I like tragedy's, but I tell ya', they ain't good for my heart. (Friendship is Tragic review)

So the previous three or so odd hours before this is being posted I was binging the splendidly tragic Friendship is Tragic by Scribbler Productions on YouTube. If you don't recognized the name, you'll probably recognize their most viewed video, Core of The Apple Part 3, because apparently, YouTube thought the 3rd video in a 4 video series was the the only one anybody wanted to watch. YouTube, never change. Regardless, what Scribbler Productions does is basically read off various comics and FanFictions involving many different characters and fandoms, but most predominantly MLP related content. One of their more recent large scale works, Friendship is Tragic, was released as a Halloween Special in 2021, and is actually a 7 part original story, sort of. I believe it incorporates ideas from both Vermillion's and LurkingBrony's work, old habits die hard I guess. But don't let the originality, or lack thereof, dissuade from watching the phenomenal story that they have patchworked. (Oh my god I just used Thereof in a sentence. Give me an English Doctorate already). I won't spoil much more here, but the story is beautifully paced and wonderfully accurate to the characters personalities, something I and many others do struggle with when attempting to write FanFictions of pre-established characters. However, I will say this. The story is interesting in the fact that it doesn't tell a story in-the-now, it tells a story through flashbacks, and relates that to the reader. It's not what I'd call an adventure, more a reverse adventure in the fact that only about 20 or so percent of the story takes place within modern times, giving the reader (Or I guess listener) a method of of exploring with the main character. Very smart, and seldom used sadly. If I might also mention that the first two episodes are extremely graphic. Nothing sexual, that doesn't come until the 5th, and even then it's just mentioned, but in the fact that there is gore, and screaming. Holy crap those VA's can scream well. Hot damn I'm not sleeping well tonight.

If you don't know, Scribbler Productions videos are typically told in a more audiobook-esqe manner, but this series being designed as a video, rather than a work of literature, the story does a lot less explaining of the characters actions ie. no narrator. So if you like to just drone out and listen to a long video in the background, you won't have as much of a success doing that with this story. Furthermore, I should tell you about the way they convey character actions, in a more audio-centric manner, with several images being used, but in more of a slideshow style than an animatic. All of the art used in the video is original, and sourced for the videos production, but, it's not all from the same artist. This is both a pro and a con, as it allows for a lot of visual stimuli, freeing up resources to give more focus to the dialogue, however the downside is that it means that there are 8 different art styles being presented back-to-back, making scene transitions oftentimes very jarring and off-putting. Although, I guess you should consider pearls before swine.

A very, very good thing I mentioned earlier was the voice acting. It is very good. Now, at this point, most people expect Scribbler Productions to bring their A game in the VA department, as it is mostly all they do besides art, but they really pulled through with this release. I haven't been this impressed with MLP character VAing since Friendship is Witchcraft or Rainbow Dash Presents, two fan series that had very consistent and believable voices for their respective characters, and Friendship is Tragic is no different. The voices feel real, not forced at all, (most of the time) and I can hear the emotion of the characters when they cry, when they get mad, when they feel. It's incredible, and I couldn't recommend the work more as a reference for good voice acting.

Now, if it's one thing you should understand, is that it's a tragedy, which means it doesn't have a happy, or very satisfying, ending. I do enjoy tragedies quite a bit for that quality. Disney's A Star Wars Story: Rogue One stands out among it's Disney Star Wars peers as a genuinely good film, that once and for all settled a debate, that being how the Death Star Plans were acquired. Now, I'm going to assume you have watched the film, so don't get all uppity if I spoiled the 6 year old film for you. The story is what I would call a soft tragedy, in that, yes, the movie ends with all the characters dead (Sad), but there is a happy outcome, in that their goal was achieved, get the Plans. Friendship is Tragic isn't like that. At the end of the story, everypony is still screwed, and in particularly worse shape than before, depending on how you look at it, that is. But, it's not depressing, 'Oh my god, everybody is dead!' sad, it's a bittersweet sad, and that's why it hits so hard. I'm sure everybody who has ever read a good story ever, has at one point felt that sinking feeling of 'That's it? That's how it all ends?' upon completing the story. With a tragedy, you want the pain to end, but you also have that feeling of wanting to see what happens afterwards. Friendship is Tragic takes that concept and exploits it masterfully. Here's the transcript of my yelling after the final scene played: "WHAT!? NO! NO! WHAT HAPPENS TO EVERPONY!? WHAT THE F^CK!? NO, MAN, NOOOOO!!!". If my Oscar performance didn't tell you enough, the story makes you care about the characters. The motivations and actions aren't 2d, they have meaning, and nuance, a very rare thing in todays media.

Overall, I could not emphasize enough just how much I enjoyed watching Friendship is Tragic, not just as a MLP project, but as art. It is truly incredible, and I do recommend giving it a watch. For me it's an 9/10, but for IGN, I would give it an solid 7.5/10, too much water.

Edit: I would like to add that a sequel, A Tale of Two Princesses, is currently in the works, so more sad stuff ahead! HOOT YAH BABY!