PONIES The Anthology III review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPW9ki-IfZ8#t=4121
Well, it's here, and it's exactly as good as we'd hoped. Catch the full review below the break.

There have been only two other times this year where I felt this sheer sense of payoff. They were SWAG.MOV and the Turnabout Storm finale. I can safely say that this is in every sense as good as we expected it to be, and by far one of the year's best pony videos. Unlike any other video, however, PONIES The Anthology III is not consistently good in the same way. Instead, it's a series of extremely funny sketches that all have different ways in which they are fantastic. Reviewing this as a whole may be difficult, but I'll try.

Okay, first thing's first: The jokes are fantastic. The video is a constant barrage of hilarious jokes and references, and it's unreservedly upbeat. Sure, it's goofy. Sure, it's kinda stupid. But it's creative and hilarious. There is more good in here than in most of the other brony videos of the year combined. Clocking in at an hour and 14 minutes, it's absolutely immense, but at no second does it get even remotely boring. I was entertained throughout the whole time.

There are many moments with custom animations, and let me tell you, every single one is fantastic. These aren't the fandom's best animators, but they're still unbelievably fantastic. There is no point of the Anthology that is visually poor. When it's not footage from the show or other media, it's great animations. At other points, it features some short PMVs. These are fantastic too, with one of them deserving an honourable mention when I count the best PMVs of 2013.

Almost the entirety of the Anthology is reference humour, and in that it succeeds too. The references are creative, clever, and just genuinely funny. I didn't understand a lot of them, but I loved them all the same. The whole video is just this tidal wave of creativity and earnest silliness. That the Anthology is a huge collaboration between so many people in the fandom speaks volumes. Even after the controversies earlier this year, we can still get together and, well, just make something fun. There are some jokes that vaguely mock the fandom or the show, but they really aren't so much of an attack as a playful jab.

We've been through a lot, and what this video proves is that we haven't lost our sense of humour. It could be seen as a celebration of the show, the fandom, and the franchise, but let's not get too carried away. Instead, I'll describe it as it is: A fun ride from beginning to end.