Detritus of the Mind

So I want to talk about MLP. I know, that way lies madness, especially since only the craziest parts of the fandom are online. Look, if I used that as my barometer, there'd be no blog, as the internet is Crazy Garden. But yeah, back to ponies. To be precise, I'm talking about the Equestria Girls spin-off that's due to appear. By all indications, it's a movie that will naturally be accompanied by toys and not a series. At least not yet. Right now, it's a whopping 90 second preview. And those 90 seconds are all it took for whole swathes of the internet, including otherwise respectable creators, to declare it the worst thing ever, the most ugly thing ever, and the most sexist thing ever. I think all of that is not only ridiculous but also incredibly hypocritical. First, let's address the worst thing ever charge. This is because of the perceived notion that the characters will be changed beyond recognition due to a change in appearance. The biggest selling point t...

The best description of nostalgia I've ever heard (no idea where) is the sweetest poison you'll ever taste.  That's pretty accurate.  I was recently hit with a wave of nostalgia for the very hit-or-miss output of one French animation studio, Marathon.  First, there was the announcement of the horribly named but otherwise promising new series Lolirock,  followed by a rumor making its way through the Toonzone forums that their flagship series Totally Spies is due to return to CN in the fall.  I would dismiss the latter but (a) it was confirmed by one of Marathon's main execs and (b) Jenn Hale's interview on Talkin' Toons confirmed that she was indeed recording new episodes sometime last year.  So that one may get a... fifth or sixth chance.  I lost count. I won't pretend Marathon's works were fine art - in fact, they were anything but.  But they had a very appealing pseudo-anime aesthetic, and the general tone of their series even at their worst ...