It’s 6 Jan 2024 right now and I’m about to start uni again in 2 days, alongside beginning season 5. To be honest, I’m getting tired and stressed for uni. Is this major something I really want to do? How will things progress in the coming months? What if all the months I took for uni (and countless future months) are wasted for a major I didn’t care about? I don’t know. And that’s not even talking about finding an apartment, my finances, or whatever else. The future is scary and worse if you look back to the past. The only thing I’m looking forward towards is S5 of MLP and though it may sound stupid or ridiculous, I can’t help it. I want to escape this world and stay in the beautiful lands of Equestria but, well, you can’t.
I know Season 5 will introduce Starlight Glimmer and the beginning will have that commie thing where everypony is equal (I can’t wait to roast that episode) so I’m excited to start watching it. However, things have started dropping off for many episodes in S4 + this is somewhere a little past the peak of MLP’s popularity hence my expectations aren’t high.
Actually about that, today was when I realised just how far MLP had fallen from its glory days. LittleshyFIM had only gained 2000 subscribers in the past 9 months (from 200k to 202k) and I was... well, shocked at just how in poor condition this fandom was in. I had the impression that things were looking up for the fandom (probably because of how I was exposed to plenty of fandom content and thinking “wow it’s really alive!”) but it’s clearly been a bias now. Like, even Portal & Portal 2 are getting much more traffic than MLP and they were released around the same period. And MLP has G5! I truly hope ponies will keep on living on. I love ponies and while I do see myself eventually getting over it (even though I really really don’t want me to leave ponies), I don’t see it ever disappearing from me.
Onward to Season 5! Let’s brohoof and hope that it’ll be 20% cooler! Everypony who disagrees should experience love and tolerate!
I couldn’t wait another day. I had to watch it now. My god, it was an incredible 2 episodes. The episodes introduced Starlight Glimmer which is the first time I see her in a negative light. She’s out here making ponies equal with her magic and it’s a really interesting concept! Also it’s clear that this is an allegory for Communism with all the equality and whatnot. Just to be clear, Socialism nor Communism pushes for the removal of character from anypony. It doesn’t strive for everypony to be equal; it just pushes for everypony to be given equal opportunities which is essentially what some cities in Equestria are already like (see Ponyville with a mayor everypony’s happy with and where everypony is given a chance in life).
Anyways, I loved the Gestapo (the white pony eyeing them) and how they acted. Also the rebelling ponies that kinda show how the resistance is like. This episode is just great, go watch it everypony. If there was one bad thing about this episode, probably the end? It feels a bit rushed and sudden.
23/1 update – I need to make this review longer. There’s a lot to say about this episode that I haven’t written. I’ll do it later.
MAKE A CASTLE A HOMEEEEEEE I liked the premise of this episode but yknow Spike could’ve just said that they needed more time and Twily would’ve been okay with that. Not like Twily is some crazy bastard who says “I NEED THIS HOME NOW”. Oh well, still a fun episode with a banging song.
Okay first off, this completely twisted my perception on Luna’s role in dreams. In some previous episode, I thought that Princess Luna created the ponies’ dreams. Now looking back, it doesn’t make much sense actually but now I have a newly reformed theory; since the nightmares that took place in this episode served no purpose [where I thought nightmares were created to warn ponies of the future] (and Luna later says the dreams happened because of Applebloom’s worries), I assume that dreams and nightmares are created by their respectful owners and what Luna is able to do is peer in and see what their dreams are and is able to influence it. On top of that, Luna is still able to create dreams and nightmares as warnings. For instance, I believe, in the episode where Sweetie Bell’s nightmare involves destroying Rarity’s career, Sweetie Bell wouldn’t have dreamed if it weren’t for Luna. Luna created a nightmare that day in order to warn Sweetie Bell of her actions. Regarding this episode “Bloom and Gloom”, Apple Bloom was having nightmares on her own and Luna helped her break out of the cycle. That’s my theory anyway.
Okay the actual review. First off, it’s CMC so a max is a 6. Next, the show demeans people in “unfavourable” positions like the pest pony. True, the show shows how important it is by describing Ponyville in chaos after the pest was not managed, but everypony says the opposite! The last complaint, it just isn’t that interesting. It’s a 5/10; an okay-ish episode.
Original review: I need to watch this on my own. Haven’t gotten around to doing it, so skipping this one for now.
New Review: Oh man... oh man... this is depressing. First, some context; I had known about this episode through the shit ton of comments on how people were crying and very sad after watching this. I lowered my expectations (this is MLP after all, they’re not gonna bring in death or something) but still had me convinced that it was something very sad. So when I came across this episode, I delayed it... and delayed it... and then two weeks pass. Finally, on a Thursday night, I decided to watch the episode.
The first time I watched this episode, I couldn’t see/find anything sad. I was looking around for it all the time and was constantly theorizing while I watched it (i.e. maybe Tank will get stuck in the vent or something? Or maybe Rainbow makes a huge mess leading to her friends belittling her or something). But at the end, when Rainbow Dash accepted Tank’s hibernation, it hit me. This entire episode was an allegory for a pet/person’s passing. RD first came with denial at Tank’s need for hibernation; anger at her friends; trying to control the weather; crying in her bed with Tank next to her; then learning to let go. At the very end–the thing that made me cry–was when Rainbow sat by Tank’s side for a few moments to read their favourite bedtime story for the last time. That... aw man, I didn’t expect my little pony to make me cry. It hit hard when I realised how I understood how Rainbow felt.
This is a beautiful episode. Not my absolute favourite, not perfect, but a masterpiece nonetheless.
I liked it but it’s CMC and I don’t like em. The moral is quite nice though. Other than that, there isn’t much to say about this episode. It was a bit boring and I skipped past quite a bit.
I liked this episode quite a bit! Discord is overcome with jealousy but learns how to have... multiple friends for different things. I thought the moral would be more aligned to giving friends their own space/have their own thing but it’s more like the wonder of having multiple friends. I believe this episode would’ve been better if it focused on not holding friends hostage because they hung out with someone else. I don’t know how to word this moral but ygwim.
It was a decent episode with Pinkie and Rainbow. Gilda reformation was a bit too... quick. I mean, I guess you could argue that Gilda has felt bad the entire time but was just hiding it but I feel like Gilda needed a biiiit more time to switch over. She barely talked to Rainbow and then she does a 180 based on some things that happened 10 years ago. Idk maybe I’m just too harsh but idk.
WOOO 100th EPISODE MILESTONE! WE REACHED IT! The famously famous episode of Derpy, Doctor Hooves, Lyra, Bonbon, Vinyl Scratch, and a bunch of other side characters that were GREAT to watch! Such a fun episode. I wouldn’t say it’s the best but I loved this episode nonetheless. And I liked when Mayor Mare said it wasn’t all about the main characters in life, that was a nice touch.
Spike episode. Good moral but bad episode.
Introducing the venerable Yakyakistan to the lands of the pony world (ohhhh, explains Equestria at War’s map now. I always wondered where that was from.) I think it’s a pretty funny episode with Twily and Pinkie panicking plenty. One thing I really liked this episode for is how interesting Pinkie is as a charcater now. I think this is the first kinda Pinkie-centered episodes in a while so it’s nice to see her shine and panic with this. And Pinkie’s lair really shows how much work she puts into parties. That was a really nice touch to show how party-planning isn’t all fun and games; it’s real hard work. The moral was really really predictable even for me so that was one downside – it felt like they were dragging things along instead of going straight to the point. Though that’s a reccuring theme throughout the series, I don’t normally have a problem with it because it’s usually fun to watch or adds something to the show. Unfortunately, Fluttershy’s animals almost being stomped on doesn’t really have much value.
OHH MAN THIS IS A GREAT EPISODE! Twilight realising her mistake from long ago and trying to make up for it (at first in vain) was something that needed to be done at some point. AND we got introduced to a new character. That end was actually pretty heartfelt and going back to Twilight’s home was very nostalgic. If there’s one bad thing, her old friends seemed a liiiittle too accepting at first but it’s just a minor thing. Moondancer’s and Twilight’s character development was top notch. About Moondancer, her introduction was great. She’s basically a grown up Twilight if Twilight never went to Ponyville and it’s interesting to see, essentially, how Twily could’ve been. But of course, Moondancer isn’t just a Twily copy-paste. Moondancer had her own party (which is something Twilight would’ve never had) and she had friends she really wanted to spend time with which then Twilight threw out the window. Oh Twily, this really showed how terrible you were when you were younger.
Okay I realise now that this was M.A. Larson’s last episode he worked on in FiM. Shit man, that’s a real shame. He’s made some of my favourite episodes like this one and Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. I hope good writers will take his role but I know deep and unique episodes like his are likely not to be produced much anymore.
This episode is alright. I mean, I liked the premise and some parts of the execution like how the whole of Ponyville was involved. Also, derpy. But this episode throws my entire dream theory out the window. Ponies can lucid dream – that makes sense – and they only seem to influence themselves in the shared dream, also makes sense. But how does the evil blob go from a dream to another dream? And I thought Luna can influence entire dreams? Just like Applebloom? I have to rework my entire theory later. For now, I go.
Okay, I’m back a few hours later. I thought about it a little and this is my guess: the blob has the power to create nightmares. This is coroborated by the fact that it changed Luna’s dreams to turn into nightmares. This next part is a bit strange since that blob thing gained enough power due to Luna’s guilt and then that somehow made it jump to the Mane 6’s dreams? Doesn’t make much sense for someone in your dream to get something when it’s all in your head anyway but alright whatever it’s MLP. I guess it does make sense. Luna has the power to change dreams and so the blob has a part of that power too, hence giving the ponies nightmares. Yeah okay it’s starting to come together. But how tf can something in the dream world “escape” to the real world? I thought it’s a dream, unless dreams are like, another, realm or something. If that’s the case, alright then. A bit strange but this is Equestria so maybe it isn’t so strange. Okay well I guess this episode still fits in my headcanon so I’ll take it.
Okay I did not expect to like this episode so much. It involves Rarity making her dream come true with opening a boutique in Canterlot but as she takes on the (corporate) marketing trick of putting something cool on someone cool (princess dress on princess twily) to attract loads of people, it becomes more like a factory and she hates it. All creativity and love for her design turn to ash and the meaning lost as she mass produces it. This is great. It really resonated with me how she drove herself into the ground, similar to how I started making a specific line of videos that eventually drove me to the ground. But just as I, Rarity realises her mistake and changes things up to make things she wants at her own pace. One thing I didn’t really like was how Sassy switched over so quickly. It’s obvious she had a completely different moral compass than Rarity showed in the beginning so it’s weird and awkward when she pulls a 180 saying “Oh sorry rarity I had no idea!” when her ENTIRE THING is marketing. What would’ve been more accurate is if Rarity got somepony else to replace her or if Rarity worked in Canterlot for a bit a longer to allow for somepony from manehattan to take over (the pony lady that worked under her competition, remember?) That would’ve been epic.
I had already known the plot of this episode since season 4 because this episode involved one of my MLP IRL videos that I wanted to make but this is the first time I’ve watched it. I liked this a lot! It expanded on Rarity’s care for her friends and shows how she can be a real smooth charmer, unlike the other of the Mane 5, differentiating her more from the rest and making her a more interesting character. I’m starting to like Rarity a lot more and she’s really been shining these past 2 episodes. Perhaps a flaw is how much the show stressed the black and white style, it felt a bit too in-your-face. Also, the plot itself is... alright. Just not my favourite. Still great though!
This is an ok episode. It’s aight. And my god, 3 Rarity episodes in a row! Wow. I LOVED Applejack’s reactions to Rarity being Rarity. Her eyebrows going like :raised_eyebrow: is great (I don’t have the emoji on this keyboard). Other than that, it’s nice to see Coco Pommel again putting on a show for the Manehatten ponies. I mean, there’s just not that much to say about it. It’s alright but not that interesting.
To be honest, the very sweet end isn’t what I expected at all. It was quite heartwarming and beautiful and because of that, I’ll give it a 7. There were many complaints about this episode due to its coverage of Big Mac cross dressing and yeah, I can understand to be fair. Nonetheless, this is a pretty good episode. I think it could’ve had without Big Mac dressing up as a girl because they said they’re chill with the rules after all. I don’t know, they could’ve just left him like he usually is and keep him destroying everything and stuff to maintain the moral. Oh well.
Wow. Just, absolutely incredible. This is giving Magical Mystery Cure vibes because of the number of songs in this episode (5 in total!) and ALL the songs are absolutely banging and fits the episode so so sooo well! Yknow, Cutie Mark Crusaders, I never really liked your episodes because I felt they were quite bland but this episode. This episode... it brought a tear to my eye just because of how heartwarming it was. Nothing but good things in this episode. I loved the metaphors shown in the show, love how Diamond Tiara developed. How real it felt for an ex-bully to first reject everything, and then come to terms with what they’re doing once somepony opened they’re eyes. I’m rambling a bit here but Diamond Tiara’s circumstances felt really accurate, especially in the way her mother was treating her. Bullies don’t come out of thin air, there are always things happening in the background resulting in their actions and the show’s depiction of this via Tiara was done so well. One last thing, Tiara’s changed personality feels REAL! It’s not a 180 thing; it still feels like Diamond Tiara because of the way she speaks and her snobby remarks “Oh, you thought I was gonna do something else, right?”.
AAAAND that’s not even DISCUSSING the CMC in this episode. The CMC also got plenty of development here with how they eventually just don’t care about having Cutie Marks because of Tiara herself! Tiara mentioned how they’re able to learn and search who they are because they don’t have cutie marks while Tiara is stuck with a cutie mark she doesn’t understand. They both grew from each other.
An absolutely fantastic episode. A well, well deserved 10/10.
This was a fun episode which highlighted Pinkie’s struggles in keeping secrets. I don’t fully understand Pinkie’s situation because I think I can keep secrets pretty well (just like how Applejack probably would’ve seen it as a piece of cake) but it was nice seeing a different perspective from my own on how difficult (and important!) secrets are to be kept.
This is weirdly high but I just really liked this episode. Hearth Warming’s is something that I always love in this series. It’s beautiful, heartwarming, and nice to watch. The moral is great too! I loved the atmosphere of this episode.
I think what really topped this episode was the moral. The moral was just... incredibly well done. It demonstrates that even when one is good at something and which benefits others, they may not necessarily want to do it. I feel like it’s an incredibly important lesson to learn; otherwise people will just end up doing shit they hate. The rest was great and seeing Derpy cosplay as Twily was fantastic!
My god, what a great episode. Twilight’s book sortication led to her missing out on hanging out with her friends (partially due to Discord but for a good reason). Twilight’s lash out at her friends was very heartfelt; it felt very close. This episode described how so many people feel fomo when seeing their friends go out without them. I would actually say, one of the best morals out of the entirety of the seasons. Discord did it for himself, sure, but he did it on purpose to help make Twilight realise her fomo. It’s a fantastic episode! Also the episode where Discord boings Twily’s horn.
This is an alright episode. I think it’s alright; I mean Twily going very Twily-like is fun to watch but this episode is a littttle boring and mid. Idk it’s not very memorable; just alright.
So beautiful. An absolutely beautiful episode. So far, it’s the episode I teared up the most in. The singing at the end was just... stunning. To be honest, if it weren’t for the song at the end, I’d have given it a 7 – still a great episode but I felt like Rara switched over a bit too fast. Of course they had to do it because of the two songs at the end and the runtime (When Rara switched, I was like “huh wtf so fast, there’s still plenty of runtime”) but it’s still a negative. Remember, Rara met this manager pony when she was in Manehattan and it’s implied she had like 10 years to grow to become the star she is by AJ’s wording. One thing I liked was how Rara still recognised AJ as a friend instead of the stereotypical “who are you?”; I thought this episode would go with that trope and AJ would eventually become friends with Rara BUT NO! HELL YEAH! It became much more heartfelt when AJ realistically broke Rara out of her bubble.
How Rara changed her style of music from the beginning to the end was a fantastic touch. She didn’t make bad music (in fact, the music in the beginning was amazing!), she just didn’t make music that was *her*. Some people interepreted this differently where the writer wanted to show how auto-tuned glitz and glam music is bad but I personally don’t think this is the case. Case in point: razzle dazzle is actually a good song. This is an incredibly memorable episode for me.
Aaand after watching Littleshy’s Cinemare Sins video on it, I understand why season 6 is gonna be a big drop in writing quality. This is Amy Keating Rogers’ last episode, known for producing the best episodes of this series (like this episode!). It’s very sad to see her departure from MLP:FiM
S5 Finale Pre-watch opinions
I know this is gonna be big but I don’t really know the contents. I’m very very excited to watch these two episodes, probably the most excited I’ve ever been from watching MLP. I have high expectations and I hope it’ll smash through them. Nonetheless, I cannot wait any longer so I will watch now.
Actual review:
Okay, not as extreme as I thought it’d be. I shouldn’t have had high expectations but it was still a great experience. First off, it took me a little while to get it but yeah, this is definitely the darkest MLP episodes, which I would say tops season 2’s opening episodes (that was pretty dark, yknow). Seeing all the alternate realities if Rainbow didn’t make that Sonic Rainboom showed how terrible Equestria could’ve been without the mane 6. There could’ve been war, famine, slavery, nightmare moon, the complete non-existence of the entirety of Equestria and even more! I was shocked to see AJ and co. work on the farm mass producing goods and services for Equestria and I’d like to think, in my head canon, that King Sombra would’ve won eventually and all the Mane 6 would’ve been killed. Actually, that happens in every single alternate reality. Chrysalis, Sombra, Discord (okay maybe not discord but it would’ve been horrible). Also, the show describes the Butterfly Effect!
Now moving on to the main antagonist of the show: Starlight Glimmer. Now, this is a common complaint I have that villains switch to quickly and this is also my biggest complaint; Starlight Glimmer changed too quickly for it to be realistic. I understand the runtime is short but Starlight was convinced a biiiit too fast for my taste. If she saw another reality, I feel it would’ve been more convincing. Nonetheless, a great episode. Oh and the song at the very end was very heartwarming and beautiful. I was glad to see the Mane 6 back in order.
Actually, this episode reminds me of the fanfic “Empty Horizons”. It’s a long story but essentially, the Mane 6 wake up underneath Canterlot to a steampunk dystopia where many ponies don’t have their cutie marks. It’s an interesting and unsettling story that I very much like.
This sums up season 5. Unexpectedly, one of the best seasons out of all of MLP. I think I’d give this season a 9/10.