Season 8 already? · 12:20am Mar 25th, 2018
Man, it's a trip to think that it's been so long. It's probably a lucky thing I got into pony on the ground floor, as if I'd stumbled across it, say, now, with over 150 episodes (and counting!), I'd probably write it off and just go find something better to do with my life. Which maybe means I would've written the great american novel instead of hundreds of thousands of words of pony story, but hey, what can you do.
In any case, I figured I'd stay on top of things and watch the S8 premiere, with thoughts recorded below. Or, well, transcribed from the stuff I scribbled in my notebook as I went along. Said notes are actually semi-coherent, as this Merlot is rather shitty so I didn't get tore up(tm) as I watched pony. Huh. Maybe next time I should go for a Shiraz? Or, y'know, fancy beer.
But yeah, semi-spoilers behind the cut!
So here we are, the first season past the movie. And naturally, my thoughts go to another Hasbro property, my One True Fandom Love, Transformers. For those unaware, after Transformers: The Movie (the animated one, not the Bay monstrosities), the franchise completely shifted gears (ha ha car pun). The movie killed off a bunch of characters, and introduced a whole bunch more. After the movie, the subsequent season of the TV cartoon went for a futuristic, space-opera vibe, in stark contrast to the (generally) Earth-focused stories from the pre-movie seasons.
And I'm kind of seeing the same pattern here. Oh sure, Twilight and Company aren't dead (well, apart from the 'character assassination!' hue and cry rising up in some corners of the fandom). But Horse-Hogwarts (Horsewarts?) is a stark contrast from the Ponyville stuff we've been seeing. And sure, we're only two eps in so far, but the focus on the school will probably mean fewer opportunities for all those background ponies we've come to love over the last few seasons to pop up.
... then again, I suppose Special Agent Golden Harvest is probably out gallivanting with Flash Sentry (HERO OF EQUESTRIA), so that's a thing. Maybe they can pal around with Tempest Shadow, a.k.a. Lady Not-Appearing-In-This-TV-Show.
Not gonna lie, I was mostly eager to watch this premiere so I could gather material for a future installment of the Flash Sentry Papers, and hoo dear I am a pretentious ass, aren't I? Because obviously Flash Sentry's account of the events will differ from those of certain popular entertainments, which are necessarily whitewashed to make them more palatable for a broader audience ...
Seriously, I got ideas.
I mean, hell, just the EEA alone is ripe for fanfic. Because honestly, who are they kidding? What kind of School Board has its very own Star Chamber, and is headed by a creepy Dr. Strange looking dude voiced by Maurice LaMarche? Seriously, Neighsayer is great, and I'm looking forward to seeing him come back and be antagonistic in the finale. Also, how has it taken this show so long to get Maurice LaMarche to do a voice? Should we expect Rob Paulsen, too? Now I want them to get Rob Paulsen to voice Neighsayer's assistant and IT WOULD BE THE BEST THING EVER.
Oh! And may I mention my new favorite character, GENERAL SEASPRAY.
I mean, he lives in the water, he transforms ...
So either Seaspray went and used that weird magic lagoon to turn into a seapony for, uh ... reasons, or OBVIOUSLY General Seaspray was named after another great aquatic hero that had once saved the world through the power of being a boat.
But, uh, anyway. The school. I found the song kind of underwhelming (musically, at least-- some of the visual bits were neat). I guess all those students are shitty singers 'cause they're bad at friendship? Whatever. Rarity also wears a schoolmarm outfit for Applejack which I'm sure has naughty fanart of it posted on derpibooru by now.
We get some more friendship business with the new toys characters, and ... meh, whatevers. None of them turn into boats. Or, well, maybe the changeling one COULD but she doesn't because she isn't as cool as Seaspray.
Sad-Twilight listening to sad phonograph music is pretty great, I should note.
Blah blah blah more friendship business, potential war, etc. Also, the Friendship Kidz (with a z), have shacked up in the HAUNTED CASTLE OF DEATH, which is about standard. And then they get attacked by Critters!
I mean, there's more crossover bait for you. I'll let you guys have that one for free-- I've got enough to work on as is. I am, however, amused by the fact that Pinkie takes Fluttershy's request to let the critters "leave nicely" as a cue to SHOOT THEM OUT OF A CANNON. Pinkie's pretty great.
And it's the requisite happy ending, in which Twilight Sparkle learns an important lesson about royal privilege, and how she should have just told creepy Dr. Strange pony to piss off to begin with. I mean, the EEA's a conspiracy, right? They even wear creepy robes and have magic amulets!
In any case, I'll not pass judgement on the new season just yet. I kind of get the feeling that it'll be like the last season-- we got a lot of Starlight episodes, but there were also a couple of solid episodes in there that could have fit in just fine in earlier seasons. So hopefully things won't be exclusively at the school, giving us the chance for some proper day-to-day stuff in Ponyville. Oh, and Rarijack, too. 'cause that stuff is canon.
So yeah. That's my take on things. If there's enough interest I may make not-sober ep recaps/reviews a thing this season, who knows?
If there's one thing DWK has taught me, it's that this fandom could always use more tipsy reviews.
And yeah, it definitely seems too soon to say how this season will go.
I'm pretty sure Seaspray is one of those "both a Pony and a Transformer" names from the 80's. <.< Though I guarantee G1 Seaspray would have been neither a general, nor male...
4824661
Seaspray was released with G3, in 2005.
http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/G3_Seaspray
Or at least that's the only one I'm finding.
4824661
Come to think of it, Seaspray should be an admiral, not a general.
Because BOATS.
Oh and I guess there are ponies too.
4824670
Slight difference in name, but this is the one I was thinking about:
http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/Sea_Spray
The first thing I thought on seeing the critters was, "Holy Carp! Evil bushwoolies; how cool is that?" Damn, they missed an G1 tie-in opportunity there.