Pokemon Anime General Discussion

[Soniman]

So Iris and Cilan have finally left and…wow that departure was fucking terrible.

 

Like, I'm actually shocked it was so bad and devoid of any emotion whatsoever, it's an episode like this that I'm glad we got a new writing staff for XY, because the BW writers clearly stopped giving a shit after they were done with the Episode N Arc.

 

 

When the original group broke up, I was fucking heartbroken. After 275 episodes they felt like a god damn family that's been through shit loads of trials and tribulations, so when the time came to split up they devoted the entire episode to it. Emotions were revealed, tears were shed, and they went their separate ways pursing their separate goals, it was actually emotional. It got so bad that Ash himself was tearing up by the end of it, something he’s never done in goodbye episodes since. And when Team Rocket comes to try and steal Pikachu again, it’s thanks to the items his friends gave him that he was able to overcome their scheme, and Ash comes to the conclusion that no matter how far they are, Ash will always have his best friends with him no matter what. Good stuff,

 

 

The AG group, while not quite as emotional, at least devoted some time for the characters to talk. Ash and May finish up their contest battle which ends in a draw, they both share a ribbon and therefore have a memento to remember each other by. Ash then has a bonding/big bro moment with Max about saying how saying goodbye isn't always easy, and one day he promises to have a battle with him. Brock doesn't have that much of a presence but he at least cements his place as the responsible older sibling of the group, making sure everyone is taken care of even to the end. Like I said it's not much but all in all it's a decent sendoff that allowed the characters to just be normal characters. 

 

 

The DP group sends it right back to emotional for me, because like the original cast, Ash, Brock, and Dawn have been through a lot together after all the support they gave on another it's incredibly hard to say goodbye. The characters are GENUINELY SAD about having to leave each other, Piplup fucking broke down and had a TANTRUM at the thought of saying goodbye to his friends, especially Pikachu, the confrontation between the two is still a damn powerful scene because by the end of it they are both in tears, and that's just part of it. The rest of the episode deals with Brock finally cementing what he wants to do with his life (signaling that he's not coming back this time) and Ash and Dawn steadfastly reaffirming their dreams. Ash's final words and high five to Dawn, Ash and Brock's goodbye handshake. and bringing back THIS track for the occasion

 

 

Made it all so much more worth it.

 

 

So now that bring me to THIS tripe of a goodbye episode.

 

First red flag, 90% of the episode is devoted to Team Rocket, you guessed it, stealing Pikachu. Already that makes me irritated considering how awesome they were at the BEGINNING of the series compared to how much they suck again now, but despite that it makes me frustrated because the writers saw fit to waste fucking time with this bullshit on Iris and Cilan's DEPARTURE EPISODE, never mind that we see this shit from TR every fucking episode, but you just HAD to pad it out like this? Couldn't actually think to put in any bonding, remembrance, emotional scenes anywhere, was that just to hard? You just HAD to fall back on this tired old shtick? And that's not even the worst part of it. The main purpose of this ENTIRE SEASON was so that Iris and Cilan would go with Ash to Kanto to see the "exotic" Pokemon and visit his hometown, but the moment they get to Vermillion City Iris suddenly decides she wants to go to Blackthorn instead (it's literally right out of fucking nowhere and is never mentioned beforehand) and Cilan decides that he'd rather go all the way to the HOENN region for some fishing contest, yeah wow, you guys are really broken up about splitting up aren't you? And when they finally do say goodbye there was not sadness or depression, just…nothing to it at all. It was just a normal goodbye, nothing poignant said at all, I'm not asking for there to be sobbing everywhere but jesus you don't have to act like god damn robots. And so Iris and Cilan are literally Put on a Bus (or a Train rather) never to be seen again until a mid XY season cameo for a few episodes maybe.

 

Like jesus christ, while the BW group may not be my favorite they did have some amount of chemistry and did bond in several episodes together, and while I may not be crazy about Iris I fucking loved Cilan and he deserved better than this. All this episode did was leave me hollow, it should have been a reflection on the good times to be had in BW but all it did was remind me of this entire last season, that is to say it was rushed, padded, and lazy. Good golly.

 

/rant

[Kuzu]

Ahh so I wasn't the only one who felt no emotion, good to know.

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[Komodin]

So basically, the whole Black & White saga started off with a bang, but ended with a whimper?

[Kuzu]

More like it peaked too early.

[Soniman]

For me it peaked with Dawn's comeback and the Meloetta subplot, after that ohhhh mannnnnn.

 

Terrible Pokemon League, average Epiosde N arc and a crappy filler season…. So can't say I'm to busted up about it finally ending.

[Sami]

Felt like it peaked at Episode 1 to me. :V

 

Best Wishes had a lot of potential at the beginning, but once I got to episode 12 or so (the one about Trubbish) I just got bored and gave up.

[Soniman]

It did a lot of things to the formula that was a refreshing change of pace, it's just that they just sort of gave up on expanding on them 60% of the way in, such a shame. 

[Kuzu]

This series, if its not one thing its another.

[Dantemustdie00]

Yeah....I can't really find any memorial moments in the BW anime aside from Dawn and Cynthia's comeback and the Meloetta Episodes.

 

 

And man, Trip was such a lackluster rival.....actually no, I should also be blaming the writers for this too. What the hell with them putting Ash against Trip in the very first round of the League?

[Soniman]

I guess they realized how shitty Trip was and axed him off for Cameron instead…….but then Cameron turned about to be WAY WORSE. You know, I wouldn't have even minded the fight between Ash and Trip if it was actually well…good. Serperior constantly lands hits on Pikachu throughout the entire battle and Pikachu doesn't go down, but Pikachu lands ONE made up Iorn Tail/Electro Ball deus ex machina combination and it takes him out instantly. What the hell happened to the interesting strategy when it came to battles???

 

Actually speaking of which in the recent XY008 we finally seem to be getting some of that back, I'm not going to spoil but the strategy Ash uses to wreck Team Rocket's shit because it was so cool to see, not to mention he had the momentum through the entire battle, gives me hope that we've finally moved back to DP levels of thought and strategy when it comes to the battles again.

[Dantemustdie00]

Yeah, I'm hoping XY turns out great further along, were still WAY early in the series right now and we know from the games how long that gap is between the first and second Gym, hopefully they won't mess up too bad along the way.

 

 

Also I do hope Clemont get's a Chespin, cause I want Ash to only have ONE starter, it may improve the chances of Froakie evolving possibly if it's Ash's only starter with him which means it will get more focus, I do hope they break the cycle with the Water types this time.

 

 

i can picture Serena's fennekin evolving at least to Braixen, which is all fine with me as I love braixen more than it's final evo.

[Kuzu]

I dunno, one thing that annoyed me about the likes of Brock and Iris is that they barely caught any Pokemon related to their specialization.

[Dantemustdie00]

I dunno, one thing that annoyed me about the likes of Brock and Iris is that they barely caught any Pokemon related to their specialization.

 

That is likely gonna happen with Clemont too sadly. I'm hoping he takes Heliolisk with him after the new episode airs.

 

But it's honestly not that bad, actually I found Misty annoying for only using Water types, I like their to be some variety.

[-Robin-]

Brock's goal was originally to be a Pokemon breeder, not to be a Rock-type Pokemon specialist. A number of his Pokemon - Vulpix, Zubat, Bonsly, and Happiny - fit into that focus, either by having specific requirements for evolution, or in Vulpix's case, having been owned by a professional breeder.

[Dejimon11]

I wonder how black and white would of been if Ash traveled with Bianca and the other guy Cheren was it?

[SenEDDtor Missile]

I wonder how black and white would of been if Ash traveled with Bianca and the other guy Cheren was it?

Either a lot like the game Black and White, or really boring. There are other choices, but I can't think of them all.

[Soniman]

Considering Bianca was a part-time traveling companion anyway in BW I don't think it's that farfetchd. Cheren only appeared in one episode and had a dull as dirt personality, which im 95% sure it's a fault of the anime rather than the games.

 

Bianca had the opposite problem where her ditzy personality from BW was exaggerated considerably, but I didnt even care since she's still so charming and adorably airheaded regardless.

[canderson]

I know most of you don't really care for the English dub, but after looking up the episode count of the entire series and the amount 4Kids have dubbed, I find it interesting that this upcoming season will be the point, in which the current voice actors will have dubbed more episodes than the original 4Kids voice actors. Never thought I'd see this happen. Pretty cool.

[Soniman]

And so ends the dub of Best Wishes, lets pour out a 40 oz.

 

Final episode was a lot better then the last one, since Ash actually had time to to well….relax and take it all in without Team Rocket lousing everything up. We get a lot of references to past series, heck even Misty gets vocally mentioned so at least it shows that they haven't completely forgot about her. And Ash has a calm moment to have memories of all the friends he's amassed over the years, and gets a look of determination. His final moments with his Unova Team is a lot more heartwarming then Cilan and Iris, thanking them for all the work they've done

 

I also find it kind of odd that Ash asked Alexa if Kalos had a Pokemon League, Elite 4, and Champion, mostly due to the fact that he's never asked the later to. Will Ash FINALLY rise to face all of them and the Champion? Maybe I'm a bit to optimistic, but the whole episode seems to have Ash re-igniting his fighting spirit more then ever and he's going to the next region with a stronger determination, not to mention his newfound skill in XY, maybe Ash will turn out a decent placing this time. The night before Ash and Pikachu leaving was especially touching.

 

So yeah, decent finale episode. Can't wait for XY…..and I can't with to see what kind of cheesy "friendship theme" we will hear for the opening.

[canderson]

Still disappointed that they cut out the entire clip of Ash's mother looking at the group picture of all of Ash's Pokemon. =/

[Your Vest Friend]

At this point, I'd say Pokeshipping is pretty much dead in the water.

Oh well. Wonder what the reaction will be when more people see the dub.

[Kuzu]

What happened?

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[-Robin-]

Tracey was visiting Misty when Ash arrived back in Pallet.

Dunno. He's been doing that since Ash started traveling through Hoenn, and nothing resulted from it then. Could be explained in-universe as having bad timing on Tracey's part, and through meta as his VA not being available for lines at the time.

...Though, this could have been intentionally done to set up Serena's thing with Ash with no conflict. Which would utterly suck due to said lack of buildup, but this is the Unova saga, wacha gonna do.

That said, I'm surprised Misty got references and such in frequency the last batch of episodes. She's seen in flashback in the Charizard episode, she's shown in the last Unova ending, and she's mentioned by name in this episode in both the raw and the dub. Compared to her fishing lure cameo in DP and her split second appearance in the High Touch opening, this was refreshing.

[Kuzu]

Tracy's been screwing with Misty since Chronicles, this is nothing new. They spent an inordinate amount of time together.

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[Dantemustdie00]

Damn, did anyone watched the newest episode of XY, cause that animation for battles.....by Arceus, it's so damn good.

 

Also Heliolisk is a lot smaller than I thought it be..... than again they really messed up some of the Pokemon's heights in the game (Giant Poliwags)..