Ponylife Reaction · 11:19pm Jun 30th, 2020
Wowzers *blows dust off bloggy* it's been a while ^^
So, Ponylife is now a thing! For those who don't know (or live under a rock) it's a series composed of shorts, so far seeming to be following a pattern of two five minute episodes. The characters have become visually chibified and the voice actresses return for their respective roles (for the most part, Celestia is different and Twilight was voiced by someone else almost flawlessly in the first set of the episodes). The episodes are just short adventures, not taking themselves too seriously, with visually minimalistic somewhat flat-looking backgrounds.
So far I've seen the pilot and the second set of episodes. I found them both cute but forgettable. There are a few gags I laughed out loud at -- particularly the one where Dash crushes her little fan with her trophy, though it does seem a bit cruel. The pace is also fairly quick, which is a given considering the length of the episodes, and characters talk a lot. The downside of taking that approach in directing is sometime the audience isn't given a chance to take in what's going on and or just breath. Personally I find speed and lack of silence a bit off-putting, but that's just personal preference.
MLP: FiM's gone through a lot of different iterations -- Equestria Girls, the movie, Rainbow Road Trip -- as well as thematic iterations, not to mention different directions, and while one could argue past Faust's involvement it became a derivative work, moving away from many of the themes she established early on, I can honestly say this is the first time I am not too terribly taken with something officially pony-related in ten years. Feels it lacks the charm and is only superficially related to the source material, which is kind of a bummer.
There's been a comparison to Teen Titans Go! and I can certainly see it. While I never got into the original Teen Titans I could feel what they were going for in the brief bits of the series I watched with my younger family members, and to be honest... I think Teen Titans Go is more enjoyable as it still uses silence and feels like it's trying to be light parody. Ponylife feels possibly like a parody of Friendship is Magic, which if it is that has it's own drawbacks.
In the end Ponylife is something I'll watch once or twice, but I don't think it's worth rewatching. FiM had some pretty awesome lessons about dealing with one's own emotions -- particularly unattractive ones that can cause people to feel vulnerable -- or the feelings of others in a social environment, as well as getting along with people and seeing that there's more to them than you might've initially expected. In a sense it shares a few things in common with Mr. Rogers -- dealing with feelings, interpersonal connections, and socialization. Ponylife doesn't seem to have those themes going for it, and I think that's part of the charm that pulls some people in.
That said, if ya like Ponylife, awesome. It's worth watching, just not for me.
Hope everyone's keeping safe! Take care 
-WP
Now that the show is over what’s your overall opinion on each of the mane 6?
I honestly couldn't tell you much, as I was put off by mostly the themes and the structure of Pony Life, but I can say Fluttershy seemed a bit manic, Rarity seemed even more exaggerated and I didn't really care for Rainbow's new character design. if it's your thing, that's groovy, but I decided to pass. Might watch it down the road though.
Thanks for your interest