Review BW090: The Junior Cup Gets Underway! Kairyu VS Tunbear!!

[Ashs Battle Coach]

just got round to watching the ep, and wow that was awful. Rushed battles, Rivals reduced to fodder, Dragonite being portrayed as some unstoppable beast, Iris not seeming at all concerned with the fact that she won despite not actually doing anything. God damn, that was just awful.

After watching that last battle, I'm not sure how we're suppose to believe that Krookodile can take down Dragonite, after it shrugged off those moves. And why the fuck did Dragonite even join Iris?????

On the plus side, Trip is becoming slightly interesting (ever so slightly), and Alder was kinda fun.

Worst opener to a tournament so far. Doesn't give me much hope for the league

 

[Adil]

Takegami's bullshitty writing hit new record low.
I mean... Come on! I don't even know where to begin with. It would have been much MUCH better if it was Tomioka, instead of Takegami.

Ridiculously rushed, crappy interactions, and bleh battles -___-

 

[Chiplet]

To be perfectly honest, I actually liked this episode quite a lot. Sure, there were quite a lot of flaws that I easily could point out, but I thought that it was very entertaining overall. So, I'm just going to list my personal highlights of this episode, which are following; Cynthia, Caitlin, Alder, Georgia, Trip, Burgundy, Axew, Dragonite and Iris. The nine of them pretty much made this episode for me, everything else was alright/meh.

So, let's start with the ''big guys'' of this tournament, which would be Cynthia, Caitlin and Alder. First of all, I absolutely loved how Alder was hitting on Cynthia in the beginning, which was exactly what I had been hoping for. During that conversation the two Champions had Cynthia was totally having that ''I'm too good for you, don’t even bother''-smile the whole time, while Alder was like ''cmoncmoncmon'', it was really entertaining, and I must say that I adored how Cynthia was being so calm throughout the whole thing, 'cause I wouldn’t have hesitated in smacking Alder if I was Cynthia’s shoes. But that really isn't relevant to her nature, is it? She’s so peaceful.

Moving on to the exhibition match, which was really great in my opinion. Right from the start I liked it, as I absolutely loved the gorgeous entrances the two competitors made. I'm not really a fan of the Caitlin in games, but I do not under any circumstances dislike her in any way, and even though I wasn't all that excited once it was revealed that she was to make a debut in the animé I still must say that she was rather nice here. As soon as she blossomed out of the flower, I felt some very nice and calm vibes being sent out from her. She just felt so pure, innocent, and calm and I really liked it. Not to mention that one of my favorite tracks was playing during her entrance too, which only made things better. HOWEVER, something that really, really bugged me was her hair, OMG. I mean, I thought Iris' hair was… unusual, but Caitlin’s hair is in a whole other league! It looked so freakin' unnatural, even for an anime. I mean, as soon as Caitlin's face was zoomed in her hair was completely dominating the whole screen, leaving no space for her face. Ugh. And I'm disturbed by the fact that I can't figure out how those barrettes work. It's really, really bugging the hell out of me. XD
Cynthia also made a nice entrance. She did sort of look like a knight in shining armor, didn't she? Maybe that was with intention, I dunno, but it was really nice regardless.

The battle itself was very enjoyable in my opinion. It was clever of Caitlin to use Flatter on a Pokémon like Garchomp, considering that it's famous for its tremendous attack stat, but that's not really relevant for the anime, is it? I mean, Garchomp do have Draco Meteor, which means that its power would only be increased. However, the confusion effect didn't seem to last for that long, considering that all Caitlin was able to do was playing around with Garchomp by throwing it around with Psychic, and then suddenly Garchomp just broke through the ''confusion'' and rushed towards Gothitelle with Dragon Rush, which was just weird. I know that Garchomp is powerful, but I still didn’t like how it was able to withstand the confusion like that.

I was also really, really surprised when I saw that Gothitelle had legs, I really didn't know that at all. It completely changed my view of Gothitelle, and I will now never look at Gothitelle in the same way, as those feet kinda made me lose all my respect for it. I mean, the addition of feet only made it look very goofy, and it almost looked like a dwarf.
As for the collision of Draco Meteor and T-bolt, it was pretty, yes, but reminded me of a contest move, and it reminded me of Dawn's way of showing of her Pokémon.

Oh, and I also liked how Alder replaced Don George of being a commentator, which was only natural considering that Don George has nothing at all to do with this tournament. Alder is very active and pumped, and seeing him as a commentator felt very fitting. I liked all three of the big guys' contributions overall, and I'm looking forward to see more from them (at least Cynthia and Alder, hopefully Caitlin too).

Now then, Iris. I really liked her in this episode, or, at least until the battle had ended. Was she actually cheering after her victory? That was the exact opposite way that I had predicted her to react, and I was really fucking pissed about it. As Moe said, the only kind of emotion you should be allowed to have after winning a battle with a disobedient Pokémon is relief, and definitely not happiness. That was disturbing, and really made me mad. However, after that I had re-watched the scene a couple of times, it did become slightly more logical for her to be that happy. She was worried, and she was put in a corner where everything seemed to be over, but as Dragonite managed to break free from the ice Iris naturally cried out in happiness as it was still in the game, and didn't seem to have any injuries. Then the bastard rushes straight towards Beartic, still refusing to listen to Iris, and once again Iris is concerned as Beartic sends out a powerful Blizzard, which really did nothing but slowing Dragonite down slightly, not hindering him at all from going in with the final punch. Naturally she felt enormous happiness; Dragonite did after all turn the tables completely, turning a seemingly hopeless situation to its advantage. That way, her happiness was kinda understandable, but... no. I still fucking hate it, ugh. They definitely went overboard with that jump.

The battle was entertaining regardless, and I absolutely love Dragonite's grumpy attitude. Even though it won, it was still like ''yeah w/e'', and completely ignored Iris once she was scolding at him. Dragonite is awfully enjoyable.

Despite that undeserved happiness jump she made after the battle was over, she was still very entertaining in this episode. I loved how Iris was fangirling completely over Garchomp and Cynthia, there's no doubt in who she rooted for.
And God, did y'all hear that ''ngh..ha-ha-ha..'' after that Alder had chased after Cynthia? That was hilarious, seriously. Despite his Champion title he is still pretty much a kid in her eyes, which I love. And as for the bickering between her and Georgia, it was this time alright, as we barely got to see any because of Georgia leaving rather fast, but what made it hilarious was how Axew actually joined in. After that Iris had said ''kodomo ne'', Axew joined in and made that derp-face, which I just can’t forget. XD

Spoiler

This is hilarious

Priceless.

I loved how Georgia was so excited in getting to battle Iris again, it's obvious that she has really been longing for that.

Speaking of rivals, Burgundy was hilarious in this episode too. First of all, when she made her entrance... All I could think about once she rushed up to Cilan and pointed her finger was ''Sommelier Burgundy has challenged you to a battle!'', it was really funny. Oh, and shit! I loved it when she was screaming straight up in Dawn's face, warning her about Cilan or something. There have been so many times that I personally wanted to do that but I would've screamed some completeeely different things. That was hilarious. Dawn's facial expression afterwards was also fun. A shame that she didn't interact with Georgia, that could have been rather fun too. So, back to Burgundy. What I didn't like was Darmanitan, who I thought felt completely unnecessary. I miss Sawsbuck, what good did Darmanitan do really? The outcome of the battle surely would've been the same regardless, so why did they throw in a new random Pokémon when this was the perfect chance for her to show her ''old''? I dunno, but it just felt stupid, as Darmanitan served no other purpose than being a punching bag. :/

Last, but not least, we have Trip, who I personally thought was excellent in this episode. Straight away did we see how Trip was still determined to battle Alder, as he rushed up and disrupted the conversation between Cynthia and Alder, stating that he’s planning to win the tournament so that he can finally battle Alder. I liked that he was still not accepting Alder’s goofy behavior, and he clearly showed that he was very displeased with how Alder was acting for being a Champion, we did see how he a couple of times was rather annoyed by Alder, and those sharp eyes of his were seriously like daggers. Something tells me that he’s feeling rather confident, and he might actually think that he can beat Alder in a battle. Pffft, what a kid!

No, but seriously, I really liked how Trip was showing both personality and determination here, and he actually managed to get my attention in this episode, which is something that he hasn’t done so well in the previous episodes that he was featured in. I’m looking forward to see what more is in store for him.

As for everything else in this episode… Uh. Didn’t really care. It’s a shame that the battles were so rushed, but I’m not going to repeat what lots of people already have stated, I’ll just say that I agree that it was a real shame that we didn’t get to see neither Dawn, Ash or Cilan have a on-screen battle, as I was looking forward to see Leavanny in action again. One more episode is desperately needed for this tournament arc, that way it wouldn’t have to be so rushed. It would’ve been nice to see more of Dawn’s battle style too, as I as of yet feel rather unsure of her strength as a ‘’Trainer’’, but I guess I’ll see what she’s made of in the next episode, and hopefully we’ll get to see a Cilan battle there too. Ash will get his time to shine later on, so there’s really no rush for him at least.

Overall, I thought this episode was great. It had some major flaws that annoyed me a lot, like Iris’ cheerful attitude after her victory, the rushed battles, the addition of Darmanitan to Burgundy’s team, and Caitlin’s hair. I still thought that the character interactions were great though, and the two major battles that we got to see were both rather entertaining in my book. I’ll just follow the stream and give it a rating, so I’ll give it a 7½/10. Too bad that there’s going to be such a long break right in the middle of things. :/

EDIT: OH SHIT! I completely forgot about Cinccino! That thing was so awesome, omgomgomg. I'm not really a fan of Giga Impact, but Cinccino freakin' rocked with that move! Bianca better get one for herself soon...

 

[3Dchu]

The episode felt indeed rushed, but I really liked the interactions and Cynthia VS. Caitlin.

Other then that, the sailor trainer with his Chillarmy reminded me of a human child Donald Duck.

 

[Karamazov]

Wow, the contestants look really ugly this time around. Usually the tournament characters at least look good. I only see one I really like.

 

[Chronos]

The title of this episode should've been "Terrible Tournament Begins! Kairyu is a Deus Ex Machina!?"

Almost everyone in this thread has already said pretty much everything I wanted to say. I would just like to add: Dragonite sux. The end.

 

[Hurricane Kishore]

Wow, the contestants look really ugly this time around. Usually the tournament characters at least look good. I only see one I really like.

There were 2 girl participant I liked but both of them knock out in the first round !
I specially liked the one Ash faced ! I wish that she was the rival!

 

[Cybersai]

Did anyone think the Cynthia Vs. Caitlin match looked like a Contest battle?

 

[CynthiaLover]

You know, in all truthfulness, I had high hopes for Iris' character. What a slap in the face that was. I agree with all those who pointed out that Georgia rightfully stated that Iris didn't win, Dragonite did. What really lit a fire under me was Iris brushed it off with a "I won, so I don't care what you say" attitude. God that burns me up! I was so hoping Georgia would MOP THE FLOOR with Iris' big-haired head! At least Georgia, despite her faults, is willing to battle fairly and evenly, using the Pokemon she worked long and hard to train. While Iris is pretty much steamrolling her way through the tournament using an uber Pokemon she just caught one episode ago. To boot, it doesn't even listen to her, but that doesn't dampen her at all. She calls Ash a kid, but there is irony in her statements. When Ash had disobedient Pokemon, like Charizard, he didn't get over-glorified when it won without listening to him. In fact, he worked hard to iron out the problem, putting a lot of effort into the situation. Iris' character has just gotten to the point where there is no hope for her. I would happily trade her for May, Dawn, and even Misty, since they, at least, were willing to put in the time and effort to iron out problems in their respective teams, and never got over-glorified in those types of situations. I don't know why the writers even bothered to give her a Dragonite, as it takes the focus away from Axew. A Dratini, Gible, or Bagon, maybe, but not a god-level, insanely powerful Dragonite. This episode was the pits. The only good part was Cynthia and Caitlin's battle, although too short, still was pretty good.

 

[Moe]

Did anyone think the Cynthia Vs. Caitlin match looked like a Contest battle?

Yes and Dawn commented as such - it's about all they could do to justify her participation.

Which reminds me - Meloetta wasn't terrible in this episode (by virtue of doing near nothing), though considering it was in plain sight for a lot of the episode, surprised no one noticed it sitting there. The other surprise was the Rockets not being near it - why can't they sell snacks in the arena as a way of gathering intelligence on Meloetta?

 

[R&T]

I Loled at The f*cking power of Kairyu ....How can he stands Tsunbear's Blizzard, Ice Beam while he is weak to Ice type ? :/
You Know, even Satoshi's Lizardon wasn't that powerful (He got pwned by Nyorobon 's Ice Beam in ep 105)
We got rushed battles (Cabernet who go pwned by Shooti with Solar Beam ) :'( ... Why are there just Isshu Pokémons in this pseudo World Tournament ? ( only Hikari have Sinnoh Pokémon )

Did anyone think the Cynthia Vs. Caitlin match looked like a Contest battle?

It seems so x) .
How can Draco Meteor + Thunderbolt = fireworks ?

 

[Five-Gate Omega]

There have been mentions (in the game, at least - dunno about the anime) that battle frontier members are at or above E4/Pokemon League level. Cynthia is a champion but not invincible. Serious or not, I could imagine her going toe to toe with a frontier member and not have a result in 10 minutes. Even when she faced Flint (and an undetermined amount of time had already passed before Ash tuned in) he was no pushover. I don't understand where all the upheaval is coming from (bar one member) in a draw.

So, now that dragonite has shown to us how little he cares about 4x effective ice attacks, can we call him DEM now?

With the 'world' tournament looking like this, I can only wonder how the league will be written...

Uhh idk about the games but in the Anime im pretty sure that Frontier Brains are much lower rank than Elite Four members and Champions and they only seem to be more advanced Gym Leaders more or less.

Now as for Dragonite, I wouldn't count Dragonite being too uber just yet considering it will inevitably lose to Krookodile.

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

The exhibition match between Cynthia and Caitlin was the the only good part about this episode. I actually didn't mind that Cynthia battled more evenly with a member of the Unova League's E4, rather than being portrayed as the most powerful trainer in the world.

The rest of this episode... was just a total waste of time. I seriously cannot believe that BW has sunk this low.

 

[Hellion]

Also, commentator guy and Adeku lacked the sexual tension that commentator guy and Don George have, it really made the commentary less interesting. XD

...Uhm what?

You know it's true. Don't deny it. XD Overall, while some of the interactions in this episode worked, (Hikari, Dent and Burgundy; Adeku and Shirona; Adeku and Shooti), the rest was really dry and wooden.

Also, not sure if anyone who speaks Japanese can confirm this but, was it stated that Kairyu doesn't want to use super effective moves against his opponents, hence why he ran through the Tsunbear ice move to OHKO him with Thunderpunch, cause if that's true... wow... not only are they overpowering him, but they're stating that he willingly doesn't use his effective attacks and still wins by a landslide.

 

[p96822]

Jessie, James and Meowth can't sell snack because they have more important thing to do in the matter

 

[Geodude]

Why is it that nobody seemed to care that Pikachu tied with Winona's Pelipper and lost to Skyla's Swanna, and yet there's this big stink over Dragonite surviving an Ice attack? Clear double standard to me, and further evidence of the strange dislike for Iris among people here.

 

[HumanDawn]

Why is it that nobody seemed to care that Pikachu tied with Winona's Pelipper and lost to Skyla's Swanna, and yet there's this big stink over Dragonite surviving an Ice attack? Clear double standard to me, and further evidence of the strange dislike for Iris among people here.

Both of which are Gym Leaders. Iris is not one, she hasn't trained the Dragonite to resist such attacks, it was disobedient, she beat Georgia with it unfairly and proceeded into the second round with no consequence on her side whatsoever.

Winona's Pelliper and Skyla's Swanna made Ash have less of a chance of beating them. He suffered a consequence in which he had to up his game to get the gym badge he needed. Did Iris suffer any? No, she clearly didn't. That's my justification on the "strange dislike" that shouldn't even be called strange in the first place since it's justified.

 

[Geodude]

Did she need to "suffer"? I don't understand why people are so hung up on that. I don't get the Iris hate in general.

It wasn't unfair. Her actions were within the rules and within her rights. Dragonite chose to submit to being captured and going with her, why wouldn't she use it?

Also, Dragonite has pretty consistently been portrayed as very powerful in the anime. Think of Lance's, think of the Dragonite that Ash's Charizard battled in that Johto arc, think of the Orange Islands one that took down several of Ash's Pokemon before Pikachu finally finished it off. A Dragonite could arguably be on at least the same power level as the Gym Leaders' Swanna and Pelipper, so I still think it's a double standard.

 

[HumanDawn]

Did she need to "suffer"? I don't understand why people are so hung up on that. I don't get the Iris hate in general.

Yes, she needs to "suffer" because that is a way to teach her to become a stronger trainer. If she doesn't face any hardships, then she'd be boring.

It wasn't unfair. Her actions were within the rules and within her rights.

Lawfully right, morally wrong. She just conveniently got the Dragonite exactly before the tournament and used it to win, when the other trainers there probably trained their Pokemon for a long time. And no, this isn't like when Ash got Palpitoad and used in the Club Battles tournament to get 2 wins in like Dragonite here because Palpitoad wasn't displayed to be a killer beast. It was portrayed to be your normal, average strength Pokemon. Dragonite is being portrayed as overpowered. Which brings us to our next point:

Also, Dragonite has pretty consistently been portrayed as very powerful in the anime. Think of Lance's, think of the Dragonite that Ash's Charizard battled in that Johto arc, think of the Orange Islands one that took down several of Ash's Pokemon before Pikachu finally finished it off.

Which was trained by an already established to be powerful trainer. Only now, this Dragonite is somehow stronger.

 

[Geodude]

The Dragonite at the Lake of Rage was wild.

Lawfully right, morally wrong. She just conveniently got the Dragonite exactly before the tournament and used it to win, when the other trainers there probably trained their Pokemon for a long time.

Really nothing new for the anime. Ash has done similar things many times. Not necessarily with a new capture, but with an existing member of his team who is inexperienced in the task at hand.