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I know the series can't ever end because marketing but….
is the series about to end? Or at least Ash's role in it? Like he got that league win at the end of Sun & Moon and now he's just sort of suddenly hanging in the big leagues.
I know he has earned like 60 badges and thus beaten basically every gym leader in existence and has an arsenal of like 50 fully trained mons to choose from at this point after training for 25 years in a single year and all but still... it's weird.
I know the series can't ever end because marketing but….
is the series about to end? Or at least Ash's role in it? Like he got that league win at the end of Sun & Moon and now he's just sort of suddenly hanging in the big leagues.
I know he has earned like 60 badges and thus beaten basically every gym leader in existence and has an arsenal of like 50 fully trained mons to choose from at this point after training for 25 years in a single year and all but still... it's weird.
There's really no more indication than there has been with every other series. I doubt he'll be replaced, there's no reason to. He's the face of the franchise and they have a nice groove going with him. Furthermore, they've been reinventing him every series as it is. I feel like if he was going to ever be replaced it would have been at the end of Sun & Moon in which he had a really good storyline centered on his new found family in Alola. Winning the Alola League was awesome and all but I feel like it was definitely the family element that helped elevate that victory. The entire direction and the lively animation for Sun & Moon really did cement that is the gold standard to be for Pokemon.
Anyway, we're coming up to the Masters Tournament now. I think it's a shame that the current iteration of the series has to end because the set-up for the 2019 series definitely has room to just keep going, rather than creating a new series for the next set of games. I'd also not want to lose the PWC because I feel like that format gives us more variety and room to bring back other older characters. I'm hoping that that element is kept for the next series and we get to see Satoshi battle in another season with the PWC with a new foe that he has to overcome.
Good to know the fucker who had a two legendaries in Sinnoh didn't seem to have made it too far lol.
Good to know the fucker who had a two legendaries in Sinnoh didn't seem to have made it too far lol.
Takuto hasn't shown up in any episodes since DP ended in 2010. I'd love to see him reappear and defeat Satoshi again someday. :lol: If Satoshi has to lose it might as well be against Takuto.
I know the series can't ever end because marketing but….
is the series about to end? Or at least Ash's role in it? Like he got that league win at the end of Sun & Moon and now he's just sort of suddenly hanging in the big leagues.
I know he has earned like 60 badges and thus beaten basically every gym leader in existence and has an arsenal of like 50 fully trained mons to choose from at this point after training for 25 years in a single year and all but still... it's weird.
As long as he beats Alain all will be well.
I thought when Journeys started it meant they would continue that series for multiple generations as the region traveling obviously allows for it, but yeah…I sorta feel like this might be the end of Ash as the main character? Not much else for Ash left to do if he takes down the world champ. Goh is as strong a candidate as there's ever been to take over the main character role and he represents the Go side of the franchise, which is about as important as the mainline entries these days.
They could also do a series with Satoshi facing as the challenges of constantly being sniped at for his title or even introducing a stronger yet trainer. I'm not sure that we should suggest that they're simply ending their use of Satoshi just because he's facing the world stage.
They could always go the DIgimon route and just do a hard reboot every few years with an entirely new cast. They're basically doing that now anyway just… keeping Ash around.
Other than the issue of ash being the face of the anime, there's the totally-not small issue of the electric rat not being in the front centre of it. Imo that's the dealbreaker - pikachu will always be the pokemon face of the franchise and removing ash is the equivalent of removing pika.
Sure, people raised the example of digimon where agumon was only around for a couple of seasons, but marketing + pokemon being a way bigger deal than digimon probably dictates that pika be a big part of that series specifically.
And didn't jibanyan always had front centre spotlight in yokai watch too?
Its not like new protag couldn't also get a Pikachu.
Or that Ash doesn't already overlap a ton with Red anyway, who got focus in some specials a while back.
More than retiring Ash though… I don't know that they'd be willing to get rid of Team Rocket... even though they haven't been the game villains in decades.
Yugioh and Jojo refresh themselves every few years too and while none are as iconic as the originals, it still keeps going.
Pokemon is a lot more mainstay than Yuugi-Ou or JoJo, though. Satoshi has been there consistently and loudly since 1997.
Like, it's me. I'm certainly not against more Pokemon of different types. My favorite Pokemon animated project has been this extremely cute and extremely well directed short film about a girl and her Nidoran.
There's still storylines I'd love to see done with the Satoshi series, too. I just don't see a reason to choose.
I like all the side projects they've done like Twilight Wings where they get to flex a little outside the box of the main series. And I don't think Ash will ever be gone for real. However I could see him moving to a more secondary role as sort of mentor while Goh takes center stage. It took ages but they did finally let go of needing the Rocket trio to be in every single episode sometime in Best Wishes.
The main draw to not had ash for 25 years was how they are in the manga that there is this horde of protagonists, or how the games had red and blue as adults during alola, like they age, they had an arc and then we don’t see them and then come back years later on another point of their lives, like ash traveling companions in journeys.
He hasn’t improved at all until alola, and now this world league.
Anyways, If I was younger and had more free time I’d be more passionate about changing him, but
It is too late to get the games stories adapted, or showcase the mons of old gens
That the origins/generations/twilight wings and now the arceus special scratch the itch that I actually want, and the nidoran short and the pangoro short give it an extra taste.
It is just that I’ve never liked ash to begging with, maybe envy, maybe that I don’t like his battling style, the pikachu favoritism, him reminding me that the logo never changed until legends arceus no matter how interesting the Japanese logos were, or that if I catch 200 Pokémon and give away 50 is different when he catches 10 and he gives away one.
Satoshi definitely 'improved' over the course of the series. It just wasn't until 2006-onward where it became really noticeable because of the episodes written by Tomioka Atsuhiro. When Tomioka took over 'Series Composition' (series kousei; the head writer role) with Diamond & Pearl he became extremely hands-on with writing Satoshi's battles. Before that Tomioka had always written the episodes that featured the best and most interesting strategies and now that he was the main writer he began writing even more episodes and made sure that they included really thought-out strategies that made use of the environment and other unique styles not possible in the games. Shinji's battles during Diamond & Pearl featured a great deal of this and are what really brought the level of the battles up. Additionally, Asada Yuuji (storyboard artist, episode director, series director #171-193) and Iwane Masaaki (animation supervisor, key animator) were in charge of most of those episodes that Tomioka wrote. Diamond & Pearl is a time in his career that Iwane still considers his favorite, which is no surprise. Iwane was so invested in Shin-nou League that he key animated half of #183, solo'd all of #187-188 (the second and third parts of Satoshi versus Shinji's final battle) and did some key animation for #189 before then also soloing #191. That passion that Iwane and Asada (who storyboarded and directed five of the last twenty-one episodes of DP) is what brought the Pokemon series up to a new level. I definitely recommend watching those if you ever can.
I'm honestly hoping we get another Satoshi series in large part because I'd love for Tomioka to get a chance to bring back all of the plot threads he was forced for abandon at the end of Diamond & Pearl. It'd also be nice to see him bring back the Counter Shield strategy that Satoshi had his Pikachuu use a lot.
I loved the episodes Julie mentioned. She knows her stuff.
I somehow missed the news that the staff and titles for Episodes #111-113 had come out! We already had the title for #110 but we now have the staff! Summaries translated by Dephender.
Episode #110: The Traitorous Battle Royal!
Screenplay 土屋 理敬 (Tsuchiya Michihiro)
Storyboard 尼野 浩正 (Amano Hiromasa)
Episode Director 佐々木 純人 (Sasaki Sumito)
Animation Director 五十嵐 俊介 (Igarashi Shunsuke)
Summary: A new "Project Mew" mission leads Satoshi and Go to visit the Sea Kinsetsu in the Houen region. This time their mission is a survival game; they'll battle the other challengers inside, with only the last man standing being the winner. Go, who brings Inteleon with him, meets his friend Tokio again, but… Which of them will make it through this battle royal of schemes and betrayals?
Episode #111: Lilie and Mohn: A Reunion on the Tundra!
Screenplay 松井 亜弥 (Matsui Aya)
Storyboard 冨安 大貴 (Tomiyasu Daiki)
Episode Director 牧野 吉高 (Makino Yoshitaka)
Animation Director 山崎 玲愛 (Yamazaki Rei)
Animation Director 倉員 千晶 (Kurakazu Chiaki)
Animation Director 伊藤 京子 (Ito Kyoko)
Summary: News have emerged of a mysterious Pokémon having been spotted on the Crown Tundra in the Galar region, so Satoshi, Go and Koharu head there to research the matter. At the same time, Lilie, a girl Satoshi befriended in the Alola region, has also come to the Crown Tundra with her brother Gladio and mother Lusamine in search of her lost father Mohn.
Episode #112: A Triumphant Return! The Alola Champion!!
Screenplay 松井 亜弥 (Matsui Aya)
Storyboard 齋藤 徳明 (Saito Noriaki)
Episode Director 又野 弘道 (Matano Hiromichi)
Animation Director 新城 真 (Shinjō Makoto)
Animation Director 升谷 有希 (Masutani Yuki)
Summary: Satoshi, Go and Koharu go to the Alola region, where Satoshi reunites with his friends from the Pokémon School he hasn't seen in a while. It's also decided he's going going to participate in a Battle Royal, where four Trainers clash at the same time. The venue is completely crowded for the homecoming match of the first Alola Champion, Satoshi! Can he make it through this battle against multiple powerful opponents, including Professor Kukui?
Episode #113: Last Mission! Get Regieleki and Regidorago!!
Screenplay 米村 正二 (Yonemura Shōji)
Storyboard 齋藤 徳明 (Saito Noriaki)
Episode Director 小柴 純弥 (Koshiba Junya)
Animation Director 柳原 好貴 (Yanagihara Koki)
Animation Director 大西 雅也 (Onishi Masaya)
Summary: After receiving his final trial mission from Project Mew, "Get Regieleki and Regidorago", Go heads to the Split-Decision Ruins in the Crown Tundra on his own. His rival Shigeru has also come there; Can Go clear this mission without any problems arising? And who will be selected as official members of the Mew search?!
So, good news: No Iwane Masaaki or Asada Yuuji in sight! What this likely means—from an optimistic view point—is that after they finished the four Arceus episodes and Episode #95 (all five of which they did by themselves and were released in January) they were probably able to jump ahead to working on the Masters Tournament. #115 will mark twenty episodes since they last worked on an episode (#96 technically had key animation from Iwane, though). This would be the longest either of them has gone without working on an episode, if I recall correctly. Back on Diamond & Pearl Iwane skipped the rotation from a bit and went from his solo episode on #177 to soloing #187-188 (and #191), meaning he did not oversee Episode #182 or #183 (he did provide key animation for #183, though). My hope is that similar to this case the production was able to bend over backwards so that they could work on either consecutive episodes (maybe a rematch with Shinji?) or multiple episodes of the Masters Tournament. Either way, I'm now feeling a lot more optimistic about this upcoming final arc for the series.
Episodes #111-112 are set in the Alola region and are written by Matsui Aya, the head writer (series kousei) of Sun & Moon. This is a nice touch since it means that she is being able to pick up the threads left hanging at the end of Sun & Moon regarding Lilie and her family. Furthermore, Tomiyasu Daiki is storyboarding Episode #111! Tomiyasu was the series director (kantoku) of Sun & Moon and is the chief director (sou-kantoku) of the 2019 series. It's nice to see Tomiyasu find the time to storyboard for an episode tying back into the previous series, which he was obviously instrumental in making the special series it was for the franchise. Furthermore, Yamazaki Rei is also an animation supervisor on #111! Yamazaki provided quite a number of really fun pieces of animation for Sun & Moon so I am quite happy to see them return for an episode centered on Lilie. I absolutely love what Yamazaki provided for Sun & Moon Episode #43!
Episode #112 is—as we know—written by Matsui so I'm looking forward to it considering that by itself. However, it would see that the episode is being handled by the Shinjou/Masutani team, which will sometimes have Iwane Masaaki provide key animation. I'm not sure if Iwane will provide key animation for #112 but it might be possible, considering the episode will feature a battle.
Episode #113 is written by Yonemura Shouji, the current 'head writer' of Pokemon (2019). Yonemura is credited as シリーズコンストラクション (shirizu konsutorakushon; series construction), a call back to the same credit used by Shudou Takeshi for the 1997 series. I believe the credit has a different meaning compared to the credit of 'series kousei' that Tomioka and Matsui Aya used on their series but I'm not quite sure of the intracacies. Yonemura has written numerous episodes for the franchise since 1998 with the original Pokemon (1997) series. Episode #113 will be the 180th episode scripted by Yonemura since 1998, in fact! He's still steeply behind Tomioka Atsuhiro, however. As of Pokemon (2019) Episode #105 Tomioka has written 259 TV episodes (including the four Mega Evolution specials and four Arceus specials) as well as two of the theatrical movies.
I loved the episodes Julie mentioned. She knows her stuff.
Oh gee, thanks hon!
I have to say I am impressed by your knowledge on the anime.
I might have to watch the aether family reunion episode tho, if they cheated that from us in the games (and went with the less villainous lusamine in the anime) I look forward to their reunion.
3DS FC: 0516-7666-3837
SW-4128-8032-0729
I have to say I am impressed by your knowledge on the anime.
I might have to watch the aether family reunion episode tho, if they cheated that from us in the games (and went with the less villainous lusamine in the anime) I look forward to their reunion.
I've been following the anime closely since the beginning of XY in late 2013. Once I started getting into Iwane Masaaki as an animator and his credits I started looking for the patterns in the episodes I liked and settled on learning that Asada directed and storyboarded all of Iwane's episodes and what kind of episodes Tomioka consistently wrote. I also applied that to other writers, like Matsui Aya and Omode Akemi typically writing the episodes about the female characters (with the exception of Tomioka, who had written nearly all of the Pokemon Contest episodes during AG and DP). It's really fun getting to know the creators behind the series, especially the ones who have been working on it consistently since 1997!
Like, Tomioka Atsuhiro wrote the Pokemon (1997) Episode #3, for example. This is the first Tomioka episode and cements him in a lot of ways as the future successor of Shudou Takeshi as the lead writer, not just in name but also in practice with how many important episodes Tomioka would go on to write. Another fun fact about this episode is that it's the first episode sub-contracted to Studio Cockpit. Studio Cockpit was a powerful sub-contracting studio with a long lineage that has closed down by this episode introduced us to Asada Yuuji (storyboard, episode director), Tamagawa Akihiro (animation supervisor) and Iwane Masaaki (key animator). Originally, Pokemon only had one team from Studio Cockpit but when Tamagawa was away working on the first movie the main staff of the series asked Iwane Masaaki to handle an episode (1998.08.20 EPISODE #059: けっせん！グレンジム！; Satoshi's Lizardon versus Boobur). Iwane provided all of the key animation for #59 by himself and the staff was so happy with his work that they asked Studio Cockpit if they would provide two teams for their series. So, thus was born Team Tamagawa and Team Iwane. Iwane would either solo key animate episodes or assign a small number of shots to rookie key animators so that they could practice on his episodes. Meanwhile, Iwane would then help Team Tamagawa with animation on their episodes, too. Iwane had already been doing that for other teams in the rotation but now he was simply working on both Studio Cockpit episodes, usually completing one episode by himself or mostly by himself and then helping Team Tamagawa and the movies teams.
Pokemon (1997): 10 solo key animator episodes, 70 credits.
Advanced Generation: 3 solo key animator episodes, 59 credits.
Diamond & Pearl: 8 solo episodes, 61 credits.
Best Wishes: 20 solo episodes, 58 credits (from November 2011 onward Iwane no long trains other animators and only provides solo key animator episodes and battle scenes for other teams' episodes)
XY: 22 solo episodes, 49 credits.
Sun & Moon: 25 solo episodes, 51 credits.
It's so cool to see the evolution of the production over time. I feel like we really began to see Iwane's skills as an animator improve during Diamond & Pearl and especially near the end. Iwane has noted before that he was inspired by Kameda Yoshimichi and that tracks as Kameda was rising to fame in 2010-2012 via his work on Hagane no Renkinjutsushi: FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST while Iwane had begun to experiment more with his animation on the final year of Diamond & Pearl and Best Wishes. The March 2015 issue of Animage has a lengthy interview with Iwane where he discussed his style and how he using timing to create his extra movement with a few drawings. I find it so fascinating that the reason why he stopped working with other animators in 2011 was because if he did all of the work himself on his episodes he wouldn't have to share the limited number of drawings with others, thus giving him more creative control of his episodes. Few animators on this planet are able to solo key animate episodes with 250-300 cuts per episode—especially on a 1.5 month schedules—yet Iwane has not only taken up the challenge of doing do but he has continually done so since 1998 with a raise in quality over the years. The solo key animators that Toei employs (Aoyama, Naoi, Yashima et cetera) never produced exciting animation in their episodes and yet Iwane regularly produces several minutes an episode.
Getting back to Tomioka for a minute, I love how in this series of short blurbs for the Orange Island arc Tomioka mentions something I had picked up on before: "In every episode I write, having the main Pokémon use a special attack that hadn't appeared in the TV series before is a Tomioka Promise. This time, we get "Dragon Rage." Feel warm inside at the men's oath taken by Satoshi and Lizardon!" Tomioka would later incorporate this more heavily and as a serialized function in Advanced Generation and Diamond & Pearl by having Pikachuu learning Iron Tail and Satoshi and Hikari's Pokemon practicing other moves. Very fascinating and makes me wish we had a more in-depth interview with Tomioka.
Obviously, I've become something of a credits maniac over the years. It took quite a while but I began organizing Tomioka, Asada and Iwane's credits into Paste Bins of their own to better track which episodes they worked on and the distance between those episodes to try and better understand the production schedule. Speaking of which, on Iwane's old blog he mentioned animating a rotating shot of a Dodaitose one time and needing Nintendo to send him a plush so he could better understand how it looked from behind. This was mentioned five months before DP Episode #170 aired, which contained said shot of a rotating Dodaitose.
2009.11.05: DP #150 airs.
2009.11.10: Iwane Masaaki posts about working on Diamond & Pearl Episode #170.
2009.11.12: DP #151-152 airs, Iwane works on both.
2010.04.01: Natsume Kunihiko-supervised Pocket Monster Diamond & Pearl Episode #170 airs with action cuts by Iwane Masaaki.
My brain is all over the place so I'm going to stop this post right here with a fun fact. Iwane's first solo episode was storyboarded and episode directed by Asada Yuuji in 1998. In 2013 for Best Wishes the duo (with script provided by Tomioka) got to do the episode where Satoshi's Lizardon returned to his regular team. Part of this included having Iwane get to re-create several key moments of Satoshi's history with Lizardon, including the Seismic Toss scene that is so fondly remembered! Furthermore, with Best Wishes #116 being an episode written by Tomioka, Lizardon has a new move to show off, too: Dragon Tail!
I adore the OG music and the VAs, and I played up to Ruby/Sapphire in JP, but I gotta say since then my brain cannot handle holding a dictionary to keep track of every trainer and Pokemon's JP names while I'm reading blocks of English text. I may be getting old.
i had tears in my eyes, it was so good
@Cinder said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
I adore the OG music and the VAs, and I played up to Ruby/Sapphire in JP, but I gotta say since then my brain cannot handle holding a dictionary to keep track of every trainer and Pokemon's JP names while I'm reading blocks of English text. I may be getting old.
I've only watched the Japanese version of the various cartoons since 2010, so I don't know the English dub names. 
I do wish it were easier to get the Japanese cartoon out there, though. Alas, we're stuck.
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I just checked Ash Ketchum’s current six Pokémon on hand, surprised how many gen 1 Pokemon there are
Also what the hell is a Dracovish? It’s a monstrosity and an affront to god
On the other hand Sirfetch’d is amazing and should have a permanent spot on the team
@Shiebs said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
I just checked Ash Ketchum’s current six Pokémon on hand, surprised how many gen 1 Pokemon there are
Also what the hell is a Dracovish? It’s a monstrosity and an affront to god
On the other hand Sirfetch’d is amazing and should have a permanent spot on the team
Yeah, the number of Kantou Pokemon was a bit of a surprise but I suppose the production committee ultimately gets what it wants. I wish that his Kairyuu had gotten more focus episodes. She was one of his only Pokemon to not really get any cool focus episodes throughout the series. Not even Iris' Kairyuu got any focus, despite them having a ton during Best Wishes. Wataru's Kairyuu was blink-and-you'll-miss-them.
Uonodragon is a fossil Pokemon, so I believe them being weird looking was intentional.
One thing I liked about Best Wishes was how Satoshi captures more than five or six Pokemon for his Best Wishes team. I wish the 2019 series had managed to do that, too, but ultimately it feels like the series kind of had a poor balancing act going on thanks to unfocused and few-and-far-between Satoshi focus episodes.
@Shiebs said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
Also what the hell is a Dracovish? It’s a monstrosity and an affront to god
The joke behind Dracovish, and all other gen 8 fossil pokemon, is that they are mismatched combinations of the upper and lower bodies of four different extinct Pokemon. Based on real life events in which actual dinosaur fossils were mismatched.
@JulieYBM said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
I've only watched the Japanese version of the various cartoons since 2010, so I don't know the English dub names.
@Shiebs said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
Also what the hell is a Dracovish? It’s a monstrosity and an affront to god
@JulieYBM said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
Uonodragon is a fossil Pokemon, so I believe them being weird looking was intentional.
Now I know you trollin me 
@Cinder said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
@JulieYBM said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
I've only watched the Japanese version of the various cartoons since 2010, so I don't know the English dub names.
@Shiebs said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
Also what the hell is a Dracovish? It’s a monstrosity and an affront to god
@JulieYBM said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
Uonodragon is a fossil Pokemon, so I believe them being weird looking was intentional.
Now I know you trollin me
I was excited to talk about the Pogaymans so I used a spoon and Googled it.
Dracovish and the gen 8 fossils are all mismatched fossil parts combined haphazardly into a pokemon. I hate them. The idea is based on the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, a series of misassembled dinosaur sculptures displayed at the Crystal Palace Park. It's an interesting idea, but they are abominations.
It wouldn't be so bad if they had a really crazy gimmick so that you could mismatch them in a variety of ways (for different stats or special abilities) but be capable of putting them together correctly.
Instead they're just all monstrosities.
I probably only watched ~5 episodes (vs. Guzma, vs. Kukui, vs. Leon) since I dropped the anime back in Johto, but this still comes as a shock to me:
Yeah, so after Pocket Monsters (2019) Episode #137 (which will surprisingly bring back the Ishi-ichi Sayuri character designs) the next series beginning in January will conclude Satoshi and Pikachuu's journey and run for 11 episodes. In April we get an all new series with all new protagonists. I'm honestly shocked. After 25 years Satoshi and Pikachuu are actually leaving us.
Thankfully, Tomioka Atsuhiro will be in charge of series compositon (i.e. head writer) for the 11 episode "Pocket Monsters: Mezase Pokemon Master" series. Tomioka has been with the franchise since Episode #3 of the 1997 series, was in charge of series composition for Diamond & Pearl, Best Wishes and XY (2006-2016) and has written the most episodes of any of the writers across all Satoshi series. Tomioka being in charge of overseeing the writers and plot for Mezase Pokemon Master makes perfect sense because he's been with the franchise the longest and has always been entrusted with writing the most important episodes, to say nothing of his legendary battle strategies. I would honestly be very happy if he writes all eleven episodes of Mezase Pokemon Master.
A full list of episodes and films written by Tomioka Atsuhiro can be found here: https://pastebin.com/raw/rYgnn1Xg
My number one concern at this point is whether or not Tomioka, Episode Director Asada Yuuji and Animation Supervisor Iwane Masaaki will continue to work on the franchise for the new series beginning in April. Their legacies are so important to the Pokemon franchise and the three clearly work very well together.
We don't have a staff list for the new post-Satoshi series yet but it's so surreal to see the Satoshi and Pikachuu led series' will be coming to an end. I was hoping for the story to continue. At the very least, I hope Tomioka, Asada and Iwane will continue their huge legacies on into the next series.
A list of episode storyboarded and directed by Asada Yuuji can be found here: https://pastebin.com/raw/gNjy7Jqd
A list of episodes with Iwane Masaaki providing animation supervision and key animation can be found here: https://pastebin.com/raw/S3V282yn
Examples of Iwane's animation can be found here: https://www.sakugabooru.com/post?tags=masaaki_iwane
I hope someone makes a definitive list of “important” episodes because I also stopped in Johto.
@Kaiolino said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
I hope someone makes a definitive list of “important” episodes because I also stopped in Johto.
This has been on my to-do list for months now. The things is that in later series that line gets a bit blurry because Sun & Moon is—in general—good every episode and I would simply suggest watching every episode of it. With Advanced Generation and Diamond & Pearl making a list is a lot easier since the best episodes are pretty separate from the others. Best Wishes is quite fresh, so I also suggest just watching every episode (at least up through the return of Satoshi's Lizardon, I haven't finished past that episode yet). XY has a lot of bland episodes, so that could probably make a good list.
My unbiased list of episodes to watch is: skip everything and go straight to the final 5 minutes of this week episode because
There will be a 11-episode special coming in 2023 that will apparently truly close Ash's story and from the poster it seems like a lot of old faces will be back (Pidgeot, Primeape, Squirtle). I think I will check it since it seems it will be heavy on nostalgia as well.
Please put a spoiler on that.
We don't know for sure if all of his old Pokemon will be returning yet. Satoshi doesn't normally swap out for old Pokemon, barring that time Lizardon came for the last 40 episodes of Best Wishes and Satoshi used some of his old Pokemon for the Shin-ou League.
I quit watching the anime partway through Johto, partly because I had trouble catching the timeslot, but mostly because I think I just kinda outgrew. I just couldn't deal with the tedious episodic pace anymore.
But this is surprising news for sure. I thought the ship had sailed on swapping out Ash/Satoshi long ago. Frankly, if they were going to, I think they should have done it after the first season or two. But I guess kudos to the anime team for finally breaking the chain and trying something new.
[And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon]
@Kaiolino said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
I hope someone makes a definitive list of “important” episodes because I also stopped in Johto.
Well define "important". Getting a new companion? New critter? That critter evolves? Gym/tournament battles? Episode that focuses entirely on Team Rocket? Everyone leaves, reunion at the ranch?
You could probably boil any given 150 episode 3 years down to about 30 if you cut out all the "filler".
The filler improved a lot during the Sun and Moon era when they actually had a full supporting cast in a single location so there was some actual variety and character development to things.
But the designs looking freaking WEIRD in that season so people hate it.
@Nobodyman said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
I quit watching the anime partway through Johto, partly because I had trouble catching the timeslot, but mostly because I think I just kinda outgrew. I just couldn't deal with the tedious episodic pace anymore.
But this is surprising news for sure. I thought the ship had sailed on swapping out Ash/Satoshi long ago. Frankly, if they were going to, I think they should have done it after the first season or two. But I guess kudos to the anime team for finally breaking the chain and trying something new.
Each new series does try new things, they just kept Satoshi and Pikachuu because there wasn't really a need to create a new protagonist because the core function of the series was simply to promote the franchise. Nevertheless, the production staff still worked toward experimenting with the storylines, the directing and the animation over the course of the series post-1997. The restrictions placed on the series by executives wasn't always great but a lot of the major episodes of the series grew better and better because of folks like Tomioka, Asada, Iwane and Matsui Aya improving trying new things (not to mention series directors like Yajima Tetsuo and Tomiyasu Daiki elevating the overall aesthetic of XY-onward out of a desire to create high-quality series).
I know I sound like a broken record on the subject but that's because I really think that a lot of more casual fans that don't follow the series as closely have kind of missed out on the titantic work some of the major players in the franchise have accomplished over the years.
I'm still wondering if I'm dreaming. Retiring Ash and Pikachu after all this time?
As a viewer I pretty much stopped during Sinnoh I think? Just know broad strokes like "hey he got [so and so] on his team" or "aw he lost [y] league".
Also fuck the guy that had a Darkai in a league match.
@MetaMario said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
I'm still wondering if I'm dreaming. Retiring Ash and Pikachu after all this time?
As a viewer I pretty much stopped during Sinnoh I think? Just know broad strokes like "hey he got [so and so] on his team" or "aw he lost [y] league".
Also fuck the guy that had a Darkai in a league match.
Takuto basically existed because they were not able to/allowed to allow Satoshi to win. The series had built up to Satoshi v. Shinji as the big climax and it was clear that Satoshi absolutely had to win that match, at the very least, so Takuto comes across very "We need an excuse for why Satoshi loses and we only have one episode we can dedicate to the battle" so using a Darkai (which Satoshi is the only trainer in the Shin-nou League to defeat) and Latios makes perfect sense. Tomioka didn't both writing that episode, either, so it's my sense that he was probably not interested in being involved with that considering the absolute high-of-highs that the preceeding three-episode-long battle was.
Tomioka was also barely involved with writing Best Wishes and his ideas for the Champion League were basically dropped, sadly. Luckily he got to write nearly every episode of the Pokemon World Championships in the 2019 series.
Also, potentially awkward question but am I the only one who can't see Robby's posts? They just appear as notifications for me but never display in the threads. If I'm blocked intentionally that's cool, I'm just trying to double check.
Yeah having Ash (sorry er I'm just more used to the dub name) never quite being champ was a key component in....keeping the series going. Even when I wasn't even watching I'd check out the buzz after each major one. One (the one for Alola?) he got like, the closest he ever did.
Also, potentially awkward question but am I the only one who can't see Robby's posts? They just appear as notifications for me but never display in the threads. If I'm blocked intentionally that's cool, I'm just trying to double check.
I can see his.
@MetaMario said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
Yeah having Ash (sorry er I'm just more used to the dub name) never quite being champ was a key component in....keeping the series going. Even when I wasn't even watching I'd check out the buzz after each major one. One (the one for Alola?) he got like, the closest he ever did.
Also, potentially awkward question but am I the only one who can't see Robby's posts? They just appear as notifications for me but never display in the threads. If I'm blocked intentionally that's cool, I'm just trying to double check.
I can see his.
Satoshi won the Alola League, actually. During the Masters Tournament he is referred to regularly as the Alola Champion, just as Shirona is referred to as the Shin-nou Champion, etc.
Kantou League: Top 16
Jouto League: Top 8
Hou-en League: Top 8
Shin-nou League: Top 4
Isshu League: Top 8
Kalos League: Runner-Up
Alola League: Champion
Masters Tournament: Champion
I still think that there was story to tell with Satoshi but alas, here we are.
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I’m not looking forward to all the anti feminist bull shit that’s going to come with a new female lead character
Because you know some asshole is gonna get upset and talk about it ruining his child hood
@Shiebs said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
I’m not looking forward to all the anti feminist bull shit that’s going to come with a new female lead character
Because you know some asshole is gonna get upset and talk about it ruining his child hood
I am absolutely not looking forward to it, either.
@MetaMario said in Pokemon Anime (Sun & Moon + Generations):
@JulieYBM Well if anything I like that he kept getting closer and closer each time.
Except in the Isshu League, although if I had to guess that's because there was some strange stuff going on behind the scenes (Tomioka didn't write for the Isshue League at all and barely wrote for Best Wishes despite being in charge of series composition and the Champion League stuff kept getting axed).
The pokemon anime actually ending had gotten me nostalgic and revisiting the old 4kids music.
I would say this stuff hasn't aged well, but most of it was never good to begin with. A lot of it is downright bad and always has been. Maybe if I'd been closer to the target age of 5 year olds when this stuff came out instead of 20 I'd have more nostalgia for it, but nope, just generally bad.
The opening themes generally hold up and there's a couple songs they put into the actual show endlessly so those are burned in, but most of the ~70 songs they made in that era (a lot with random stunt musicians for the movies) just... kind of suck.
However it IS the holidays and so I figured I would share something from their CHRISTMAS ALBUM. The voice actors trying to sing and failing. The bad rhymes. The puns. The replacing of normal words with pokemon names. 4kids pushing super duper hard on Misty having a mega crush on Ash in multiple different songs on multiple albums. It's painful.
Eric Stuart gave it his all as campy flaming James though.
I had completely forgotten about the porn-o-riffic opening to their super butchered version of a Night Before Christmas
"Hey Ash, did you get more wood?" "Ooooooh yeah."
