Anime is the reason I became a brony, since the three Pegasisters that got me into MLP were either online friends or an ex that I saw again at an anime convention cosplaying as a pony (Rainbow Dash), I think it should stay a cartoon.
I agree from what I'm reading. Them going to school and fighting demons would be cool. Although I love transforming animes it would be cool if they may had some kind of super powers once transformed from the crystals in the first episodes that they got.
So, I just started watching Smile Precure! and it is probably the closest you're ever going to get to a human version of My Little Pony. The character archetypes are pretty much dead ringers for the majority of the Mane Six. Funny part is that this show apparently has a huge fanbase of older males in Japan. http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q607/PonyExplosion/tumblr_mbmqwcj*squee!*1r25rhdo1_500_zps21a7c37e.jpg I first was introduced to My Little Pony at an anime convention I went to. I hadn't heard of it before then.
Allow me to weigh in on the subject. I've given it quite a bit of thought: (Copied from a document I wrote some time ago. I even have part of the first "episode" if anypony's curious) I've taken the cahracter's names and translated them into (literal) Japanese (or a close approximation). After each description is a quote that I use for them. I...think they can be translated using Google... One thing I found intersting: "Cutie mark Crusaders" is alliterative when translated into Japanese!
