My Little Pony's Justice 2 - Official MLP Thread v2

[DabigRG]

1 hour ago, VEDJ-F said:

I've seen the spoilers, so...I don't mind. 

...Wait, what? 

[Your Vest Friend]

2 minutes ago, DabigRG said:

...Wait, what? 

Trust me, just wait. 

[DabigRG]

12 minutes ago, VEDJ-F said:

Trust me, just wait. 

Huh. Iffin you say so.

 

♪And I know I can't give up too soon

Get myself in the zone♩

[Strickerx5]

So this week gave us a CMC episode and, I'm going to be honest here, these have actually become some of the least interesting episode types for me ever since they got their cutie marks. Like, they've done a good job at keeping the characters relevant (unlike a certain book horse) but still, there's always that lingering question of "where can you possible take this now?" in their episodes. Though, with that being said, I did find myself still enjoying this current ep quite a bit.

Seeing the seapony/ hippogriffs' kingdom again was a joy. It's nice to see further continuity from the movie and how the place has developed since then. It literally carried the episode for me. Though, I think this episode pretty much confirmed my suspicions that we're not going to see any of the main movie characters in the show. Like, this episode would've been the opportunity to see Skystar or Queen Novo again but they are nowhere to be seen. Hell, I'm pretty sure Skystar doesn't even get a name drop.

As for the CMCs themselves... eh. I see what they were going for with them (and the story really) but they all still followed some painfully predictable narrative beats. Plus, AB didn't really do anything in this episode which, going off how the other two were, I honestly can't pin as a good or bad thing. As for Twilight, well... she was there I guess...?

So yeah, overall I did enjoy this CMC episode as seeing Mount Aris again made things quite interesting for me. Bonus points go to Harmonizing Heights which is a super cool place/ idea that I hope they do more with in the future. Though, at the end of it all, it's the unbelievably predictable plot that brings this one down a bit in my book.

[AdventChild]

This week’s the CMC episode…*Sigh…

Yeah, this one rather bored me.

Probably the only thing of interest for me was just the setting of the hippogriff and seapony habitats and nothing much else.

Much of the writing/jokes didn’t work for me. The song was just there to move the plot along, nothing special nor memorable. I got the mere gist of the episodes conclusion just by his introduction and even guessing the whole “Why Not Both?” solution rather quickly. The pacing felt off with almost the first half with finding the map problem and second half dealing with Terra Mar’s conflict with a rushed ending. Also, Terra Mar running off near the end felt unnecessary along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle arguing with each other just to hammer in the point.

I tend to make the conflict feels similar for one who moving from place to place, how hard to it tends to be. And I know a lot of people have made comparisons with divorced parents though the thing is parents can be separated not just divorced even if it is temporary such as parent’s job/occupation and military deportation. But with these cases one parent usually ends up nearly across country or even halfway around the world.

The problem here? They’re basically next door to each other! A literal stone skip away, lessening the conflict’s impact and didn’t have any sense of grand distance from each other to leave any kind of severe separation anxiety, other than species but they make it easy and no big deal. Sure, I know kids tend to exaggerate or hyperbolize situations but even this feels like its pushing it.

It’s so-so overall.

[pastelspectre]

i actually quite liked this episode. i dunno. i'm not that picky with the quality of the episodes and what they're about, cause it's mlp. i'm gonna enjoy it regardless. nonetheless i did still like this episode a lot of course. the cmc are cute as ever and i liked the songs in it. i'm just looking forward to what they have next weekend. well, technically this upcoming weekend. please no spoilers.

[DabigRG]

I liked this episode well enough. Just a fun little vacation to a relatively new location, essentially. Kinda wish we had episodes like this a little more often, particularly with a certain secondary character in mind.

The animations underwater seemed a little on the hurky-jerk side, I noticed.

And for some reason, Scootaloo had a singing voice this time.

Anyone else thought Terramar and his mom shared their voices with Thorax and Cadence at first?

[Strickerx5]

It's finally time y'all. The planets have aligned, shinning a beam of light down Habsro's section of your local toy aisle, to give us the fabled Sun Butt episode. Now, any other day of the year I'm pro Moon (as it should be for everyone :v) but seeing as Celestia was literally the first character we ever heard in the show and that itself was over 7 years ago... I think I have to make a special exception just for today. Luna forgive me, because spoiler alert, I loved this episode.

Now, saying I was a bit nervous about this one would be a bit of an understatement. Sun has always had an off and on presence on screen (on being things like A Royal Problem and off being the movie) so, atm, I knew this episode had to be either really good or really bad. A 50/50 chance honestly. Especially with this being the debut episode for a new series writer. Though, I'm happy to say that Mpambara made one damn fine of a first impression.

The highlight of this episode had to be Celestia herself. I can't think of a scene where she wasn't enjoyable and downright outshining the rest of the cast. Though, that's not to say that the rest of the cast was bad here either. Each of the main six (plus Starlight and Spike) were given their own moments too. Hell, even with how much flack I've been given Twilight lately, I have to say that she was written especially well too. These were easily some of her best scenes in a long time.

Have to give a particular mention to the humor in this one too. Like, the jokes kept coming and there were only a few that didn't hit. Plus, it wasn't even just dialog jokes either. There was a fair bit of background jokes too. I literally laughed out loud when the fireworks went off backstage only to have it end with one of them displaying Trixie's smug face. XD

Also, gotta give mention to the animation here. I mean, good animation is nothing new for this series but I've been watching a bit of season 1 lately and to see the transformation over the years is pretty staggering. The show had great animation for that time and to see it only get better is something you really can't take for granted nowadays. Especially here with Celestia. Back in season 1, her model was made with the idea that she'd only be on screen for about a minute or two throughout the entire season (especially with that mane which was, apparently, an animation nightmare back then). The difference between then is now is night and day.

Honestly, it's hard for me to even find any noteworthy issues with this one. I guess if I had to put something down it'd be how Luna was (or actually wasn't) handled ironically enough.

Though, first off, Luna. Always a plus no matter what. But she wasn't given a single line of dialogue! I know Mpambara had her hands full with the other characters but you couldn't give best pony a single gd line!?! It's her sister after all! Tabitha was already in the recording booth for Rarity so why not!!!??!!adsvadszcraw

*Sigh* but fine, that's a nitpick. it's the sun heathens' day. they've waited on this for years. it's fine, im fine, whatever

*clear throat*

But yeah, overall this is definitely the best episode of the season so far for me. Hell, it might even be in the running for my top 10 list overall. Now, I still want my Celestia and Luna only (no main characters involved) episode but what we have now isn't bad at all. Great episode.

[DabigRG]

So, the Firestick had the "In-editing" version of the episode for some reason, complete with the time bar and commercial break signs. Thus, I have to say that sound effect for whatever Twilight teleported or anyone else used Magic was jarringly hilarious.

This was a good episode.

I love how the students voice actors were all present for this episode and yet they didn't really say anything. Though I noticed that the actress wasn't listed for whatever reason.  

Starlight sounded kinda wasted during her longest line.

 

 

[AdventChild]

This week we get a Celestia centered episode with Horse Play.

To be frank, the princess aspect of the show like with the CMC has been one of my least favorites.

So this episode felt somewhat of a mixed bag to be honest for me.

Everypony esp. the Manes were serviceable and fine, and some jokes hit for me.

Celestia has some good development here, but the whole not being able to act felt forced and embarrassing to watch after a while. Also, I thought she did better in Royal Problems than here and I probably would have preferred a different setting and situation, maybe something along the lines of the world friendship summit like in the comics.

The botched play trope/plot is one that I didn’t care much for and being predictable with bad acting to destroyed stages and props and saving it with a quick fix at the end. Probably the most memorable for me was the one in Hey Arnold with Helga’s play. Speaking of plays, I’ve come to realize how much of a trope it is within the series from Hearth’s Warming Eve to Made in Manhattan to For Whom the Sweetie Belle Tolls to Cutie Mark Chronicles (Rarity’s story) and so on (and like to count Hearth’s Warming Carol). Not to say it is bad, but even I do think some had better use of it than this.

Again, a mixed bag for me.

[pastelspectre]

i really liked this episode! i liked the jokes and the moral of the episode. it was cute and.. i just liked it a lot. celestia may not be one of my fave mlp fim characters but ill be damned if i dont love her character design. it's so pretty! anyways, i look forward to the episode coming up this weekend!

[AdventChild]

So this week’s episode is one featuring Starlight Woo…yay…and Sunburst.

*Yawn… Yeah, this one was weak and barebones. Felt like Parental Glideance in some respects esp. with the parents and I’ll get to that in a minute.

Much of the jokes fell flat and didn’t hit for me except for some background characters/moments, the parents were pretty stock and one note and annoying with the whole embarrassing dad and strict overprotective mother motif. Probably one of the least interesting parents in the show compared to others. The plot was paint by numbers mostly without much diversion and been done better before. Even the town feels unmemorable and indistinct like you could tell me it was another section of Ponyville and I would believe it. Man, is it bad that I’m starting to miss Equal Town again? And of course, still hadn’t change my mind on Glim glam whatsoever.

An underwhelming one in my eyes.

[Strickerx5]

I honestly don't have much to say about this week's episode so I'll keep this one short. While it was certainly predictable in a lot of aspects, I have to say that I still enjoyed it a fair bit.

This was your by-the-books, slice of life episode about annoying parents with an ending most could probably see coming miles away. Though, what carried it for me were the character interactions here. Honestly, I can sort of relate to both Starlight and Sunburst in their avoidance of their respective rents while out in the real world so their interactions with them and moral certainly hit home for me. This and the added humor (like Starlight's room got me to giggle a bit) is what really sold me on this episode. Also, the facial expressions were pretty top here too.

So yeah, overall a pretty decent episode for me. While it does follow a very overused trope, I did connect with its moral and had a couple of laughs along the way which made the watch, while predictable, pretty enjoyable.

 

[DabigRG]

You know, when I expressed interested in finally getting Starlight's parents, that was inherently due to wanting insight into her actual upbringing. I mean, we technically get bits of that here in small flashes, but they're just that--flashing bits.

Honestly, this is one of those episodes where there was so much that they could've done for the premise, possibly two or even three at once, yet the resolution they went with was both overly simple and yet not very resolving.

Like, when they bothered showing us a few key produce areas of the town and how Firelight & Stellar Flare had taken turns overly preserving & commercializing everything, you kinda expect Starlight and Sunburst's missions to involve getting their parents to back down (kinda like they had to) and release the locales to their normal functioning devices. But when the episode ended, there was little indication that they'd be doing that and thus I could only presume the town was left in a bizarre form of stagnation, to the point that the three random ponies around the salesponies at the end immediately caught my attention.

And between the two parents, I honestly thought Stellar had more going on with her than Firelight(why is he named that, btw?). With that said, he did give a select few, indirect ideas as to how Starlight turned out the way she is, what with her sorta old-timey associations and ironic childishness deep inside. His line at end in particularly makes me wonder how much he knows about his daughter's adult life, especially considering Sunburst's mom knew exactly where he was.

Also, that glimpse of Starlight's old room went by so fast that all I saw was the bass, which apparently has "bad guitar anatomy." Honestly not sure how I feel/think about it. Though again, the fact that it's apparently exactly the way it was when she left is telling. Of...something.

Credit to ShootingStar159. I think.

PS. Did anyone else expect a random dictator plot when Starburst arrived at the front gate?

[Dark Qiviut]

I already watched it when it was leaked, and my thoughts remain the same. Non-Compete Clause is crap.

AJ and Rainbow Dash were completely OOC here, especially the latter for putting her focus on winning Teacher of the Month over the Student Six's safety while rowing. Thank God FIM's a piece of fiction, because had it be real-life, the school and Twilight might've had their plots sued for negligence.

This episode features easily my bottom moment of the season: Yona nearly drowning. You'd think for a second that Dash and AJ would stop acting competitive with each other, grow the fuck up, and learn to be teachers. Instead, they continue to qualify one of Neighsay's strongest criticisms of the School: AJ and RD act completely unqualified. You two, this isn't Fall Weather Friends; at least you two weren't that close at the time, and the stakes were much lower. Had they remained competent and in character, that canoeing accident wouldn't have happened, and Yona wouldn't have to have her life saved.

The dialogue itself is lousy. Clunky, forced, and painfully unfunny.

To make it worse, this episode feels a lot like filler. After thy learned how their competitive behavior got in the way, they started arguing again, and it was all back to square one.

The only saving graces here are Twilight calling Dash and AJ out for their shit (and threatening to take over the field trip after Yona nearly drowned) and Dash and AJ getting nominated for TotM — them risking that reward will make them think about how stupid they behaved on the trip.

Overall, a major thumbs down.

[Strickerx5]

That was certainly a... episode, I guess? Honestly don't have much to say about this one either seeing as not much even happened imo. It was just AJ and Rainbow going at it for 20 minutes with not much of anything else.

I will say that I'm continuing to enjoy the dynamics between the students as they were certainly the high point of the episode. Though, beyond that, there just wasn't anything else here. I'd like to say that I enjoyed the return of AJ and Rainbow's rivalry but with how one-note it is, it just didn't carry the episode like it tried to. The whole thing also ended very weirdly as I don't think anyone actually learned anything. I think they try to get past the idea of watching people be so bad at something that you learn how not to do that or simply how not trying to earn anything from good actions is... well, good but it was all just half there.

Yeah, overall this was a dull one. They play the whole rivalry bit way too much and really don't utilize the majority of its characters well. Probably one of the most disappointing episodes in the season for me so far.

[AdventChild]

Non-Complete Causes was this week’s episode.

Or what I like to call Fall Weather Friends 2.0: The Un-Entertaining Edition.

This one was painfully unfunny and dull to its core. The writing and humor were very bland and forced and flat esp. with RD’s and AJ’s competitiveness/antics, topped with their characterization taking multiple steps back. Plot is predictably boring too. Also, kudos for almost getting a student drowned you two, just for what’s essentially Employee of the Month. Even at the end, it felt like nothing has been learned with them bickering at the end.

Not much else to say because of how weak and empty this episode feels.

[RedFox99]

Some of the comments include people calling this the first truly bad episode of Season 8. 

[Strickerx5]

You know, I won't lie. I read the description for this one (back when the leaks were flowing strong) and honestly expected to hate it. It seemed to be leading to a predictable story with a parring that, based off their previous episode, I didn't care about. Though, I was pleasantly surprised. This was a pretty fun one through and through.

I think the strongest aspect of this episode was the dynamic between the three leads (Spike, Big Mac, and Discord). They were the square focus of the episode and them bouncing off one another was pretty fun to see. You had Big Mac being the brokenhearted one (who, might I add, goes on a bit of an interesting character arc throughout the episode with how much he talks at certain points), Spike being the voice of reason (a role which I still believe suits him quite well), and Discord who I was really surprised to see.

On the topic of Discord though, I feel like his appearance here is (again) going to be quite decisive among people. Personally, I found his meta commentary about hearts and hooves day to be quite hilarious. Though, I believe they also did something really strong with him here too. While he's definitely not into the whole thing, he never actively tries to steer BM and Spike in the wrong direction. Every action he does is purely what he thinks would lead to the best outcome for all of them. Hell, I was really surprised when he first gave into magically heating the pie for the two with no strings attached. Of course there was the moment where he basically tells BM to break up with Sugar first but that wasn't due to him trying to trick anyone for his own gain. He was literally just in the mindset after seeing BM go through all this trouble and wanting him to pull the trigger first to try and soften the blow for him. Though, when he realizes the mistake he's made he goes in to fix it before anyone else moves into action. While he's still not into the whole idea of the day and would much rather play his game, he still doesn't want to see the people around him hurt by it and does actively try to help.

Frankly, Discord has really grown as a character over the past two seasons and this episode seals that for me. His actions here were a definite highlight.

I also have to give mention to the plot here too as I, admittedly, couldn't tell where they were going with this one in a number of moments. I half expected them to get back together in the end but with how fast this parring came along in the first place (not to mention how fast they dropped the Cheerilee parring already) there was also this thought in the back of my mind of like "... well maybe..." and I guess that kind of kept me guessing throughout the episode. It really did take a few turns that I wasn't expecting.

So yeah, overall I have to say that this was definitely one of the strongest episodes of the season so far for me. I don't know if my lowered expectations going in have anything to do with it but with the great humor, character interactions, great use of background characters, and the interesting tale this is just a definite strong one in my book.

[AdventChild]

So this episode is The Break Up Break Down that features Big Mac and Discords, plusses for me, yet also Hearts and Hooves, the CMC, and plenty of misunderstandings, already plenty of negatives for me.

And my thoughts? Eh… is it bad that I would rather just have the boys do another full episode of O&O than this? Honestly, it feels middle of the road for me, on the edge of okay.

Discord along with some Spike and Big Mac moments were nice and the highlight even though I don’t care much for the Sugar Belle pairing.

Speaking of which, am I the only one peeved that none of the other ponies like Double Diamond, Night Glider, etc. don’t get much focus but Sugar and esp. Starlight has more?

The whole misunderstandings/miscommunications plot is another major annoying peeve/trope I don’t like, hay, I skipped over Big Mac breaking up with Sugar. Not to mention it’s another situation that could be easily solved in few minutes just by talking which has been a recurring issue with the show i.e. Game We Ponies Play, Triple Threat, etc.

And then there was the CMC with their secret admirer subplot that I didn’t care at all and did nothing for me. It felt more like filler to pad out the plot and just adds onto the misunderstandings.

Yeah, this one was okay for me.

[DabigRG]

On Non-complete Clause, am I the only one who spent at least five minutes thinking ""Most of you can fly."?

 

Oh, and fun fact: The CMC subplot of the Hearts and Hooves episode was inspired by one of the produced unintentionally putting Sweetie Belle's name instead of Sugar Belle's in the production note..

On 5/14/2018 at 11:23 AM, RedFox99 said:

Some of the comments include people calling this the first truly bad episode of Season 8. 

Well, it kinda is. Episodes can generally have a few pacing issues, logical fails, debatable character inconsistencies/misuses, and/or wasted opportunities in there, but of the episodes we've had so far, this one was just straight up boring and dragged out from just about the word go.

What makes this weird is that there were a number of times where it seemed like Twilight and the students caught onto what was going on fairly quickly, yet the latter seldom did more but occasionally hang a lampshade and comply for the sake of getting them to superficially move on.

[AdventChild]

This week’s episode is the Molt Down where Spike hits puberty and apparently gets wings. Though preferably rather have him getting them by just drinking Red Bull.

Whilst one of Spike’s better outings, it’s kinda an alright episode, middling at best. Thought he was slightly better in the previous ep.

Some of the humor was fine, did like Smolder’s talk with Spike with some dragon info building, and continuity nods with Pee Wee and Secret of my Excess.

Again, humor was hit or miss, the misses being Pinkie Pie parts and the volume control gag got tiresome fast. I didn’t care for the Sparity parts either and comparing with last episode where Spike was more the voice of reason, he jumped to the conclusion too quickly of the whole getting kicked out of his home.

And then there is the whole Spike gaining wings which I don’t like but mostly felt underwhelming. First off, it was already spoiled thanks to recent promo (thanks marketers ). Secondly, I prefer a wingless form for Spike as it makes the species more diverse in a way and like a certain alicorn, it feels tacked on. Thirdly, that’s it? Just wings and nothing else? The least you could do is to make him almost like a foot bigger/taller with longer limbs to signify his growth a bit more esp. when we’re this far into the series near the end (as far as we know) and more warranted. It’s like Pokemon’s Bagon final evolution stage goes from Shellgon to it’s first form with wings tacked on, which doesn’t convince of any growth at all, just a mere addition.

Just an average episode for me at best.

[Strickerx5]

Huh, if there was a single word I'd use to describe this episode, it'd be "neat".

First off, it was great to see Zecora again. For a character that was introduced so early on, she seems to have an even worse time getting onscreen than the princesses.

I also have noticed two things as of late. One is that the show has really been able to always limit its use of the cast to an as needed bases. Like, we simply haven't gotten episodes where the mane six, cmcs, or the student six have been shoved in just because they're in the relative area. It makes each character appearance and role stronger.

The second is that continuity has just been sowed completely into these last few episodes. I can't count the number of times past episodes (some from as far back as season 2) have been referenced in these recent ones. They're not even obvious callbacks to the point of being pandering. They always serve a purpose for the narrative at hand and have been extremely well done imo. It's especially great for a viewer like me who has seen all of these things. XD

Though, that's not to say that I enjoyed everything in this one. For starters, the shouting gag got old fast for me (hell, it didn't even make much sense to begin with) and the humor in general was a bit hit or miss. Not to mention the plot itself which is your standard "your body is changing and it sucks" episode. Plus, is it just me or was Spike's judgement calls a bit weird here. Like, you know you're going through some shit here but you choose to sit right in public view anyway? I know it's meant to bring back his disguise outfit gag but it all seemed a bit much too me I guess. Not to mention it calling into question Twilight's judgement here too as she basically kicks a walking time-bomb of a flamethrower out into the public without a second thought.

Which leads me to probably the biggest thing of the episode, Spike getting wings (which the impact of which was lessened for me seeing as I saw it in the leaks). Spike not having wings while seemingly every other dragon in the show did has been a heavy topic of discussion for a while now. To see it get some sort of pay-off finally was great to see. Although, I do completely understand where some come from in saying that it felt a bit forced. It did have a bit of a Magical Mystery Cure issue where they come out of no where for the most part. Though, I do think that it was handled better here.

We've seen so many other dragons in this show at this point and they've all had wings. We've been told time and time again that Spike is on the younger side so it does, at least to me, make sense that he would get them eventually. While I don't think it got the fanfare it deserved, I do think it was foreshadowed enough for me not to hate it. Also, Spike deserved a power up with all the shit he's been through (most of which did involve falling funnily enough). XD

So yeah, overall a pretty down the line episode for me. It had some great stuff and some not so great stuff in it. While I wish the outcome of it was given a bit more flare, there just isn't enough here for me to put this on the negative end. Again, nothing more than a neat episode really.

[Kevin]

Oh Glimglam, you and your meme-able facial expressions! That was truly the highlight of this week's episode!

Speaking of which "That's devious!" was such a classic line! I love how the writers give her that tiny bit of villainy within her. 

The episode's biggest strength was that it wasn't easy to predict what was going to happen and that made it all the more fun!

I'm not sure how to feel about  Cozy Glow. On one hand, she's adorable, but I don't know how to feel about her as a character.

[SonicandShadowrules]

You know i stopped to watch this show some days ago. Like i feel i need to grow up is the reason, i just feel its mostly girly and i like girls but eh to be into this stuff about rainbows and stuff just rubbed me the wrong way, Spike is probably the only one i sorta like still because he is more relatable due to being into RPG games and having fun. But i feel MLP is more about escapism type of show to escape real life problems, which i get is a thing. But yeah i just wanna be cool as Sonic and Shadow is my way of living in reality. In either case whatever one likes i am cool with!