Pokemon Anime General Discussion

[Radiant Hero Ike]

So like, that special was good. I liked it.

ALSO

I have to say, XY is doing a fantastic job right now. I wasn't expecting it to be good at all after watching part of Pokémon BW, but MAN am I glad I was wrong. I mean, even the second episode had movie style action in it.

ALSO ALSO, Pokémon D/P was my favorite series. Mainly because Diamond was my first core Pokémon game. But also because it was pretty awesome to me. And Infernape. OMG. Best Pokémon League in the anime ever, IMO.

[Dantemustdie00]

Indeed, this region is turning out butt loads better than crappy Unova, my goodness that region was just....pathetic.

[Soniman]

So, Gen 7 tease, possible anime finale, anime exclusive location for a filler season? You decide.

 

[-Mark-]

I wouldn't be surprised if it has something to do with the upcoming movie, personally.

 

Also, am I the only person who thought Best Wishes was actually a really well done series? ;___;

[8ther]

Indeed, this region is turning out butt loads better than crappy Unova, my goodness that region was just....pathetic.

Say what you want about Unova but at least it wasn't as bland as the Kanto regien...Wait we are talking about the games right, no? Yeah the BW anime sucked hard.

[Mania Pipe]

Say what you want about Unova but at least it wasn't as bland as the Kanto regien...Wait we are talking about the games right, no? Yeah the BW anime sucked hard.

I think he was talking about the anime which I have agree, it really fucking sucked.

[Soniman]

Also, am I the only person who thought Best Wishes was actually a really well done series? ;___;

Sorry man, I ust think it wasnt written well even though I do like it.

 

The series really felt like a spit in the face of what came before. Before BW the show was constantly advancing, raising the stakes so to speak, BW felt like we were blown right back to those lacdasial Kanto days where nothing should be taken seriously and everything is a breeze, and when looking at it in a vaccum, that's fine, but looking at it as a sequel series to DP, it kinda feels like an insult. It had to many rivals and barely any of them got actual development or growth, Trip kinda sucks, the worst Pokemon League arc in the show's history, the worst FILLER arc in the show's history, the worst "goodbye", a poorly done Team Plasma arc, etc

 

Not to mention Iris was the only character in that series that got any sort of steady character development, and even that's rather shakey (she never actually grows with a Dragon type, she just catches a Axew that sucks and never evolves and a fully evolved Dragonite, there's no in-between). Ash got anti-development and Cilan was a static character who just had a lot of quirks.

 

I dont think BW outright sucks no, I actually like it for a decent amount of reasons, i just dont think it was particularly well written (in the context of the anime) and I honestly had to not take it seriously to get enjoyment out of it, that's what I think the fillers are BW's strongest assets 

 

Oh and Team Rocket, they were actually pretty cool!

[Tails spin]

i cant help but cringe at the pokemon anime. watched an episode with a malamar controlling everyone. it was blatantly obvious the women was officer jenny being controlled. It amazing how recycled the plots are. it like the 2000th time Ash tries to snap a controllrd pikachu. it just makes me cringe so bad

[-Mark-]

The series really felt like a spit in the face of what came before. Before BW the show was constantly advancing, raising the stakes so to speak, BW felt like we were blown right back to those lacdasial Kanto days where nothing should be taken seriously and everything is a breeze, and when looking at it in a vaccum, that's fine, but looking at it as a sequel series to DP, it kinda feels like an insult. It had to many rivals and barely any of them got actual development or growth, Trip kinda sucks, the worst Pokemon League arc in the show's history, the worst FILLER arc in the show's history, the worst "goodbye", a poorly done Team Plasma arc, etc

 

That might explain it. As someone who more or less dropped the anime halfway through Johto, saw a handful of Advance and never saw a single DP episode, that's probably why I enjoyed BW as much as I did. Because even if it's a step back from DP, it's sure as hell ahead of where I last watched the show regularly (Johto's filler hell, ugh).

 

i cant help but cringe at the pokemon anime. watched an episode with a malamar controlling everyone. it was blatantly obvious the women was officer jenny being controlled. It amazing how recycled the plots are. it like the 2000th time Ash tries to snap a controllrd pikachu. it just makes me cringe so bad

 

Pro tip- if you've been watching the show long enough to notice the recycled plots, you're not the target audience.

 

Also, if you're of a mindset to care about recylced plots (or indeed, plot at all) in the Pokémon anime, it's probably not for you. 

 

Maybe part of why I'm enjoying the Pokémon anime as much as I am now is because I've set my expectations accordingly; I already know it's going to be horribly-paced, mostly inconsequential episodic stuff. I can just sit back and enjoy it as a relatively mindless, mildly watchable show. Which, in fairness, if you're much above the age of ten, is about all it can really be enjoyed as anyway. 

[Soniman]

That might explain it. As someone who more or less dropped the anime halfway through Johto, saw a handful of Advance and never saw a single DP episode, that's probably why I enjoyed BW as much as I did. Because even if it's a step back from DP, it's sure as hell ahead of where I last watched the show regularly (Johto's filler hell, ugh).

 

Ill give you that BW is far better then Johto, Johto was just 90% nothing

 

 

 

Pro tip- if you've been watching the show long enough to notice the recycled plots, you're not the target audience.

Also, if you're of a mindset to care about recylced plots (or indeed, plot at all) in the Pokémon anime, it's probably not for you.

Maybe part of why I'm enjoying the Pokémon anime as much as I am now is because I've set my expectations accordingly; I already know it's going to be horribly-paced, mostly inconsequential episodic stuff. I can just sit back and enjoy it as a relatively mindless, mildly watchable show. Which, in fairness, if you're much above the age of ten, is about all it can really be enjoyed as anyway.

 

I dunno, given all the analsys for characters and story arcs ive seen from other fans, I think it's possible to enjoy it for more then just brain dead entertainment if you want to enjoy it as such.

[Tails spin]

That might explain it. As someone who more or less dropped the anime halfway through Johto, saw a handful of Advance and never saw a single DP episode, that's probably why I enjoyed BW as much as I did. Because even if it's a step back from DP, it's sure as hell ahead of where I last watched the show regularly (Johto's filler hell, ugh).

Pro tip- if you've been watching the show long enough to notice the recycled plots, you're not the target audience.

Also, if you're of a mindset to care about recylced plots (or indeed, plot at all) in the Pokémon anime, it's probably not for you.

Maybe part of why I'm enjoying the Pokémon anime as much as I am now is because I've set my expectations accordingly; I already know it's going to be horribly-paced, mostly inconsequential episodic stuff. I can just sit back and enjoy it as a relatively mindless, mildly watchable show. Which, in fairness, if you're much above the age of ten, is about all it can really be enjoyed as anyway.

Yeah I've known that I'm not the target audience since I stopped watching the series after a few episodes from BW. It is just something that sits in the back of my mind when I try to watch the anime again. And it sucks even more because I found Pokemon Origins and yesterday's Mega Evolution special to be amazing and refreshing.

[-Mark-]

I did notice that BW was far more stuctured than the likes of Kanto or Johto, too. Things like Ash's Krokorok/ Krookodile were set into play very early on, the series felt like they planned ahead a lot more.

 

I also felt BW was a lot stronger for the fact it used Team Rocket far more sparingly- most of the show's problems came from the fact that by including Team Rocket in every single episode, they basically limited themselves to a single plot. "Ash meets character of the week > Team Rocket interfere, steal Pikachu and character of the week's Pokémon > Beat Team Rocket"

 

At least by not using Team Rocket as much, it let them be far more original with the writing, even if most of it was still just inconsequential, episodic filler. 

 

I'll agree that Cilan was a bit of a nonentity, but Iris was fairly fleshed out as a character. I personally liked the fact there were more recurring rival characters, it did help cut down on the 'character of the week' crap somewhat since it gave them a wider cast to play with.

 

Again, maybe I'm just enjoying the show more due to already having low standards and expectations for it, so I'm just enjoying it for what it is.

[-Robin-]

Speaking of Johto:

 

 

VIZMedia currently owns DVD distribution rights to the dub, but they've rarely done anything with it in years beyond releasing Kanto and OI repeatedly. So this is a nice step forward.

[Kuzu]

Best Wishes was just....ok, it wasn't terrible, but not really remarkable either. It had some good moments, but overall it was pretty forgettable Just like Gen V as a whole :V Cilan was essentially the Brock of the group so I'm not surprised he was as static, but his quirks were at least more tolerable than Brock's were. I may not like Iris all that much, but she did sorta grow. 

 

 

I think what kind of hurt this series is, ironically the opposite of previous seasons, namely instead of the pace being dreadfully slow, it goes way too fast. We basically finished the entire Unova league about a half a year before X & Y came out, so we were stuck with a shitty Filler Arc as a result, and it was nowhere near as entertaining as the Orange Island arc(Though this may be nostalgia talking). 

 

 

It definitely had some good ideas: having more than one rival, and giving each protagonist their own rivalry to deal with, as well as having Ash rotate his Pokemon, but it wasn't executed particularly well; the rivals fell in and out of the spotlight and the "main" rival, Trip, was just terrible as his and Ash's relationship is barely explored. Ash rotating Pokemon effectively became useless because once again, the writers seem to favor the starters over the rest of his team, because the Unova Starters were never dropped, period. That means Ash only rotated two Pokemon at a time with four of his slots overtaken by Pikachu and the aforementioned starters. The only ones that managed to get decent screentime outside those four were Scraggy and Krookodile, poor Leavanny, Palpitoad, Boldore, and Unfezant were almost non-existent. The final nail in the coffin was when Charizard came back, which meant five slots on Ash's  team were reserved.

 

 

yea, Unova wasn't that good.

[Ultimate Waffle]

Speaking of Johto:

 

 

VIZMedia currently owns DVD distribution rights to the dub, but they've rarely done anything with it in years beyond releasing Kanto and OI repeatedly. So this is a nice step forward.

 

Oh god, can someone ask them what's the status of Hunter X Hunter.

 

Please.

 

Well to comment on topic, has the animation for the anime kept up with the first episode? It actually looked pretty good the first two episodes, writing be damned.

[Soniman]

 

.We basically finished the entire Unova league about a half a year before X & Y came out, so we were stuck with a shitty Filler Arc as a result, and it was nowhere near as entertaining as the Orange Island arc(Though this may be nostalgia talking).

 

Dont worry, not everything is based on nostalgia, sometimes old things can be legitimately better then new things and the Orange Island season I seriously do find to be a lot better then the Island arc of what BW gave us. Because despite it being filler just for the sake of stalling for Gen II, things actually happen you know? There was still a "Gym quest" of sorts, Ash caught some Pokemon here and there, Tracey was established, and heck a lot of the filler was actually rather entertaining. We actually got a pretty decent "full Champion battle" by the end of it to.

 

BW's filler arc was just a fucking bore. All of the filler was dreadfully dull and NOTHING important happened, at all, it was a blatant stall for time even moreso then OI, to me it's the worst individual "Season" of the show easily.

 

 

 

Well to comment on topic, has the animation for the anime kept up with the first episode? It actually looked pretty good the first two episodes, writing be damned.

In general it comes and goes, but it's usually always consistent when Pokemon battles take place.

[-Mark-]

I'd say XY has easily had much better animation than older stuff. It was especially noticeable when they showed the second Best Wishes special a few weeks back, something that was clearly animated months ago and held back. It looked terrible compared to the XY episode that it aired alongside.

[-Robin-]

So.

May cameo possible?

Probably be best to have ORAS May show up on a televised contest though, since KAORI has that vocal chords ailment.

[Kuzu]

Maybe we'll actually get to see Brendan's anime debut....ya know, outside of a fucking movie cameo.

[Soniman]

Maybe we'll actually get to see Brendan's anime debut....ya know, outside of a fucking movie cameo.

 

Ethan didnt appear at all aside from a cameo of him getting owned by Ash, and that's about it. When it came time to pimp out HGSS in the anime only Lyra made a cameo and Ethan was replaced by some random nerd.

 

So we probably will only see Brendan in a cameo, and MIGHT get a May appearance if her VA is up to it.

[Kuzu]

Ethan didnt appear at all aside from a cameo of him getting owned by Ash, and that's about it. When it came time to pimp out HGSS in the anime only Lyra made a cameo and Ethan was replaced by some random nerd.

 

So we probably will only see Brendan in a cameo, and MIGHT get a May appearance if her VA is up to it.

 

 

Technically speaking Ethan had his own special way back when, soo...technically speaking, yea.

 

 

Now Lucas on the otherhand is a lost cause.

[Soniman]

Technically speaking Ethan had his own special way back when, soo...technically speaking, yea.

 

 

Now Lucas on the otherhand is a lost cause.

 

Well that was Ethan before Ethan, it was Gold basically. Lucas also appeared in a cameo though I forget which movie.

 

Still, all of these are a better service then the Gen 5 protags, who didnt appear in the anime at all

[Kuzu]

The fact that we did not get to see Hilda's glorious hot pants is a crime, fuck you Iris.

[Soniman]

The fact that we did not get to see Hilda's glorious hot pants is a crime, fuck you Iris.

 

I for one, would have loved to see Hilda be the first female rival for Ash who was actually competent instead of Bianca (the only person of the "original four" group of BW that was a recurring a character) who was a clown.

[-Mark-]

The full version of MegaV (MegaVolt) is out on the 18th;

 

 

Cheekily they've already got the TV size on iTunes going for full price, obviously trying to get people to buy it twice to 'get it early'.