Is it just me, or has the quality of the show slightly but consistently declined lately?
I agree. One of the reasons I was drawn to MLP is because it seemed a lot like old episodes of The Simpsons, particularly because it felt like such an expansive universe. In early Simpsons episodes, if they needed a new character for some reason, they made one. I thought MLP was going down the same road with characters like Mr. Breezy and the Quill and Sofa shop owner, but now it looks like it's defocused from Twilight and even the mane six and is sort of stagnating on second-tier characters. That's just my guess, though it certainly doesn't help that this season is severely lacking in songs and Fluttershy (seriously, where the hell has she been?). I think there's still plenty to like about the show, but if the decline continues at this rate (which I doubt), I don't think I'll last through the third season.
Answer 2: Surprising. Season 1 was pretty uneven already.
I agree, and I was thinking of mentioning that, but I wanted my post to be more succinct. While every episode in season one brought something new to the table, some of them were pretty lackluster. In fact, now that I think about it, the quality seemed to be inconsistent within most episodes, not just between episodes. For example, I think Feeling Pinkie Keen had some of the best jokes of the season, but I couldn't stand its anti-skepticism message. That may be what's most shocking about season two-- there are now whole episodes that fall short, rather than just pieces of episodes.
On the other hand, I don't think I ever would have become interested in this show if I hadn't watched all of season one in a marathon session... multiple times. I haven't had the time to do the same with season two (I've seen most of its episodes only once), so it will be interesting to see how it stands up to several viewings. My guess is that it's a measurable downgrade from season one, but not as bad as one would think at first glance.
Joined: 10/27/2004
Posts: 1978
Location: Making an escape
Feeling Pinkie Keen is a pretty good summary of the series as a whole: some good, some bad, obviously for kids through and through. Had some truly great slapstick humor that's been lackluster in cartoons lately, animation was really good, but good criminey were the writing and voice acting terrible!
Likewise, Suited for Success is pretty fantastic, but Dragonshy was really underwhelming and hammy.
A hundred years from now, they will gaze upon my work and marvel at my skills but never know my name. And that will be good enough for me.
Feeling Pinkie Keen is a pretty good summary of the series as a whole: some good, some bad, obviously for kids through and through. Had some truly great slapstick humor that's been lackluster in cartoons lately, animation was really good, but good criminey were the writing and voice acting terrible!
I'm not so sure about the voice acting. Whenever I hear people complain about voice acting, I always imagine the script in my mind and ask myself if any voice actor could deliver the line well. "You have to take a leap of faith!" is pretty ham-handed would sound terrible coming from anyone. As a video game example, we all are probably familiar with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night's opening sequence. Contrary to popular opinion, I think the voice actors did practically all they could with a terrible script. Do you have any other particular examples of bad voice acting within the episode?
Ferret Warlord wrote:
Likewise, Suited for Success is pretty fantastic, but Dragonshy was really underwhelming and hammy.
I totally disagree with you on Dragonshy. The first seventeen minutes or so of the episode featured Fluttershy at her best and the montage of the ponies gearing up has some of my favorite poses of the series.
I agree on Suited for Success, however. It baffles me that the seemingly weakest character so consistently has the best episodes written about her. That was a solid episode from start to finish and includes what is probably my favorite song of the show.
Joined: 10/27/2004
Posts: 1978
Location: Making an escape
A lot of Twilight's lines, especially when she went on and on about doing "scientific research." And everyone going on and on about "the doozy." Not to say all of it was bad; indeed, the "frog on your face" exchange was by and large very good.
Generally I just find any episode that gives a large focus on Twilight to be not very good. Lesson Zero genuinely surprised me by actually being quite enjoyable in spite of that.
A hundred years from now, they will gaze upon my work and marvel at my skills but never know my name. And that will be good enough for me.
"The skeptic is always wrong" is an omnipresent trope in most fiction, but especially in kids' shows (regardless of the medium). It sucks, but it has always been and probably will always be, and one just has to live with it unless one wants to go mad from frustration.
I don't really understand where this trope is coming from and why it's so prevalent. Maybe it has something to do with classical fairytales having set some kind of universal precedent.
It's interesting: Big Macintosh may be the pony of few words, but Applejack has proven to be the one who really suffers from the "I Don't Want to Talk About It" syndrome.
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
It really demonstrates the concept of prejudice quite well. Notice the reason why they think teenage and adult males should not watch the show. Is it because the show is boring or bad? No. It's only because it's a show "for little girls" and men should not watch such things. No other reason. It doesn't really matter what the content of the show might be. If you like it, you are weird, period.
(I'm pretty sure they also have a double standard. If there was a very manly animated show, I'm pretty sure they would not be telling to females that they should not be watching the show because its target audience is males.)
^^I'm surprised the video didn't have a bunch of comments saying "lol Devin's a fag"
However, I do strongly suspect, much like the poster of this thread, that the incidence of heterosexuality among bronies is significantly lower than in the general population (FTR I am bi): http://mlpfimforums.forumotion.com/t184-lgbtq-bronies
Well, for one thing, that's not very many votes so far, and for another thing... sampling bias? I mean, if you entitle a topic "LGBTQ Bronies", it's much more likely to catch the interest of people who are one of those letters.
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
Joined: 10/27/2004
Posts: 1978
Location: Making an escape
Sometimes I have to wonder about the future of the franchise. It's unlikely the current cartoon will get more than the standard 65 episodes. How will fans hold up after that? Will various sites start drying up?
And it's obvious that Hasbro will continue with different incarnations of the franchise. How will they treat G5, G6, and onward? Will they focus back on little girls, or will they continue trying to confuse grown men? How will the fans of G4 treat these?
A hundred years from now, they will gaze upon my work and marvel at my skills but never know my name. And that will be good enough for me.
