General Pokemon Anime Discussion

[Jellicent*]

*~General Pokemon the Anime Discussion~*

Trying something a little different here, guys; let's see how it pans out. Although, previously, Orange Islands was a forum dedicated solely to Pokemon games, we're gonna extend our coverage a bit. This thread is for all of your Pokemon anime discussion needs ^.^

Reminiscing about Ash cheating his way past Brock in the Indigo Plateau arc?
Eager to discuss the latest episodes of Rival Destinies?
Still pondering over how Ash has remained 10 years old this whole time?
Just wanna talk about Piplup, the best character in the series?

Then this is the thread for you ^.^

[Hemp Man]

I actually watched the Gym Battles from Gen I - Gen III the other day. I think Sabrina was the best gym leader, she was actually creepy and memorable.

[PikeQueen]

Hoenn Battle Frontier season. When Ash got possessed it was amazing.

[DTC]

I thought most of the Gym Battles in the Gen 1 anime series were a joke. Ash didn't even properly beat many of them and got the badge. That's about the only thing I really dislike about the Gen 1 anime compared to the others. The original was definitely the best, imo.

[atsync]

Originally Posted by Fat DTC

I thought most of the Gym Battles in the Gen 1 anime series were a joke. Ash didn't even properly beat many of them and got the badge. That's about the only thing I really dislike about the Gen 1 anime compared to the others. The original was definitely the best, imo.

Yeah pretty much agreeing with this. I was watching the first couple of seasons recently and I was amazed at how bad the battles were. They were boring, some of them could barely be considered battles, and there are so many instances where they blatantly go against the games. There's obvious stuff like ground types being hit by hit by electric attacks, but there's even dumb stuff where moves do things that are completely different to the games (in an early episode, Brock's Zubat uses Double Team which causes it to blow a gust of wind instead of multiplying itself ugh). The main thing I like about the new seasons are the higher quality of the battles (not just important battles, all battles).

I do think most of the VA work was better in the early seasons though, especially with Team Rocket. I love Jessie's old voice over the newer close-but-no-cigar imitation that she has now. I do like Ash's newer voice though, it suits him better.

[R_N]

I wish that the new VAs hadn't been hired as imitations. It was short-lived with May & Max due to rotating voices (Brock was flawless, to be fair), but it's been years and Ash & TR just haven't captured the same enjoyable register as the originals.
It would have been interesting to hear actual different voices and see how those stacked up.

and yeah re: battles DP & BW definitely stepped up their game. Things like the Roark, Tobias, and Elesa's battles are all great

[Antihaxxer]

Can we talk about Japanese episodes ? Or we have to talk only the dub episodes

[Purimpopoie]

Originally Posted by Fat Antihaxxer

Can we talk about Japanese episodes ? Or we have to talk only the dub episodes

I don't see any reason why you couldn't talk about Japanese episodes.

But if anyone brings up shipping I will choke a bitch.

[Manveru123]

Anime would be better if Ash stopped leaving his best pokemon with Oak and starting every new season with just Pikachu -_-

[Purimpopoie]

Originally Posted by Fat Manveru123

Anime would be better if Ash stopped leaving his best pokemon with Oak and starting every new season with just Pikachu -_-

Then Ash would never catch any new Pokemon. And it's hard to advertise for the new games if he's carting around his old Kanto team.

While there have been some legitimate bad and pointless decisions in the anime, most of the things that seem bad (replacing Misty/May/Dawn every series, Ash leaving Pokémon behind) are really just marketing decisions to advertise the games. Because the anime is just a commercial for the games, and anything that helps them sell more games is more important than an interesting story to the people making it.

That's not to say that they don't manage to make entertaining episodes and interesting storylines and characters. There's an episode of Black and White where Meowth and Oshawott fall in love with a Purrloin that is actually really funny with how Cilan reacts to all of them and the reveal at the end. But making Ash/Pikachu weak at the beginning of every series so they can reteach the basics (Advance and DP are exempt from this because we had May and Dawn to be the rookie) is so they can get children who are watching the series for the first time to relate to the main character.

I feel like I've been rambling. The TL:DR version is this: The anime exists only to sell games and cards and all decisions of what goes in it are motivated to sell more games and cards.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by Fat DTC

I thought most of the Gym Battles in the Gen 1 anime series were a joke.

My favorite example of this is the "Air Lense" bullshit that Blaine pulled to hax Ash out of a legitimate win he was about to have. "The superheated air around Magmar doesn't conduct electricity! Your Pikachu can't hit it with Electric attacks!" Imagine if Magmar was immune to Electric attacks in the games?

[Manveru123]

Catch and swap, leave only the best ones, isn't that what Pokemon is all about? :P

You're right of course, but that does devaluate the anime a lot in my eyes. Imagine if they started new series, based of Pokemon manga. That would rule.

[Cherub Agent]

I loved it when Charizard blatantly took a nap in the middle of the Pokemon League against a Pikachu, causing Ash to forfeit

[Manveru123]

The one time when Ash was actually cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Rqs...eature=related

[R_N]

Originally Posted by Fat Manveru123

Catch and swap, leave only the best ones, isn't that what Pokemon is all about? :P

You're right of course, but that does devaluate the anime a lot in my eyes. Imagine if they started new series, based of Pokemon manga. That would rule.

No it would not. The manga can be pretty dumb and overblown.


Also the Oaking lets them do more fanservice. It's really cool to see all of his old reserves after x amount of years either for the league or just when he goes back to Oak's.

[Purimpopoie]

Originally Posted by Fat R_N

No it would not. The manga can be pretty dumb and overblown.

Oh, come on. An anime based on ReBURST would be awesome.

*completely misses the point*

[Count Serperior]

I've been watching Best Wishes and I have to say that I'm enjoying most of it.

Almost ANY episode with Bianca is instantly better/funnier.
Ash has more rivals/people he meets along the way, it makes for a more believable adventure.
I think that Oshawott is genuinely funny XD
The Tarzan-Sewaddle episode & the Gothita episodes are great too
I like Dent/Cilan and Iris, they're pretty cool

Can't wait for the rival to evolve his Servine!! (because, c'mon, he obviously will)
And the new season will have Meloetta and SuperSexyMarlon! :D
What if Ash collects 9 badges o_O

[Sayonara]

best part of the series was when ash stole misty's bike

[TruthPains]

IMO...

But seriously, in the anime, pikachu DESTROYS fully evolved pokemon with thunderbolt, and then gets beaten by unevolved/baby pokemon. 1st gen anime was the best imo, battle quality and animations improved over new seasons, but everything else pretty much degraded. But yes, overall the main story is crap compared the game ones...

One more thing, misty is classic, may is hot, and dawn is that little girl you wanna corrupt.

[Manveru123]

Originally Posted by Fat R_N

No it would not. The manga can be pretty dumb and overblown.

Which is still twenty times better than what we got now IMO ;)

[Hemp Man]

Originally Posted by Fat DTC

I thought most of the Gym Battles in the Gen 1 anime series were a joke. Ash didn't even properly beat many of them and got the badge. That's about the only thing I really dislike about the Gen 1 anime compared to the others. The original was definitely the best, imo.

Yeah, I was watching the gym battles of the first 3 generations and Ash barely beat any of them.

Brock - Beaten by Water Sprinklers.
Misty - Unfinished battle
LT Surge - This was well done, incorporated the David Vs Goliath story into Pokemon.
Sabrina - I liked the revamped Sabrina, and loved Haunter
Koga - Beaten by Charmander in an episode that mostly focused on Psyduck.
Erika - Got the badge because he saved a Gloom
Blaine - Good fight, especially to go with "Hearts on Fire" from Rocky IV.
Giovanni - Fought Jesse & James instead.

Originally Posted by Fat TruthPains

But seriously, in the anime, pikachu DESTROYS fully evolved pokemon with thunderbolt, and then gets beaten by unevolved/baby pokemon.

Pikachu couldn't even beat a Magikarp in the Sinnoh arc.

One more thing, misty is classic, may is hot, and dawn is that little girl you wanna corrupt.

Agreed.....haha.

[honchkro13]

I've actually watched most of the anime til BW. Out of it all, I'm most impressed with Ash's DP rival--Paul--who's basically Silver of GSC/HGSS as far as personality goes. Not only that, but he ACTUALLY USES STRATEGIES and outright destroyed Ash with them many times. Not only that, but he actually seems to be an anime-representation of most of us "competitive" players. For example, whenever he obtained a new Pokemon, he always checked them out and released them if they weren't strong enough. And, unlike Ash, he always seemed to rotate his Pokemon. The other rivals Ash has had don't quite seem to measure up to Paul when it comes to 1) battling and 2) pushing Ash to become a better trainer

[Maestroke]

I agree, Paul is also my best of Ash's rivals in the anime due to his competitive outlook on Pokemon which is all but rare in the Anime. Though Paul's also had his down moments (Flash Cannon on Aggron) but that's the Anime for you...let's not even bring up how Ash is fail.

Now the Adventures Manga (Y). Red>All, he's the coolest Pokedex holder.


Plus, Hi :D I'm new here on Smogon.

[Purimpopoie]

Originally Posted by Fat Maestroke

I agree, Paul is also my best of Ash's rivals in the anime due to his competitive outlook on Pokemon which is all but rare in the Anime. Though Paul's also had his down moments (Flash Cannon on Aggron) but that's the Anime for you...let's not even bring up how Ash is fail.

Now the Adventures Manga (Y). Red>All, he's the coolest Pokedex holder.


Plus, Hi :D I'm new here on Smogon.

I think it's funny that everyone seems to like Paul when it's obvious that you're supposed to hate him. He's a bastard who treats Pokémon like tools to advance himself rather than his partners in his quest. He's not a hero or a great example, he's a Take That. He's the kind of person N would love to tear in half because of how he mistreats his Pokémon.

That said, Paul lives in a reality where these are real, living creatures with feelings, emotions, hopes and dreams of their own and in our reality, they are merely bits of data strung together with some (not so) random numbers thrown in.

[Shining Kestral]

Diamond is the best Pokedex holder okay.

I didn't watch most of Sinnoh arc, but yeah, Paul is supposed to be a jerk, if anything, he's supposed to be an insult to competitive players. That said, I do think they do try to make him a little sympathetic in that it only condemns him for the asshole things he does and not his competitive, training focused style. He seems to care in his own way about the mons he does keep and they seem to like him.

I do wish there was a season where Ash's "main" rival for the arc isn't a jerk character because IMO, jerk rivals are boring and overused and it seems like they only have them to make Ash look better. Shootie/Trip is a step in the right direction in that he's more snotty than anything else. He's nice and respectful to other trainers (he takes it well when he loses to Bianca, for example) and even helps Ash out when he feels like it. But he's still kind of a dick.

I'm enjoying Best Wishes arc a lot. I rather like how battles are done.

...well, the parts where they aren't using stock attack scenes, anyway. Ash actually is using strategy, though he doesn't always think it through. Hey, it's a big improvement from how he used to be.

The highlight of BW is definitely the mons, which, it may just be me coming back to watch after a long time, but I feel like the mons in BW have a lot more personality than they did in previous seasons.

I know a lot of people don't like the change to Team Rocket in it, but I do. Because honestly, I think TR wore out its welcome a long time ago. They went from legitimately threatening (if a bit hammy and goofy) to the guys who just showed up to cause conflict in an episode, then comic relief, than just gag characters, then they were gag characters who weren't funny or interesting anymore and only continued to be there because there was an unspoken obligation to have them. this is at least a change in pace for them and gives them a new sense of purpose.

[R_N]

TR was threatening before BW? Their first consecutive appearance had them beat by a Caterpie