When I first heard the news of a new Pokémon mini-series special (not from the main anime) based on the original games of Red and Blue coming around Fall of 2013, I had great skepticism and concern about it. The idea of another anime adaptation/reboot of the Gen I games was nothing new, since many have demanded one after they have grown tired with the 17+ year old anime and seeing that B 2 W 2 animated trailer. But the fact that it was happening right before the main XY anime makes it debut in Japan, just before Satoshi (Ash) was ready to rid himself of the BW stigma, makes me worried that this special was going to get praises and free passes just because it's not the Anime.
When I finally get to watch Origins, I was quite relieved that it was not some Darker and Edgier show that some people hyped it up to be, and that It's relativity a good representation of the original Red and Blue (with more references to the games more than other Pokémon adaptations). Red is not some Uber badass that is always silent and always winning battles as the fandom depicts him. Rather, he's more like Ash in terms of personality and traits, making simple mistakes even when he's approaching the finals as well as learning from them. The episodes themselves are good, but nothing special except for the central ones, Cubone and Giovanni, mainly because it's the first adaptation to actually explore the Cubone story (not even Adventures explored that story) and give depth to Giovanni's character (though I kinda prefer him as a ruthless crime boss as opposed to a misguided businessman he's depicted here).
However, the main problem of Origins is its tendency to tell but not show the events going in-between episode, often making it difficult to connect with Red and his Pokémon. I think it would work better if they had Professor Oak narrate Red's adventure instead of Red, because having Red narrate makes him look like he's just checking off the plot list of the game instead of giving the feel of adventure. Pacing is another issue since it makes battles like Giovanni feel too rush and one-sided for me to feel that Red earned them.
On its own, Origins is overall a good adaptation take of the games that started it all. But I would not say it is perfect or better representation of the games than the anime as many would say.
Reflections on Origins
When I first heard the news of a new Pokémon mini-series special (not from the main anime) based on the original games of Red and Blue coming around Fall of 2013, I had great skepticism and concern about it. The idea of another anime adaptation/reboot of the Gen I games was nothing new, since many have demanded one after they have grown tired with the 17+ year old anime and seeing that B 2 W 2 animated trailer. But the fact that it was happening right before the main XY anime makes it debut in Japan, just before Satoshi (Ash) was ready to rid himself of the BW stigma, makes me worried that this special was going to get praises and free passes just because it's not the Anime.
When I finally get to watch Origins, I was quite relieved that it was not some Darker and Edgier show that some people hyped it up to be, and that It's relativity a good representation of the original Red and Blue (with more references to the games more than other Pokémon adaptations). Red is not some Uber badass that is always silent and always winning battles as the fandom depicts him. Rather, he's more like Ash in terms of personality and traits, making simple mistakes even when he's approaching the finals as well as learning from them. The episodes themselves are good, but nothing special except for the central ones, Cubone and Giovanni, mainly because it's the first adaptation to actually explore the Cubone story (not even Adventures explored that story) and give depth to Giovanni's character (though I kinda prefer him as a ruthless crime boss as opposed to a misguided businessman he's depicted here).
However, the main problem of Origins is its tendency to tell but not show the events going in-between episode, often making it difficult to connect with Red and his Pokémon. I think it would work better if they had Professor Oak narrate Red's adventure instead of Red, because having Red narrate makes him look like he's just checking off the plot list of the game instead of giving the feel of adventure. Pacing is another issue since it makes battles like Giovanni feel too rush and one-sided for me to feel that Red earned them.
On its own, Origins is overall a good adaptation take of the games that started it all. But I would not say it is perfect or better representation of the games than the anime as many would say.