Show-My Little Pony Friendship is Magic
Episode Title-Friendship is Magic Part 1 and Part 2
Air Date-October 10th 2010 (Part 1) and October 22nd 2010 (Part 2)
Season 1
Episodes 1 and 2
Yes, My Little Pony. I do actually enjoy this show. So yeah I'm a Brony. It's weird I went into the show expecting to hate it but coming out of it I loved it. Now it's not a perfect show (no show really is) and there are episodes that I have major issues with (looking at you Mare Do Well) but I still really enjoy this show. Well this incarnation of the show any way.
Now before I begin the review I just wanna say that if you dislike the show I am fine with that. However if you're gonna be a disrespectful jerk to me or others based solely on the fact they like the show then you are not welcomed here or at anyplace else on the internet that i am involved with. Here I want people to respect others views. You don't have to agree but don't be disrespectful to anyone solely based on the fact that their views are different from yours. Opinions and discussion matter here. So don't be a jerk to people who like the show solely based on the fact they like it. This goes with any show not just My Little Pony.
Same thing applies to people who want to be a jerk to someone
who hates a show they like.
Opinions matter here. You can hate Artist Unknown or So Many Birthdays. Or you can like Peter Problems or Good Neighbors but no matter what respect others opinions on the matter. With that said I want to look at a few episodes of this show and show just exactly why I and so many others have fallen in love with it. Where's a better place to start than the first episode. Or first 2 technically. Whatever. Since both parts together are over 40 minutes my review will not be as in depth as my last 4 but either way lets look at Friendship is Magic Part 1 and 2.
Part 1 begins with a storybook like intro telling the story of 2 princesses.
The Eldest raised and lowered the sun each and every day while the youngest would raise and lower the moon. This kept balance in the land of Equestria.
As time passed the youngest sister got jealous. People would sleep through her night and play during her sisters day. One day she refused to lower the moon. The eldest sister tried to talk to her but jealousy had turned the youngest into an evil mare called Nightmare Moon.
The eldest used a powerful item known as The Elements of Harmony and banished her sister to the moon (if you ask me being sent to the moon would be an awesome punishment).
Any way balance was restored to Equestria. As it turns out this was from a storybook being read by our main (or should I say mane) character Twilight Sparkle.
We find out quickly that she is a major book nerd and doesn't really give two craps about friendship, putting studies over friendship.
We also find out that she's also a student of the princess named Celestia.
What is she studying. Well, Magic.
Oh she also has a pet dragon as well named Spike.
Any way while Twilight's reading the book the name 'Elements of Harmony' rings a bell. So she dashes home. She finds a book explaining what the Elements are and it leads her to a shocking discovery. Apparently on the longest night of the 1000th year Nightmare Moon will return. Twilight quickly writes a letter to Princess Celestia but the princess tells Twilight it's just a story in a way that's really funny. Yeah this episode has some pretty good humor in it as well.
The Princess tells Twilight to go to a town called Ponyville to go check the preparations for a ceebration that they're holding (I forget the name of it to be honest. I'm bad with stuff like that)
Not only is she tasked to do that though, she also has to make friends. Awww how cute.
Twilight however just wants to check the preparations as fast as possible so she can go to the library (where she's staying) and get more info about Nightmare Moon and The Elements.
Cause screw friendship. Who needs it. I'm gonna go out a limb here though and say friendship is gonna be the solution to the main conflict of this episode.
First up is a check on the food at a place called Sweet Apple Acres where she meets AppleJack.
She's one of the main 6 characters (called the Mane 6 by fans). This episode actually does a very good job of introducing us to each of the main characters, which is good as it is the first episode and you need to do that.
As she meets the other 4 ponies that are apart of the mane 6 I'll be giving you my brief thoughts over each one.
First is AppleJack. And no she is not part of a nutritious breakfast. (Sorry I had to make that joke)
Either way she's my second least favorite of the Mane 6. Still a good character but I just find her to be kind of bland. She doesn't have much of a personality. And In case you wondering about my thoughts on Twilight she's a good character. She doesn't shine much here in this episode but in later episodes I'll cover I'll go into more detail about why I feel this way. In terms of how she ranks up with the rest well she's probably my 3rd or 4th favorite. Anyway AppleJack is so excited to make a new friend. And then we get introduced to her big family. And I mean big.
There's more off screen. In case your curious, my favorite member of the Apple Family is Granny Smith. I find her to be awesome.
Next is the weather. A pegasus named Rainbow Dash is supposed to take care of that. However She's not doing a very good job of it. It's because she's practicing for a group called the Wonder Bolts instead. A group of Acrobats.....in the air.
And apparently their fast.
Rainbow Dash seems to be the fan favorite and I can see why. Personally though she's my least favorite of the Mane 6. I just find her to be an egotistical douche at time. She's still a really well made character but a bit overrated at least for me anyway.
We'll talk more about why I feel this way when we get to episodes like The Mysterious Mare Do Well.
Either way she does eventually clear the sky and does it in 10 seconds. How is it physically possible to clear an entire sky in just a few seconds. I don't know. She must be SuperMan......or SuperPony?
Anyway Rainbow Dash messes up Twilight's hair and says she wants to hang out with her more in the future.
Next Twilight has to check the decor.
It's supposed to be made by a pony named Rarity.
Rarity is definetly the least loved of the Mane 6 but she actually ranks at #1 or 2 in my list. I find her relatable. I mean not the whole stuck up, fashionista part of her but another part we'll see in future episodes like sisterhooves social.
I should also point out Spike has a crush on her. A baby dragon with an adult pony. Man beasteality and pedophilia all in one episode. Nah I'm joking. The way they play it out it's a cute little fantasy from a little kid.
The show Allen Gregory does something like this but they play it out in a sexual creppy way. Here it's cute though.
Now if it was Rarity who had a crush on Spike then.........yeah we would have to talk.
After Rarity finds out Twilights from canterlot she wants to be friends.
Next is the music. A pony named Fluttershy is supposed to be working on it. And she is. She's conducting a band of birds to play a melody.
She actually is the most relatable character to me. She's extremely shy like i am towards strangers. Heck sometimes I even have a hard time opening up to my friends. Heck sometimes even to my family. However she is still somewhat outgoing with her friends, as am I (somewhat). And she is very passionate about her interest, and can talk on forever about them even when no one really cares. For her it's animals, for me it's animation and video games.
However I can't decide between her or Rarity as my favorite of the bunch as even though she's the most relatable to me she still has traits that annoy me. Sometimes her shyness is really annoying (Dragonshy), sometimes she's a complete douche (Putting Your Hoof Down), and sometimes she's just flat out stupid (Keep Calm and Flutter On)
So yeah I'm conflicted.
Either way Flutters ask spike a ton of questions (since she's into animals) and then Twilight gets to the library. But surprise surprise a party's being thrown there by a pony named Pinkie Pie (She was there earlier in the episode but it wasn't very long so I decides to not say anything about it.....till now anyway)
I like Pinkie. She would probably rank #3 or 4 on my list. She's a fun, energetic, funny, entertaining character. She's just fun to watch. And I don't think there's a moment when her random weirdness annoyed me.
Any way why is she throwing a party. Cause she likes parties and people and wants to get to know everyone in ponyville. The only person she hasn't met yet is Twilight. So she threw a party to welcome her. And all the other ponies Twilight met are here as well
Twilight doesn't wanna party though cause she wants to do that research on Nightmare Moon and the Elements.
Or maybe she's just a party pooper .
Yeah probably the latter.
Anyway it's time for the celebration we were watching everyone get ready for. However once there the mayor (We should call her Mayor Mare.....eh....get it......it's funny just trust me)
gives a long speech and introduces the princess. But Plot Twist the princess has been dead the whole time. Oh wait wrong thing.
The princess is actually just missing(though I'm still just gonna assume she's dead).
That's when it happens. We see Nightmare Moon. Twilight was right all along.
She's a pretty good villain. The scene is a bit tense but still has some good comedy thrown in from Pinkie Pie. And it doesn't destroy the tone at all actually. It's still pretty tense.
The episode ends with Nightmare Moon apearing and talking for a bit before it ends of on a 'To Be Continued' Cliffhanger. I swear those thimgs should be illegal.
We then get to part 2. Yay
But the first part by itself was well written and did a great job introducing the characters to us, and it did it in an entertaining way. Not much else to talk about besides that.
Now on to part 2.
Part 1 just introduced us to the basic aspects of all the characters. This part goes more in depth about the personality of each.
This part starts exactly where part 1 left off. The guards try to capture Nightmare Moon but fail. Nightmare warns of eternal darkness and then leaves. Twilight goes home to put Spike to bed (as he passed out when he saw Nightmare Moon). We then get to see a little sweet scene showing tge relationship between Spike and Twilight. It's little but it's heartwarming. While Twilight tries to look for info on the Elements of Harmony the rest of the Mane 6 come in and ask what the heck is going on (as she clearly knows something.)
Twilight recaps the situation and Pinkie (of all people) finds a book about the elements.
There are apparently 6 in all but only 5 are known.
The elements can be found in a tower located in the Everfree Forest.
It's apparently a scary place. And with Nightmare Moon following them, it's bound to get scarier.
Anyway here we get a lot more in depth characteristics for each of the characters. And some excellent development for Twilight.
Near a cliff-side the ledge they're on breaks off (due to Nightmare Moon)
Rainbow and Flutters are able to fly though, as they are pegasi, and are able to catch Rarity and Pinkie. Twilight almost falls off but AJ (AppleJack) is able to grab her.
AJ tells Twilight to let go and to trust her. So Twilight does and gets splatted on the ground. Seems AJ wasn't so trustworthy and the episode ends there. (JK)
Actually Rainbow and Fluttershy catch her meaning AJ was trustworthy.
We then get a scene that only last for a few seconds where Twilight just looks at AJ and relizes how much she can trust AJ. They do a good job of showing this rather than telling it. Showing instead of telling can make a scene so much more powerful and they do that here even if it is a few seconds. Its little things like that that make this episode so good.
However little moments can also completley destroy an episode as well. (Many people find Peter Problems a bad episode just for the whale scene)
It also shows the development of Twilight as a character. From going to not caring about Friendship to slowly realizeing it's importance (as it is very important)
The Mane 6 then run into a manticore.
Oh Noooooooooooooooooooo!
This manticore was angered by Nightmare Moon. The Mane 6 (except for Fluttershy) try to fight the manticore.
Fluttershy tries to get them to stop and after awhile they do. Fluttershy goes and tames the manticore(as shes an animal person) and it turns out that all the manticore needed was a splinter removed.
Fluttershy then say you should treat others with kindness. even things that attack you. (nah I'm joking. The Mane 6 kinda did start the fighting with the manticore so it probably only fought tp defend.)
Either way Flutters has tamed a manticore.
He's just like a dog. A big fluffy, scary, killer dog.
The splinter is revealed to be Nightmare Moom. (*Insert Dramatic Music Here*) and the Mane 6 continue down their path, but oh no. Trees. The trees are scary.
Actually....yeah that's pretty scary.
But I've seen worse on Spongebob (ever seen the episodes Face Freeze or A Pal For Gary)
So how do our heroes handle this. Laughing. Pinkie Pie says the greatest way to face your fear is laughing. So we get a song about laughing. It's actually pretty good. Yeah the first song in the series (besides the theme song of your counting that) rocks.
Actually I was quite surprised at how good this shows soundtrack and musical numbers were.
Also on a side note why do I get the feeling Pinkie would react this way if she met a Freddy Kruger ,Slender Man team up.
Well it works here so hopefully it'd work in a situation like that.
But yeah it works and all the terror turns into pure comedy allowing the Mane 6 to move on.
They then come across a sea serpeant.
By the way the voice of this character sounds so familiar yet I can't place why. Anyone have any idea who the voice actor for this guy is.
Either way the serpent is mad as half of his moustache was taken by a purple cloud A.K.A Nightmare Moon.
By the way I don't blame him. If moustache was that awesome I'd be sad as well.
Rarity though has a bit of generosity as she cuts of the hair that makes up her tail and uses it to fix the moustache.
Ok it doesn't match and it kinda looks silly but......good enough.
This is especially awesome considering how much Rarity cares about her looks. In fact in her scene in Part 1 we see that a lot. She even tries to make her friends look nice as in Parr 1 she wanted to fix Twilight's (A pony she hardley knew at that point) mane.
Though she puts others first. Even if it does get in the way of her own desires (in this case her desire is just to look good) however she still makes a sacrifice to make someone happy. That's the true definition of Generosity. See why I like her so much I think she could compete with Fluttershy.
The sea serpeant helps the ponies cross the river and we get to the castle where the elements are supposedly located. However one more obstacle stamds in their way.
Stupid bridges. Always broken when you need them the most.
Whatever though, right. I mean Rainbow can just fly, grab the broken end and tie it back up. So that's what she does but Nightmare Moon has one more trick up her......hoof.
She creates the shadow bolts.
Like the wonder bolts I guess but darker.
They are apparently the best fliers in the forest and soon in all of equestria and ask for Rainbow Dash's help as they also apparently need a captain. So RD joins them and the episode ends with Nightmare Moon winning while Twilight couldn't find the elements.
What don't beleve me. Well you shouldn't I was lying. She puts her friends before her dreams and helps them across the bridge (as the shadow bolts said it was either them or her friends)
I will admit yes that is quite admirable. However RD is still my least favorite of the Mane 6. Though I will admut she is still a well written, well made character.
It's just her ego can get to me sometimes. I'll go more in depth about this topic once we hig Mysterious Mare Do Well.
The Mane 6 make it to the tower where they find 5 stones. One for each element (except the 6th one which is lost).
Apparently though once some kind of spark is activated then the last element will appear (so I guess it's not that lost) The rest of the group leaves Twilight in the tower so she can focus on igniting the spark. However Nightmare Moon comes in and teleports Twilight and the elements away. The other 5 hear commotion and run back inside to check it out.
Twilight and the elements are gone but luckily Nightmare Moon didn't teleport her to far away as the rest are easily able to find her. This makes me wonder whg Nightmare just didn't teleport farther away.
Either way we cut back to Twilight, who is now in a room with Nightmare and the element stones. She is able to get to the elements but still struggles with igniting the spark. Nightmare says it's hopeless and destroys the 5 stones.
The rest of the Mane 6 come in and then Twilight realizes what the spark is
Her friends.
I know it sounds chessy and dumb but the speech she gives is just so heart-felt and heartwarming. And it shows just how much she developed in this little journey. She goes on about how she realized that they were her friends and...I will admit it put a smile on my face cause of how happy and heart-warming the moment was.
She then says that that was the spark to activate the last element. Friendship.
Ok when I say it it sounds dumb but they make it work and create such an amazing scene.
The Mane 6 themselves each represent an Element of Harmony.
And Twilight realizes that by remembering the journey through the Everfree Forest.
AJ is Honesty as Twilight learned she could trust her during the cliff incident.
Flutters is Kindness as she was able to tame a manticore by just treating it with kindness
Rarity is Generosity as she sacrificed a part of her tail for someone she thougt needed it more.
Pinkie is Laughter (personally the lamest of the elements) as she was able to laugh off fear.
And Rainbow Dash is Loyalty as she put her friends before her dreams.
And Twilight. She's the sixth element. The element of Magic.
................Wait......MagiC
Everyone else gets kindness and loyalty but she gets Magic?
This is like Captain Planet. Everyone gets powers like Air and Earth but one kid has Heart as his power.
Either way the elements get fixed because of the spark and The Mane 6 use the power of the elements to suck Nightmare Moon up in a Rainbow Tornado.
Now that's epic.
Personally that's how I wanna go out.
Either way after that the Mane 6 find out they each have a necklace (except Twilight she has a tiara).
The neclaces are the elements and they look just like each pony's Cutie Mark (The tatoo looking thing near the buttocks)
The Princess is saved and this is when you learn that the princess is the princess in the story Twilight was reading in part 1. Meaning Twilight's teacher is also the sister of Nightmare Moon.
Luckily the elements seemed to have fixed her.
Awwwwww.
Isn't that just the darndest cutest thing you've ever seen.
So feeble and fragile.
It seems the princess is actually named Luna and she apologizes for her actions as Nightmare Moon.
Now I have 2 questions
1. Why didn't the elements fix her when The Eldest Princess/Twilights Teacher (Her name is Celestia BTW) used them on her. Did Celestia just feel like sending someone to the moon. Minor nitpick as there are a few reasons why this might've happened but we don't get an answer. I wanna know.
2. Celestia apparently knew all this. Which is fine. You could say that maybe she did it so Twilight would learn herself the power of Friendship and how to use the elements. But when Celestia tells Twilight she knew she could do it, Twilight says "But you told me it was and old Pony's Tale"
Celestia says all she said was to make friends. Nothing more.
Bull crap. You said, and I quote "You must simply stop reading those dusty books"
You said that when Twilight told you about the situation in Part 1. Yes it was funny but don't claim you never said that.
LIES, LIES LIES LIES.
So the episode ends with the celebration in Pony Ville and Celestia tells Twilight that she can stay here as long as she works on the studies of Friendship (friendship is apparently science in equestria) and she must write a letter every week telling Celestia of her findings.
The End
Man great episode. These two parts did a great job of inroducing us to the characters and getting us attached to them. As well as provideing a really great, heart warming speech near the end. It is a really well done episode.
Best Part-Twilight's Speech
Worst Part-The Lies from Celestia
Score
Part 1-8/10
Part 2-9/10
Overall-8.5/10
So i hope now you see why so many people love this show. Again, you don't have to but hopefully now you see why so many people, especially those outside of the show's demographic, like it. This episode pretty much represents the general quality of this show and is a perfect example for why this show is so popular. At least for me anyway.
And I do plan on covering more of this show in the future.
So now that that's over what are we doing next time.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Next Episode-Pig Goat Banana Cricket
Next MLP review-Either Boast Busters or Call of The Cutie.
Other Future Reviews
The Finger (Harvey Beaks)
Gone Flushin (Fairly Odd Parents)
The Sum of His Parts (Teen Titans)
Driven To Tears (Spongebob)
See ya guys later.
