My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

[Rob]

UPDATE: A new preview clip has appeared... and the fandom is already exploding, since it confirms one particular piece of long-held fan canon.

Here's the preview, if you don't mind spoilers and haven't caught it already: https://youtu.be/Rhpvx58iq00

Hard to believe we have to wait another week for the episode itself... though, at least those going to MLP:MSP will get to see it in a group setting. I'd love to be at a con for an episode premiere like that...

[Rob]

Wow... a few days later, and I'm still trying to process the craziness that was this episode.

[tweeb²]

What I loved about the episode is the fact that it was like "Double Rainboom" or some fanfic. A fan episode, making up "Canon stories and character arks" except Hasbro Made it! It was great, stil people are taking that episode a little too seriously and that is not the point at all.

[Rob]

Well, it's time to catch up. We had the 100th episode, we had a mid-season hiatus, and now we're five episodes into the second half, and we've already had Friendship Games to boot!

"Slice of Life" - That episode is still totally bonkers, and it's still crazy awesome.
"Princess Spike" - Ehh... I like seeing Spike having a spotlight episode, but this was a bit of a letdown after #100, and while some of the guest ponies were entertaining, I now think of this one as the weakest episode of the season. Not bad, just okay.
"Party Pooped" - THIS NOT AUTHENTIC YAKYAKISTAN EPISODE! YAKS SMASH! *cough* err... still an entertaining episode, and another strong Pinkie episode.
"Amending Fences" - Oh, sweet Celestia, the feels for Moondancer! And, by extension, Twilight. Little disappointed that Lyra only got a mention, though, and didn't get to be in the episode proper (maybe she was on a trip?)
"Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" - Thought we were done with the fanservice, huh? Definitely a weird shared-dream episode.
*hiatus*
"Canterlot Boutique" - Rarity having to overcome getting upstaged in her own episode... still, it's a decent episode.
"Rarity Investigates!" - Gotta love Rarity getting a chance to do something a little different, while still being herself (and making Rainbow Dash nervous all the while). I really liked this one!
"Made in Manehattan" - Another Map-related episode, and another one with Rarity (this time with Applejack). And hey, Coco's back! Another good episode.
"Brotherhooves Social" - You have to admire the lengths Big Mac will go to make Apple Bloom happy. This one was... very interesting, to be sure. It's unfortunate that there was actually some backlash from some wags in the SJW crowd, but it seems that those yahoos' complaints (that having Mac crossdress was making light of transgendered people somehow) have been refuted by a lot of TG fans who didn't have any problem with the episode, and I happen to like Peter New's take, that it was a rare chance for the normally highly-reserved Big Mac to have a chance to express his feelings for once.
"Crusaders of the Lost Mark" - All I can say is, I wasn't prepared for this. Some surprising character development from Diamond Tiara, of all ponies. Not only that, but the result of this episode actually helps to redeem "Appleloosa's Most Wanted" a little bit.

Finally, Friendship Games... I thought it was pretty good. It's nice to have a plot catalyst who's not a villain for once, and human Twilight is every bit as adorkable as her pony counterpart.

And no, I haven't seen the leaked "Scare Master" yet. I'll catch that one after Youmacon, after it's properly aired.

[Rob]

Well, it's been a while since this thread's been updated...

Season 5 is now over, and we're in the hiatus again. At some as-yet-undetermined point in 2016, we'll get Season 6... but in the meantime, it's time to run down the last few episodes.

"The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows" - This one could be a bit of karmic payback for her hounding Twilight about keeping secrets back in "Green Isn't Your Color", having to suffer with a secret herself.
"Hearthbreakers" - Finally, we get to see more of Pinkie's family, and a culture clash between the Apples and the Pies. Also, amusing background ponies on the train - a couple of nice references to two John Hughes movies.
"Scare Master" - Who knew Fluttershy was a manga/anime fan? A nice, entertaining Nightmare Night episode (though, no Luna this time - then again, Luna's had two episodes where she was significant already).
"What About Discord?" - Not quite as great as the earlier Discord episode, and it is a bit weird to see him so buddy-buddy with Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity now. But still fun.
"The Hoofields and the McColts" - Not too surprising to figure out what this one is about based on the title, but the resolution was a nice little twist.
"The Mane Attraction" - All I can say is Lena Hall killed it singing as our guest star and Applejack's old friend Coloratura. A very nice way for Amy Keating Rogers to go out as a writer on that show (she's moved on to Disney).
"The Cutie Re-Mark" - HOLY FREAKING HELL. Given the nature of the show, the resolution was no big surprise, but everything that came before it... the alternate timelines... I definitely didn't see any of that coming!

All in all, Season 5 was a pretty great season. It'll be hard to top that in Season 6.

[TransWarpDrive]

Now I know I'm a brony. I just purchased MLP: FiM Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD over this past weekend. I used a Best Buy gift card I got for returning a CD I accidentally duplicated in my collection to pay half the cost; the other half I put on my debit card.
Now I've got to look for Seasons 3, 4, and 5 on disc.

[Rob]

I haven't seen any announcement of Season 5 on DVD yet.

[TransWarpDrive]

I haven't seen any announcement of Season 5 on DVD yet.

At least I'll get Seasons 3 and 4 on disc once I find them.
Of course, that begs the question: What to do with all those DVD-Rs I burned with individual episodes? I hate to waste them, but my storage space is rather limited here.

[jeriddian]

I haven't seen any announcement of Season 5 on DVD yet.

At least I'll get Seasons 3 and 4 on disc once I find them.
Of course, that begs the question: What to do with all those DVD-Rs I burned with individual episodes? I hate to waste them, but my storage space is rather limited here.

Maybe the same thing we did with all four seasons of KP?.....

[Rob]

Well, it's official: Season 6 starts on March 26th. And Discovery Family is not spoiler-hiding the new baby, either.