My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

[KennyMan666]

No, but I'm sure there's people who believe it did. Too much has been made of the little nods to the fandom they've thrown in.

[AuraDRGN]

the help of Lauren Faust, one of the actual FIM animators.

Nnnope. She is an animator, but she was this show's creator/developer/writer/executive producer.

(No, not the creator of the original MLP, that's Bonnie Zacherle.)

Thought she was the artist.

[Stormwatch]

She did the original character designs as well.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

I think those first designs are over ten years old now.

Who's hyped for Wonder Over Yonder? 'Cause I'm not.

[drunkninja24]

So I just picked up and finished issue #4 of the comic.

Freaking love it. I'm hoping the next arc is just as good.

[O. Van Bruce]

I might actually watch this... just for the lulz...

[trap15]

~TOMODACHI WA MAHOU~

Sugoi, sugoi

[O. Van Bruce]

~TOMODACHI WA MAHOU~

Sugoi, sugoi

doesn't it pick your curiosity what will japs make with a show that's just so full of their memes but it has been done by westerners?

[Edmond Dantes]

~TOMODACHI WA MAHOU~

Sugoi, sugoi

doesn't it pick your curiosity what will japs make with a show that's just so full of their memes but it has been done by westerners?

Well, apparently they needed to make their own version of Powerpuff Girls.

I don't recall hearing that Teen Titans, Avatar the Last Airbender or Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi were particularly popular over there though.

We'll see.

... what do you mean, "full of their memes" anyway?

[Udderdude]

Sup guise, been awhile since I posted in here! I hope they put this in the Japanese version of the show!

[Edmond Dantes]

Beh. Maybe the Japanese will get lucky and only get the first season. Then they won't have to see the franchise go downhill.

[O. Van Bruce]

~TOMODACHI WA MAHOU~

Sugoi, sugoi

doesn't it pick your curiosity what will japs make with a show that's just so full of their memes but it has been done by westerners?

Well, apparently they needed to make their own version of Powerpuff Girls.

I don't recall hearing that Teen Titans, Avatar the Last Airbender or Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi were particularly popular over there though.

We'll see.

... what do you mean, "full of their memes" anyway?

Oh yeah, I recall that powerpuff girls show... watched some episodes but I didn't followed it. And about the memes, some characters are clearly inspired on japanese characters archetypes like the genki girl, the sports girl or the shy girl.

[Edmond Dantes]

And about the memes, some characters are clearly inspired on japanese characters archetypes like the genki girl, the sports girl or the shy girl.

.... No offense, but that sounds like something coming from TV Tropes.

Meaning specifically the notion that Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy (not sure which one is the sports girl) exist because Lauren Faust saw an anime at some point and wanted to copy it, as opposed to the more likely possibility that she knows several women (hell, is a woman herself) and knows that some are actually like that and is basing her characters' personalities on people she actually knew or had heard about or otherwise knows exist. Fiction comes from life, not from arbitrary tropes that every author writes down in a checklist and makes a point to imitate.

To be honest, the only thing "clearly inspired" by anime is the big-eyed, small-nose cutesy look. And I'm not too sure about that.

[O. Van Bruce]

And about the memes, some characters are clearly inspired on japanese characters archetypes like the genki girl, the sports girl or the shy girl.

.... No offense, but that sounds like something coming from TV Tropes.

Meaning specifically the notion that Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy (not sure which one is the sports girl) exist because Lauren Faust saw an anime at some point and wanted to copy it, as opposed to the more likely possibility that she knows several women (hell, is a woman herself) and knows that some are actually like that and is basing her characters' personalities on people she actually knew or had heard about or otherwise knows exist. Fiction comes from life, not from arbitrary tropes that every author writes down in a checklist and makes a point to imitate.

To be honest, the only thing "clearly inspired" by anime is the big-eyed, small-nose cutesy look. And I'm not too sure about that.

I watched some episodes and it amazed me how similar the personalities of some characters are to some anime girls. Maybe it was like that for me because 90% of the cartoons I've seen in my life are japanese... I couldn't help to notice the similarities on character design.

[Edmond Dantes]

That's largely the same phenomenon at work: Writers basing their women off real people they knew.

Although to be fair, I think some anime writers DO just reduce women to "types." I've seen so many anime where women were one-dimensional (damn you, Di Gi Charat). Pony was different at first--they were more fleshed out. But it feels like recently they got reduced to just one-note characters.

Kinda like what that article someone linked to a page or two back was talking about.

It's getting hard to justify being a brony. The show used to be good enough to suffice by itself, but it isn't anymore, and the fandom... half of it is either too "loving and tolerant" (IE entitlement culture mixed with nanny-like "no one is allowed to disagree because it makes everyone sad" types) and the other half is obsessed with having sex with horses.

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

Anyone hyped for "Double Rainboom" tonight?

[Specineff]

It's getting hard to justify being a brony. The show used to be good enough to suffice by itself, but it isn't anymore, and the fandom... half of it is either too "loving and tolerant" (IE entitlement culture mixed with nanny-like "no one is allowed to disagree because it makes everyone sad" types) and the other half is obsessed with having sex with horses.

Fandom is as fandom does, both for good and bad.

[drunkninja24]

I don't really care about "being a brony". I still enjoy the show and I still enjoy aspects of the fandom. When I tire of one or the other, I'll just move on to other things.

[Udderdude]

It's getting hard to justify being a brony. The show used to be good enough to suffice by itself, but it isn't anymore, and the fandom... half of it is either too "loving and tolerant" (IE entitlement culture mixed with nanny-like "no one is allowed to disagree because it makes everyone sad" types) and the other half is obsessed with having sex with horses.

Fandom is as fandom does, both for good and bad.

Brony fandom is 20% more horrible.

[Edmond Dantes]

In good news....

Lately I was in the mood for a good Mahjong game and wondered if there was a Pony one. There are, in fact, two (that I've found). And one of them is an official Hub game

The other is fan made. EDIT: Just realized this is actually a custom tileset that requires either DotBamCrak or GNOME Mahjong to play. Both are freeware and can be found via Google.

.... I would ask if there's such a thing as MLP Strip Poker, but I'm too scared of what the answer might be.

[The Coop]

So the big unveiling of the fan episode, "Double Rainboom" is tonight. I've seen the trailers, and it doesn't say too much about its quality, really. But, it's also potentially the only new episode we'll see until Season 4 kicks off this Winter (yes, Winter). So here's hoping that it's at least decent, and not on par with the likes of "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well" or "Over A Barrel."

[Edmond Dantes]

Why does everyone hate "Over a Barrel?"

I can understand the antipathy towards "Mare-do-Well," but I've never understood the hate towards "Over a Barrel." IMO it's the perfect send-up of fuzzy useless feel-good values, and a great example of why Season One was awesome. (I mean come on... Pinkie tries to solve everything by singing a crappy song about sharing, and gets trampled for it--and then has her message stolen by Twilight!)

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Lately I was in the mood for a good Mahjong game and wondered if there was a Pony one. There are, in fact, two (that I've found). And one of them is an official Hub game

Neither of these are Mahjong. They are solitaire Mahjong.

This is actual Mahjong. It's a lot better. It makes Poker look like a gambling game for pussies, combining strategy and luck with a serious bluffing element. Japanese-style Mahjong particularly is serious business.

[drunkninja24]

Why does everyone hate "Over a Barrel?"

I can understand the antipathy towards "Mare-do-Well," but I've never understood the hate towards "Over a Barrel." IMO it's the perfect send-up of fuzzy useless feel-good values, and a great example of why Season One was awesome. (I mean come on... Pinkie tries to solve everything by singing a crappy song about sharing, and gets trampled for it--and then has her message stolen by Twilight!)

Yeah, I don't understand the hate for Over a Barrel, either. I loved the episode.

[drunkninja24]

So Double Rainboom was.....okay. Good animation quality and voicework for a fanmade project, but it seemed like they were more concerned with stuffing all the references they could in at times, and it went into major fanfic territory in the latter half.

[The Coop]

So, having watched "Double Rainboom," I have to say that I wasn't overly thrilled with the end result. I'll give props to the animators for doing a rather good job, the sound department overall, and some of the voice actors for pulling off some good work at times. But the story was so jumbled and non-directional, it just wasn't entertaining. The references seemed to be more important than telling a cohesive, interesting tale, and in the end, it just didn't feel like anything above a poorly written piece of schizophrenic fan fiction. Frankly, the entire second half should have been scrapped and redone, and the first half, trimmed down by several minutes to give it better pacing.

I know the people behind it worked hard, and the visuals/sound show that. From a technical stand point, it's a worthy effort that they should be proud of for pulling off. But it was sub "The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well" in terms of story, direction, writing, and pacing, and it just utterly fell apart after the halfway mark.

So kudos to all involved for getting it finished, but it has major issues that I hope the guy's instructor brings up.

[Stormwatch]

Yeah, the writing is a mess, the pacing is often poor, and the references are mostly pointless. There are some excellent fics out there that truly deserve to be animated... then again, the good stuff tends to be very lengthy, so they would have to be turned into whole mini-series, not one-shots like this.

[Edmond Dantes]

Why does everyone hate "Over a Barrel?"

I can understand the antipathy towards "Mare-do-Well," but I've never understood the hate towards "Over a Barrel." IMO it's the perfect send-up of fuzzy useless feel-good values, and a great example of why Season One was awesome. (I mean come on... Pinkie tries to solve everything by singing a crappy song about sharing, and gets trampled for it--and then has her message stolen by Twilight!)

Yeah, I don't understand the hate for Over a Barrel, either. I loved the episode.

^__^ Someone else who sees wisdom!

Pretty much, there are no bad Season One episodes. Except maybe the pilot, and The Cutie Mark Chronicles. The show didn't start having utterly detestable episodes until season two.

... haven't seen Double Rainboom yet. Not sure I want to if its really so bad.

I've also heard unpleasant things about the IDW comic.

[drunkninja24]

What? The comic is absolutely friggin fantastic! I have pretty much nothing bad to say about it, really. What have you been hearing about it, and from where

[Edmond Dantes]

Someone on Digitpress claimed there was a storyline where Chrysalis kidnaps the CMC and kills a kitten.

That... sounds like something that belongs more in a Frank Miller graphic novel than in MLP, honestly.

And when you see them in stores and the cover shows Doctor Whooves and the TARDIS... well, I get the feeling the comic is gonna be just a bunch of fan-pandering.