Welcome to a new edition of Alicorn Reviews as we head into the eighth season of FIM. I'm honestly stunned that Gen 4 lasted eight years since its debut in 2010. The premiere is about Twilight wanted to open up a school of friendship after the events of the Storm King. She and the Mane Six want to spread friendship from across the world as the cutie map has expanded. It would seem that DHX is slightly changing the guard a bit as we get introduced to six new characters. The new group is a nice surprise as instead of bringing in new pony characters, they used different species. I expected this would eventually happen as how many times can DHX use the Mane Six before they get old. It's interesting how Twilight and the Mane Six went from the everyman character to now as paragons. For the last eight years, DHX has written FIM with quality that it's hard to believe the franchise at a time was formerly garbage. I remember when Twilight was once a student of Celestria from the first season before becoming a princess. It's amazing how she went from a student to now a teacher who similar to Celestria is often looked up to by many. The same could be said for the rest of the Mane Six and Starlight as they have achieved many things by growing with their talents. However, this now brings a new challenge as they become tasked by Twilight to teach their lessons the girls have learned. The reason this becomes a difficult task is because it's one thing to practice you're talents but to teach to others would be hard. It shows there is more to learning for these girls besides mastering their crafts. Another interesting thing about the premiere is how Twilight learns that following everything by the book of regulations isn't always the best idea. Twilight, as we have known for years would go by the book on nearly every occasion. Thanks to Starlight's encouragement, she learns that sometimes new rules need to replace the old ones to better the world. Celestria highlighted this the best as well when she bought up that all three pony types were like that at one point. Even as Paragons, the Mane Six are still growing and there is obviously room to progress each in other areas. The Young Six were another highlight for this seasonal opening as I knew this would eventually happen. I'll admit there was a little skepticism on my part towards them when I have heard they all were debuting in this episode. I'm truly glad my skepticism got proving wrong and it's because each one had unique traits to them. Let's begin with Sandbar, a male earth pony who's the laid back guy of the group. It's surprising that for once DHX decides to make a male protagonist one of the main cast. Sandbar is known for having a surfer personality and you could say he was a little similar Tree Hugger. He didn't provide moments that made him come off interesting but again this is his first appearance. Gallus a male griffon was the sarcastic member but despite his attitude I enjoyed him the most. It's true I did make a comparison with him to Revali in my Zelda BOTW review. However, Gallus actually wasn't that much of an ass as the only time he was being one is when they first met each other. He's more sarcastic than being a jerk and Gallus does change throughout the two episodes. I enjoyed watching him go from not taking a liking to the idea of friendship and arguing with the others. Then as he got to know who each of them was, this allowed him to open up and like them as a friend. I also love the sad cute eyes he gave Grandpa Gruff while begging to stay at the school, truly priceless. The next one was a little surprising that they would make a female yak part of this group. Her name is Yona and Rutherford brings her in to represent the Yaks. I don't believe Yona has any relation to Rutherford aside being a Yak from Yakyakistan. Similar to Rutherford, she comes off proud to the point of claiming anything Yak is better. I'll admit she like Sandbar were among my least favorites but with that said Yona was still better at friendship then her ruler could compare. The only thing I found entertaining about her was being clumsy so much she will trip over her own hair from excitement. For Smolder, this wasn't that much of a shock when we've had dragon characters since the beginning with Spike. She is a female dragon that bears some resemblance to Ember's personality and demonstrates an aggressive attitude. Smolder is bit arrogant at first by the idea of attending a school she felt was boring. She also thought it was a waste of time for dragons, however, after skipping class and hanging out with the others helped her see friendship. Ocellus, a female Changeling that bears a resemblance to Thorax's calm and gentle attitude makes her come off as the Fluttershy of the group. That's another thing about the Young Six is how they have mix and match personality traits from the Mane Six. Ocellus at the start exhibits a shy demeanor but later on shows some intellect like Twilight during the final part of the episode. The last one is Silverstream, a female Hippogriff/Seapony and niece to Queen Nova. She's the Pinkie of the Young Six because of her overzealous and favorable attitude toward others. Silverstream was the second one I enjoyed the most aside from Gallus. Maybe it's her eagerness to learn about others while being so bubbly about it is why she is my second favorite. I also found it interesting that Hippogriffs are still considered aquatic in this lore and can turn into Seaponies. The only time I ever saw Hippogriffs in any lore was from Demon's Crest. However, in the Ghosts N Goblins games they were these gargoyle monsters instead. Moving on to the Neighsay, he's a male unicorn from the EEA(Equestria Education Association) who poses as the obstacle for Twilight. His role was actually similar to what they did with the Human Filthy Rich from LOE. It was a brilliant idea to have Maurice LaMarche (who played Brain from Pinky and the Brain) to do the voice over for Neighsay. He captured the personality of a strict noble with a narrow-minded view perfectly. I also love how he was an intellectual threat to Twilight who would always have an answer for his kind. Him acting as a challenge to Twilight was another great use of writing. Of course, this forces the Princess of Friendship to rethink if going by the book was really the answer. The reprise song of the School of Friendship sounded solid unlike the first part. Its sounded better in tune instead of being all over the place as even the Young Six were able to bring this together. It's not Daniel Ingram's best work as I felt the music was missing his usual charm that his other songs offered. The only time there was any of that charm is when Twilight started singing considering Rebecca Shoichet brings it every time she sings. Let's talk about the references to the MLP movie (2017) and it was a nice tie-in to the film. Twilight explained why Tempest Shadow wasn't present especially when it's the opening of a season. I feel it's a missed opportunity as the writers could've explored Tempest a little. They might have went into the after math of the Storm King and learn what Tempest was going through. I guess we are going have to wait until later in the season to see where the writers will take her. Of course, the map expanding to the places from the movie like Seaquestia did get one reference from Queen Nova's general as a nice tie-in. I'm sure some of you already pointed this out but how can he be a general when his fleet is ocean related. Shouldn't he be an admiral for the Seapony fleet? I can't really find that many problems for this premiere as the writers got many things right. The Young Six and the episodes' plot came together so well that I'm actually looking forward to what is next for them. The only issue that I probably found was with the first part from the School of Friendship song and the Young Six sounded off during their verses. These kids voices just didn't sync well with Twilight considering she was the one holding the lyrics up. Nevertheless, the reprise on the other hand as mentioned before was much better. I guess the point of the first track was to show discord (no pun intended) among both the Mane and Young Sixes that struggled to learn and teach. It still could've been written a lot better than what we got but Daniel Ingram can't always nail a masterpiece. On another matter, since DHX managed to get Maurice LaMarche, I can't help but feel this was a missed opportunity to do an old reference. I'm referring to what Brain would say to Pinky when he asked his routine question from the show. They should have completed a scene where Pinkie asks Neighsay what he will do next about the school. He would reply, "what I always do, try to take over the school" as a nice reference. I'm pretty sure during recording that both Andrea Libman (Pinkie Pie) and Maurice LaMarche did a couple of joke outtakes about that. As stated, this was the best opening to a new season we got since Season 4 and an complete improvement from the last one. Sure there wasn't any adventuring but it isn't necessary to tell a compelling story especially when six new characters debuted. The Mane Six move to another phase and that's reaching paragon status. At one time they portrayed the everyman and through the hero's journey grew as people and overcame adversity. The episode showed that despite becoming teachers to a new generation, they still had room to grow further. The Young Six was a nice change as it adds more potential plots for new characters to develop with our favorite magic girl group. Another thing that made them so interesting is having one species of each and playing off their differences. A similar writing style got used for the Mane Six in the first few seasons and no surprise it works here once again. The supposed antagonist of Neighsay was a nice opposition to Twilight to the point that she questions whether or not to buck the rules. It obviously been a while since I heard Maurice LaMarche voice act a character but the guy can still go. He brought Neighsay to life by presenting a strict Chancellor that opposed the teachings of friendship to other creatures. I'm glad DHX improved their writing this time for the opening and it's a dignified way to start season 8. Final Rating: 8.2/10 Very Good
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