What Are You Watching?

[Avaitor]

That's like, making "A Million Little Fibers" your one episode of South Park or "Moon of the Wolf" your one B:TAS episode. Yikes.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Hmm...that episode does not ring a bell to me at all. I guess I should be glad I never had to watch it. 

[Pharass]

I recently watched The Crystal Empire, the two-part premiere of My Little Pony's third season. I have to say that out of all the two-parters that I've seen so far, this one was by far the weakest.
I think one of the reasons why was the main villain: King Sombra could really have used an additional scene explaining his origins beyond "Pony-Sauron is back and he's going to re-conquer the lost city he ruled back in the old days". For example, where did Sombra came from? How did he become powerful enough to apparently conquer The Crystal Empire single-handedly (seriously, there's no indication of Sombra having an army or followers of any kind)? I realize that this show doesn't have the most well-developed bad guys, but with previous big bads I at least got where they came from and why they did what they did: Nightmare Moon was jealous of her sister, Discord was a spirit of chaos and finally, Queen Chrysallis wanted to conquer Canterlot so that she and the other changelings could drain the populace of their love, love being the changelings' primary food-source. Sombra by comparison just came off as being evil for no apparent reason. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that the guy was not the most compelling antagonist.

That said, I think what I'll remember the most about The Crystal Empire are the stairs. It seemed like the majority of the episode's suspenseful moments consisted of Twilight Sparkle running up and down stairs. Thrilling stuff, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

So, was there anything I liked about The Crystal Empire? Well, actually there were a few things: I enjoyed seeing Twilight grow more into her role as leader, I liked the return of Cadance and Shining Armor and thought the reversal of their roles from last time, with her powering the force-field around the city and he supporting her was a nice touch. I also thought that Sombra's magical trap was pretty clever. Oh, and finally (spoilers, just in case there are people who haven't seen it) I liked the fact that:

Spoiler

Sombra actually gets killed in the end rather than him being imprisoned again or turning a new leaf. Seriously, the crystal ponies straight-up killed their ancient oppressor with the macguffin and the power of love, Pharass approves

[close]

Oh, and the songs were fine, but then again, they usually are.

To summarize: I still like the show and will continue watching it, but this was no Return of Harmony, I'll tell you that.

[talonmalon333]

I haven't seen it yet, but I want to get some opinions.

What do you guys think of Young Justice? I've heard differing opinions on it, and I'm curious what you guys think. I've actually heard some say it's better than Justice League.

[Avaitor]

I've actually heard some say it's better than Justice League.

It most certainly is not.

[talonmalon333]

I've actually heard some say it's better than Justice League.

It most certainly is not.

I haven't seen Young Justice, but considering how much I loved Justice League, that makes sense. I take it Young Justice is nothing well above average?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Young Justice is an OK show, IMO. Greg Weisman was one of the key minds behind the show, and he's also responsible for 2 of the best cartoons ever, Gargoyles and The Spectacular Spider-Man. Compared to the pedigree of quality set by those 2 shows, I found Young Justice to be a disappointment. It's by no means a bad show, but it really lacks the heart of those other 2 shows, as well as any of the best DCAU shows, for that matter. My main problem with it is that it tries to focus on too many characters and sub-plots at once, especially in the second season, which made it really hard for me to care about or identify with anyone in particular from the show.

As it sands, I'd say that it's above average and worth watching, but just be weary tht the series has plenty of problems that hold it back from being as great as it could've been.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Young Justice suffers from balance problems. Season 1 is rather slow with a lot of plot points never actually solved on screen and few characters. Season 2 has the opposite problem of being way too fast (and having too many season 1-related things happen off-screen) and having WAY too many characters most of which are never given any sort of focus.

It also, like all Greg Weisman shows, ends in a totally unnecessary cliffhanger.

As a whole it is a good show, but it could have been so much better. Especially considering the source material.

[talonmalon333]

Thanks, guys. I might check it out someday. However, it's below many other animated shows on my list of stuff I need to get to.

[gunswordfist]

I want to really watch it myself. I love watching shows people have a mixed opinion on and then forming my opinion to share.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Talon, have you seen Green Lantern: The Animated Series yet? I'd say that's a better show than Young Justice, personally, and IMO it's on the general level of quality of other good DCAU shows. It's not quite as great or memorable as BTAS or JL season 2, but I'd personally say that it's on a comparable level of quality to STAS, Batman Beyond, and JLU (minus the Cadmus arc, which was a huge step above everything else from that series). That'd definitely be worth your time if you haven't already seen it, IMO.

[talonmalon333]

Talon, have you seen Green Lantern: The Animated Series yet? I'd say that's a better show than Young Justice, personally, and IMO it's on the general level of quality of other good DCAU shows. It's not quite as great or memorable as BTAS or JL season 2, but I'd personally say that it's on a comparable level of quality to STAS, Batman Beyond, and JLU (minus the Cadmus arc, which was a huge step above everything else from that series). That'd definitely be worth your time if you haven't already seen it, IMO.

That's good to know. I thought about Green Lantern recently but haven't heard much about it. I considered checking its thread here just to see what you guys think, but didn't to avoid spoilers. Thanks, I'll check it out before Young Justice. Currently, I have Spectacular Spider-Man at the top of my list of superhero shows I want to see, as I've heard a lot of great stuff from you guys about that one.

EDIT: I might actually make a literal list for myself of shows I need to get to. Like (and speaking of Spectacular Spider-Man) I really need to see Gargoyles in its entirety. About a year ago, after my friends and I marathon'd the DCAU main shows (Batman, Batman Beyond, Superman, and Justice League), we decided to skip Static Shock and see Gargoyles. But that never happened. It needs to.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Have you already seen Batman: The Brave and The Bold?

I'd recommend prioritizing the shows in this order, myself:

1. Gargoyles
2. The Spectacular Spider-Man
3. Batman: The Brave and The Bold
4. Green Lantern: The Animated Series
5. Young Justice

[talonmalon333]

I only saw a few episodes of The Brave and the Bold, back when it was still new. I'm really way behind. I remember, about a year back, I mentioned on this site that I think the only superhero show I like as much as Batman: The Animated Series, is Justice League. Once I see more, like many of those shows you listed, I'll have much more to compare and will be able to break from my noobish shell.

I also hear The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is quite good.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Shit, I knew I was forgetting something. Yes, AEMH is really good, despite somewhat of a dip in quality with the last quarter of the show. I'd stick it between BTBATB and GLTAS on the priority list.