(2019) My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Retrospective

   NOTE: This review was originally posted to Tumblr on April 5, 2019, and has been reposted here for archival purposes. It may not reflect recent events or my current opinions.

As of now, MLP:FiM is about to start it’s final season, Season 9. And afterwards, MLP will be rebooted into a whole new generation, Generation 5. And while I’m not sure if the franchise will regress to the G3 era and be a show targeted towards preschool girls or follow in the footsteps of the formula that Friendship is Magic laid down in order to appeal to people of all ages, I kind of feel like this is a good time to look back on the series and the MLP fandom in general. Look back on the show’s strong points, the weak points, as well as the high and low points of the fandom, as well as look back on what the show has done for me after being into the series for so long. So, here’s a retrospective on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic first aired in October 2010 by Lauren Faust, an individual previously credited with work on The Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. Originally intending to create a whole new IP with “Galaxy Girls,” she was then tasked with creating a new generation of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and she wanted to move the franchise away from its “preschool girl” image and focus more on being more of a family-oriented TV series in the same light as, say, Spongebob Squarepants and Adventure Time for example, by focusing more on adventure stories and developing the characters. And she got what she… well, kind of expected. Not long after the show first aired, a shitpost regarding the show on 4chan ended up getting people actually into the show and ironically enough spawned one of this decade’s most prevalent fandoms, the Brony community. In an unexpected twist of events, an IP that was pretty well known as a generic “girl’s show” spawned a fanbase of grown men and the show itself would be recognized as one of the biggest staples in the “Cartoon Renaissance” of the 2010’s.

I first heard of the series and the Brony fandom about spring or summer 2011. One of my friends on Youtube talked about joining the My Little Pony community and I thought it was… kind of weird but I was 10 years old and into Thomas the Tank Engine so it didn’t really mean much to me. But then, I found out that he wasn’t alone in being a male in the My Little Pony fandom and after being a regular on the ROBLOX Forums (which was honestly just a wannabe 4chan for kids), I started seeing people discuss bronies and seeing chats on the show come up. I didn’t really think much of it, and kind of wanted to check it out but didn’t really get the chance to as I didn’t want my parents to think I had gone nuts (i mean like i said i was already 10 years old and into thomas the tank engine so imagine explaining to them i was into my little pony). I did watch a part of an episode as I was visiting a young relative that was into the show, and… didn’t know what to think about it at first, but later it turns out my best friend on ROBLOX was getting into the show and he wanted me to watch it, so I decided to watch the first episode in the time span between getting home from school and before my parents got home from work… and I found myself really enjoying it. But then I came to the conclusion that now I had to explain to my parents that I was into My Little Pony (seriously porn would’ve probably been easier to explain) and just did it sort of casually while we went out for dinner one night. They didn’t make fun of me for it (well aside from my brother anyway) despite me expecting them to (especially my dad), so it was all good. Of course, now in addition to being 10 years old and into Thomas the Tank Engine, I was also 10 years old and into My Little Pony, so that’s one thing I had to keep secret from all my friends at school.

I think the thing with MLP:FiM that, for me, made it stick out above pretty much most other shows of that time period was just that… it was an interesting, nice, feel-good kind of show. The only others shows that were around at the time of it’s airing I can think of that had a large amount of positive reception were Adventure Time and Regular Show. And unlike a lot of people, I personally never really got into Adventure Time no matter how hard I tried, and Regular Show was honestly more of a show I would watch casually than follow up with on the latest episodes. MLP:FiM… was just overall a show I could enjoy, and stood out from other cartoons of it’s era just for it’s good characters and episodes alone, and while I can’t necessarily put my finger on just one thing about it, it just felt like an overall enjoyable show.

I’ve actually considered reviewing the entire show for… a few years now. Back when I was active on MLPForums I did a review of each episode up to that point, although stopped after Season 5. But I never really reviewed the show as a whole, and with this I kind of wanted to reflect on the characters, how much the show has changed over it’s 8 seasons, and just what I liked about it overall.

So, if you’re not familiar with this show as it is… which, I kind of expect most people reading this to be but if you’re someone new I guess, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is set in the fictional universe called “Equestria,” and follows a character named Twilight Sparkle who gets sent by her mentor Princess Celestia in order to study friendship, and befriends 5 other ponies named Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, who are all considered to be part of the “Mane 6,” and each represent an “element of harmony.”

I feel like the show originally started out as something that was pretty light-hearted, and that can be largely seen in the first and even second season. It did get dark at some points (*cough*PartyofOne*cough*), but from about Season 4 or 5 onward it started to become overall more of an “adventurous” series, with each season feeling like an addition to the overall story, in addition to tackling some darker themes. A lot of people didn’t necessarily like the direction the show took, but I feel like especially during Seasons 4 and 5 my interest in the show definitely peaked when it started taking on these more serious tones, and in a way I kind of feel like the series started to focus more on the brony audience, kind of stemming away from it’s roots as a generic preschool show.

But before I get to anything else, I figured I would start this by talking about the characters. This is arguably the most popular part of MLP:FiM, and each character tends to have their own small fandom behind it. Not only the main characters, but even the background characters who basically do and say nothing and are just on screen for a split second whenever they appear. I could go on about every single character in the show, but I figured I would just focus on what is considered the Mane 6. And I’ll say this, something that I still feel sticks out about this show more than anything else is definitely the characters. This show has easily one of my favorite casts of characters in… really any show I’ve watched. Each character in their own way just feels well developed, interesting and unique, yet manage to compliment each other strangely well.

Twilight Sparkle is pretty much the main character of the show, basically being the main focus of the show in general. While the other characters are important ofc, the series’ overall plot tends to revolve around Twilight Sparkle in particular over any of the other characters. In the series began, she was originally Celestia’s pupil and a unicorn, but over time advanced in her studies and became an alicorn, and one of the princesses of Equestria. In retrospect, it’s really a good thing no one got angry about such a change like that, I mean that basically changed the rest of the show- oh fuck. But as I was saying, she has a love of learning and is skilled in magic, albeit at times gets comes off as a perfectionist, and can get carried away with in situations that may go against her understanding. I can’t say she was ever my favorite character per se, but I still liked her and always thought of her as a great main character.

My favorite character of the show?

Rarity.

Yeah, I said it.

Now, at first I didn’t really think much of her, but I think especially once I got into reviewing and analyzing the show, she actually managed to be a character that… honestly stuck out to me more than any other in the show. Looking at her on the surface, she seems to be a generic “ladylike” stereotype and character, but I feel like the more she was developed over the show’s lifespan… the more interesting she just became. Faust’s intention with this character was pretty much to go off of the stereotypical “fashionista” or “ladylike” character in basically any show, but instead of just having a shallow character like that, develop her into something more interesting, basically being a massive twist on that trope. And… I think that worked out pretty well. MLP:FiM does a good job of making Rarity into more of a real character, and she actually does have her own flaws like any character does. And the more I looked into her character, I actually did manage to find her more relatable, and realize that… she is a prime example of a strong female character who works hard to be a good friend as well, which I feel like is primarily shown in episodes like Rarity Takes Manehattan, Suited for Success, and A Dog and Pony Show, the latter of which I consider one of the more underrated episodes of the show. It’s hard to explain, but instead of feeling like another character of this trope, she feels like a deviation from that trope. And she’s just cute and funny, what’s not to love about her?

Fluttershy from what I can tell tends to be the most popular among the “brony” community (either her or Rainbow Dash), and she’s probably my second favorite character of the show. When I first started getting into MLP:FiM, my favorite character tended to go between her and Pinkie Pie, who I’ve always felt were my most relatable characters. Fluttershy is the “shy” one of the bunch, but throughout the series tries to overcome that. I mostly found her relatable as an introvert myself, as well as some other stuff like her love of animals and whatnot, and I feel like episodes like Hurricane Fluttershy, Scare Master and A Health of Information managed to show her at probably her best, as a strong character trying to overcome her fears.

Pinkie Pie, who servers the role as the comic relief character of the series, is a character all about parties and wanting to make friends. That said, she can occassionally feel insecure about herself and her relationship with friends, which is seen in episodes like Party of One and Pinkie Pride. She also tends to break the fourth wall a lot.

A

Lot.

And like I said, when I was just beginning to watch the show, she and Fluttershy often switched as my favorite character, and to this day I still find myself relating to her… even moreso than I remembered in retrospect.

Rainbow Dash is probably one of the more popular characters of the show, and it can be argued that in a lot of cases she is pretty much one of the most marketed characters of the show. She’s pretty much the “athletic” character and has an obsession with speed and adventure, but can occasionally have her own moments of insecurities as shown in episodes like Sonic Rainboom. Not my favorite of the Mane 6, but either way a good character.

I will say that Applejack is probably my least favorite of the Mane 6, but that doesn’t mean I dislike her or think she’s a bad character. Applejack is basically the “farm girl,” complete with the classic southern accent and cowboy hat, and has a strong bond with her family but can be stubborn. I don’t really have too much to say about her, but I will say I can relate to her attachment to her family and that sort of thing.

And that’s something I like about this show - the main cast. Each character, again, feels unique, and saying which one is my “least favorite” of the main cast is actually kind of hard for me, since I just tend like them all as characters.

Now, of course, there are more characters than this. Even with the BG ponies aside, I could go over Spike, Discord, Starlight Glimmer, the Princesses and so on, but I figured I would just stick to the main cast. And now that I’m past that, I kind of wanted to reflect on all of the seasons and how the show has really changed.

Season 1 was where I started… I mean I guess that would be expected since it was the first season after all. Now, I will say that a lot of shows typically aren’t at their best on the first season. And that makes sense, everyone working on the show, the writers, the animators, are still getting their foothold in this whole creative process, and they aren’t necessarily going to knock it out of the park on their first try. And this has gone for most shows I can think of, in particular The Simpsons and Steven Universe. And… I don’t feel the first season of Friendship is Magic is necessarily an exception.

Now, I don’t think Season 1 is bad by any means. Being the first season, it’s probably the one that invokes the most nostalgia in me from watching it for the first time, especially the 2-part premiere. And there are still episodes from this season that I really enjoy, like Suited for Success, Party of One, Cutie Mark Chronicles, Winter Wrap Up and A Dog and Pony Show, some of which I would consider among my favorites of the series. But I think when putting it in retrospect compared to later seasons, it generally feels like the one that hasn’t necessarily aged too well. While it has it’s good episodes, I feel like it also has it’s share of… “meh” episodes here and there. In my original reviews of Season 1, I considered Boast Busters one of if not my least favorite episode of the show. And in all honesty… I really haven’t changed much from that opinion. I’d still probably consider it better than some other episodes, but it still doesn’t change the fact that the plot in general makes half the Mane 6 look like assholes and gives Twilight Sparkle kind of an unnecessary conflict. I don’t think there are other episodes from the season I would say I “disliked” (because, really, I can pretty much enjoy almost any episode of the show no matter what problems I have), but there’s a good few that I either felt were.. Questionable, and others I just didn’t find too interesting or memorable, namely The Show Stoppers, The Ticket Master, Bridle Gossip and Over a Barrel. Even some of the better episodes from this season, such as Dragonshy, had their core plot/moral later brought up again and executed much better (Hurricane Fluttershy).

But of course, there are still things to like about Season 1. In general, it’s probably the most “wholesome” season out of the bunch just from being newer and being more family-oriented compared to later seasons. And it’s definitely a season that you can probably just watch casually and not have to follow any sort of storyline, which I guess is why some bronies may prefer the earlier seasons over later seasons. And like I said, I do still get nostalgia out of watching it. Just can’t really say that it’s one of my personal favorite seasons nor do I look back at it with as high value as I did when I first watched it.

Season 2 is probably where the show really started to kick off for me, which is pretty fitting considering I got into it right before Season 2 aired. I don’t consider it my favorite season either, for a few reasons, but in general, I definitely feel in terms of writing, characterization and even animation, Season 2 does feel like a good step up from Season 1, improving what made Season 1 good by fleshing out the characters more and giving generally more interesting episodes. Episodes like Sisterhooves Social, Lesson Zero, Secret of my Excess, Hurricane Fluttershy and Read It and Weep are examples of episodes that I feel do a good job of giving another side to the characters that we knew from Season 1 and giving them in general more personality. Then there are episodes like It’s About Time that are fairly humorous, and The Last Roundup which acknowledged basically a fandom creation and then ended up getting censored - boy was that a fucking mess within the fandom! A Canterlot Wedding ended up being a pretty amazing finale for what it was, basically feeling like a mini-Disney movie in the form of an MLP episode, and having probably one of the most interesting stories in the series as a whole. It was an example of an episode that, just when first watching alone, made me feel excited to know what was going to happen next and how the story was turning out.

That said, I don’t think Season 2 is necessarily perfect either. While it does improve upon Season 1 for the most part, it still has it’s occasional “wut” moments. The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well for a while was probably the most hated episode in the fandom for how the Mane 6 act in this episode, in particular the whole process of making Rainbow Dash feel like shit just for boasting. Personally, I don’t necessarily hate this episode as much as other people do (when I first watched it I didn’t really think of any of the show’s “problems” tbh), but it is in league with a lot of the more “meh” episodes of Season 1 for me. Putting Your Hoof Down is another episode that I’ve seen get lots of hate from the fandom and… yeah I don’t really like that episode much myself. Fluttershy’s “turnaround” just feels incredibly sudden and it gets to the point where Fluttershy is just plain unlikable in this episode. Fluttershy doesn’t even feel like she gets any sort of punishment for her actions and Iron Will gets the most blame for what she did in the episode. It could’ve been a pretty good episode to teach about not being a pushover and being “strong,” but the episode’s poor execution just ruins an otherwise decent moral on paper.

Still, I do see Season 2 as a good season and where the series really started kicking off for me, with tons of memorable episodes and mostly good characterization.

Then we have Season 3 which takes another step back.

Now, okay, I don’t consider Season 3 to be a terrible or bad season, or even the “worst” season like a lot of the fandom. Half of the season is actually pretty damn good. The Crystal Empire, while a bit underwhelming compared to Canterlot Wedding, still does a good job of worldbuilding and generally being an interesting plot. Episodes like Sleepless in Ponyville and Wonderbolts Academy are easily among the show’s best by adding tons of character development, and I also enjoy Magic Duel, Too Many Pinkie Pies and Apple Family Reunion.

Then we get to the… well, not so good half.

One Bad Apple is an episode that I find myself liking less every time I think about it, and with what I’ve been through in my life, it actually feels kind of offensive to me in a way. The entire episode is pretty much an anti-bullying PSA, and tries to help you understand how to deal with bullying. But instead of that, it basically brushes bullying under the rug by saying “just tell your parents” even though in real life it… really doesn’t work that way. I’ve been bullied in the past, and just recently came to the conclusion that being bullied both online and in real life during my middle school years actually ended up making me feel far worse about myself in the long run, and I’ve read numerous articles on other kids who are bullied that, even after telling someone, in some cases ending in suicide, which makes this episode look even worse now. Am I getting too offended over an episode of a little girl’s show about cartoon horses? I mean, probably, but it is kind of a topic that I feel pretty strongly about and the way this episode handles it just comes off as short-sighted and doesn’t even come close to being a satisfying address or understanding of the actual problem of bullying.

The other episodes of the season I haven’t talked about I don’t really find that much interesting either, and the finale Magical Mystery Cure is… decent. It does give a good segway in the rest of the series, has an interesting conflict and tons of great songs, but it really feels like it should’ve been a 2-part episode and the entire plot just feels extremely rushed, plus with a massive change in the series like Twilight Sparkle becoming an alicorn, it doesn’t really feel satisfying enough to where there seems to be a clear direction with Twilight Sparkle becoming an alicorn. Apparently this episode was supposed to be the series finale and was supposed to be a 2-parter, but ended up becoming a one-part episode due to the rise of the brony fandom. And hearing the original plan for the story actually makes it seem more interesting, and I kind of wish they went with that instead of shortening the episode so much.

But then, there’s Seasons 4 and 5. And here’s where I feel my interest in the show really peaked.

Season 4 was a pretty unique season where it sort of had an ongoing plot. There were other seasons that had this to an extent - Season 1 with the Grand Galloping Gala, and so did Season 7 with each of the Mane 6 having an “adventure” that led to resurrecting Starswirl the Bearded and other historic characters in the finale, but Season 4 was probably the one where I feel the ongoing plot was generally the best developed. Each of the Mane 6 had a “key” episode that contributed to the end and the finale ended up feeling pretty satisfying for what it was. Worldbuilding and lore were also pretty well-developed this season and it also has a lot of my personal favorite episodes, namely Rarity Takes Manehattan, Flight to the Finish, and Pinkie Pride, with most of the other episodes just being good and enjoyable to watch. The only episode I can think of from this season that I had any sorts of major issues with was Rainbow Falls, where the pacing and characterization just end up making the episode feel underwhelming, especially as a “key” episode. But otherwise? Season 4 was probably the first season that I continuously enjoyed all the way through and ended up being super excited for the release of every episode.

Season 5 didn’t have quite that continuity basis that Season 4 had, but did continue upon the great worldbuilding and had even more heavy hitters in my eyes. The Cutie Map was probably my favorite 2-parter in the series… period, and episodes like Amending Fences, Tanks for the Memories, Bloom and Gloom, and The Mane Attraction have some of the best character development the series has really seen. And there’s also it’s share of more hilarious episodes like Make New Friends But Keep Discord. The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone is probably my favorite episode in the series, and is one I actually feel is kind of underrated for what it is. It’s generally not looked upon as one of the shows “greater” episodes but… honestly as someone who sort of connected with Gilda’s character in her debut episode, Lost Treasure actually hit pretty close to me, pretty much confirming my theory about a character that not a lot of people really cared about. It actually made Gilda one of my favorite characters in the show, and made her a certified waifu™, which is why I don’t really feel like this episode gets the appreciation or praise it really deserves. There were a few more not so great episodes in Season 5 than in Season 4 like What About Discord, Appleoosa’s Most Wanted, Princess Spike and The Hooffields and the McColts, and… I’m sorry but I didn’t really care for Slice of Life. Now, the concept for this episode I like, giving some background and stories to the other ponies in Ponyville than just the Mane 6, in a way kind of being like MLP’s equivalent to “22 Short Films About Springfield,” one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons. But I feel the episode kind of tries too hard when it comes to humor, having a lot of “fandom memes” that by then I had already grown tired of, and occasionally just gets too obnoxious with the fanservice where it becomes sort of cringey. I don’t even feel like the different subplots really “connect” that well in the end and even with that aside feel a bit too… underdeveloped for my liking. I don’t consider it a bad episode or one of my least favorites in the season, but at the same time it’s a great concept with… not as great execution. If you like this episode, I’m perfectly fine with that, and can understand. But personally, I just found this one… decent at best, but far from one of my favorites.

But either way, after a peak with Season 4 and 5, Season 6 was… sort of where my interest in the series just started to decline. During Season 4 and 5, I tried to be caught up with all the episodes, albeit there was one point where I slowed down on Season 5 because of burnout but did end up going back and finishing it when I had the motivation. Season 6… well, once I got passed the finale I basically lost any sort of motivation to catch up with the series. I had noticed by the end of the first half that… I just wasn’t as into this season compared to Seasons 4 and 5, and I feel like it was just a mix of the episodes generally not being as great as well as just feeling burned out on the series. At that point, I had been watching it for 5 years and just wasn’t really finding much interest in the series. There are some good episodes here and there, like Gauntlet of Fire, Hearth’s Warming Tail, Saddle Row Review, Stranger than Fan Fiction and The Fault in Our Cutie Marks, but the rest of the season I just find to be an overall mixed bag, going between decent but forgettable episodes like Where the Apple Lies and Viva Las Pegasus, “meh” episodes like The Cart Before the Ponies and Applejack’s Day Off, and episodes I just find myself straight up disliking like Newbie Dash and 28 Pranks Later. The former of which… actually ended up bringing a lot of the feelings I had about Boast Busters and One Bad Apple, by being such a major episode that is undermined by basically being a Rainbow Dash torture porn that just makes me feel bad for Rainbow Dash all the way through. I think it didn’t really help that at this point I was getting more involved with other fandoms and I was just starting to distance myself away from the brony fandom. Doesn’t really help that after being pretty excited about Starlight Glimmer’s future development, this season… kind of underdelivered when it came to it’s purpose. And this is as someone who defended Starlight’s redemption and feel Starlight is kind of an overhated character. Those who didn’t really care about Starlight’s character in the first place… well, this season didn’t really do anything to improve their opinion on the character.

And we get to Season 7, and theoretically this would be my favorite season. It’s definitely a massive step up over Season 6 and combines the highs of both Seasons 4 and 5, plus having probably the best consistency of episode quality than any other season I can think of, having mostly really great episodes. And don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy watching this season, and would easily put it in the top half as far as ranking my favorite seasons, but… honestly I kind of had trouble getting as into it than with Seasons 4 and 5. I didn’t really find myself “excited” to watch new episodes as they came out and there were times even when I watched where I just kind of tuned out, leaving a lot of episodes I really need to rewatch to fully understand.

Although Fame and Misfortune was a fucking hilarious episode and that is a hill I’m more than willing to die on.

And then we get to the most recent season, Season 8, which was… kind of in the middle of Season 6 and 7 for me. The Friendship School and Student Six were definitely neat concepts, but in general this episode just didn’t really have the highs of Season 7 in my opinion. Almost every episode I basically ended with “hey that was pretty good” with no strong feelings toward it. Even some episodes with great character development like Molt Down… I just didn’t end up enjoying them to the extent of previous seasons.

But, that’s up to this point. Season 9 is about to start airing, so how will that be? Well, only time can tell. Hopefully it’ll be a satisfying final season.

But either way, thinking of it now kind of goes with my view of the brony fandom. Season 1 and 2 were probably the best days of the fandom, and while 2013 as a whole was pretty bad, I still had some enjoyment when it came to sites like MLPForums in the time of Season 4 and Season 5. But over time… my interest kind of dwindled. I was starting to see a lot of the more “negative” side of the fandom, and overall my interest in the show… just wasn’t to the level it was during Seasons 4 and 5 or even during the first 3 seasons. I think now I’ve found myself more into stuff like Overwatch, Undertale and the furry fandom and after being into MLP for so long… maybe I’ve just grown up and am moving on.

But, this show still means a lot to me. I’ve met tons of people in the fandom, some of which I still talk to today (although most have left and have become furries). And the show did kind of give a jumpstart in my interest in writing and cartooning, which still holds to me as I write my own series and create my own characters. And MLP:FiM was… pretty much my life between being 11 and 14, and for all the good memories of the show and, hell, even the fandom sometimes, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic still holds a place in my heart as kind of starting an interesting era of my life, and even if I occasionally shittalk the brony fandom, I’ll still probably never forget the show for what it did for me in the long run. And I don’t imagine there ever being a show like this again. Not even Generation 5 probably.

I would continue this by talking about Equestria Girls and the MLP Movie, as well as aspects like the animation (kind of rough in season 1 but gets better over time), voice acting (tabitha st. germain is best pony) and music (fucking great), but I think for being a retrospective… I got my point across. I don’t plan on doing any more reviews of the show or going back to doing cartoon reviews like I used to, but I figured this would be a good sendoff to the series before Season 9 starts. So, to conclude:

Cheers to the final season of MLP.