Review S07 EP17: Going for a Spinda ・ EP18: All Torkoal, No Play

[Dogasu]

This would have been up sooner, but a friend of mine got Dragon Quest VIII, so I've been busy watching him play that.

Japanese Episode AG 56: "Lots of Spinda! Beyond the Mountain in Search of Happiness!"
American Episode 328: "Going for a Spinda!"

Kids' WB!, 8:00am ET
Encore Performance on Friday, December 3rd at 3:00pm
Now that Ash has his fourth badge, he eagerly plans his next Gym Battle. After deciding to go back through Mauville City and then on to Petalburg City to have a rematch against Norman, the gang find themselves going through a meadow full of Spinda. There, a trainer is looking for a specific Spinda with a heart-shaped spot on its face, and it's up to Ash and the others to track it down. Will they be able to find a particular Spinda amongst a meadow full of the dotted pokemon?

And then, later in the day...

Japanese Episode AG 57: "Breaking Through Steel Valley! Torkoal vs. Steelix!"
American Episode 329: "All Torkoal, No Play"

Kids' WB!, 10:00am ET
Encore Performance on Friday, December 3rd at 3:30pm
The gang's lost in a valley, so as they try to get back on the main road to Mauville they stop to rescue a Torkoal from a group of steel pokemon. The attacks against the fire-type pokemon continue, so Ash and the gang has to get to the bottom of the problem before Torkoal is seriously hurt!

By the way, One Piece continues on the Fox Box today at 9:30am ET.

Post your thoughts about the episodes here. Please mark any spoilers for episodes not that have yet to air in America in spoiler tags.

 

[Shiksa ♥]

Once again, I only watched the second episode. Hey, I was up late last night screaming about Ichikawa-san. *has been using that as an excuse recently*

That first thing I noticed about this epi after watching it was that there was no "random character of the day"! =O At least not a human one. XD The beginning of this epi, almost the first half, was really boring. I'm sure some of the stuff was exciting for Ash-tachi, but not the viewers. Torkoal's voice is just as dopey as ever. Torchic was pretty cool, and Skitty runs funny. XD I had the mute the TV for a little part, but it was just when Torkoal was snorting smoke out his nose a bunch of times. -_-' I realized this episode was Advanceshippy = bad. Even though it was a generic cliff rescue scene, I found it kinda dramatic. XD May survived a thundershock that must've been strong. :yawn: It was really funny when TR was polishing Steelix, he was really pretty! And at the beginning, "we're blasting off already!" The battle between Steelix and Torkoal was not that interesting. Did Ash end up keeping the Torkoal? I didn't watch the little part at the end. Well, I guess TR is the only thing that really made this epi good.
Rating: 6/10

 

[Argy]

I slept through the first episode as well.

The second I thought was slightly better-than-average. I don't consider that rescue scene Advanceshippy at all- what else would he have done? Let her fall? Let Brock rescue her (Ash is always made to be the action hero)? One dub mistake (or was it..?) I noticed was when Ash said Torkoal was his before he officially caught it.

 

[Pokemon Fan]

The battle between Steelix and Torkoal was not that interesting.

Not that interesting?! How can you say that?! It was one of the most exciting and well-animated battles they'd ever had in the series! The Steelix was an incredible fighter (much funner to watch than Jasmine's one trick wonder Steelix), fast and mighty. It's entrance, surrounded by a whirlwind of dragonbreath, was awe-inspiring, as was its incredible use of Dragonbreath, Sandstorm, and Iron Tail to block fire attacks. Torkoal's fighting was well done as well, the way portions of its shell glowed while charging up the Overheat was a nice touch.

*sigh* if only Torkoal was as fast in the games as it is in the anime.

Did Ash end up keeping the Torkoal? I didn't watch the little part at the end.

Yes, Ash asked it (without any prompting really), if it wanted to be part of the team and Torkoal jumped on him crying, but not the hyper cry it had been doing but rather a happy, cute cry while Ash hugged it.

Well, I guess TR is the only thing that really made this epi good.
Rating: 6/10

I say it deserves a 9/10 for the animation and battle alone, while the interesting story and lack of useless characters of the day earns it an even 10.

The Steelix had a surprising amount of depth to it, for a one-episode Pokemon. The multiple gestures and calls it used to command the other Steel types, as well as its fury over Magneton (probably his second in command) being beaten were well done, and the storyline centering around Torkoal wanting to regain its pride as a Fire Pokemon was actually pretty believable. The whole issue of honor in battle was shown well when Steelix was beaten (for once no swirly eyes, yay!), but ordered the other Steel types to leave Torkoal be as it had proven itself.

Other things of note:

1. Skarmory and Steelix kept their Japanese voices as far as I could tell.
2. This is the first time they've shown Sky Attack in the series (it was used by a Skarmory in the Raikou special as well), though the attack was not named when Skarmory used it, it was either that or Double-Edge.
3. Many were surprised when this episode first aired in Japan and showed Steelix using Dragonbreath, as at the time the only way for it to know that move was by TM from the GSC generation. Never mind that the anime is not the game, it still surprised people. Of course, when RS was released, Dragonbreath was a move Onix and Steelix could learn naturally.

 

[Argy]

1. Skarmory and Steelix kept their Japanese voices as far as I could tell.

Yes, they did.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

2. This is the first time they've shown Sky Attack in the series (it was used by a Skarmory in the Raikou special as well), though the attack was not named when Skarmory used it, it was either that or Double-Edge.

Was it now? I thought Buson's Skarmory did Steel Wing and Double Edge a lot.

 

[Geodude]

Haven't seen the Torkoal ep yet, but I saw the Spinda one. My favorite part of the ep was when Spinda used Teeter Dance on Team Rocket and they got confused and started imitating the dance. XD

 

[pikapal]

The Spinda one was really funny because Brock kept finding the one with the broken heart on it's face. I didn't really like the Torkoal one I found it boring.

 

[birdboy2000]

First episode: Seemed like Johto-style filler to me, at least the random girl of the day was cute ^_^

Second episode: Getting lost again in unfamiliar territory, this is the pokemon of old I know ^_^ Team Rocket being taken out early was amusing, though I'd rather have seen them taken out with Ekans and Koffing and Advance Generation get some fearsome villains... It's odd to see Haruka actually battling, but at least she's comfortable doing it now, I think she's grown as a trainer a bit, and I loved Eneko's assist in that battle... And I'm liking this Torkoal so far, I was pretty disappointed when I first heard Sato would get one, but it's an amusing one that blows smoke in his face ^_^

And it's so neat seeing Haruka in mortal peril ^_^ Overall, I liked the second episode, though I still don't see advanceshipping as a pairing, and I don't like Torkoal's dub voice... Still, it was good.

 

[Pokemon Fan]

Was it now? I thought Buson's Skarmory did Steel Wing and Double Edge a lot.

I haven't seen the special myself but I was always told it was Sky Attack.

Now the Skarmory's move in the Torkoal episode definately didn't look like the Sky Attack of the Altaria in the Drake episode, but that doesn't necessarily prove anything. The reason it might be Double Edge is the aura around it looked a little greenish if I remember right, and Double Edge looked a bit like that when Ash's Pidgeoto used it back in Kanto. On the other hand much more recently when Volbeat used Double Edge wasn't the aura golden in color?

This episode might hold the record for attacks that weren't identified by the characters I think.

I really don't get how anyone could find this episode boring as it had a lot more action in it then most episodes do. Half the time characters were fighting, running, being blasted or blasted off.

 

[Rocketshipper]

Going for a Spinda: I have to say that I really like the title. It's not an annoying pun like some of the others. I agree that this episode was very filler-ish and not very interesting. TR saved it from being totally boring, I loved how Jessie kept going on like they were making a movie and how they kept getting attacked. I also liked their giant Spinda robot. The best part of the episode was when Spinda made TR dance themselves off the cliff with Teeter Dance. It was much funnier in the japanese version though. Brock was also somewhat amusing, it was great when May and Ash (or was it Max? ^^) pushed him out of the way so they could talk, and I like that "look deep into my eyes" thing. I also thought it was amusing when they first showed that guy who owns the Spinda and he had the Sparkly bi-shounen aura around him. Anyway...2 stars

All Torkoal and No Play: I HATE this title. I don't think it even makes sense. Torkoal doesn't rhyme with "work"! -_- Anyway, this episode had some nice animation and some cool battles but there really wasn't much substance to it. Did it really have to be an entire episode?? Did they really need to run into magnemite every ten seconds? The cliff rescue scene was cool but it also felt as if it was there just to take up time before they got to the main event, Torkoal vs Steelix. I think it might have been better if Steelix had showed up earlyer and it's battle with Torkoal had been more involved. I liked TR's encounter with Steelix and how they ended up falling into the canyon, but they also didn't really serve any purpose in the plot. Also, was it just me or was there way more stock footage in this episode than usual??? How many times did they show the exact same animation for Torkoal's attack?? It was starting to get annoying. Torkoal was pretty funny though, and it's battle with Steelix was pretty cool and action packed. I really like how Overheart looks in the anime! Anyway...3 stars.

 

[Shiksa ♥]

All Torkoal and No Play: I HATE this title. I don't think it even makes sense. Torkoal doesn't rhyme with "work"! -_-

I think it's supposed to be a play off "Tork," but that still doesn't make sense, since it's pronounced "tor-koal." Yeah, the puns have to be the worst thing about the dub. >_>

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Sorry that I'm so late with my reviews everyone....

Anyway, here's my reviews of these two episodes:

"Going For A Spinda" - This was a pretty good episode. And I loved how it came on, and how Ash was looking at all his badges at the beginning. And they finally decided to go back to the Petalburg Gym! I was wondering when they were gonna go back there. LOL. Anyway, I thought it was funny how the Spinda with the heart-shaped spot was the only one different from others. I mean, all the individual Spinda had different spots, but none of them had an interesting spot like that one (well, except for the broken heart one, lol). Oh, and I thought it was weird how it kept running away from the girl who was watching over it. It was like it wanted her to follow it to the flower garden, but it didn't go straight there for some reason. And I think it might've been playing a little, because it seemed really happy every time they didn't succeed at catching it. And by the way, it was so funny how Brock kept finding the one with the broken heart on it! LOL. XD Oh, and I loved how Team Rocket wanted to get the Spinda with the heart-shaped spot to come over there by making that Teddiursa look like a Spinda. That was hilarious! And it was also really funny when that Ursaring showed up! LOL. Of course, it was funny when they made Meowth look like a Spinda too. And it was so funny how he danced liked that! Oh, and when they found the Spinda later, it was hilarious how it used Teeter Dance and made Team Rocket fall off that cliff. LOL. And when the Spinda finally made it to its favorite flower garden, and that girl (I forgot her name) told her story, I figured it must've been an acquaintence (sp?). Of course, Brock's reaction to hearing about that was really funny. XD And it was cool how that girl's acquaintence (sp?) showed up soon after that. LOL. Oh, and I thought it was interesting when Team Rocket appeared again, cause they had that Spinda robot. That was so funny! Anyway, overall, this was a really funny and interesting episode.

Rating: 9 out of 10

"All Torkoal, No Play" - This was a really good episode! And I loved how it came on, with Ash and everyone finding the Torkoal which was being attacked by those Magnemite. That was very intriguing, and I wondered why it was being attacked like that. And I loved how they helped the Torkoal, and then it put smoke in their faces (I think that's when it first started doing it, but I'm not sure). That was funny! Anyway, I loved all the animation in this episode. And all the battles were really cool! Oh, and it was funny how that Torkoal kept spewing smoke like that every time someone complimented it or something. LOL. And I thought it was so cool how that Torkoal helped them get through the Steel Valley by using all of its attacks to defeat the wild Steel type Pokemon. Oh, and when Team Rocket first saw that Steelix, I thought it was really funny how at first Jessie wanted to be mean to it, and then James said something like, "Uh, hey Jessie, maybe we better be nicer to the big strong Steelix". LOL. XD And when they were polishing the Steelix like that, it was really funny. I loved it when the Steelix used Iron Tail attack on them. That was hilarious! And it was also funny when Meowth said that one line when they were blasting off, "Nothin' says thank you like an Iron Tail attack." LOL. Anyway, I loved the cliff scene. And it was interesting how, at first, Ash almost fell off, but Brock helped keep him from falling. And then May fell off the cliff. I never expected that to happen! And I really loved the part when Ash went down there on the rope to rescue her! That was really cool! Ash is so brave! ^_^ Anyway, I also loved the part when Steelix finally made its appearence to Ash and everyone. And the battle that Torkoal and Steelix had was really good! I loved every bit of it! Of course, I think the best part of the battle was when Ash remembered that Flannery had used Overheat in their gym battle, so he decided to use Overheat too. And it worked! That was really cool! And Torkoal's Overheat attack was awesome! Oh, and I thought it was really funny how Torkoal got smoke in everyone's face again near the end. LOL. And I loved the part at the end when Ash asked Torkoal if it wanted to be a part of their team, and then it jumped on Ash. That was so funny! And I think Ash liked it too! Oh, and I loved how Ash said he caught a Torkoal. That was really cool! Although, they didn't actually show him catch it with a Pokeball, like they have with most of his other Pokemon. And I thought that was interesting. Anyway, overall, this was a really great and entertaining episode.

Rating: 10 out of 10