Hi there, I'm pretty new to MLP, however the more I watch it the more I'm liking it I'm actually really interested as to what your individual reasons are for liking the show and what brought you to it in the first place. Did you start off hating it? Did you like the animation? Etc etc. Initially, I was a little confused at what all the fuss was about, but I started finding MLP themed music that Brony artists had made (and loved it.) This caught my attention the most and I started looking into the community a lot more. So the community itself is what initially attracted me to the show, it seemed so unorthodox and that really drew my interest. However, now I'm actually watching MLP, I'm loving the animation style and the characters (particularly Fluttershy and Discord.) It's a lot of fun cuteness and I really like it!
Its the nature of the show in my opinion, I tend to watch more morbid things and I just think that there is generally a happy. also the plot isn't as basic as similar shows, and has a more deeper feel to it. (thats all I got XD)
I never even heard about it until i watched an episode. And that was shortly after season 1 finished i believe. The first thing i ever saw of MLP was a few short clips i saw on Youtube though. Still took a while for me to watch a full episode. This is literally the first video i ever saw that involved MLP:FiM [video=youtube;M6z3WXuzXXc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6z3WXuzXXc[/video] And iirc i got to this video from another website in a thread discussing Nyan Cat. So yeah, all roads lead to ponies i guess.
January 2012- Just finished my current list of tv shows (Dexter and some anime at that time) to watch, messaged one of my friends, who shares similar tastes in music and shows, asking if I should rewatch Evangelion for the tenth time or if he had anything I'd like to watch. *BAM* I'm linked to episodes 1&2 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. "... Dude, wat-" Shut up, sit down, and watch those. "O-ok... But, why this?" Silence, no questions, only watching. And that's all there is to it. It entertained me and that's usually all I need from a show. Before that I wasn't even aware of the community.
Equestria Girls (the song from 2011) played on my TV and I went to YT to find it. I failed to look at the comments nor notice that "brony" was even a word mentioned in the song. I went weeks before realizing I wasn't alone in liking technicolored ponies (then I found this board ). The primary reason I like it is because it was just so different from the crap I usually watch and was literally a big breath of fresh air. Call me corny, dumb or whatever you will, but I will be honest - Before being exposed to mlp and this community I was not generally one to quickly accept views or ways of life that were different from my own, and I'm not afraid to admit that. It has helped me to become a much better person in that aspect. That is why I like it so much and continue to watch mlp and be a part of this community.
What attracted me was that I knew there was a huge community for bronies and I wanted to see if it was a good show. What kept me here was the writing, the animation, and the characters. What keeps me here, though is the fandom.
At first, it was just a few cute pony avatars in another forum. At first I didn't think much of them, thinking it was just some internet joke. But more and more people kept posting those pictures and after a while, I finally found out that there was this new MLP series and that it was supposedly pretty good. The character designs sure where cute enough, so I searched Youtube for the first episode and gave it a shot. I'll admit that the intro made me cringe at first (I guess I wasn't alone with that) but I kept watching and it was, all in all, pretty okay. And since I couldn't just stop at the cliffhanger, I watched the next episode which I enjoyed even more, so I kept watching. The art was cute, the jokes genuinely funny with likable characters, pretty good music and the stories, despite clearly made for kids, were not insultingly simple. A fun package, overall. What's not to like?
I used to go about the internet, making my home is small forums of 100-200 people. The forum that I used to visit most had a forum group for new T.V. shows. Every week they would review every new movie, T.V. show, ect.. and MLP was one of them. I was oblivious of any fandom midway into the long wait between season 1 to season 2. What keeps me here is the community. I don't care much for the show anymore.
One of the reasons I got into MLP was because back before the show started, Chowder and Flapjack had already ended and there was no other show to watch. What keeps me coming back for more was because it's a good show by itself that's not obviously meant to sell toys, and it's one of the only good shows left on TV, that and Gravity Falls and Wonder Over Yonder (I could also say Doctor Who and Sherlock, but I haven't seen enough of those to know). But what I also like about this show is its fandom. If it weren't for MLP, I still wouldn't know what fandoms are and how they work. Another thing I like is how different Brony culture is compared to other fanbases. It's also amazing that there are charities done within the fandom as well. I'm glad to be part of this group, and I hope the show and the fans will last a good long time.
Well, before I ever watched the show in full, I always found Fluttershy alluring. Something about her just made me... happy. Tranquil. I like it now for it's well-written storylines, character interaction, music and art, and it's general message of friendship and tolerance. It's too bad hardly any bronies get that message...
[MENTION=5399]Ridley Wolf[/MENTION] - Agreed with nearly everything you said, except... There we go. In all seriousness, though, it was the pony memes that brought me in. I didn't even know bronies were a thing up until 2012 sometime, but it was late that year that I really started to take notice of all the pics floating around the web. I thought the design of these ponies was far more striking than the '80s toon, so that, coupled with the fact that it apparently had a huge adult fanbase surrounding it, was pretty much what piqued my interest enough to give it a chance. But even though I came for the striking animation, I stayed for the characters - the Mane 6 are all just so awesome that I really couldn't help outright falling in love with the show. Peaks and troughs with some of the story elements aside, it's these characters that'll keep me a fan until the show ends.
The very first episode of the show I saw was Party of One on July 09, 2011 and it completely threw all my preconceived negative notions about this show out of the window.
Honestly, what attracted me to My Little Pony in the first place was the music. I listen to the music by BronyDanceParty around the end of July last year. I liked it, alot! So, then I decided to watch all 3 seasons after that, went through bunch of other stuff and here I am now. 6-7 months later.
Noticed all the pony stuff start popping up on one of the forums I frequent. Asked somebody about it. Watched an episode. Watched a season. Watched all the seasons. Here I am. I was originally attracted to the show at a base value estimated by the animation. I can normally tell whether a show is watchable or not by animation alone. Looking at the screencaps and seeing all the images being posted I found an interest in the style of the ponies. After I started watching though it was pretty much everything about the show. I liked the lessons/morals, the story, the personalities, the references, the VA's. It was sort of like a black hole, I got too close and couldn't get away. Aside from the show itself, I really love the community. The brony fandom is one of the best fandoms to me personally. All of the artistic stuff this community produces is incredible. Animations, music, stories/fanfics, fanart. I love the show but knowing their's a huge fandom backing it just makes more to love.
In the fact that it seems to be a mixture of sources that drew people to the show/fandom. I.e. the music scene, forums, the actual fanbase, interest in animation and even wanting to explore something different etc etc.
