So, I got around to starting up with the G1 show. I got through the first two specials, couldn’t find the movie itself (well, I did find a version of it, but it was in Russian or something similar, so that didn’t much help), and just finished up with “The End of Flutter Valley”.
At least so far, I have to say it’s pretty good. Genuinely so. The stories are interesting, the characters fun, the villains either genuinely chilling or pleasantly amusing, and the backgrounds to die for.
Scorpan and Rep were easily my favorite parts of their specials. They’re very nicely nuanced characters.
Gusty is a bitch. I really like her.
It’s interesting to note that the tradition of offering a hoof in friendship to anyone who looks slightly redeemable is something of a franchise tradition – so far I’m counting Scorpan, Catrina and Rep, and Queen Bumble among the villains who got at least talked into ending hostilities.
I like how this show doesn’t fall into the trap of ugly=bad that Friendship is Magic did. Scorpan and the stonebacks being cases in point – they look entirely monstrous, but are both genuinely decent underneath.
While I’m aware that “The End of Flutter Valley” is a definite outlier in terms of total length, I think it easily proves the idea that Friendship is Magic would have benefited from more stretched-out premieres and finales. A lot of those episodes really felt like they could’ve used a three-part setup, and the way G1 here gives itself time to work things out over multiple episodes’ worth of runtime really helps sell its own stories.
EDIT: Watched the next two episodes. Squirk was a delightful villain – I loved how expressive his design is – and Crank’s constant abuse was definitely good slapstick. Pluma was terribly endearing as well – her hesitant stammering came across quite nicely form me. The look Megan gives Squirk when she’s about to flush him away was also pretty memorable. I know the fandom generally tends to overemphasize both shows’ hardcore moments, but that was stone. Cold.
The gizmonk episode wasn’t as memorable, but it was funny enough for what it was. The trope where the villains beg the heroes to take their captives back at the end of the episode is always good for a chuckle.
I will say that I don’t really care for Molly and Danny too much so far, to be frank.
