day 1991 Ash meets N {bw110}
They didn't screw it up. That's it really. Sure it wasn't as intense as a confrontation as I envisioned when Team Plasma and N were skipped over originally, not by a long shot but the initial groundwork for how I thought the 2 would interact was laid out surprisingly well. N was equal parts friendly and well meaning while also being distant and mysterious, until Ash had to spout off his dream To Be a Master and then everything got awkward for a bit before TR brought everything back into focus with Pikachu capture attempt number 937. It's too bad that this whole arc ends up being over far too quickly and entirely pointless... then again this is Best Wishes so par for the course.
day 1992 they meet Cheren {bw111}
This was a sorry excuse of an episode. I guess the show felt obligated to bring in Cheren after Bianca had a supporting role throughout the first half of Best Wishes, and this was the only in-game gym they had yet to show, but it really feels more like a filler episode on the level of mashing ep8+9 from the OG together. I put the blame of Ash's loss here solely on Oshy, Ash had a plan in mind but Oshy flashed in and was like “No, I got this.” Not that it's not funny tho, because it is. Bugs me that Cheren didn't use a Stoutland either. In conclusion, not terrible when compared to the worst dregs of the show, still boring though so skip.
day 1994 ash runs into agent Looker again and encounters Team Plasma {bw112}
Ok so the anime is doing both Team Plasma plots at once? I mean N is doing his whole Pokémon training is evil thing, while at the same time Colress is off tinkering with artificial Pokémon augmentation to test natural limits For Science!! On top of that Ghetsis is in full evil overlord mode circa Black+White 2.
This could be messy as the arc continues, but as for the episode itself, it works well enough. Pikachu breaks Colress's machine through sheer OP-ness, and TR tries to take advantage of the situation as per their new modus operandi but they come up short in the end... Don't tell me their competency has dried up again due to their resurfacing after all, have none of the writers heard of character balance?
It seems the answer to my question is no the writers haven't heard of this concept, because as of 113 a filler episode which I swear is a rehash of ep139 in Johto, on account of the mareep herding, TR has gone back to the status quo, like this whole series had never happened. To be fair, I wish this whole series had never happened too, but undoing the one change I actually liked is not going to improve my opinion one iota as we enter the closing stages of the region. Oh and dragonite does a not stupid thing I guess that's cool. Verdict: as an episode of the Pokémon anime it's meh filler, as an episode of the Best Wishes series though, that downgrades it majorly to terrible, skip.
day 1998 ash meets N again and N joins the party {bw114}
So N's his own entity, not part of Ghetsis's plans or Team Plasma at all... why can't we have interesting character development? It's not fair. Still, excusing that big thing, N's personality does seem wholly intact per game-canon, and not taken just a mite bit too far past the moral event horizon as per manga-canon. Sorry about almost breaking the cardinal rule of Pokémon, never mix any of the canons as it will only lead to migraines and confusion: “Ash is not red and red is not Red and neither Red is Ash, so it is written”
The episode itself is much like the other plot related ones, 110 and 112, thus it's merely ok. I can't really pass judgment on this arc until it's done, so for now it gets a tentative seal of approval. Is it just me or did Pikachu and Ash oversell Pikachu's supposed exhaustion, in an underhanded way to get N to be less bothered by their Poké-battling, because as soon as N's braviary friend pops in to help them, they're like “thunderbolt! Good Game, Team Plasma!”
So like are all odd numbered episods filler now (sigh) 115 is a firefighter ep in the same vein as the one from Orange Islands, its fairly well executed but its not exceptional and anything not essential to hurrying up with this mess is going to be ignored.
day 2002 Charizard returns {bw116}
OH MY- Can it be?! The return of a beloved and fan favorite character that no one was expecting? That's right, the magikarp salesman has a blink and you'll miss it cameo.
Natch, but seriously hooray for Charizard! Although if they wanted it to be a surprise they should have left him out of the opening. Anyway this is flashback time no jutsu, reminding everyone of Ash+Char's history before he arrives and beats on Iris's dragonite. Really great stuff one of the few episodes in BW that stand out to me, because 90% actually isn't set in BW. Lastly, lol the second Char pops out of the ball, Pikachu jumps on his neck and is like “you know, you still my bitch.”
Side note, it has been over 630 episodes since Ash's battle with Falkner and she was mentioned and 690 since Ash broke fellowship for an initially assumed short period, but here in bw116 amidst all the flashbacks Pidgeot finally, albeit briefly, makes her way onto the screen. Took you long enough avian-adverse writers.
day 2005 they run into Looker, Colress + TP again/learn about N's past {bw117+118}
day 2006 TR screws with TP and vice versa {bw119}
day 2008 Ghetsis's plans are stopped, all of Team Plasma is arrested, and N leaves {bw120-122}
What really, that's all? Team Plasma, the villainous team for the entire 5th generation gets a 10 episode mini arc before quietly dissipating into nothing, and they went ahead and killed off any hint of the 14th movie being canon in that short time as well. That's 2 out of 3, let's hope the 16th movie fares better (and is at least as good as 14).
Back to the point tho, I don't know what to say. Plasma got a better deal than Magma/Aqua maybe a little but that's splitting hairs and isn't much of a compliment anyway. Overall the arc was done well with competent-TR coming back for one last appearance, Colress and Meowth double-triple-crossing eachother, and Ghetsis being a passable if not fleshed out version of himself; the major problem being is that it was too damn short and the ending is underwhelming, though this arc ends better than how the League did.
I get it, once the episodes were pushed back then canceled the writers saved all the Plasma stuff till after the League to stall until Gen VI came out without actually having enough time to flesh it out. On top of that, I'd already come to terms that N would not be as I envisioned him, so I'm perfectly alright with his mildly watered down anime version self. Just... couldn't we just have stopped at bw119? That was a nice open ended confrontation is inevitable deal... the 3-parter after that wasn't really a good fit for that hole. Maybe the movie will clear away my misgivings?
day 2011 Everybody takes a daytrip to NYC, genesect+new-mew2 have an argument {m16}
Well, I can't really speak on the movie itself at present, the English premiere not being till October and Pokémon not having rabid enough fans to sub a shoddily made camrip, or at least none that I can find, but I do want to mention the movie's prologue. Pokémon Chronicles or ss26 as it were sets the stage for the movie well enough. It stars Virgil fresh off his win at the League continuing his rescue ranger missions, in the course of which he runs into new-Mewtwo and helps save her from a poacher ala the dark mask guy from the 4th movie with celebi.
Observations:new-mewtwo is a girl apparently ok, that's fine. She only exists through a plot-hole though which is less acceptable, but I can suspend my disbelief long enough to get over the fact that no records on how to recreate another mewtwo should exist in the anime since the facilities all went ka-blooey back in the 1st movie and Mewtwo wiped everyone's minds of his existance except for our two trios of pro/antagonists circa Mewtwo's Return... so generic mad scientist group that might vaguely be Plasma are by default also wizards.
Next point, wow this episode is good. Pacing is great, visuals are nice, characters of the day aren't annoying, Iris and Cilan aren't anywhere to be found, so there prescence doesn't tarnish anything... overall a nice lead in to the movie, definitely reccomended if one were to watch the flick. Speaking of #16...
The easiest way to sum up the genesect movie is this: It's basically m7 Deoxys but with a major upgrade in animation, the legendairies switched out, and not much else to it. There's a couple of misunderstandings between the shiny leader Genesect and new-Mew2, which could have been resolved within 30 secs if properly communicated. They slug it out for an hour or so then work out their differences, with Ash making sure there's as little colatteral damage to Poké-New York as he can in the meantime.
With that said, it's a lot better than the 7th movie and is also more memorable than its immeadiate predecessor m15, as this actually feels like a movie instead of an extended episode. Still doesn't exceed the victini movie let alone the higher-tiered flicks, in my opinion, so a middle of the road deal. I do have one point of contention however... So hey, Cilan Iris, when all of you meet Genesect isn't Ash totally psyched about meeting a new Pokémon? And then, the two of you freak out once mewtwo appears. Why'd neither of you notice that Ash seemed familiar with the concept/reality of genetically engineered psychic cats? Is it a defense mechanism to be that oblivious, I justt want to know.
With all that over and everything fine and dandy, I'm still left with one question. Since the ammo of this plot arc was spent so quickly, what are we gonna do now?
Next time... the above question is answered swiftly, to my peril, but the nightmare is over and my fervent prayers have finally been answered. Ash at long last heads home to Pallet Town after learning that Wishes are not something to be trifled with. Eps 123-142
