Apparently people are becoming less shy about requesting stuff, because between this review I'm typing now and my "Too Many Pinkie Pies" review, I have gotten a lot of requests from you guys! Hopefully I will get through every episode by the time season 4 comes out. Keep up the support guys, and don't be afraid to speak out in the comments!
Anyway, now let's get on topic. Here is my newest review, which is about the episode "Luna Eclipsed."
Spoilers and stuff after this point. You know the drill.
Luna's role: I have to say, this is my favorite Luna-centered episode. (Mostly because there aren't a whole lot of them, but whatever.) You can see here that Luna has a difficult time getting used to society, since she has been locked away in the moon for a thousand years. If you were separated from society for a long period of time, you would need to adjust to the current culture too. Since she has been gone for centuries at this point, everything she has learned about is most likely obselete or completely abandoned. You can see the troubles she has in fitting in and you can feel a little sorry for her. Also, her awkwardness around the citizens of Ponyville leads her to have quite hilarious moments. Her way of speaking makes for some lines that sound hilarious when she speaks them. (And yes, the hilarity has been doubled with her lines.) She has a lot of charm to her character and her trying to fit in with the rest of the ponies lends itself to have some humorous moments. I don't think this could have been done any better way.
Luna's performance: 10 / 10
The plot: While I thought this episode was enjoyable overall, the only gripe I have about it is that nobody even hints that the ponies led by Pinke Pie being scared of Luna is just for fun. This kinda bugs me a little because nobody but Twilight Sparkle helps Luna to fit in. They just run away and don't even hint until the very end that they like to be scared. Other than that minor problem, this episode has only good things. The story is well-written, the situation feels legitimate, and the humor is, well, humorous. Luna's speech patterns make for some great lines, and Spike complaining about Mayor Mare trying to be frightening to the little ones while in a clown costume adds to the humor. Pinkie Pie still remains herself, but her chicken-isms are also a nice touch. One of my favorite sequences, though, is when Twilight takes Luna to get voice lessons from Fluttershy. Fluttershy in that scene is to "d'aww" for, and Luna is also pretty funny there because she acts nice while still being overly intimidating on the outside. In other scenes, she acts all foreboding to the ponyfolk, but she tones it down as much as possible just for Fluttershy. That is great attention to detail, and this kind of writing for an episode is really nice to have.
The plot: 9.2 / 10
Ok, I guess that's it. I really can't think of anything to say. So I'll just end it here, otherwise I will be repeating myself a lot. So, without further ado:
Luna Eclipsed Final Score: 9.6 / 10
Be sure to give thanks to TheUltimateH4M for requesting this, and as always, criticism and requests are greatly appreciated. Now, it's gotten pretty late for me, so I'm gonna end it here. Sorry if I seem rushed, I was procrastinating while writing this. Not that I have a time limit, but more like I don't wanna work on something for too long, otherwise I begin to lose my train of thought. See you all for my next review!