound from your summaries that show is setting out its stall early doors, tonally-speaking. It *does* make me wonder about whether Pinkie Pie is going to get a raw deal across the show as a whole when every character has had their personalities ramped up to manic levels (I've seen a couple of clips).
I did have to hunt down a clip of Fluttershy going full... uh, well whatever your chosen cultural comparison point is. Out of context, that made me laugh a lot. Maaaaaybe, I'll slip it in to the story I'm writing. :fluttershynoice:
was that *really* the justification given for the tech upgrade?
DeleteYes, at least according to the Art Director's Twitter Q&A I linked to yesterday. Verbatim:
"The idea of the show is to be more in tune with modern kids and they don't know the world without technology. PL is a show for modern kids to relate to."
I've seen a few people say that they thought Fluttershy's "noice" was supposed to be "a British accent" (whatever that may be...) I suppose one day I may hear something vaguely similar from a real British person!
Haha, fair enough. I mean, I personally heard that "noice" in a more Australian accent, in what is no doubt just as culturally insensitive a cliche as the British accent assumption.
DeleteI will say, though; as much I doubt I'll ever watch the show, I do like the tone and style of the animation and design.
As I've said on comments on YouTube before, this is basically G4 after drinking 15 cans of Red Bull. The pace is too fast, all over place and quite frankly it doesn't look like it's going to slow down anytime soon. At least they kept the same voice cast so at least that's something. Hopefully this show will get better, fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteI doubt the pace will slow. They don't have the time. I can deal with that in small doses, though I'm not fond of the way it plays into the modern "kids today can't concentrate for more than 20 seconds!" stereotype.
DeleteI watched the first half, and half of the second half. I didn't mind the character designs. They look much better in motion than the static promo shots. I got a couple of chuckles out of the first, but the cringe factor of the second far outweighed any possible enjoyment I was likely to get, so I gave it up.
ReplyDeleteMini-reviews will be a nice and useful thing, because the only way I'll bother to watch any more of these will be on a high recommendation from someone who's taste I trust.
As for the tech thing... didn't they do that for G2? All the ponies living in modern (for then) houses and using telephones and such? Made it all the less special and fantastical. Most of my enjoyment came from the characters being ponies living in a fantasy world where magic was common. When the plot and actions of the first half-episode turned out to be something that could have been any kidvid for the age-group set in a mundane world.* Yeah, not really interested.
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* Super-strong AJ, or teleport-capable Twilight unable to get out of a pile of flan? Yeesh.
The animation is smoother than I'd expected, so that's a plus point for me as well. Mini-reviews will continue, and I'd expect those for episodes 3 and 4 to appear around Friday this time. (I've seen both already.)
DeleteMy Little Pony Tales, which I'd consider more G1.5 than G2, did indeed have a "modern" setting with TV and so on. I have a bit of a soft spot for it, actually, though I can't really say why. I do prefer the original G1 cartoons, though.
I wasn't planning to, simply because there are so few people writing text reviews of them! Also, in truth, because the new show is nowhere near as important to me personally as FiM was. That said, I didn't realise until now that you'd written detailed reviews of the first two episodes. An interesting read, especially as you were fairly positive. I'll have another think about whether to do TRRs over the next couple of days.
ReplyDeleteI thought the first episode was fun enough, but I didn't like the second. The main character just didn't click with me as to why something like that would even exist. I agree the kids looks weird, but (spoilers, since I've watched eps 3 and 4 as well) that's the design for them now. People complained about the way FiM did really young foals, but this bugs me more. And yes, potions will continue to be a thing you just have to take as a given. I liked both of those episodes, Fun, not great, but with 3 of 4 being that way so far, they've earned my attention to keep going with it.
ReplyDeleteI've also seen episodes 3 and 4. I'll get around to reviewing those in a few days, though for now suffice it to say that I'm still in.
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