Did find myself somewhat underwhelmed by the first part of "The Crystalling", the two part premiere to one of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic's' weaker and most inconsistent seasons Season 6. Had no faults with the animation, music or voice acting and there were things to like in the writing and story, but on the whole it was too slight and bland. Starlight Glimmer didn't do enough for me either, which disappointed as she was one of the standouts in Season 5's character writing.
Part 2 does improve on the first one, as hoped. It is not perfect and it easily could have been a single episode, but story-wise "The Crystalling: Part 2" is a lot more eventful rather than being set up with too much padding (though the execution of the story is variable, especially in regard to the conflict) and the Starlight and Sunburst subplot fares better here. "The Crystalling: Part 2" is decent and above average, but a good deal still could have been executed better.
"The Crystalling: Part 2" has quite a lot that is good. Have no issues with the animation quality which is always vibrant and fluid with lovingly detailed backgrounds. Or the well synchronised music that has a lot of character. Or the uniformly very good voice acting, especially from Tara Strong and Kelly Sheridan with the most to do. While not being sold yet on Starlight's new personality yet, that is through no fault of Sheridan. Cathy Weseluk also does a great job as Spike.
Speaking of Spike, he really surprised me throughout "The Crystalling". For the first time in a while he is neither just useless background or a bland lead character with their negative character traits exaggerated, and is here useful and reassuringly sympathetic as an advisor and friend. Like his conversation with Starlight in Part 1, his conversation with Twilight here is heartfelt and a prime example of all that. Starlight and Sunburst's subplot works a lot better here (after disliking it in Part 1) and has more heart, the dialogue is not as cringe-worthy and with more development it rings true more. There is a lot more going on here and enough of it intrigues and is investable enough.
However, the whole Eternal Winter conflict was more interesting on paper than it was in execution. It could have done with more tension and could have felt less shoehorned and too neatly resolved. Eternal Winter promises more than delivers, an example of a good looking antagonist but a rather flat personality. It did feel a bit rushed at times from trying to do a little too much.
Am again not sold yet on Starlight for reasons stated already in my review for "The Crystalling: Part 1". Her character writing was a revelation in Season 5 and her 180 personality post-Season 5 took a lot of getting used to. It is not yet interesting enough and her writing seemed underdeveloped and rushed.
Decent second part and an improvement to the first, but not a great representation of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' and more of a representation of how inconsistent Season 6 was. Better in the season was to follow, as well as worse. 6/10
Part 2 does improve on the first one, as hoped. It is not perfect and it easily could have been a single episode, but story-wise "The Crystalling: Part 2" is a lot more eventful rather than being set up with too much padding (though the execution of the story is variable, especially in regard to the conflict) and the Starlight and Sunburst subplot fares better here. "The Crystalling: Part 2" is decent and above average, but a good deal still could have been executed better.
"The Crystalling: Part 2" has quite a lot that is good. Have no issues with the animation quality which is always vibrant and fluid with lovingly detailed backgrounds. Or the well synchronised music that has a lot of character. Or the uniformly very good voice acting, especially from Tara Strong and Kelly Sheridan with the most to do. While not being sold yet on Starlight's new personality yet, that is through no fault of Sheridan. Cathy Weseluk also does a great job as Spike.
Speaking of Spike, he really surprised me throughout "The Crystalling". For the first time in a while he is neither just useless background or a bland lead character with their negative character traits exaggerated, and is here useful and reassuringly sympathetic as an advisor and friend. Like his conversation with Starlight in Part 1, his conversation with Twilight here is heartfelt and a prime example of all that. Starlight and Sunburst's subplot works a lot better here (after disliking it in Part 1) and has more heart, the dialogue is not as cringe-worthy and with more development it rings true more. There is a lot more going on here and enough of it intrigues and is investable enough.
However, the whole Eternal Winter conflict was more interesting on paper than it was in execution. It could have done with more tension and could have felt less shoehorned and too neatly resolved. Eternal Winter promises more than delivers, an example of a good looking antagonist but a rather flat personality. It did feel a bit rushed at times from trying to do a little too much.
Am again not sold yet on Starlight for reasons stated already in my review for "The Crystalling: Part 1". Her character writing was a revelation in Season 5 and her 180 personality post-Season 5 took a lot of getting used to. It is not yet interesting enough and her writing seemed underdeveloped and rushed.
Decent second part and an improvement to the first, but not a great representation of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' and more of a representation of how inconsistent Season 6 was. Better in the season was to follow, as well as worse. 6/10
