Review JN137: Winds of Beginning! The Endless Road!!

[Nicolas721]

I like getting a glimpse of Ash's post-victory adventures. It's nice to see him being less worried about battles and more focused on having new meetings (it shows he should really have been Goh's senpai on Pokemon relationships instead of his sidekick...), and it happening in an unknown region is an interesting touch as well as him using older Pokemon. We getting to see a friendly Beedrill shows how far he has come. However, the presentation felt off, there are two things I learned from watching OS/AG era fillers very often in which this episode failed at.

1. Personality is everything and can carry out the simplest premise. Ash and Pikachu were okay, but Team Rocket didn't have any memorable interaction between them, Sceptile and Buizel didn't got a chance to show their bancho attitudes (or its love for its stick for the former) and Latias was a cardboard which in my opinion never developed a meaningful relationship with Ash.

2. Two+ battles with Team Rocket almost never works. It becomes very repetitive and steals time from the protagonists.

Not a bad start but I really hope they let the characters shine more and stop following old tropes for the sake of it.

 

[Imtnt]

The instant Oak stopped in front of the Ketchum residence with a bike, I recognized the scene being a reference to the second movie.

Saw that too!! It is the 2nd time in a raw now. In 2 last sp episodes reff to Latias, Oak's visit and Entei's run. I count Ash recognize Latias shape at that lake.

Gotta say I really liked this episode. It really shines like something right out of the pre-Journeys anime with things like having Pikachu feel like his own character again, Ash’s Pokémon getting to have an active role in the episode and solving the problems, the actual feel of it being an adventure rather than just a trip and even TRio up to their antics without the the gacha machine. It really feels like the anime being back to form after so long and makes it such a shame that it’s the end of it.

Also, with Latias seeming to have taken an interest in Ash, I get the feeling he’s gonna capture her by the end of this all.

I add It will be wierd if Ash won't capture Latias by the end of the 11 episodes. Latias will pop up for sure, prob gonna be his legendary partner more than Solgaleo ever was(+ Goh was allowed to put some legends in pokeballs..)

 

[ehh123]

I did love Ash relaxing and pointing out all the different Pokemon and then going, "Oh, look. A Meowth. ...A MEOWTH!?!"

 

[VetProf]

Why do we randomly see Unova/Alola Pokémon in Kanto now?

As @FinnishPokéFan92 mentioned, there's no actual indication that Ash is in Kanto right now, beyond the assumption that this episode immediately continues off from JN136. Which seems to be unlikely anyway, considering that Delia mentioned that Ash has already left for a long while. Plus, we've already received several montages of Kanto mons in the past few episodes, so the writers immediately sending Ash away from Kanto is perfectly understandable.

how many "the same Beedrill scene" can you fit in a series?

"The same Beedrill scene" actually ended with Ash calmly resolving the situation and potentially making a new friend this time, instead of him immediately bolting off or shooing it away for the umpteenth time. So yes, there's surprisingly still room for "the same Beedrill scene" in this series.

@VetProf I’m not dead against the establishing of the points you raised (with the exception maybe of Latias) (and also I feel it’s already been established that he’s capable of travelling alone these days) but the execution of this episode was so basic that as a veteran watcher of the series I just felt like I’d wasted 20 minutes of my life. We didn’t need a whole episode when time is already short to reiterate the status quo.

Yeah, based on what we've seen throughout the anime over the past few decades, it's probably a safe assumption that Ash is capable of travelling on his own without much issue. With that said, this definitely feels like the first time it's being properly shown to us, and I appreciate it. The combination of Ash bringing back his old team members and him making good use of the skills he learned from his previous adventures to help others made this episode very enjoyable to me, even if the plot itself was quite basic.

As for Latias, if it’s not M5 Latias, then what is the point? ‘Legendary Pokémon is suspicious of humans until eventually Satoshi puts himself at enough risk for their sake to change their mind’ is such a stale beat at this point, and it was the only trait that the Latias had in this episode. I don’t wanna see it come back and I don’t want Satoshi to capture it as if he’s ticking off another category before he leaves. What’s the point now? We’re supposed to be in the concluding stages so let them conclude without having to bring in new and unnecessary plot points!

Honestly, that's a fair point. I enjoyed seeing Ash caring for a hurt Pokemon on his own, but beyond that, I'm not actually interested in the Latias itself since it's already been confirmed that this isn't the same one from the movie (my expectations of the movie Latias returning was low to begin with, anyway). I mentioned the Latias in my previous post as being an important part of the episode because it does feel like something's being set up here, but I'm surprised that plenty of people seem to be invested in it even after the deconfirmation.

It was nice to watch Ash take care of Latias; would've been nicer if he had mentioned he learned those skills from Brock or something, especially since we've seen him actively struggle to do the same in the past.

I feel like the implication that Ash learned it from Brock (or his past adventures in general) was clear enough that it didn't need to be said out loud. Especially since the only person there that would hear that information was... himself. Dawn brought it up because Chloe was with her, but Ash mumbling about it to himself would've felt a bit weird. Plus, we already know that Brock is returning soon anyway, so Ash not directly mentioning him here isn't an issue, IMO.

 

[Insanish Danish]

Honestly on the back of the previous special, this episode felt unneeded. I’m surprised everyone enjoyed it so much because to me it was boring and reductive, the same stuff we’ve seen a million times but just with added fanservice and that terrible terrible BGM.

Saaaaame. My partner and I watched the episode together last night and we were both honestly shocked at how well-received this episode has been - we were so bored the entire time. We also both said things along the lines of "god this music is horrible" multiple times throughout the episode lmao

 

[Imtnt]

Don't know why some say it is confirmed it is not m5 Latias. But decades ago there was Latios next to her and than poofff he was against Pikachu in the League owned by another damn trainer. For me Latias doing her thing alone and Ash recognized her (kind of) in the lake is enough to make her a MAYBE.
So what am I missing?

 

[Die-Hard Dragon Devotee]

We also both said things along the lines of "god this music is horrible" multiple times throughout the episode lmao

Yeahhh.........no disrespect to the new composer, but........he's no Miyazaki. Like, not even close. Please, Miyazaki, come back for the last few episodes of this grand finale at least!

 

[Insanish Danish]

Yeahhh.........no disrespect to the new composer, but........he's no Miyazaki. Like, not even close. Please, Miyazaki, come back for the last few episodes of this grand finale at least!

I cannot even BEGIN to express how much I miss Miyazaki. Like it's indescribable. I hope they at least use older Miyazaki pieces for the remainder of these episodes because if I have to suffer 10 more episodes with the new stuff I'm going to scream.

 

[Kurolegacy]

Don't know why some say it is confirmed it is not m5 Latias. But decades ago there was Latios next to her and than poofff he was against Pikachu in the League owned by another damn trainer. For me Latias doing her thing alone and Ash recognized her (kind of) in the lake is enough to make her a MAYBE.
So what am I missing?

I’d say that those instances present that M5 is canon but based on how distrusting of Ash that Latias acted definitely points to it being a different Latias. After all M5 Latias was very friendly and affectionate towards Ash so there’d be no reason for her to be distrusting even after Ash helped her if it was the same one.

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

Also, that Latias is the guardian angel of the city. It would be unlikely for her to be in the wild.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Also, that Latias is the guardian angel of the city. It would be unlikely for her to be in the wild.

That was dub only, actually. In the Japanese version, there was a backstory at the beginning of the movie that showed that multiple Latios and Latias exist, and they come to and leave the city as they please. In other words, no Latios or Latias stays in the city permanently.

 

[Imtnt]

That was dub only, actually. In the Japanese version, there was a backstory at the beginning of the movie that showed that multiple Latios and Latias exist, and they come to and leave the city as they please. In other words, no Latios or Latias stays in the city permanently.

Yeah, multiple Latios I think we saw also in the end of M5 when we saw 3 pokemon flying away in the sky and I didn't understand why they were doing this back then.

I’d say that those instances present that M5 is canon but based on how distrusting of Ash that Latias acted definitely points to it being a different Latias. After all M5 Latias was very friendly and affectionate towards Ash so there’d be no reason for her to be distrusting even after Ash helped her if it was the same one.

Not sure if the fact Latias wasn't calm with Ash is enough, due to situation. Ash wasn't her trainer and wasn't using any aura, he should have been a very friendly face.

In my opinion it's prob not the same one, But it still could be, because it very likely that Latias wouldn't act like everything is going to be ok.

I guess she didn't understand where and why and who? (Damn someone drags her out of the lake and she is hurt). Ash wasn't her trainer and it wasn't using any aura. Trust is not linear thing, Ash had to win her trust again, not just because.

 

[Eitarou]

There were multiple calm moments where Latias could've remembered Ash, but it didn't. So unless it got amnesia from crashing into the lake, there's no indication it's the same one.

 

[jbmasta]

Monkey’s paw at its finest.

More like a Mankey's paw

 

[jbmasta]

If this is the last Beedrill scene then it's good to see it end on a subversion. You see Ash holding Kakuna, wait for the sound of a swarm of wings, but then it evolves and you expect Ash to run with stingers on his tail but it does the Beedrill version of pressing hands and flies off. That the gag was played straight in Distant Blue Sky makes it a lot fresher in the mind and does kind of take away from the set-up being present here though.

Nice to see a multi-generation team with Ash having representatives from his Johto (Donphan did return for Battle Frontier, but was hatched as a Phanpy in Johto), Hoenn, Sinnoh and Kalos teams alongside Pikachu. This should have been an aspect of Journeys, Ash dipping into his reserves for temporary team builds to use their skills where handy the way Goh would pull out his previous captures. Speaking of Pikachu, the scene at the start when Ash and Pikachu play that game was a fun one showing the more mischevious side of Pikachu we had in very early OS but in a more banter-y way.

The TRio making the net Iron Tail-proof was a good touch beyond the traditional Thundershock resistance their containments usually come with. Being defeated by something they didn't prepare for is also in character.

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

That was dub only, actually. In the Japanese version, there was a backstory at the beginning of the movie that showed that multiple Latios and Latias exist, and they come to and leave the city as they please. In other words, no Latios or Latias stays in the city permanently.

From my understanding, Latias and her brother living in the city as it's their home, hence why they were close to Kanon and why Latias still live there.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

From my understanding, Latias and her brother living in the city as it's their home, hence why they were close to Kanon and why Latias still live there.

From what I understand, they were just temporarily staying there.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

The Beedrill scene makes sense, actually. Ash disturbed the Kakuna but saved it from crashing, then proceeded to apologise and make no sudden or hostile movements to startle it further, so it left him alone. Makes me wonder if any of the other hundreds of Beedrill chases could have been prevented like that.

 

[Imtnt]

From my understanding, Latias and her brother living in the city as it's their home, hence why they were close to Kanon and why Latias still live there.

Still we see 3 pokemon flying at the end of the movie

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

Still we see 3 pokemon flying at the end of the movie

Towards to the city.

From what I understand, they were just temporarily staying there.

Why temporary?