I consider myself a brony; That is, someone who enjoys a children’s show for little girls called “My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic”. One who enjoys the show for what it is and is willing to give it a chance. Originally like most bronies, I found the show after seeing images of it on 4chan (specifically /b/) and decided to give it a chance on youtube. After about five episodes I was officially hooked and stayed up all night watching the first season. While I really do think the show is great, I wont say its perfect, and has some flaws.
What I found interesting about this dvd was that it contained five episodes from season 3 but one from season 2. Another interesting bit was that they decided to have the season 3 finale as the second episode on the list, while this is a bold placement, it just feels out of place when the rest of the episodes come on and Twilight Sparkle doesn’t have her wings that she gets in Magical Mystery Cure. (fanbase is very divided on this turn of events)
Anyway, the episodes themselves range from decent to really good, with Lesson Zero standing out from the crowd. I found this one to be quite hilarious and had me laughing all the way through it. If I had to say which one was the weakest I’d say it would be Mmmystery On the Friendship Express due to nothing really changing any of the characters and that in the end, nothing really mattered. I know some may interpret this to just be a “one off” but I just felt it was incredibly forgettable. Another highlight is Magic Duel with the return of The Great and Powerful Trixie.
While this collection of episodes from season 3 is good, its not the great ones like “Too Many Pinkie Pies” and “Keep Calm and Flutter On” or even “Sleepless in Ponyville” it just feels put together to keep bronies or small kids in check before they finally release the whole seasons in box sets. At least now I can finally go frame by frame for Derpy’s cameo. All 3 seconds of it.
6/10
1. Games Ponies Play 7/10
2. Magical Mystery Cure 7/10
3. Mmmystery On the Friendship Express 5/10
4. Magic Duel 8/10
5. Lesson Zero 9/10
Video
Presented in its native 16:9 “Anamorphic Widescreen”
Having seen the original airings of the show in standard definition, and the 1080p uploads to You Tube this looks quite spectacular for a standard def dvd. Colors are exceptionally vibrant and detail is as good as it can get with the show. The only flaw I can see is that some edges up close start to fray and it looks sharp. Also if you get really close to the movement, there is some pixilation. Other than that, this really has surprised me, both on my computer and big screen tv.
9/10
Audio
I’m pretty sure that when these episodes originally aired, they were presented in a 2.0 mix, but for this dvd release it appears that they have expanded it into a full blown 5.1 mix. Unfortunately I don’t own a 5.1, but through my 2.1 setup and my “7.1” headphones, dialogue is clear and so is the music. I did notice that the clairity shot up for the main theme song, and it sounded like it was a “Master Audio” level quality. I did also notice some surround activity with the headphones, but it was mostly an ambient usage, and not something aggressive.
7/10
Packaging and Bonus Features
Well this is where the dvd really starts to dissapoint, the cover art is simply Princess Clestia doing a pose that she has never done, Princess Cadence just standing and Twilight doing….a slight pose? Other than the three characters it looks like they’re on a bare stage that isn’t anywhere in the series. To say its genereic, doesn’t really quite say it enough.
Meanwhile in the Bonus Features, there is “Sing Along” and a “Coloring Sheet”. Now what that discription doesn’t tell you is that the sing along is of the song “A True True Friend” (from Magical Mystery Cure) and nothing else. In case you haven’t seen the episode, there are five songs in it, so picking this one out of those seems off. Why only this one? What about the others? The Coloring sheet is not included and is a dvd-rom exclusive where you download it and print it off yourself. While I wasn’t expecting anything on “Lord of the Rings” level special features, this just simply is depressing.
2/10
Overall
I would only really recommend this disc to someone who has no intention on buying the seasons 1 and 2 dvd when they are released. If you are a brony, then you have already seen these and you will buy the seasons, or already have them downloaded in 1080p from youtube. I would recommend this for small kids (since it is a kid show anyway).
6/10
Overall (Not an Average) 6/10
The Review
The Movie 7/10
The Video 9/10
The Audio 7/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features 2/10
Overall (Not an Average) 8/10
….Fluttershy is best pony.