Anon 08/19/2020 (Wed) 22:10:25 No.6452 del
So, when one reads this post (and the previous one >>6449) one should ask one question beforehand: why have I decided to go back to season 8?

Well, when one user decides to watch MLP, one would imply that its appeal relies on its comfy vibes that it portrays and transmits to the viewer. Nonetheless, one would claim that seasons 1, 2 or even 5 shine in this regard, one wouldn´t usually pick season 8 to do that or at least, other choices look much more attractive than looking for the episode list of this season.

Season 8....stands out for being a weird season, not talked very often and it hasn´t materialized all that well among a part of the community (namely /mlp/ is the place that I know the best, as for EQD or other places, I am unaware of its impact). The 8th season that aired two years ago doesn´t seem to be remembered all that fondly and if one looks through its additions, there are two features that stand out from the rest: the kirins and the student six.

It was the first season that marked the last era of FiM because if one has to take a point of reference among the seasons, the movie in 2017 stands as the biggest checkpoint because of two things: in the show, it expanded the south of Equestria (which means that almost all the species and locations in the map were almost completely defined) and fanbase wise, the show was getting much less traction for the community. Perhaps one doesn´t want to admit this but when you are watching episodes like an automaton, a fan who loves ponies might not say it openly but it is shown when one displays signs of weariness and discomfort among the shitposts, ending up indifferent and less impressed towards the show. In this sense, FiM had to end sooner or later, avoiding the Simpsons formula.

That discomfort was even more intensified with the 8th season. All of a sudden, right in the premiere, it featured the two most controversial additions that made this season really alien at the time: the school of friendship (supposedly Hasbro was planning to sell toys with it yet i have to see how that plan panned out in the end) and especially, the 6 students. These 6 characters robbed the time for the mane 6 (not that much but they did) and one would feel hesitant to see how these characters would become the centerpiece, being shoehorned by the corporation, introducing non pony characters from other distant places that don´t come from Ponyville (besides Thorax,Ember and the two griffons.Perhaps I am forgetting other characters here right now)

All of this created an alienating feeling because nobody was familiar with them in the past and thus, it would convey the feeling that MLP stopped being MLP with these additions. In addition to that, episodes like Non Compete Clause and Yakity Sax would even create more disgust for portraying the mane 6 with certain moments that would stand out in the wrong sense for acting out of character. An explosive combination that left any passion remaining thrown to the window.

Now, in 2020, while we are more familiar with them, season 8 still stays in a really weird placement and the only episode that everyone agrees as a highlight is Sounds of Silence. The rest of it doesn´t seem to have an universal consensus nor a clear idea of what to think out of it.