Wow. It seems like it was forever since we first saw the animatic for Children of the Night.
Oh wait, it was.
Author: Duo Cartoonist
Children of the Night tells the tale of what woud have been the origin of Nightmare Night, and the catalyst element that forced Celestia to banish Luna.
After defeating Discord, Canterlot was witnessing a very slow recovery. Misery could still be found everywhere around, specially for the ponies that had less means.
Luna thought that expanding the kingdom and founding a new pony colony elsewhere would give a solution to the problem, allowing the ponies that she would choose for the matter, a new brand future. Celestia refused the proposal of her sister to scatter Equestria. For after such a great lack of harmony she thought it could shatter the kingdom forever.
Being denied and in the shadow of her own sister, Luna decided it easier to ask for forgiveness than permission...
Was it worth the year-long wait? Find out after the jump!
So it opens a hooded pony reciting "Mare in the Moon" style about the events immediately following the defeat of Discord. Why she is writing in the journal is anybody's guess. Anyways, Luna and Celestia win, and they now have to rebuild Equestria and have to deal with fixing poverty, homelessness, and setting up a new government. Fun, fun, fun! What I like about this is that it's dark, yes, but it's mostly implied and doesn't shove it down your throat like most fanfictions do. It's right on that line of too dark, and props for finding the happy medium.
Luna wants to found a new colony somewhere else, one less ravaged by war. Celestia feels that would cause unnecessary division in Equestria. Classic Idealism vs Practicality conflict, love that stuff. Luna decides to take matters into her own
I buy the story. It creates a believable scenario and characters are kept in character, and that's all I ask from my fanfiction. One thing I really appreciate is that it doesn't directly blame either Celestia or Luna for the Nightmare Moon incident. One thing you'll see a lot in "Equestria's Origins" stories is either Celestia being demonized to the extreme, or Luna being portrayed as a whiny idiot to the extreme, and I want to hug the creators for not taking either road.
It does beg the question as to what happened to the children after the whole 1000 years thing. Did the children just stay on the moon and die? Were they also imprisoned in a catatonic state for a millennium like Luna? If so, where are they? Did Luna just forget about them after she came back? Yeah, yeah, I know I'm delving too deep, as this is basically just a passing glance in a chapter of Equestria's history. Besides, it's really not the focus. The focus is on the animation and the music.
Let's talk about the music, first. It may have been completely unintentional, but the instrumentation is absolutely perfect. The pizzicato violin sets the quiet atmosphere very well, and fits that this is something that Luna is trying to do under the quiet of night and not be noticed. The singer is a surprisingly good fit to Luna, as she made me believe it was her singing. Her voice is stunningly good, her haunting moans and hums being very enchanting to the ears. The lyrics might seem a bit too much if we're comparing this to the actual show; I'm not sure "murdering beauty and passion" would fly past our good ol' pals at Hasbro, but I like them. They fit well and add onto the dazzling imagery of the animation.
The animation was, for lack of a better word, beautiful. It really seemed like they were trying to make this better than the show, and they succeeded. The ponies are put in some very elaborate and tricky poses, and they are all pulled off very well. The designs are certainly a step up from the actual show, seen easily with Luna's flamboyantly flowing and gorgeous mane.
That's another thing. The cinematography is absolutely BRILLIANT. The shots are set up so well, and the animators take every opportunity to milk every great shot possible with a scenario like this. I could tell they went all out towards the end, and it paid off in spades. Watch out, "A Whole New World!" You got some competition for best night-flight-through-the-clouds moments!
I honestly can't think of any negative things to say about this. It's that good.
...
Well....
If I had to NITPICK...
HEY! HEY! Get away from my barracks room with those torches and pitchforks! Look, I love this thing! I really do! It's just that nothing is perfect and there's always room for improvement! I'm a critic! It's my job to point these things out!
Okay, now that I've gotten that out of the way, listen.
The animation was great, but it wasn't perfect. Some of the movements don't flow as well as they do in the show. I also noticed there were a couple lip-sync issues here and there, and it becomes more noticeable with repeated viewings. Okay, I had to LOOK for them, and they were difficult to find (props to the animators for that), but I still saw them.
My second and final issue is the children ponies. This seems like an odd thing to complain about, but the Children of the Night OC's were too unique. Let me explain why this was an issue with me. These foals, while well designed, original, and interesting, they were a little distracting in certain scenes. When you put a character with a relatively simple design like Luna next to designs with the complexity of these particular OC's, it creates a bit of awkward juxtaposition. It lies a bit in the uncanny valley of very much like the show, yet not like the show.
But if my biggest complaint is "these characters looked so unique they ended up distracting me a bit," then that should speak volumes for the quality of this work. It's a majestic, soothing, and haunting bit of animation that will likely echo in your mind until you go to sleep tonight, and help lull you off to that enchanting garden of shadow.
Watch it. Nao.
("Bookmark It" is my ultimate recommendation. There may be flaws, but they are negligible to what is without a doubt a fine piece of
This is Commander Firebrand saying SEMPER FILLY, and Celestia is best princess.
