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Dramamaster829


Critic, Actor, Writer, Motivational Speaker, Occasional Singer

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May
13th
2019

She’s All Yak/A Friendship is Magic Season 9 Review · 4:04pm May 13th, 2019

GOOD AFTERNOON, FIMFICTION FANATICS!!! This is the Dramamaster829; Critic, Actor, Writer, Motivational Speaker, and Occasional Singer, keeping you up to date with the latest news for the final season of MLP! And no fellow readers there is no mistake: Out of all the Young Six, this would be essentially a straight forward ‘Yona’ episode which depends if it provides a decent story for fans who are already a fan of this character or hopefully to open the eyes of some of the non-fans who aren’t expecting too much to happen. For this particular case, not only are we dealing with a semi main-character romance shipping in a way that just came out of nowhere but we are taking a huge ‘My Fair Lady’ route hence where the title of this particular subject was nearly based off. After having fulfilled my Mother’s Day plans just the other day, the time has come to go over the latest episode of the season based off the ‘She’s All That’ premise appropriately entitled…

She’s All Yak

Warning: The following review contains spoilers, if you haven’t seen the episode please skip now.

The Story


My school dance predictions for this episode were right!

As previously discussed in my other blogs, the School of Friendship will be hosting a ‘Amity Dance’, essentially a ‘pony’ dance, bringing together the students and staff for a night of merriment. If it’s anything like the schools I went to during my years of schooling, you can almost expect everything except some rowdy students spiking the punch (No wait… That was during the ‘Grease’ production). Anyways, while the dance itself seems to follow a more ‘traditional’ approach with specific dances and though essentially ‘ponies’ are included, Twilight graciously welcomes the Student Six to attend the event.


Good thing for the hypnotism or Twilight would freak out at the Ladybug cutie mark.

But while most of the students share an interest in attending this big event, only one of them feels unsure about going:


AHOY THERE! SHIP AHOY!

While I’ll be discussing more about this in the characters portion, it’s interesting that out of all the students in the school Sandbar would be asking ‘Yona’ to be his pony-friend to attend the dance. For most fans, this moment came out of ‘nowhere’, as there had been no previous build-up leading to this moment, not even any subtle hints when the last season aired, and this leaves fans to question why Sandbar would want Yona to attend the dance. Hence where the ‘My Fair Lady’ storyline as Yona, while holding high regards for her culture, feels unsure about attending the dance as herself and strives to make any change necessary to fit in amongst all the other ponies. With Yona herself taking on the role of Eliza Doolittle, it seems only fitting that the one-character fit to take on the professor Henry Higgins part would be none other than:


That face when you’re interrupted at work and try to keep a straight face.

Whereas opposed to the story plot in which Rarity makes a bet that she can turn Yona into an upper class lady of quality or following some bet that Sandbar can ask ‘any’ student to the dance, what’s interesting with this story is that Yona makes this request to Rarity herself that she ‘wants’ to learn all the means of being a pony just to fit in. And Rarity, being the ‘Element of Generosity’ she is, offers to teach her the means of being a pony (In her own style).




Believe it or not, the alternate method used ‘marbles’.

From this moment on, Rarity deploys various techniques to help Teach Yona to articulate and enunciate her speaking (Much like Higgins did for Doolittle) while at the same time finding a look to help her standout.


Though I can see why Rarity wasn’t fond of the ‘Earthy’ dress look.

Through song, dance, and encouragement, Rarity aims to fulfill Yona’s wish to fit in with the crowd. The musical segment to follow is nothing like ‘With a Little Bit of Luck’ (I’ll get more into that later), but it’s a catchy upbeat song that not only highlights Rarity’s singing (Which several fans argue breaks the accent at times) but also offers a rare moment where Yona gets a few solo bars rather than mostly singing in the background… I will just say it’s not bad. Though I will add the lengthy number of looks Rarity attempts with Yona are almost hysterical.


Hmm… I don’t know…


Too 'Curly Sue'...


No...


Not bad...


Too Punk Rock, Rarity does it better...


Sheesh, Twilight just keeps getting roasted this season!

What I enjoy the most from this episode as it’s not just Yona seeking Rarity’s help to get ready for the dance, but this episode highlights each of the Mane Six in their efforts to help her fit in with the crowd. In which case Rarity assigns a few dance teachers to show Yona the traditional pony dances and surprisingly enough it’s Rainbow Dash and… Fluttershy?


She’s just a closet of hidden talents, isn’t she?

While the slower ‘Pony cotillion’ and the faster ‘Pony Prance’ are drastically different compared to the dancing Yona is essentially accustomed to, we slowly start to see what Yona is prepared to cast aside just to develop this character to satisfy Sandbar (We’ll get to him later). Additionally, Applejack and Pinkie Pie help Yona prepare a special dish for the potluck dinner, which in my experience with watch parties ‘Potlucks’ are a must with my guests. Definitely better than what Yona was essentially going to bring *Sniffs* Oooh I can practically smell it from here…


Least this is better than the time Starlight Glimmer tried baking in Season 6.

It doesn’t go easy for Yona initially and a certain someone doesn’t make it any better…


Target practice.

Fortunately, much like with ‘Beauty and the Beast’, none of these lessons take an overnight approach for Yona to master the art of dialect and dance. Within a few days of hard practice and dedication, Yona has essentially transforms into the ‘proper lady’ by the night of the dance.


Eat your heart out Julie Andrews.

While the overall apparel is clearly over-the-top along with Yona’s attempts to speak like a high-class pony, all this demonstrates the lengths Yona is willing to go through just to impress Sandbar (Who clearly wasn’t prepared for this drastic change). After all Rarity did work her flank off to make all this possible for Yona to begin with…


I run your class, I’ve saved your home many times, and own three establishments. NOW EAT YOUR SPROUTS!!!

DAH, MOTHER NO!!!! *Pause, Clears throat* Ahem… Moving on!

Initially everything seems to go well for Yona and Sandbar especially. Naturally she impresses her friend with how much she’s learned during both the Pony Cotillion and the Pony Prance, all the while having fun dancing together. But it doesn’t take long for things to go out of hand, or ‘hoof’ in this case, when Yona starts tripping over her own dress and her wig falls over her eyes. But to be fair, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash did neglect to teach Yona to dance in a dress…



“WE’RE SUPPOSED TO TEACH HER TO DANCE IN A DRESS?!?!”

It is at this point where the familiar plotline comes into play where things go from bad to worse, with Yona ‘literally’ crashing the party and leaving a big mess, all the while feeling as if she ‘failed’ in her own goal. So heartbroken and feeling responsible for the damage, Yona flees to the sanctity of their treehouse with no desire to leave from her solitude.


Aw hell! The waterworks are back!

It is here where it turns out my suspicions about Sandbar inviting Yona were right all along: He didn’t care whether Yona is a good or bad pony, heck it didn’t matter that she wasn’t in the first place. While the episode could’ve used more conflicts like essentially Sandbar inviting Yona as initially a wager he could ‘ask’ her out to the dance and immediately regretting when he saw how hard she’d work for him, it is a touching moment to see a nice guy like Sandbar already accepting Yona as she is from the start. Sure I may think that this sudden bond between the two still came out of nowhere for this episode alone, but I have to admit seeing the two together in this one moment shows how much Sandbar appreciates Yona as she is (Once again, I was right about the ‘Be Yourself’ moral coming into play).


“So this is the miracle, that I’ve been dreaming of…”

Brief note: There was an instance where a shooting star falls in the background which previously symbolized the death of ‘Applejack’s Parents’. I don’t know if it means anything or if it leads up to something, but I think it was a subtle touch.

Furthermore, while Yona does apologize for seemingly ruining the ball, in the end it’s the Mane Six themselves who share the blame attempting to turn Yona into someone she’s not. So, in a way, it’s the Mane Six who learn a valuable lesson through the budding friendship between Yona and Sandbar and ergo declare the two the winners of the ‘Pony Pal Contest’. Thus filling the need to put all traditions aside and just have a humble dance bringing many worlds together as one.


Next year, we’re adding ‘Daft Punk’ to the soundtrack.

While the story itself bodes many similarities to ‘My Fair Lady’, while it can be somewhat predictable, adding to a need for more of a conflict, and depending on whether fans liked Yona or not, for me this was a fun, heartwarming episode to watch. Proving that Yona has her own charms, the episode has many funny moments, and it’s loads of fun. Besides, anything to get fans familiar with ‘She’s All That’ and ‘My Fair Lady’, of which the overall episode was based off, at least the episode did that much justice.

Although the tender moment at the end was partly thrown off by having Yona getting every pony to dance the "Yakyakistan Stomp" but I'm going to let that pass...

The Characters

Pros:

Wow, she really does look beautiful with her fur down.

It stands without argument that Yona is quintessentially the highlight of the entire episode. Unlike the source material where Yona is straight forward ‘made’ to be a high society figure against her own whim or merely taking part in this scheme of being ‘any’ pony’s date, this journey was all because Yona herself asked for this. While Yona is proud of her traditions, her cooking, and her lifestyle as a Yak, Yona deep down wants to feel essentially a part of the pony culture and her willingness to learn strives her to go through all the trouble. So much that it all shows in this one image alone:


Brace yourselves, the fan art is coming!

Now we’ve seen Ocellus herself change into a pony at times and Smolder in a dress, but for me I feel this episode touches on a deeper level for Yona. We all wonder of whether Yona has this urge or desire to be a pony, considering the time she’s spent in ponyville since the School of Friendship opened. To think of all the things which she’d do in an equine world has she’d been born a mare instead of a Yak (Sort’ve like Ariel’s desires to be human instead of a mermaid). For fans of Yona, this was enjoyable episode for them. For those who aren’t, the episode may not have offered much new for Yona’s character going forward (Seeing as just filler) but hopefully there’s enough respect for offering a spotlight moment. I for one felt for Yona’s growth and desires throughout the episode, hence making me see why she’s a favorite amongst the Student Six (Or Young Six, same thing!).


Dude has more luck than Flash Sentry… Yeah, I went there.

On an additional note, this episode for me was Sandbar’s redemption after his idiotic portrayal during the ‘Uprooted’ episode several weeks ago. As initially odd that this ship between Sandbar and Yona came out of nowhere, we did wonder what was really going on with Sandbar or why of all the students he’d ask out Yona. Turns out it was never on a bet that he can ask anyone other than a pony to dance, but rather he really wanted to bring Yona because he liked her as she is. I may nitpick that there could’ve been more of this development in earlier episodes to essentially reel into what’s going on with the two, but what puts Sandbar on the positive section is how this episode demonstrates Sandbar’s strengths in being kind to his friends especially when he comforts Yona as she’s feeling down. The remainder of the students do fairly well on their own, but this was indeed a Yona/Sandbar moment.


You can hear the Gallus/Silverstream shippers scream in anguish!


I know people find it weird when they dance like humans, but this was a fun moment.

Unlike Professor Higgins who sought to teach Doolittle to speak with proper diction to prove he can pull it off, Rarity isn’t essentially doing so to prove anything but only because Yona ‘asked’ for her help. We see that she truly does her best to teach Yona on how to fit in and how to take part in the traditions, even though it was done with the wrong intentions. Naturally, none of Rarity’s actions nor her friends for the matter have them come off as bad it’s merely just the friends doing the best to their elements to help. Still, we can forgive all that with Rarity’s musical number and some of her moments were funny (Like the Sprouts part).

Cons:

For the reasons in the ‘Pros’ section, it was difficult to find any characters who were doing anything wrong in this episode (Which is a rare moment). Had there perhaps been some bullies who essentially made Yona feel bad for either being herself or initially blaming her for ruining the dance that’d be one thing. Had Sandbar seemingly ‘betrayed’ Yona’s trust when asking her to the dance was initially part of a bet (Wouldn’t be surprised if Gallus got involved) or if the Mane Six truly made Yona into something ‘she herself’ didn’t want, they’d probably make it on here too. But given what I’ve seen in the episode, I just couldn’t find anything so in a way the cast has been spared… For now.

The Music


I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a puzzle set of this image already!

The song “Fit Right In” may not automatically stand out amongst all the biggest songs the MLP staff have put together (And certainly no ‘I Could’ve Danced All Night’), it’s upbeat tempo along with the vocalizing on Rarity and Yona’s part makes it an enjoyable song. Not only does it highlight Rarity’s determination to turn Yona into a proper lady, but ultimately expresses Yona’s desire to be part of the crowd. It’s catchy, it’s fun, and I’d say this makes for a moment fans will reflect on the next time people think of ‘She’s All Yak’.



Any song that has Kazumi Evans belting out gets me jamming to the beat.

Overall, while the plot formula is very familiar to the fans (Especially if they’ve seen ‘My Fair Lady’) and could’ve used a more thorough conflict, to me I still consider this a fun episode for the fans. It really depends on whether fans like or disliked Yona going into this episode, but as for myself it’s nice to see Yona proving she wasn’t just introduced on the show to fill some space. I will admit while I was worried whenever I see ‘Yak’ in the title (Given how some ‘Yak’ episodes receive a bigger mixed crowd), for me I’d say it hits the mark of what makes a ‘decent’ episode and Yona offers many standout moments (Such as when she does her proper lady accent). Even though it’s tough to see where this initial ship between Yona and Sandbar develops passed a friendship, these cute scenes between the two make me a believer and I had a fun time watching this episode. It’s simple, it’s fun, it’s funny, and for me I feel this gets a soon to be patented ‘Rarity’s Seal of Approval’:


Future merchandisers should consider making ‘stamps’ of these.

But now comes the big question: What did YOU think? Be sure to leave a comment below at your earliest convenience.

Until next week, this is the Dramamaster829…

Offscreen: OOOOH… Mr. Dramamaster!!!

*Pause, eyes widen, turns around*


“You weren’t planning to leave without finishing your Sprouts, were you?”

EEEK!!! *Faces the crowd* Sorry folks, gotta go! *Shouts* YOU’LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!!!

*Dashes off, suddenly dragged back by a magical aura*

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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