Always a Better Pony - S01E01 Friendship is Magic VS. Twilight's Kingdom · 3:11am Dec 25th, 2016
So, this is weird. We have two two parters on the pilot, no pun intended.
Friendship is Magic:
I really like this episode. It's got a lot going for it as it made a VERY good first impression on me. Is it flawed? Yes. But the flaws don't actually affect the episode in the slightest. Personally, I really liked how this episode played out. The first half is absolutely hilarious with Phoenix Wright style humor, clever writing and subtle adult jokes. My theory about the "hot sauce" is that it's just a brand name instead of the actual substance. The second half really brings out a sort of anime style of world building as we're explained that the Everfree Forest works just like our world. My only criticism to this episode besides the animation being a bit stilted is the same as my main complaint with My Pretty Seahorse, which was not that this episode couldn't do tone shift humor, but that it COULD do tone shift humor. Thankfully, it's not as much of a problem in this episode as it was in My Pretty Seahorse.
Rating: 8/10
Twilight's Kingdom:
This is the best episode of MLP in the first four seasons. It covers quite a few similar themes as the pilot does, so I decided to do this as the pilot's competitor. As opposed to the pilot, Twilight's Kingdom has episodes to call back on and an arc to resolve, and I think the episode did both very well. Now, one thing that this episode doesn't include is the aspect of mystery that the pilot had. It would've really been cool, but I'm glad with what the episode went with instead. Twilight's Kingdom also has an anime type of feel to it, especially with the Dragon Ball Z references all over the second half of the episode. My personal favorite part, though, would have to be the ending song at the end of the episode, which actually sums up the show as a whole quite a bit better. It feels like this episode is actually its own pilot to the later seasons of MLP, so I guess that help. Overall, I adore this episode.
Rating: 10/10
Winner: Twilight's Kingdom
