A Trip to Equestria

[GLo Jones]

I decided to watch through the first two episodes. I could definitely see the appeal, and was happy to sit through the whole thing, but it just didn't grab me enough for me to want to watch any more.

At this stage, I'm simply indifferent to it.

 

[xplosive59]

It is no wonder the show is as popular as it is, and if you are a fan of anime there are obvious parallels to be drawn.

I think the main three reasons why the show is popular are...

1. It is a westernized version of the magic girl anime series such as Sailor Moon to a degree but also similarities with the Slice of Life animes such as K-On. Both very popular with Male teens when originally released, these shows with localized humor is essentially the basis for MLP:FiM.

2. The plots can be anything essentially as long as contains magical talk ponies, it can be extremely girly (e.g the sleepover episode) and do a parody of The Hobbit the next (Dragonshy), the outlines for what they can do with the show are so vague that is an episode for everyone essentially.

3. It feels like a nostalgic cartoon, when watching the show I feel like I am watching shows from my childhood. I think that this show is probably most like Sonic: SatAM mixed with Powerpuff Girls, with a slight bit of Animaniacs as well.

That being said the show is stupidly flawed and shows that just because you have elements from these shows does not mean it is actually as good as the fans say.

 

[Arcadian Legend]

You, my friend, are a wonderful person for remembering that show.

I'm still waiting for an opportunity to rip the sound-file of off a downloaded episode so I can have "One more thing" as my text-message sound. It will be amazing.

Jackie Chan Adventures was pretty much one of the highlights of my childhood. That show was something else. Anyway...

Ever since I came back from my holiday in September 2011 I started noticing these pony avatars popping up all around the place on BioWare's forums. Naturally I had no idea what the hell was going on, but then I saw on my activity feed that someone on my friends list was posting in an MLP thread, cue my very audible "...Huh?!" afterwards. I poked in the thread and after seeing some of the avatars and stuff there it doesn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together.

After a bit of extensive reading of said thread I started to get increasingly curious, untill I eventually said "Fuck it", went on YouTube and started watching from the pilot, since to be honest I had nothing better to do at the time. While I didn't think the first two episodes were anything special, the following ones hooked me like the first time I got into Doctor Who. Haven't looked back since.

That thread is still very much active, and I post in it to this day. It's also one of very few bastions of sanity left on the BioWare Social Network, and contains some of the nicest people on the site.

I still dislike alot of the fanbase though.

Yeah, I will admit that some of the more zealous fans can be really obnoxious. They grind my gears too. Thankfully it's easy to tell who is like that and who isn't.

 

[Hazy992]

I had nothing to do over the summer (I'd dropped out of uni, had no job and was overcoming depression) so after seeing it all over the Internet I figured I'd see what the fuss was all about. Been watching it ever since.

 

[sageoftruth]

I gave the first episode a try a while back. Didn't leave much of an impression. I was thinking of writing it off as the usual dull "welcome to the show" episode, but if the second episode doesn't draw me in, then I think I'm going to look elsewhere.

 

[Marcus Kehoe]

I saw this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJLL-DNu3P4

then I had to see what it was parodying. year in half later I now own a weeks worth of pony clothing and yell at people for saying there's a best pony.

 

[Dreadman75]

I only got into the show earlier this year but I still remember how it all started:

I had gone to Dallas for A-Kon this year and there was a LOT of pony related pictures, buttons, badges, some cosplay...etc. Out of the group I went with one (perhaps more, they just hid it well) was a brony already and he often said how much he liked the show. He even got a picture depicting what he would look like if he were a pony. (It was pretty well drawn, all things considered.)

Anyways from then on I just couldn't seem to get the show off my mind. Everywhere I looked I just couldn't seem to not see something related to it. Unfortunately I was also very much aware of the slight stigma that came with it, which prevented me from looking it up sooner. I kept saying to myself "If they like it that's fine. It's just not my thing." But I couldn't stop the niggling doubts. Later on in the summer I finally broke down said "Oh, what the hell..." and started from episode one, then watched episode 2 for the conclusion, then episode three...you all probably know where this is going.

Half a year later finds me eagerly awaiting each and every new episode. There is just something about the show that is so damn...compelling. It's a great show, very well done all around. I very much regret not seeing it sooner.

 

[Coppernerves]

Half a year later finds me eagerly awaiting each and every new episode. There is just something about the show that is so damn...compelling. It's a great show, very well done all around. I very much regret not seeing it sooner.

The shows' main merits are the awesome architectures, the mish mash of technologies and materials, the extremely strong, vibrant personalities of the characters with flaws that fit really well, the cuteness, the humour, and the clear, strong, almost psychedelic but rather elegant aesthetic.

All of that was in the first episode.

 

[LaughingAtlas]

My first experience with the show might have been a little odd. The first video link I saw here on the escapist was this:
"Wow," I thought, "Psycho cartoon ponies, sounds worth a laugh." That, and many mentions that the show is dull for the first 2 episodes and rapidly picks up from there later, I watched the entire first season waiting for Fluttershy to go apeshit and show her true colors.

Spoiler

Apparently that was just an off day, she is very rarely insane.

Still, I found the show amusing enough to keep watching, quite funny most of the time.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

This is the video that got me interested:

Spoiler

I started wondering what all the hub-bub was about and before I knew it I was up to episode 4 and wanting more.

There's the nauseating amount of adorableness/cuteness of the characters. Then there's the great animation and visual aesthetics - it's awesome to see all the COLORS being used at 1080p, it's just NICE on the eyes after a week of gritty brown shooters k? The plot and humor is genuinely light-hearted but still funny to me as an adult.
It's sad that some people are only entertained by high-brow political jokes or jokes involving sex/mature shit, sometimes it's nice to get away from all that and laugh at the simple stuff I say!

Finally there's the creative community that has popped up around the franchise, about whom I could probably write an entire book about. Seriously, the musical and art talent has really sprouted from the darkest corners of the internet (as it always does when there's a uniting theme/topic!).

Hasbro + Lauren Faust have been accommodating with explosion of popularity, they chould've made the decision to reject the internet community because we're not all roses & tulips (there's enough gore/rule34 regarding MLP to make people's eyes bleed/brain impode and I'm sure Hasbro/Faust are fully aware of it).
Instead they embraced the community and keep throwing things into episodes, stuff that only the bronies will understand. E.g. Pinkie pulling the Gen3-face, to kids it would've meant nothing more than a quick laugh...but most bronies literally backed 5 meters away from the monitor yelling "HOLY FUCK...!!!!" while simultaneously exploding in laughter/awe at Hasbro & Faust for pulling that shit. I know I did. Seriously, nobody saw that one coming.

And that's why I love MLP:FiM.

For non-bronies...you don't have to watch the show with a critical eye, expecting it to blow you away because it has such a massive following. It's not perfect.
But you don't have to assume it's just for kids either, because there's more to it than that.

Remember, a sign of being a mature adult is the ability to enjoy EVERYTHING regardless of what age demographic it may (or may not) be aimed at. "It's for kids, I ain't even watching that" is something only said by those who are insecure about their maturity, or those looking to "act like adults" (but aren't) and don't quite grasp what it is to be an adult.

 

[Misterian]

I learned about this show shortly after I discovered TV Tropes.

Even before learning about the whole 'Brony' thing, I kept seeing MLP:FiM pop up as various examples on certain tropes and figured it meant that the show was popular ( either that,or there's a VERY devoted fan that single-handedly placed in those examples).

I eventually started watching the first few episodes to see what all the fuss was about, and, well, things started to work their way up from here and next thing I knew I was calling myself a Brony.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

Watched about 5 episodes of it before I stopped giving a shit.
All it did was made me lament how I was able to find every single episode of it on YouTube but not one reliable place for
Transformers Prime

 

[Easton Dark]

I watched this around when it was released


Then I watched the show

Here I am

If you want to sell something to me, connect it to Starcraft somehow.

 

[Leemaster777]

Ah, you never forget your first time, eh? Full of shame and self-loathing.

Anyways, I first found out about in on this very site. I entered a pony thread, thinking it was about the OLD show. I eventually realized that they were all talking about a NEW show, and I got curious.

I'll admit, for the first 5 minutes or so, all I could think was "this is about the gayest thing I could be doing with my time right now". My finger was hovering over the close button... but then this happened:


...and I was like, "well, I guess I'll tough it out". After I finished the first episode, I thought, "well, that wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting, but I think I'm done". The next day, I had ponies on the brain all day, so that night, I went back and watched episode 2. Then 3. And I think you can figure out where things went from there.

 

[Owen Robertson]

I just randomly selected one episode to watch, it was "Putting your hoof down" and needless to say it was amusing. Then I started to watch from the beginning.

I don't see why people can't enjoy it just because its main audience are young girls and their parents. As I know it, Avatar: The last Airbender seems to aim at young boys but I've never seen anyone get criticised for liking it.

'Cuz it's for boys, and MLP is for girls. And insecure heterosexual males like to project onto anything different from them. So when some men decide to challenge masculinity as we know it, they lash out, in fear of their sexuality. Or they're just troglodytes who can't appreciate anything beyond a sports arena or engine block.

 

[Owen Robertson]

For non-bronies...you don't have to watch the show with a critical eye, expecting it to blow you away because it has such a massive following. It's not perfect.
But you don't have to assume it's just for kids either, because there's more to it than that.

Remember, a sign of being a mature adult is the ability to enjoy EVERYTHING regardless of what age demographic it may (or may not) be aimed at. "It's for kids, I ain't even watching that" is something only said by those who are insecure about their maturity, or those looking to "act like adults" (but aren't) and don't quite grasp what it is to be an adult.

It's not even that, I just didn't see what all the fuss was about it. I've watched plenty of things out of the intended age demographic (Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy being the big one). I honestly didn't get that much different a vibe from this show than I did from it's 80's predecessor, and even back then, my only thought when watching that was "When is Dungeons and Dragons coming on?"

I don't hate it, don't mistake me. The show wasn't insulting or insipid, I just didn't get wow'd by it like so many seem to. Maybe I really am gettuing too old, I don't know.

To each their own. I'm not a brony but I don't dislike it. And when my buddy comes over I indulge in his past-time because that's what good friends do right? He watches an episode of an Anime I like, I watch an episode of MLP. Fair Trade.

 

[Alcamonic]

I am willing to give shows the benefit of a doubt.
Just because they are animated doesn't mean I can't find amusement in them as a grown adult.

I regret nothing!

 

[bossfight1]

Obligatory welcome to the herd.

Well, like many, I watched the first episode with an attitude of "FINE, I'LL WATCH IT, ARE YOU HAPPY WORLD?!?!"

22 minutes later I sat there, and clicked on Episode 2. And I remember my exact words...

"...Well, shit."

 

[Lugbzurg]

Went to youtube. Watched 3 1/2 episodes and realized it's a kids show aimed primarily at young women.

Did not like.

I get the feeling we haven't been watching the same show...

It was in fact created to target, not little girls specifically, but families in a gender-neutral fashion. Otherwise, it wouldn't have a darklord getting decapitated, with his head thrown into a chasm, several charafters being metally and physically corrupt by dark forces, or least of all... THIS. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1IY-qctgww
See if you can name how many methods of violence are used in that clip. Even both your hands together can't count that high.