AWKWARD ZOMBIE

This. I might've considered watching past the second episode if they'd stretched the arc into something decent.

Pretty much from the get-go I assumed it was a show filled with cute things meant for the amusement of little girls. Then over several months I saw a plethora of youtube videos done by people with way too much free time and disturbingly brilliant amounts of creativity - in particular the boners' Anthology and the Avenue Equestria mini-series I rather enjoyed watching. After seeing this kind of ingenuity evolve from what I'd brushed off I decided the heretics deserved one more chance.

...I discovered it's a show filled with cute things meant for the amusement of little girls and heretics are borderline insane.

I just realized what pony is censored to. What the shit?

dope booty boners

i watched a few episodes. its ok. id watch it with my little sister maybe. shes four.

I was away.
It was gay movie night at BSU

There's a lot to like about the show. And the community creates some downright amazing stuff.
But It isn't flawless and its too easy to run into those who are absolutely obsessed.

Me? I'm just a nut who enjoys things too much. would say I'm a heretic because I enjoy it more than as just a casual hobby, though I try to not be too obsessive, like what would scare people. I Think I have one of those addictive personality types.

Am I the only one who doesn't like the animation? I mean, I dislike the show all around, but I did give it a try to see what it was about. The animation was one of my biggest pet peeves.

It's all overly-smoothed computerized motion tweening with cookie-cutter character templates. It looks lazy, in my opinion. That kind of animation is what I dislike about a lot of newer shows, like Total Drama Island and Sixteen and whatever CN is crapping out this year.

Plus, I hate the way the show handled race. Yeah, the pony from Africa is a zebra. I don't have a problem with that. The problem arises when said zebra is a magical negro stereotype who brews potions in her cauldron and lives in the most stereotypical-looking african hut I have ever seen. With tribal masks. And at the end of the episode she's like, 'oh sure I'll forgive you for judging and running away from me and calling me a witch ever since I moved here yeah lol it's cool let's be friends."
And the episode with the bison was horrible too. If the show wanted to do something about different 'races' getting along, why couldn't they have an episode with a unicorn that hated regular boners for no reason? I think unicorns and regular boners can count as different races.

Oh, and the Derpy debacle was absolutely ridiculous. I saw at least three different petitions online to 'save Derpy' and dA's front page was flooded with 'save Derpy' art. It's a cartoon character.

EDIT: also I kind of wish this was still delegated to the Western cartoons thread but eh whatever.

The reason I like the animation is because it's actually a step above that found in Drama Island, 6teen, and Johnny Test. It takes a new medium and explores levels that haven't yet been utilized by North American animation companies. It's definitely nowhere near Wakfu, which to me is TIERS higher for a Flash animated cartoon, but it does a lot more with it that shows me they aren't using it in an attempt to be "lazy". The more people push the bar, the more they might one day reach that fantastic level. (Compare the first Toy Story to the third installment, there is quite a difference.)

As I said in my previous post, MLP does have flaws, and the show's handling of race is certainly the largest. The unfortunate thing is whenever anyone tries to actually discuss this, and have a good back-and-forth, you get up-in-arms fans claiming that you're just attacking the show, saying other cartoons have done something similar so why should it matter, etc., etc. - each of which I would actually like to provide counter-arguements to, but it's difficult finding fans who are actually willing to have a debate.

However, they are parts of a whole, and as a whole the show still has good messages about friendship and all that jazz.

I guess so. I probably sound kind of nitpicky, I know, but I really wish I could find more people who liked the shows that I could have an intelligent debate with. I've voiced my dislike for the show in a couple other places and I got some very rude responses.

Basically, my opinion is that it's a kid's show and I get no enjoyment from watching it. And to be honest, from what I've seen I don't get how the show is any more well-written and engaging than shows I've seen before.
I also want to say I don't hate heretics--though I have an extreme loathing for the bastardization of the english language I see a lot of them using (Everypony?? SERIOUSLY?!). I just wish the more...disturbing parts of the fanbase would lay off, because they make the whole fandom look bad. Kind of like how the majorly disturbing Homestuck fans paint the rest of the fans in a bad light.

I'm a heretic, watched every episode, own pony shit.
Not much though.
1 shirt, 4 toys, 1 upcoming Derpy Hooves bag.
Also the animation improved, here's a clip of one of the most recent episode.

I think the audio is off for some reason, ignore it.

Here's my two cents on the whole controversy surrounding Derpy:
Adults seem to overestimate a child's ability to understand what is going on in a cartoon. A child in the main demographic of MLP would not see Derpy as offensive. They would most likely see a clumsy character. Everyone seems to be striving to be politically correct these days and in that rush they forget that children don't look that far into things.

I miss Derpy, but it's just a change.
People are still going to make derpy art.
The only people who are over rated about the situation is the people who hate the show, or the fans. Like Adult Swim and Articles, although it might be a joke, it's still offensive towards the community. I hate the Rapid fans, they're the only ones who make the show, and the fandom look bad. Also, the trolls and Haters makes matter worse and makes us look even badder with false propaganda. Like Fox news.

see, thats not entirely true

where i grew up, in kindergarten kids were already making fun of the "special ed/retarded" kids. It was practically a sport. Where i grew up, kids would IMMEDIATELY be able to pick out a character as more than just clumsy.

Hm, your rebuttal put me on a train of thought.

From my experience, kids are very "love it or hate it." A young fan of MLP is going to absolutely adore the show, try to watch it whenever it comes on, talk about it with their friends - essentially loving everything about it including characters like Derpy (because face it, she's meant to be a humorous character, and kids that love the show are going to find her funny). Then there are the "hate it" fans; they're the bullies and jerks, the type that will call MLP a stupid show for little girls, make fun of the kids that like it - they would look at Derpy and say, "Haha, she's a retard."

This leads me to the conclusion that characters within the "stupid for humor's sake" spectrum (not limited to Derpy) won't cause your average fan to suddenly ostracize children who are slow or who have mental disabilities, but it might reinforce that mindset in children who are predisposed to that attitude, and maybe that gives some legitimacy to why they changed her character.

I know people have stated, "Well, such-and-such character from [older show] were the same trope, why should Derpy matter?" Thing is, if it's considered a problem now changes will have to start somewhere. People are way more sensitive about political correctness these days and the internet offers a venue for instant and wide-spread criticism. It wasn't as much of an issue in the early 90's, or if it was, it didn't have the same amount of publicity it does now.

oh my god, thank you! from the day i started until the day i left every day i got picked on because i was the fucking retarded kid!

all those kids knew i was mentally challenged from the moment i stepped into the class!

nobody has ever believed me or taken my side on anything like this before. thank you.

yeah, everyone knows the "special" kids. we all made fun of them. at my school a teacher had to have a talk with my class to tell us to stop bullying this one kid.

there are a lot of things that go over kids' heads but you can tell what that kind of character is representing.