• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic season 5 |OT| 100+ episodes and better than ever!

Status
Not open for further replies.

DrForester

Kills Photobucket
The way I saw it, the Pie family didn't explain themselves because they're all total weirdos who probably think everyone celebrates with rock-related activities, and the Apples didn't explain themselves because Pinkie overstated the similarities between their approaches on the train ride over.

You can basically chalk these issues up to the Pies being odd and oblivious and the Apples being too polite and/or off-balance to say anything.

Too polite? Applejack was a jerk.
 

PaulloDEC

Member
Thinking her way are so much better and thinking "we'll show them how much their traditions suck!"

Well, she isn't really wrong though. Insensitive for sure, and she realises that by the end of the story, but rock soup, a scavenger hunt for a picture of a rock, and gifts that are literally just rocks aren't particularly awesome traditions.

The Pies are clearly being painted as the weird ones.
 
Concerning Holder's Boulder, it does seem very suspicious. Perhaps we'll see it hatched in the alternate timeline in the season finale.

Concerning Applejack, she was being polite in the company of Pinkie's family, but privately expressed her disapproval to the rest of her family and Pinkie. She was being rude by setting up her family's traditions without consulting the Pies, but she thought that the Apple traditions were so obviously better that the Pies would be sure to prefer it.

Bunch of stuff for this episode.

Adorable gif. I remembered it being somewhat ambiguous whether there was any romance between Marble and Big Mac, but looking at this gif, it's really obvious that shipping is happening. Thankfully, this chart shows that if the relationship between the Pies and Apples is what is described in "Pinkie Apple Pie", then those two are less related than probably most couples.
1008800.gif

Though it looks like a relationship won't be possible anyway

Thankfully, another couple seems like it will work out fine.

And episode screencaps.
As mentioned earlier in this thread, possible cameo of Kevin's mom from Home Alone. Since Hearth's Warming is a combination of Christmas and Thanksgiving, it's good to get representation from movies taking place on both holidays.
007.png


I like Limestone's sinister expression during dinner.
022.png


And sleeping ponies. I didn't notice Big Mac squishing Apple Bloom while watching the episode.
031.png

032.png
 
Still think AJ was a jerk. She of all ponies should be able to respect others traditions.

Well yeah, I don't think anyone is denying that Applejack was in the wrong. I think it's perfectly in character for her to think that her own way of doing things is superior to what others do. Even her conflicts with Rarity can boil down to that aspect of her.

And Village, if you need to know an episode title, look in the OP. I even include a link to where discussion starts in this thread!
 
Pie sisters in order of age: Limestone, Maud, Pinkie, Marble.

Really surprised to see that Limestone is the oldest, since she seemed to be the same age as Pinkie in the "Cutie Mark Chronicles" flashback. Even in this episode, Maud felt like the oldest of the sisters.

Anyway, I realized that Pinkie's relationship with Marble goes a long way in explaining how she interacts with Fluttershy, especially the, "I'm a year older than you," scene from the first season ("Griffon the Brush-Off"?).
 

PaulloDEC

Member
Got some mail today:


Besides an annoying ding in the side of the front cover, it's a lovely book so far. The whole cover has a gorgeous metallic/foil effect on it, and the design throughout has a really nice minimalist look.

I'm only a short way in, but there's a great interview with Lauren Faust, and a foreword by Jayson Thiessen. Plenty of notes and comments from the animators and designers at DHX too, which is great.

Something that amused me in one of Lauren's sketches (of which there are many) is an instance of "Ponyville" with the comment "need new name".
 

Sciz

Member
Something that amused me in one of Lauren's sketches (of which there are many) is an instance of "Ponyville" with the comment "need new name".
Heh. In-universe, I'm going to assume that there's been a proposal to rename the town on every mayoral ballot ever since it was founded, but no one can agree on anything else so it never passes.
 

PaulloDEC

Member
Heh. In-universe, I'm going to assume that there's been a proposal to rename the town on every mayoral ballot ever since it was founded, but no one can agree on anything else so it never passes.

I like that. It's a good thing Equestria is such a small place, otherwise I'm sure there'd be dozens of Ponyvilles scattered around.

A few more quick (read: ugly) tablet snaps before I go to bed:

Lauren fears she can't draw cowboy hats. Rarity used to be into dressage.

Princess Celestia, aka Queen Majesty.

Zecora letting her hair down.

A cool before and after of the Castle of the Two Sisters.

Cloudsdale by night. Has this ever actually appeared in the show?
 

PaulloDEC

Member
The weirdest part of the old concept art is how prevalent bridles used to be.

That's actually a pretty interesting observation. A big thing I'm noticing from Lauren's earliest sketches (and some other pieces of commentary in the book) is that the horsiness was a pretty significant factor in the beginning. Lots of mentions of horsey things like living in barns, pulling carts, wearing saddles, picking stuff up with their mouths, etc, and they're directly mentioned as being in contrast with earlier generations of the IP.

Doesn't look familiar, no.

A sneak peek from a future episode maybe? I'm hoping so.
 
I'm glad they went away from using bridles in fashion. It's really odd for something meant to seal the mouth to be a popular accessory. Saddles are also odd, but at least we sometimes see younger ponies and Spike ride on the backs of ponies.

Also,
Zardoz, for those who don't get the reference.
 

Orcastar

Member
That's actually a pretty interesting observation. A big thing I'm noticing from Lauren's earliest sketches (and some other pieces of commentary in the book) is that the horsiness was a pretty significant factor in the beginning. Lots of mentions of horsey things like living in barns, pulling carts, wearing saddles, picking stuff up with their mouths, etc, and they're directly mentioned as being in contrast with earlier generations of the IP.
The ponies did act a lot more "horsey" back when Lauren was still in charge of the show. It's a shame that they've moved away from that since.
 
The ponies did act a lot more "horsey" back when Lauren was still in charge of the show. It's a shame that they've moved away from that since.

It is a shame, but thankfully we still get horsey moments (beyond the usual) every once in a while. I remember one sticking out to me in a recent episode, but I can't actually remember what. At the very least, we haven't gotten that many awkward human actions since "Sleepless in Ponyville".

Well, until now in the upcoming comic, that is. From the preview for the upcoming Friends Forever issue.
 

Orcastar

Member
It is a shame, but thankfully we still get horsey moments (beyond the usual) every once in a while. I remember one sticking out to me in a recent episode, but I can't actually remember what. At the very least, we haven't gotten that many awkward human actions since "Sleepless in Ponyville".

Well, until now in the upcoming comic, that is. From the preview for the upcoming Friends Forever issue.

Yeah, saw that earlier. Pairing Celestia with Pinkie sounds interesting, but I already didn't like Fosgitt's take on ponies and that just takes the cake.
 
Fosgitt's style is good besides the human poses. For example, in the preview page, Celestia's head is quite adorable in the second panel.

Anyway,
marble_mac_by_tiredbrony-d9eaq0j.gif


They managed to do a surprisingly good job at making Pinkie's other sisters characters I'd like to see more of. People have often expressed interest in a story where Fluttershy helps someone shyer than her, and I think Marble could work pretty well for an episode or comic like that. Speaking of which, I'm pretty surprised Maud hasn't shown up in the comics yet, and that even post-"Lost Treasure of Griffonstone" Gilda is appearing before her.
 
Bunch of YouTube caption pictures for this episode.
JiVAfDH.jpg

kkFrgxe.jpg


bwbWloY.jpg

Surprisingly accurate description of their dinner.

wrwmhVy.jpg

zFse3sB.jpg


KBK8sjf.jpg


zEf9uYR.jpg

L4wtUS5.jpg

I think I know what happened to the family income, Applejack.

2QkwH9G.jpg

2pzJHhb.jpg

I guess she ended up turning herself in, and is OK with that.

EDIT: Huh, DrForester got banned.
 

PaulloDEC

Member
Bunch of YouTube caption pictures for this episode.

EDIT: Huh, DrForester got banned.

Woah... end of an era right there. The Doc was one of the few current ponygaf members who'd been around since the very beginning.

Don't post in threads about racism, kids. It ain't worth getting banned over.
 
These bans usually aren't permanent, but I expect he won't be around for the season finale. Let this be a lesson: stay away from blackface threads, especially if you're going to argue that the person using blackface isn't racist.

Anyway, to my surprise, we're getting a holiday album! Christmas carols sung by the show cast, and whoever Pop Fly is, and the song from "Hearth's Warming Eve" sung by a chorus. Preorder here, release is on November 6.

* “It’s a Pony Kind of Christmas” (Performed By: Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy & Phoenix Chamber Choir)
* “Jingle Bells” (Performed By: Rainbow Dash)
* “Deck the Halls” (Performed By: Rarity, Phoenix Chamber Choir)
* “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” (Performed By: Twilight Sparkle & Phoenix Chamber Choir)
* “Silent Night” (Performed By: Fluttershy & Phoenix Chamber Choir)
* “Twelve Days of Christmas” (Performed By: Pinkie Pie)
* “Last Year I Got Coal for Christmas” (Performed By: Pop Fly)
* “Jolly ol’ St. Nick” (Performed By: Spike)
* “Days Gone By - Auld Lang Syne” (Performed By: Applejack, Applebloom, Granny Smith)
* “The Heart Carol” (Performed By: Phoenix Chamber Choir)
 

UberTag

Member
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle got robbed of their due Christmas album royalties.

(I suppose the other princesses did as well... but I won't play up mock outrage over the Celestia snub in DrForester's absence.)
 

BDGAME

Member
Hey, nice episode.

My favorite Pie is Limestone because her evil-boss way. And I hope they show more of Marble and Big Mac as a couple.

See these 2 families together forever can be a cool thing.

About Dr. be banned, when its happens with me, it took a month to I came back.
 
Kind of surprising since they don't have Christmas over in Equestria, but oh well.

If it matters that much, you can just pretend that the holiday album is being recorded in the Equestria Girls world :p

Hey, nice episode.

My favorite Pie is Limestone because her evil-boss way. And I hope they show more of Marble and Big Mac as a couple.

See these 2 families together forever can be a cool thing.

About Dr. be banned, when its happens with me, it took a month to I came back.

One interesting thing about the Pie sisters is that they go a long way in explaining how Pinkie interacts with the other main six. I already mentioned how Marble explains the way she interacts with Fluttershy, but Limestone could also explain how she interacts with Dash and Gilda--though Limestone seems like more of a stickler than either. The way Pinkie rolled her eyes at being told to get off of Holder's Boulder (but still did so) isn't something she does with other characters.
 

PaulloDEC

Member
He'll be back (I hope)

These bans usually aren't permanent, but I expect he won't be around for the season finale. Let this be a lesson: stay away from blackface threads, especially if you're going to argue that the person using blackface isn't racist.

Anyway, to my surprise, we're getting a holiday album! Christmas carols sung by the show cast, and whoever Pop Fly is, and the song from "Hearth's Warming Eve" sung by a chorus. Preorder here, release is on November 6.

* “It’s a Pony Kind of Christmas” (Performed By: Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy & Phoenix Chamber Choir)
* “Jingle Bells” (Performed By: Rainbow Dash)
* “Deck the Halls” (Performed By: Rarity, Phoenix Chamber Choir)
* “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” (Performed By: Twilight Sparkle & Phoenix Chamber Choir)
* “Silent Night” (Performed By: Fluttershy & Phoenix Chamber Choir)
* “Twelve Days of Christmas” (Performed By: Pinkie Pie)
* “Last Year I Got Coal for Christmas” (Performed By: Pop Fly)
* “Jolly ol’ St. Nick” (Performed By: Spike)
* “Days Gone By - Auld Lang Syne” (Performed By: Applejack, Applebloom, Granny Smith)
* “The Heart Carol” (Performed By: Phoenix Chamber Choir)

Good to know that the Doc will be back eventually.

The Christmas album is a pretty weird surprise; I didn't know people still made novelty Christmas records. Still, I'm sure there'll be some nice performances on there. Will be interested to find out who the hell "Pop Fly" is.

Kind of surprising since they don't have Christmas over in Equestria, but oh well.

Eh, Christmas, Hearthswarming. They're similar enough.
 
Late I know, but I thought that was a fun episode. Yeah, Applejack was surprisingly out of character. I think it would've worked better if it were Apple Bloom that was pushing the Apples' traditions.

Other than that though, great episode. So great to finally see all of Pinkie's family and man I just dawwed over Big Mac and Marble Pie. TOTALLY SHIPPING IT!
 
Late I know, but I thought that was a fun episode. Yeah, Applejack was surprisingly out of character. I think it would've worked better if it were Apple Bloom that was pushing the Apples' traditions.

I didn't feel she was out of character at all. Applejack is stubborn and believes the way her family does things is better, and in this case, she thought the Pies would realize how much better the Apple traditions are if they just experienced them for themselves. Apple Bloom, on the other hand, allows herself to be more flexible with her viewpoints--that's part of how she got her mark, after all. Plus, partially due to Pinkie, Applejack didn't bond one-on-one with any of the Pies she didn't already know, unlike the other Apples.
 
The episode was pretty good. I definitely also come to adore Marble Pie. But the Marble and Mac shippings make me think about how Cheerilee would feel. :eek:

And it warms my heart to see Apple Bloom and Maud briefly doing some bonding as well.

Well FWIW, the writers didn't explore the relationship after the Hearts and Hooves episode, aside from a few nods here and there.

Course I would be further shocked if the Pie and Apples were in fact related.

But will just go with what we have for now.
 

BDGAME

Member
If it matters that much, you can just pretend that the holiday album is being recorded in the Equestria Girls world :p



One interesting thing about the Pie sisters is that they go a long way in explaining how Pinkie interacts with the other main six. I already mentioned how Marble explains the way she interacts with Fluttershy, but Limestone could also explain how she interacts with Dash and Gilda--though Limestone seems like more of a stickler than either. The way Pinkie rolled her eyes at being told to get off of Holder's Boulder (but still did so) isn't something she does with other characters.

True. Pinkie can get along with any kind of pony and be in a heterogeneous family as her help a lot.
 
Art of Magic cover revealed, and it's great. Larger image here. Also, the Amazon preview revealed the table of contents.
Art-is-Magic-Cover.jpg


(ED:)
The book is broken in to the following six chapters which focuses on one artist.

Chapter 1; Tony Fleecs
Chapter 2: Jay Fosgitt
Chapter 3: Agnes Garbowska
Chapter 4: Brenda Hickey
Chapter 5: Andy Price
Chapter 6: Sara Richard

Each chapter opens up with an interview of the artist. Tony Fleecs's interview is previewed in full, before delving into the nitty gritty of the book: the art of the MLP Comic series.

Also, Happy Hearth's Warming!

Tomorrow's episode will be the episode that leaked earlier, "Scare Master". I and many others here had already watched the episode, but I suppose I'll make it the first one I rewatch (in full) this season. I already had my thoughts written out for other boards, so I'll post that tomorrow along with anything else that comes to mind from the rewatch.
 

draetenth

Member
I didn't see the episode when it leaked and didn't read any spoilers so I went into it with a fresh mind...

I loved this episode. Fluttershy was really cute in it. It was neat to see the different costumes used by all the ponies (I think I saw a group containing a Griffin, Timber Wolf, Changeling, and Dragon early on, and I think I saw a pony dressed up as Twilight in the maze, but it was too quick for me to tell for sure).

I know AJ was a lion, Rarity was a mermaid/merpony (I think?, I did like how her tail kept slapping Fluttershy), and Spike was a two-headed Dragon. I think RD was an astronaught and Pinkie was one of the Power Ponies. I honestly can't even remember what Twilight was.

I liked Granny Smith's surprise about Fluttershy being out (I'd imagine everyone knows that Fluttershy is a scaredy cat) to her telling the scary story to Fluttershy and not understanding why Fluttershy ran off (and Big Mac's reaction to Granny's cluelessness).

Poor Fluttershy, I give her credit for trying so hard to get over her fear, but I can definitely see why her friends were annoyed.

I thought everything in the end went really well. It was funny watching the scheme Angel cooked up and all the animals helping out. I have to give props to the writers for having Fluttershy acknowledging that despite doing a good job of scarey her friends she was able to recognize that Nightmare Night just isn't for her, but she did seem to conquer her fear. I have to imagine that scarey your friends like that really goes against the spirit of Kindness.

The only thing off that I can remember being off was RD's reactions to Fluttershy. Personally, it seemed more of a reaction RD would have in Season 1 + 2. I think she had been growing out of that as time went on.

Plus, no real bat ponies. :( They are the best ponies.
 
Leak:

This was a very adorable episode. I was reminded of all of those Hanna-Barbera specials involving Yogi Bear coming out of hibernation to experience Christmas, though in this case, the lesson was that you don't have to go to every event your friends attend if you aren't comfortable, but it's still worth trying once. I really liked that Fluttershy decided to try things out mostly on her own volition, and mentioned the events of "Filli Vanilli", and moreover that this didn't have the same outcome.

During Fluttershy's first attempt at scaring everyone, I loved how she attempted weak psychological horror, including attempting to evoke Pinkie's reaction from "Party of One". I have to say, I didn't expect Fluttershy to be the anime type. Out of the "uninvited guests", I recognized Utena, Bulma, and Ranma.

The corn maze sequence was fun, and I noticed that there was someone dressed up as Twilight. It's interesting that even Granny's part of the maze had parts that required the presence of a unicorn to provide light, and Fluttershy's part seemed to require that Twilight use magic to teleport everyone away from the web. Speaking of which, damn, that spider can make a tough web. One complaint is that when Fluttershy starting swooping down at everyone, the sequence relied on us not being able to see her well, but she was very easy to see.

Overall, very fun episode, and it reminded me a lot of the old holiday specials.

Rewatch:

Despite how recently I saw this, it made for a surprisingly enjoyable rewatch, and it was still a great episode.

One thing I didn't note before is how a swamp monster is apparently less scary when it turns out it was actually a big bear in a costume. Really shows how odd the pony world is.

I loved this episode. Fluttershy was really cute in it. It was neat to see the different costumes used by all the ponies (I think I saw a group containing a Griffin, Timber Wolf, Changeling, and Dragon early on, and I think I saw a pony dressed up as Twilight in the maze, but it was too quick for me to tell for sure).
That would be Derpy!
984864.png


I know AJ was a lion, Rarity was a mermaid/merpony (I think?, I did like how her tail kept slapping Fluttershy), and Spike was a two-headed Dragon.

I think RD was an astronaught and Pinkie was one of the Power Ponies. I honestly can't even remember what Twilight was.
Pinkie was just an 80's skater, and Twilight was a royal guard

I thought everything in the end went really well. It was funny watching the scheme Angel cooked up and all the animals helping out. I have to give props to the writers for having Fluttershy acknowledging that despite doing a good job of scarey her friends she was able to recognize that Nightmare Night just isn't for her, but she did seem to conquer her fear. I have to imagine that scarey your friends like that really goes against the spirit of Kindness.
Yeah, I loved that the moral about trying new things also showed that sometimes, you won't actually like it even if you're good at it.

The only thing off that I can remember being off was RD's reactions to Fluttershy. Personally, it seemed more of a reaction RD would have in Season 1 + 2. I think she had been growing out of that as time went on.
Being supportive still seems like something Rainbow has to think about doing, as opposed to something that comes naturally to her, so I thought it was fine for that brief moment.
 

PaulloDEC

Member
Just finished my rewatch. In short, it's a really cute episode with a great moral.

Best costume award goes to Pinkie Pie. Speaking of Pinkie Pie:

candymoufh.gif


Hilariously weird moment. What emotion is she even feeling there? Annoyance? Confusion? Disappointment?
 

draetenth

Member
^ Well, Fluttershy was being paranoid about everything including candy (which Pinkie Pie loves) so it was probably a combo of all that and disbelief.
 
And if you're asking about Fluttershy's expression, she probably just realized that she was bringing Pinkie down with her concerns. And that she missed out on candy.

There's already a bunch of fanwork for this episode, due to the leak, but for now, I'll just showcase this.
 
You know, in retrospect we the fans kind of dodged a real close bullet. Considering this leaked before Crusaders of the Lost Mark, we could have been easily spoiled by seeing the CMC prancing about, their flanks no longer blank. Not the ideal way to find out they had received their cutie marks. Thankfully all three of them were fully costumed and Crusaders of the Lost Mark still surprised us all.
 

brian577

Banned
You know, in retrospect we the fans kind of dodged a real close bullet. Considering this leaked before Crusaders of the Lost Mark, we could have been easily spoiled by seeing the CMC prancing about, their flanks no longer blank. Not the ideal way to find out they had received their cutie marks. Thankfully all three of them were fully costumed and Crusaders of the Lost Mark still surprised us all.

Actually when the complete episode list was leaked in April Scare Master was episode 15 (explaining why it was leaked early alongside Rarity Investigates which replaced it for that week). It was obviously held back for Halloween. So the Crusaders would not have had their cutie marks yet.
 
You know, in retrospect we the fans kind of dodged a real close bullet. Considering this leaked before Crusaders of the Lost Mark, we could have been easily spoiled by seeing the CMC prancing about, their flanks no longer blank. Not the ideal way to find out they had received their cutie marks. Thankfully all three of them were fully costumed and Crusaders of the Lost Mark still surprised us all.

No, in production order, this episode was supposed to air around "Rarity Investigates", which was why iTunes put it up at that time. If the CMC wore costumes that exposed their flanks, then we wouldn't have seen any cutie marks. EDIT: What he said^.

Anyway, new fan art (as in, put up after the actual episode airing):
Scare Master
All Hail the Princess Derpy
Deep Space Rainbow

And the identities of the anime ponies.
I'm thinking that it'd be more accurate to call them manga ponies, since we haven't seen evidence of TV shows, just movie theaters.

EDIT: Oh, almost forgot, interview with IDW artist Jenn Blake. The interview was done through email, so we don't have the same back-and-forth that we sometimes got from previous interviews, but it's still interesting.
 
Things I didn't notice, from ED's recap.
Fluttershy leaves behind a chicken-shaped smoke cloud
19.png


Sailor Moon and Jem costumes, the former apparently being worn by a time-traveling filly Twilight
44.png


And dem Flutterfaces
29.png

59.png

Fanart:
Rarijack Daily - Look What the Cat Dragged In
Do You Like Your Costume
Ambush Predator

Also, decided to rewatch the Rainbow Rocks songs in response to the new Jem movie thread, and I may be moving more toward DrForester's opinion that Friendship Games had better songs--not to completely agree with him, but that Rainbow Rocks' advantage wasn't as great as I remembered. There were only two RR songs that I thought were really good--"Welcome to the Show", and only actually toward the end; and "Shine Like Rainbows"--and a lot of weak ones. Given the number of songs in RR, FG probably actually had an overall higher quality of songs, but the two songs I named are hard to beat. Another thing is that looking at details like the effort put into the opening and ending credits, and things like how "Under Our Spell" had custom icons for every band, it still feels like more effort was put into RR than FG.

Though watching the songs also affirmed my disinterest in rewatching the movie itself.
 
A new GM Berrow book has been announced, and the synopsis has huge spoilers for the season finale.

SPOILERS
My Little Pony: Untitled Starlight Glimmer
G.M. Berrow
On Sale Date: 08/02/16
A original My Little Pony chapter book featuring one of Twilight Sparkle's most notorious pupils!

So, does Starlight become her pupil by the end of the finale, or is this a time travel situation? Have there been hints of her being from the future in the premiere?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom