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Is the show too slice of life?


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Do you think there's too much slice of life in MLP? Sure, the show is mostly slice of life, but I'd like more adventure episodes. Honestly, I'm getting tired of slice of life episodes. G1 MLP, for all its flaws, had the ponies go to new places quite often. Meanwhile, this show has a big world full of magic and creatures, and it's going to waste. It seems that the writers are happy to show us the same locations we've already seen. Personally, I think the show should have more adventure episodes, like Lost Treasure of Griffonstone or Gauntlet of Fire, which have action and worldbuilding. I'd even settle for more episodes like Dragonshy, back in S1. It'd be a lot more interesting than an episode like Applejack's Day Off, anyway, where nothing happens, or an episode taking place in Manehattan for the 74th time.

 

What do you think?

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I don't think so no.

 

Complainers will always be around, you just have to learn to ignore them.

I like the mix of the two honestly.

 

 

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I pretty much enjoyed all episodes of the series, but I agree that those which revealed more of the world and its features while involving some action were more interesting to me than those which stuck to the usual places. I always liked the fantasy elements.

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I don't personally get why people are so quick to make distinctions between slice of life and adventure episodes. It really has no bearing on the quality or anything really. There are some truly mediocre adventure episodes (Dragonquest comes to mind) while most of the series best episodes are more slice of life in nature.

 

The fantasy trappings of the world are interesting and I do like it when they are explored, but the main draw of the series is and always has been the wonderful characters. As long as the characters continue to be written well and the situations remain interested and written well, I don't care so much if the action takes place in Ponyville or some exotic locale we haven't seen before.

 

That said, Applejack's Day Off was still terrible.

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Yeah, it pretty much seems to be down to preference. The quality of episodes, while there can be a consensus, is always something that's subjective. I like fantasy adventures and stuff, I understand strong characterisation is important, it's just my preference to see the two put together.

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  • 2 weeks later...
2 hours ago, batponyisbestpony said:

I would like to see a mixture of both as well. Like a forgein leader comes to visit Twilight and someone does something highly offensive in their culture that isn't a big deal in Equestria, so the episode has them explore said leader's culture as they try to fix it

Didn't they do that already?

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  • 4 weeks later...

I don't think the issue is whether or not the show is slice of life. There are ten thousand interesting slice of life stories that can be told, and a nearly infinite array of places where they can take place. The issue with the show lately, though I don't think there is a huge one, is that it tends to repeat flaws and strengths which makes the slive of life less effective. Rainbow Dash is a brash, aggressive, and sometimes insensitive mare. Applejack is a somewhat ignorant and immensely flawed mare who knows so little about so much. Pinkie Pie is a chaotic ball of energy. Fluttershy is scared of life. Twilight walks around giving advice. Rarity is a fashion obsessed artist.

 

All of these things are driven into the ground until they need to have another element of their character come out. Characters like Applejack are consistently defined by their flaws and stereotypes while characters like Rarity are defined by their strengths, even if stereotyped. This creates an uneven expansion of characters and growth across the lineup. Some characters get to succeed and grow and experience new things (Rarity, Rainbow, Twilight), while others don't. This is what creates problems in a slice of life show- some characters become more and more of the focus while others are relegated to support roles.

 

Which is okay if that is how it is initially designed, but it isn't how the show is or was designed. That creates imbalance, and as writers get more to play with because of past episodes, the imbalance spreads. Doesn't have to be that way. That is why an epic slice of life episode such as Saddle Row Review works, because every character has something. Some parts are stronger than others, but it still works- even though there you can tell who is favored and who isn't. And it is why episodes like Applejack's Day Off don't work at all, because since they've never given AJ more than 'farmer cowpony' to work with, she doesn't do much if she isn't allowed to express.

 

And since some characters are easier to write than others because their personalities are big- Rarity, Pinkie, Dash- or have very clearly defined group roles, it creates additional imbalance.

 

So to me the issue isn't slice of life, it is writing.

 

Adventuring/Seeing more of the world is nice, but it doesn't equate to better. Griffonstone and Gauntlet were okay episodes, but to me, just that. New locales that masked mediocre episodes. No great sin, no great boon.
 

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