Directed by: Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller
Starring: Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball, Tabitha St. Germain, John DeLancy
An Introduction
As I stated in my previous review that I had no intention to go back and watch any more episodes of MLP for a while, I still have this feeling. Now with this dvd really testing my patience with them putting easily the worst episodes of season four on it, I feel as though I really can never like this show as I once did. The love and magic that really shined from each episode is long dead and I feel that dragging the show any further in the direction they are going is only going to lead it to ruin.
The Show
Like I just said in my opening statement this is easily this worst episodes of the entire season, and anyone coming into the show with only seeing these episodes is really going to be a sad thing. The show among my parents has a bad reputation for being…well for babies. With these episodes they have a very good argument.
Rarity Takes Manehattan
Rarity gets a job opportunity in Manehattan (god, the puns) and learns that sometimes having generosity doesn’t always lead to good ends. This episode was a first indicator that things weren’t going in the right direction. Within the span of twenty minutes Rarity becomes a parody of herself and completely loses any meaning she achieved from any previous episode.
4/10
Pinkie Apple Pie
Pinkie Pie discovers that she is actually relate to Applejack and goes on adventure with the Apple family to discover the truth. If I had to describe this episode in one episode it would be: annoying. I love Pinkie, but seriously I just wanted to grab a gun and “put her down” in this entire episode. While there is a good song tucked away in here its just not enough to see how pointless the episode is with the outcome being (Spoilers) that she’s not actually related. Why even bother then?
5/10
It Ain’t Easy Being Breezies
Fluttershy, with the help of her friends, must help escort a flock of magic “Breezies” through a portal intro their home world. Here it is, the episode that caused me to quit the show. I went into this episode thinking that maybe I was wrong and upon a second viewing I only found misery and regret. The Breezies are worse than nails on a chalkboard combined with screaming babies and a Michael Bay film playing in the background. Again the problem with this episode is the de-evolution of Fluttershy’s character that is completely out of place with her in the rest of the show. The Breezies are blatantly only in this episode to create new toys of the main six characters as breezies, which is more than disgusting in my opinion. I’m really not against selling out to make a profit, but this was handled in the worst possible way. I would rather eat wasps than watch this episode again.
2/10
Twilight’s Kingdom, Part 1/ Part 2
As the finale of season four starts I had a really bad feeling about this one. The plot is simple: upon their return to the Crystal Empire, the main six find a new villain with a new plot and have to overcome, blah blah blah. Unfortunately I found this two parter to be incredibly bland and can hardly remember any of it mere hours after watching. I will give props to the episode for ripping of DragonBall Z and creating a fight between two equal opponents that feels boring in every frame. As I said before, if this is the direction the series is going into, I will gladly see myself out, because this is exactly what Lauren Faust wanted to NOT do with the show.
3/10
The Video
Presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, this MLP dvd is just as good as its predecessors. The color palette is really strong in every regard and almost never pixelates. I did notice some aliasing around fast moving objects (such as wings) from time to time, but really these are really good transfers that look fantastic, minor some flaws that comes with the dvd format.
8/10
The Audio
Presented in a lossy Dolby 5.1 mix, this MLP dvd really steps up to bat into the sonic field and gets a few good hits in. Pans are controlled and smooth while the dialogue is nearly always front and center. The rear speakers also help out in creating a good atmosphere with several moments of activity that really got things moving. Even the subwoofer at one point kicked making it a really fun mix and much better than previous dvd releases.
8/10
Packaging and Bonus Features
Packaging comes in a standard white case with Twilight and her new castle (Spoilers much?!) and ultimately feels kinda bland. At least with the Rainbow Dash dvd, the case had a slipcover that was embossed and had nice effects. The “bonus feature” on the disc is only a sing-a-long feature for only one song, “Generosity” from Rarity Takes Manehattan. Never mind that there was a grand total of four songs on the disc total but this one only gets the treatment. Very much a missed opportunity for anything else to appear such as a behind the scenes or even concept art.
2/10
Overall
Im, again, honestly trying to think of who to recommend this to. Fans will wait for the entire season, so I guess this is only for the very small children. I guess you can put this on and have it in the background to keep them occupied, but in any other cases you can just avoid this release.