Episode 1-2:Friendship is Magic...aka showception
Ah the nostalgia.Hello folks and welcome to CULTURES COMPENDIUM OF REVIEWS! My name is Culture Shock and I am your dragopony guide through everything pop cultural and beyond.Toonkritic eat your heart out.
First up on our journey through Equestrian adventure is the source of it all.Yes it's the premier two parter that spawned a social movement and a social nation.I'm talking of course about season 1 episodes 1-2:Friendship is Magic.I probably got the title wrong and I apologize but lets not take up time being tv nazi's shall we?
Right off the bat we're greeted with a history lesson into Equestria's illustrious history.The best part of this was the artwork depicting Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Nightmare Moon,and early Equestria.A big cultural shoutout to early forms of artwork from places such as Greece,Italy,Egypt,and many others.A beautiful way to tell a story of such a tragic yet empowering event.
Fast forward and we're introduced to our first protaganist and future Equestrian deity.The purple plum pony herself Twilight Sparkle.And no that is not a reference at the count von trashula films you evil shrews.At first glance we're given our first impressions on the upcoming Princess of Friendship.Antisocial,overanalytical,far to studious,and most of all quick to be the ember that sparks a quadruple season long disorder in her background stunt double "friend".And I use that term loosely since our favorite disaster is shown to have no interest in her future job title.
So what does worst princess ever decide?Twilight needs to get out more....Yeah and Hasbro wonders why sunbutt is the least favored princess.I mean I understand its the pilot and we have to establish a storyline but couldn't Celestia have given her a better clue?
So once again we fast forward to a disgruntled Twilight and Spike flying high above to their assigned destination,Ponyville.First point to make here.Spike is to quick to jump on the "Pick on Twilight" bandwagon when he himself easily becomes a walking pile of obsession with his unhealthy crush on a mare who clearly will never give him the time of day until he can mature.
At last we've arrived at the Gravity Falls of MLP.The town of Ponyville.The obvious plot to aknowledge here is that this town was in fact the early settlement depicted in the opening cut scene.Admittedly though its kind of cool to see that the cultural beauty of Ponyville didn't completely change over the 1000 or more years since its founding.
First up on the list of things a shut in never does?Talking to strangers.Here we meet the second of the mane 6.The ever so bubbly bubble gum mare herself.Pinkemena Diane Pie.Or Pinkie Pie as most know her.The first encounter though quick was enough to easily set up a persona for the lovable party pony.Though one question comes to mind.Why didn't Pinkie consider introducing herself to Twi BEFORE gathering the town in such a small place?....Oh wait.Its Pinkie Pie.There is no answer to that...
Anyways....a short redirection later and our duo find themselves in the backdrop for an Equestrian western drama...I kid.I of course mean the everso southern homestead of Sweet Apple Acres.Home to Ponyville's resident southern belle Applejack.Now I know the show centers around talking female horses but judging from this family get together one would think there's a bit of rabbit in our orange farm pony.I mean that wasn't even the whole family.I'm willing to bet Angel bunny is likrly a distant cousin twice removed.
After a short yet lengthy brush with fruit related diabetus our pair once again continue their checklist.This time its weather preperations headed by that speedy sports siren herself.Its a bird,no its a plane,no its RAINBOW DASH!The greatest part about Rainbow in the series pilot?The lack of the obnoxious ego...I mean I love that speedster just as much as any other brony but lets face facts.In the entire series after these episodes there's a bare minimum of her solo appearences that actually highlight her growth as a character.Kinda like how her portrayal here plays out.Yeah showboating about her speed and precision with weather control was obnoxious and laughing at someone she quickly became friends with was also pretty low but they weren't the focus of her personality here.Throughout the rest of the episodes she's shown to exemplify a loyal and caring friend.
Rounding out the next appearence is that lovely lady of fashion herself.The marshmallow with the spring tail.Rarity.The main about her in the early point of this two-parter is how a lot of bronies judged her solely on her looks alone.That in itself is common in social culture and a major stereotype.I mean just because someone looks high class it doesn't immediately mean they're snobs.Though even at her kindest Rarity still has one major similarity to most like her.Her quickness to obsess over high class finery's.Though admittedly it does get overshadowed by her positive traits in the second half.
At last after a round of wardrobe roulette Twilight and Spike make their way to meet the 6th and final member of the merry band,Fluttershy.Okay.Can I just say that besides Princess Luna Fluttershy is easily the most attractive and cutest of the main cast.This mare manages to be a natural beauty even at her worst moments.If you put a horn and crown on that you would have a literal secret weapon to end all war with.But of course like all good things Hasbro just has to put a lot of negative in their.In the beginning of the episode Fluttershy's shy and timid nature paints her as a mare who would easily have a heart attack if a breeze brushed against her.While that's cute to an extent it can also be a bit overdone.Comparing her personality then to her personality now its easy to see that out of the mane 6 she herself has made the biggest shift from that scaredy cat that hid from society to a slowly developing social butterfly.
After an awkward yet lovable encounter and an unplanned welcoming bash thrown by Pinkie Pie its time for the intended cover for why Twilight was tossed out and into crazytown.The Summer Sun Celebration.That one day a year where sunbutt actually gets up and acts productive.But wait.Wasn't there a rumored threat scheduled for today?Oh yeah.The return of Nightmare Moon.But I'm sure its just superstition...That is I was till sunbutt was swiped quicker than Princess Peach in Super Mario World.Who's to blame?Why the ominous shadow realm cloud or to be more specific the mare in the moon herself.Nightmare Moon.Now what makes this character unique is the fact of how she is made.The biggest secret behind the evil is that Nightmare Moon is indeed both a seperate entity AND Luna at the same time.The key difference is that Nightmare is a tantabus given sentience thanks to Luna's negative emotions.So much can be said for this one character alone but I'll leave that for a future review.
Moving on into part 2 of the pilot we pick up where part one left off.Celestia is missing and in her place stands the corrupt tantabus Nightmare Moon.Her goals?The same as always.To plunge the world into an eternal night and force subjigation on the frightened populace.This of course is the first part of Nightmares flaws.Her one track mentality.This becomes a problem as the episode progresses.So much so that given how she powerful she supposedly is she could have easily flown to the castle ruins and destroyed the legendary Elements of Harmony before they were used on her but NO!Like all villains she had to waste her time toying with good guys and preparing a useless monologue.
Anyways I'm getting ahead of myself.After the hijacked celebrations abrupt end Twilight and company make their way back to Golden Oaks Library.....The feels.Rest in peace ye tree of knowledge...Anyways while there Twilight frantically begins flipping and flinging around books in a worried attempt to find more about the Elements of Harmony.Thats right.The deus ex machina in its early form.Twilights new crew of course is concerned about what exactly happened and why exactly Twilight knows about Nightmare Moon.Reluctantly Twilight opens up about her research on the story of Nightmare Moon and her legend.
With the help of the cutely clueless Pinkie Pie the bookmare locates the tomb she was looking for.From here we learn our first bit about the Elements of Harmony.6 elements that embody the positive aspects of a friend.Laughter,Kindness,Loyalty,Honesty,and Generosity.The final element is played up as a mystery but later revealed as magic.The funny part is that to first time viewers its hard to tell just which pony embodies which element and why.That is until the next part of our journey.
As Twilight reads on she finds out that the elements last known location,the castle of the royal pony sisters, just happens to lay smack dab in the middle of the scariest place in Equestria.The Everfree Forest.You would think the name and rumors alone would be terrifying but no.This of course is the point where the stories obstacles are set up by our fearful antagonist Nightmare Moon.
All throughout the groups trek Nightmare warps the forests setting and tries to scare the group away by either making the journey impossible or nearly killing them.I mean she started off by nearly dropping them from 50 feet by breaking the cliff they stood on.
As their rocky journey progresses each of the Ponyville 5 reveal the traits that they most personify in order to overcome the obstacles.Applejacks open honesty calms Twilight after the near fall.Fluttershy's timid kindness tamed a pained manticore.Pinkie's infectous laughter soothes the groups fears.Rarity's heartfelt generosity warms the heart of a saddened sea serpent.And Rainbow's unyielding loyalty solved their block even when offered her dream.That alone sets up for the climactic end before it begins.
Finally after nearly losing the elements if harmony the mane 56 band together for the first time and with the power of rainbows,Blissy be praised,cleanse Nightmare Moon.Handing the evil alicorn her second defeat of the series.Things taking an even more surprising turn when not only does Celestia and her sun return but its also revealed that Nightmare Moon is in fact the long forgotten sister of the sun goddess.Princess Luna.What would have made this more surprising if the story at the beginning hadn't already spoiled it.Oh spoilers...How you vex me...
Anyways just like any other fairy tale all is forgiven and the long lost moon princess is mostly welcomed with open arms.And just when things might have went downhill again Twilight once recieves yet another order to get outside by princess lazy butt.And that is how our story rolls on.
Personally considering there's nothing before this to compare it to I think this was a fairly enjoyable season premier and a great series pilot.The art stylings and audio though different know were an interesting part and the cultural references in the background settings made for a great backdrop.However that being said these episodes aren't without their faults.The biggest was how the bonds each character made with Twi were rushed a little too quickly.In real life healthy friendships aren't usually made in the span of one day.Here the mane 5 welcome Twilight as if she was someone they had gotten to know for months.While a character like Pinkie Pie is quick to befriend others it just doesn't fit the others.Rarity and Rainbow alone should have SOME kind of struggle with trusting a stranger.And even though she was raised to always be welcoming Applejack could have at least gotten to know more about Twilight before calling her kin.Fluttershy's timidity at least gave a bit of a challenge.That is until the purple baby dragon tickled her fancy.
All in all though Season 1 episodes 1 & 2 were the best of the season premiers.I reccomend anyone starting out as a brony to definetly pick these episodes first.In the end I give this two part pilot an 8/10.
Alright folks thats my review.Notably its also my first review so not my best but I will improve.If you have comments,concerns,or tips for future reviews just leave them below and I will get back to you.As I stated before I am Culture Shock telling you to keep calm and pony on.PEACE!
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