Review DP176: The Semi-Finals! Who is Heading to the Finals!?

[TeddiUrsa]

But it was bad on all sides, because now Buneary and Cyndaquil got almost no screentime in this GF either.

Oh well, I guess Cyndaquil really was shafted overall.

They did the appeal together if that counts. Cyndaquil was/is Mamo's little buddy anyway and got enough screentime in the Urara battle against Plusle&Minun and the training for said battle.

To be honest, I think Buneary could have gotten more screentime, but I am biased and never liked the bunny anyway so I don't really care ^^"

 

[Cybersai]

I actually started to like Nando a bit after watching this ep. Oh-oh.

 

[Trainer Yusuf]

But Jessie was included in them too... wait, let's try to make sense out of everything:

Performance round:
Dawn: Buneary & Cyndaquil
Jessie: Seviper & Yanmega
Nando: Kricketot & Altaria
Zoey: Gastrodon & Finneon
Kenny: Empoleon & Floatzel
Ursula: Eevee & Eevee -> Flareon/Vaporeon

Top 32 Battles:
Dawn VS Ursula: Pachirisu & Mamoswine VS Gabite & Flareon
Zoey: Finneon & Gastrodon
Nando: Sunflora & Kricketune
Jessie: Seviper & Yanmega

Top 16 Battles:
Zoey: Leafeon & Mismagius
Nando: Sunflora & Roserade
Jessie: Mime Jr. & Carnivine
Dawn: Pachirisu & Mamoswine

Top 8 Battles:
Jessie: Mime Jr. & Carnivine
Nando: Sunflora & Roserade
Zoey: Glameow & Gastrodon
Dawn: Piplup & Pachirisu

Top 4 Battles:

Nando: Kricketune & Lopunny VS Zoey: Leafeon & Mismagius
Dawn: Buneary & Cyndaquil VS Jessie: Seviper & Carnivine

Final:
Dawn: Piplup & Togekiss VS Glameow & Gallade

WTF with all the repeats? Maybe I'm confused and this is wrong...

Yes. Wssn't Top 8 battle of Jessie was Seviper and Yanmega?

And yeah, that point screen before opening is the same as the one after her short Top 16 battle after opening. I don't really see any other reason to show them after Top 32 still screens especially considering we didn't get Nando's screen.

 

[Piplup]

I can't bother to check that again so... whatever... but they really should've made it more clear... oh well
When I'll return home and finally be able to play my DS again, I'm going to train Leafeon and Kricketune - I really love them now

 

[CommanderPigg]

I felt gypped about the Jessie vs. Dawn fight. Ugh. Whyyy? That was the main reason I watched this episode. At least show Jessie after the contest or something to have her reflect on her thoughts...Oh well. I kinda liked how she handled losing, but it was a bit predictable XP

The Nando/Zoey fight was a lot better than I expected (and also a lot longer). LOL, at times, Nando was just like, screw attacking the opponent, I'm just gonna look faaaabulous all the way over here XD

Regardless, I'm really glad that Jessie made it this far into the GF. I mean, 4th place in her first one? That's even better than May did in her first one (granted, she didn't have to do it for long...).

I STILL BELIEVE IN CANDY MUSARIIINAA! *sparkle*

 

[Blazaking]

Nanda vs. Zoey was am awesome battle. They both went all out in the end.

And I lol'd at Jessie's one minute battle against Dawn. It seemed a bit too rushed if you ask me.

 

[Jukain]

I was also surprised at the speed battle with Jessie, but since Nando and Zoey went on so long, I wondered how they were going to do it. I know Jessie isn't as impressive as other coordinators are, but she should at least get some dignity for getting this far. But nope, we have Dawn win against her and move on. I possibly do not blame the writers, since I know they're pressed for time. That could've been a lot more detailed, though. At least we have the entire next ep for the final battle, and then we wrap up and go on our way.

 

[Ampharos King]

And I lol'd at Jessie's one minute battle against Dawn. It seemed a bit too rushed if you ask me.

I find it absolutely weird that Jessie makes it far enough to the Top 4 and easily loses to Dawn.
We knew that she was going to lose from the get go, but I was hoping for something more. Still, she handled herself well after she lost. Not like she took off her disguise, but the fact that she had restraint is a testament to her character.

 

[Cybersai]

Jessie beat I think...4 other coordinators to get in the Top 4, right?

Too bad we really didn't see much of her wins.

 

[#Daisuke#]

Just saw it on the 'net...

one word...EPIC!

Zoey/Nando was the best contest battle so far in the whole series, IMO. It had awesome graphics, music, and awesome everyhting.

-Character developement for Dawn and JesselinaJessie. And slight character developement for Zoey and Nando.
-Best graphics in an episode yet.
-Epic battles.
-Fantina actually said 'Oh my God' lol
-We got to see Johanna.
-Leafeon with wings = WIN.

Was it just me or did the whole ep seem a little bit suspenseful? I guess it was like that to lead up to Dawn/Zoey, which I can't wait to see! ^ ^

 

[Cascada]

Fantina was hilarious throughout the whole damn episode! I love her, and you know, her and Dawn might be able to have that battle after all.

 

[Daxdiv]

While the Zoey vs Nando fight was pretty cool event to watch, I felt like we were gimped with the Dawn vs Jessie fight. Zoey vs Nando had a good combination of attacks and usage of them did make for some awesome moves. That fight was actually pretty close match that if I didn't know the title to the next episode beforehand, I would have said it could have went either way.

While Dawn vs Jessie, we just saw Cyndaquil and Buneary give Seviper and Carnivine their daily beatings. Poor Jessie, her dreams were dashed yet again. I just love the return of that face she made after she lost and all her dreams were crushed. I also wanted to see Mime Jr being used in a contest battle, just for the fun of it. Nice to see Dawn's mom appear again, glad to see her being proud of her daughter.

 

[Cybersai]

I guess its true about that Cyndaquil, it was just advertisement fodder. Now that the HGSS rush is over, Cynda got limited battle screentime overall.

We knew Piplup and Togekiss would get huge battles, as well as Mamoswine, but I'm surprised they chose Pachi over Buneary/Cyndaquil. I guess cause Pachirisu was in the first Ursula battle.

Oh well, yet another Johto starter that gets shafted. Its nothing new for this show.

 

[Ash6K]

I guess its true about that Cyndaquil, it was just advertisement fodder. Now that the HGSS rush is over, Cynda got limited battle screentime overall.

We knew Piplup and Togekiss would get huge battles, as well as Mamoswine, but I'm surprised they chose Pachi over Buneary/Cyndaquil. I guess cause Pachirisu was in the first Ursula battle.

Oh well, yet another Johto starter that gets shafted. Its nothing new for this show.

Cyndaquil at least got that double battle against Ursula with Mamoswine awhile back. And it performed a great appeal with Buneary in the beginning so it's not like it was shafted at all from Dawn's team.

In fact, all of Dawn's pokemon besides Mamoswine and Togekiss got to be in two things in the GF.

Buneary - Appeal and Jessie Battle
Cyndaquil - Appeal and Jessie Battle
Piplup - Screenshot and Zoey Battle
Pachirisu - Screenshot and Zoey Battle

and then of course Mamoswine and Togekiss get the Ursula and Zoey battles respectively which are pretty important.

So all of Dawn's pokemon got to do something to help contribute to her accomplishments with contests and in the GF so far.

Anyway, great battle between Nando and Zoey! It looked amazing! Dawn vs. Jessie was pretty short but it was nice to see Buneary and Cyndaquil help Dawn out for her final 4 match. It's not the final 2 and I'm sure the next battle will be awesome!

 

[T_Kiss]

One night and so many replies. Obviously I don't have the time to read through all of them.
It seems like you guys need a guide for this. But unfortunately I can only do so if I can finish my 20+ page report by tomorrow :banghead:.

Anyway let's make things clear.
1. Mismagius was using Lucky Chant, not Confuse Ray. Brock confirmed this by saying that it prevents critical hits from the opponent.
2. Leafeon was using Aerial Ace (Zoey's order was so fast) when Mismagius made a wing for it.
3. Bug Buzz was correct.
4. When Jessie lost, she came to Dawn, stretched her face, and (although I forgot what she said) cheered Dawn for the final.

Feel free to ask me if you have any questions -- I'll try my best to answer, provided that I remember that detail.

 

[Del Rio]

Just finished watching.

I'm glad the Zoey/Nando battle took priority over the Dawn/Jessie battle. I had a feeling the latter would be a curbstomp battle, but they took it up a notch and made it a straight out squash. Too bad for Jessie but at least she took her loss in stride, as well as that hilarious post match relfection.

The Zoey/Nando battle felt like the most intense one so far. Even though this is their first Grand Festival, it actually feels like these 2 were experienced enough to have been competing for a while. Gotta love how each one was using a combination to disable their opponent in the beginning, and then using them to cancel each other out. Zoey's win would've been more surprising if the titles didn't give everything away.

Next week is the grand finale. I sincerely hope this is the best contest battle if we're getting a whole episode dedicated to it. Dawn and Zoey's rivalry may not be exciting to a lot of fans, but I'm personally stoked to see the two face off in the ultimate deciding match.

 

[Muku.Bird]

Words don't describe how amazing the Zoey/Nando battle is to me. It's up there with Drew vs May and Dawn vs Ursula(second battle) - I loved how this battle shows just how all of them have come such a long way since the beginning of the series. The use of confusion tactics, how well the pokemon worked together and actually looked in sync, Leafeon's wings, the way they kept trading blows until the very end. The inclusion of the movie 8 music was awesome(as it always is) and just made the already fantastic battle for me. I wish people gave more credit to the coordinators on the show because they're clever and they know their stuff and it's clear that the writers have so much more creative freedom with contests.

I'm so excited for next week's showdown. I have high hopes for it after how fantastic this one was.

 

[ii kanji]

Okay, so the Naoshi/Nozomi battle was excellent.

And I'm cross because of it. Why do 2 shit characters no one (okay, not quite ) even likes get such a good battle when Musashi goes out like a wet firework?! What a nonsense setup.

And yes, I am a bitter, bitter Musashi fan that she went out in such a SHIT way.

 

[Iteru]

And yes, I am a bitter, bitter Musashi fan that she went out in such a SHIT way.

The repeat footage from DP175 didn't help either.

 

[Cybersai]

I don't see why they didn't make the Zoey/Nando battle only half the episode.

They could have easily had the first 7 minutes the Zoey/Nando match and the next 7 the Dawn/Jessie match. Really makes you feel as if Jessie's subplot was just handled quickly.

Of course making the GF 5 episodes would have solved this problem too, but whatever.