Weekly anime discussion - you bet your ass there's spoilers

[RLRL]

Just watched Ash Vs Paul part 1 and i've been making notes..

I'm quite liking how they're changing pokémon a lot, the fact that ash started with buizel then withdrew it instantly was good, I didn't want to see him just waste his time with a massive type disadvantage from the start. Unfortunately its still not been KOed meaning chances are it'l have a bit part to play in part 2 next week =(

Just before Paul's torterra bit gliscor's tail I swear it sounded like Paul was saying "kamikaze!" but idk

I'm quite pleased with how they made giga drain look actually, I think stone edge was pretty shibby as well, but if you notice you never really see the drain moves in the anime, apart from the occasional leech seed.

I really liked Paul's weavile, its got some major class to it... Shame it proved to be just as much of a glass cannon as it is ingame heh

Light screen does stay in play like in the games... Very sneaky of paul just to put out electabuzz for it, but once again, very game style switcheroo battle style which is a ncie change.

Grotle vs Honchkrow... Bad Ash!!!! Grotle did get its ass handed to it pretty much, but y'no what, it wasn't that bad of a fight scene so I'm not too bothered.

Oh and Magmortar looks even fatter than its sprite... Really not a huge fan of it, but looking forward to seeing it in battle.

Oooh and monferno next week... Bit cliche to have it evolve in such an important battle and on a monumental episode number-wise but hey lets see how it goes... I'm just really hoping Buizel doesn't get all haxy and gets KOed really quickly.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

SHEEP.
POWERED.
TRAIN.

Where is General Specific when you need him.

 

[RLRL]

Go Shinji! Go Shinji! Go Shinji!!!

Ok so this has totaly acted as a plot device for him to have Ash hand his ass to him in the Sinnoh league, but anyway whats important is... Ash lost spectacularly! Ok so complete abuse of hammer arm from ursaring, but Paul still had 2 Pokémon left standing even with that monkey doing its "oooh look at me I can use mach punch" routine. Also Ash didn't even congratulate Paul/Shinji on his win which I think is a bit rude really, he seems so ridiculously depressed in the preview for next episode I'm hoping we see a completely new attitude at least for a few episodes, with Ash running his pokémon to the ground.

Also, Monferno is screming to me that it'l evolve pretty soon already, I'm thinking total dejavous from how Charmeleon acted when it first evolved, I'm not expecting anything silly like a non-responsive Infernape, but the fact it lost its first battle, and the way it acted, kinda says that we won't be seeing it for too long... Maybe I'm reading it wrong but I bet it wants to kick Torterra's ass, and when it comes up against Paul's soon to be electivire it'l be a damn good grudge match ^_^

 

[Carmen Lopez]

...Ash got his rear handed to him you say? I'm not even sure why I even expected any different XD. But yeah, I'm oddly not disappointed to hear this. I really appreciate Paul being in the anime now because he provides a really useful foil not seen before in Pokemon. And I must say it's refreshing. Hopefully this will lead into some real character development for Ash AND his team (a girl can hope right?) I think Paul and Ash have a lot to learn from each other. Like Ash learning what it means to rotate his team. We need more Sceptile action gosh darnit! ~Shakes fist~ But yeah, I wholeheartedly agree with RX.

On a random note: I'm not sure what happened between Battle Frontier and the Sinnoh saga but it seems like Ash's team got a lot weaker--and I don't just mean the lack of fully evolved Pokemon. Or is that just me? Not that I dislike any of his Pokemon, but still.

I can't be bothered to track down the Japanese episodes so I'll likely be waiting for the dub to be released.

 

[RLRL]

I whole heartedly hope Ash does start changing his roster a bit more... I'd really like to see him catch at least one more pokémon in the sinnoh region, maybe have Oak do a Heracross on us, either way, I'd really like to see Ash really take something from this loss, and not just be all emo about it... unless he gets a costume change, cause I'd love to see Ash in stereotypical alternative clothing haha...


01/07/09

Watched the follow up episode to Ash Vs Paul.....

I think the dubbers will have no problem whatsoever when it comes to doing that episode... I'm actually slightly disappointed because I could pretty much translate everything being said over the course of the episode... Dawn deciding to cheer Ash up was slightly unexpected but at the same time.... So very very predictable! I'm pretty positive Ash has only gotten a bit more determination to defeat Paul from his loss, no other signs of taking anything from him... Maybe I had too high expectations... Still its kinda lame.

 

[Linkachu]

Haven't seen the latest episode yet, but I've finally watched up to the 2nd Ash VS Paul battle. Let's see...

The Hunter J/Regigigas episode was actually really well done, and I loved how Jindai was brought into it through use of his own Regi trio. They really put a lot of thought into setting up for Regigigas via Paul's Battle Pyramid challenge (of which was also awesome for character development). All in all, both were really good episodes.

Then we had Looker... I wish I could've enjoyed that one better, but my highdef version of it kept glitching up on my sorry laptop and most of the time the animation/subs/speaking were out of sync XP Ah well. As fun as seeing Looker was, the episode was fairly uneventful beyond Looker discovering Team Galactic's involvement.

Now, the epic failure for Ash battle! (Kidding. Partially)

All of the substitutions were nifty to see, but it was quickly evident that Paul was making better usage of his strategically than Ash. Hell, the entire battle proved that Paul had much better strategy. Ash seemed to just keep plowing through head-on and getting bashed away. He did have a few saving graces, mind. It was nice to see the counter shields used again, and Staraptor was somewhat effective. Monferno was also awesome while it lasted (so fast!), and I loved Electabuzz's reaction to seeing its old teammate evolved. It was a good set of episodes for character development, and a very obvious set-up for a future Ash/Paul match (one in which Ash will hopefully use his head a bit better).

 

[RLRL]

Dawn now with a cyndaquil, well it definately promotes HGSS.... And possibly in the best way as chikorita and bayleaf fans would probably be slightly put off by a new one trying to muscle in on fandom, totodile im pretty sure the anime has completely ruined with the crazy-ass one that danced from johto, whereas cyndaquil was a very underused pokémon on ash's team basically coming out now and then to use flamethrower and in gyms etc. Dawn on the other hand will be using cyndaquil in contests and I reckon she'll end up evolving it at some point too, which is pure awesome as quillava is just totally badass as a middle stage pokémon.
My only worry is that the writers are going to give Dawn another johto starter soon just like they did with May, that'd blow.

 

[Linkachu]

Time for a reply. I've been holding off because I'm still not caught up with my subbed episodes, but might as well say something...

I recently watched the Palmer episode, and a few thoughts from it and earlier:

- While the way the Anime actually followed through felt a bit weak, I loved the episode where Ash, Jun, and Dawn all relived the moments they met their first Pokemon. Jun's was probably the best to see because we'd never seen it before, but I enjoyed the nostalgic feeling of the other two as well. That episode itself was like one big drug trip - and pretty cool.

- James verses that guy in the traditional carnival fishing game (not sure what it's called) was a riot. It was made even better by the fact TR had so many customers and Brock was completely ignored and pathetic XP

- Ash vs Palmer episode Battle Frontier montage was gold. I squee'd. I wish it'd lasted longer, though. Either way, the actual battle between Ash and Palmer was pretty nifty. That thing with Grotle swallowing the Energy Ball and going all funky green auraish just makes me "O______O" at the possibilities for later usage. And Palmer mentioned Volkner! I really hope they do those episodes justice. I want to FEEL that guy waking up and realizing how good an awesome battle can be... the way I felt in the Johto saga when I'd begun to lose interest in Pokemon XP

Edit:
I've watched "The Most Horrible Togepi of All Time!" episode now, and my god... It was PRICELESS! One of the funniest episodes I've seen in awhile. That is the frelling best Togepi ever, period.

I can't believe they actually went so far to have Togepi and the brainwashed Pokemon fly TR's rocket into space. Rayquaza's random appearance was freakin' LOLZ, too, as was the samurai-ish showdown between Happiny and the Togepi.

Awesome, awesome episode. I love the Sinnoh saga.

 

[Satoren]

I think it was more of a reference to a Western showdown, Katie xD

Also James acting like a Gundam warship Commander/Gendo Ikari was awesome.

Anyway, skipping ahead to the Johto Festa arcs, because I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to say that LOL DAWN CAN HAS CYNDAQUIL. Admittedly, after May got her Bulbasaur I wasn't too keen on Dawn taking after her predecessor by receiving a starter from another region. Still, Cynda's a neat addition to her team, in that it has formed a bitter and hilariously adorable rivalry with Piplup. It also has an affinity for contests (Swift has to be one of the prettier, more contest oriented attacks, the anime has to offer) and unlike Ash's Phanpy and May's Eevee seems to be pretty powerful right off the bat. I have high hopes we'll be seeing a Quilava in the future, as the critter's never really gotten any proper screentime outside a couple of cameos.

The 'Johto traveling buddies' arc was neat and fairly eventful. Aside from Dawn acquiring a new Pokemon, the party temporarily takes on two additional members in the form of HGSS's female character and her geeky best friend Kazunari. Kotone's a pretty fun character, and I find it really amusing that she also happens to be a Pearlshipper. (be warned AshxDawn supporters, the arc has evidence against Pearlshipping xD) Although truth be told, she didn't have as much impact on the arc as Kazunari did. While traveling with Ash and co. was a great learning experience for Kazunari (who also manages to get two new Pokemon through the whole thing) Kotone pretty much stood by the sidelines making comments about Ash and Dawn's relationship.

Among other things, Dawn sadly won't be going to the Grand Festival anytime soon. More interesting about that her Suiren Pokemon Contest is that her opponent for that contest is a cross-dressing James, who not only defeats her, but also gains his first ever ribbon (under the disguise of Jessie, earning for her a third ribbon in Sinnoh) Mamoswine certainly made an effort, but depsite all its been through still isn't very cooperative with Dawn. We'll probably be seeing more of Cyndaquil and Mamoswine in the future as she continues to strive for her last ribbon.

edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZOsogG23Io

This has to be one of the most adorable ending songs, probably right up there with Polka o Dolka. Get Fired Up Notch-eared Pichu was cute and all, but after a while I got kind of tired of it. And it was just really weird how they dedicated a song to Notch-eared Pichu in the first place.

 

[Linkachu]

I think it was more of a reference to a Western showdown, Katie xD

Probably was. It just made me think of the stand-offs in Kirby Super Star, which was like mock Western showdown/Samurai XD

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally caught up a bit more - to the end of the Suiren Contest episode. So much to discuss, but not sure where to start... Guess I'll just do my usual and pick at key elements that stood out to me.

Dawn's new Cyndaquil is certainly a nice addition to her team, but I'm starting to understand why its attitude bothered Stel... The whole jealousy thing going on with Pochama is amusing to a degree, but if it keeps up I'm going to get tired of it fast. Much, much faster than any of the other running-gags. It's just... annoying. Even Cyndaquil's basic characterization annoys me a bit, but I'm hoping that will change once I get to know it better and it comes into its own. For a newly hatched Pokemon it battles quite well, so I'm looking forward to watching its development.

Now, our Johto buddies... Kazunari is a cute kid, but Kotone kinda irks me. She just has the type of personality that clashes with my own, so I'm rather biased. There have just been many, many times I wanted to smack her upside the head XD
That said, even though I'm not a shipper and don't really think anything will come of Kotone's teasing with Hikari, it was funny to watch Hikari's reactions. I guess Hikari is only 10... She shouldn't be focused on stuff like romance anyways. Besides... Ash is an oblivious airhead, and that's why we love him x3

The Gible episode overall was almost as hilarious as the Togepi episode. The Strength/Super Power battle between Gible and Totodile was nuts, but the dramatic footage that accompanied it - both for the Pokemon AND the human cast members - was pure gold...

Then we've got the contest. Oh. My. Gods. CROSS-DRESSING JAMES! How I've missed you so... And the fact that he WON is beyond epic. I told myself "If Hikari loses, James better as hell win", so it was a nice conclusion. I'm also completely in love with the swallowing-the-same-element-to-take-on-extra-traits concept, and Mamoswine's icy fur was genius. It just looked so awesome. Then that first battle for Mamoswine, while quick, was a nice combination. As for the second battle vs James/Carnivine... Wow. I was actually surprised how far, and deep, the Anime took things, and how upset Hikari became. I just stared wide-eyed at the entire thing. I could feel the panic in her voice matched with her expressions... It was just really well executed. I was glad her upbeat attitude quickly returned once it was all said and done, too. It just shows how far she's matured since starting out on this journey. ^^

The new ending... I must second Hax. It's ADORABLE. I've seen Croagunk dance before, but not like that. And the song itself, frelling random and completely cute. I think I'm going to love it.

Finally... The preview for the final Team Galactic Space-Time Mythology arc... It looks bloody amazing. Gods, I can't to wait see those episodes. The whole thing with Dawn/Ash/Brock and Azelf/Mespirit/Uxie is gonna be so frelling win ;____;

Can't wait. Can't waaaaaait... And I use the names Hikari/Dawn interchangeably far too often. Can't stop. Can't stopppp...

Edit: Higher quality link of the new ED :O

 

[Sem]

Currently I'm eagerly awaiting to see the Galactic finale, but I would just like to say this:

Jessiebelle's back. And there will be lulz.

 

[Satoren]

So I saw. From what I can deduce from the episode preview, she's using a trap in the form of a treasure chest from James' past to capture her fiance. Also making a return is Growlie, cute little bugger that he is.

And

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj14iCJm7hA&feature=related

Attention Duelists! It's going to happen, as my hair has predicted so many, many times! My favorite semi-aquatic mammal Pokemon is going to learn Ice Punch =D =D =D =D =D

Totally have to see that episode. The fact that Buizel practices punching all the time would have made it so obvious he should learn this move, and he finally will! Oh, and Gliscor learns Giga Impact as well, but I'm afraid that isn't half as important for me as the previous news is.

*dances

Also upon closer inspection of the preview, it looks like Zoey might have a Kirlia and...a Leafeon?! Also a random Gible battling what might be Jun/Barry's Empoleon. And based on who its always being paired with in the clip...oh god, it can't be...is it really happening? Is Ash actually finally going to train a Pokemon that evolves into a Pseudo-Legendary?! And just who will be leaving his party in place of it?! [/announcer voice]

 

[RLRL]

Urgh. Ash gave up on another pokémon...

Ok so we were all shocked when Ash got a Gligar, much less shocked when it evolved, and yet, its got the primeape treatment, it's stayed for "training".

Well it was nice knowing you gliscor, maybe you'll appear in a flashback eventually...



Now, what do you all think Ash will catch next?!

 

[Brendan Savem]

Maybe it's just me, but I think I already know.

The next two episodes that will be released in Japan are both centered around a Gible,as Vexen stated. And now that Ash has an open spot on his roster (sorry Gliscor ), there is a small chance that this Gible will be the one to take it. It's a long shot, but I have my ideas, RX does, and probably you do as well, Ash might just have his first dragon type

Edit: Nobody posted in the last twelve days, so that leaves me to have to do this to avoid the capital B word.

It has been confirmed! Somebody owes me $10 because Gible has nabbed the spot on Ash's team. Knowing moves as powerful as Draco Meteor, it's going to be one heck of a critter. And it likes to nom on heads!

Chances are, Ash will at least evolve it into Gabite, but whether Garchomp might end up on his team is yet to be seen. Now, when will Brock get a new pokemon, his latest must have been Happiny from ages ago, little marshmallow still hasn't evolved yet, and neither has Croagunk. Though chances are once a knee-high poisoned-finger frog, always a knee-high poisoned-finger frog.

 

[Quixotic]

So, Ash finally caught that Gible. This should be interesting.

 

[Linkachu]

Haven't commented here in awhile...

The end of the Dialga/Palkia arc was very nicely done, and I quite enjoyed watching the episodes back to back. I really loved how they portrayed the connection to the emotion trio between Ash and co., and so many random characters dropped in... I approve

 

[Sem]

Anime has been greet these past few eps ^_^ Galactic finale = win. A nice ending imo, though, shady/shifty/sad ending for J D': *cries and tries not to think about it*

James-centric episode was lulzy, but I knew it would be, as for the Glion ep.... XD;

Ash: "Glion, I look forward to when we meet again ;]"
*snort*
Yeah, yeah, Ash will come back for you~ As soon as he grabs Pidgeot.

Fukamaru eps were lulzy, and Pochama manage to made me chuckle for the first time in a while with the exploding and all. Not at all surprised that Ash caught it, but I would be surprised if it even evolved at all. Gabite, maaaaybe. Garchomp? Doubt it. Even Pokemon like Charizard and Sceptile aren't on the Pseudo-legendary-level like 'chomp XD It'd be simply too epic for Ash - that and Garchomp's already seen plenty of airtime, Cynthia's and then a random one or two. It looks like Gible will be plenty strong after some training, seeing how it did against Jun's Empoleon.

We'll see what the anime holds in store~ *eagerly waits for the UFO vs UFO smackdown*

 

[Brendan Savem]

God knows how many spoilers have been made in the new episode introduction sequence. But let's make a list anyway. Some of these are unconfirmed, and may be different from the way I say it

• Grotle evolves
• Monferno evolves
• Dawn gets a Togekiss
• Chances are Togepi or Togetic came first, so them too
• Dawn has a new rival, because I don't recognize her, I might be wrong
• Still no sign of new pokemon for Brock, some breeder he's turning out to be
• Ash is shown with many of the pokemon we haven't seen in a while, like Noctowl, Snorlax, Glalie, Bayleef, and even Muk
• The above appearance indicates that Ash will call upon the said pokemon during the Sinnoh League

[*]Ash will have a fourth rival for the league, it is unconfirmed who this is, since the shots I got were unclear, needs confirmation[/list]

And that is the shape of what's to come in the grand conclusion of the Sinnoh Saga. (And it did not take nearly three and a half years)

 

[Carmen Lopez]

Edit: Brendan beat me posting, but I'll post anyway XD

Not at all surprised that Ash caught it, but I would be surprised if it even evolved at all. Gabite, maaaaybe. Garchomp? Doubt it. Even Pokemon like Charizard and Sceptile aren't on the Pseudo-legendary-level like 'chomp XD It'd be simply too epic for Ash - that and Garchomp's already seen plenty of airtime, Cynthia's and then a random one or two. It looks like Gible will be plenty strong after some training, seeing how it did against Jun's Empoleon.

On the contrary, I'd wouldn't be surprised at all if Gible evolved all the way to Garchomp. The anime doesn't view Pokemon like we do (i.e. seeing it as a Psudo-legend or uber), so I think there is some probability of Ash getting a Garchomp. It just seems like it's going to be Ash's 'powerhouse' in the legacy of Charizard and Sceptile. Is it too epic for him? Yes XD But then again, so is Infernape. Speaking of, I will be EXTREMELY disappointed if Monferno doesn't evolve--like, more disappointed than when Totodile didn't evolve.

Yes, Ash's team should be awesome so that it makes up for the suckfest that is Dawn's team. I don't care if Cyndaquil is on her team, it's still appallingly awful. Piplup is doomed to stay an annoying Piplup. A couple of times I've forgotten Buneary and Pachirisu exist and Mamoswine looks so out of place it makes me cringe. Someone else needs to evolve and I don't care who it is.

Edit: With Brendan's post, if Dawn gets a Togeplane, it would go a LONG way in helping her team suck less....even if it is yet another normal type. Infernape evolving isn't surprise, GROTLE evolving is. Even so, I wouldn't mind it. The anime has room for two awesome Torterra ^^

And speaking of awesome Torterras, the anime needs more Paul ^^

 

[Linkachu]

w00t for massive spoilers! ^________^

http://community.livejournal.com/pokemon/3227872.html

All thanks go to TBA for the url

What can I say? I fangasm'd when I watched the video for the first time. It's just so fucking SQUEE-inducing!

 

[Satoren]

Gods, that is just too much awesome for an opening. Also totally didn't bother with the whole 'slight changes to the opening with every new Pokemon added' thing they did for past openings.

Totally saw Infernape coming, but Togekiss and Torterra? Wow. Looks like Ash and co. are finally stepping up. (is alo slightly happy that Buizel stays a Buizel

 

[charmander91]

Well it looks like things are starting to get better on the anime sorry but I'm only up to where they just got back to Twinleaf for the carnival but the Paul/ash battle was awesome and I am psyched from reading the previous posts.

 

[RLRL]

I'm quite happy to hear that Ash will have Torterra and Infernape soon, I'd prefer to have there be a bit more build up to evolutions than massive spoilers in the intro.
Togekiss in the anime, is just brilliant... I just get this feeling it'l have really depressingly standard attacks like tackle and swift, rather than seeing it using Flamethrower, Aura Sphere, Ice Beam etc... But then again, Skitty did a good job using blizzard, never know I guess...

 

[Brendan Savem]

Snorlax is lazy? The latest Japanese episode says otherwise. This Snorlax apparently is an Olympic master who was even faster than Pikachu in the hurdles. Of course, it still likes a good snack every now and then.

On a different, yet almost the exact same, subject, further confirmation of Monferno's evolution has been made, though the trailer for a later episode, named "Blast Evolution! Infernape". It would be very surprising if Monferno didn't evolve in this one. Grotle's evolution should also be close by, since it can't be long until Sunnyshore, and the league.

 

[Satoren]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_w31hiu2H0

After listening carefully to this preview and looking at the little stinger at the end...LOL Dawn is afraid of Plusle and Minun. Childhood Trauma as a plot device ftw. While this explains why Hikari got the Pikari nickname as a kid (Pika being the Japanese onomatopeia for electricty crackling) I'd like to see how the English dubbers are gonna explain how they came up with Dee Dee to go with Dawn.

This is probably going to be the Contest where Dawn gets her last ribbon (being two episodes long has got to mean something)

Lastly, Ash finally gets his much deserved second fully evolved Fire Starter, and Paul'll be there to see it too. That should be rather interesting. Torterra is probably not far behind, and I predict we'll see it prior to or during his Gym Battle with Volkner, where he will probably destroy the Electric Gym with his newly acquired EQ-spamming powers. Dare we also hope for an appearance by Flint and some deep emo-ish backstory for Volkner?

 

[Linkachu]

Finally watched the Buizel-Ice Punch episode subbed... Training montages