Thoughts on Pony Life: Is This how People saw S8?

Well then. I feel like it's pretty safe to say that ever since FiM ended, the world's gone to hell in a hand basket and I haven't been able to piece enough of anything together to post any writing. Coincidence? Probably, but that link's always fun to claim. Anyhow, we've all heard about the G4.5 spinoff Pony Life by now. I imagine protozoa on the surface of Mercury could hear the uproar when it was first announced. My personal thoughts over the last few months on it...Honestly, I wasn't getting optimistic, but I wanted to believe it would at least have some care put into it and fall under 'So ok it's average' territory. After seeing the trailer and character promos, that territory slipped to 'Kind of naff, except for Rarity'.

And now it's crunch time. Two of twelve(?) episodes out already and since they're both really short two parters, I'm just going to condense the parts together and...Ok, you know what? No. I've sat through what amounted to a single episode of FiM's time watching these and, I can't bring myself to go into detail since that would involve thinking hard about what I saw. I watched the second episode because I didn't just want to write it off instantly and really wanted to give it a chance to improve. So here's just a general conclusion on if it managed to do that:

Princess Probz & The Best of the Worst - Overview:

No.

So, the mane 6 first. Twilight seems to be stuck in twilighting mode as standard (as in seeing her calm and supportive is the exception!), and as an aside, there doesn't seem to be any point in keeping her an alicorn in this series. Pinkie is hyper pinkie, constantly playing up her excessive traits and apparently making potions that do whatever helps the plot (or doesn't, there's little rhyme or reason to it) on the side. Rarity, is actually okay, pretty much her usual self (if a tad excessive at times) and while everyone's clearly doing their best with the voice work she's killing it. Rainbow Dash, aside from her design being kind of off, is kind of all over the place and jumping into situations that make no sense (also she apparently turns into an OC when she's angry). Applejack remains a somewhat subdued sane mare, only she now has the power of breaking the fourth wall (admittedly, I'd be okay with this if it was handled well. So far, I'd argue it hasn't). Fluttershy...I'm not even sure why she's here to be honest, she didn't speak in two of the four episodes and only had about 4 lines across the other two. Also, apparently she can change size at will (maybe a potion thing but, never saw her take one). So yeah, if you're used to the old style of the mane 6, it's something of a rude awakening.

Speaking of used to the old style...The episode structure. Having only 5 minutes per episode rather than 21 really shows, the pacing was quick at best and already in the next state fast at worst. Combining that with a storyline that typically tends to just throw plot points in without prior context and expects you to keep up (while teasing flashes of quality occasionally), the result is just a confused mess where things just happen and you've got about two seconds to figure out how they relate to the story before starting again. I didn't even realise there was supposed to be a moral for the first episode until it was happening at the end! The animation isn't awful, even if it is rather simplistic, but considering how almost all the action takes place either indoors or at Sugarcube Corner, I can't help but wonder if they put a bit too much effort into Ponyville this time.

In conclusion, I wanted this to be decent. I really did. I tried it though and this time, I just don't see the few positive moments that gleamed through as enough to overcome the sheer insanity that make up the rest of the show. I've managed to avoid it myself but my viewing buddy described it as very similar in approach to Teen Titans Go. If anything, now I'm actually kind of hoping more characters from FiM don't return and be subject to this (sadly I know it's already too late for Spike, Celestia and Fancy Pants). According to a Q&A, Pony Life is a show for modern kids to relate to. If they relate to this, coronavirus is the least of our future problems.

In serious conclusion. Pony Life might be kind of fun for something to drunk watch. But for someone boring and sober like me, I don't think I'm going to give it a further watch unless I hear about it throwing a proper curveball further in the season...So, see you all when the G5 movie comes out, hopefully.