marvelandponder:The Scariest Question a Fan Can Ask Well. We made it. Six seasons and a movie. Wit

marvelandponder: The Scariest Question a Fan Can Ask Well. We made it. Six seasons and a movie. With so many brilliant shows ending before their time, it really is a milestone to be celebrated! … Or, is it?  With Gravity Falls’ bittersweet farewell still fresh in our minds, and the news of other 2010 animated giants Adventure Time and Regular Show ending within the next few seasons, it seems like we’ve really come to appreciate a show that knows when to bow out.  No matter whether it’s story-driven and has a logical place to end already decided, or it’s slice-of-life and that slice can wrap up at any point in the characters’ lives. Either way, a satisfying ending while the show’s still in its prime has become far preferred over the 15-year run of Spongebob (recent untrue cancellation rumours aside) and the near 30-year run of The Simpsons – both once high-quality, highly-rated shows that suffered from overstaying their welcome. Having grown up with both of those shows myself, the possibility that yet another favourite of mine could be wearing itself thin is more than a bit disheartening. What? Am I like a magnet for this stuff? No, Tumblr, I will not “Let people answer this.” So, Pony. I’ve been watching this show for five years now, and somewhere along the way I fell hopelessly, irretrievably in love with it. But even a hardcore fan like I am can recognize it’s not perfect by any means, so a question like this is enough to give me pause. Is Friendship is Magic going through seasonal rot? It’s a more interesting question than you’d think. Proud Beginnings For most of us, MLP started off awesomely. That’s how a lot of us got hooked, after all. I remember a time not long after I’d gotten into the fandom in the beginning of season 2 (when Everfree Radio was still a thing) when a great number of fans would tell you there are no bad episodes of Friendship is Magic, just some that are better than others. And if I wanted I could end it at that. There used to be no bad episodes, now I can say there are. Ergo, the show’s not as good as it used to be. Which for some fans is their answer, and I can totally understand. But while that episode thing is true, the show’s come to have episodes and elements that far surpass even some of its classics from the first and second seasons. Ergo, the show’s also gotten better than it used to be. Which is where it gets a little unclear. What does seasonal rot mean if not the deterioration of a show over time? If a show’s continued to improve, even arguably more than it’s lost its magic, can we really still say it’s gone through seasonal rot? Different Angles Equestria Daily recently tried to tackle the same sort of question in their editorials. In fact, they split their analysis up into separate posts, whether the show’s gotten worse, or the fans have gotten more critical; and whether specifically the writing’s gotten worse, and if so, are the new writers a good thing? These questions help us take into account a few different perspectives outside of the show’s quality itself. The show’s had almost a revolving door with it’s writing staff, some staying longer than others, and fan perception definitely plays a huge role in a question as subjective as this. I wanted to give them a shoutout, but for our purposes, we’ll be looking at the show’s quality itself and ignoring those outside factors, as interesting as they are on their own. But this did make me want to try to look at this from multiple angles, and one way to to do that is to look at each element of the show and see how it’s changed. The writing is usually the element we’re talking about when we look at seasonal rot (understandably, since it’s such a huge component in deciding an episode’s quality), but of course, there’s more to it than just that. The animation, by far, is the most improved part of the show. I mean, from the expressions to the lighting and shading, to the use of background and foreground– the show just looks so much better! There’s only a handful of design elements that aren’t quite improved (which would be Twilight’s castle, the Rainbow power forms, and maybe the clashing colours used in the new changeling designs). But other than that, the show looks absolutely phenomenal, and it’s honestly well worth those hiccups for the amount of improvement we’ve seen. The voice-acting trends in the same way most shows do– as the voice actors get to know their characters, they get more comfortable with the roles. They’ve also just been given more opportunities as the show has gone on to show some emotional chops. Oh, and as time has gone on, we’ve gotten some really awesome guest stars from De Lancie, to Weird Al, to Lena Hall, to Patton Oswaldt– all famous and talented, but never brought on just for the sake of having a huge name. They all played their roles brilliantly and meshed well into the show’s world. The background score is hard to judge– mostly because it’s supposed to be in the background, but I always like to point out that William Anderson and crew started using silence effectively in the season 4 premiere. Holding on that moment where Twilight thinks Celestia is dead? It’s so much more effective because they chose to stop everything. The songs have mostly kept up to the same level of excellence, I’d say. There have always been songs I liked more than others, really, which is true for every season, so I can’t really point to a trend here. I could say, though, that I think the musical episodes have gotten a lot better. Magical Mystery Cure had the disadvantage of being two episodes crammed into one, which made pacing a real challenge, but since then, we’ve gotten Pinkie Pride, Crusaders of the Lost Mark, and A Hearth’s Warming Tail– all episodes I’d say manage to pace out their multiple musical numbers pretty dang well. Altogether, aside from the writing which we’ll get to in a bit, the show has improved overall on pretty much all fronts. But, what about the writing, then? Isn’t that really what we’re looking at? Has the writing gotten better or worse? Sinking Slow, Soaring Higher What I can definitely say is that MLP has lost is it’s consistency. The number of episodes I like or straight-up love in a season still far and away out-weighs the truly bad ones, but there’s also just more episodes now that fall in the ‘Meh’ category.  Nothing I’d consider bad, but just lacking that extra oomph to make it truly solid. So, should I be judging this based on how often bad and/or meh episodes come along?  Well, again, not quite, because that doesn’t account for those episodes and moments that blow me away more than anything has before. Then, maybe I should go the positive route, and count how many episodes per season either met or exceeded my expectations. But that has the opposite problem, doesn’t it? The thing about Friendship is Magic is that it has evolved over time. No, not always in the positive sense, but certainly in the sense that it’s become a different beast than when we started. In fact, every season is arguably distinct, even if it adheres to the same spirit, characters, and world. So much so that you just can’t begrudge different fans for having different favourite seasons. I’d argue they each feel slightly different, and it’s easy to see why taste is such a huge factor in fan favourites. Mine, overall, is actually season 5– a season that to me only had two Mehs and Princess Spike, with the rest often far exceeding my expectations. A season I felt was so good it inspired me to try to write one of my own! But fanfiction aside, for the purposes of this post, here’s a subjective ranking to help prove the point I’m getting to: Season 5 Season 2 Season 6 Season 1 Season 4 Season 3 *Note, it’s a bit unfair for season 3, since it had less episodes than all the rest, but the list isn’t what’s important here Now, even despite the case that could be made for seasonal rot, you can see these overall rankings are all over the place. There’s no real chronological order to how good a season is– and of course if I made a favourite episode list it would definitely include episodes from all seasons, new and old.  And polling the fandom wouldn’t be any help. We’re all over the map, and from what I can tell, there’s absolutely no majority consensus on any season (with the exception of maybe season 3, but even there, it depends who you ask). Which is why it’s hard for me to really say that the show’s gotten worse, or is trending in that direction. Even despite having a less consistency in later seasons, in my personal rankings it almost seems to trend up after a saggy middle.  So, then, what’s my take-away from all this? Should I be campaigning for the show’s end or cheering it on for years to come? Do we have a case of seasonal rot on our hands? Honestly, since there is more of those bad or mehs than there used to be for me, even if it’s not at a continually growing rate, I think there’s some level of seasonal rot going on.  But, what’s admirable and worth the while is how the show staff fights it. Something I’ve always admired in MLP is the creative drive to improve and evolve with time. You can see it in every new season, in every element I described, and yes, even writing included. The on-going seasonal archs or themes are pretty neat, and I’ve said it before, but there are some episodes in later seasons that far surpass even some of my old favourites in sheer creativity, humour, and heart.  Despite its inconsistency, I came away from this last season really satisfied, and still excited for more because I know that even though it’s not a perfect show, the same optimistic spirit and continual attempts at improvement will carry over into next season.  Just as the characters themselves are slowly growing and changing over time, so too is the show. I remember once trying to explain to my best friend one of the reasons why Rainbow Dash has always been my favourite; I told her that it’s because she’s egotistical and self-centered that I enjoy watching her slowly grow into the more humble and considerate pony she has to be if she’s ever truly going to deserve to be the Wonderbolts captain like she wants.  And the thing is, you know she’ll get there. You know, no matter how long it takes them, no matter how many times they have to learn the same kind of lessons, they’ll all improve someday. And, you know, now that I think about it, that’s partially why I love this show so damn much when I know for a fact it’s not perfect– not even the best cartoon there is right now (at least, in my mind). It’s because that positivity and drive to improve yourself is such a huge part of what makes MLP what it is. It’s not a perfect show, and it never had perfect characters, but as time goes on, sure, there are gonna be bumps along the road, but so long as this show and these characters embody that continual drive for self-improvement, love, and creativity, then we’ll get there. With that in mind, I do want it to end before the rot really sets in. It’ll always be special to me, sure, but even after my hokey speech there, I do think you have to know when to say goodbye, and when it’s time to move on. There’ll always be memories and reruns, and new shows to love in the future. Of course, Hasbro isn’t the type to just let a successful property go peacefully, especially not if they’re gearing up for what they promise to be the biggest year the My Little Pony franchise has ever seen. But, who knows? There’s still the chance that they might try to transition into G5 at some point while G4 is still great, just so they have an already established fanbase moving forward. I still see them running it into the ground, but hey, maybe we can talk them into those Equestria Girls and Guardians of Harmony spin-off series yet! So, I think that’s where I’m at with My Little Pony. Excited for the incredible year to come, and hopeful that the show will keep up at this pace until Hasbro decides it’s time for G5. Which is why, even as much as I love MLP, I’ll be happy to say my farewells and move on to the next great adventure with that same spirit in my heart when the time comes.  Whenever that may be. More MLP editorials here! Not up for clicking that link? No worries! The three most recent ones are right here just for you: Starlight’s, Sunset’s, and Applejack’s editorials Header Image Only Possible Because of … Twilight Vector on DeviantART SLB96 does some awesome vector work for MLP, and I’m sure if you ever need a cool vector, you’ll now know where to go. 6 Seasons and Counting, baby! Last year, I made an AMV for Spooptober to give you a little treat at the end of the night. This year, I decided to do an editorial over on my main blog! Because! And hey, whether or not you like Pony, Happy Halloween. I really hope you’ve enjoyed Spooptober this year, because we definitely have! -- source link

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