My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic! Discussion
 

What's the deal with this show? I've had SO many people recommend the series to me, but I still can't bring myself to watch it. What on Earth could possibly make a children's animated series so popular among adults?

The best I can figure is that your expectations are so low going into it that when you find out it's not abysmal, you're super excited. It's like if you handed a three year old a few crayons and he scribbled out a house. It's not good art by any stretch of the imagination, but for what it is, it's impressive.

And that's what MLP is. It may be a fantastic kids' show, but it IS a kid's show and should be judged accordingly. These people simply can't do that.

Nostalgia? There was a My Little Pony in the 1980s.

Other than that, no clue. Not watch it myself.

There is a lot of documentation on it.

You can try the wiki or better yet this is a decent article;

http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/09/07/m...y-little-pony/

Read it and the follow up.

Admittedly It does nothing for me, but I can't hate on the show cause a lot of Dexter's Lab and PPG people worked on it and they generally kick ass so, they know how to make toons that appeal to wide age groups.

Also Amarok, you don't watch any shonen do you? Cause if you do you are in fact watching shit made for kids.

Okay, so here's how it goes:
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/ideas-com...riven-era.html

^That article pissed off a few people in /co/ (4chan's cartoon board). Because MLP was mentioned in it quite a bit, quite a number of people went to go watch the show. It just so happens that the creator of MLP is also the creator of Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home (the former was something I watched occasionally 15 years ago or so and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends was pretty awesome).

The rest of /b/ found out eventually and by the second episode, many were hooked for different reasons, whether it be themes and characters or the bright artwork in contrast to many cartoons produced in Western media.

And being that it originated on /b/, the source of many memes and images (9gaggers, disagree all you want, but it's true), it spread rapidly, combined with the fact that Hasbro didn't really take MLP episodes which were being streamed on Youtube, down.

Eventually, there was a huge shitfest in /b/ and MLP was the center of the argument, between users who loved the show and those who didn't.

It also helps that a lot of the developers for the show have made accounts on Youtube AND 4chan/reddit (yes, including Lauren Faust; she posts on /co/) to interact with the demographics and receive feedback.

Celebrities and famous figures have also referenced the show, and that goes a long way in advertising something. Bill Clinton was asked about characters on MLP on NPR and Colbert gives a shoutout to "bronies" on a particular episode.

Long story short: Started out as a movement to prove an article wrong, then exploded into an internet trend.

Edit: What Dilla said. Fosters I was aware but don't know why I mentioned it of but PPG not so much.

The new version has almost zero similarity to the old one outside of colorful ponies as main characters from what I understand.

Slight correction, Lauren Faust is the wife of the creator of PPG and Foster's, who is Craig McCraken. She was story artist for the former and head writer for the latter.

I've watched a couple of episodes.... but I was immediately thinking "Powerpuff Girls" subversiveness with crazy colored horses before I knew the same creative talents were involved.

Powerpuff Girls was quite amusing (Panty&Stocking drew a lot of style from it). I see a few inklings but mostly it is a kid's show that isn't as utterly crappy as its competition.

Somehow I have a hard time wrapping my mind around flame/troll wars around MLP. -_-

Yes - I know such things are theoretically possible, having seen similar things over what seem to me to be equally silly occasions for discussion, but still.... :heh:

If you still want know why MLP is awesome, let this Know Your Meme video explain.

very good art, animation, voice-acting ! (especially .. Fluttershy's voice :o_god: .. and once you realise that Pinkie and Flutters are voiced by the same VA ...........) & ofc characters


and Q-iscord !



and you know the show is for adults as well if there are The Big Lebowski references in it .. not that it matters for whom it is, if it's good I watch it

its a really good series i enjoy it derpyhooves <3

The western Moe culture has begun and MLP is at the forefront of this movement :heh:

Why couldn't we stick to catgirls?

Cause we use catgirls as sexy in the West?

Blasphemy! Catgirls are supposed to be cute!

I just don't understand why people my age [17-18] are watching it. And they're all male. It seems like a little girls cartoon.

:eyebrow:

It is. But the creator also made it accessible to older audiences as well so that when they watch it with their little daughters/nieces/w/e they won't have to feel like hammering their heads in when do.

That moe joke I made earlier was actually semi-serious to be honest. If you were to show some magical girl shows like Pretty Cure or Shugo Chara to an average person unaware of anime and manga culture (hell you could probably extend this to include the bishoujou type shows as well), they'd straight up tell you those shows are for little girls and only little girls should be watching that (and they'd be completely right in a sense). I'm pretty sure many anime fans would even share that same viewpoint too and yet here they are with a massive male otaku following and fanbase for some strange reason.

The same thing that's happening there is pretty much happening here too with MLP imo. Same phenomena just in a different media culture.

It'd be pretty interesting to see how much overlap there is between MLP fans and anime/manga otaku fans tbh. I really do wonder how many "bronies" out have next to no knowledge of otaku culture at all.

I certainly wouldn't watch it of my own accord. It probably stems from my vague knowledge of it back in the 80's when the cartoon movies, and the toys, were strictly for girls.

That being said, my daughter, who is ~almost 5~ does have a couple My Little Pony figures, and she loves playing with them. One of them is pink, has moving wings, a unicorn horn, and wears a tiara (Can't think of the name). So as she grows older, and earns more TV time, I imagine I'll be watching a few episodes with her. From the descriptions posted here, I might not have to kill myself. :)

BTW - "earn TV time" means exactly that. 1 hour of reading and/or math when she comes home from school earns 1/2 hour of TV.

Endless "Not a bronie" Soul

Come to think of it, since Primary Four, I start wondering about the entertainment value of TV other than anime, sci-fi and documentary. Up till today, I am still struggling with the fact that watching "Margin Call" and not using Facebook effectively grants you the status of "antisocial" and "depressed".

If only there were more parents like you...