I watched Filly Funtasia. My Thoughts. · 10:02pm Apr 11th, 2021
But honestly I had forgotten all about it until I saw an image of it on Deviant Art and I was surprised that it was still around. It turns out the show was in development hell for a long time and only in the last year has come out with actual episodes of the show. Of course, they're not really shown in America on any real tv channel, and only limited to a few streaming services.
So let me give a quick history about this. Filly Funtasia is based on a Hong Kong toy line called "Filly" in which it similar to MLP, but tries to use its own lore, magic system, and some other things to try and make it different. It's apparently got quite a following in Hong Kong and places in Europe (Germany especially) and there was work into making this a show with studios from Hong Kong and Italy. After years of dealing with a bunch of issues, they finally came out with the first season last year and the second season is starting this year.
Filly Funtasia follows the adventures of five fillies (to avoid Hasbro lawsuits both males and females are called fillies instead of ponies) from different kingdoms who all go to a magical school to increase their talents in magic and education. It's kinda like Hogwarts, but for those of noble or royal bloodlines since everyone who attends is a prince or princess and cast magic with their crowns. Magic is primary done through crystals who can do different effects based on the crystal color or method it was made, but there needs to be a conductor to channel the magic. Sometimes this is done through their crowns, but most of the time its done through their Crystal Mirrors which act as "wands" in a way. Plus they act as portable cellphones since they can be used to call others like using video or facetime. Silly, but points for going out of their own way to make it different.
The five go on different adventures or learn different lessons based on the episode of the day such as learning responsibility, forgiveness, friendship, etc. All while trying to avoid the acts of the big bad, Wranglum, who once destoryed the Filly Realms with the power of the Dark Crystal, and his assistant, Battiwings, who are trying to free the dark demon from his prison inside a dark mirror. The villian I personally find weak and a joke, so I can't really take him seriously save for a few episodes. Battiwings on the other hand is maybe my favorite character because he's adorable and a butt-monkey and really I like characters like that.
So the world has typical stuff you would see in a kids MLP inspired story, but instead of it being about the adventures of friendship it's about students growing up and learning to be better adults as they get older while honing their magic. A coming of age story in a way or Harry Potter but if was G-Rated. One thing I will give credit for is the unique type of races they created for this. Elf Fillies are essentially horse elves. Witch Fillies are wiccan based horses who can fly and case unique weather spells. Fairy fillies are what you get when you give a pony changeling wings. And so on and so forth. There are the normal four we've seen in MLP such as Unicorns, Pegasi, Earth Ponies, and even Alicorns, but they all rule their own kingdoms with the others. Also, it is implied that the big bad did perform or tried to perform acts of genocide so there is a bit of darkness in this.
First is our main protagonist who is Rose, a bright and caring unicorn princess who is talent in magic and leadership. She's pretty much this shows version of Twilight Sparkle (Ironically the headmistress is named Sparkle and one of the teachers is named Twilight), but much more grounded in reality then Twilight. Like Twilight, she's a natural leader, cares about her friends, and has a destiny tied to her due to the show's lore. Rose I find okay as a character for the most part.
Next is Bella, an Elf filly (See the ears) who loves nature and flowers, but is an air head, naive, and cares a lot about her beauty. Think of her as a combination of Derpy's clumsiness, Fluttershy's love of nature, and Rarity's sense of romance and beauty. I actually find her to be my favorite of the five because of how silly and innocent she is. Plus most of the voice actors I think do a pretty god job of her.
One thing that Filly Funtasia does different that I give them credit for is having male protagonists in a girl focused show. Will is a fairy filly whose known for being a wild party animal, prankster, and doesn't take a lot of thing seriously, but has a good heart. Will is the one who messes up a lot on the show, and is the comic relief, but I actually find his character interesting. I don't know maybe its the design or just seeing a guy try to act cool when reality he needs to just be more himself. Think of him as their Rainbow Dash.
The other male protagonist is Cedric, an normal filly prince who is known for being smart and logical, even inventing his own stuff, but is socially awkward and doesn't understand emotions sometimes due to his high value in logic. He's the most boring character to me personally and there really aren't a lot of the episodes focused around him save for one when he acts like a jerk. He also has a one-side crush on Rose. Cedric is like a male version of Season 1 and 2 Twilight Sparkle.
Finally, we have Lynn. Not really a lot is focused on her save for one episode really. She's a Witch filly, so she can fly and cast spells that effect the weather. She's more of a tomboy and has a heavy sarcastic nature while pulling pranks off with Will so their best friends. She actually tried to be alone most of the time until Rose eventually won her over and she became a close friend later on. I really can't think of MLP character she could based on. Maybe some combination of Trixie, Gilda, and Starlight? I don't know.
As for the episodes, its kinda of like seeing MLP G1 and G3 combined. Sure, they are in danger, but the reasons and actual dangers aren't as serious as Friendship is Magic was or some of the G1 dangers. It's honestly more lighthearted then serious despite trying to play it up. Still some episodes I do find interesting and others just plain cringe. It really depends on how you see them.
Most of them can be found on Dailymotion, but only season 1 is translated into English from the Italian dub. And while Season 2 is there in Chinese, the translation subs are horrible so I would avoid those until season 2 is better translated. There are three episodes in English, but the English dub is horrible. Like Pre-Toonami Anime levels horrible. Avoid it unless you want to MST it.
My final thoughts? It's a harmless show. Nothing too terrible or bad about it that that makes it worth being hated and there were parts and characters that I do like. I am interested in seeing what season 2 will be like when properly translated. So yeah, give maybe a few episodes a watch and see what you think.
Also the theme song is catchy, especially in Italian:
Is this a G6 leak?
5495596
No it's not G6. It's not related to MLP or made by Hasbro It's its own thing
5495596
No it's a completely new franchise.
This thing actually got made?
5495601
Yeah, first season is done and second season is underway though the second can only all be seen in chinese on some chinese streaming site. The other episodes are going one by one in other nations. You can see the first season completly in italian with english subs on Dailymotion
5495599
Ah, my bad.
Yes... even pony tales i think was something other than hasbro.
As someone who loves stuff like 4Kids, I'm genuinely interested in watching this show once the full first season gets dubbed
5495618
You can find three of the episodes in English on youtube and dailymotion
5495621
Yeah I've come across those, but I'd feel weird watching those three without having what came before.
If the first three were the ones dubbed, I'd be perfectly fine watching it
I decided to watch the first Italian episode with the English dubs after you posted. It was kind of amusing, honestly— definitely kid-age problems, meant for the proper demographic. I used to take Italian in school, so I was alternating between trying to pay attention and seeing if I recognized the words I used to know. I was able to catch quite a bit, but they talk so friggin' fast.
All in all, decent, but I ain't gettin' attached.
5496000
I love 4Kids because more often than not, I have fun watching what they put out
5495604
Besides Dailymotion, where can I find it?
5496035
Some of the episodes I think are on youtube but that's all I know. They're on certain streaming services but they're all non-english
Huh. Guess it was about time someone broke the monopoly on magic tiny horses :P Probably not going to watch this, tbh.
5497464
I find it extremely ironic that you are saying that, considering your username.
Though I do agree, it's hard to argue with that. I also used to like 4kids, but to be fair, I never really noticed the more bullcrap censoring attempts aside from the famous "Donuts" scene in Pokemon.
5499575
Yes to the donut scene. They thought american kids wouldn't know what a rice ball was, and instead of letting them ask, they decided to have Brock call them jelly donuts instead.
6-year-old me was so confused, because I didn't know they were rice balls, but I did know they looked nothing like any jelly donut I had ever seen. XD
As for your name, I am amused because you went on a rant about why 4kids was bad, only for the person you ranted at to say one thing: "I'm not bothered by that." Your only response was "Well, I can't argue with that..."
You might say they hit you with a strike of justice. ;p