Well, here we are, where it all started. I went into this far from blind but having not watched it through in at least... what four years? Maybe longer depending on if all I did was just look up certain memorable scenes or skip through it for research and comparisons with fanfics. (Something I used to do often and still can do from time to time).

As it is, I found Friendship is Magic Part 1 enjoyable enough. Not the kind of episode that holds too strongly on its own though. As typical with a lot of things that need to set up and introduce. One thing I will note is that we get to see all the Mane Six and a basic idea of their ‘’archetypes'’ but not there ‘’personalities'’ and uniqueness themselves. Rainbow Dash is the brash tomgirl. Pinkie Pie is the silly character. Rarity is the “fancy” character or whatever one calls a rich girl stereotype and lastly, Applejack is that generic country/southern amalgamation that occurs so often in modern media. Nothing really makes them standout, but nothing that makes them bad either. I think if one went in with the low to zero expectations many first checked this out with, they would be pleasantly surprised (and obliviously a lot were) that it wasn't trash tier or no effort put into it.

Speaking of that, that cliff hanger! Nightmare Moon’s introduction was pretty dramatic and had a air of her threatening and villainous nature even if it wasn’t a standout for the show’s later standards or the standards of younger kids TV before things got really dumbed down.

I don’t have any strong negatives to say on this. Some moderate roughness in animation and perhaps it still carries a feeling of a “dumb young kids show” at moments (now, these moments can be charming unto themselves, I will note). It wouldn’t be something that would carry on interest with extreme hype but it did it’s job.

‘’‘7/10‘’‘ Is my rating for this episode. Is it the best thing in the universe? No. I could understand even finding it a bit boring but it does its job well enough at introducing the characters (or should I say archetypes?) and basic set up for the adventure in part 2. I would say it is a range of above average, average to serviceable, with only some hints of roughness on the edges.