Pokémon anime

That same user from last week got his DPP review arc.

The heck? Bulbapedia has the next episode airing in 4 weeks? I understand taking Christmas and New Year's off, but why the 18th?

Yeah there's a 3 week break, the next movie was delayed from July due to Covid and usually when a movie comes out they air last years movie on TV in Japan so that eats up a slot.

DP despite being overly long probably did have the best plot structure of any series, but Brock being there drags it down overall since we could have had a new male companion instead of a guy already around for 400+ eps prior. He did have some good moments with Croagunk but I would have prefered an all new male companion, as seen with Cilan, Clemont, Kiawe, etc...it's very easy to give Ash new male friends now.

DP did feel like the "end of the road" for the original continuity of the anime though, at least in terms of every series feeling connected. Sure we get throwbacks from time to time, but every saga from BW onward feels like its own thing. DP is also notable for the final saga of Brock as a main character, the final appearances of May and Gary in the anime to date, and one of the last times Ash brought back older pokemon for a league. Also kinda funny how Misty never appeared in DP at all, despite Dawn being told of her via the Misty lure in Buizel's capture ep. To this day I wonder if Misty was originally intended to get a cameo in DP at one point but the writers decided not to do it for whatever reason.

Edited by precita on Dec 11th 2020 at 7:36:18 AM

Probably wanted to save her for the Elite Challenge arc, but..

And, technically it'd take up 2 slots to allow for (one of) the show(s) that it bleeds over into to have its own annual Non-Serial Movie.

Also, yes, Sandy does have the hairstyle aspect, but I think that Chloe now has the Anime's equivalent to the Eevee from Let's Go Eevee. Kind of adds a point to the theory of Goh representing Pokémon GO.

And regarding "Best Wishes"

• Iris & Skyla as Misty & Erika 2.0: Looking at it that way, I'm kind of surprised that they didn't make Elesa a Psycho Electro. Maybe they thought that Cilan was enough.

But, seriously, I think that the Club Battles were a good concept, especially as it gave the Companions and Rivals their own time to shine. I just wish that it had 2 changes to make it relevant:

1. A running "season" to them where points were tallied: either as an alternate path to get into the League, a combined path with the badges to get into the League,^note e.g. each badge is worth a certain number of points, top 128 in points gets into the League, or as a separate path to a "Trainer of the Year" title, which the League could grant points towards, ala a Tennis Major.
2. Ash winning one of the events or getting enough points for Trainer of the year or would have had enough points were it not for his loss to Cameron. Options A & C would have given Cameron a purpose, though C by itself is only slightly better than what we got. Option B would have allowed him to walk away from that series with some progress towards his goals, even if Unova!Ash didn't appreciate it, which would foreshadow the Snowbelle Arc in "XYZ".

As for Trip himself, his storyline effectively ended at the Junior Cup when he won the right to face Alder... and lose, showing how much further he had to go. Kind of like Serena with the Peformance arc.

And Dawn should have shown up earlier to cooperate with Cilan for Musicals. As it was, musicals were relegated to Ash and Iris' tour of Nimbassa; at least Alola actually explored Baseball and (Gridiron) Football.^note Though Ash & Iris did play Tennis at least; Iris would definitely beat Ash in Mario Kart.

Ash's Japanese VA is being investigated by the Japanese government for allegedly taking advantage of COVID-19 relief money for struggling artists.

Dick move if true.

Damn. Say it ain't so Rika!

And do it quickly.

I don't usually post here, but I have to because of this. A good chunk of the story was exaggerated by a tabloid magazine, and Kotaku is basing their article off the tabloid.

Matsumoto has only been accused by one person so far, an assistant manager who left before the money she was apparently supposed to receive got to her. And the money was not for COVID relief, but a stimulus payment. Another assistant manager has denied his own "quotes" in the article.

There's a reason why I have not spoken on the matter unless someone forced my hand.

The tabloid in question, Friday (Warning: potentially NSFW) is known to be one that focus on gossip, young women, questionable ads, and sections dedicated to right-wing slant/conspiracy theories. It is not a reliable source and one has to be wary when citing it.

It is also apparently this seems to blown out of proportion as Rica reportedly gave back the money to the government when it turns out the assistant was illegible to receive it, and thus it is very unlikely for the law to intervene. The fact we have not heard anything beyond this initial report in Japan suggests that this is not worth a scandal. Heck, it's a paltry sum compared to the costs of living (as Dogasu stated he paid more than what was offered in this stimulus for half of his rent).

Well, crisis averted

Good to hear, though I do worry that the mere accusation will damage her rep.

It doesn't need to be true, it just needs to be made, because if she's tied to any controversy, higher ups might decide to play it safe and cut her out, and there are people who're (with good reason considering the glut of celebrity scandals over the past few....decades) who'd believe it easily.

If it was any other member of the cast, with the possible exception of Team Rocket's VAs, I would agree.

But, as Ash's VA, Rica is (presently) the only (single) member of the cast whose loss^note for more than a month could result in a VOICON 1 or 2:

• Pikachu has been around for long enough (twice over) that he could utilize previously-recorded voice clips until a replacement was trained.
• The loss of a single member of the Terrible Trio can be accounted for in a similar manner: the other 2 members would do all of the plotting, while the voice-compromised member would similarly use stock quotes to support the plot. Two (or more) such losses at the same time, however, would be worrisome. But, in that case, the Terrible Trio could ultimately be considered expendable in favor of a new set of villains based on the next generation's evil team.^note Who, themselves, would probably be replaced in each successive generation, like Misty and Brock before Team Rocket. EDIT: More likely, however, would be that the Terrible Trio as a group would be written out for an extended period, especially if the loss occurs in the middle of a generation.
• A current Pokemon or Supporter VA would just have their roles cycled out of a series of episodes. A current Companion's VA could be handled similarly, though an in-story explanation would be greatly appreciated.

But, at present, Ash is just too interwoven into the fabric of the series and has vocal expressions too complex to be replaced easily. Note that I said "at present": it could well be that the writers are setting up to Pass the Torch off to Goh. But that would just shift the problem in the end. Conversely, with the current setup, Ash could be absent for a few episodes to give Goh or even Chloe some focus time, but anything longer than a month would lead to a Series Hiatus, though hopefully no longer than that caused by the Covid outbreak...

In any event, since there is no direct culpability, and since Rica is so vital, what'll probably happen is that there will be formal apologies for appearances of impropriety all around, and then back to the Status Quo, at least in the short term: If the writers were grooming Goh to potentially replace Ash, they'll redouble their efforts but keep the door open to keeping Ash up to the last minute. If they weren't, they'll start devising scenarios to wrap up Ash's Myth Arc if necessary, while allowing Goh to get a Sequel Hook or two.

Edited by DonaldthePotholer on Dec 14th 2020 at 7:30:01 AM

Live Door News: Ash mentions his father in m23, the first mention since 1997.

What'd he mention exactly? (Isn't that the AU movie series too?)

I apparently heard that the new Pokemon Episode will of course see Ash and Goh getting Dracovish and Arctozolt respectively.

Oh, god. Those abominations are making a debut? Can we keep from begging they get put out of their misery?

I think goh is getting them both or all 4

New opening is up!

And get ready for the return of Gary Motherf*cking Oak!!!

Oh, and Iris is returning as well. Will she call Ash a kid when she sees Ash's magnificent Dragonite and learns of him becoming Pokémon Champion? Or maybe when she sees Ash's new adorably abominable fossil Dracovish?

Edited by Shadao on Jan 8th 2021 at 3:10:19 AM

I'd love to see them together again, and I think Iris will be shocked when she sees Ash's Dragon types.

That one little bit in the beginning where Leon is trying to read a map got me laughing.

So, I tried the S/M anime, and I'm surprised to say I really like it.

The SM anime got genuinely good as it went on. Most of the initial negative reaction to it was Ash's new design/face, but aside from that it was a nice change of pace from the whole 8 Gym formula the show did for 16 years prior.

Looking back on it now I also appreciate a lot of what it tried to do. It of course isn't perfect but no saga of the anime is, there's some boring eps like always, but the better eps were very good.

It did seem like with SM, they finally tried to fully break away from the formula. They're still clinging to Ash and Team Rocket like some kind of life raft, but a lot of other things were totally tossed out (like gyms, and even the nature of the tie in films changed, becoming alt universes rather than taking place during the series).

Sword and Shield has carried that, not having a proper female lead for most of it's run until recently (with Koharu only recently becoming a trainer) and being even more detached from the games.

I've gotta say, Dracovish sounds a lot different than I expected from a freak of nature that's in constant agony from not being able to breathe.

LA LA LA.

It looks goofy. I hope they don't use that voice for the English Dub.