I need to talk about how MLP went from G3 to G4 to G5 because WHAT HAPPENED
I want to give my very humble but important opinion on this because how is NO ONE talking about this? Lately, TV shows have been mediocre in my opinion. Obviously, there are a few exceptions, but as someone who grew up watching My Little Pony, I genuinely cannot understand how—again, HOW?—we went from cute characters with actual personalities and entertaining stories for kids, teenagers, and even adults to… well, generic animation, characters with no personality of their own, and stories that either make absolutely no sense or are absurdly childish.
And before anyone says anything, YES, I KNOW MLP IS FOR KIDS, OKAY? But it genuinely makes me think that kids nowadays must have such fried, rotten brains to actually get excited or have fun watching the new generation of ponies. Like… please. By the time you’re over seven, you probably won’t even remember that show, and I know you’re going to prefer watching TikToks over watching this cartoon.
Personally, I don’t like the new generation. I’m talking specifically about G5, Make Your Mark and Tell Your Tale. But let’s take this one generation at a time. I’ll start with the first generations in chronological order.
I don’t have much to say about this one. It’s the original generation and it’s not very well known. It gave us several specials and animated shows. It has that very 80s feel, with designs that, personally, I find simple but still kind of cute.
This generation had a major change, and the ponies adapted to this kind of chic 2000s fashion for little girls. Personally, I really love these designs.
(I had the orange pony with pink and purple hair 😭)
THE BEST PONY GENERATION. It was at the peak of its popularity and was a total icon on the internet.
I want to mention the Brony phenomenon: how a series specifically designed for girls by Lauren Faust made its way into internet culture in 2010, attracting teenagers and even adults who called themselves “bronies,” and eventually that became the name for the fans.
There were also so many controversies, like the whole Derpy situation, aka “Derpygate” 👀, but I’ll save that for another rant because I can get so many of my own opinions and conclusions out of that.
And I love how the fandom basically created an entire other franchise. They didn’t just make fanart; they also created an insane amount of:
• Original music (like the one about Discord. A BANGER 🔥🔥🔥)
• Animations (some of them were a little traumatizing, like Smile)
SERIOUSLY, THIS WAS THE GOLDEN AGE OF MLP. And obviously, this is the generation I grew up with.
BUTTTT bronies were also mocked by the media, and there was a lot of discussion about masculinity and why a guy/adult would enjoy a show considered “feminine.” There are even academic studies about the phenomenon from the perspective of gender and fandom culture. But to put it into perspective, it was kind of like… saying you were an otaku in 2020.
Although, of course, the fandom also had its toxic side, especially because the fan community had gotten so much bigger.
Either way, it’s not like I hate the new generation. It just doesn’t have THAT thing that made the series so special anymore. It lost a lot of its identity, and it feels like the huge world of G4 was drastically reduced in G5.
