Like tens if not hundreds of thousands of others, I’m a brony – an adult,
male fan of Hasbro’s My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic series. It’s something that seems unusual to those
outside of the brony community; after all, My Little Pony is something that’s
always been associated with and marketed to little girls. And until Friendship is Magic came along in
2010, it pretty much was. Friendship is
Magic, however, is different. While it’s
true that younger girls are the main demographic the show is targeted towards, show
developer Lauren Faust designed it to not be overly girly, and to be enjoyable
by all both men and women of all ages:
I didn't create this show for little girls, I
created it for little girls and their parents--including male parents. It only stands to reason that adult animation fans without children may like it, too.
To me, it’s no different than a show like Sesame
Street: even though it’s clearly
targeted at children, it’s designed in a way that adults can enjoy it too;
plenty of grown-ups watch classic clips from the show both with and without
their children. Likewise, Friendship is
Magic can potentially be enjoyable for anyone who approaches the show with an open mind, and
doesn’t decide they’re not going to give the show a chance because of the past
of the My Little Pony brand. I encourage anyone who hasn't done so to at least watch an episode or two – it's not hard to find all the episodes on Youtube.
So why exactly do we bronies enjoy the show? Honestly, there’s no one simple answer. There’s lots of things to like, and different
people have different reasons. One
strong reason for me, however, is the characters themselves. The six central characters (or the “Mane 6”
as the fandom calls them) are all very strong, developed characters with unique
personalities. While they’re all very different,
they all share a strong sense of friendship with each other. They’re all very likeable, and I’m always
rooting for them to be successful in their endeavors. Here’s some information on why I like each of
them, starting with my favorite:
