Blossomforth: What? It was good! Cocoon was there! He’s always great! Lyra: Ugh! Cocoon is the worst villain in the show. Why does everycreature like him? Blossomforth: He’s devious and sneaky and dangerous and… he looks cool! He doesn’t just fight the heroes, he tricks them!
Raindrops: The doppelgangers were pretty cool.
Lyra: The doppelgangers were pretty cool- Blossomforth: Cocoon made them! Lyra: How?! Where was this skill acquired? And why was it never used until now?! Nevermind how much of a waste it all was. That plot thread went no where! Blossomforth: He needed to find the source of the heroes’ powers! Lyra: Which never would have worked if the heroes were acting like themselves! The writers could have done anything to fill in that gap, but instead they introduced these six doubles and dumbed down even Twain and Jacob just so everything would “work out”. Just like always! Every time Cocoon shows up the heroes act like lunatics! [Pause] No offense.
Princess Luna: We shall not feign that no injury was incurred.
Lyra: Sorry…
Princess Luna: You are forgiven.
Raindrops: Did… you watch the episode, your highness?
Princess Luna: Indeed. We found the plot structure to be rather juvenile, but resigned that the objective was comedy. And in that regard, believe a moderate success was enjoyed.
Bon-Bon: Kinda weird not being the only adult in the room for a change…
Well that episode sucked. Gonna have to get the ol’ cartoon club back together just so I can make fun of it.
First of all, I liked Code Lyoko. I watched it a bunch. It was a fantastic show. It did a lot of things very well. But, I also watched ReBoot. It was a fantastic show. It did a lot of things very well.
However, ReBoot and Code Lyoko have ZERO analogs between each other. Even trying to say they’re both video game shows is like saying the original Super Friends is similar to Teen Titans. Nothing! Not the tone, not the stakes, not the characters- Nothing about them were similar! Code Lyoko was basically a high school drama with action, that gradually leaned more and more on the action. ReBoot was a comedy/action with consequences, and that ultimately took the show down a more mature path.
So… How do you turn ReBoot into a bargain-bin Code Lyoko? Was it an accident? Can that even be an accident?
Usually I ignore it, but I do get upset sometimes at things like this. I get angry, or sad, or disappointed. But right now I’m disgusted. Someone woke up one day and decided to ruin a license, one that wasn’t even very well known, and for what? There can’t be any money in this, at least not any more than a new franchise would have made without disgracing an old one.
Lyra: Look, all I’m trying to say is that Hamtaro was the best cartoon ever made-I’m not trying to turn this into some big debate. Mostly because it’s not debatable. Blossomforth: How can you even say that in a universe where Cowboy Bebop exists?! Lyra: Nothing wrong with the show, it just wasn’t Hamtaro. Not every show can reach that kind of potential. Blossomforth: This is absurd! We Bare Bears is better than Hamtaro! Lyra: Now now, let’s not say things we can’t take back.
Blossomforth: Ugh… Raindrops, bring us back to earth here.
Raindrops: Heh heh. Well, I really liked uh… KND? Blossomforth: Are you kidding me?! Lyra: Hmm. You liked how it’s world was much deeper than it appeared at first.
Raindrops: Yeah! Like My Little Human and Steven Universe! Blossomforth: But it was just made up as they went along; you could tell that in season 1! At least Steven Universe did it right! Lyra: Steven Universe did the same thing. Over half of the first season was just monster-of-the-week villain chasing. It’s a simple concept to get you started and acquainted with the characters before things get complicated. Blossomforth: But the creators had things in motion even back then! Lyra: But they weren’t realized until later in order to create self-contained episodes. Kids Next Door might not have done that as well, but it wasn’t supposed to. It was primarily comedy/action. Steven Universe is comedy/action/drama. If it was anything less than what it was it’d be terrible.
Bon-Bon: Swords down, fillies. I brought cookies. Still having your nerd-debate?
Lyra: What was your favorite cartoon, Bon-Bon?
Bon-Bon: Secret of NIHM.
Lyra: Ah… That’s a good one. Blossomforth: That IS a good one. Raindrops: I’ve never heard of it.
Lyra: I just… really didn’t like the episode… Blossomforth: [Gasp] You didn’t like Mr. Greg?!
Lyra: What? No! That was fantastic! Blossomforth: The Shortie Squad?
Lyra: No! Peridot is suddenly psychic, what’s not to love?
Blossomforth: The Lars episode? Lyra: No!
Raindrops: Steven Floats was a little slow paced, I guess… Lyra: No-ho-ho-ho-…
Blossomforth: … The one with Sour Cream’s dad?
Lyra: Yes…
Blossomforth: … What was wrong with it? Seemed pretty formulaic to me.
Lyra: That’s the- [Sigh] … Nevermind…
Raindrops: Lyra, you know how this works. Nopony is going to coax it out of you. You either say something or you don’t.
Lyra: I just… Marty was a jerk, sure, but why couldn’t he have made a real connection with Sour Cream? Why couldn’t the conflict of the episode have been about choosing to favor the parent that raised you or the parent you share interests with? Wouldn’t that have been a more interesting episode?
Blossomforth: Uh… I guess? Raindrops: Maybe?
Lyra: Why can’t a parent disappear and come back… and come back with genuine interest in their child…?
Blossomforth: …Wha-? Raindrops: They can do that Lyra- You’re right. That’s what should have happened.
Lyra: Haha! Yeah! But did you see the Ranger Tabes episode? That was awesome!
Blossomforth: Yeah it was! I had to pause it when she caught that dart and was just all… like it was nothing!
Lyra: Haha! Yeah! Right Raindrops?
Raindrops: Uh… I actually haven’t seen that one yet. I got up to the newest Chloe episode. At least I think it’s the newest one…
Lyra: I love Chloe! She’s my favorite character! I feel like she should be the main character.
Blossomforth: I actually like the three bears “fish-out-of-water” setup and the mix of wacky and normal characters they interact with. It’s refreshing and well balanced.
Lyra: Really? I feel Chloe would have the same “fish-out-of-water” experience considering her background. And her parents are great. And I just really want to know more about her and what she’s doing. I bet it’d make a great high school drama, only you know, set in college and staring a junior high student.
Blossomforth: Maybe, but it would never have the same balance of surreal and mundane, or the constant out-of-placeness that the bears have. It’s what makes the show special.
Lyra: I just find myself infinitely more interested in the Chloe episodes. Blossomforth: Ah, but Chloe never met Ranger Tabes. Lyra: Oooo… Good point.
Raindrops: My favorites are the bears’ past episodes.
Blossomforth: Oh my gosh! I love those! They’re all so sweet! Lyra: I know, right? Raindrops: Heehee.
1) I will say I loved the scene where Rafferty tried to add some details to the painting and the customer got upset about it. It could have been lazy and we could have heard him say “Oh, I am so sad now. This is my sad face.“ But instead we got to see him walk back, completely defeated, into his self-imposed prison of stagnation. And as easy as it would have been to make Sammy out to be the bad-guy and be all “I told you so.“ We instead see him visibly upset too. He didn’t want to be right, he just knew that he was.
That’s why Rafferty is my favorite character. Can give even a boring episode a flawless performance.
Oh wait. That’s not what you asked. [Unintelligible Muttering] … What?
2) With extra Hay Fries, please!
3) I did not know that! But I haven’t played Hong Kong yet so I also don’t know who you’re talking about. I’m waiting for it to go on sale. Which sounds pretty sorry of me since it’s so cheap… I am poor. :(
Lyra: I don’t know. I didn’t like the first episode since the hiatus ended. I just really liked the second one.
Blossomforth: Well, what about the song?
Lyra: Ugh. It was like they were trying to channel Art In Distress and wound up with Raze This Barn.
Blossomforth: I liked Raze this Barn!
Lyra: What? Is there a single song you don’t like?
Blossomforth: I didn’t like In This Town.
Lyra: Are you kidding me? You didn’t like the one song that’s intentionally unnerving, but you liked Raze This Barn?
Blossomforth: There’s nothing creepy about Raze This Barn! It’s about how we shouldn’t fear natural destructive forces!
Lyra: You read an analysis online, didn’t you?
Blossomforth: N-No?
Lyra: Anyway. I did really like Rafferty and Rainart in the newest episode.
Blossomforth: So did I! It was great! Couldn’t you just scream when Raff booped Rain’s nose?
Lyra: Everypony knows Jakerty is the one true ship.
Blossomforth: Is not!
Okay… Okay so, why did Gerald reach for the stolen lockbox? That thing had sat there for untold decades, maybe centuries! He couldn’t wait two minutes to finish pulling up Pinkerton and Rainart? They could have helped him get it! Instead he dislodged it and it sank into the abyss.
If from a writer’s perspective the lockbox needed to be lost (which I would understand perfectly), why not something that doesn’t make Gerald look like an idiot? Here’s an idea: Gerald does retrieve the lockbox, but Pinkerton and Rainart are too heavy to lift. So he uses the lockbox, heavy with gold, as a counterweight to help lift Pinkerton and Rainart back up (Pink and Rain on one end of the rope, treasure on the other, ledge as the fulcrum). Then, when all three are safe, they go to pull the lockbox back up, but it slips out of the rope and then it’s lost.
That way, Gerald would have looked both selfless and smart for literally using the treasure to save his friends!
See, here’s my problem. Steven Universe is a very different show than, say, My Little Human. Steven Universe has very clear and concise rules, with a very limited cast, under which its world works. Even if you don’t know the reason behind something, because the show is told through Steven’s perspective, chances are there is one. And you’ll find out later. Maybe even dozens of episodes later!
My Little Human isn’t so stringent. If some information was omitted, it’s not usually because of a limited narrator or because it’ll be expanded on later. Most of the time, there just is no answer! It wasn’t necessary so nopony ever bothered to nail one down! And that’s where viewers can come in and fill in the blanks with their own imagination, without designating it as “alternate dimensions” or dreams.
One show allows for very plausible, viewer-created additions to fill in gaps left by the show. The other is just a show. No less a show, mind you, but more of a thing to be watched and experienced than one to be explored and immersed.
So… No. It can be fun looking at others’ Gemsonas, particularly their designs, but I don’t see a point in doing it myself.
Lyra here! Saw that filly Applebloom with one of these and thought it was pretty rad. I probably won't get the kind of following she has, but whatevs.
I've been asked if I'm a wizard and that somepony I don't know loves me. That's kinda cool, I guess.
Here's all the Drawings I've done so far (not that they're very good)!
