Thursday 9 November 2017

Text Review Roundup: "Shadow Play"

I may be late, but I have at least finished with S7 now as far as TRR is concerned! This finale brought a generally positive reaction, but as usual that reception wasn't quite universal. Pony Press News Journal has been removed: it seems to have ceased publication as there's still no review past the near-month-old "Secrets and Pies". A shame, that.

ArthurCrane – extremely positive ("Lots of fun, lots of story, lots of character. It’s a near-perfect.")

Batbrony Reviews – "My full review of this finale ... won't be out for some time"

Cuddlepug – mixed (graded B-; "a little contrived [though] ending on an epic note is appreciated")

Derpy News – extremely positive (graded A; "Every single character was in top form ... a top class finale")

Louder Yay – extremely positive (5/5; "sheer epicness is what pushes this episode into the highest star bracket")

MLEEP Reviews – extremely positive (10/10; "brought the Legends Of Magic series to a close in the best way possible")

Rainbine – mixed (7/10; " I did like the finale. I thought it was pretty good [but] Stygian/Pony of Shadows is the worst villain in the entire series")

The Super Mario Brony Blog – very positive (5/5; "undoubtedly one of the best two-parters since [The Return of] Harmony and [Twilight's] Kingdom")

TheDragonWarlock – generally positive (graded B+; "The characters are written well for the most parts, sans Twilight being way too reckless ... It's a very solid finale")

Thrond Media Pony Corner – negative (48%; "When world is emphasized over character, you must have a good enough world to hold it up, and this show simply does not anymore.")

11 comments:

  1. That Alex Throndson is a very unstandeable reviewer. His unnecessary panning over this season (and pretty much all the seasons post S2) is very annoying, but I can't expect otherwise from a supremacist of the very first two seasons....

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    1. He says he may leave after S7, but we'll see. I don't agree with him on a lot of things, and I wonder why he's stayed so long if he's not enjoying it -- but as long as he keeps publishing reviews, he'll be in TRR.

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    2. Uhm... I... didn't bring the question about removing him by the TRR sir, I was just saying that I don't like his ways of reviewing.

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  2. As those who completely dismiss S6 finale like Cuddle and Super Mario, their scores are surprisingly high and Super Mario's opinions of Starlight has been improved so much in S7, this finale is a success.

    I think Alex missed the old writting of the show, whenever some elements of an episode resemble some good old aspect of the old seasons (especially humors and character interaction), he will give a good score even the episode may be a bad episode for modern viewer like Secret & Pie. He doesnt like when the show take itself seriously, but i disagree. How about you? You prefer pre-S3 era or post-S5 era?! ;)

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    1. Well generally, the S7 DID help Starlight improve as character and becoming more popular, althought there are still some detractors of her. Regarding me.... S6 aside I vastly prefer the S4-S7 era. The only season of the first three that can stand the modern seasons is the second one. The S1 is a flat season with a lot of problem that is overidolatrized just because the name behind it, and the S3 while still liking it more than the S1 and S6 myself suffered of its short lenght and flaws in some eps.

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    2. Didnt think you will reply me ever again, Raffaele, i thought you hate me :) Ok, back to the topic

      The first 3 seasons had their old charming, even they might looks bad nowaday if you try to compare them to some recent episodes of the show (like people saying Gauntlet of Fire is Dragon Quest done right). S1 is not bad,it had some classic episodes that can stand against time like (Party of One, Best Night Ever, Green isnt Your Color...) can make some modern episodes shame themself. The show after S3 look like a different show, a lot people will not like it, to me, the later seasons had more balance between entertaining and thought-provoking (thought-provoking The Perfect Pear or entertaining A Royal Problem) so i like them more.

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    3. I like both the Unicorn Twilight and the Alicorn Twilight eras, but in different ways. If I go back and watch an episode like "Green Isn't Your Color" now, I know it's going to be more domestic and self-contained, a bit more restful in some ways. If I watch a later episode like "Top Bolt", it's more fast-paced and action-y. But that's okay, as one reason the show has lasted seven years (so far) is that it has evolved along with the ponies' characters. It would be impossible to make seven seasons like S1 without everyone becoming bored.

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  3. I will admit that I posted my thoughts on season seven rather late, but I have since posted them. If you're willing to update those TRRs to feature my thoughts on each season seven episode (plus those from season eight pre-Molt Down), that'd be great.

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    1. Thanks for the update. I'll have to think about how to deal with this. I don't want to just add them in, as a post-season review really isn't the same thing as one written when the episode has only just aired. On the other hoof, I don't want to ignore those extra reviews entirely, especially as yours are always readable. I may well simply make an extra post specifically about these "lost" reviews.

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    2. Sounds fair to me. It'll be interesting to say the least.

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    3. I think I might split it into three: S7 part 1, S7 part 2 and S8. That way, the posts won't be so unwieldy. I'll probably do the first part in the next couple of days.

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