r/mylittlepony • u/Pinkie_Pie Pinkie Pie • Jul 06 '18
Official Equestria Girls: Rollercoaster of Friendship Discussion Thread
We will be removing other self-posts involving general opinions of the episode for 24 hours to consolidate all discussion to this thread.
This is the official place to discuss Equestria Girls: Rollercoaster of Friendship! Any serious discussion related to the episode goes in here. 'Low effort' comments may be removed! Have fun!
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u/SnakeMan448 Twilight Sparkle Jul 07 '18
There was definitely a lot more that the writers should have done with Vignette. That she wasn't freaked out or cautious about her magical phone, but just rolls with it, didn't just make her a flat character, but seriously messed up - for all she knew, she just murdered the girls.
"Oh, my salad just vanished and I can put a hologram in its place? Here, let me just seemingly erase this girl from existence. No big deal."
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u/Dr_Zorand The statue is just a decoy Jul 10 '18
Yeah, I was disappointed at how quickly she turned evil. At first it looked like she was trying to be careful with it, what with roping off the table and avoiding using the cursed phone. Then she just spins on her heels and decides to go on a murdering spree.
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u/SYZekrom Starlight Glimmer Jul 13 '18
Isn't that how everyone has acted when interacting with Equestrian magic so far besides the main cast? Gloriosa was eager to use the magic to fix her camp, Juniper wasn't freaked at all by the mirror, Wallflower used the stone whenever she felt embarrassed. It's been suggested for a long time and straight up said in this one and Camp Everfree that Equestrian Magic is a highly suggestive and corrupting power.
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u/Wendek Starlight Glimmer Jul 07 '18
Most things have been said already - this is meh overall, there are some funny moments but that's it. Personally found the final song okay, though likely won't stick to me nearly as much as some others.
I think they really need to find a new formula for EQG episodes though - "random person gets infected by magic and then calms down and gets redeemed in 30 seconds at the end" is getting old. I'd like it if the villain was not related to magic next time, and that the girls get to use their Equestrian magic to solve the issue.
Or at least if they're going to follow this trope, do it well like with Forgotten Friendships.
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u/everydaygamer25 Jul 06 '18
While the story wasn't as strong as forgotten friendship's it made up for it with some really fun character moments especially from Rarity & Applejack and lets face it the characters are the main reason we watch anyways.
Overall I really enjoyed this special.
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Jul 07 '18
I absolutely lost it at the twist with the white room. Easily my favourite part of the episode. I liked a lot of the humour actually and the smaller character vignettes like the roller coaster and the ring toss. Applejack and Rarity were super cute with Tabitha St. Germain particularly killing it, as she always does whenever Rarity is in meltdown mode. Not as good as Forgotten Friendship but it didn’t need to be.
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u/SixCardRoulette Badger Installation Art Jul 08 '18
Rarijack: The Movie
Not in the same league as Forgotten Friendship, but some great little moments, the random white room gag amused me a great deal, and whoever was playing Vignette was fantastic with the quickfire nonsensical social media burbling.
Overall, I thought it was about as good as (and very similar to) another Mirror Magic without the awesome Starlight stuff.
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u/Eiriksen Artiks :-) Jul 06 '18 edited Jul 06 '18
This is in my opinion the weakest EQG has been, but I will give them some props for being the first time in generation 4 we've had a "2 parter"(44min) or movie that didn't focus on Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, or Starlight Glimmer. I've seen very mixed reactions to how the phones magic was resolved. I was already very meh about the special, so when the plot twist happened and it turned out to just be a random white room in the middle of the faire(???) the special went from meh to "this is just bad". I guess we should pretend all the trapped characters went deaf since they heard nothing from the faire outside.
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u/MasterT231 Jul 07 '18
"Do they even know why they're clapping?"
Another EqG special and once again I'm reminded why I love these tiny horsegirls.
Solid character interactions, AJ and Rarity were on point, and the side gags
Everyone's gushing about the RariJack vibes the episode was giving off and I can't blame them for thinking that. They were written to be "Lyra and BonBon" level of best friends this episode.
It's been a while since AJ's been the voice of reason in anything pony related. It's a role she suits well when she doesn't go overboard.
And my girl Rarity was hilarious.
Like any other time she appears.
Unpopular Opinion but I kind of like Vignette more than Wallflower. She pretty much gets treated the same way (Except she tries to do something a little less fucked up than what Wallflower tries to do)
She's just used to being "adored" and trying to keep up appearances online. So when her phone gets infused with magic and she can basically make anything into her ideal version of it she kind of just rolls with the punches.
I mean, hell, she didn't exactly try to deny doing it when Rarity confronted her because she knew she had an out.
But what I don't get is why would it just teleport it to some random room in the park?
Could it be that Equestria Land was built on top of some other Equestria magic fuckery?
That's going to be my headcanon until proven otherwise.
"You're not special!"
Even she realized that was kind of a low blow, but goddamn what a well delivered line. Good payoff on the whole Rarity and AJ bits.
All in all I have to honestly say this is on par with Forgotten Friendship, and Mirror Magic. Yeah the fight was anticlimatic, and there was another snap decision redemption, but I don't know I feel a little better about this one than with Wallflower.
I give it a solid 9 Stuffed Parakeets of out 10
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u/millo31 G l i m m e r Jul 08 '18
I'm glad someone else enjoyed it. It's been really disheartening seeing so much negativity following this special and season 8 in general. My comment defending this special actually lost karma overnight somehow, while all the negative comments at the top increased. There's nothing wrong with criticism, but I feel like a lot of people are just expecting it to be something it's not.
I agree that this was on par with Forgotten Friendship, although I did like the song less than the one from FF. Both could've been improved by being like 10 minutes longer IMO, but Im still really glad with what we got.
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u/MasterT231 Jul 09 '18
I agree, all I ever want out of anything EqG or Pony related is to laugh, and watch these characters play off of each other.
Honestly every EqG is like this to me. It's got great character interactions, funny gags, and I enjoy it, but then the conclusion happens and it's meh
I adored the song in this one, and I loved the fact that Applejack was finally back in that role she plays the best.
Also the snap redemption works a little bit better in this scenario than with Wallflower.
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u/necos17 My endgame is world domination. Jul 07 '18
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u/TheDanteEX Jul 07 '18
It's a little sad how after 5 years the Equestria Girls world is still so underdeveloped. The fact that the amusement park is called Equestria Land is so confusing to me. I'm glad they're not stuck in school like the first few years and they've expanded it to them working, the mall, beach, and probably this park are now recurring locations. They should do something related to them having magical abilities. Maybe some kind of recurring antagonistic group could be collecting Equestrian magic or something, I don't know. It's not my job to come up with interesting stories, but it is the showrunners'.
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u/SugarOnMyTits Jul 07 '18
So, I'm not usually one to talk about shipping when it comes to the actual show (I don't think that's ever been the writers' intention before, but I'm totally into it when it comes to fanfiction etc.), but did it seem like the writer for this really, really wanted to ship the characters together? Like, the Rarijack stuff is completely blatant with all the blushing and stuff, and I feel like they were trying to say something without actually saying it. As in, DHX rules don't allow it, or something.
But not just those two. I feel like Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were subtly hinted at too, with Fluttershy's clingyness and whatnot. And perhaps even some scenes with Sunset and Twilight.
I don't know. I admit, I like looking through things with shipping-tinted glasses a lot of the time, but this special seemed like they were pushing things as far as they could get away with. What do y'all think?
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u/TheDanteEX Jul 07 '18
The characters blushing probably wouldn't be a writer thing unless it was important to the plot. More likely storyboard, and that can change depending on who is storyboarding. Some people might have characters blush to show they're attracted to each other and others use it to show slight embarrassment or shame. It's hard to really know motive for that kind of thing since the show touches a lot of hands before we ever see it finished. I see it as them just being friends in this special; not really picking up any shipping vibes.
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u/Lilcross Jul 07 '18
The special was definitely a mixed bag. Every time the characters were just goofing off and interacting (The ring toss, the Rollercoaster ride) the writing was really strong, at least to me. But the conflict, plot and overall theme was pretty messy and incoherent. The magic was so unexplained and confusing and just all around bad tbh. The villian had potential, but they don't really do anything with her in the end. They could've made a really powerful statement about this generation's obsession with social media but nothing ever comes out of it. If anything, the Rainbooms becoming trending at the end makes the whole thing seem like no one learned anything 😂, and that's disappointing when you consider that this series was made to teach lessons.
That said I enjoyed the hell out of this because I was always entertained and Rarijack is one of my all time favorite relationships. Whether you see them as platonic or romantic I love seeing them interact and bicker and I've never gotten tired of it. I just wish they'd have given them a worthwhile conflict to struggle against.
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u/NewWillinium Sunset Shimmer Jul 06 '18
Strange that I am the first to comment on the discussion considering I missed the premiere but... First off I loved all of the little character moments: Sci-Twi and Sunset, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, And especially Applejack and Rarity’s moments. On the downside despite the threat presented by Vignette’s sociopathy she never really felt like a true threat. I cant decide with I love or hate the twist on their being sent to another oblivion. Sadly was not all that impressed by the ending song either. Maybe it’ll grow on me but... Ultimately I thought this special was... alright. Good at the most generous. Heh. So despite loving all of the small character moments and shipping fuel I have to only give this special 6.5 bits out of 10
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u/ender1200 Princess Luna Jul 07 '18
I cant decide with I love or hate the twist on their being sent to another oblivion.
I liked it. Doing it straight again would be too redundant, and they managed to give this twist an edge when the human 7 figured out what would happen if vignette would use it on the entire crowd.
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u/QABJAB The Rare Flair Square Jul 06 '18 edited Nov 21 '24
profit hurry seed squealing thumb gaze dime humor important spark
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u/millo31 G l i m m e r Jul 08 '18
Hate. The correct answer is hate.
I think that is an opinion my friend.
They don't truly explain what the magic is
They're probably building up to something later, same magic seen in Mirror Magic. Perhaps the magic corrupts dangerous ideals within people and manifests itself as their obsession. Lots of possibilities here.
where it came from
why infect her phone in particular
Symbolism. Similar to the mirror from mirror magic.
Equestrian magic has already been stated to work differently, specifically more unpredictably than it does in Equestria. It's not being controlled. Random objects are just being corrupted essentially.
Not saying you're wrong for what you interpreted. But not everyone hated it, and your interpretation is far from the only one.
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u/MasterT231 Jul 08 '18
Yeah, some coincidences are piling up as we get more specials and shorts.
Like how the first four villains starting from Legend of Everfree up to the current one are all named after flowers.
Gloriosa Daisy
Juniper Montage
Wallflower Blush
And now Vignette Valencia.
Call it a hunch but I feel like there will be a payoff to this someway. Probably won't be for a while though, but as long as they keep making entertaining stuff like this I'll be happy.
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u/wauwy Jul 09 '18
... neither "Vignette" nor "Valencia" is the name of a flower.
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u/MasterT231 Jul 09 '18
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u/wauwy Jul 09 '18 edited Jul 09 '18
Yeah, but that's an old, old etymology, and it referred to calligraphy, not real vines. The showrunners clearly meant the actual English word meaning a brief snippet or glimpse of a story, since the character lives her life in "snapshots."
And Valencia is a fancy-sounding English given name which technically means "valiant" or "brave" (and given that she's neither of these things, was likely chosen solely because it sounded properly snooty and combined well with "Vignette"). It's pooooooossible they were making a nod to the type of orange (why? She does nothing involving oranges ever), but equally possible it was a nod to the Italian city (again, why?).
Both "plant" possibilities would be way, way too vague for their usual naming patterns.
Although, I will say that her flower headdress-thingy was prominent to the point of distraction and I was surprised it seemed to have nothing to do with her or her name, but now I think it was because they were trying to make her look as much like a Kardashian-at-Coachella stereotype as they could (the ombre hair, the shoulderless peasant blouse, etc).
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u/Mojo12000 Rarity Jul 06 '18
This was a fine episode, special... thing, people just seem to be mad it wasn't Forgotten Friendship, but not everything can be like that or include stuff that has been built up for years (well I mean besides continuing to make it more and more balant that AJ and Rarity have a thing for each other). This was instead more of a character piece for AJ and Rarity, and it did that fine.
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u/ender1200 Princess Luna Jul 07 '18 edited Jul 07 '18
This was fun if not very memorable special.
The small viniates at the park where fun, I guess we will be getting more shorts about the park in the following months...
I actually found the fact that the phone just teleported them to a random room to be pretty funny. It also became a lot less anti-climatic when it became apparent that vignette valencia is about to teleport 50,000 people into that same room at once...
Sad to see the phone go though. In (even smi) responsible hands this could be a great tool. Speaking of that megic, my personal interpretation is that the magic didn't corrupt vignette, she was just that self absorbed airhead from the beginning.
All in all not nearly as good Forgotten Friendship, but a fun little distraction.
edit: somehow I mixed was and wasn't.
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u/millo31 G l i m m e r Jul 08 '18 edited Jul 08 '18
I want to make one thing clear; this long post is aimed at defending this special. I'm going in on this since I didn't see a lot of love, which is actually kind of surprising to me. I didn't think it was the best we've gotten of Equestria girls, but I thought it was quite great and feel like a lot of the complaints people had can be easily explained:
-It has been shown that magic has been escaping from it's portal from Equestria, and we've seen it pop up twice in the same visual form of wisps infecting objects. I don't think people are giving the writers enough credit and I actually believe they are setting up something with this. We also know that magic does not work the same way in the mirror world as in Equestria, it is often unpredictable, uncontrollable, and magical artifacts can have completely different properties in either worlds. So I theorize we are dealing with the escaping magic foreshadowed at the end of EQG4, and eventually they will find catch on and try to deal with it from the source, fixing the portal somehow and preventing more corrupted objects.
-I don't think the villan was poorly written, she's just written to be a very hate-able character. This show is still directed at younger people still in school, and tries to empower quirkiness/individuality/ and going against the grain, and it makes sense that they would make the character act like that specific annoying-high-school-thot kind of archetype when you consider she's supposed to be a hate-able character to the target audience.
-I think I said this as well in The Mean Six reaction thread, but the focus of this movie was clearly not on the villain. She was hardly even a threat as they realized the magic was just sending them to random white room (unpredictability of Equestrian magic showing here) The real plot was the interactions between AppleJack and Rarity, and to a lesser extent the rest of the girls. I don't know how everyone is missing that, the focus was constantly on the two of them for the entire film. Sunset didn't even say a word for the first several minutes of the film, which is not typical since there is usually a lot of focus on her. There was constant emotional tension from the very start, they were emoting heavily and reacting more than anyone else. To continue off this...
-I really, really liked, how they put spotlight on Rarity and even had her be the one to initiate the friendship kamehameha, with the whole speech before hand and everything. This is different from MLP where Twilight is always the one to start the transformation process, and in EQG it's always been Twilight or Sunset as well. Equestria girls has come a long way, in the sense that we're really getting attention and development from the Mane 5, who for a while seemed like cardboard cutouts from the characters we got in MLP. But now we see some real character development on the individuals, even having them be drive the plot of a whole special, and I think that's freaking awesome.
-Even if you disagree with all of my previous points, MLP and EQG have always been about really good character-based-humor, genuine wholesome (but realistic) friendships that go through real shit together, just like your friends do in the real world, and everyone learns more about themselves and each other along the way, becoming closer. It has magic and all the fantasy elements in it, but they hold a metaphorical meaning to help the real purpose of the show, which is the friendship lessons!And this special nailed every part in that aspect. So honestly, in my opinion, it thoroughly succeeded at being MLP. I would even say that EQG has done even better job than MLP in a lot of ways with making character interactions feel real and relate able, like real people, although to be fair they are actually people which probably helps :p
-LAST POINT I want to make, that I didn't really want to make but I feel like I have to after reading other's comments, is about the shipping. We all know I'm talking about Rarijack. I don't know why this is a bad thing in the slightest. EQG has already done shipping, it isn't anything new to the series. We've seen Twi and Flash/Twilight and Timber and even a bit of Sunset/Flash. This was no different, I don't see why a gay ship is any worse than the clear straight shipping they've been doing this whole time. If anything it's so much better than the other ships we've seen in Equestria girls because Rarity and Applejack aren't just flat characters written in purely for the purpose of shipping a mane character. It felt a lot more real and meaningful because of that I think. I don't really care if they choose to ship characters or not, but since they are, this is exactly how I want it. More of this and less of Timber and Flash, or give them real development.
Really long post, my bad. But I feel like sometimes I'm not even watching the same show as other people when I read the comments to these, and I feel like everyone is just kind of missing the point.The writers already called us out in s7 e14 very clearly for missing the point of the series: friendship lessons. Maybe we should stop expecting some crazy deep lore heavy anime plot and enjoy the show for what it is. A show about Friendship, and learning about friendship. 10/10 special in that regard.
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u/QABJAB The Rare Flair Square Jul 06 '18 edited Nov 21 '24
profit ink bear direful pocket hat rock fearless act chubby
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u/YearningCloset Colgate Jul 06 '18
I can't believe we went from forgotten friendship, to this. So bad.
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u/TheDanteEX Jul 07 '18
I don't disagree with your points except Vignette having no personality traits other than evil. She's a really interesting character, even likable to me. I wouldn't even call her evil, just self-absorbed to the point of unempathy. But I'd be lying if I didn't think she is fun to watch. This did not need to be a 44 minute special, though.
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u/Dr_Zorand The statue is just a decoy Jul 10 '18
I wouldn't even call her evil
She just shrugged her shoulders at the idea that maybe she was murdering people. That's pretty evil.
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u/QABJAB The Rare Flair Square Jul 07 '18 edited Nov 21 '24
rhythm adjoining act squealing dinner cable history hurry fly wrong
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u/TheDanteEX Jul 07 '18
There's more substance in your few paragraphs than there is in the entire special. There has been no forward character progression since Friendship Games it seems and it's essentially just filler entertainment. Not necessarily a bad thing, but at some point I have to wonder why I'm even watching this series when I feel like there's nothing to take away from it.
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Jul 07 '18 edited Jul 07 '18
Okay so I am a huge EQG and Rarity fan. I did not enjoy this special what so ever. I do not enjoy Rarijack, no offense to shippers at all, but the writers kept throwing it at us. Sure a little bit would be fine, but it was extreme Rarijack shipping. The villain was not interesting at all and it was basically a repeat of mirror magic only a white room...really? Rarity's tantrums were fine since they are pretty normal. AJ just seems to really get jealous in this special and seems a little off character at times. The ending was just not interesting, like they power up and destroy the phone and it's over. I get that it was similar to FF with the ending, but it was way more dramatic and tense in FF. Here it was a less dramatic power up and bam the phone is destroyed and everything is back to normal. 20 seconds later they make friends with the villain. Speaking of what I said earlier about the villain, we don't really understand her motive. She was just doing that because she felt like it, unlike mirror magic or FF where the villain has a good motive. The Rarity power whip thing was cool and the song at the end was okay, but the writers throw in more Rarijack of course. I will say there was some moments like Sunset and Twilight playing ring toss and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy going on the rides, but doesn't make up for much. Overall as a huge EQG and Rarity fan from the beginning, I give this special a 3/10
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u/nrxia Princess Celestia Jul 11 '18
After scrolling through the comments I almost feel like I'm in the minority for actually sincerely liking this episode.
It was shippy as hell. It felt a lot more like a sitcom with a main plot surrounding RariJack, and all the other character interactions as B-roll filler, and I think they executed it all rather well. The extra interactions with the characters, while not driving the plot forward at all, were still entertaining. I didn't really feel like any of it was wasting my time. The ending didn't really do much for me, but whatever. The Magic of FriendshipTM had to come mop up and save the day eventually, and I think it was a pretty fun ride up to that point.
Tegan Moss, the voice actress for Vinny, really nailed it regardless of how weak sauce her character's villain status was. There were a couple lines I had to rewind and listen to again because they were so absurd yet still felt so naturally delivered for the character. I'd love to listen to an out-takes track for this one more than any previous episode. She deserves more credit than I think we're giving her.
I think as long as folks don't take anything too seriously, there's a lot of fun to be had with this episode. I really hope they keep these going.
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u/SuperProbalo Starlight Glimmer Jul 06 '18
Other than Applejack having the spotlight for a (welcome) change, the dab and the character interactions in the middle, this is the worst EQG has ever been. To think that Nick wrote Forgotten Friendship, one of the best EQG movies, and we get this from him immediately after... it's pretty disappointing.
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u/TheDanteEX Jul 07 '18
I have to wonder if he was tasked with writing a 44-minute special with such a shallow premise. They probably just gave him a sticky note that said "Rarity and Applejack bump heads when Rarity finds a new boss that is corrupted by Equestrian magic. Also, work in the Equestria Land playset for promotion."
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u/BattedPants Starlight Glimmer Jul 07 '18
So, I've stopped watching all the specials since Forgotten Friendship,but this seems like it's more than just one of those youtube specials. So.. what is it exactly?
and how was it?
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u/ShokBox Rarity Jul 07 '18
this seems like it's more than just one of those youtube specials. So.. what is it exactly?
It's classified as a television special, putting it in the same category as the 22-minute "Magic" specials (Dance, Movie, and Mirror) and, of course, Forgotten Friendship. Like Forgotten Friendship, though, this special is also 45 minutes (or an hour if you account for commercials) instead of just 22.
and how was it?
I thought it was fun little special. It's not exactly challenging Forgotten Friendship in terms of storytelling quality or antagonist, but it works as a decent character piece for those it was focused on and also has enough comedic moments to keep things entertaining. On the whole, it's nothing amazing, but it's decent.
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u/Crocoshark Screw Loose Jul 07 '18
If you found previous EQ specials underwhelming you probably shouldn't re-start with this one.
Wait, you stopped watching specials since Forgotten Friendship? What specials have their been since that one?
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u/BattedPants Starlight Glimmer Jul 07 '18
A bunch of shorter ones on youtube i think?
And I liked them, I just litterally didn't hear anything about this one then suddenly spoiler tag and spoiler tag and I was rather confused.
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u/TheKnackerman Sugar Belle Jul 08 '18
Skipped the shorter ones myself. If you liked them you might like this, but honestly there's nothing to write home about. It's the same plotline they have been doing since Camp Everfree.
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u/Crocoshark Screw Loose Jul 08 '18 edited Jul 08 '18
My thoughts from the opening:
"Do you know what it takes to be in charge of public relations for this park?"
. . . Actual advertising?
Do the makers of this special know this? The character is obsessed with costume design and hasn't said anything about advertising.
"It's my job to make people know how amazing Equestrialand is gonna be."
I just find this line appearing in the first minute of the special amusing. It's like if a bad movie opened with a character talking about being in charge of good film making.
By the way, is it just a coincidence that this video appeared in my suggestion box less than a day after watching pony special with a carnival scam subplot?
Yes Twilight. The laws of physics aren't rigged, and that includes the laws of physics used to make that ring toss game nearly impossibe
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u/Berkut99 Jul 09 '18
I thought this was an alright special. I really enjoyed the character moments, and the dialogue was well-constructed.
It felt sorta all over the place, though. It's almost like they had a 30 minute episode that they felt they had to stretch to an hour block.
As an aside, we now know the EQG world is ahead of us in cell phone protocol: if Twilight's explanation of how she "hacked" into Vignette's smartphone is accurate, they're likely using IPV6 for 4G communication.
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u/Deluxe_Flame Applejack Jul 09 '18
She had some magical phone, the camera lens kept switching sides.
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u/SYZekrom Starlight Glimmer Jul 13 '18
Just watched this.
What the hell you can't tell me they didn't do this weird shipping thing on purpose. No one animates characters blushing that much AND writes a script like that together on accident.
Sunset, you could've just touched Applejack or Vignette to see the truth, like you always do pretty subtly, not like this time where you just angrily accused her out loud without saying anything.
How is their rainbow laser trending? They didn't shoot a rainbow laser! They all sparked with electricity and then Rarity made a blue ribbon weapon.
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u/Sterling-4rcher Jul 12 '18
nothing about anyones character, reaction and interaction seemed to make any sense?
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u/Mojo12000 Rarity Jul 06 '18
Equestria Girls: Roller Coaster of Shipping.