Review S20 EP21: One Journey Ends, Another Begins...

[Playerking]

SM021 - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

Please keep future events in spoiler tags.

 

[Macsen]

I wish they had kept the Snowbelle City music for the rain scene.

Spoiler

The English dub actually comes closer to acknowledging that Stoutland has died than the Japanese.

 

[Pkmndub]

Spoiler

The English dub actually comes closer to acknowledging that Stoutland has died than the Japanese.

Does this mean Bulbapedia will stop being wusses and say he died?

 

[SonansuMan]

Does this mean Bulbapedia will stop being wusses and say he died?

I hope so. There's no harm in saying the huge "d" word. It's a natural occurence.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

Spoiler

The English dub actually comes closer to acknowledging that Stoutland has died than the Japanese.

In which way?

 

[Rath]

In which way?

Japanese

Rotom: Where's Stoutland?
Kukui: Don't ask.

Dub

Rotom: Where's Stoutland?
Kukui: I'm sorry.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

So? They both implying that he's dead.

 

[kantoskies]

Is this....is this the first TPCi episode title that *doesn't* end with a "!"?

 

[Max1996]

Is this....is this the first TPCi episode title that *doesn't* end with a "!"?

I guess so, yeah...

 

[Playerking]

Is this....is this the first TPCi episode title that *doesn't* end with a "!"?

BW035, BW044, BW059, BW060, BW075, BW076, BW083, BW084, XY082 and XY114.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

Is this....is this the first TPCi episode title that *doesn't* end with a "!"?

Once There Were Greenfields
Throwing the Track Switch
Crossing Paths
Where Did You Go, Audino?
Purrloin: Sweet or Sneaky?
A Festival Trade! A Festival Farewell?
A Keeper for Keeps?
Also, half of their AG episodes.

 

[BigDocFan]

God that was heartbreaking to watch and listen to

 

[kantoskies]

Oh ok. Still like 90% of their titles end with a "!" and they really should start changing it up more.

 

[marshiyanmisuta]

It's same in Japanese episode. They even add !! if the episode is actually exciting.

 

[IncineROAR]

I think this was one of the better episodes I've seen in a while, and I'm not just saying specific to the SM series.

 

[Sakuraa]

This was a good episode, don't get me wrong, but there were some parts that felt a bit odd. The big thing is that Litten seemed to get the desire to join Ash rather suddenly. Sure it mourned Stoutland's death for a while, but after seeing his form in the clouds and the rainbow, he immediately just decided to battle Ash and join him. It just feels like there wasn't enough build up to that moment within this episode. And honestly, the battle between Litten and Pikachu felt so out of place and really ruined the mood for me. Litten accepted capture without even being defeated by Pikachu and he wasn't even weakened all that much. So the battle just seemed pointless. Why not keep the sweet moment they were having and just let Litten ask to go with Ash without a battle? We could have seen it work on Fire Fang another time. This episode was okay, but I feel that all of the Litten episodes leading up to this were done so much better and this one which was supposed to be the finale to his little arc just fell short. At least my ears didn't have to suffer from Meowth's singing here...

But, I'll give this 7.5/10 overall. It was good, but just a bit disappointing for me.

 

[Macsen]

Is this....is this the first TPCi episode title that *doesn't* end with a "!"?

There were three episodes in Season 11 that had no punctuation at the end ("Once There Were Greenfields", where James surrendered Cacnea; "Throwing the Track Switch", where Ash and Dawn traded Aipom and Buizel; and "Crossing Paths", where Jessie released Dustox Butterfree-style). I don't count the episodes that end with a question mark. On TV Tropes, I marked it as the first clear aversion of Excited Show Title since Season 11.

 

[WingedOne]

God that was heartbreaking to watch and listen to

This was like the Jurassic Bark (Futurama) of Pokemon. I can't watch either without tearing up.

 

[Team Gaara]

Been a while since a Pokemon's death was seen in the anime. Though, I thought it was a bit awkward. I mean he literally disappears. I guess it's obvious they wouldn't want his body to remain on screen and it even makes sense that he'd leave to die since he's a dog, but it just seems like he dissipated into thin air as a form of death since you never really see him leave. Just seems like an odd way to "show" it but it's not like the idea isn't getting across so I guess it works~

Anyway, so Ash'll have two starters again this time around~ Litten seems interesting so I hope he'll be seeing some use~

 

[Islander Princess]

This is one of the only SM episodes I hadn't watched in Japanese because it hit way too close to home (my dog was sick and actually passed away the day after this episode had originally aired). I can now say I'm really glad I held off on watching it, because I cried throughout a majority of the episode.

I really thought they handled this topic very gracefully. It's nice they even decided to do it in the first place because it's something that, although part of life, is really hard to address, especially in a show aimed predominantly at children. The way they incorporated the falling leaves and the changing weather was really beautiful. Not only that, but it connected the whole idea Alola has going on about Pokémon and nature. The rainbow at the end with Stoutland in the clouds was a really nice way to finish that whole motif off. Just incredibly touching.

Obviously having not seen the Japanese, I can't compare, but I think the dub did a pretty nice job here. The messages were received well enough (I really liked the scene in the Pokémon Center where Nurse Joy's explanation to Ash just kind of fades out, but you get the gist from the few words you can hear) and honestly most of the dialogue was pretty decent. Meowth was really good this episode. Considering how the dub tends to butcher him, I think they handled his dialogue in this episode pretty well. I really didn't hear anything that made me cringe and connected well to his character. Wish he was portrayed this way in the dub more often.

This is the first time in a very long time a Pokémon episode has made me feel this strongly. Years, honestly. SM has been a pretty lighthearted series so far, but I really think this episode just goes to show it can portray a really broad range of emotions and situations. I feel like SM has gotten pretty real on a number of topics, and I think it's great they've chosen a few different things to include that kids can relate to or learn from. This episode was definitely heartbreaking, but beautiful and well done at the same time. I have to commend the writers for this one.