Finally started on season 9! · 11:54pm Oct 21st, 2019
Only five episodes in. Thoughts so far:
The Beginning of the End 1&2: Sombra's new voice sucks. Mixed about his portrayal otherwise. Not as bad as I feared, but lacking the competence he had the first time around. I did love the image of him holding Flurry Heart which was quite creep; on that note, seeing her shoot little laser beams was cute. Celestia and Luna are rendered useless as always, don't like the idea of Twilight taking their place but always expected it. Grogar is a boring villain so far (I'm aware of the twist but will reserve judgment for when I get there), but I'm really liking the interaction between Chrysalis/Tirek/Cozy Glow, the highlight of the story. Nice to see Fancy Pants. 3 out of 5.
Uprooted: Admittedly other than Smolder and perhaps Gallus, I'm admittedly indifferent at best to the student six. I've never been a fan of the Elements of Harmony idea, so I'm not bothered with the students being able to use them/finding a connection to them; I actually think it makes sense with the show's themes. The way they try and remember the Tree of Harmony in their own ways wasn't bad, with some amusing moments. 3 out of 5.
Twilight's Seven: Uh, nice that the voice actresses got to celebrate, I suppose. Most of it ranged from annoying to boring, though I did like Rarity's and Rainbow Dash's portions. Nice to see Shining Armor get some more screen time, even if he came off pretty annoying here. Spike's scheming/backstabbing made him unlikable here IMO, as well as Luna's usual petty jealousy. 3 out of 5.
The Point of No Return: Not a bad sequel of sorts, and we even get Moondancer in another speaking role. Felt like a nice throwback to simpler times of seasons 1&2, feeling far more naturalistic than many episodes the last few seasons IMO. Unfortunately I wasn't really engaged by the guest cast otherwise, which dragged it down a lot. 3 out of 5. (Almost a 4, but I round down when uncertain.)
Overall, not feeling this season too much so far, but neither have any of the episodes been bad. It's just...decent.
I love Beginning of the End.
Sparkle's Seven,I also love, but the scene with Zephyr hurts it for me.
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Very mixed on Beginning of the End, since like all the epic plots it tends to rely on characters acting stupid for it to work. This goes for both sides; Sombra could have absolutely obliterated everything in his path if this wasn't a kid's show (What if he just decided to twist Flurry's head off?), while Twilight has to ignore hax powers like teleportation to give a sense of threat while major players stand by and do little to nothing. Still, not a bad opener considering how stuffed it was.
Hmm, what in particular about Zephyr Breeze's portrayal? Not a big fan of him seeming to backslide, but then again I've never cared for the character admittedly, and he's one I'd retcon out of the show if I could, sorry to his fans.
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Twilight forgetting her powers when stressed is pretty much a staple of the series.
As for Zephyr, it's his crush on Dash. While I didn't mind him in Flutter Brutter, that aspect is his worst trait.
And it was the one most on display during his bit.
It was pretty much all the cringe from his first appearance packed into a minute, making it hit harder.
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True about Twilight, but this is 9 seasons in; it's pretty tired and lazy by now IMO when she's supposed to have supposedly learned so much. And it's not like she doesn't have a ton of friends around her to remind her, either.
I found the Zephyr scene funny, but mostly due to Dash, who was cute in her outfit. Sadly, he just seemed too immature otherwise, but I'm not invested in him so I just shrugged it off mostly.