A serious honest question for all of you.
Is there anything G4 did that you think G5 is doing better?
This is not asking for any kind of bashing, nor is it an attack on my part, I’m just flat out curious.

7970525 The film was better.

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Yes. Personally, I genuinely feel that the Mane 6 in G5 do feel like BEST friends. Not saying G4 Main 6 did not, is just that whenever they met were always under coincidences and more like when you find a good friend you haven't seen in a while.

G5 Mane 6 genuinely feel like they know each other well and hang out by will, because they want to, not because their circumstances conveniently gathered them all together.

I also feel the songs are bangers. G4 has lots of amazing songs, no doubt, but I personally remember 80% of G5 songs more than G4, and not because they're lesser, but because I just think they're catchier.

G5 has a more story driven plot compared to G4 which was usually contained within a season and still very limited in plot related episodes in that regard.

Also, the worst of G5 is nowhere near as bad or anger inducing as the worst of G4 for me so there’s also that.

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I’ll just say it: I personally think that, as a “castle town”, Zephyr Heights looks waaaaay better than show-canon Canterlot, visually-speaking. The checkerboard and heart patterns of Canterlot in the show always felt a little ugly to me, when it’s supposed to be this amazing, prestigious castle city (it looked a LOOOOOOT better in the movie, and it’s actually my favorite canon depiction of Canterlot, but that was the only time it was shown).

Zephyr Heights, on the other hand, has a wonderfully solarpunk, art deco design that feels much more regal and majestic, befitting the Pegasi who created it. It feels much more like where a royal family would live, and where the pinnacle of Pony innovation and civilization would reside, much like Canterlot used to be in G4.

Don’t get me wrong, I will always love Canterlot because of its location and because, come on, it’s a fantasy castle city, but I just like the visuals of Zephyr Heights more.

Now, if we’re talking about fanon Canterlot, with much more impressive walls, a bigger castle, a bigger city, airship docks, floating gardens, and the like, then that’s a different story. But in canon versus canon, Zephyr Heights wins.

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Well, I like the way some of the ponies look in 3D, I like the concept of a cg MLP show. Ponies look really good in 3D.

That's kind of the only compliment I can give G5. I watched the show a few months ago, and honestly, I can't remember anything about it, story wise.
Which I think is a testament to how memorable G4 is compared to G5, I watched G4 through only once, nearly five years ago, yet I remember most big plot details. I was barely even paying attention half the time too.

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Yeah, in addition to the answers provided already, I would also say that G5 did a much better job setting up Misty's reform than G4 did in setting up the reforms of ANY of its villains (which usually happened with little to no set-up in G4).

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Zephyr Heights, on the other hand, has a wonderfully solarpunk, art deco design

SolarPunk Group

Now, if we’re talking about fanon Canterlot, with much more impressive walls, a bigger castle, a bigger city, airship docks, floating gardens, and the like,

Canterlot City MAP

7970525 3D is better than flash animation. Well, at least for the G5 movie it was. It all went downhill from there.

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• 3D animation, although lacking in quality at times
• Misty. She had a more well-paced villain reformation arc than many G4 villains, and her story touched topics like abusive family relationships and alienation from birth parents, topics not really discussed in G4.
• Characterization is better. I feel like initial design of the G5 universe is better than G4. The G5 characters feel more relatable, like I could meet a real person with a personality like Zipp Storm, Izzy Moonbow, etc. But where G5 fell short is the poor storytelling. Make Your Mark was decent but some of the mini-shorts just feel like a good character looking for a story.
• Agree with others that the G5 music is more catchy. G4 was more "Disney-esque" traditional children's music (which is good in its own right don't get me wrong), G5 has a more modern "pop" feel.

Villains Focus: I like that G5 spends more time with it's villains (Opaline and Allura) to better build up a connection with them since we are spending more time with them.
It also give the villains more opportunities to be more than just a force the heroes need to defeat. Take Opaline and the Legion of Doom. She had an episode where got to see her in a more casual setting outside of trying to get Sparky's dragon fire. The legion of Doom had an episode where they grew closer to each other. I find both episodes to be great for giving the baddies more character while being hilarious for that same reason. The big difference I want to highlight is, G5 did that for their first Supervillain while FIM only did something like that in it's ninth and final season because villains were not as in focus with them only being around for a season premiere and/or finale.

Virtue/element of the Alicorn: The elements of Harmony are represented by certain virtues, Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter, Kindness, and then there's Magic. Twilight's element stands out significantly from the rest of the team by having her element be disconnected from the rest of the elements because isn't an attribute of character and feels like the narrative is putting it, and as a result Twi by association, on a pedestal to a certain degree. One example of Twilight being differentiated from the other 5 come from the mane 6's evil clones in the Mean Six. The clones act in direct opposition to their counterpart's element (Mean Applejack is liar, Mean Pinkie clone is grumpy, etc) except Mean Twilight, who is just an evil version of Twilight, because there is no exact opposite to something like Magic. With Sunny, she has a virtue like the rest of her team, Hope. That fits better with the Kindness, Heart, Bravery/Courage, Creativity, and Confidence than if she embodied something like Light. It's one of the virtues without feeling it is above them, and as a result, so does Sunny.

Dragons (of the Isle of Scaly): In choosing G4's two legged designs from G5's four legged approach, I prefer the four legged designs (all two and a half of them). I appreciate that they look more dragon like (and I just prefer quadruped over bipedal in general. It makes them look more animal than human). Not to mention, each one has a distinct ability (their own elemental power) and personality from what we see of them ( though it is a shame we did not get more on either).

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Ooooo, this is cool! I love the illustrations of Canterlot city further down the thread (the north and south ones). THAT is how Canterlot should’ve been in the show (as well as that art from Plainoasis, which is just STELLAR).

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Definitely. For me, it’s the thematic/emotional storytelling that works the best. G5 dares to go places that FIM refused to, and handles its lessons with a lot more maturity and depth. It tackles realistic topics such as recovering from abusive relationships, finding your self-identity, social status, found family, reconciling grief, loss, overcoming adversity, fatherhood, fitting in, etc. I can go on and on about how beautifully executed these themes were and how much symbolism and subtle metaphors for personal growth are present in here. Lessons like it’s okay to be introverted and shy, friends being your true family, and giving people the time and space to grow into the best versions of themselves, are very complex topics, as is showing realistic depictions of abusive parental relationships, and showing how hard it is to reconnect with your child after you lost them for so many years, and this generation handles them beautifully. There’s a deep understanding about (ironically) the human condition and how people in unwanted circumstances operate that I think works so well. What sold me on our new Mane Five right out of the gate was that they were all either outcasts in some manner, or non conforming to the environment they’re in, instead desiring connections with ponies like them. Sunny and Izzy both felt like they didn’t belong in the climate they were in at first, and Zipp and Misty both desired something greater for their lives in one way or another. And this generation has what I like to call “magical moments,” where the emotional power of the story is turned up to 1,000% and it results in an insanely epic payoff (i.e: “The Magic In Us” sequence and the “Let Your Magic Run Wild” scene with Izzy fully unleashing her imagination). It is these moments that drive a sense of emotional catharsis home in a seriously satisfying manner, and it’s something G4 didn’t have in comparison with only a couple exceptions. The morals conveyed are less basic and are overall more complex, with deeper layers to analyze and study, both in the way our characters behave, and the way the lessons and intended themes are driven home to the audience. It’s this that ultimately sets this generation way above its predecessor, and I respect the hay out of it because of that.

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• Ongoing story. One of my personal biggest problems with G4 was that the plot focused episodes were almost always the two part season premieres or finales, while the rest of the season was just random slice of life episodes with no ongoing plot to keep the viewers intrigued. G5 also has slice of life episodes that don’t really move the ongoing narrative forward, but the villain (whether it be Sprout, Posey, Opaline or Allura) was almost always shown to be trying to move their plan forward in the background, even if the main characters weren’t always aware of it.
• Villain depth. As mentioned above the villains in G4 usually only appeared during the premieres or finales, giving the show very limited time with which to develop them. We also usually never get to see things from the villain’s perspective. This really bites the show in the tail when it tries to reform one of its villains. For example, prior to learning that Starlight’s motivations were that she was essentially lashing out in pain because she lost contact with Sunburst when they were fillies, she had shown no redeeming qualities, yet once we learn this backstory Twilight to able to talk her down and get her to abandon her plan in about three minutes. In G5, the villains have a constant background presence. We often cut away from the main cast to see what the villain’s up to, allowing us to learn who they are and how they operate. And seeing both sides of Misty’s double life really gets us to root for her reformation, because we’ve seen what she’s gone through and know what she’s thinking.
• Group dynamic. With the G4 Mane Six they all have such different personalities and come from such different clicks you get the feeling that while they might have been friends in passing if fate didn’t essentially forced them together with the Elements of Harmony in the pilot they never would have become a group. With the G5 Mane Six while they also have different personalities and come from different clicks they all met naturally this time and gel together so well that you have no trouble believing that five of them live together under the same roof.
• Music. Most of the songs in G4 were so specific to the situation or episode that trying to use them out of context would only lead to confusion. While some of the songs in G5 are still like this, most of them can be used in multiple places (such as Everything is gonna be okay or Up).

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Thanks for the mention.
It's also fitting you mention seeing the Villain's perspective since there is a future song coming up involving that very topic with Allura (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u82S3HRl04)
Considering it's lyrics and Allura showing genuine compassion to Twitch I think they could be setting up a reformation for her, and I would be on board for that.
It would not be the first time they forgave a tyrant for brainwashing a village (you don't know how long I've waited to make that joke).

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It’s definitely the new mane 6 who set this generation above the previous one. I also find them to be far more mature characters than the old mane 6, which makes them much easier to watch.

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Honestly? The alicorn transformation
Like sunny getting the alicorn treatment as a earth pony is awesome!

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Honestly its like hasbro knows that there are still some older bronies watching so they add in the themes to say "we know you're growing but you don't have to miss out on the ponies you love as well"
Its like faust opened their eyes to what is possible!

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I know starlight is smirking at that

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I’d like to add onto this by saying that there have been moments where the G4 Mane Six have been overly cruel to each other (MMDW and 28 Pranks later come off the top as just examples of the six with themselves) while I would really struggle to think of anything close like that happened in G5. Closet I got is everyone being competitive in On Your Cutie Marks (but that was called out and framed as bad unlike the earlier mentioned episodes) and Zipp with Misty (but that was when she was with Opaline so she was an enemy at the time so it’s more justifiable)

Point being, the G4 six have had a little one too many moments where there friendship held more malice than friendship.

Perhaps it has to do with how the three tribes came together. In G4, it was either befriend or die from the windegos. You literally cannot phrase it any other way. G5, yes they needed unity the work the magic, but nothing forced them to do that. Sunny gave a speech, and that was it. There was no huge threat to all three kingdoms that would’ve killed everyone. They came together by choice, not by force.

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I could say how in G5 not unity means the end of the world, but that's not important in this conversation.

And yes, your points actually make perfect sense. I honestly despised how everyone wanted Rainbow Dash to learn a lesson, and when she does, no one dears to admit that they crossed the line with her. Like, yes, she did some jokes that were not funny and leaning to harmful, but then pretend you are all zombies and probably cause trauma over Rainbow just because you want her to learn her lesson... Why? Just WHY?!

Another thing to point out: Dash and Applejack's rivalry, from Season 4 on, made absolutely no sense in absolutely no context. So these girls wanna prove themselves better, and the most reasonable way they find to do it is by dragging their student into an expedition that almost got the teachers killed? And people say that FIM have no flaws...

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I’ll just say that now unity means survival, but initially it wasn’t and that’s what I mean when I saw G5 feels more connected my choice then by must.

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Bingo. That’s why the new mane 6 are easier to watch. They’re far less frustrating characters.

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Characterisation.

As much as I appreciate what the writers did with the G4 characters, I feel like they put too much focus on certain personality traits and exaggerated them to unnecessary levels. In the earliest seasons, Fluttershy was afraid of her own shadow. Applejack and Rainbow Dash's rivalry was destructive to those around them. And Pinkie Pie...well, do I really need to elaborate?

With the new Mane 6 though, I find their personalities to be not just more balanced out, but more relatable.

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Yeah, she would be.

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Agreed

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You know, I've thought about the G5 team and I think of how they would play off the G4 team. You have the obvious pairings like Dash & Zipp (Fast flying tomboys who are also fans of a book series with some parent drama) but there are notable differences between them. Dash's parents were "mega fans" while Haven had a set goal in mind for her daughter and needed to let Zipp spread her own wings (pun intended). There was also Zipp needing to except Haven and Alphabittle's relationship.

Rainbow is a bit shoot first and ask questions later, can get full of herself, loves attention, and enjoys throwing down with bad guys while putting the fierce in fiercely loyal.
Zipp is more shoot questions first and act if your comfortable later (when she interrogates Misty and when question the others about her missing sunglasses), is confident but never gets to the point of arrogance, is less boisterous than than Rainbow, is more introverted, and it feels like her drive to action is less from wanting to go at it and more feeling like she needs to be ready for a potential threat.

Then you have a more complex situation.
Hitch is shown to value organization/rules, and is cautious while caring for a baby dragon like Twilight.
Protective of those closest to him and can be quite stubborn, reminiscent of Applejack.
Shows a kind/caring nature and can talk to animals like Fluttershy.

Sunny is a baker like Pinkie pie.
Has an interest in learning about the other cultures, reminiscent of Twilight.
And serves as the team mom of the group like Applejack tends to do.

It's fun finding the various ways the new team is similar and(yet) different from each member of the old team.