Although a big fan of animation, and have been for goodness knows how long, that 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' turned out to be such a treasure was a major surprise in a good way to me. Before watching and from the advertising, one would think that it would be one of those shallow and over-cute shows with a not particularly wide target audience. Actually found none of that to be the case and that is evidenced by its popularity with a wide variety of ages and both genders, so quit it with the generalisations.
"Swarm of the Century" is another great episode, at a point where the quality of 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' was consistently high. With the only disappointment being "Boast Busters", which to me still wasn't bad at all but should have been much better considering what episodes came before it. It may not be one of the show's funniest, most meaningful or most inventive episodes, but should be of no disappointment to anybody that loves great animation, writing, character and relationship writing.
The only thing that wasn't quite right was the inconsistency in Rarity's attitude towards the parasprites, or at least in a better way of saying how it changed drastically quickly from the extremes of tolerating them and getting everybody else on board to being scared of them.
However, the animation is as vibrant and detailed as ever with the Flash style being handled very well, one of the better uses of it in animation. It was well done when the show first started and got better and better all the time. The bright colours, meticulously detailed and often elegant backgrounds and adorable but never too cute character designs still appeals. The music has presence but never over-bears what is going on, with some nods to horror/disaster films such as 'Gremlins' some of the season's most inspired music can be seen here. Personally don't have a problem with the theme song, am aware some find it take it or leave it.
Writing typically treats its audience with respect and delivers on the entertainment value. Not just that, but the show was always good at morals and messages and how it delivered them. They were always important and relevant morals and messages, and ones that are good to teach younger audiences early, furthermore they were delivered sincerely and without beating people around the head. That is the case here and everything regarding respecting others and their opinions is hardly out of date now, even more relevant actually.
Similarly got a lot of enjoyment out of the storytelling. The horror and disaster film vibe delivered on fun and thrills, with the parasprites being pretty creepy and not being over-used or wasted. Love as ever how the characters are written and how they interact with each other. The characters have far more to them than what they seem in looks, don't let their cute character designs fool you as they are interesting characters with distinct personalities. The chemistry between them really sparkles and the friendship theme is honoured.
If there were standouts regarding the characterisation, it is great to see Spike becoming more interesting all the time and to see him funny and caring. How Pinkie Pie is written too is a strong example of how to give a character a prominent role even with their screen time not being large. The voice acting is very good as expected.
Concluding, another great episode. 9/10
