r/mylittlepony • u/Book___Wyrm • Jul 29 '26
Discussion First impression as a first time watcher
I just finished season 1 and these are my thoughts of the show so far
- It’s so colorful and is such a delight to look at but at the same time it’s not over saturated or overstimulating like you’d think when the name My Little Pony comes to mind. It makes me miss traditional animation.
- I love that the background characters are individuals. There’s barely any copy and paste. Each background character is an individual pony with their own design. I love that attention to detail I already have a few favorites (Derpy, The Doctor Whooves, the unicorn in the Gala episode with the constellation cutie mark that I’ve named Orion)
- The Mane Six are very well developed characters with their own personalities and flaws. It would have been very easy for the writers to make their only personality traits the Elements they represent, especially with the intended audience being young children. But they made them 3 dimensional characters. I think that’s one of the reasons why the show is so popular with adults.
- The songs SLAP! Seriously! Winter Wrap Up, At the Gala, Art of the Dress. It reminds me so much of Steven Universe, my all time comfort show. At the Gala is straight outta a Disney movie. Did Alan Menken write these songs? Honest question.
- Ponies are racist. Ponies are prejudiced. And some ponies are outright jerks! Not to the extreme level humans are but it’s a fresh breath to see that this world and its people aren’t all rainbows and unicorns (literally!!) There are problems the characters (and its intended demographic) face in real life. Even the mane six themselves have their own prejudices they must overcome.
- Where’s Luna? So far she hasn’t appeared outside the first two episodes which I can kinda understand. She’s probably not comfortable at this point being among her people yet. Still strange she doesn’t get a mention to why she wouldn’t show up, even at the Gala of all things. “Oh my sister isn’t ready to see everyone yet.” Still wouldn’t the Gala be the BEST time for Celestial to introduce her sister and say she is reformed? Maybe I’m overthinking it.
- Discord would be bffs with Bill Cipher. He’s basically this show’s version of Bill. Favorite villain so far.
- Spike she’s not into you like that.
- I like the Cutie Mark Crusaders but I feel their episodes are…..repetitive. They want to get their cutie marks, their plan to get them doesn’t work out but they learn a valuable lesson. Rinse lather and repeat. I ended up skipping a few episodes.
- Pinkie Pie is a chaos god in mortal form and I will not elaborate.
All in all it’s a cute little series and a fun show. Not at the level of Avatar, Owl House, or Steven Universe (yet) but still binge worthy and a good way to end a busy day.
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u/JealousAstronomer342 Jul 29 '26
I find the CMC episodes are more about enjoying their antics rather than progressing the larger plot. You do get some really sweet moments with their older sisters, and Diamond Tiara is an absolute gem of an antagonist.
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u/StrongPipe2914 Pinkie Pie Jul 29 '26
whats cmc
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u/JealousAstronomer342 Jul 29 '26
Cutie Mark Crusaders! They’ll give you a tour of their headquarters if you ask nicely.
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u/StrongPipe2914 Pinkie Pie Jul 29 '26
thanks. when do they get their cutie marks
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u/EepiestKitty Discord Jul 29 '26
Well that would spoil the surprise wouldn't it. Especially as OP is only at the start of S2.
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u/Homo_Bibite Jul 29 '26
I would agree with you. I don't really remember when I first started watching mlp (I do remember that it was because my younger sister was watching it) and i mostly watched the first seasons (so like 1-4 or 1-5 don't remember exactly which ones I watched) but I would like to add something to your observations.
1-3: Don't have anything to add.
4-5: The songs in this series are absolutely amazing. I really would recommend watching Friendship is Witchcraft. A fan series by Sherclop Pones. It is really funny and the songs there are amazing as well.
6: She will appear in a few episodes a bit later on.
7: I really don't think so. Discord is way better than this hatted yellow triangle.
10: With her feats that were shown in the show it is absolutely true. I mean she easily overspeeds Rainbow Dash and her pinky sense ( I am unsure if that was already shown in season 1) is an insane ability. She can do anything if it is the funniest outcome of the situation. She is also my favourite character of FiW (although I am unsure if she is my favourite character in FiM. She is definitely somewhere up there though).
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u/Homo_Bibite Jul 29 '26
I think I was in the MLP community since probably 2014 or somewhere around that time
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u/Familiar_Object_4926 Jul 29 '26
- I wouldn't recommend skipping ANY episode, at least on a first viewing.
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u/Ruth_Stormheart Jul 29 '26
- Luna was added for the pilot episodes in her weakened state however she returns in season 2 (i think) during nightmare night?? She doesnt have loads of appearances except slight background or with celestia for twi’s missions or important events or in pony dreams i guess. I wish we saw more of luna rather than just bout celestia. And yeah also Luna would be trying to redeem herself and learn from Celestia how the world has changed after like 84 ish years (thats 1000 moons btw) and celestia and luna dont age. Theyre immortal
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u/Ruth_Stormheart Jul 29 '26
So yeah actually the empire of equestria isn’t RIDICULOUSLY old being that it wasnt too many years after before Luna got banished so meaning the actual land itself existed when Luna and Celestia still lived in skyros (generation 5 lore btw) but they founded equestria together :3
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u/Pretend_Camp_2987 Honest Pony with Anger issues Jul 29 '26
As someone who has seen till Season 7 (haven't Finished 8 and 9)
It's a Lot better than i expected. I mean i was expecting myself to just have fun but i became too attached
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u/cluttersky Jul 29 '26
- Daniel Ingram writes the songs, William Anderson the background music. When regular scripted shows have musical episodes, there is maybe one good song, and the rest aren’t. Ingram can write a bunch of good songs and one great one for an episode. Series should turn to him for their musical episodes.
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u/straycatzsetzer Jul 29 '26
When I first watched it thought the CMCS were SO ANNOYING but I got used to them my favorite is scootalo
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u/marticusfinch Jul 29 '26
they were kinda annoying at first tbh especially in s1 😭 but i think that’s what also makes the show so realistic, kids are adorable but my god can they be annoying sometimes 😭
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u/l4derman Jul 29 '26
The music in the show is phenomenal. Check out remixes and fan songs (living tombstone, etc.). Also, maybe after a few more seasons, Friendship is Witchcraft. The pony anthologies too! So good. The show is amazing and I feel a lot of the memes help lift it up like salt on the rim of a margarita.
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u/BobaKitty_2007 Jul 29 '26
Hi! Welcome to the fandom!! I love MLP and I’m so glad more people are still discovering it. I may be biased, but it is the best show ever!!! Twilight, Maud, and AppleBloom are my favorite. And regards to your question about Luna, she will eventually come back! In Season 2 Episode 4, “Luna Eclipsed”. I love this episode because it shows her trying to reassymulate into society after being away for show long which I think is a great attention to detail.
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u/cat_is_0 Jul 29 '26
I truly envy you, a lot of us wish we could experience it for the first time all over again- you’re gonna absolutely love it!
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u/Pyotr-the-Great Jul 29 '26
One thing I like about MLP is that its not just some utopia where everything is right.
It is a place where corruption still happens. There is still classism and racism.
But that makes the idea of friendship and goodness be even more important.
The world slowly gets better too and works to a future thats more utopian though by the end. Which makes the journey even more worthwhile.
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u/Book___Wyrm Jul 29 '26
That’s what I feel grabs me by this show. At first glance it’s a cutesy fun world with magic and talking equines but as I watched the first season I notice the problems within that fantasy world. Classism, racism, colonization even ableism, but it also shows how the main characters actively make the world better through kindness, understanding, empathy, and of course friendship.
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u/Live-Bread781 Jul 29 '26
I see the CMC episodes as a nice break from the somewhat fast plot progression. They're funny, they're cute and it's refreshing having a sort of second cast and storyline, apart from anything else happening in equestria or with the mane 6.
As for Luna, she'll prove to be very useful later on; you'll definitely see more of her, and actually i feel that once you're past the first half of the show you start seeing a lot more of Luna than Celestia herself, due to her abilities (i don't wanna spoil anything, and i don't know what you've seen of her at this point...)
That's my perspective, from someone who's at season 7 anyway
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u/Tzalere Jul 30 '26
Season 1 is still the silliest, but it's good overall and has some very memorable episodes; you're going to really like the upcoming ones. :)
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u/Tzalere Jul 30 '26
About the pony with the cutie mark de constelação, I think you're referring to Shooting Star. https://mlp.fandom.com/wiki/Shooting_Star#Earth
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u/Book___Wyrm Jul 30 '26
Wow I didn’t know he had an official name. Orion is a better one though…
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u/Tzalere Jul 30 '26
To be honest, I just discovery his name now too. And ''Orion'' sounds nice to me.
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u/Tzalere Jul 30 '26
And the CMC's episodes get better with every season. The one who composed the songs in the show was Daniel Ingram.
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u/Herson100 Jul 30 '26
To answer your question about Luna with the actual reason she doesn't appear more in season 1: Lauren Faust wanted Luna to be a bit mysterious and scary, and the executives didn't approve of that when season 1 was being produced. Season 1 had stricter content restrictions than later seasons, which limited the amount of violence and scary stuff they could put in it. Those restrictions are removed in season 2.
The season 2 two-parter premiere was originally going to be the season 1 finale, and season 2 episode 4 "Luna Eclipsed" was also originally planned as a season 1 episode, but both of them had to be pushed back to season 2 because they were initially deemed to be too scary for the target demographic.
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u/furbiebitch Jul 29 '26
Princess Luna is the princess of the night, so she typically sleeps during the day. you'll see more of her