Review S07 EP33: Grass Hysteria!

[Dogasu]

Japanese Episode AG 73: "King of the Forbidden Forest! Venusaur!"
American Episode 345: "Grass Hysteria"

Kids' WB!, 10:00am ET
Encore airing on Kids' WB! Friday at 3:30pm ET
Lots of Kanto grass pokemon in this one. Yay.

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

 

[Misty]

Just finished watching it. I liked the ep - it had all the right ingredients for a capture ep. Still hovering below Kanto quality though... Shrug. Oh well, 8/10.

 

[Shiksa ♥]

It's Charmander!1

Wow, I haven't seen Pokémon in *quite* a while.

The opening of this epi was so dramatic. XD The hooded men were, too, until we got to see more of them. It almost looked like an intentional joke, with their brightly-coloured shorts and stuff. XD Also, the Pochena sounded like they were high. XP

Aww, the Bulbasaur was so cute! It was especially so at the times when May was holding it. It just had me so happy to see it! o^^o The little hearts on its forehead were perfect. I was so glad that she got to keep it! For a minute there, I was worried that they would just leave and it would be another filler episode. The Bulbasaur looked so sad...and the drama was so perfect when the door was closing on May like that. I liked it a lot.

It was funny was Jessie called Venasaur fat, just because it is so true. XD The Mean Old Lady mecha was pretty good, and the puns about it were tolerable. Jamesy. XDXD

This episode could become annoying with its Advanceshippy-ness, but I don't really care. Who's up for May/Bulbasaur? XD It would've been nice if Brock and Max played more of a roll in this episode, it could've been funnier that way.

Rating: 9/10

 

[Roxy_Parkington]

This episode was a refreshing turn from the usual filler episodes. It was great getting to see so many Kanto Pokemon in one place, but I think it was a relief to finally see May get her Bulbasaur. I liked James's comment about the rage of grass Pokemon being no worse than Jessie on a bad hair day. The old woman mecha was cool and creative on Team Rocket's part and I was mildly amused by the puns that ensued.

Roxy's Rating: 10/10

~Roxy~

 

[Masato]

Man I hadn’t seen Pokemon for a while. Anyways, this is a pretty good episode. I really liked the beginning where they get lost in the woods and meet hooded people. The Bulbasaur was really cute. I thought the end was kind of sad to.

Rating – 10/10

 

[Pacific Pikachu]

When I first started watching the episode, I was baffled because it felt so familiar. In fact, for a second, I thought it was a rerun.

About fifteen seconds later I slapped my forehead because, of course, I then remembered I had seen the episode in Japanese. ^^;;

Anyway, it was good in English, too. Mostly because May's Bulbasaur is so darn CUTE. It had a cuter voice in Japanese (of course, Bulbasaur in general has a cuter voice in Japanese), but I'm glad they made its English voice more high-pitched than normal, too. It's fairly obvious that her little Bulbasaur is female.

Definitely a cute little episode, if a little typical.

 

[TK n Happy Ness]

Did they call their "boss" Obi (the hooded guys)? Can you say "Obi-Wan" since Episode 3 is coming out next month?

 

[Kthleen]

When I first started watching the episode, I was baffled because it felt so familiar. In fact, for a second, I thought it was a rerun.

About fifteen seconds later I slapped my forehead because, of course, I then remembered I had seen the episode in Japanese. ^^;;

Did they call their "boss" Obi (the hooded guys)? Can you say "Obi-Wan" since Episode 3 is coming out next month?

Possibly, but the closed captioning said "Obee". Then again, it also said that the singer wants to take "the ultimate snack" and that Jessie told Arbok to use "Voice of Steel" attack.... I wouldn't doubt that it may be a play on Obi, though.


8.3/10
It was definitely a fun episode. Bulbasaur is really cute, and it was interesting to see Pokémon pissed of at humans again. I did wonder why Skarmory didn't try to eat May, though ("Hey! Yellow! I think I'll carry that off to start my new stash of yellow stuff!" or something?). Max's line, "If they don't hurry, May's gonna get hit by (some of?) that Pokémon wrath stuff!" was funny bacause it sounds wrong (as if wrath were a concrete object). Ash-tachi's running off to try to get through the wall was cool in that hidden-rebel-in-me sort of way. When Bulbasaur (did something friendly, I forgot: bad memory...) and Ash said, "That's so nice.... Reminds me of mine," I thought that was somewhat strange. Wasn't his Bulbasaur a jerk when he met it? And maybe I'm weird, but I didn't really feel the Advanceshippiness. Maybe it's denial....

 

[Misty]

When Bulbasaur (did something friendly, I forgot: bad memory...) and Ash said, "That's so nice.... Reminds me of mine," I thought that was somewhat strange. Wasn't his Bulbasaur a jerk when he met it?

Ash's Bulbasaur was nice when it suited him.

And maybe I'm weird, but I didn't really feel the Advanceshippiness. Maybe it's denial....

I didn't see it either. Then again, I tend to ignore all but the most blatant hints.

 

[Pacific Pikachu]

And maybe I'm weird, but I didn't really feel the Advanceshippiness. Maybe it's denial....

I didn't see any Advanceshippiness either. Of course, I'm a biased Pokéshipper, but I'm not so biased that I wouldn't recognize hints if I saw them. I saw friendship-type stuff, and nothing beyond that. I know that if one of my friends got carried off by a Skarmory I'd try to save them, too. Protecting a friend doesn't constitute love.

 

[FireEmblemPride]

This episode was great. Jessie's line about the fat Venusaur made the episode for me.

 

[Kauri]

"James! Stop this crazy thing!"

+10 points!

Ahah, that was a decent little episode. The opening felt a little rushed, going from "hay look, we're lost" to "ooh look a skarmory - zomg run!" to "hey, give may back! >V" as fast as it did. And it felt a little contrived in how it all happened, so I was a bit worried the episode would just be standard-fare. Which it was, of course, but it was still enjoyable. ^^; ... though, I was a bit saddened that all the grass Pokemon were Kanto/Johto species. I wanted a Tropius!! *sulks*

In terms of awesomeness, that Mean Old Lady mecha juuust managed to beat out the Mudkip Maiden from all those episodes ago. Oh, yes.

May's Bulbasaur is adorable. <3 At first, I thought the little hearts on her forehead were a little... mm, unecessary? Trite? Corny? One of those. But as the episode went on, they seemed to suit her. ^^; Offering May the flower the way she did was especially cute..! +_+ It's nice that it went with May after they became friends - made for a happier ending than the episode where May bonded with that Altaria~

... something about the way Venusaur picked Torchic up with his vines, shook his head, and said his name in an almost scolding tone made me laugh. :E And Torchic's expression seemed to be blanker than usual during that scene...

 

[Barb]

I liked the episode, but to me it seemed like a Hoenn version of the old Kanto episode "Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden". I guess mostly it was the plot device of having a mysterious location where only Pokémon are allowed that made me connect the two episodes. And is my memory failing or did Team Rocket in the "Garden" episode also use a giant mecha vacuum cleaner to catch the Pokémon?

 

[Misty]

They just used the balloon with a vacuum in BMG. (Wow, never thought I'd use that acronym for something else.)

 

[Pokemon Fan]

Great episode, but was the Japanese version any clearer on why the Skarmory went and grabbed May for no apparent reason (aside from trying to eat Skitty) and then a long time afterward went and let her go for no apparent reason?

I think the history tale in this episode was a neat divergence, shows once again that not all Pokemon/human interactions have been largely peaceful. Here we have a whole region that has to be walled up because of the anger the Grass types have towards humans in general because of the hunters who came to capture them on mass over the years. At least they have a wise leader who knows not all humans are bad. That Venusaur was great and I liked the scene of Ash pushing against it to help it back to its feet, the way it was animated made the huge Venusaur seem so much more real, like it really was huge and bulky and had soft, bumpy skin like a toad.

 

[Shiksa ♥]

And maybe I'm weird, but I didn't really feel the Advanceshippiness. Maybe it's denial....

I agree with Kristin that what I saw were actions sparked by friendship. However, it was stuff that Advanceshippers like to turn into "evidence," and hence why it could be annoying.

 

[Luna Tiger]

Oh, all that happened? I didn't notice; I got hung up on the one guy in the hood guarding the wall, the one with the Hair. Too busy listening out for if he had a name.

...Kidding. Only about the first part. I noticed everything there was to notice. Including the guy. Especially the guy. ...*ahem*

Skarmory = randomly-generated plot device I'm sure the animators were excited about, until they realized...there was no logic behind it. No munching on May, no ripping of her bag off her person due to weight, just swoop, grab, deposit, and forget forever.

Otherwise, Bulbasaur stole the spotlight. Which is good. :3 And personally, while I didn't see/hear any Advanceshipping hints....I'm pretty sure the experience just made them closer. In the friendship-excuse-for-potential-interest way. Mostly friendship, open for prodding.

That's all I can say.

 

[Shiksa ♥]

OMG, I noticed that guy, too. XD

 

[Pacific Pikachu]

So I guess I wasn't the only one who noticed the guy... ^^;; I wasn't too caught up on him, but I definitely noticed him.

We should start a "That random guy who had no name!" club. XD

 

[Crystal Mew]

heh, it was an interesting episode. it was nice to see all the old school pokemon again

for a second, when Ash said his bulbasaur was back with prof oak, I thought he gave it back to that one girl...well actually my sister brought that up. so I was busily thinking of that the whole rest of the episode. hah. but then I remembered that he left it with oak to protect grass pokemon. or something.

sooo... 7/10 I give this one